Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as cosponsor of H.R. 1255 and H.R. 1214.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 187, the elevator was delayed, and I missed the vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Cesar E. Chavez. I have the honor of representing the district where he was born and where he gave his final breath.

I am proud to say I was influenced by the work of Cesar E. Chavez, a man who believed that one should not rest on his laurels. Cesar is best known for co-founding the United Farm Workers union; however, that recognition is just one part of what he accomplished in his lifetime.

Cesar inspired a generation to believe in the impossible (Si Se Puede!), to work toward justice and to never stop fighting for the voiceless.

Cesar also influenced, and continues to influence, future generations. He challenged all of us to care, advocate and organize.

It is fitting that today, on what would have been Cesar's 82nd birthday, we passed and sent the GIVE Act to the President, a bill that encourages volunteering and investment in one's community and country.

To pass the GIVE Act is to continue Cesar's vision and inspiration of service to one's community, commitment to a better future for all and leaving this country better than how we inherited it.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues and constituents to follow in the footsteps of Cesar E. Chavez and his commitment to service, helping others and selflessness in every day actions. Si se puede!

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the recipients of the 2009 Igor I. Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service. The recipients of this award have exhibited bravery in the face of grave danger during an event in my home state of Arizona.

Last August, during the summer monsoon season in Arizona, Havasu Canyon suddenly flash flooded, and as the canyon flooded, nearly 400 people had to be evacuated from the area. Havasu Canyon, which leads into the Grand Canyon, is a popular daytime stop-over site for rafters floating the Colorado River. At that time, sixteen boaters on a private rafting trip became stranded on a ledge above the raging floodwaters.

The rescue team, consisting of a Grand Canyon National Park ranger, five members of the helitack crew, and a pilot from the Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, using a special short-haul technique, transported the stranded boaters to the Colorado River bank where they could be airlifted to a rescue center.

The Igor I. Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service is sponsored each year by Sikorsky Aircraft in honor of its founder and is presented to those who best demonstrate the value of civil rotorcraft to society by saving lives, protecting property and aiding those in distress. The award can be made for a particular mission, or for a consistently outstanding manner for a period of time.

I commend the recipients of the award this year for their tremendous bravery in the face of an extremely dangerous situation. I know that those who were rescued that day, along with their families, will be grateful to them forever for their actions that day.

The recipients of the award were: Jay Lusher, John Yurcik, Sean Naylor, Nate Becker, Ali Ulwelling, Brandon Torres, and Bryce Barnett.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the Goodlatte Amendment and I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this harmful amendment.

While I strongly support the FLAME Act, I am opposed to this amendment because it would undermine current protections for forest workers as well as preventing proper environmental review of projects. It would do this by dramatically expanding existing good neighbor authority that only applies to certain projects on National Forests in Colorado and Utah right now.

Specifically, this amendment would waive provisions of the National Forest Management Act protecting taxpayer interests. It would give discretion over projects on National Forests to state foresters, eliminating federal oversight and accountability, and it would limit the public's knowledge of when timber is sold.

I am also concerned that the amendment, if successful, would put into question federal labor standards and current wage protections for forest workers.

My subcommittee held a hearing last year which shined a light on how pineros, literally men of the pines, were not being adequately compensated or paid for their work under existing law. Delegating this to the state or some subcontractor or the state without assurances for workers is foolish.

Directly to this issue, the GAO released a report yesterday recommending caution on allowing broader authority until the federal government could ensure greater ``transparency, competition, and oversight.''

I agree with the GAO and believe that this amendment is just too broad and would waive too many existing laws that protect workers and the environment.

In sum, I want to voice my strong support for the FLAME Act, which will enable our public lands agencies to finally get ahead of the vicious cycle of budget-consuming catastrophic fires, and begin the process of working to protect communities and restore the nation's lands. I urge opposition to this amendment and support for the underlying bill.

Mr. Speaker, I think to some extent we need to set the record straight about this legislation. We need to be clear that this bill is about conservation and preservation of our public lands. It's about improving our water supplies in the West. It's about improving the health of our forests and creating economic opportunities for rural communities.

This legislation will also establish a new national park unit, conserve wild and scenic rivers, protect historic American battlefields where brave patriots fought and died for this Nation, and establish miles of new hiking trails and much, much more.

Bills in this package will give families places to enjoy, to enjoy outdoor recreation; it will preserve our history so the children can learn the story of America on field trips. It will protect rivers for boaters and anglers so they can enjoy it themselves.

