Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Tom Dufford on his recent retirement. For more than 40 years Tom has faithfully carried out the mission of the Social Security Administration, and I applaud and admire his dedication to those he serves.

From his start as an intern back in 1972 and to his rise to Operations Supervisor in 2009, Tom has been a leader with tremendous loyalty and a passion for service. Over the course of his career he has received many awards for his work at the Social Security Administration, including the 2009 Regional Commissioner's Citation for Area 2.

I join the many who have commended Tom's efforts in saying ``thank you.'' It is stories like this that make me proud to serve the 171 District and all the hard-working individuals who reside there. I am honored to have Tom as my constituent.

Mr. Speaker, on September 1 of 2012, a tragedy occurred at the Quad City Air Show when a 30-year-old L-39 fighter jet fell from the sky, claiming the life of a veteran pilot.

Glenn Smith, or ``Skids,'' as he is remembered by his fellow Hoppers of Frisco, Texas, never shied away from adventure. He lived life to the fullest as a certified scuba diver, as a licensed sailor, and as a self-proclaimed ``struggling'' golfer. Nearly three decades ago, he took one of the greatest risks and started what would eventually become a successful business. In 2006, Skids retired to pursue his true passion--flying. Restoring and flying fighter jets wasn't just a hobby to him; it was a way to share a piece of our Nation's history with people across the country.

Skids will always be remembered by those he motivated through his mission to educate the general public and to inspire kids to work hard in school, aim high in life, and have fun. Skids' enthusiasm for life will truly be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends and teammates he leaves behind.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Jerry Costello, who will be retiring at the end of the 112th Congress. We need more Members of Congress like Jerry--Representatives who are willing to reach across the aisle and work to get the job done regardless of party.

There is no limit to what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit. Jerry is one of those guys, and his commitment to Illinois and our country will definitely be missed.

Jerry has served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and has helped enact national highway policy to improve our country's roads and bridges. This is a bipartisan issue and after nine term extensions I am glad that this Congress came together to pass the first multiyear highway bill since 2005. Jerry has been extremely strong on transportation and infrastructure issues and future representatives will have large shoes to fill.

Jerry is a committed family man and early on in my first term, I quickly realized how hard it is to be away from your wife and children so frequently. I respect him for keeping his family home in Illinois, traveling to DC to serve, and returning home. Public service is about serving the people, not serving one's own self.

Over the past 24 years, the people of the 12th district have been fortunate to call Jerry Costello their Congressman. His leadership, bipartisanship, hard work, and dedication to public service will not soon be forgotten. On behalf of the 17th district, I wish Congressman Costello a happy and healthy retirement. Than you for your service.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to rise and say just a few words to honor the remarkable life and note the passing of a constituent of mine and an accomplished small business man from central Illinois, a businessman named Mel Feldman.

I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Feldman in 2010, when he shared with me the story of his life and times. I'd like to share some of that with you, for it encapsulates much of what we all love about our country and what I love about central Illinois.

Mel was born in Poland in 1913, which he and his family fled soon thereafter to escape the pogroms that arose during the First World War. The family eventually settled in St. Louis, where Mel studied engineering. He began a career in the radio business, hustling a job as a remote engineer with KMOX during the 1930s, where he courted his wife, Ruth, while doing remote broadcasts of big band concerts on Saturday nights. Later, he was an engineer and sidekick of a young broadcaster named Harry Carey, of who we're very familiar with.

Mel fought in World War II, and upon returning home, he and a friend bought a radio station in Springfield, Illinois. Operating on a shoestring budget, they worked day and night for years to get established, eventually buying two other radio stations in Peoria and coming to employ nearly 100 workers.

He and his wife, Ruth, became pillars of the community at the synagogue there in the central Illinois area, where she helped run the preschool. In the 1980s, they sold their stations and retired, choosing to remain in the area to be near their family.

To go from the streets of Eastern Europe to the prosperity and stability of central Illinois in the 21st century is a journey that is difficult for many of us to fathom. It is to the enormous benefit of our community that people like Mel came to the United States and braved war and oppression and poverty and all kinds of other tribulations for the chance to settle down and raise their families amongst us. They are one of the things that make Illinois such a great and rewarding place to live and raise our families.

America owes much to immigrants, and central Illinois owes much to the contributions of Mel and Ruth Feldman, whose legacy goes beyond the radio stations he established, the synagogue they served, and the family they raised. Their lives touched and bettered so many friends and neighbors in Peoria, who I know are mourning Mel's passing but, at the same time, celebrating his life.

