Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, due to a previous commitment, I was absent from legislative business on Monday, October 17, 2005 and Tuesday, October 18, 2005. Had I been present, I would have voted accordingly: On rollcall No. 521, approving the Journal, I would have voted ``nay''. On rollcall No. 522, passage of H. Res. 457, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 523, passage of H. Res. 491, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 524, passage of H. Res. 494, I would have voted ``nay''. On rollcall No. 525, passage of H.R. 1409, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 526, passage of H. Res. 492, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 527, passage of H.R. 3549, I would have voted ``yea''. On rollcall No. 528, passage of H.R. 3853, I would have voted ``yea''.

Mr. Speaker, it is with regret and deep sadness that I rise to honor Howard Beaver, a resident of Tucson, AZ, who passed away on October 3, 2005. For over 27 years he sold or rented thousands of musical instruments to Tucson children. I myself bought my first harmonica at his store. He was a pillar of Tucson society, an impassioned musician, beloved husband, father, and grandfather.

Howard Beaver was born in Beaver, AR, and raised in Odessa, TX. He moved to Tucson in 1949 for his freshman year at the University of Arizona, where he received his bachelor's degree in music. He later went on to earn a master's degree from Northern Arizona University.

Howard opened Beaver's Band Box in 1964, a music store where he rented and sold instruments as well as provided music lessons. In 1991 he sold the store to his son, Dan, who then proceeded to open a second Beaver's Band Box.

He was a very dynamic member of the Tucson music community; in 1966 he founded Beaver's Tucson Concert Band, was influential in the beginning of the UA alumni band and was active in many community bands.

Howard's life was filled with music and family, two things that were very important to him. His love of music began early in life, with his first Trombone in seventh or eighth grade, though he would later know how to play them all. The other love of his life was family. He is survived by his wife Liz, five children (Dan, Heidi, Carl, Krista, and Erica) and 15 grandchildren.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 2123, as this bill is a remarkable improvement on last Congress's version and includes important provisions which will benefit all Head Start participants. I will, however, vote against this legislation if Leadership succeeds in inserting a ``poison pill'' that, if adopted, would mark the first time Congress would permit organizations that run Head Start programs to discriminate against job applicants solely on the basis of their religion.

While by no means a perfect bill, this legislation stands as a testament to the progress that can be made through bipartisan cooperation. This bill contains none of the controversial provisions from last Congress, such as block granting or universal competitions. Instead, H.R. 2123 contains several provisions which will benefit all Head Start participants, and I am proud of this fact and have worked hard with my Colleagues towards achieving these goals.

In particular, H.R. 2123 provides additional resources for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) program expansion, which will allow for thousands of farm-worker children to exit the fields and enter the classroom. This expansion includes a 5% funding floor for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start. In step with this funding floor, the Secretary is required to compose a report determining how well we are serving children eligible for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start. The bill also requires a study on the status of limited-English-proficient children and their families in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. These provisions and many others included in the bill before us today will benefit all Head Start students and families and set kids on the right foot for competing with their peers throughout their school years.

Mr. Chairman, it is evident that the provisions in this year's bill will help millions of Head Start students and their families' educational, personal, and economic well-being. I ask, why, then, are we considering inserting a poison pill into this remarkable piece of legislation? The amendment offered by Mr. Boustany would severely block the program's participants, children and parents, from climbing out of poverty to self-sufficiency. This is simply unacceptable in light of what Katrina has unearthed as a systemic problem in our country: widespread and unresolved poverty.

This amendment would prevent volunteer Head Start parents from moving off the welfare rolls into self-sufficiency as Head Start certified teachers, simply because they are the wrong religion. This outcome is not needed, not wanted, and definitely not helpful to the millions living in poverty today.

Additionally, this amendment also sets a dangerous precedent: such a change would allow faith-based organizations to discriminate not just on the basis of a person's religious affiliation, but also on how closely they follow the tenets of that religion. This could include religious beliefs on medical treatments, marriage, pregnancy, gender, and even race.

Don't let Head Start fail by excluding qualified teachers and engaged parents from Head Start programs run by faith-based organizations. I urge my colleagues to vote no on final passage if this dangerous amendment passes.

Mr. Chairman, today I rise in opposition to H.R. 3824.

In the 1960s, Rachel Carson's book ``Silent Spring'' documented the harmful effects of DDT and other pesticides on songbirds. This prompted a ban on DDT and the passage of the original Endangered Species Act. The ban on DDT, which the EPA said posed unacceptable risks to the environment and human health, saved the bald eagle and countless other species from going extinct.