H.R. 146 is wildly popular, both among a large bipartisan majority of the Members of Congress and among the American people. In fact, this package is so popular that those that oppose new parks, those who think protecting rivers and trails is not a good use of our time, are placed in a very difficult position. They have no choice but to try to insert issues in this debate that simply don't belong in this debate.

This is not about guns. The Court ruling that has become the crucible of discussion with this legislation regarding the second amendment, that ruling, and let me quote from it, from the judge's order, ``Because the Court finds that the final rule which was rushed by the Bush administration on their way out the door, is a product of Defendant's astoundingly flawed process, the Court holds that the Plaintiffs are highly likely to prevail on the merits of their NEPA claims. Accordingly, the Court expresses no views on the merits of any laws or regulations related to concealed weapons or firearms generally.''

This was a ruling on a flawed process, on a process that ignored public input, that ignored transparency, and that's why that rule by the Bush administration was enjoined. It was not enjoined on the merits of the concealed weapon issue that time and time again is brought up as the ruling itself.

This bill is not about locking anything up or locking anybody out. I am told that during debate on the measure in the Rules Committee yesterday, opponents of this bill took more time talking about AIG than they did about parks and forests.

The truth is, this package of bills is as popular as mom, as apple pie, and I do not envy those few Members who have to come to the House floor today and manufacture reasons to oppose it. But let's be clear. These arguments are manufactured and should not be given any weight.

This legislation is good for the land, it's good for our Nation, and our children, and our grandchildren. They will all thank us later for passing this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, after a long, dark period where protection of our natural and cultural resources was ignored, today we can change that. I urge passage of H.R. 146.

Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the Public Lands Service Corps Act to expand an already successful program that employs and trains thousands of young people and helps repair and restore our public lands. I am delighted that my colleague, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, has agreed to join me as an original cosponsor of this important bill.

In 1993, when the Public Lands Corps was established through the good work of our late colleague Bruce Vento of Minnesota, there were huge backlogs in labor-intensive work needed on national park lands, forests, wildlife refuges, historic sites and Indian lands.

Today, we still face those challenges and more: years of inadequate funding have put these agencies further behind on vital maintenance work while infrastructure continues to crumble. Despite the best efforts of our underfunded agencies, natural and cultural resources have been neglected, and in many places the effects of climate change are magnifying earlier problems such as fire risk, damage by insects and invasive species and fragmented habitat.

We have started to attack this problem with the recently passed stimulus legislation, but that is only a start. Much remains to be done on public lands.

The Public Lands Corps is built on a long and proud tradition of conservation service on Federal lands that extends back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Civilian Conservation Corps. That peace- time army, numbering some 3 million young Americans, planted trees, fought fires, maintained trails and built shelters across our nation. The Youth Conservation Corps has given hundreds of thousands of young people valuable skills and experience while undertaking valuable conservation work.

In fiscal year 2008 alone, over 4,000 young people spent countless hours on 289 projects at 111 national park units mending trails, cleaning up campgrounds, controlling erosion, restoring habitat, and other projects to repair and restore park lands, facilities and resources. That was in national parks alone; imagine what we could accomplish if more federal agencies harnessed that pool of talent and enthusiasm for the benefit of our public lands, waters, and coastal and marine systems.

My bill will amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to expand the authority of the Interior and Agriculture Departments (including such agencies as the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to provide service- learning opportunities on public lands; help restore the nation's natural, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational and scenic resources; train a new generation of public land managers and enthusiasts; and promote the value of public service.

Additionally, the bill adds authority for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to participate in the program. NOAA, an agency of the Commerce Department, manages the National Marine Sanctuaries System, and with this new authority will be able to offer Corps members a chance to work in restoring coastal and marine systems along our oceans and the Great Lakes.

The bill will reinvigorate the Public Lands Corps programs by modernizing the scope of corps projects to reflect new challenges, such as climate change; and adding incentives to attract new participants, especially from underrepresented populations.

The legislation will ensure that, during their service term, participants receive adequate training for the work they have been assigned, including agency-specific standards, principles and practices. Language to ensure adequate housing, authorize participants in existing volunteer programs to contribute both as mentors and on Corps projects, expand the program for college and graduate students, and broaden preferential hire provisions is also included.

The bill would rename the corps as the Public Lands Service Corps, and remove the $12 million authorization ceiling, paving the way for increased funding for this excellent program.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased that President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar have made national service a priority, and I am delighted to be a strong supporter of the GIVE Act, which we are considering this week. I want to thank the gentleman from California, Chairman Miller, for his very generous assistance in the drafting of the Public Lands Corps amendments I am introducing today.

