Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the State of Israel on its 60th birthday. Since its inception in 1948, Israel has shared with the United States and the people of the United States an unbreakable bond of democratic freedom and a hope for security and stability in the Middle East. Sixty years later, in a region where fostering democracy and human rights is a top priority, Israel has continued to be a strategic partner to the United States and a beacon of light throughout the world.

The United States and Israel are natural allies who share democratic governments' belief in the rule of law and a commitment to protect the human rights of all people. My home State of Florida has a particular special relationship with Israel, and I have made bolstering Florida's economic ties with Israel one of my top priorities when I was in the Florida legislature. I worked with others on legislation that opened the State of Florida's Trade Office in Israel, and in my last visit to Israel, I visited our sister city in Israel, Kiryat Bialik, in order to reinforce that bond.

It is with great pleasure that we celebrate today, and coming up, Israel's 60th anniversary, and I join the American people in congratulating Israel on its myriad of accomplishments and achievements. I hope that the next 60 years will bring peace, prosperity, and security to the State of Israel.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Bayview Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale, FL on its 50th Anniversary. For the past 50 years, Bayview Elementary School has been providing students with the skills, knowledge, and preparation they need to succeed both inside and outside the classroom.

Instrumental to the success of Bayview Elementary is the hard work of the teachers, administrators, parents and other volunteers within the community who are committed to providing these children with a topnotch education. The faculty at Bayview truly cares for the well-being of their students, and their dedication to improving the quality of education in their classrooms will benefit these students for generations to come.

I would also like to recognize Ms. JoEllen Scott, the principal of Bayview Elementary School, whose hard work and excellent leadership have helped make this school the success it is today. I am confident that Bayview Elementary School will continue to produce well-rounded and motivated students for the next 50 years and beyond.

Madam Speaker, good evening. It is a pleasure to be here tonight on behalf of the freshman class. It certainly has been an honor to serve here this last year, and to be joined by Mr. Hall of New York, and a number of other Members who are going to join us tonight.

What we are going to talk about tonight is something that I think is weighing very heavily on the minds of Americans right now, and that is the economy. We understand because the United States is the most resilient, optimistic, innovative country in the world, that we will persevere and we will work out the issues that have caused some of the problems in our economy right now.

But that being said, as we speak today, there are people all over the United States who are hurting. They are hurting because their jobs may be threatened or they have lost their jobs or lost confidence that their job may be here in the next weeks and months. They are hurting because their home may be threatened from foreclosure or difficult terms. They may be hurting because gas prices have shot up. If we think about what the cost of oil was not that long ago, literally back in 2002, it was $28 per barrel. And we know as of today, it hit $114 per barrel. Shame on all of us for allowing that to be the case today and for having this dependence on oil. We have leadership in this House that is working on that.

Americans may be hurting because their health care is a threat, preexisting conditions, things that are not covered by their policies, and the cost of insurance is just beyond their means.

There are a lot of things that people are thinking about that are weighing them down. At the same time, we have a war in Iraq and in Afghanistan. And a fight that we, as Americans, obviously understand that when America is challenged, we will fight back. But I think there is also a broad recognition that the war we are in, at least in Iraq right now, we may have gotten into for some of the wrong reasons, and without justification.

With that being said, I want to thank the men and women who serve this country and put their lives on the line every single day in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world. And their families that are back home, persevering and doing the necessary things to carry on while their loved ones are gone. I know this Congress has taken upon itself to be certain and put all of the dollars on the table that have been promised in the past but not delivered, to make sure that every man and woman when they come home from service in the armed services, that they are given all the medical services, mental health services, physical health services, and a lifetime of care if necessary. We are committed to doing that as Congress.

But the question today is what should we be doing about Iraq, and how does this interplay with the economy. That is the subject of what we are going to talk about tonight. Are there things that we should be doing to help us as Americans, help us in our daily lives in the United States, help us make sure that we have the future, a better future, as our parents wished for us, that my children who are in college right now, that they will have a better opportunity than I did. That is something that is the American dream, and it has been around for generations. And yet people today are questioning if that is where we are going.