Mr. Speaker, like many in Illinois' 17th District, I'm disappointed that the Supreme Court decided to uphold the President's health care reform law. The Court ruled what we all knew from the beginning, but the President wouldn't acknowledge, the law's individual mandate is really a tax on the American people and businesses that create jobs.

Under this law, the health care costs remain too high. Government bureaucrats remain between patients and their doctors. Too many Americans remain unemployed, with national unemployment hovering above 8 percent for the last 41 straight months.

The law's medical device tax will continue to raise health care costs and limit the ability of facilities, like Cook Medical in Canton, Illinois, to expand and grow jobs. And the law's employer mandate will continue to force employers to choose between paying a penalty, increasing the number of employees eligible for health care coverage, replacing full-time staff with part-time employees, or laying folks off.

Mr. Speaker, now is not the time to raise taxes on working-class families or employers. We need to repeal this law and get to work on bipartisan health care reform that lowers costs and makes health care more convenient and more affordable.

I'm new to Congress, but I have a plan to address rising health care costs while ensuring those who need it have access to coverage. I urge men and women from across America to visit schilling.house.gov to take a look.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to wish the Rock Island Arsenal in the 17th District of Illinois a happy 150th Birthday.

An act of Congress in 1809 first established the Rock Island facility as a military reservation. In 1862 Congress officially established Rock Island Arsenal as a facility for the deposit and repair of military materiel in a bill that President Abraham Lincoln signed into law on July 11, 1862.

This Arsenal has provided equipment for our military in every major conflict since the Spanish-American War. It has supported our Army's readiness in times of both peace and war. I am proud of the work that the men and women at Rock Island Arsenal have done and are still doing because they have played a role in making our military become the best in the world.

In addition to supporting our troops and contributing our national defense capabilities, the Rock Island Aresnal has taken an active role in job creation and economic development in our region. For that reason, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of a resolution by Congressman Dave Loebsack that recognizes and honors this great facility.

I am also proud to have worked hard for the Rock Island Arsenal with Congressman Loebsack on getting important provisions in the Fiscal Year 2012 and 2013 National Defense Authorization Acts that will help strengthen this national treasure and recognize the critical manufacturing capability of the organic base. I will continue to support this important facility.

I want to thank the past and current men and women of the Rock Island Arsenal for everything they have done for the Army and our country as a whole and I want to wish them a Happy Birthday. Here is to 150 more years.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, June 18, 2012, I attended a visitation in the 17th District of Illinois and was unable to cast my vote for rollcall Nos. 379 and 380.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the bill by Senator Mike Lee, S. 684, to provide for the conveyance of certain parcels of land to the town of Alta, Utah, which passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 383-3.

I would also have voted ``yea'' on the bill by Senator Carl Levin, S. 404, to provide for the conveyance of certain parcels of land to the town of Alta, Utah, which also passed by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 380-0.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Quad City International Airport for its selection as the ``Illinois Primary Airport of the Year'' at the Illinois Aviation Conference held in St. Charles, Illinois, on May 23, 2012.

Success does not come without hard work and commitment. The efforts of the employees of the Metropolitan Airport Authority, MAA, have helped the Quad City International Airport win its first ``Illinois Primary Airport of the Year'' award since 2004, and I applaud their dedication.

The improvements to the airport's infrastructure over the past several months and years due to partnerships with the Division of Aeronautics and the Federal Aviation Administration have been excellent and contributed to the winning of this award.

I frequently use the Quad City International Airport and am excited as the airport continues to make improvements and pursue excellence. I am pleased to see that this progress has been recognized state-wide by the Illinois Aviation Conference. I congratulate the Quad City International Airport on this much-deserved achievement and look forward to traveling to and from this site in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Camp. I appreciate your hard work on this.

Unemployment is the largest problem we face today, so why would anyone want to punish innovation by forcing more taxes on American medical device companies. That is exactly what the President's health care law does, but we have a chance to repeal this tax today.

I hope the Senate will follow suit. This tax will hurt the medical device industry, including companies like Cook Medical, which has two facilities in my district in Canton, Illinois. Cook currently has 100 employees, but is looking to expand and provide more jobs for men and women in Illinois.

Support H.R. 436 to promote innovation, jobs and growth across our country.