I also want to thank the gentleman from West Virginia, Chairman Rahall, the chairman of the other committee on which I am proud to serve, the Natural Resources Committee, for his support of this legislation. Other members have also indicated their interest in service-learning on public lands, and I look forward to working with them, and with members of the other body who have a long interest in the Public Lands Corps.

Madam Speaker, we know the tasks and challenges that confront our land and water management agencies are great. This bill will help us meet those challenges.

Thank you, Chairman Rahall.

S. 22 will likely be the most important piece of conservation legislation we consider this year, and perhaps this Congress.

After too many years, during which the condition of our national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges were totally ignored, after too many years where clean and abundant water, clean air, healthy trees and healthy wildlife were not priorities, S. 22 is a long overdue recommitment to the protection and the preservation of our natural and cultural resources that make this Nation truly great.

Contrary to stated cost estimates, CBO has stated this package is budget neutral. And according to just about every environmental, outdoor recreation, sportsmen's and historic preservation group, it's the best thing they've seen in a long, long time.

I am particularly proud of the inclusion of my legislation, the National Landscape Conservation System within the Bureau of Land Management. NLCS was created administratively a decade ago. It covers approximately 26 million acres--about 10 percent of the land administered by the Bureau of Land Management--including National Scenic and Historic Trails, national conservation areas, national monuments, wilderness areas, wild and Scenic Rivers, and wilderness study areas managed by BLM. These individual units make up the National Landscape Conservation System. They are unique and ruggedly beautiful areas with truly nationally significant resources.

Mr. Speaker, the opponents of this bill seem to be concerned that it will somehow change or alter current management of these lands. This is simply not true, and it's obvious if you read the text of the legislation.

After almost a decade of success, it's time for Congress to put its stamp of approval on this system by formally authorizing NLCS. That authorization, combined with the important wilderness, wild and scenic river trails, and other designations in this package will begin the process of restoring the American people's faith in our ability to serve as good stewards of the incredible natural and cultural resources which make this Nation blessed.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a Tucson, Arizona icon, a state of Arizona pioneer and a national treasure--Ms. Cele Peterson. Cele Peterson, a visionary and an activist, will turn 100 on March 14, 2009 and she is still busy as a catalyst for business, cultural, environmental, and children's organizations in Tucson, Arizona. She grew up in the wildest days of Bisbee, a little mining town in Arizona close to the border with Mexico. She tells stories about watching skirmishes of the Mexican Revolution from high on the hills across the valley, sitting at the knee of an old ``mule skinner'' listening to tales of the West, and of her brother dynamiting their backyard to build a garden for their mother. Cele maintains that her strength and persistence is due to the 365 steps she climbed up and down the steep hills of Bisbee to and from school every day.

At fifteen, she graduated from high school and began attending the University of Arizona. She went on to Sullins College in Bristol, Virginia and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Cele worked at the Library of Congress in the manuscript division in the late 1920's. She was sent to Mexico City where she continued her work of translating old Spanish manuscripts pertaining to the history of the Southwest.

In 1931, when Cele opened a dress shop in Tucson, she began a career that integrated her love of history, creativity as a designer, business acumen and intelligence with her values and desires to improve the community. Today, Cele will still tell you that her most important priority always was her love for her husband Tom and their five children. Her love today continues to be centered on her on children, her 14 grandchildren and her 10 great grandchildren.

For the last 78 years, Cele Peterson Fashion's has grown and changed with the times, yet Cele claims she has never worked a day in her life. She loves what she does, and has adventures and honors that reflect her enthusiasm. In the 1940's she initiated a daily radio broadcast from her downtown store. In the 1950's she was selected as a young American designer to participate in the Merrimack fashion show at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Her denim tailored ``Station Wagon Togs'' drew international recognition. Her designs celebrated Arizona's special resources: copper, cotton, climate, and cattle.

Along the way, Cele founded what is now known as the Tucson Children's Museum, was a co-founder of the Casa de Los Ninos, the first crisis nursery in the United States, and was very involved in the beginnings of the Arizona Theater Company and the Tucson Opera Company. She was the instigator of a non-profit organization that celebrates Tucson's Birthday and culture every August. Cele created the idea for Kids International Neighborhood, a non-profit organization that promotes cultural understanding, acceptance and respect among children of the world.

Cele served on University of Arizona boards for the College of Humanities, the School of Architecture and the Steele Memorial Children's Research Foundation. She also served on the boards of the Tucson Trade Bureau, Tucson/Mexico Sister Cities, the Tucson Local Development Corporation, the Industrial Development Authority, the Tucson Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Angel Charity for Children, the Tucson Community Foundation and the Tucson Downtown Alliance.

