Floor Statements

Thank you very much, Mr. Levin.

The gentleman just raised the issue in question. He said, let me tell you what this is about. Well, let me tell you what this is about. I just came from the Holyoke Soldiers Home this morning; 287 veterans. I represent the North Hampton veterans hospital. That's what this vote is about.

The gentlelady from Tennessee, I wish she was here on January 20 of 2001 when that political party spent their day and night saying, yes, Mr. President, to George Bush. They went along with everything he said. They never even bothered to read article I of the Constitution.

This vote is about one thing and one thing only: paying your bills. They ran up the debt, and now they don't want to pay their bills.

January 19, 2001, Bill Clinton said goodbye to the country, a $5.7 trillion surplus on hand, $2.3 trillion in tax cuts, a war in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, a drug prescription benefit called part D, and they are talking about who owes the bill? This is about responsibility. This is about those VA centers. This is about those men and women in Iraq that need to be equipped with the best possible weaponry. This is about paying the credit card bill that has come in from what they did for all of those years.

I would debate any member of the Republican Party--you choose the

forum--in the House or the Senate, and we will go through what those 8 years were about. Count me in.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a friend and fellow educator, Dr. Harry Courniotes. Dr. Courniotes served as a visionary in the advancement of my alma mater, American International College, throughout his unprecedented fifty-eight years in academia and thirty-five years as AIC's President.

Attached is a copy of the eulogy of Dr. Courniotes delivered by Richard Sprinthall at a memorial service on March 15, 2011:

First, I want to thank you for taking the time out of your

busy schedules to be here with us today to honor President

Courniotes, and I know right now Harry is thanking you too.

Over the years I have had the honor of introducing Harry

Courniotes many times, but today we are not here to introduce

Harry but bid him a farewell.

Harry was a member of what Tom Brokaw called the ``Greatest

Generation'' who fought their way through the Great

Depression and World War II. Harry served his country in WWII

and for those of you who were at the cemetery, you know that

he was buried with full military honors.

Several years ago, Sherriff Ashe introduced me to ex-

Governor Michael Dukakis and when I told him I was from AIC

he lit up and said ``my father graduated from AIC'' Then he

told me had he been elected President, Harry Courniotes might

have become Secretary of Education.

Harry was a superb teacher and academic administrator, he

embodied that formula for success: a high IQ and a strong

work ethic. Harry was a relentless worker, and totally

dedicated to the college. He was there morning, noon, and

night. Let me illustrate with a tad of hyperbole. Joe Ramah

story.

Many of us have the ability to think critically, but very

few of us have his astonishing memory and his ability to stay

focused. And I know I speak for many of you when I tell you

that he both encouraged me with support, and sometimes

intimidated me with his unwavering sense of ethical

certainty. And once committed to a goal, Harry could stay on

task like no one I've ever known. He could hold a strategy in

his memory, but then be flexible enough to revise it when he

got new input. He told me what he was going to do, and

equally important, he told me what he wouldn't do, clearly

and with finality. Ask Harry a question and he gave you a

straight answer . . . no bluntly, not without support . . .

but honestly and directly. Not only did he ever tell me an

untruth, he never misled me by omission. Unlike some leaders,

Harry Courniotes never poured ambiguity over his intentions.

I have never been more flattered than to have Harry

Courniotes asked me to assist him on some project, such as

the athletic control board or to help him prepare for an

accreditation visit.

And as you all know, he didn't hand out complements as part

of some facile social pleasantry. When you received a

complement from Harry, he meant it and you could luxuriate in

it.

Ted Byrne, former Professor of economics here at AIC and

now the editor of a major financial newspaper in

Pennsylvania, wrote to me last week and said, ``Harry

Courniotes saved AIC. I watched him do it up close and

personal.'' And those words have been echoed by many of you

sitting with us today--Congressman Richard Neal, former board

member William A. Collins, and former board member Peter

Novak to name a few.

Harry was a great man. Too often those words are banded

about and are not really earned. in Harry's case they were

earned. He was a great family man, husband, father,

grandfather, and great grandfather. And to us at college he

was a great leader and to me a great friend.

For me life has suddenly become less full, knowing that his

wise counsel is no longer possible.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to enter into the Congressional Record an article that appeared in The Reminder newspaper last week commemorating the 375 anniversary of the founding of the City of Springfield, Massachusetts.

This was truly a joyous occasion, and this article does an excellent job of recording what a wonderful event this was. Congratulations Springfield!

[From The Reminder, May 18, 2011]

City Celebrates 375 Years of History, Innovation

(By G. Michael Dobbs)

Sringfield.--For Congressman Richard Neal, Saturday's

events to acknowledge the 375th anniversary of the founding

of Springfield had a d j vu quality.