Mr. Speaker, on Friday June 1, 2012, I attended a family funeral and was unable to cast my votes for Roll Numbers 306 through 313. These were amendments to H.R. 5325, the fiscal year 2013 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

Had I been present, my votes would have been as follows:

For roll No. 306, an amendment by Congressman Scalise of Louisiana Page 3, Line 16--Transfers $10 million from Department of Energy Salaries & Expenses to Corps of Engineers construction account. I would have voted ``aye''.

For roll No. 307, an amendment by Congressman King of Iowa Page 3, Line 16--Strikes $1 million from Fish and Wildlife and adds $571,000 to Operations and Maintenance. I would have voted ``aye''.

For roll No. 308, an amendment by Congressman Moran of Virginia, Page 12, Line 16--Strikes Sec. 110. Sec. 110 prevents the Corps of Engineers from updating guidance concerning federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. I would have voted ``no''.

For roll No. 309, an amendment by Congressman Hultgren of Illinois, Page 20, Line 15--Takes $30 million from Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and puts $15 million in the Office of Science. I would have voted ``aye''.

For roll No. 310, an amendment by Congressman Chaffetz of Utah, Page 20, Line 15--Reduces Advanced Manufacturing by $74 million, to FY 2011 spending levels, and transfers this amount to the Spending Reduction Account. I would have voted ``aye''.

For roll No. 311, an amendment by Congressman McClintock of California, Amendment No. 6--Reduces Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by $1.45 billion and puts the savings in the Spending Reduction Account. I would have voted ``no''.

For roll No. 312, an amendment by Congresswoman Kaptur of Ohio, Page 20, Line 15--Transfers $10 million from the Department of Energy Administrative accounts to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. I would have voted ``no''.

For roll No. 313, an amendment by Congressman Tonko of New York, Page 20, Line 15--Transfers $180 million from National Nuclear Security Administration--Weapons Activities to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for Weatherization assistance and state energy programs. I would have voted ``no''.

For roll No. 314, an amendment by Congresswoman Hahn of California, Page 20, Line 15--Adds $50 million to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy offset by a $100 million reduction in Fossil Energy Research and Development. I would have voted ``no''.

It is an honor to serve the people of the 17th Congressional District of Illinois.

I believe in the concept of allowing our veterans to receive medical care closer to home. I remember taking care of my dad during the last few months of his life and driving him back and forth from Iowa City hospitals several hours at a time for my dad to get the care he needed.

While we appreciated the service and the care provided through the VA, I believe that we must continue to make improvements to the care our veterans receive. I talked to many constituents in the Illinois 17th District who feel the same way.

In 2008, a law was passed that created a pilot program called Access Received Closer to Home, also known as Project ARCH. This program helps veterans who are more than 60 minutes away from the nearest VA health care facility to receive primary care for services at non-VA health centers that contract with the VA. I believe this is a very promising program for our veterans, and this amendment would allow Project ARCH to serve more veterans, and here's how:

A 2011 audit of the Office of Rural Health found that, at the end of fiscal year 2010, the Office of Rural Health had obligated $16 million of its budget.

The audit went on to find examples of lapsed funding that ``constituted missing opportunities for the Office of Rural Health to improve access and quality of care for rural veterans.''

This amendment would help turn these missed opportunities into more veterans served. This amendment by Representative Schock and myself would take unused and unobligated funds from the Office of Rural Health and devote this money to Project ARCH so that it can serve more of our veterans. I support Project ARCH's goals of improving access for veterans in cost-effective ways and provide an easing of travel requirements for the care that our servicemembers receive.

I also support another program similar to Project ARCH. In 2006, Congress directed the Veterans Health Administration to implement a contracting pilot program to better manage the fee-basis care program that the VA runs for veterans seeking care outside the VA system. That pilot project is called Project HERO. The VA has stated that Project HERO has resulted in annual savings of $16 million in the four VISNs it operates in with less than 20 percent of the potential workload. This means that the savings figure will be much higher if Project HERO is utilized across all of the VISNs and at a higher workload level.

That is why I believe that we should support this program and provide it funding so it can help more veterans who do not have easy access to facilities across the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, as the House and Senate continue to work in a bipartisan fashion to produce a transportation reauthorization, I wanted to submit for the Congressional Record a copy of a letter I sent to Senate Chairman Barbara Boxer of the Environment and Public Works Committee and House Chairman John Mica of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

But first I wanted to clarify my vote on the Rahall Motion to Instruct Conferees on the Transportation Bill that occurred on May 18, 2012. According to the House Clerk, the instructions contained in the motion ``seek to require the managers on the part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill H.R. 4348 to be instructed to agree to sections 1528, 20017 (to the extent that such section amends section 5323 of title 49, United States Code, to provide subsection (k) relating to Buy America), 33007, 33008, and 35210 of the Senate amendment.''