Over the years her achievements have been recognized and honored with numerous awards including: the City of Hope Woman of the Year Award, the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Founders Award, the University of Arizona College of Agriculture Distinguished Citizen Award, the YWCA's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Ernst & Young/INC. Magazine 1995 National Socially Responsible Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Cele was named a Dona de Los Descendientes del Presidio de Tucson, the group of women responsible for maintaining Tucson's historic culture. Cele received a Crystal Apple from the Metropolitan Education Commission and was honored as one of the Four Women Who Helped Build Tucson by the Concerned Media Professionals. In 2004, the America-Israel Friendship League honored her with a Cycle of Life Award. In the same year she was named Grand Marshal of the Tucson Rodeo Parade. In 2007 the Tucson Pima Public Library designated the Cele Peterson Arizona Collection, as an ongoing resource of local history.

As of February 2009 Cele is working on a youth apprentice program for the Rodeo Parade Committee, actively recruiting additions for the Cele Peterson Collection at the library, and encouraging the exchange of cultural ideas for children through the distribution of I Love You in Many Languages, a Kids International Neighborhood book. Cele is also continuing her involvement with a coalition of environmental groups to restore and preserve native growth and wildflowers on a centrally located urban lot.

Clearly Cele Peterson is committed to finding beauty, and changing the world. She often quotes her mother, ``Look into that field out there. You'll see whatever you want to see. You can see wildflowers and beauty or waste and junk.'' Cele has always made a clear decision to look for beauty. In the process, she became a community legend.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 100th year passing of Goyathlay.

Goyathalay or Goyaale, also known as Geronimo, was a Chiricahua Apache leader that leader that led the Apache people through some of the roughest times they would experience.

Goyathlay is a strong figure in the history of the Apache people. He was considered by many a great spiritual and intellectual leader and is recognized throughout the country as a military leader during the late 1800s.

On this anniversary Apache Tribes from Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma will join in San Carlos, Arizona to begin a healing process.

Next week's gathering will be a search for answers for some and a healing for others.

For all present it will be a reflection of what the Apache people endured and the strength that lies within them. The Apache have overcome great adversity, but they are strong as a culture, as a people and in what their future holds.

The Apache people are working to connect families, tribal members, and communities that were separated while Goyathlay was alive.

Goyathlay was a strong believer in the sovereignty of his nation, a struggle he had regularly with the representatives of the US Government at the time that did not understand the Apache ways or homelands.

Madam Speaker, I would hope that our country has learned and corrected its ways since the passing of Goyathlay. That we as a nation commit to ensuring families are kept together, not separated. And that we as a nation do not negate the culture and tradition of others.

I believe that we all join with the Apache people in working to find answers and heal.

I commend the Apache people for their strength and work in uniting. We must care for our elders and provide them peace. We must remind our children of our past and educate them to pursue a just future of respect and to not allow atrocities to occur anywhere.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Amendments Act of 2009. The Morris K. Udall Foundation is an independent federal agency based in Tucson, Arizona, which operates exceptional educational programs focused on developing leadership on environmental and Native American issues. It also includes the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, the only program within the federal government focused entirely on preventing, managing and resolving federal environmental conflicts.

The legislation I introduce today would enhance the Foundation's programs and operations, and at the same time honor one of the greatest public servants and conservationists in history, Stewart L. Udall, by adding his name to the Foundation with that of his late brother, Morris K. Udall.

The Udall Foundation was established by Congress in 1992. Initially, the Foundation's mission was to provide educational opportunities for studies related to the environment and Native American tribal policy and health care. In 1998, Congress amended the Udall Foundation's enabling legislation to add a new mission: resolving conflicts related to the environment, natural resources and public lands through services including mediation, facilitation and training. The work of the Udall Foundation has become even more important today, as the nation seeks long-term responses to climate change, sustainable energy supplies, and a sustainable economy for all Americans.

Education Programs

Through its education programs, the Udall Foundation identifies and educates tomorrow's leaders in fields that are critical to the energy, climate change and economic issues facing our nation. The programs include:

The premier college scholarship and doctoral fellowship for studies related to the environment and a scholarship for Native Americans studying tribal policy or health care. The Obama Administration has committed to creating five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future. The 1,000-some Udall Scholar alumni, who are chosen in part for their demonstrated commitment to public service, will clearly be in the forefront of clean energy and climate change response activities both in the private sector and government.

The Native American Congressional Internship program placing gifted undergraduate and graduate students in Congress, the Council on Environmental Quality, and Cabinet offices to learn first-hand how Washington impacts their tribes and communities. My own Washington office has hosted a Udall Native American intern each summer since I first came to Congress in 2003, and I can testify to the talent and commitment of these interns, many of whom have already gone on to positions of leadership in their tribal communities, government and nonprofit organizations. More than 150 young Native leaders will have completed the Udall Congressional internship through this summer.

Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy (NNI), which serves as a self-determination, governance, and economic development resource for tribal nations. Through the impact of its tribal executive leadership program, Indian nations are rebuilding their economies. NNI has three primary program areas: Leadership and Management Training, Strategic and Organizational Development, and Research and Policy Analysis. NNI's activities in these three areas have made it the leading provider of nation-building services and education to the senior leadership of Indian nations and a world-class center for applied research on how indigenous peoples can meet the practical challenges of nation building.

The Parks in Focus program, which connects underserved youth to nature through the art of photography, instilling in them a long- lasting understanding of and appreciation for national parks and other public lands.

The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution

The Udall Foundation includes the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, the only entity in the federal government dedicated to resolving federal environmental conflicts. The Institute is funded by an annual appropriation from Congress and fees for services. Since its inception in FY 1999, the Institute has been involved in hundreds of conflicts around the country, providing services such as assessment, mediation and facilitation. The Institute also provides leadership on conflict resolution within the federal government and training to federal managers and stakeholders, providing practical hands-on tools to better prevent and manage disputes and engage in collaborative problem-solving. Each year, the Institute engages thousands of stakeholders directly in agreement-seeking processes representing many thousands of constituents. Services are provided by the Institute's small staff, as well as by contracted mediators who are listed on the Institute's national roster of almost 300 conflict resolution professionals.

The U.S. Institute's work is particularly needed right now, given the need for infrastructure projects, natural resource management, and other important priorities with environmental impacts. Major initiatives by the new Administration related to energy policy and climate change most likely will require considerable multi-sector dialogue and consensus building. The Institute has a 10-year track record of facilitating such dialogue, particularly where multiple federal, state, local and tribal governments are involved. The need for Institute services has already been growing, and will continue to grow with these new energy and climate initiatives.

It is appropriate for Congress to provide solid support for the Udall Foundation's important programs through the legislation I introduce today, while simultaneously recognizing the unsurpassed contributions of Stewart L. Udall by adding his name to the Foundation's title. Stewart Udall served in this House of Congress with distinction from 1955, representing an area that included what is now my district, until he was appointed Secretary of the Interior in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. As Secretary of Interior, Stewart Udall had an unmatched record of environmental leadership, overseeing the creation of 4 national parks, 6 national monuments, 8 national seashores and lakeshores, 9 recreation areas, 20 historic sites, and 56 wildlife refuges. He continued to make substantial contributions to environmental and Native American policy as a lawyer and author following his tenure at Interior.

With the legislation introduced today, the name of the Foundation would change to the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation. The legislation also would support the Udall Foundation's important programs into the future by authorizing funding for the education trust fund and the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution in such amounts as Congress determines is necessary.

Thank you very much, Mr. Ellison, and thank you, Congressman, for your initiative in beginning to highlight and to talk to the American people about the Progressive Caucus, about the fact that the Progressive Caucus stands for more than people have given us credit for, and stands for what I believe are the commonsense, rooted values of the American public in general.

It is essential to the Progressive message as we look, as we try to spin our way out and as our President said yesterday, to come out of this long, dark night economically and socially in this country, and to get ourselves in a position where we are rebuilding America, its schools, its people, and its infrastructure. We are rebuilding its values, and we establish ourselves in a global sense, not only economically, but as leaders, that the American people have a shared responsibility in this. I thought those were very poignant and very important words. It was an historic inauguration, one that is fundamentally changing the scope and the tenor of this Nation.

President Obama called upon us to embrace a shared responsibility. He called upon us that this shared responsibility is going to be the cornerstone of how this country pulls itself out of its quagmire and begins a renewed and better future for all Americans. And I think the call for shared responsibility and sacrifice is a hallmark of our Nation's spirit, and it is a hallmark of its past.

I think today as we speak about the Progressive Caucus, it is also time to reflect on what we have been through and not to point fingers and not to malign anyone in particular, but to talk about the past, what went right and more importantly what went wrong, and how not to repeat those mistakes. I think the opportunity afforded to us tonight by yourself and others is a very important step in that direction.

One of the tragedies for our Nation has been in the last 8 years our inability to not only export our products but export our values to the rest of the world. With the exportation of values comes the exportation of ideas, democracy, and I think the most important thing is that we have an association with other people, not by domination, not by exploitation, but a cooperation that we are going to work together. And for a billion people and children in the Third World and poor people, to wake up trying to figure out where they are going to live and survive that next moment and that next day is a tragedy upon all of us, and it is a tragedy upon all of us who have the privilege of living in this great Nation.