We have to say what do we have to do to make sure that Americans come first and also protect our national security and evaluate this foreign policy, this fight in Iraq and other places, yes, is it in fact making us safer at home and on our streets. Or is it a disastrous situation that has cost us $600 billion up to this point, over 4,000 lives of our brave men and women, and 30,000 to 40,000 brave men and women who have come back with severe injuries and will require lifetime care.

We are going to talk about those issues, engage each other on the floor, and we are going to continue to invite the American people to work with us and come up with some good solutions.

I am joined by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hall) who has been a strong leader and very focused on the fact that our security is important, but our economy is equally important, and I turn the floor over to Mr. Hall.

Thank you, Mr. Hall. And again, exceptionally well-stated. I think we all understand the costs of war. I think we all understand, as Americans, there are going to be times, historically, when we have to be prepared to fight and to make the necessary commitments.

There are also times when we recognize that, you know, we have to look and say, is this the right thing? Is it really achieving our national security interests?

I think we've heard over and over again, and I'm on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I know many of you are on the Armed Services Committee, we've heard about the fact that we have, the real problem, the terrorist threat is in Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iran. And unfortunately, the strategy that continues in Iraq is one that puts all of our resources and assets and our men and women in one location where al Qaeda was not a problem initially. There may be some al Qaeda there, but we don't have to deal with them necessarily with a 160,000 troop contingent.

I'd like to now just bring into our conversation another esteemed member of our freshman class, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Braley).

I thank the gentleman from Iowa for explaining, not only the aggregate cost, but certainly what's happening in Iowa. I know one of our colleagues in our freshman class, Mr. Space from Ohio, he has explained to us the impact in his district in rural parts of Ohio and how important it is for him to help the local people get beyond this.

I'm going to explain it a slightly different way, because, again, I think it's the tangible side of this thing that people need to understand. The cost per day that we are currently spending, and this is independent information; there's no question that this is accurate. It comes from the Library of Congress Research Service.

The cost per day that the war is costing us, if you will, $339 million per day. That is a staggering amount of money.

Now, again, I'm not here to say that we don't have to fight wars, or don't have to do the necessary things to protect Americans. But when we come to the conclusion, as most Americans have, that the strategy of keeping the men and women in place the way they are is not advancing our national security, we should question whether that money is being well-spent.

But I've introduced something today in the House, which I'm going to begin to talk about more actively, and I'm sure the gentlemen here tonight will chime in on this as well, and that is, whether people support the war or not, and I know there's differences of opinion on this, I think every American understands that at $339 million per day, it's about time that the Iraqi government step up and pay its fair share.

And whether we're talking about the cost of fuel for our operations over there, whether we're talking about the cost of rebuilding, whether we're talking about the training of their military, after five full years and $600 billion, now coming out to $339 million more every single day, for all the reasons that Mr. Braley has already mentioned about the savings and what could be applied in the United States, or maybe dealing with reducing the deficit or dealing with taxes, any number of different strategies to make life better for Americans, it's about time the Iraqi people step up, and if they want us there, the government, pay their fair share.

And I'll just throw out a few facts as to why I believe this is so important. First of all, our President, Mr. Rumsfeld and others, when the war was presented to us in the first place, they told us that this was a war and a rebuilding effort that was going to be paid for by Iraqi oil money.

Iraq sits on the second largest quantity, second largest quantity of oil reserves in the world. They've got tens of billions of dollars in bank accounts, as we speak, that are not being applied toward the rebuilding effort. That is unacceptable.

As an American, as a taxpayer, I hope every American understands this and joins us. This is not a Democrat issue. This is not a Republican issue. This is an American taxpayer issue that we need to all band together and say, you know, whether or not you're for the war or not, absolutely, every American should say, enough is enough. We've paid our fair share. We've put our men and women on the line, and it's time for the Iraqis to pay for the cost of this continuing effort to the extent it continues into the future.

