Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the people who work at the GE Aircraft Engines plant in Evendale, Ohio. This facility was recently recognized and awarded Voluntary Protection Program Star status by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for its outstanding achievements in workplace safety.

Headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, GE Aircraft Engines is the world's leading producer of large and small jet engines for commercial and military aircraft. Additional work and services at the plant include aircraft-derived engines for marine applications and aviation services.

The OHSA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) promotes effective worksite-based safety and health. In the VPP, management, labor, and OSHA establish cooperative relationships at workplaces to implement a comprehensive safety and health management system. Approval into the VPP is OSHA's official recognition for the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have implemented exemplary safety and health management systems. In short, it represents a commitment to go beyond compliance to achieve workplace safety.

Less than 0.1 percent of companies are VPP certified. GE has 82 OSHA VPP sites--more than any other company in the nation. As a result of these efforts, 56,000 GE employees, including those in Evendale, enjoy exceptional workplace safety standards. The GE Aircraft Engines plant in Evendale is the largest VPP site in Ohio, the largest GE site to achieve VPP Star status and the largest federal VPP Star manufacturing facility in the nation.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing the GE Aircraft Engines plant in Evendale for being awarded the prestigious VPP Star status. All of us in Greater Cincinnati congratulate the plant's management and employees on their dedication to outstanding workplace safety standards.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize George S. Hale, Sr., M.D., a distinguished constituent, who will be formally honored on February 26, 2004 by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce as a Great Living Cincinnatian, one of our region's highest honors. The recipients of this prestigious award are selected on the basis of special professional achievement; an awareness of the needs of others; civic service; leadership; and distinctive accomplishments.

Born on June 3, 1929 in Detroit, Dr. Hale moved to his mother's hometown of Macon, Georgia when he was four. Growing up in Macon, Dr. Hale cites the benevolence of his mother, an aunt and their family's physician as his significant early influences. His mother, Carlena Jordan Hale, was a social worker during the Depression who took Dr. Hale along as she delivered food and clothing to poor families. His aunt, Junia Jordan Fambro, was a dietitian at Fort Valley State College for 44 years. She helped students with food and financial assistance, and was a loving and supportive example to Dr. Hale. The family's physician, Dr. C.W. Dwyer, was also a role model to him.

After attending Bibb County, Georgia public schools and Macon's Ballard High School, Dr. Hale graduated from Talladega College in Alabama. He returned to Macon and taught math and science for two years at Ballard High School. Although he encountered prejudice and the competition to attend medical school was keen, he was accepted into McHenry Medical College in 1952 and became an extern at Cincinnati's Jewish Hospital in 1955. He graduated in 1956, and returned to Jewish Hospital as an intern at a time when, Dr. Hale says, African American physicians had difficulty finding internships. He became a fellow with the University of Cincinnati Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, then served at the Dover Air Force Base Hospital in Dover, Delaware. After leaving the Air Force, Dr. Hale opened a private practice in internal medicine that he maintains today.

In 1982, Dr. Hale became only the second African American physician to be elected president of Cincinnati's Academy of Medicine. He is also past president of the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Medical Association. Devoted to encouraging and mentoring African American medical students and physicians, Dr. Hale has contributed immeasurably to the quality of life in Cincinnati. A founding member of Health Careers and Cancer Family Care, Dr. Hale has also been active with the American Red Cross; the Child Guidance Home; the Health Foundation of the Greater Cincinnati Academy of Medicine; the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Allen Temple A.M.E. Church. He and his wife, Sarah Hale, received Lighthouse Youth Services' Beacon of Light Humanitarian Award; Urban League's Glorifying the Lions Award; and the National Philanthropy Day Award.

All of us in Greater Cincinnati thank Dr. Hale for his service to our community, and congratulate him on being named a Great Living Cincinnatian.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Oliver Birckhead, a dear friend and constituent, who will be formally honored on February 26, 2003 by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce as a Great Living Cincinnatian, one of our region's highest honors. The recipients of this prestigious award are selected on the basis of special professional achievement; an awareness of the needs of others; civic service; leadership; and distinctive accomplishments.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Birckhead graduated from Trinity- Pawling School in Pawling, New York; Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts; and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. Mr. Birckhead says the banking business was really in his blood: his father was the first Supervisor of National Banks in President Taft's administration. In 1937, Mr. Birckhead began his career in the banking business with the Peoples National Bank and Trust Company in White Plains, New York.