That is part of economic justice because it is part of the picture, as you well know, Keith, that if we are going to have real security in this Nation, we share the common value of prosperity and opportunity for other people in the world. One of the breeding grounds for hatred and one of the breeding grounds for violence in this world, and to some extent in our Nation, is the lack of----

----the lack of health, the lack of education, the lack of food and the lack of opportunity.

One of the hallmarks of this great country of ours has been and continues to be our personal freedoms, our liberties and freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the rule of law. That is the example that the rest of the world looks to us not only as leaders but as examples of that. I think President Obama said it well, we are to lead by example. And our civil rights and our civil liberties being the fundamental right of every American, the rule of law a fundamental right, the ability to exercise our discretion and our choice in a democracy, to protect our Constitution, to eliminate discrimination, those are what this country is built on. That is why people have died for this Nation, to protect those rights, and they are essential. And any part of what the Progressive Caucus does is to protect, as you well said, to protect, preserve those civil rights and liberties. They are part of what makes us American, what makes us unique and different, and, quite frankly, what makes us coveted. And to do what we need to do as a country and to continue that example, we need to protect number two in a big way and in an earnest way, and that is why the Progressive Caucus is so important to this Congress because we make that one of the platforms that we are united around.

Those rights were earned by people who came before us, by anonymous people, by people who worked hard to make sure that those rights were in place and protected. It is incumbent upon us to protect their legacy and their hard work. Without the sacrifices they made years ago in establishing those rights in this country, the right to vote, the right to free association, the freedom from discrimination, the right to know, to lose those, we have to honor that legacy, and that legacy is part and parcel, it is as American pie as being American, and we need to protect those. I appreciate that you have highlighted that as one of the three important cornerstones of our caucus.

Yes. Our caucus has long believed that promoting global peace and security is essential to the security and the peace here at home. We have pledged under our mission to honor and help our overburdened international public servants, both civilian and military, so it is not always the hammer that we use internationally but is extending the hand of support. And the international public servants, God bless them, they sacrifice more than we can ever thank them for, but they need the support. They need the resources and the personnel, and they need the help.

And to bring home our troops, bring them home from Iraq as soon as possible, to make sure that the agreed-upon timetable, both by the Iraqis and by our new President, is upheld, followed through, that there are no permanent bases there, that there is no presence there, that we bring our troops home, thank them, give them the respect and support that they need, and begin a whole new era and a new dawn of how we do our international affairs and how do we really promote peace. And to rebuild all of the alliances around the world, to restore international respect for the American power and influence, and reaffirm our Nation's constructive engagement in the United Nations and other multilateral organizations. Rather than playing the role of reluctant partner in many of these alliances and organizations in the United Nations, we must be firmly and totally engaged, both with resource support to the United Nations and as a full participating partner in the enhancement of global peace and security.

And we need to enhance international cooperation to reduce threats posed by nuclear proliferation and weapons of mass destruction. The caucus is committed to nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. We are committed to the end of weapons of mass destruction, and one of the ways to do that, and possibly the most effective way to do that, is with international cooperation, treaties, and agreements. And to increase efforts to combat hunger, to fight the scourge of HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other infectious diseases.

When 1 billion people wake up every morning wondering if there is going to be a next day, one of the ways that we can enhance our global peace and security for our Nation is to increase our efforts to combat the social and human ills that affect almost a full third of the world's population, and to encourage debt relief for poor countries and support the efforts of the U.N. to reach the Millennium goals for poor countries. That is the way that we feel, an important way, to enhance security globally and in turn enhance security for ourselves in this country.

Thank you very much, Congressman.

I can't add too much more to the fine introduction that you have just given to the subject. Again, my thanks to you for your effort and time that you are putting into making sure that our message is carried weekly before the American people, the Progressive Caucus's message.

You know, a new President was inaugurated yesterday. We turned an unbelievable corner in this country in so many ways. America's hunger for change, America's hopeful attitude and expectation that things will be better are historic firsts. An African American President, when perhaps his forefathers and his father could have never even voted in this country. It's a corner. It is a huge corner. And it speaks to the general goodness and the decency of the American people.

And, in doing so, all of us have the tendency or the desire to clean the slate. That's over. We need to move on. And I couldn't agree more. I could not agree more. We need to clean that slate and begin anew, begin to talk about this country in a different tone.

But, in cleaning the slate, we can't forget the past. The adage about history repeating itself is an important adage and a good thing to remember.