So I've offered House Resolution 1111, which was filed today, and I'm looking forward to discussing this with many of the Members. I've already spoken to a number of Members, and they're very interested. It's being offered in a bipartisan way in the Senate, and I think this has the opportunity of finding some common ground in changing the dynamics of who's paying for this, the American people or the Iraqi government, who wants us, for whatever reason, to continue this effort in this way.

And I would suggest to you, and rightfully so, that 1 day of the war could provide for 48,000 homeless vets to have a roof over their head, men and women who served in Vietnam and other wars.

2,000 new Border Patrol guards. And Mr. Hall just told us, and Mr. Braley, about how they were down on the border and saw what's going on. We have border patrol needs. And just again, just 1 day, 2000 more Border Patrol guards for a year.

We talked about health care. We can go on and on and on. But the bottom line is, it's time for a change. It's time for a change with the policy, it's time to re-look at this whole effort. But certainly, at a minimum, it's time for the Iraqi government to pay for the cost of this operation.

Mr. Hall, I know that you've got some thoughts on this as well, so please join us in this conversation.

And these are certainly the questions that our country is wrestling with right now, and as I turn it back over to Mr. Braley, I will just mention again that on the economy side of this thing, and I think about the people back home and what they're thinking about as they're looking towards the next election and just thinking about the next week's expenses. And one statistic jumped out at me when I was hearing about gas prices. Gas prices in the United States are about $3.39 per gallon, extraordinary, at a time when the oil companies are still going to be making historic profits.

The United States military is paying $3.23 a gallon in Iraq. That's $153 million per month. At the same time, Iraqis, when they can get gas, are paying $1.30 per gallon of gas. What is wrong with this picture? Our military is paying $3.23 to buy gas in Iraq on our dime, and Iraqis are getting it at $1.30.

So again, it's this question of as Americans, and being the great people that we are and trying to do what we can to help here and there, what can we do differently to help protect Americans deal with their daily lives and, at the same time, protect our country?

I thank the gentleman, and being from Iowa, and obviously one of our farm States, you have a direct understanding of what the cost of food production is and for farmers, the cost of fuel and the cost that is just driving the inflation numbers in the United States. And most Americans aren't even aware of the fact that when you hear this inflation discussion that energy prices, that's gas prices at the pump, and food prices, are not even part of that discussion. That's not factored into these inflation numbers. It's everything else.

And the story we're given is, well, those fluctuate too much. That's not a reliable factor. Well, you know something? That's the bottom line. When people go to the grocery store every week, I know back in my town, and they see a dozen eggs cost this and all of a sudden they're up 80 cents for a dozen eggs or a gallon of milk or bread or vegetables, no matter what it is,

there is a huge inflationary factor tied into the cost of food at a time when wages are not keeping up. So people are feeling stretched and pushed and stressed.

So it is important for us to focus on this, and again, I appreciate the gentleman's comments on our House resolution because I think it is going to be something that all of us, and everybody has been talking about this; this is certainly not my idea. I think we can all work together in changing the direction of how this is going to play out.

And yes, it will probably be a new President before there may be some major changes in the military strategy, and I would hope and I know I have heard a lot of good generals talk about some of the different ideas that they have on changing that. But at a minimum, I think most Americans would say that wow, I thought they were already paying for it, and if they're not, they should be. And that's something that I hope that we can find common ground. That's what Americans elected us for, not to be Democrats or Republicans, but to come together as Americans and say how do we solve this problem, just like we started the discussion tonight.

Mr. Hall maybe can share with us some of the economy and the economic issues that you're hearing from your neighbors and friends and how we can try to address some of these.

Mr. Braley, obviously a lot of things happening in Iowa and in the Midwest, and the economy and its impact on the communities that you represent. Why don't you share with us some of the experiences you're having and some of the things we're doing in Congress to address them.