Today we are considering a bill that would usher in another silent spring by eliminating the oversight for the registration of pesticides which harm wildlife and people.

H.R. 3824 contains a provision allowing EPA to consult with itself in determining the potential impacts of pesticide registration on endangered wildlife and fish, instead of consulting with the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service, which are the expert agencies whose mission is either in whole or in part to conserve species.

H.R. 3824 would take away the ability to stop pesticide use even when necessary to prevent extinction. Without existing checks and balances on pesticide use, the effect on wildlife could be devastating. Humans could be hurt too, because toxic pesticides are applied by farm workers that make their way into our Nation's streams, rivers, and food supply.

Pesticides poison 10,000 to 20,000 agricultural workers each year and are estimated to kill more than 67 million birds annually. But the EPA currently only requires balancing the profits from using a pesticide against the dollar value of harm caused by that pesticide. The Endangered Species Act, on the other hand, recognizes what almost all Americans believe, that no dollar amount can be placed on the extension of our Nation's treasured wildlife or on the human health of people who work in those fields.

The substitute to H.R. 3824 would leave existing law unchanged. It would leave in place current safeguards by requiring an analysis based on the health of wildlife, not the company's bottom line.

For this reason and many others, I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this controversial bill and voting ``yes'' on the Miller substitute.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to cast rollcall votes 494, 495, and 496 on September 27, 2005, because I was unavoidably detained on official business.

Had I been present I would have cast the following votes: on rollcall vote No. 494, I would have voted ``yea''; on rollcall vote No. 495, I would have voted ``yea''; and on rollcall vote No. 496, I would have voted ``yea''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the winners of the national 2005 Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement Competition held in Anaheim, California.

Johnnie Gasper, Rosie Mankel, Esther Blue, and Darryl Davis-Rosas, from Tucson, Arizona's Pueblo High Magnet School took first place at the national competition.

The Math, Engineering, Science Achievement Competition, otherwise known as MESA, is a college preparation program founded in 1970 and launched in Arizona in 1983. Students from middle and high schools throughout southern Arizona participate in hands-on activities related to math, engineering, and science and college preparation workshops.

Over 60 schools in Arizona participate in MESA. A total of eight States competed in the competition--California, Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

These Pueblo High students were challenged to build a vehicle out of a mousetrap that could drive 10 meters, up a 30 degree incline, and stop accurately after traveling another five meters. The students had trouble with the original vehicle design, which tested their commitment and determination. Johnnie, Rosie, Esther and Darryl redesigned and built a new vehicle that led them to success. The competition also required them to write a 15-page essay and complete an academic presentation on their work. The students received high marks on all parts of the competition.

I would like to commend these young men and women for their incredible accomplishments in math and science; and to recognize the faculty of Pueblo High School for their guidance of these fine students. I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring them today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the winners of the 2005 Goldman Environmental Prize, the world's most prestigious prize honoring grassroots environmentalists.

Now in its 16th year, the Goldman Prize is annually awarded to environmental leaders from six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands & Island Nations, North America, and South & Central America. The recipients are engaged in important efforts to preserve the natural environment, including protecting endangered ecosystems and species, combating destructive development projects, promoting sustainability, influencing environmental policies and striving for environmental justice. Goldman Prize winners often are figurative men and women from isolated villages and inner cities who are willing to endure great personal risks to safeguard the environment.

To be given the award is a great honor. It is a recognition of the outstanding work that the activists do to ensure social and environmental justice in their communities and around the world.

This year the recipient from Mexico is Isidro Baldenegro Lopez. Mr. Baldenegro is a subsistence farmer and community leader of Mexico's indigenous Tarahumara people in the country's Sierra Madre mountain region. He has spent much of his life defending old growth forests from devastating logging in a region torn by violence, corruption and drug- trafficking. Tragically, Baldenegro is acutely aware of the grave risks involved in defending the forest. As a boy, he witnessed firsthand the assassination of his father who was killed for his opposition to logging. In the face of these serious risks and repeated threats against his life, Baldenegro has chosen to remain and defend the forest and ancestral lands his community has inhabited for hundreds of years. In 1993, Baldenegro developed a non-violent grassroots movement to fight the logging industry in the Sierra Madres. He later mobilized a massive human blockade which resulted in a special court order outlawing logging in the area. Following the blockade, Baldenegro was suddenly jailed on what later proved to be false charges of arms and drug possession. After 15 months of imprisonment, he emerged to establish an environmental justice organization, which currently has cases pending in the federal courts in Mexico. He has brought world attention to the beautiful, ecologically crucial old-growth forests of the Sierra Madre as well as the survival of the Tarahumara people.