Speaking on the steps of City Hall, Neal recalled that he

stood on the small spot 25 years ago as Springfield's mayor

during the 350th celebrations.

Neal was part of the thousands of people who attended the

day's activities, from the annual pancake breakfast, to the

kick-off event at City Hall with the chorus comprised of

Springfield school children to the parade that went through

downtown to the fireworks that ended the day at Blunt Park.

Neal, whose fondness for history is well known, noted,

``The city has given great moments to the country and to the

world.''

He read a letter of congratulations from President Barack

Obama that said in part, ``You've written your own chapter in

the narrative of the United States.''

Mayor Domenic Sarno told the crowd, ``You know, we are a

good city.''

He then said, ``We need each and every one of you to be

ambassadors for the city of Springfield.'' The children's

chorus clearly moved the audience with its rendition of ``The

Springfield Song,'' written by Springfield School music

teacher Diane Rodriguez.

Even after the ceremony at City Hall concluded, the pancake

breakfast was still being served to hundreds of people.

Sarno and his family led the parade, which started at the

Springfield Technical Community College campus and went down

State Street to Main Street and concluded at Mill Street in

the South End neighborhood. Organizations, businesses and

representatives all marched in the parade, which was a little

more than an hour in length.

Although the weather didn't give the giant Cat in the Hat

baloon any difficulty, the new

traffic lights along the route had the balloon skimming the

street.

For many people, ``Springfield'' is the name of the

Simpson's hometown in the popular animated series.

For those who know a little about the history of this

country, ``Springfield'' has a different meaning.

Springfield, Mass., the oldest and the largest city with

that name, is known as the ``City of Firsts'' for a reason--

actually many reasons. Springfield is where basketball was

invented. It's where the Duryea Brothers built and tested the

first American gasoline powered car. It's the community where

the first and perhaps most beloved American motocycle--they

spelled it without the ``r''--the Indian was developed and

manufactured.

It is the city where the first American armory was built

and where the Springfield Rifle was made.

And it was the insurrection by Revolutionary War veterans

led by Daniel Shays on that armory that led to the creation

of the United States Constitution.

Clarence Birdseye chose Springfield as his test market in

the 1930s for something truly radical: frozen vegetables.

A group of brothers, the Granvilles, literally off of the

farm picked Springfield to be their headquarters in the 1920s

and '30s where they would design and build the GeeBee racing

planes that still awe aviation enthusiasts.

The city was the home of Milton Bradley, who revolutionized

the toy industry with board games. The city's streets,

schools and parks gave hometown boy Theodor Gelsel, better

known as Dr. Seuss inspiration for later books and

illustrations.

All of these accomplishments happened at a place where an

English businessman named William Pynchon, the founder of

Springfield, sensed potential in the mid-1600s.

According to historian Ernest Newton Bagg, Pynchon, who was

a patentee and magistrate to the Massachusetts Bay Colony,

was attracted to the Connecticut River Valley as a place rich

with fur animals, especially beaver.

After a long voyage from England in 1630, Pynchon began

trading goods he had brought from England with native people

for furs. What attracted him to Western Massachusetts was the

possible encroachment of Dutch traders who had established a

trading post along the Connecticut River in what is now

Hartford, Conn.

Some of the Dutch traders even came to Springfield, but

disease and hunger compelled them back to the relative safety

of the Hartford establishment.

Pynchon wanted to succeed where the Dutch had failed and

began planning an effort to build a settlement in what is now

Springfield in 1635. Using a ``shallop,'' a light single-mast

vessel, Pynchon and his expedition sailed up the Connecticut

River. He made a camp in what is now West Springfield and his

men used the boat's lumber for their new home.

The native people seemed friendly and Pynchon was impressed

with the virgin forests with large and small game, a river

teeming with shad and salmon and lands ready for agriculture.

Pynchon left his men and returned to the settlement of

Roxbury by foot. When he returned the next spring, he was

told the relationship between the natives and Pynchon's men

had deteriorated and Pynchon was forced to move his operation

to the eastern side of the river.

Despite the problems, caused in part by the damage to the

natives' cornfields by the settlers' free-range hogs, Pynchon

was able to come to an agreement on July 15, 1636, to acquire

the desired Agawam land. Further negotiations gave him the

control of an area from the Chicopee River to the Mill River.

Trouble with crops, a narrowly averted war with the native

people and even an earthquake were some of the challenges

early settlers faced. Pynchon was right, though, about the

richness of the area for furs.

Bagg noted in his 1936 history of Springfield that although

there was no record of just how well Pynchon fared during his

15 years of trading furs in the area, his son John continued

the business after his father returned to England and

regularly shipped 2,000 beaver skins annually to merchants in

his native country.