Well, I would certainly pick up on that because one of the first things that this Congress did, with our freshman class encouraging the way, was to say that we were going to change the way Congress paid for and spent the American taxpayers' money, and we adopted something called ``PAYGO,'' pay-as-you-go budgeting. In other words, we can't pass a bill without it having been paid for in the budget. You've got to find the money somewhere in the budget; you can't say, well, maybe we'll have more money next year. That's just the way everybody runs their business back home, that's just the way everybody runs their personal checkbook. I know that my wife and I operate that way, and I'm sure everybody else on the floor here does the same thing. You just can't keep spending without having the money to pay it back.

And the reality is that, if you think about that, if you think about that responsible budgeting and the fact that we're spending--the number I keep throwing out--$339 million per day, think about the opportunity of investing in new energy alternatives. And you hear, well, maybe with some of the types of energy alternatives, the renewable energies, they're not ready for prime time yet; there are pollution problems with this type or some type of hazard. I'm from Florida; we should be leading the world in solar power, but there is a battery storage capacity issue. Is there an answer? You bet there's an answer. It requires our scientists, our business entrepreneurs to sit down and figure it out. And with the kind of money that would be available to challenge our scientists, our business entrepreneurs to develop solar, wind, wave, any number of various alternatives, to make us energy independent and then get rid of this oil import of 60 percent of our oil from the Middle East and Venezuela every day, which I think every American understands is a national security problem and all the other things that go along with that, we would be in great shape.

And that is what we, as Americans, are all about. We think forward, we're visionary, and we need to recognize that these opportunities that are being presented to us on becoming energy independent over the next number of years, as many of us refer to it, the Apollo Project--Mr. Hall is a leader in our class on these issues--that this is where we need to be moving forward for our future on national security, for our jobs, and opportunities that will help us engage in a stronger future economy, and for an environment. It all ties together very nicely.

Mr. Hall, I know you are very interested in this as well, so please join us.

Well, as we begin to wind down, we started this discussion about the impact of Iraq and the economy, and the economy and Iraq. And I think we started it from the beginning saying this country, we Americans have spent $600 billion on this effort in Iraq. And at a minimum, as we've discussed tonight, what could we do, certainly in the future, in terms of Iraq, from the right standpoint, taking responsibility and making it stand up and step up for itself and paying for its reconstruction, its fuel needs that Americans are having to pay for right now, and the training of its military.

And those resources, those American dollars can certainly be applied in a way to make us safer in dealing with, as you express, national security interests by taking us away from the addiction to oil and coming up with wonderful new renewable energy sources. The technology is there, it's being developed, it's being refined. We can take the question of the jobs and our economy right now, and of course the environment.

And so, as we begin to wrap up, if you can give some final thoughts as to how the Iraq and the economy are tied together and how we can get beyond this point and do good things for this country.

I thank the gentleman from Iowa for participating tonight on behalf of our freshmen class.

And if you would like to, Mr. Hall, take a minute to give a close.

I thank the gentleman from New York and the gentleman from Iowa. It's been an honor and privilege to serve with you and all the rest of the Members of our freshmen class, both Democrats and Republicans.

I know the future of our country, the future of our families, our children, and I have got two kids in college right now and I know all of you have kids in high school and college, we think about that every day as we try to make decisions which will be the best for our country both from a national security and economic security point of view. And I know that we're going to work together in a collegial way to accomplish those.

So I thank you, wish you a good night, and look forward to seeing you next week at this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable and outstanding member of our community, Mr. Abby Levine. Abby and his wife Mildred have devoted their lives to addressing critical social, political and humanitarian issues.

Abby is celebrating an important milestone this week, the occasion of his 90th birthday. At nine decades young, Abby, in addition to his other commitments, is working to build a vibrant Jewish community among young people in South Florida.

Abby and Mildred helped establish the Levine-Weinberger Jewish Life Center at Florida Atlantic University, which has become the nerve center of Jewish life on campus. Abby and Mildred are also generous supporters of a number of other causes, including the Boca Raton Community Hospital, and their dedication to improving our community is deeply valued.