Father Jose Andres Tamayo Cortez, another Goldman Prize recipient, is a Catholic priest leading the struggle for environmental justice in the Olancho region of Honduras. He directs the Environmental Movement of Olancho, MAO, a coalition of subsistence farmers and community and religious leaders who are defending their lands against uncontrolled logging in the region. Logging has already taken more than half of the region's 12 million acres of forest in one of the most biologically diverse forest ecosystems. Father Tamayo has worked to exert pressure on the Honduran government to reform its national forest policy. He has been harassed and violently assaulted, and has had a bounty put on his life for his work in his community. Father Tamayo is selflessly committed to the peaceful protection of the forests and the people of Honduras. He has said, ``Natural resources and life itself are human rights; therefore, to destroy God's creation is to attack human life; our last remaining option is to defend life with our own life.''

These are just two of the six leaders awarded the Goldman Prize this year, but I would like to commend all the winners for their incredible commitment to a better world for their communities. I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring them today.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to recognize an amazing woman from my district, Emma Torres from Yuma, Arizona. She is a role model and inspiration for all; her work and dedication was recently recognized, internationally, when she was honored by Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Ohtli Award. This award acknowledges her contributions to the development of Hispanic communities and for her support in social causes. The Ohtli award is given to distinguished Hispanic leaders who devote their lives promoting and fostering the prosperity of communities in the United States. The word Ohtli means ``righteous path'' in Nahuatl.

Emma has been a strong border community leader and health advocate for migrant and seasonal farm workers in Western Arizona for more than 20 years. After losing her husband to leukemia in 1982, she turned a personal and painful life experience into a mission to enhance the quality of life of farm workers. She co-founded and is the current Executive Director of Campesinos Sin Fronteras, a grassroots, community-based organization that uses education and advocacy to improve the standard of living for farm workers. Prior to her current position, she was the Field Office Director for Puentes de Amistad/ Bridges in Friendship under the leadership of the Arizona Border Health Foundation. In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed Emma to the US/ Mexico Border Health Binational Commission.

She has pioneered the Lay Health Worker/Promotora Model in Arizona since 1987, and as a certified Inter-Cultural Affairs (ICA) facilitator has led efforts to bring adequate healthcare coverage to our most vulnerable populations.

Most recently Emma accomplished one of her personal dreams--she received her degree in social work from Northern Arizona University. This is the latest of recognitions for Emma's commitment, persistence, and belief in improving one's personal life and that of one's community.

Emma's life is an example to others; pursue one's dreams, believe in making change, be strong, and progress will prevail.

Mr. Speaker, It is with great honor that I recognize Jim Brodie. Jim was a respected member of the community, providing tireless hours to the youth, community and Habitat for Humanity.

Jim was a lifelong union ironworker, working in industrial and commercial construction. Upon retirement, he continued his service to our community by assisting Habitat for Humanity of Tucson in the construction and later supervision of projects throughout the Old Pueblo.

The energy and expertise he provided for Habitat for Humanity, its volunteers and its clients was unprecedented. He was a gifted leader, working on multiple projects and at various stages of the products. Among his many talents was the ability to work with young and old alike. This is especially noted with his success in working on the High School Build Program, proving to be a mentor, role model, and friend to the students he supervised.

For the last 8 years of his life, Jim's work with the Habitat High School Build programs inspired the youth, their parents, and their teachers. Although initially hesitant to work the students, his ability to motivate and provide guidance came to him second nature. He was a natural teacher, impacting multiple lives and instilling pride in the lives that he impacted.

Jim's role in supervising the Habitat High School Build programs, which included five schools and the State Prison programs, was unique. Furthermore, it was a true gift to our community and youth. He worked closely with the high school teachers to develop important mentoring relationships with students. His dedication went well beyond the building projects and will influence students for years to come.

His legacy includes the 40 families that now live in Habitat homes built by students participating in the High School Build program. Jim was admired by all who met or heard of him. His life and work is an inspiration to us all.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment that shifts funding within the EPA environmental program and management account.

Although the rules of the House prevent me from specifying in the amendment where the funding will go, it is my intention to restore funding for EPA's environmental justice program.

I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Offered By: Mr. Grijalva

Amendment No. 17: Page 64, line 17, after the dollar

amount, insert the following: ``(increased by $1,903,000)

(decreased by $1,903,000)''.