So when we look at this past administration, we want to forget it. We want to say that chapter in American life is over. Let's move on. Well, as we embark on this new political frontier that promises to restore America's values of justice and speaking the truth to the American people and the world, then the cornerstone is our Constitution and the checks and balances the system created--Congress, executive, judicial. And I think we owe it to our forefathers and we owe it to all the American people and to all the future generations that we are empowering, as a consequence of this great election, to ensure that the most basic tenets of our system are not disregarded or ignored by past, current or future administrations.

Simply said, we owe the American people the truth, not to ignore the past, and to present them with the facts and the proposed policies that will move our country forward and assure that the intrusions into our civil liberties, the intrusions into privacy, the intrusions into the powers of Congress and to restoring that checks and balances do not occur again. And to do so it is not to rehash the past, it is to learn from the past. Without running from the past, we are not able to make the corrective steps that we can.

Many of the dark chapters in this Nation's history were corrected because we learned from the past--segregation, the treatment of certain people because of who they were, what they looked like or where they came from. We learned from that. We learned from wars and preemption. We learned that that is a chapter we don't want to repeat.

Those lessons were taught to us as a consequence of knowing history and correcting history. So what we are asking for, as the Progressive Caucus--and you can speak to that, Mr. Ellison, with the report that Chairman Conyers put out--and we're very grateful to his effort for this--is that we're not asking for us to be punitive, mean, harsh or vindicative to the Bush administration.

We are saying there is some accountability here. There is a consequence to your actions. And there is a reckoning point with the American people. And that reckoning point is not about retribution, that reckoning point is we will not repeat these mistakes again. And we cannot do that unless there is full disclosure, an investigative process, and a set of recommendations and policies that cement in place the thought and the policies that this cannot occur again.

Excellent. I think that commission brought to light what we should have done, what we didn't do, and what we need to do in the future to secure the safety of the American people. And I think your point is well taken. This is not a process of indictment. It is a process of correction. And I think the 9/11 Commission did just that, took corrective steps so it would not occur again and to mitigate any of those occurrences in the future.

Well, I think if you look at this nearly 500-page report that you just indicated, Mr. Ellison, I think you will see that there are 47 separate recommendations in the report. But I think central to it is the point that you made, as you made the comparison to the 9/11 Commission, and that is the establishment of such a bipartisan commission, a blue ribbon, bipartisan commission of Congress to

thoroughly investigate and make legislative recommendations to the standing committees, or, if necessary, to call upon the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel to investigate and follow through and prosecute, if necessary.

I mention those because I really believe--and let me just quote Chairman Conyers, and I believe he's going to be here later so he can quote himself. But as part of the statement that he issued with this report he said, ``Even after scores of hearings, investigations and reports, we still do not have answers to some of the most fundamental questions left in the wake of Bush's precedency,'' Conyers said.

Pointing to allegations of torture and inhumane treatment, extraordinary rendition, warrantless domestic surveillance, the Valerie Wilson leak, the U.S. Attorney scandal, investigations are not a matter of payback or political revenge, Chairman Conyers says. It is our responsibility to examine what has occurred and set an appropriate baseline of conduct for future administrations.

In the set of recommendations, the report contains a forward by the chairman in which he talks about the need for H.R. 104, that it is a step to begin to correct what has gone wrong, to rein in the excessive power, to restore Congress to its legitimate, necessary and constitutional role of oversight over the executive branch, and to assure the American people with transparency, truth and public information. Those are what we are asking for.

Many of us--yourself and I and many members of the Progressive Caucus--have co-sponsored this legislation. We feel strongly about it. This is not looking back to point fingers. It is looking forward so that we have a blueprint for the future generations that, as I said earlier, this is not to occur again.

Let me, first of all, thank our esteemed colleague from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). Her expertise and her voice is an ingredient that this Congress would sorely miss if it was not here. Her clarity and her honesty are something this body has come to depend on and those of us who work with her have come to rely on.

As we discuss this and particularly the resolution before us that you are discussing, Mr. Ellison, let me thank you for the initiative. The Progressive Caucus in the past has spent too much time talking to itself and not enough time talking to the public and to the people we represent. So thank you for breaking that mold.

We are all proud Americans, all of us that serve here. And I think as Americans, and let me go back to the point that our colleague just made, we're about learning the truth in this body. And we're about making sure that that truth is given out to the American people that everybody knows. And I think as Americans we all have a sense of decency and fair play, that no one is above the law. And Ms. Jackson- Lee made the point about the rule of law being the cornerstone of who we are. And she made the point about cleansing, and to Native people, cleansing is an important tradition. It is about taking body, the entity, and making it come to full circle and to removing things that are not natural to that body and to that circle. And if we refer that to the body of this institution, that's what we're asking for in a very simple way, to return us to that whole that we should be.