Madam Speaker, I join countless friends, family members and loved ones in South Florida in wishing Abby a wonderful birthday, and many more years of good health and happiness.

I thank the distinguished chairwoman of the Water Resources Subcommittee for yielding to me, and for her great work on the legislation, as well as the bill's sponsor, Mr. Pallone.

Madam Chairman, I rise today to enthusiastically support the Beach Protection Act of 2007. With over 75 miles of shoreline along Florida's well-renowned Gold Coast on the Atlantic Ocean, my congressional district relies heavily on its beaches to support both our economy and our unparalleled quality of life.

But keeping our beaches open and thriving requires us to vigilantly fight pollution in our waters. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, almost 2,700 beach advisory or closure dates were issued due to pollution for the State of Florida in 2006. Although the number was down from the previous 2 years, 2006 represents a record high for closing or posted warnings with over 25,000 such notices across our country.

Madam Chairman, the causes for beach pollution are well known. It often originates from contaminated storm water or inadequately treated sewage, and the effects can be wide ranging and devastating, ranging from ear infections and respiratory ailments, to hepatitis and dysentery. For senior citizens, small children and people with weak immune systems, the results can even be deadly.

That is why this act, the Beach Protection Act, is important. The legislation will reauthorize the BEACH Act of 2000 and increase annual funding from $30 million to $40 million, enabling more beaches to receive Federal grants to support State-monitoring efforts.

It will also allow States to use the funds to track and clean up the sources of beach water pollution so that we can prevent future closings and advisories from happening.

H.R. 2537 will also speed up notifications of water quality. The unfortunate truth is that many beach managers are using outdated testing methods that are incapable of providing immediate, same-day results of water quality. This means that beachgoers sometimes don't even find out until a day or two after they return from the beach that the water they were swimming in was hazardous.

This delay must stop. Our constituents have a right to know right away if the water is unsafe. And now that we have rapid test methods that can provide results in as little as 2 hours, the EPA must approve them and States must implement them, and this bill will require them to do that.

The Beach Protection Act is critically important for our coastal communities and the millions of Americans who enjoy and visit them each year.

I thank the chairwoman again for her work on it, and look forward to the passage of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise to submit a record of how I would have voted on Thursday, April 3, when I was unavoidably detained. Had I voted, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall No. 159.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dada J.P. Vaswani, the spiritual head of Sadhu Vaswani Mission in Pune, India. Dada visits my Congressional District from India on a mission to bring peace, grace and compassion. It is with these qualities that he imparts through word and action to thousands of people in countries all over the world.

Today, Dada J.P. Vaswani is the spiritual head of The Sadhu Vaswani Mission, and also the inspiring force behind its myriad activities.

Dada Vaswani is universally acclaimed as a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator and spiritual leader. He has been a voice for animal rights and has captivated the hearts of millions worldwide. In the eyes of many, Dada is a man who symbolizes the true spirit of India as a harbinger of love, peace and hope.

At a time when this country knows all too well the devastation of war, Dada J.P. Vaswani is a force of peace. I rise to honor all peace- loving people, and hope that the example of Dada Vaswani will prevail around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate the Broward County School District in Florida for leading the Nation in National Board Certified Teachers. Currently, Broward County has a total of 1,307 National Board Certified Teachers, up 270 teachers from last year. This is truly a testament to the dedication of teachers in Broward County to improving the quality of education in their classrooms.

National Board Certified Teachers are among the most advanced and highly qualified teachers in our country. By pursuing this high degree of certification, the teachers of Broward County have demonstrated their commitment to elevating and improving instruction in their schools. They will also join the tens of thousands of other teachers from across the country in an effort to improve student achievement nationwide.

I strongly believe that teachers have one of the most difficult and thankless jobs in America. However, the work they do is so critical to the success of our future generations.