Mr. Speaker, Luisa Trujillo Vasquez was born in Nogales, Territory of Arizona on May 22, 1906. In the fall of that same year, Luisa's parents, Salome Vasquez and Reyes Trujillo, loaded their six sons and baby daughter into a horse-drawn wagon and made the journey to Tucson. Tucson has been Luisa's home since her arrival as an infant; earning her the title of a ``Native Tucsonan.''

The Trujillo family lived on the corner of Simpson Street and Main Avenue, across from the famous ``Elysian Groves,'' where Luisa and her siblings often played as children and adolescents. Luisa attended Drachman and Safford Elementary schools until 6th grade when she left school in order to help her mother look after her brothers and help with household chores. The end of her formal education did not mark the end of Luisa's learning; indeed, Luisa's character was strengthened and her practical education supplemented when she joined the workforce at the young age of 13 in order to help support her family. Never one to complain, Luisa accepted this challenge willingly and with dignity and resolve.

Luisa has held many job titles throughout her lifetime, but she considers herself first and foremost to be a seamstress. She sewed for Levy's Department Store, Kaufman's Department Store (later known as Saccani's), the Lyric Outfitters, and she worked at Davis Monthan Air Force Base sewing and mending thousands of military uniforms for soldiers stationed there during World War II. Luisa is also known for designing and fitting many of the Hispanic brides and their bridesmaid dresses during the 1930's, 1940's and early 1950's.

Luisa has many fond memories of the Tucson of her youth where she used to ride the mule-drawn trolley named ``El Urbano,'' danced at the old Armory Park Dance Hall, took in films at the Old ``Opera House,'' and attended shows at the Teatro Carmen. She also vividly remembers family outings to Sabino Canyon, trips to Old Fort Lowell and Vail Communities, and Sunday outings to the old Southern Pacific Railroad Depot to listen to the military bands from Fort Lowell and the SPRR Civic Band.

Luisa raised her four children as well as her beloved niece and nephew in Tucson. Throughout the years and particularly during the Great Depression, Luisa struggled with quiet resolve to provide for her immediate and extended family and even her neighbors from time to time.

Though Luisa is proud of her Mexican-American heritage, her loyalty has always been to her American homeland. Since World War I, Luisa has also had a deep love for America's servicemen and women. Following the death of her much-loved nephew during World War II (whom Luisa raised), Luisa was recognized as a ``Gold Star Mother.'' In honor of her nephew and the sacrifice he made for his country, Luisa has requested that her Gold Star be pinned to her dress and buried with her upon her death.

Luisa has been the recipient of many well-deserved awards throughout the course of her lifetime. Most recently, the ``Los Descendientes del Presidio de Tucson'' recognized Luisa's achievements and her commitment to her native city.

Luisa has led a life full of love and friendship and distinguished by uncommon hospitality and service to her loved ones as well as her community. She is an exceptional woman, mother, grandmother, great- grandmother, and citizen. Her life has left an indelible mark on Tucson and the lives of its citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Dr. Alice S. Paul, an exceptional citizen of my community, our country, and the Tohono O'odham Nation. Dr. Paul's life, which unfortunately ended too soon on May 3, 2005, exemplifies the impact of public education at a time when we need to speak about its power.

Dr. Alice Paul is a product of public education and leaves a legacy of its worth. As a life-time educator, she extended the power of public education far beyond her own experience. Her focus was early childhood education, and she traveled widely helping communities improve their early childhood educational systems. Her work had direct impact on the lives of young children and their families throughout the United States, from rural Alaska to urban New Jersey. After her retirement she even served as a consultant to the Taiwanese educational system.

Alice Paul accomplished many firsts. She was the first Tohono O'odham to receive a doctorate degree and the first to teach in Tucson Unified School District. She was rooted in her tribal identity, but her openness reached far beyond. Whether meeting Native or non-Native people, Americans or Chinese, Christians or Muslims, her strong and gentle wisdom left a positive mark--because of who she was.

Combining her exceptional personal qualities, life experiences, and academic expertise, Dr. Paul touched individuals, organizations, and institutions. She was a classroom teacher. She was a Field Representative of Tucson's Early Education Model and later Director of its Follow Through Program which worked with former Head Start children and their families through the third grade. She was a University of Arizona Associate Professor of Education, and she served as head of its Department of Teaching and Teacher Education. In later years, she was a member of the Arizona State Museum Board of Directors. She was Chair of the T'ohono O'odham Community College Board of Trustees and realized its accreditation. The honors she received over the years would fill a page.