This motion urges House conferees to agree to the Senate provisions in their transportation bill that pertain to Buy American requirements for highway projects, Buy American Waiver Requirements, and the Make It In America Initiative. I agree with the sentiments of this motion and intended to vote ``aye'' but voted ``nay'' in error. I support American jobs and American workers and believe that we should be using American made goods when growing our infrastructure. If the Buy America provisions are offered as a Motion to Instruct on the Transportation Conference in the future, I intend to vote ``aye''.

I urge the Conferees to push for a multi-year transportation bill. Congress has a tremendous opportunity to provide five or six years of certainty when it comes to transportation policy and projects. The construction industry in particular suffers from 14.5 percent unemployment and we can put these men and women back to work by agreeing to a long term bill that includes transportation priorities like the Keystone XL Pipeline project.

I refer to these subjects in my letter to Chairmen Boxer and Mica below, but this Congress has proven it can provide certainty and bipartisanship when it passed a four-year Federal Aviation Administration law. It took five years and 23 short-term extensions, but this Congress was able to get the job done. It should be the goal of this Congress to achieve similar success this year with a multi-year transportation bill.

May 8, 2012.

Hon. John L. Mica,

Chairman, Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Barbara Boxer,

Chairman, Environment & Public Works, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Mica, Chairman Boxer, and Conferees, our

country as a whole is in need of a long, multi-year surface

transportation authorization bill. This long-term certainty

will allow our state departments of transportation to truly

address our infrastructure needs and not push them off down

the road until it is too late and too expensive. Our country

is closing in on $16 trillion in debt--totaling more than

$50,000 per American. We must invest wisely, while also

coming to grips with our fiscal situation. I would like to

share with you some priorities from the people I have the

privilege of representing.

When the near-trillion dollar stimulus was signed into law

in 2009, many citizens wondered why Congress was not focused

on a true job-creating measure like a long-term highway plan.

The fact that such a small percentage of the stimulus plan

was devoted to transportation and infrastructure represents

an unfortunate missed opportunity, especially at a time when

our infrastructure is rated as ``D'' by the American Society

of Civil Engineers and construction unemployment in the

industry is 14.5 percent. The time to focus on a long-term

transportation bill is now.

The certainty that a long-term bill will would provide

would allow programs like the Projects of National and

Regional Significance to help build much-needed

infrastructure in our country. Projects that fall in this

category are high in cost and large in scope and for that

reason federal support is necessary for them to go forward.

These projects affect localities directly through economic

development and more jobs. I encourage you to continue to

support the Projects of National and Regional Significance

program within the surface transportation authorization bill

you are currently conferencing. Projects that do not reach

the threshold of National and Regional Significance, such as

highway expansions and overpasses, can bring in a great

amount of economic development as well. We must continue to

support programs and grants that would allow these projects

to go forward so they are not politicized.

Another important issue for Illinois is our rail system. We

are at a crossroads for this mode of transportation, and it

is vital that we take care of that infrastructure so that

existing lines which contribute to both commuter mobility and

freight shipments are not shortchanged. Rail allows people

and products to travel to and from all over the country, and

from there to ports across the world. While we must be

careful to separate needs from wants, growth in our economy

and long-term sustainability must always weigh heavily when

making decisions on infrastructure priorities.

I also encourage you to include provisions that would

address the job-creating Keystone Pipeline. This pipeline and

other projects like it can help ease global energy strains

due to our reliance on oil from foreign countries. Pipelines

are the energy lifelines of our country and will not only

address access to oil, but will also encourage job growth and

therefore growth in our economy. This is a project that has

the support of Republicans, Democrats, labor and business.

Another important issue that we must not overlook is our

locks and dams. These vital pieces of our infrastructure need

to have dedicated work and funding. After all, this

infrastructure is vital to both commerce and jobs. More than

30,000 workers are employed on vessels and an additional

800,000 jobs are dependent on our waterways. That is why I

support the continued inclusion of the RAMP Act, H.R. 104, in

the final Surface Transportation bill. This would guarantee

that the total amount available for spending from the Harbor

Maintenance Trust Fund be equal to the Trust Fund receipts as

estimated by the President's budget for that year. This is

important to addressing our nation's dredging requirements

and keeps our ports and waterways at a competitive advantage

with the rest of the world's waterways.

I also support the inclusion of the bipartisan, House-

passed H.R. 2273, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management

Act, into a final transportation package. There are many

types of projects across this great country that require the

use of concrete, and proposed regulations on coal ash can be

detrimental to getting our economy back on track and our

infrastructure back up to the appropriate safety standards.

This is symptomatic of large issues of overregulation that

place unnecessary hindrances on meeting our infrastructure

needs.

Finally, I encourage you to carefully consider the need for

farmers to transport all farm supplies from any distribution

point to a local farm retailer or end consumer. The

restriction to a single farm supply excludes multiple other

critical farm supplies and severely hinders the flexibility

of farmers during planting and harvesting season. The Federal

Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted several

wavers over the last two years because it has recognized the

need to exempt these supplies. Please consider making this

exemption of agriculture hours of service permanent.

Conventional wisdom is that Congress cannot get anything

done, but in the spirit of Mark Twain, I believe that reports

on the death of bipartisanship have been greatly exaggerated.

After all, it was this Congress that advanced three market-

opening trade agreements, passed the VOW to Hire Heroes jobs

bill for veterans, passed the STOCK Act, passed a Defense

Authorization that will benefit manufacturing and our

industrial base, and passed the Jumpstart our Business

Startups legislation. These are all now the law of the land

and were accomplished through bipartisanship. Perhaps one of

the best examples is the four-year Federal Aviation

Administration reauthorization. It took five years and 23

short-term extensions, but this Congress finally got the job

done. It should be the goal of this Congress to achieve

similar success this year with a multi-year transportation

bill.

I appreciate your time and consideration of my concerns and

the priorities of the 17th District of Illinois.

Sincerely,

Bobby Schilling,

House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, May 18, 2012, during a rapid succession of two-minute votes, I was unable to cast my vote for rollcall Number 288.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the Rehberg Amendment No. 59 to H.R. 4310, which passed with a bipartisan vote of 238 162. Our nuclear deterrent is a vital part of our continued military strength and global presence.

Our nuclear deterrent through our nuclear triad continues to keep the peace, and we must ensure that any reductions that may occur to our nuclear triad are certified by the Secretary of Defense to be needed and in compliance. Congress must exercise its oversight to ensure that our national security is not placed at risk by political ideologies.

The Rehberg Amendment ensures that Congress does have that oversight while still complying with the international agreements we have made as a country. We also need to show Russia that we take their disingenuousness about the number of working missiles and platforms very seriously.

Again, had I not been delayed, I would have voted in support of Rehberg Amendment No. 59 to H.R. 4310.

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, May 17, 2012, during a rapid succession of two-minute votes, I was unable to cast my vote for Roll Number 265.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the Connolly Amendment No. 6 to H.R. 4310, which passed, by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 412 1. I believe that our allies should keep their commitments, and Pakistan is no different.

Pakistan has been allowing terrorists to hide out within their borders and has not been meeting the certifications put in place by U.S. aid agreements to receive funds through the Department of Defense. In fact, Pakistan has not received Department of Defense funding since June 2010. This continued disregard for our mutual agreements is disconcerting and the U.S. needs to show Pakistan that we do not take our commitments lightly.

The Connolly Amendment ensures that Pakistan will follow through with its commitments and will force them to reconsider closing their borders. We must encourage them to maintain open Ground Lines of Communication and allow the transportation of NATO supplies.

Again, had I not been delayed, I would have voted in support of Connolly Amendment No. 6 to H.R. 4310.

I'd like to thank Chairman Buck McKeon for his hard work and dedication to getting this put together, and all of the staff members.

I rise today in support of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. This bill shows our support for our troops and allows them to continue their mission in defending our country. We are facing difficult fiscal choices, but we must not penalize our brave men and women who are in harm's way.

I am particularly supportive of how this bill supports small businesses that contract with the Department of Defense, our organic base that ensures our soldiers are equipped and ensures that those who would do harm to our Nation are not allowed within its borders. I am also pleased that it will provide insight on how TRICARE can be better suited to the needs of the children of our warfighters, and that it will provide more flexibility for the DOD to bring our soldiers who are missing in action home from previous conflicts.

I am privileged to represent the Rock Island Arsenal in the Illinois 17th District. These hardworking men and women support our warfighters with the tools they need to accomplish their goals and missions. I look forward to continuing my work on the House Armed Services Committee with my colleagues to ensure that our organic base is ready and able to respond when our warfighters need them.

I urge all of my colleagues to join me in support of this important bill and pass it for the 51st year in a row.