As a parent, I would like to personally thank the teachers of Broward County for their dedication to the teaching profession. The knowledge and skills that they have developed in earning this certification will benefit students for generations to come.

I would also like to congratulate the members of the School Board of Broward County for this tremendous accomplishment. Broward County has truly raised the standards for teacher certification in school districts across the country.

Madam Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act.

This legislation represents the best in bipartisan compromise, and it demonstrates that, despite what divides us from time to time as Republicans and Democrats, we can and do come together to tackle issues that matter most. And the global HIV/AIDS crisis matters deeply to all of us. Some 40 million people around the world are living with this disease. We have a moral imperative to act and to act decisively.

Just 5 years ago, an HIV diagnosis for a poor villager in Africa was a death sentence. Thanks to lifesaving drugs provided by the American people, this is no longer the case. The global AIDS program works, and it works because it is an initiative not of one political party or another. It is truly a compassionate statement by the American people, and I am very proud to support its reauthorization and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Thank you very much, Mr. Hodes, the distinguished gentleman from New Hampshire, who really has been a great leader in our class. He was the first president of our class this year. And I am also joined by John Yarmuth from Kentucky, who is our current class President. That's an honor that's bestowed, elected by the members of our freshman class on both of you. So I'm glad to be here with both of you tonight. We are going to be joined by a few other people.

Yes, I do come from the Sunshine State, and the sun does come out every day, and it's a wonderful place to live. My wife and I have lived there for many years, and a lot of people in your districts come down and eventually retire there. Maybe you will be part of my constituency some day. Although the sunshine is out and it is warm there and beautiful, we have also had our trials and tribulations as of late with the economy.

We in Florida have actually been blessed for a number of years, 15 years straight, until just recently with growth and appreciation of home values, expanding businesses, a lot of international trade and agriculture production and things like that. Yet, we now are facing the same problems that most other States in the United States are, and that is our real estate industry has just stopped. People are having a great deal of difficulty selling their homes. If they're trying to downsize, they're retired and want to move to something smaller, or if they're a family growing and want to get into something a little bigger. There is nothing that is selling right now. Despite the great efforts of our realtors and people who are in the development business, they're having a difficult time.

And as a result of the real estate industry, which is a big part of Florida's economy, as a result of that having stopped, retail, and all of the service businesses and all of the businesses that relate to an economy which is growing and people are moving, coming and going, they have also stopped.

So we are now facing a very, very difficult time in Florida, and our Florida legislature is meeting, as we speak, and deciding how they're going to take $3 billion-plus out of a State budget that funds education, health care, and all of the other things that our States do.

So we obviously understand that up here in Washington because all of us live at home. We live in our districts. We go to church and synagogue with people and go to our local supermarkets, and neighbors and friends are telling us what they're dealing with right now. And what they're dealing with is what people all over the United States are dealing with.

In Florida right now, gas prices are averaging about $3.40 a gallon despite the fact that we live very close to a port. As a matter of fact, I have Port Everglades right in my district. That's a fuel farm where large tankers come in, bring the fuel right there, and it's $3.40 on average per gallon of gas.

Food prices. Anybody who has been in the supermarket lately, and I know all of us have and our families have and people on the floor here have all been to the supermarket, a dozen eggs is $3.50. A dozen eggs. Milk prices. And it goes on and on and on. Things that are manufactured in your States, the cost

of transporting things, the oil prices. These things add to the cost of living in all of our communities and I know in Florida.

I find it very interesting, and Mr. Hodes and I serve on the Financial Services Committee, which is a committee that deals with the economy, that deals with the Federal Reserve. It deals with banks and credit and insurance and housing. All of these things are part of this committee.

So we have been hearing from Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Paulson, the Treasury Secretary and others. It's very interesting. When the information is presented to us and you hear this debate, is there a recession or is there not a recession; people back in my district are saying, What are you talking about? Who cares if there's a defined recession or not? We know what's going on. My job is not as secure as it was a year ago. I know what my food prices are, my energy costs, my insurance costs, my taxes. All of these things are weighing very heavily on me, and things are not good.