After a stint in the U.S. Air Corps, Mr. Birckhead was appointed assistant national bank examiner in the Second District of New York. From 1948 to 1951, he worked for Chemical Bank, then joined Central Trust Company (now PNC Bank) in Cincinnati. At Central Trust, he was elected an officer in 1951 and became executive vice president and director in 1967. In 1968, Mr. Birckhead was involved in the founding of Central Bancorporation and became CEO of its lead bank, The Central Trust Company, a position he held for 17 years. When he became president and later CEO of Central Bancorporation, the company's assets were approximately $500 million; when he retired in 1988, the company's assets were $5.2 billion. When Central Bancorporation merged into PNC the result was a $43 billion regional banking company, and Mr. Birckhead served as vice chairman and director of PNC Bank until he retired in 1989.

Mr. Birckhead's civic accomplishments have touched nearly every facet of Greater Cincinnati. He was a trustee, vice president and executive committee member of the Cincinnati Art Museum, and advisory board member and vice chairman of the Salvation Army. He also served on the boards of the Boy's Club of Cincinnati; the Cincinnati Association for the Blind; and the Cincinnati Council on World Affairs. He has been a leader for Xavier University's Capital Fund Drive; the University of Cincinnati's Annual Business Campaign; the National Conference of Christians and Jews (now the National Conference for Community Justice); the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; the Cincinnati Business Committee; and the Statue of Liberty Centennial Commission. With several others, he led the original financing that formed the Cincinnati Bengals.

The recipient of many awards for his community service, Mr. Birckhead was honored by Ohio Governor John Gilligan with the Governor's Award for Community Action and by the Urban League. In 1986, he was presented with the Israel Peace Award by the State of Israel.

He is also devoted to his family, and his wife, Jane, is an active and effective volunteer in Greater Cincinnati. All of us in Greater Cincinnati thank Mr. Birckhead for his service to our community and congratulate him on being named a Great Living Cincinnatian.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize William K. Schubert, M.D., a distinguished leader, who will be honored on February 26, 2004 by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce as a Great Living Cincinnatian, one of our region's highest honors. The recipients of this prestigious honor are selected on the basis of special professional achievement; an awareness of the needs of others; civic service; leadership; and distinctive accomplishments.

As president and CEO of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Dr. Schubert steered it from a small facility with four operating rooms to one of the top five pediatric medical centers in the Nation and designation by the American College of Surgeons as a Level 1 pediatric trauma center. During the 1970s, Dr. Schubert led a centralization of the region's pediatric care into a single medical center at Children's Hospital.

A Cincinnati native, Dr. Schubert graduated from Walnut Hills High School, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Interested in science and influenced in childhood by the family's doctor, he made the decision in high school to later attend medical school. After completing an internship at Indiana University Medical Center, he returned to Cincinnati and served a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in hematology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

In 1996, Dr. Schubert retired after 33 years of service to Children's Hospital, including 13 years as head of the medical center. Dr. Schubert has held many key leadership positions, such as founder and director of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology; chief of staff, director of the pediatric residency training program; director of Children's Hospital Research Foundation; physician executive director; and chairman of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He is a diplomat in the American Board of Pediatrics. Today, Dr. Schubert is professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati and serves Children's Hospital Medical Center as a consultant.

In our community, Dr. Schubert was instrumental in the successful effort to expand Cincinnati's property tax levy for indigent care to include children. He has been involved in the Rotary Club of Cincinnati; the Babies' Milk Fund; the Center for Quality Leadership; and the Ohio Association of Children's Hospitals. I had the privilege of serving with Dr. Schubert on the board of the Springer School in Cincinnati. Dr. Schubert is the recipient of Children's Hospital Medical Center Board of Trustees' William Cooper Procter Medallion; the Cincinnati Pediatrics Society Founder's Award; and the University of Cincinnati's Daniel Drake and Distinguished Alumni Awards.

All of us in the Greater Cincinnati area are grateful to Dr. Schubert for his service to our community, and congratulate him on being named a Great Living Cincinnatian.

Mr. Speaker, on December 8, 2003, I was unavoidably detained at a meeting and missed the vote on rollcall No. 674, Ordering Previous Question on H. Res. 473, the Rule to accompany H.R. 2673, the Fiscal Year 2004 Agriculture Appropriations Act.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Stated against:

Mr. Speaker, on November 20, 2003, I was unavoidably detained and missed the vote on Roll Call Number 654 on H.R. 1828, the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``Yes.''

Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation, the Department of the Treasury Inspector General Consolidation Act of 2003, which will promote efficiencies and improve oversight at the Department of the Treasury. The measure I am proposing will merge two existing Inspector General offices at the U.S. Treasury--the Office of Inspector General of the Treasury (OIG) and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)--into a new office called the Office of the Treasury Inspector General (TIG).