Initially, she postponed finishing college when the family could not afford to send both her and her younger brother to college. She joined the United States Navy where she met Richard Paul. When they married in 1952, it was illegal for a Native American and a non-Native American to marry in Arizona, so they traveled to New Mexico for a civil ceremony before returning to Tucson for a church wedding at Southside Presbyterian Church. Dr. Paul grew up as a member of that faith community and served as an Elder for over 50 years. Her leadership abilities were recognized by the wider church, and she was elected Moderator of Presbytery de Cristo, was a consultant to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) regarding its Christian education curriculum for children, and served on the national church's Task Force on Reparations and its Commission on Preparation for Ministry.

Dr. Paul had a wide world view which allowed her to rise above conflict. She saw real problems and shared her opinions, but in a way which did not demean or incapacitate those with whom she disagreed. She credited her parents, Jones and Marianna Narcho, with teaching her the value of generosity and service. Once when asked how she happened to get a doctorate degree, Dr. Paul laughed and said, ``My mother told me to learn all I could.''

As a Native American, Dr. Paul observed and experienced serious inequities and violations of civil rights. She recalled that her father was arrested when he had a stroke on the sidewalk in front of their home. Because he was an Indian, the police presumed him to be drunk, and he died in jail of wounds that could never be explained. Even though the pain of that recollection stayed fresh, she used all her life experiences to become the outstanding woman she was.

As a Congressional District, as Nations, we could not be more privileged than to have had Dr. Alice Paul live and work among us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in order to honor the millions who lost their lives during the Holocaust as we observe Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day.

Each year, I am confronted with so many emotions as we commemorate this day. It brings great pain to my heart as we remember the victims of one of history's darkest and most murderous eras. To try and grasp the significance of the death toll that resulted from the Holocaust is both a saddening and frustrating exercise. Six million Jews not only lost their lives, but were murdered on the basis of nonsensical, inhumane reasoning--reasoning that dictated action through hate on the basis of religious discrimination. The end result, sadly though, was much worse than what is our conventional idea of religious discrimination. The end result in this tragic situation was genocide.

And though my heart weighs heavily as I reflect on the injustices suffered and the lives lost, there is a part of me that sees an opportunity to celebrate human resilience as we commemorate this somber day. In the face of some of the most intense hatred and inhumanity that this world has ever seen, it gives me great hope to think of the many who seized upon the greatest power that any individual human-being can posses, and in fact, a power that each and everyone of us posses. That power is the power to choose.

And in the face of oppression, persecution and destruction, there were so many who chose to resist, whether it was through physical action, words written and spoken, or in spirit. Some of these people were heroes whose names we celebrate, some were heroes only to those who knew them and some were simply heroes in and of themselves.

To these people we owe a debt of gratitude and respect. Now, more than ever, as the world continues to wrestle with violence spawned by religious and cultural intolerance, we cannot forget or underestimate our own power to choose to act out against this type of hatred and oppression. Let us never forget that silence and inaction provide fertile breeding ground for grave injustices. We all have a moral obligation to choose to act.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentlewoman from California for yielding this time. And I would also like to thank the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), the ranking member, for her consistent and valuable advocacy on behalf of the small businesses in this country. It is an honor to serve with the gentlewoman.

It is a funny situation to be here today during Small Business Week speaking on a resolution that is intended to benefit our Nation's small businesses; but, in reality, this resolution ignores a pressing issue that has the potential to very severely burden the small business community of our country.

I believe this resolution has less to do with priorities and more about a partisan political agenda that does not address a myriad of realities for small businesses. And I want to talk about one reality. The reality in this situation is this:

The President has spent millions of dollars pitching privatized personal accounts as the answer to Social Security. But he has failed to address how these personal accounts will adversely affect the administrative costs for small businesses.

Small firms are already responsible for withholding billions of dollars a year of payroll taxes for their employees. The creation of private savings accounts sticks them with a severe logistical headache, in fact an unfunded mandate.

Consider this: under a personal savings plan, small businesses would be responsible for everything from providing, collecting, filing paperwork, to establishing an accounting system to ensuring proper payment over time, to handling quarterly and annual reporting to the employee.

Furthermore, the administration has been telling Americans that this plan is only, is just like a Thrift Savings Plan. The truth of the matter is that there are tremendous costs associated with administering these types of plans, and most often those costs will fall on the employers.

And judging by the experience with TSPs and other retirement accounts, employees will look to their employers if there is a problem. Who knows how responsibility and liability will be determined? Small firms will be sued if anything goes wrong with an account or with the investment.

In light of the facts that I have laid out, Congress should be taking a harder look at the realities of having small businesses assume the administrative burden of collecting and paying out for private accounts. A proposed blueprint that does not address all the realities and the real needs of small businesses is once again a one-way street with a dead end.

I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule.