Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Mr. Joseph Berrios on his appointment as Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party.

On February 1, 2007, Mr. Joseph Berrios was elected by the Cook County Democratic Party to the position of Chairman--the first time a member of the Hispanic community has held that title.

We will all miss the man that Mr. Berrios is replacing, Tom Lyons, but the Cook County Democratic Party is in outstanding hands with its new leader at the helm.

In 1988, Mr. Joseph Berrios was elected as a commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review and has served honorably for 18 years.

As the Democratic committeeman of the 31st Ward on Chicago's northwest side, Mr, Joseph Berrios vowed to revamp the party's committee structure and to encourage more participation from minorities and suburban Democrats.

The Cook County Democratic Party has a long and illustrious tradition of working to represent the people of Cook County in Illinois. The election of Joseph Berrios as Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party helps further realize the mission of a more integrated Illinois community.

Madam Speaker, I congratulate Mr. Joseph Berrios on his election as Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, and I wish him the best of luck in his new role.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 512 the Commission to Study

the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American Latino Act of 2007.

H.R. 512 would establish a commission to develop a plan of action to establish and maintain a National Museum of the American Latino in our nation's capital.

The 23 qualified individuals selected for membership in the commission would be charged with producing a national conference to bring together experts, stakeholders, policymakers and other interested groups to discuss the museum's viability. In addition, the commission would create a comprehensive fundraising plan of action to be presented to Congress.

America is home to nearly 40 million Latinos who share in its unique culture and heritage, yet no permanent exhibit exists in Washington, DC to commemorate the Latino community's unique contributions to the rich cultural tapestry of America.

Washington, DC's wonderful museums reflect the rich mosaic of cultural diversity that is America. It is important that the unique lessons of history, art and culture of the Latino community are included when Washingtonians, Americans, and international travelers come to learn about America and Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support H.R. 512 establishing a Commission to study the potential creation of the National Museum of the American Latino, and I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the President submitted his budget to the United States Congress and to the country. And in that budget, the President made clear a number of priorities that I think are in direct opposition to the wishes and aspirations of the American people.

Most egregious, in my view, is that the President leaves in place a tax increase on the middle-class families of this country. Today, about three million Americans are affected by the alternative minimum tax, meant to tax only the superwealthy. This year alone, it will reach 23 million middle-class families across the country. And the only way the President accomplishes any of his goals is to leave in place a tax that was never intended by the Congress or the President to affect middle- class families.

The Democrats make a pledge to, in fact, deal with the alternative minimum tax this year so middle-class families do not have a tax increase either this year, next year or the following year. It has been consistently.

But this is only one of the egregious misplaced priorities in the President's budget. The other highlights, in addition to increasing taxes on the middle class, it cuts health care for seniors $100 billion over 5 years, $300 billion over 10 years.

While we are dealing with the temperatures outside that are near freezing in my home area of Chicago, below zero, it cuts home energy assistance to our seniors by 18 percent.

It eliminates the COPS program for community policing, which has supported 120,000 police officers throughout the country.

It goes forward in the President's desire to privatize Social Security.

It cuts health care benefits for our returning veterans, forcing them to pay up to $750 a year to enter the health care for veterans, one of the best health care systems in the country. And I don't think that is a welcome-home mat that our veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan deserve.

It also has cuts to education. It underfunds Leave No Child Behind by $15 billion.

It cuts housing assistance for affordable housing. Returning again, in relationship to our veterans, it cuts the funding for research into brain trauma research, which is so significant. One of the greatest injuries for our veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan have been the brain injuries that they have incurred there. And the first time ever we have gotten funding inside the Pentagon for that area, it makes a cut.

And then it doesn't deal with what we call earmarks here, as the President continues his earmarks in his budget. Across the board, from Social Security privatization to health care cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, to also not cutting children from their health care, to raising taxes on the middle class, in time and place, from health care to taxes to supporting our law enforcement community, this budget makes the wrong priorities.

It is time to have a new direction and a change here in the priorities in Washington. In addition to all that, while we have families not being able to get to their homes in the area of Louisiana and Mississippi and the Gulf Coast, the President asked for an additional $245 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. In every turn that we can, we have to right this ship that is wrong.