The Department of the Treasury is the only agency with two Inspectors General. The benefit derived by consolidating OIG and TIGTA will be better oversight for all of Treasury, including the IRS, while ensuring that the new organization has all the same powers and authority as its predecessors have under current law.

The legislation I am introducing is necessary because the creation of the Department of Homeland Security has resulted in significant reduction in agencies and personnel at Treasury. The U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and most of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have been moved to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. The current TIGTA and OIG structure does not recognize the new organizations, where IRS has 87 percent and the rest of Treasury has 13 percent of the remaining personnel resources.

A single, elevated IG will provide strong oversight to all of Treasury's current operations. The Department also will gain the efficiencies from the merger by eliminating duplication and creating a more effective and efficient operation to further the mission of both offices.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time, and I thank her for her leadership as chair of the Subcommittee on Health, as well as the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), in getting us to this point.

This is not the first time we have had a Medicare prescription drug bill on the floor, but I think we have the best one. I think it is a great program that has been misdescribed tonight by a number of the speakers, and I just wanted to clarify a few things.

First of all, it is voluntary. People have come to the floor and talked about this is a mandate and people will be forced to get off their existing plans and get on this plan and so on. It is voluntary. If seniors do not choose to take up the prescription drug plans, they do not have to. Those who have looked at it, the Department of Health and Human Services, Special Budget Office, nonpartisan analysts think most seniors will, 90-some percent.

Second, I have heard people talk about the fact that, gee, some people have employer plans already. Let me give some statistics. In 1993, 40-some percent of employers provided coverage for their retirees. In 2002 it was 27 percent. It is happening. It is bleeding. People are not providing retiree benefits as they used to.

What I love about this bill is it goes the other way. It puts $88 billion into helping people be able to stay with their employer plans.

EBRI, which is a nonpartisan group that is called the Employee Benefit Research Institute, has studied this this week. Their analysis is that 2 percent, 2 percent of seniors will migrate from their existing retiree plans because their employers no longer offer it, into this. If this does not get passed, it will be greater than 2 percent. So those who have said this will result in a problem, I think it is just the opposite.

We are beginning to stop what is happening anyway. I think that is a good part of the plan.

People have talked about how puny the benefit is. Well, I have to tell you, over 35 percent of the American seniors, one figure says 38 percent, let us say over 35 percent of Americans who are seniors, who are low income, meaning they are less than 150 percent of poverty, their income, are going to be able to get prescription drug coverage with no premium, no deductible, no share. All they will do is pay a nominal co-pay, $5, $3.

That is over 35 percent of our seniors, represented by all of us. Some of us in this House have districts where that number will be as high as 60 percent. So a puny benefit, I do not know where that comes from.

For other seniors that additional, let us say, 65 percent of seniors more than half of their drug costs, some say as high as 70 percent, more than half of their drug costs for the average senior, that is no average senior, but average senior costs for drugs will be covered, more than half of the drug cost.

This is why the AARP supports this. This is why the AARP is standing up for their seniors. Some people on my side of the aisle think it is too generous. People on the other side of the aisle ought to look at this plan, at what it is, not the politics, but the substance. It is a good plan, and I hope people on both sides of the aisle tonight will support it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery) for giving me some time. I want to congratulate him for getting this extender bill to the floor. It is extremely important that we extend so many of these important tax provisions. I would like to think that over time we can make some of them permanent because they make so much sense, and after all, this is a 1-year extension. We are likely to extend them again and again. So I would hope that we could work toward that, but it is a very important bill; and it is extremely important we do it this year. If we do not, then we will have a situation where there will be a gap and companies and those individuals who want to take advantage of these good public policy tax provisions will not be able to plan. So not to have them be retroactive but do it at this point is extremely important, and I commend him and the gentleman from California (Chairman Thomas) for getting us to this point.

I rise today also very strongly in support of a specific provision here that helps with regard to our defined pension plans. As all of us know, defined pension plans are in trouble. In the last few years, we have actually gone down in our pension coverage by about 19 percent. In fact, in the past 18 years we have gone from about 114,000 defined pension plans that are guaranteed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to about 32,000 plans, dramatic decreases.

Many of the reasons that people are no longer offering plans and why this year we think that about 20 percent of plans are freezing their plans for participants is because we have a broken system with regard to what the interest rate is which is charged to these pension plans for their contributions.

What we do in this legislation is we provide for a 2-year fix, a short-term replacement for the currently and defunct 30-year Treasury rate, and that is extremely important. It allows employers to calculate the amount of money to set aside for their employee benefit plans in a more reasonable way and a more accurate way.

It strengthens, therefore, our defined benefit system dramatically in the short-term while we take a look at this whole system.