We are all here for a short period of time. Whether we are here for 20 years or 2 years, we are a mere breath in the history of this Nation. And I think our legacies are going to be judged, and this is why this discussion today is so important, by how we protect and preserve the rule of law and the Constitution.

So this is not about retribution. This is about moving forward. Because we need a blueprint to move forward, and I think this process of discovery, this process of letting the truth be known, can only lead to better policies, restored checks and balances and restoring to this body the oversight and authority that it gave away.

We are at that point now, and this is not a reflex on what is to come in the future, this is merely a discussion about the future with some milestones and markers about how we need to travel and still remain that Nation that everybody envies because we are governed by the rule of law.

Congressman, thank you so much. I am looking forward to these discussions. Again, thank you for the initiative, and I am looking forward to continuing to participate as the Progressive Caucus against this very important discussion, this talk, this communication with the American people.

Madam Speaker, the Supreme Court's recent decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear was a giant step backwards for America in its commitment to fairness and equality. It is hard to believe that at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, our country is still struggling with gender based employment and wage equity. The Ledbetter decision made a legal remedy for this discriminatory practice considerably more difficult.

As Justice Ginsberg pointed out in her dissent, the decision counsels women to sue early on, ``when it is uncertain whether discrimination accounts for the pay disparity you are beginning to experience. Indeed, initially you may not know that men are receiving more for substantially similar work. Of course, you are likely to lose such a less than fully baked case. If you sue only when the pay disparity becomes steady and large enough to enable you to mount a winnable case, you will be cut off at the court's threshold for suing too late.''

Under this precedent, evidence of an employer knowingly carrying past pay discrimination forward must be treated as lawful. This was clearly not the intent of the legislation.

Today's legislation attempts to remedy the destructive effects of the Court's actions. Under this bill, each sex-based discriminatory salary payment constitutes a new violation of Title VII. As a result, if an individual uncovers a sex based discriminatory act related to compensation that has been going on for years, like Ms. Ledbetter, that individual can seek redress.

If we oppose discrimination in compensation then we must provide a legal recourse for those who have been discriminated against. The Fair Pay Act effectively restores this just and necessary remedy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the work Emily Nottingham has done for the Tucson community.

Emily is retiring from the city of Tucson Community Services Department after 34 years of service to the community both on a local and national level.

I have been honored to work with Emily on many significant projects over the years.

Emily is one of this country's strongest advocates on behalf of affordable housing. Her steadfast determination to ensure that low income citizens have access to safe, decent and affordable housing has been a hallmark of her career.

Emily has been responsible for the implementation of a broad spectrum of housing assistance: from home ownership opportunities, to housing rehabilitation, rental housing assistance, and the development of mixed-income housing throughout the city of Tucson. During her tenure, the Section 8 program grew from helping fewer than 1,000 households to assisting nearly 5,000 households.

I am impressed with Emily's many accomplishments. Her tenacity, her dedication, and her vision have served Tucson well. The community will miss her energy and her common sense approach to the task at hand.

I wish Emily the very best in her retirement.

Mr. Chairman, I wish to express my strong support of H.R. 3036, the No Child Left Inside Act, and the opportunities it provides students for a strong environmental education. I have been a strong supporter of the No Child Left Inside Act. As a member of Education and Labor and Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, this act represents an important confluence of my interests, and I am happy to support this legislation. I attended the field hearing for this legislation, and have taken a personal interest in its passage through the many steps it has taken to the floor. Though I am unable to participate in the vote on final passage today, I wish to make it clear that I remain a steadfast proponent of the No Child Left Inside Act, and am pleased with its consideration by the House today.

This act will promote environmental literacy and hands-on educational experiences, while at the same time promoting core learning of critical skills. These programs have also been linked to meaningful improvements in student cooperation, conflict resolution, motivation to learn and positive behavior. Additionally, these programs add to the encouragement of a healthy and active lifestyle of outdoor recreation.

No Child Left Inside promotes environmental literacy where it is most effective--in nature. This, in turn, promotes children's health, increases their knowledge of the natural world, and encourages students' interests in the lesson. NCLl provides educators with the necessary skills to teach environmental education, and provides grants for State and local agencies to acquire the needed capacity for effective environmental education.

The benefits of this program have a measureable impact on students' core curriculum--improving performance in science, math, reading and social studies. The No Child Left Inside Act is important for our environment, as it educates the next generation, who will inherit a planet whose fragile habitats will increasingly need our help and protection.