Most importantly, in the area the President's budget has relied on tax increases on middle class families, cuts Medicare and Medicaid, asked for $245 billion in increased funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, cuts children from their health care, cuts heating assistance from our elderly, also cuts benefits for veterans. Those are not the priorities of the American people.

Every President in the history of the country in a time of war has thought about how to invest in America. Abraham Lincoln, in the height of the Civil War, had the land-grant colleges. Roosevelt, in the height of the final 2 years of World War II, developed the GI Bill of Rights. During the height of the Cold War, Eisenhower saw the interstate system as a way to invest in America. Kennedy, a man on the moon when we were facing down the Soviet Union.

At every critical juncture when America was at war, a President thought about how to invest in America to turn this country's efforts overseas here at home to make this a stronger and better country.

This is the first Presidential budget that in time of war, rather than looking for increases here on how to make America stronger, it looks for cuts in America. It looks for the areas of education, health care, veterans, and law enforcement to sacrifice, while we increase our investments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If you look at the history of every time there has been a period of America's engagement around the world militarily, every President has looked to invest here at home to make America stronger. This is the first budget that leaves America weaker in a time of military engagement.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Barry Rodgers on his appointment as principal of Northside College Preparatory High School in Chicago. The Northside school council voted unanimously to name Mr. Rodgers to a 4-year term as principal beginning on July 1, 2007, and they chose an outstanding successor to James Lalley, who is retiring on June 30, 2007.

Mr. Rodgers received his B.S. in zoology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1990. He then went on to graduate from National Louis University, in 1999, with a master's degree in education specializing in curriculum and instruction, and he has continued his education with a certificate in educational leadership from DePaul University in 2005.

Throughout his career, Mr. Rodgers has been an educator and a leader in a variety of venues. He began his career at Mather High School teaching biology and chemistry. He went on to become the department chairman at Mather High. He then joined the Northside science department, working his way up to department chairman there as well. Currently, Mr. Rodgers is the LAUNCH principal at Westinghouse Career Academy in Chicago assisting in the day-to-day operations of the school.

Mr. Rodgers has gone above and beyond in serving the interests of the students wherever he has taught. He founded the swim team at Northside High School, led the Curriculum Team, was a teacher-mentor for the Golden Teachers program, coordinated staff development opportunities for five area schools, and was a member of the leadership team at both Northside High and Westinghouse Academy.

In addition to coaching the swim team at Northside, he is also affiliated with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum development, the National Science Teachers Association, the Friends of the Chicago River, the National School Reform Faculty, the North River Commission, the American Chemical Society, and National Public Radio.

Madam Speaker, I congratulate Barry Rodgers on his appointment as Northside College Preparatory High School's new principal, and I thank him for his many outstanding contributions in educating the young people of the Fifth District of Illinois. His efforts have had a profound impact on the lives of his friends, family, and countless other individuals. I wish him the best of luck as he embarks on this new journey, and continued happiness in all his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, you know, last year, I watched the worst budget failure since the 1995 government shutdown led by the Republican Congress. You only passed two appropriations bills, you got no budget resolution passed to get your work done, and then you are sitting here complaining after we are trying to clean up the mess you left behind.

We have a phrase for that in Chicago. It is called chutzpah. You cannot do that. You cannot sit here and come to the floor and complain about what has happened here. Because you handed off nothing but lemons and we are trying to make lemonade out of the lemons that you handed off here.

I compliment us for doing exactly what we said we were going to do. There are no earmarks, there is no pay rise, and there are no gimmicks. It is a new day in Washington from the failures of what happened in the past, and we are very clear that this will be a new day from the type of politics that ran here, and there will be none of that until we pass an increase in the minimum wage. We have done right by what we said.

I compliment, as the Republican speaker beforehand, my colleague, said, from Florida, this is a budget that veterans can be proud of, the education of our children, our health care needs and our law enforcement needs, that directly help people. While college costs have gone up close to 35 percent since 2003, we have held Pell Grants frozen. They are now going up $260. 5.3 million more students will get the assistance they need.

Increases for veterans, $3.6 billion to provide health care for 325,000 veterans.

In the area of the National Institutes of Health Care, 500 research projects will be funded that would not have been funded. This is direct help to the American people.

And in the law enforcement area, 31,000 positions, including 12,000 FBI agents and 2,500 intelligence analysts will be verified, doubling the number of intelligence analysts since 9/11 at the FBI. This is exactly the type of investments we need to do. So from top to bottom, investing in the education, health care, research and law enforcement areas that have been sorrily missed in past budgets, this continuing resolution makes the investments and turns around what were the dire consequences in those areas.

And in addition to that, it makes clear that this is a new day in Washington. We will have no earmarks, no pay raise and no gimmicks. And we are actually turning the page over so we can go forward with the type of budget and the type of appropriations that will continue to put our fiscal house in order, invest in the education and health care and energy and environmental security of this country. This turns the page on a past that was broken and that was failed. And I am proud that we have done that. And I am sure there will be some colleagues, like in the past, that will point to things. But we are pointing in a new direction and turning the page on a broken and failed past and towards a future that, in fact, puts America's priorities and its fiscal house in order.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 521 as a tribute to Congressman Lane Evans, my friend and former colleague. Congressman Evans faithfully and dutifully represented the people of the 17th District of Illinois. Today, we honor former Congressman Evans by naming the Post Office located at 2633 11th Street in Rock Island, Illinois, after him. I thank my fellow Illinoisan and Mr. Evans' successor, Congressman Phil Hare, for introducing this legislation to honor our friend and former member of this body.

Lane Evans grew up in Rock Island, Illinois. The son of a firefighter, he joined the Marine Corps right out of high school and served our country in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971. After his tour of duty, Congressman Evans went to college and then to Georgetown University Law Center to earn his J.D.

Lane Evans was first elected to Congress in 1982 and served for eleven terms. Throughout his tenure in Congress, Evans was a tireless champion for veterans across the nation. He served on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee from 1983 through till his final term and was the ranking member of that committee for the last 10 years.

During his time in Washington, Lane Evans worked tirelessly to secure many benefits for America's servicemen and women. He campaigned to increase assistance to homeless veterans, to fund research on complex combat-related injuries, to expand VA home loans, to increase G.I. worker training benefits, and was a staunch advocate of increasing veterans' health benefits. Specifically, he led efforts to help combat veterans cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Although Lane Evans worked diligently for our men and women in uniform, he was also a leading advocate for many other causes. Mr. Evans fought hard to ban landmines, which kill and maim thousands every year, to protect American workers from cheaper foreign competition, to have fair trade policies with other nations, to protect America's farmers and our environment.

Mr. Speaker, last year, Congressman Evans chose not to run for reelection to the 110th

Congress. For 24 years, Congressman Evans was a dedicated public servant to the 17th District of Illinois and to the country as a whole. I ask my colleagues to join me in this small gesture to honor our former colleague by naming a Rock Island Post Office after him. I wish my friend and former colleague the best of luck in all his future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Con. Res. 5, a bill expressing our commitment to expanding employment and business opportunities for our Nation's veterans.

H. Con. Res. 5 will establish Hire a Veteran Week, and encourages the President to issue a proclamation supporting those goals. Our Nation's veterans must be given the opportunities they deserve to make a successful transition to civilian life, and build a successful future for themselves and their families.

There are now more than 25 million living veterans in the United States. These dedicated men and women are among our Nation's greatest citizens. Many of our Nation's leading figures in both the private and public sectors are military veterans.

Military service provides valuable training in a variety of specialized fields, and helps build leadership, problem solving and management skills. Military veterans have also proven their dedication to the service of their Nation and their communities, and are eager for the opportunity to continue serving the public good in whichever field they enter after leaving the military. The opportunities we provide veterans today will benefit our Nation for many years to come.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in thanking our Nation's veterans for their service and supporting H. Con. Res. 5, establishing Hire a Veteran Week, and I encourage all members of the American business community to recognize the value of hiring veterans and contracting with veteran-owned businesses.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 90, recognizing the accomplishments of two outstanding head coaches in the NFL, Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears and Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts. On February 4th, 2007 these two men will not only lead their teams to the field to play in the largest sporting event in America, Super Bowl XLI, they will also become the first African-American head coaches to ever bring a team to the NFL title game.

This past season, both Coach Smith and Coach Dungy experienced tremendous successes, leading their teams to 13-3 and 12-4 seasons respectively, and winning divisional and conference crowns for the cities of Chicago and Indianapolis. But throughout their tenure as coaches in the NFL, these two men have consistently represented the pinnacle of class and humility, providing exemplary role models for their players, families, and any child in America.

Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy are not just competitors, they are also friends and colleagues. Smith served as Linebackers Coach for Dungy during their time together in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise.

During this time, Mr. Dungy served as a mentor and friend for Mr. Smith, engendering the calm and professional manner for which both coaches are highly regarded.

As a lifelong Chicagoan and a Bears fan, I am especially proud of Lovie Smith and the Chicago Bears, and I wish them the best of luck in Super Bowl XLI. This Sunday marks the first Chicago appearance in the Super Bowl in over 20 years, and we are all looking forward to a great game. Regardless of the outcome, the milestone that Coach Smith and Coach Dungy have reached makes Super Bowl XLI even more special. For the first time, an African-American head coach will hoist the Lombardi Trophy over his head as NFL Champion, and we can all be proud of both of the two men poised to earn that honor.

Madam Speaker, I again extend my congratulations to Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy on their outstanding seasons and for their breakthrough at the highest level of coaching. I wish them both the best of luck in all of their endeavors, though I certainly wish Coach Smith a bit more luck this particular Sunday. Go Bears.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the long and distinguished career of Dr. Michael H. Moskow. On August 31, Dr. Moskow will retire from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago after 13 years of dedicated service.

Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Dr. Moskow received his B.A. in economics from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1959 and a doctorate in business and applied economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1965.

Throughout his career, Dr. Moskow has succeeded in a wide realm of venues. His experiences range from serving on the faculty of Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg School of Management to 14 years in senior management positions for three Chicago companies and appointment for public duty by the Senate on five different occasions.

During his tenure as a public servant, Mr. Moskow would assume a series of important and influential roles. He served as a U.S. Trade Representative to Southeast Asia, Under Secretary of Labor at the U.S. Department of Labor, senior staff economist at the Council of Economic Advisors, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Director of the Council on Wage and Price Stability, and finally, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Dr. Moskow also serves on a number of civic, professional, and educational organizations. Currently, Dr. Moskow is chairman of the National Bureau of Economic Research, as well as the director of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, the Northwestern Memorial Foundation, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and World Business Chicago. The list of organizations he has guided and served goes on and on.

Madam Speaker, I congratulate Michael Moskow on his lengthy and influential career, and thank him for his many outstanding contributions to Chicago and the country as a whole. I wish him the best of luck and continued happiness in his retirement and all his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 51, a resolution that honors the contributions of Catholic schools and supports the goals of Catholic Schools Week.

The many accomplishments of Catholic schools and their positive impact on students and communities throughout the nation are evident in the Fifth Congressional District of Illinois, where schools such as St. Pascal Elementary, St. Bartholomew Elementary, and Gordon Technical High School provide a quality education while instilling values that will serve their students throughout their lives. These schools provide strong academic curricula and promote significant parental involvement. They teach students the importance of academic achievement while also providing a balanced perspective on life that promotes responsibility, justice and social service.

Catholic schools also promote ethnic and racial diversity. An increasing number of children in Catholic schools in my district come from our minority communities. Students in Catholic schools achieve exceptionally high graduation rates, and an increasing number are advancing to college and giving back to the community through volunteer service.

Catholic schools foster more than scholastic excellence alone. They provide spiritual guidance to students by encouraging fundamental ideals and an appreciation for family values, community service, and faith in their own lives. This, in turn, shapes Catholic school students into leaders of tomorrow.

I want to take this opportunity to applaud the 2007 ``Heart of the School'' award winners. Each year, the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools presents these awards to recognize outstanding and innovative accomplishments of individual teachers at Archdiocese of Chicago schools.

Two 2007 ``Heart of the School'' award winners teach at schools in the Fifth Congressional District, Kristin McCreary of St. Josaphat School and Lauren Costa at St. Pascal School. I thank these outstanding educators, past winners, and all of the dedicated Catholic school teachers in my district for their devotion to their students and for setting the standard for teaching excellence.

Madam Speaker, I support H. Res. 51 and encourage Catholic schools in my district and across the United States to continue contributing to the development of strong moral, intellectual and social values in America's young people. I thank the National Catholic Educational Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for their sponsorship of Catholic Schools Week.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Bobby L. Maxwell. Mr. Maxwell may not be familiar to you or to most of America, but on January 23rd, he accomplished something that the Bush Administration has failed to do for the last six years: hold oil companies accountable.