I see the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, is here, and I look forward to working with him, as well as with the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery), the chairman of the subcommittee, and others, including the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), who spoke earlier about this issue, to come up with longer-term solutions to our pension funding rules, pension accounting rules to be sure that we can indeed continue to have these important defined benefit plans.

I think they are extremely important as a part of our overall security system, working with our Social Security System and our defined contribution system, such as the 401(k) plan. Without a permanent solution, these plans will be a thing of the past, and we will not have this guaranteed benefit for millions of Americans.

I strongly support the legislation before us and urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2420, the Mutual Funds Integrity and Fee Transparency Act, and congratulate Chairman Oxley and Chairman Baker for bringing this needed legislation to the House Floor so expeditiously. These critical reforms will help to ensure that America's 95 million mutual fund investors, representing a combined $7 trillion in assets, are reassured and protected. I have a special interest in this issue because I have worked over the past eight years to strengthen 401(k) plans, many of which are significantly invested in mutual funds.

I am deeply concerned about the allegations of illegal mutual fund trading practices, including improper market timing and late trading. There have also been reports that certain investors, including large institutional investors, have been given preferential treatment, to the detriment and disadvantage of individual investors. Each day has brought news of additional allegations, indicating that the abuse is widespread in the mutual fund industry.

Every investor is entitled to fair treatment. Every investor should expect, and is indeed entitled, to expect that the mutual fund industry will place the interest of investors first. In fact, the Investment Company Act requires that mutual funds be organized, operated and managed in the interest of the funds' shareholders, not those of the fund directors, executives or certain investors.

H.R. 2420 provides key reforms. The bill will strengthen funds' compliance with rules, by requiring each fund a code of ethics and a chief compliance officer; ban short-term trading by insiders; allow higher fees to discourage short-term trading; and eliminate conflicts of interest in portfolio management. Investors will be provided with more information about fees, with additional disclosure required about estimated fund operating expenses, portfolio turnover rates and whether brokers receive extra financial incentives to sell particular fund shares. And mutual fund corporate governance will be strengthened by requiring two thirds of all board directors be independent.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support these important reforms. I urge my colleagues to vote for this legislation to help improve mutual fund disclosure; eliminate conflicts of interest, and strengthen corporate governance.

Mr. Speaker, on November 5, 2003, I was unavoidably detained and missed the vote on rollcall No. 609 on H.R. 3365, the Fallen Patriots Tax Relief Act. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor William J. Mulvihill, a friend and constituent, who received the Arthritis Foundation's prestigious Charles B. Harding Award during the Foundation's national meeting on November 14, 2003. The Arthritis Foundation is the only nationwide nonprofit organization leading efforts to prevent, control and cure arthritis, which is our nation's number one cause of disability.

The Charles B. Harding Award is the highest honor the Arthritis Foundation presents for service as a volunteer. The award was established in 1976 and is given annually to the individual who best exemplifies the highest standards of concern and commitment to the arthritis cause. Previous recipients of this high honor include former First Lady Betty Ford and actress Jane Wyman.

Bill has spent more than 20 years raising awareness and advocating on behalf of the more than 43 million people affected by arthritis and its related diseases. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 25, he became active locally in the Southwestern Ohio Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, and went on to serve as Senior Chair, Chair and Vice President.

In 1985, Bill became active with the Foundation on the national level, becoming a member of the House of Delegates and later National Vice Chair, Treasurer, a member of the Board of Trustees and National Chair. As National Chair, he was responsible for leading nearly 600,000 volunteers and staff nationwide. He is currently Trustee Emeritus, and is a member of the National Medical and Scientific Council. Bill also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Lupus Research, where he is a founding member.

A native Cincinnatian, Bill is Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Cincinnati, and has been with U.C. for 30 years. He is in his 24th year as head of the athletic department's fundraising efforts, and previously held positions in Alumni Affairs and Public Affairs. He is a graduate of St. Xavier High School, and received his Bachelor's of Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati and his Master's of Education from Ohio University.

Bill and his wife, Beth, live in Anderson Township. Their son, Billy, is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and is a valued member of the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Ways and Means.

All of us in Southern Ohio congratulate Bill on receiving this prestigious honor, and appreciate his dedicated service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak briefly about a dear friend of mine who passed away earlier this morning. I rise to honor the memory of the Honorable Corwin Nixon, a dear friend, a distinguished constituent, and an accomplished public servant, who passed away this morning in his beloved Ohio at the age of 90.

He was someone I knew all my life, and someone whose devotion to public service was an inspiration to me. He served with honor for 30 years in the Ohio General Assembly, including 14 years as minority leader. Before his election to the State legislature, he served 12 years as a Warren County commissioner.

He was probably the most recognized man in Warren County, and evidence of the great affection for him can be seen throughout southern Ohio. His name is on a Waynesville covered bridge, a Dayton health center, and an aquatic center at Miami University. But most importantly, Mr. Speaker, thousands of people in Warren County remember him fondly and the help he gave them, a family member, a neighbor, or a friend.

Corwin Nixon's life experiences and his extraordinary people skills made him an effective representative for all the people in Warren County. He grew up on a farm near Red Lion, Ohio, where he continued to live most of his life.

He rose through the ranks to become manager at a Kroger grocery store in Lebanon, Ohio, and in the 1950s became the manager of the Lebanon Raceway, a job that became his passion as he built the raceway into a major regional attraction.

Corwin Nixon was also an active volunteer, locally, Statewide, and nationally. Among his many activities he served on the boards of Bethesda Hospital in Cincinnati and Grandview Hospital in Dayton. He was President of both the U.S. Trotting Association and the International Trotting Association. He was an original member of the American Horse Council. He was inducted into the Ohio Harness Hall of Fame and received the Harness Horseman International Appreciation Award.

He used to say his start in politics ``just happened,'' but it happened because of his remarkable work ethic, his genuine concern for people, and his ability to deliver for his constituents. His trademark in the State legislature was his ability to work effectively on both sides of the aisle to achieve results for all people. He was a true gentleman who respected everyone and treated them with respect.

Despite all of his impressive accomplishments in government and business, Mr. Nixon's greatest legacy is his family. He and his wife Eleanor were married for 45 years before her death. Their two children, Keith and Karen, provided them with three grandchildren, Melissa, Tina, and Keith, Jr. and four great grandchildren, Corwin Nixon, III, Eleanor, Preston, and Austin.

Mr. Speaker, Corwin Nixon was one of Ohio's great public servants, whose accomplishments touched many lives in our area and throughout the State of Ohio. He will be greatly missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize an exemplary public servant, Bob Wenzel. Bob recently concluded 40 years of government service, 38 of which were spent with the Internal Revenue Service. I am privileged to say that I know Bob, and I commend him for dedicating his professional career to the betterment of our country.

A son of German immigrants, Bob's patriotism to our Nation began as a young child, when he would daily raise and lower the family's American flag. In his words, ``[w]hat it instilled in me was what this country represents.''

Bob's interest in taxes was initially developed through his responsibility for calculating the family's taxes. This chore, coupled with a desire to contribute to his country, led him to join the IRS in 1963, turning down significantly more lucrative private sector positions. Bob has made serving his country a guiding principle for his entire working life, and has made his life choices based on what he could contribute. He rose up through the ranks, from a revenue officer in Chicago, to director of the IRS Service Center in Ogden, Utah, eventually rising to Deputy Commissioner and even Acting Commissioner. Bob's commitment to customer service won a presidential award for his quality improvements in Utah.

Bob's demonstrated leadership in customer service led former IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti to name him as Deputy Commissioner during a time of great transition following passage of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. Upon confirmation of Mark Everson as Commissioner earlier this year, Bob was again named Deputy Commissioner, where his efforts continue to result in a more favorable public perception of the IRS.

Bob leaves the IRS with the universal respect of his peers, including former Commissioners, front-line managers, and the union. His contributions will long be remembered at the IRS. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my colleagues, we pay tribute to Bob's service and wish him and his family good health and good fortune in his well-deserved retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to welcome our guest pastor today, Pastor Ralph Clay. We are very thankful for his presence and for his humble ministry to God.

Pastor Clay joins us today from Christ Community Church in Portsmouth, Ohio. Pastor Clay is a respected faith leader there and also a respected community leader who has made life better for those living in Portsmouth, Ohio, and the surrounding areas. In fact, I just learned this past weekend Pastor Clay and Christ Community Church made life a lot easier for single parents, regardless of whether they were members of his church or not. They offered a variety of free services from financial counseling and diabetes screening to oil changes for single parents, and they had a great response.

As an ordained minister for 38 years and a gospel singer since age 6, and I have heard his voice and it is beautiful; he has been active in his community his entire life. He has been involved with the local housing authority, the public library, the inner-city development corporation, and is a member of the Pastoral Care at Southern Ohio Medical Center.

Pastor Clay has been married to his wonderful wife, Marilyn, who is with us today, for 39 years. They have four children and two grandchildren. He is an outstanding family man, minister, and member of his community. It was humbling for all of us, I know, to hear his inspired message this afternoon in this historic Chamber.

Thank you, Reverend Clay, for joining us.