Pynchon has the additional distinction of being the author

of the first book ``banned in Boston.'' His 1650 book, ``The

Meritorious Price of a Man's Redemption,'' took exception to

Puritan theology. The colony's General Court condemned the

book and copies were burned on Boston Common.

Pynchon was under great pressure to recant and after one

appearance before the Court, he decided to transfer all of

his holdings to his son John and return to England before he

was forced to appear before the General Court once more. He

left the colony in 1652. His death at age 72 in 1662 closed

the first chapter in the city's history.

Pynchon's legacy was that his purchase of land just didn't

create one community, Springfield, but the following towns

and cities as well: Agawam, Chicopee, East Longmeadow,

Hampden, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Southwick, Westfield,

West Springfield, Wilbraham and Enfield, and Suffield, Conn.

No less a person than General George Washington had a hand

in the next major development of the community. In February

1777, Washington authorized an ``establishment of the

laboratory at Springfield.''

The armory became known as a center for technological

innovation in manufacturing and undoubtedly led to

Springfield becoming a center for skilled manufacturing.

Another famous gun maker, Smith & Wesson, made the city its

home and is still in business today.

Early in its history, the Armory attracted the attention of

a group of farmers enraged at the taxation tactics of the

Massachusetts state government. In February 1787 as part of a

series of armed protests, Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War

veteran and farmer from Pelham, led a group of men to capture

the armory. Although Shays failed at the armory, his protest

succeeded in showing the weakness of the Articles of

Confederation and in May 1787 the Constitutional Convention

was convened to re-shape federal government.

Thomas Jefferson expressed his reaction to Shay's Rebellion

previous to the attack on the Armory in a letter to James

Madison on Jan. 30, 1787. Jefferson wrote, ``I hold it that a

little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as

necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.

Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the

encroachments on the rights of the people, which have

produced them. An observation of this truth should render

honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of

rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a

medicine necessary for the sound health of government.''

The armory inspired another kind of reaction from American

poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow and his second

wife Frances visited Springfield and the Armory in 1845. The

tour inspired what was considered to be Longfellow's most

effective anti-war poem, ``The Arsenal at Springfield.''

The first two stanzas are:

``This is the Arsenal. From floor to ceiling,

Like a huge organ, rise the burnished arms;

But from their silent pipes no anthem, pealing

Startles the villages with strange alarms.

``Ah! What a sound will rise, how wild and drear,

When the death-angel touches those swift keys!

What a loud lament and dismal Miserere

Will mingle with their awful symphonies!''

In the book ``Springfield Memories,'' published in 1876,

Mason Green wrote about the development of the city: ``Modern

Springfield was born with the peace of the War of 1812. In

the re-action from embargoes and war from 1814 to 1825 there

was a general housecleaning and business re-adjustment. The

old tavern site was cleared off for a Common, a church and

court-house was built by the side of it and another church

(Unitarian) down Main Street, Union and Court Streets were

opened, the river bridge, that was swept away by a flood was

restored (1818), a line of boats was established between the

village and Hartford, connecting with Boston and New York

schooners, neighboring water powers were utilized, many

mechanics and artisans were called in, who became residents,

and the Weekly Springfield Republican was started, which

insured the place a future.''

In 1936 when the city was celebrating its 300th

anniversary, the unaccredited author of one of the

commemorative booklets wrote, ``Varied are the products of

Greater Springfield: Intricate machines, radios and

electrical appliances, tires, motorcycles, garments, arms,

games and school materials, books and magazines, newspapers,

wire, chains, machine tools, cigars, chemicals and medicines,

valves, oil pumps, fine paper, jute boxes, clocks and leather

goods. Here once were the pioneers in the manufacture of

automobiles. Across the river are the railroad shops.''

The first American-made gasoline powered car was built and

tested in Springfield by Charles and Frank Duryea on Sept.

20, 1893. The city would later be the site for a factory

producing Duryea cars. The Knox Automobile Company produced

cars from 1900 to 1914 in Springfield and stayed in business

with tractors until 1924. And the city was picked by Rolls

Royce as the site for its only American automobile 28

manufacturing plant. The Springfield Rolls Royce facility

opened in 1920 and closed in 1931 and the cars made there

are sought after by collectors.

Also still highly prized are the Indian Motocycles made in

the city from 1901 to 1954. The brainchild of engineer Oscar

Hedstrom, the ``motocycles'' were the first ones made in this

country and were well-known for their power and durability.

Brought to the city by bicycle racer George Hendee,

Hedstrom developed a motorcycle that he tested publicly on

May 25, 1901 on Cross Street hill. Newspaper reporter R.D.

Pepin wrote about the test on its 25th anniversary.

``Hedstrom bravely climbed the old hill and forcefully

demonstrated to the residents of Springfield the first step

towards an industry destined to fill a long place in the

field of industry, utility and sport.''

Pepin noted that Hendee had featured motor-drive bicycles

made in Europe at his bicycle-racing track. ``The uncertainty

of these motors was a source of great anxiety to the

management and of dissatisfaction to the patrons of the

track,'' Pepin wrote.

With Springfield a growing center of transportation

technology, it's little wonder that a group of brothers came

off of the family farm to Springfield to pursue their dream

of developing faster and more powerful airplanes. Although

the Granville brothers were

in business for only five years from 1929 to 1934 and built

just 24 aircraft, their revolutionary designs created a

legend among aviators.

Springfield was also a city of ideas as well as industry

and technology. Abolitionist John Brown made the city his

headquarters in 1846 when he established a business to

represent wool producers to the New England mill owners.

Later, the city was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

G & C Merriam, Company, was founded In 1831 as printers and

booksellers and the pair of brothers--George and Charles--

purchased the rights to the name and all copyrights to the

best-seller dictionary written by Noah Webster in 1843. Since

that time, the nation's best-known reference book has been

written and published in Springfield.

When stumped about how to excite his winter physical

fitness class, a young Canadian attending the International

Y.M.C.A. Training School remembered Duck on a Rock, a game

from his youth. Taking a soccer ball and a peach basket,

James Naismith developed the game of basketball in 1891,

quite possible the most popular indoor sport.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame draws more

than 250,000 visitors a year to its Springfield shrine to the

game.

A number of people prominent in show business and the arts

are natives of the city. During the 1920s and 30s, Broadway

and radio star Julia Sanderson was a popular performer.

The classic movie musicals ``Born to Dance'' and ``Broadway

Melody of 1940'' feature another Springfield native Eleanor

Powell. The beautiful and athletic dancer was a star at MGM.

She was married to actor Glenn Ford for a number of years and

by the end of her life she turned her energies to religion.

Lawrence O'Brien, Kennedy family supporter, postmaster

general, head of the Democratic Party and commissioner of the

National Basketball Association, was another well known

Springfield resident. His father had a tavern where the

MassMutual Center now stands and he received his law degree

from Western New England College.

Perhaps the most interesting favorite daughter is June

Foray, whose family left their home on Orange Street and

traveled to California where she eventually became one of the

most highly regarded voice actresses in animation providing

the voice for Rocky in ``Rocky and Bullwinkle,'' Granny in

the Tweety cartoons and many other characters.

Students at the former Classical High School could still

find evidence of that school's most controversial graduate,

Dr. Timothy Leary. His name could be seen carved into at

least one desk. Leary was one of the prominent leaders of the

counter culture in the 1960s who urged people to ``turn on,

tune in and drop out.''

Springfield's most beloved native was Theodore Geisel

better known to generations of American as Dr. Seuss. The

author and illustrator took inspiration from the city of his

birth from the names of streets--``And to Think that I Saw it

on Mulberry Street''--to his father's position as

superintendent of the city's parks--``If I Ran the Zoo.''

The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden at the

Springfield Museum complex pays tribute to the innovative

storyteller.

Springfield's latest burst of national publicity came in

2007 with a contest that asked fans of ``The Simpsons'' to

pick the Springfield that is actually home to the best known

dysfunctional family. Although Springfield Mass., didn't win

in a surprising upset to Springfield, Vt., the producers of

the animated series and film knew better. They had prepared a

special poster before the contest's final results that

declared the movie was filmed in Springfield, Mass.

A community of rich diversity and history, Springfield

today is the home of national companies, three colleges and a

law school. It was named the fourth ``greenest'' city in the

nation and was recognized as one of the greatest centers of

small business and entrepeurneurship in the country. Its best

days are not behind it.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Democratic resolution.

Last week on the floor of the House, the Republican leader, Eric Cantor, asked a very important question. He asked, How did we get here? So I took the challenge. I went back and have carefully chronicled a series of vote steps and quotes from Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, John Kasich and others who argued against the Clinton plan for balancing the budget.

Remember when Clinton left office, the clock in Times Square had been turned off. Alan Greenspan said, you're paying down the debt too quickly.

We've had five balanced budgets since 1969; four of them came with Bill Clinton. The prescription that was offered on January 20 of the Bush inauguration was massive tax cuts and the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.

And our Republican friends ask, How did we get here?

I am very optimistic about engaging in this conversation now and as we get to the debt ceiling. When Clinton walked out on January 19, 2001, 22 million jobs had been created. Economic growth averaged 4 percent per quarter. It was the greatest period of economic prosperity in the history of America. And our friends on the other side of the aisle want to turn the clock back on that reality.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the yearlong celebration of the town of Monson, Massachusetts' 250th anniversary. The town was founded by a small group of residents from Brimfield, Massachusetts, who petitioned for a town of their own. The first town meeting of Monson was held in 1760. When it was founded, Monson was a center for manufacturing in Massachusetts, with an abundance of mills powered by the water found in the nearby hills. Today, Monson is known primarily for their involvement in the arts, especially the theater and festivals.

To honor this historic occasion, the town of Monson held a yearlong celebration with different events held by members of the Monson Steering Committee and several non-profit organizations located in the town.

This yearlong celebration of the town's anniversary began in April 2010, and will conclude

on April 9, 2011. The inaugural event of the festival was a bonfire held at Veterans Field. Throughout the year there were family events and festivals, including the annual Summerfest held on the 4th of July, and the family ice cream social and concert sponsored by the Friends of the Keep Museum. Families also enjoyed the picnic held at Flynt Park. Other outdoor activities included a walk/run sponsored by the Peaked Mountain Committee and a motorcycle hill climb sponsored by the Quaboag Riders & Monson Lions Club. There were many cultural events as well, such as the Monson Arts Council's craft fair, the Monson Bellmen Antique Fire Apparatus Club and Museum's open house, and the Monson Rotary Club's concert at Dave Grieve Park.

A quilt show was held in which 50 Monson quilters donated a block to make a commemorative 250th anniversary quilt. This quilt will be on display continually in various buildings in the town. The concluding event of this festival will be the Monson 250th Gala Ball with the theme of ``Remembering Monson.'' The ball will have a continuous slide show of all the old and new businesses and homes in Monson, as well as a display of Monson's non-profit organizations.

The town of Monson has been an important part of Massachusetts since well before the United States was founded. While this quintessential New England town is a place where families have lived for generations, Monson has also grown into a dynamic center for arts, culture and a thriving workplace. On its 250th anniversary, I am honored to represent the town of Monson and I look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries.

I thank Mr. Levin for yielding the time.

Mr. Speaker, this provision came over from the Senate. As Mr. Levin has correctly noted, Members on this side of the aisle have already cast a vote to repeal this measure. The difficulty that's in front of us today is the manner in which this has been presented to all of us.

Now, we are going to hear a lot of conflicting opinions today about the new taxes in this bill. Like everybody else here in this Chamber, I am opposed to raising taxes on the middle class. Hardly is that a leap of faith into unchartered waters. We all share that common belief.

But the problem with the provision that's offered today is the disguised nature of raising taxes on the middle class. Let's get to the heart of this bill. It repeals a new reporting requirement on small businesses.

This provision expanded a type of reporting that already goes on where businesses report to the Internal Revenue Service on large payments sent to contractors. This type of third-party reporting is meant to ensure those contractors report honestly to the IRS on the income they earn.

A reminder, it is estimated that there is up to $300 billion a year of unreported income in the United States. And before we get to some of the cuts that have been proposed in this institution, we ought to be focusing our attention on how we might collect that unreported and underreported income that is such an important part of the underground economy in the United States.

You would think that that opportunity would avail itself based upon the mindless process that took place here a couple of weeks ago where we began with a series of 2-minute votes over 2 days to cut very important initiatives that the American people have come to rely on. And I would suggest to my friends on the other side of the aisle that they take note of that Wall Street Journal poll this morning as to what these cuts mean and how they are going down with the American people.

In our committee markup, there was a great deal of discussion about the burden on small businesses that this new reporting requirement imposes, and I think that for the most part we are all in agreement that the burden here may well outweigh the benefit.

But let's not ignore what we have found out about tax evasion at our markup. I asked Tom Barthold from the Joint Committee on Taxation about his estimate that the reporting requirement would raise $22 billion in revenue. Now, Tom Barthold is not a Democrat; he is not a Republican. He is an economist who likes to give unjaded information to those of us who then implement policy.

I asked him how much of this was tax evasion, contractors underreporting income and how much was the penalties on those innocent third parties who got tripped up on the rules. He told us that almost all of it was due to tax avoidance, tax evasion.

So without any hearings or debate about how to best capture that $22 billion, we eliminated this reporting requirement and would raise taxes on middle-income families.

I want to urge my friends on the other side, before we travel down this path of cutting very important initiatives for the American family--and I can't wait till we have the first vote in this institution up or down on Social Security to see if the rhetoric really matches the reality. Then I am hopeful that if we move to the discussion and debate on Medicare, we will see if the rhetoric matches the reality.

But I would hope that before we move on this mindless trail of these proposed cuts that have taken place over the last 3 weeks, that we might consider what to do about the whole notion of tax evasion. I hope that those on the other side of the aisle would join me in my efforts to ferret out tax abuse.

I have been on this issue for a career of what to do about American companies that change their address so that they become a citizen of Bermuda to avoid American income taxes, while there are hundreds of thousands of American soldiers overseas, why our VA hospitals are going to be necessary for the 31,000 that have been wounded in honorable service to this country, and why, before we propose the cuts that we have proposed, we are not after tax evasion the way that we should be. That ought to be something that men and women of good will in this institution all ought to be able to agree upon.

I thank the gentlelady.

When you consider how rhetoric doesn't square up with reality in this institution, the gentleman from Iowa started by saying this is the greatest threat to personal liberty in history. Well, we have some young people here today, and I guess he thinks that Plessy vs. Ferguson and Dred Scott and Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, that those didn't represent a threat to personal liberty.

Now, President Bush said that the best way to get health care, for those who were outside the mainstream, was very simple. You could go to an emergency room.

That is not health care. That treats the issue in front of the individual. It denies preventive care. It doesn't offer assistance to women who are in need of additional health care. This proposal that we passed was modest, and it was market driven. It kept the private sector alive and it put in place basic protections for the American consumer.

I wish that we could have a separate vote on the individual proposals that we included in that bill, and I guarantee you we wouldn't be talking about death panels; we would be talking about the idea of extending health care benefits to all members of the American family, including the 51 million who find themselves outside of the mainstream.

Just think of it today. This is more of a threat to liberty than Plessy vs. Ferguson and Dred Scott and Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment offered today which wold repeal the historic health care reform bill.

With passage of the new law last year, American families can take back the control of their health care.

The law bars insurance companies from discriminating coverage based upon pre-existing conditions, health status and gender.

The law caps the out-of-pocket health care expenses that have bankrupted many American families.

The law allows individuals and small businesses to purchase affordable insurance from competitive marketplaces.

And--the law contains the cost of health care while reducing the deficit by $138 billion over the next 10 years.

We solved the dilemma so many Americans families face on a child's 22nd birthday by extending dependent benefits until age 26.

I am an ardent supporter of Social Security and Medicare. The new law filled the Medicare prescription donut hole and provided new wellness and preventive benefits seniors.

We made history last year with this new law. And yet, today, this amendment seeks to undo all of this progress, all of these achievements, all of these new protections and benefits for Americans.

I have visited the world-class hospitals of Massachusetts and spoken with the administrators, doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals. Massachusetts is way-ahead of the rest of the country in requiring health insurance coverage for almost all of our citizens. And I can tell you the state is better for it. The hospitals are better for it.

I urge opposition.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to celebrate the 100th birthday of Sr. Ellen Leddy of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Below is a brief biography of Sr. Leddy and a history of her accomplishments.

Sr. Ellen Leddy, the historian of the Sisters of Providence Congregation, is the daughter of the late Edmund and Margaret (Golden) Leddy. She entered the SPs from Harvard, MA. Formerly Sister Marie de Lourdes, she served as the SPs' historical librarian in Horan Library at Providence Mother House, Holyoke, from 1982 until its closure in 1999. She was also an invaluable consultant for Seeds of Hope: The History of the Sisters of Providence, published in 1999.

She first ministered for 22 years as a registered medical technologist in laboratories at Mercy Hospital, Springfield, Providence Hospital, Holyoke, and St. Luke's Hospital, Pittsfield. She then served as local superior for Sisters attending Boston College and followed that service with nine years as director of formation for the Community's newest members.

She entered the social service and pastoral counseling fields in the late 1960s, first serving at the Municipal Home and Holyoke Day Nursery, and then at Mount Saint Vincent Nursing Home, all in Holyoke. Additional ministries included service as sacristan at Mount Saint Vincent Nursing Home, and both assistant coordinator and coordinator at Providence Mother House. She also served as a Minister of the Eucharist and Mount Saint Vincent Nursing Home and Blessed Sacrament Church, also in Holyoke.

Sister Ellen attended schools in Harvard, graduated from Mount St. Joseph Academy in Brighton and attended Fitchburg Normal School. She holds a master of arts degree in religious education from Providence College in Rhode Island and a master of education and bachelor of science in education degrees from Boston College.

She is a former member of the Catholic Theology Society, the Society of Catholic College Teachers of Sacred Doctrine, the Social Workers of Nursing Homes and Hospitals Organization in Massachusetts, and Community Workers Association of Holyoke.

She is only the second Sister of Providence of record to reach her 80th Jubilee, and lives an active lifestyle at Providence Place in Holyoke.

During the course of the campaign, we heard that this was going to be repeal and replace. What we have in front of us is simply repeal, because there has never been a credible alternative offered for replace.

This legislation is modeled after a modest, market-driven proposal offered by that left-winger, Mitt Romney; that left-wing advocate, Bob Dole; and, yes, that champion of liberal causes, Richard Nixon.

This is an amalgamation of a series of proposals offered over many years. But what do we hear? The usual scare tactics: ``ObamaCare''--16 years ago, it was ``ClintonCare''--``government takeover,'' ``socialism,'' and the best one of all, ``death panels.''

People wonder why the language here is so charged, why it is so incendiary. It is because of the lexicon it has chosen for the purpose of scaring the American people. As President Bush said, If you need health care, go to the emergency room.

Remember what this proposal does: It removes 57 million people with preexisting conditions from insurance. It eliminates provisions for 2.4 million young adults to maintain health care on their parents' coverage until they are 26. This bill would allow a return to discrimination toward a woman based on higher premiums if she has had breast cancer or perhaps even if she has been a victim of domestic violence or had a child.

This bill that is proposed by our friends on the other side would get rid of a lifetime cap on out-of-pocket expenses. Why is that important? I dare them to challenge the following statistic: Half the bankruptcies in America are health care related. People lose their jobs. They lose their homes. They lose everything because they get sick.

I hope we oppose this repeal measure or at least until we hear a replace proposal.

I thank the gentleman.

Madam Chair, I am standing in opposition to this proposal. When we debated the middle income tax cut a few weeks ago, I spoke in favor of a tax system that we might design for the future, a progressive system with substantial tax relief for working families, and, in our own Democratic caucus, suggested that the number $250,000 was too low; that if we raised that ceiling to $500,000, we could take care of every S corporation, we could take care of every small business person who at the end of the month uses their credit card. That was rejected. But I still thought that was a reasonable compromise.

Now, when my friend Mr. Camp spoke a couple of minutes ago, he delineated the clearest position of the two parties when he said he was upset that we were not paying for the extension of unemployment benefits.

For years they borrowed the money for Iraq, they borrowed the money for Afghanistan, and, I challenge anybody on the other side tonight to dispute this point, they borrowed the money for the Bush tax cuts as well. That is what we are discussing here.

Now, the reason that I stand in opposition to this proposal tonight-- because there are many good provisions in this bill, including alternative minimum tax, and I do wish the Build America Bonds program was in here--this represents a serious threat to the solvency of the Social Security system. We will never return that number down the road. And you mark my words tonight, what they will argue down the road is the Social Security system has been weakened, proving that you need private accounts. Their fingerprints will be all over it. They will suggest this proves the theory of the benefit of a private account.

So we borrowed the money for Iraq. And when I said to President Bush in 2001 in the Oval Office, ``Mr. President, modest tax cuts for middle income Americans,'' it was rejected. And that is why we are in the condition that we are in today financially.

I thank the chairman.

Madam Speaker, this legislation has already passed the House. It really was a bipartisan achievement this year, and much of the good work that went into this legislation has been years in coming.

More than 100 years ago, the first mutual fund was started in Boston, Massachusetts. Mutual funds have been a way for the ``everyman'' to invest in the market with benefits of pooling and diversification. Today, more than 50 million households invest through mutual funds with a median household income of $80,000. More than 50 percent of 401(k) plan assets were invested in mutual funds at the end of 2009.

H.R. 4337 was introduced last year by Mr. Rangel and me to modernize the tax laws regarding regulated investment companies, better known as mutual funds. The tax rules that relate to mutual funds date back more than 50 years, and although these rules have been updated from time to time, it has been over 20 years since the rules were last revisited.

The bill before us today would make several changes to the Tax Code to address outdated provisions, such as rules that relate to preferential dividends, rules that require mutual funds to send separate annual dividend designation notices to shareholders, and rules that prevent mutual funds from earning income from commodities.

In June, my subcommittee, the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee, reviewed this legislation with a panel of experts who expressed support for the changes. Simply put, the subcommittee held a hearing, and there was broad support on the Democratic side and on the Republican side for the accomplishment that sits in front of us.

I am pleased to support this modified legislation, which is also revenue neutral. The Ways and Means Committee has a responsibility to review our tax rules from time to time and to remove the deadwood and update where necessary. This bill accomplishes that to the benefit of the investors, taxpayers, and mutual fund companies.

I urge its adoption. I thank the chairman for yielding to me, and I thank our friends on the other side for their endorsement of this legislation as well.

Mr. Speaker, I want to disagree sharply with the point that our colleague, Mr. Brady, just made; America needs to have this conversation. We need to have a conversation as to how we got ourselves into the mess that we find ourselves in today, and part of that conversation is the discussion and debate over whether to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. That is the difference of opinion that we are debating right now.

Now, our friends on the other side are going to tell us that this has a big impact on small business, despite what the IRS says. And I have even offered a proposal that would address the 3 percent issue, moving down the road. But let's listen to one small business owner, Beri Fox, the president of Marble King, the last remaining American manufacturer of marbles. She thinks we have lost our marbles. When asked whether the way to economic recovery was tax cuts for the wealthy, Ms. Fox simply replied, ``Absolutely not.''

America has paid the price for theology, the theology that tax cuts pay for themselves. They inherited a near perfect economy 10 years ago: record job growth; deficits eliminated; the debt being paid down, and Alan Greenspan warned us we were paying down the debt too quickly. This argument today is about fairness--fairness and what type of tax system we want to create.

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center analyzed the Bush proposal at different income levels. They found that next year, for someone earning more than $1 million, he or she can look forward to an average tax cut of $128,832 if we extend these tax cuts for the wealthy. They found next year someone making $7 million can look forward to a $400,000 tax cut if we leave the Bush proposals in place.

This is a question of how we treat the working families of America. This is a question of not cementing into law a tax system with skewed benefits. I urge support for this middle class tax cut.

Mr. Speaker, this Democrat will tell you what we intend to do. We have heard a lot of conflicting opinions during the past week about whether to extend the tax cuts for those at the top of the ladder. It is difficult to break through the clutter. But what is clear in this basic argument is it's about fairness and the type of tax system that we want to create.

A recent analysis shows at various income levels both the cumulative benefit of tax cuts and the 2011 benefit, if we extend the tax cuts to everyone. Since 2004, those earning $10,000 have received $335 in total tax benefits. And next year they can look forward to an additional $5 if we extend the Bush tax cuts. Now, for someone earning more than $7 million, we will note that they have enjoyed more than $2 million in tax benefits since 2004. And next year they can look forward to $339,000 in tax cuts if we extend the tax cut system that President Bush offered as-is.

Five dollars versus $339,000? It's a basic question of fairness. The tax code should treat working families better.

I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation is about supporting American manufacturing jobs, plain and simple. The Peterson Institute suggests that this would increase American exports by $100 to $150 billion a year. The Ways and Means Committee held three hearings on this issue which confirmed that China is deliberately intervening in currency markets to continue its unfair advantage over American manufacturers and workers.

The committee reported out a bipartisan bill with important changes to make it fully consistent with WTO rules. In short, this bill allows currency manipulation to be considered in trade remedy cases. It is consistent with a free market solution to enabling fair trade.

Lawrence Lindsey, who was President George W. Bush's own economic adviser, said, ``The Chinese clearly undervalue their exchange rate. It is the Chinese Government, not markets and not Americans, who are shaping how much is bought and from whom.'' This bill is not a solution to all the challenges relating to U.S.-China trade, but it is a significant and much-needed trade remedy tool to help American business and workers compete.

New initiatives such as this are needed in response to negotiations that

time and again have been stymied in both Democratic and Republican administrations. This is a good step in the right direction.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4337) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify certain rules applicable to regulated investment companies, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Madam Speaker, more than 100 years ago, the first U.S. mutual fund was started in Boston. Mutual funds have been a way of life for ``everyman'' to invest in the market, with the benefits of pooling and diversification. Indeed, it invites the term ``mutualization.'' Today, more than 50 million households invest through mutual funds with a median household income of $80,000. More than 50 percent of 401(k) plan assets were invested in mutual funds at the end of 2009.

H.R. 4337 was introduced last year by Mr. Rangel and me to modernize the tax laws regarding regulated investment companies, better known as mutual funds. A technical explanation and revenue table for this bill may be found on the Joint Tax Web site, www.jct.gov. The tax rules that relate to mutual funds date back more than a half century. Although these rules have been updated from time to time, it has been over 20 years since they were last revisited. The bill before us today would make several changes to the Tax Code to address outdated provisions, such as rules that relate to preferential dividends and rules that require mutual funds to send separate annual dividend designation notices to shareholders and rules that prevent mutual funds from earning income from commodities.

In June, my subcommittee, the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee, reviewed this legislation with a panel of experts who expressed support for these changes.

Today, I am pleased to be joined by my friend, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp), in bringing this bill to the floor with a few technical changes and revenue offsets from within the industry. The Ways and Means Committee has the responsibility to review our tax rules from time to time, remove the dead wood, and update where necessary. This bill accomplishes that to the benefit of investors, taxpayers, and mutual fund companies. I urge its adoption.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Madam Speaker, we held a hearing on this bill. It is well received by the investors; it is well received by the mutual fund companies, and it certainly received no negative commentary in the House. Why cannot we just come to this floor and speak to the issue at hand?

I worked hard on this piece of legislation with Mr. Tiberi for a long period of time. This is the legislation that's in front of this Congress at this particular time. It was well met because it was fully vetted in the committee with sufficient opportunity for any- and everyone to comment on it.

This is a product that we should be proud of. For the first time in two decades, we are modernizing issues that relate to the industry that many, if not millions, of Americans come to depend upon for retirement. I don't understand why there would be any additional argument made on any other piece of legislation that was being considered when, in fact, this is the matter that's before us at this particular time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.