During recent consideration of H.R. 6, the Creating Long-term Energy Alternatives for the Nation or CLEAN Act, our Democratic majority called attention to the fact that the Minerals Management Service (MMS) at the Department of the Interior has failed to collect millions of dollars of royalties from oil and gas companies drilling in public waters. The Administration has largely ignored this problem and possible negligence by top officials at Interior, but last week's federal court decision that the Kerr-McGee Corporation has underpaid the government by approximately $7.5 million should serve as a wake up call on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Unlike the Director of the Minerals Management Service and others at Interior, Bobby Maxwell did not turn a blind eye to the problem of oil companies underpaying or refusing to pay royalties for the use of public lands. Mr. Maxwell used to serve as a top auditor at MMS, but while he was doing his job investigating royalty underpayment by Kerr- McGee and others, senior Interior Department officials ordered him to drop his case. Additionally, Mr. Maxwell lost his job due to a ``reorganization'' shortly thereafter.

Bobby Maxwell did not give up, though. He knew that Kerr-McGee and others were cheating the Federal government and the American taxpayers out of millions of dollars, so he became a whistleblower. Despite having lost his job, Mr. Maxwell continued to stand up to the oil companies by bringing suit under the False Claims Act.

The jury found what Mr. Maxwell and many of us already knew: Kerr- McGee had indeed failed to pay the Federal government approximately $7.5 million they owed for oil production from publicly owned coastal waters. I regret that Mr. Maxwell had to lose his job to expose the greed of this company and the failures at MMS, but his story is a positive one. Both he and the Federal government will benefit from his diligence and service. Kerr-McGee will have to pay significant penalties as a result of underpayment and false statements in their royalty reports. Additionally, Mr. Maxwell is not alone--three other auditors from MMS have filed whistleblowing cases against companies that the Interior Department blocked them from investigating.

Madam Speaker, Mr. Maxwell and these other dedicated public servants deserve our recognition and gratitude. They have stood up and declared that the public's trust and money both deserve our attention, respect, and protection. I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Mr. Maxwell and congratulating him on a job well done. Let us follow his example by continuing to put accountability ahead of corporate profits.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and memory of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to remember a great American and civil rights leader, a man committed to uniting people and healing the wounds inflicted by injustice and segregation.

Dr. King embodied the spirit of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. As a teacher, a preacher, and a leader, he tuned his membership of the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and his role with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to help shape the nonviolent philosophy of the movement.

The 1956 Supreme Court decision declaring Alabama's segregation laws unconstitutional was one early victory in his fight for equality and justice. This victory had a tremendous personal cost for Dr. King, as he was arrested, threatened, and his house was bombed. Throughout these arduous times, Dr. King remained strong.

In 1957, Dr. King helped found and became the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This organization was formed to provide new leadership to the growing civil rights movement. Like Dr. King, the SCLC was committed to achieving its goals through nonviolent means.

He further refined his philosophy of nonviolence during a journey to India in 1959. He saw nonviolent protest as the key to achieving his goals of racial equality and social justice in the face of a sometimes violent opposition.

Despite the obstacles, Dr. King continued his struggle and spoke at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was during this event that he delivered his famous ``I Have A Dream'' speech at the Lincoln Memorial, proclaiming: ``I have a dream, that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: `We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' ''

The following year, Dr. King saw his hard work come to fruition with passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That same year, Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the youngest person awarded the Peace Prize at that time. He chose to donate the prize money he received to further the cause of the civil rights movement.

Tragically, Dr. King's life was cut short on April 4, 1968 by a sniper's bullet. His stirring words from his speech at the Lincoln Memorial still echo today and provide us with a goal we all share, that our ``children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.''

Madam Speaker, I urge everyone to remember and reflect on his words as we commemorate Dr. King's birthday and honor his tireless work in making America a country where the rights of all people are respected and protected.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of my friend Tom Lyons, and I offer my deepest condolences to his family after his passing at the age of 75. Tom was a dedicated public servant who touched many lives and consistently rose to any challenge that came his way.

Thomas G. Lyons was born in Chicago in 1931, and he served his country honorably throughout his life. As a student at Loyola University of Chicago's School of Law, Mr. Lyons enlisted in the Army, where he rose to the rank of Captain in the Army Rangers, garnering recognition for his leadership and spirit.

Mr. Lyons took his lessons from Law School and the Army to his service as a litigator for the Cook County Assessor's Office, and later for the Illinois Attorney General's Office.

In 1964, Mr. Lyons successfully ran for a seat in the Illinois State Senate, where he would ascend to the Chairmanship of the State Senate Appropriations Committee.

In 1990, Mr. Lyons was elected to the Chairmanship of the Cook County Democratic Party, where he was its proud steward and a strong presence for seventeen years until his passing. During this period, Tom served with devotion and humility, always willing to lend a hand to any candidate, regardless of the scope or influence of the particular office.

In 1994, Tom was the recipient of an executive appointment by President Clinton to the American Battle Monuments Commission, in recognition of his years of service to our Nation and our military.

For over 40 years, Mr. Lyons dedicated his life to our Nation with steadfast dedication, humility, and geniality. In his home of Cook County, Tom's legacy of leadership will remain for years to come. Mr. Lyons is succeeded by his wife, Ruth, his three children, Alexandra, Rachel, and Thomas, and his eight grand-children. I extend my deepest condolences and gratitude to the family of Mr. Lyons. We will miss him.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4, the Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation Act. This legislation corrects a grave mistake of the past by striking a provision in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 which prohibited the Secretary of Health and Human Services from directly negotiating with pharmaceutical companies. In addition, H.R. 4 explicitly requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry for lower prescription drug prices.

This legislation is necessary because Medicare drug plans have failed to obtain significant price discounts for seniors. In fact, the drug plans' prices are over 60 percent higher than prices for identical drugs in Canada. Requiring the Secretary to negotiate with the drug companies will bring much needed relief to millions of Medicare beneficiaries.

More than 90 percent of Americans agree that the Secretary should be directly negotiating with the pharmaceutical industry.

Unfortunately, the current Secretary has said he does not support the underlying legislation. His predecessor, though, has demonstrated the authority for and efficacy of the HHS Secretary negotiating with the pharmaceutical industry for lower prices. In 2001, former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson successfully negotiated a reduced price for Cipro. In fact, the Secretary negotiated the price down from $4.67 to $1.77 per dose--a reduction of nearly 500 percent. Additionally, when Secretary Thompson resigned his position at HHS, he explicitly stated he wished Congress had given him the power to negotiate with drug manufacturers to secure lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries.

The Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation Act will save seniors money both at the pharmacy counter and in the form of lower premiums.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud that helping seniors obtain prescription drugs at prices they can afford is part of the Democratic 100 hours plan. I thank the gentlemen from California and Michigan, and the gentlewoman from Missouri for their leadership on this issue, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 4, the Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5, the College Student Relief Act. The rising cost of education is a concern for students and parents across the country. Occasionally, I hold office hours at grocery stores in my district back in Chicago. Every time people atend tos hare their concerns my constituents let me know that they are worried about the cost of higher education.

They worry about being able to send their children to college without taking out a new mortgage on their homes or working a second job. They worry about dipping into their retirement savings in order to pay the exorbitant cost of tuition. And they are not only worried, but they are also shocked by the tuition increases from year to year for their children who are already in college.

It is our responsibility to make sure that the price of a college education does not close doors for the future leaders of America. Today we will correct a grave mistake of the past and pass the College Student Relief Act--ensuring those doors never close.

This legislation is long overdue. The last Congress neglected to deal with college affordability--allowing the cost to skyrocket and leaving millions behind in their desire for a higher education. Tuition and fees at public universities have increased by 41 percent since 2001, and interest rates on studen loans have risen to record-breaking highs. The maximum Pell grant was frozen in the President's budget for a fouth year in a row. Today, the maximum Pell grant covers only 41 percent of the cost of attending college--about half of what it covered three decades ago.

In my home state of Illinois, the average graduate from a state university leaves with more than $15,000 in debt. This massive debt limits the choices that graduates can make, and discourages many students from seeking a college education at all.

The College Student Relief Act takes the first step toward correcting this great injustice, providing real relief to students and middle class families by making a college education more affordable and accessible.

A college education should be as universal in the 21st century as a high school education was in the 20th century. This legislation is the first step towards accomplishing that goal.

Madam Speaker, I am proud that helping students with their college loans is part of the Democratic 100 hours plan. I thank the gentleman from California for his leadership on this issue, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 5, the College Student Relief Act.