People have lost that confidence, that swagger that Americans have. And, of course, we know we can get it back, but it is a question of what we can do about it.

Well, in the discussion with Financial Services, when they present the inflationary numbers to us and say, well, inflation is in check, that maybe it's moving a little and we have to watch it but it's in check, guess what the inflationary factors do not consider: energy and food prices. And they say that the reason they're not considered is because they fluctuate wildly and they are really not a determining factor of whether there's an inflation. Well, you know something? They certainly are a big factor on my budget and my neighbor's budget and my parents' budget and everyone else who lives in the United States because those two factors are things that affect us. Every time you go to the gas station and you spend $50, $60, $70 for a tank of gas, that's a lot of money. And whether you can afford it or not, you feel like something's wrong here. We're sending money overseas to countries that are not our friends and are supporting our enemies or these oil companies are creating the largest profit in American company history. And nobody's out there criticizing the entrepreneurial system, but let's have a little fairness here, a little investing in renewable energy, which is what this Democratic Congress has been focusing on, which is a good thing. And food prices, our farmers and people who produce, this is a big factor to American families when they go to the supermarket. When all of a sudden it costs $175 for your weekly bill instead of $130, that adds up. People that are on fixed incomes, we have a lot of seniors that have retired to my community that are on fixed incomes. These are real issues that I think we are concerned about.

And the good news is there are some things coming out of this Congress that are going to begin to help deal with everything from energy prices, both short and long term; food prices, of course. And nobody's looking to control the economy, but we are saying we need to work together to help reduce the costs of the materials that make up these products. And, of course, the mortgage crisis and the credit crisis, and I know we're going to talk about that as we get into our discussion tonight. Fortunately, we have some great people. Congressman Barney Frank, chairman of Financial Services, probably one of the smartest people, he's working every day with Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Paulson to try to find things that we can do to help people stay in their homes. We're not talking about land speculators. We're not talking about people who have five homes. We are talking about the families that got in a little bit over their heads here, and they need some help and those communities need some help so you don't have this cascading of foreclosures in any one area.

So I'm looking forward to being with our colleagues here tonight to talk about some of these things. And with that if I can yield to the gentleman from Kentucky, I will do that.

Thank you for laying out as you did. It's very easy to understand the way you just explain it. I will just mention another item that we did pass last year as we saw this coming on. The question is what is Congress doing. What are we doing to help our neighbors and friends. This is a community issue. Sure, it's a national issue. But it boils down to what is happening in my community in Delray Beach and Boynton Beach and Lauderdale by the Sea and places that are close-knit communities and close-knit families that have lived together for a long time and they are seeing house after house after house with a sign that says Foreclosure, that notice on the door. It's not very troubling. It's not just that homeowner him or herself, it's the community that gets affected. It has a downward pressure on home values, which is what we want to avoid.

Another thing that is very important that this Congress, the two gentlemen here and others supported, and we are all very proud to do this, it was a bill called the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. It did something which is very important. It prevents homeowners from facing a tax bill at the same time they are losing their homes. Here's how it works. This is a problem with the current Internal Revenue Code. Basically, it says if you have a debt, a mortgage, and somebody releases you from that debt, they cancel the debt, or they reduce the amount, that is considered income to you. You actually have to pay tax on that, which is pretty ridiculous. But that is the way the current tax law is set up. It's not just for homes, it's for other things as well. It's called ``phantom income.'' It's the worst kind of income you can have because there is no cash in your pocket to pay for it.

So this Congress under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi and others, in a bipartisan way, it was the right thing to do, we passed a law that said no, that is not going to be the case. If you're foreclosed on or there is a problem and there is a release of this debt, that is not going to be income to you, and you don't have to pay tax on it. It's bad enough your losing your home, but you certainly shouldn't have to add insult to injury by paying income on that as well.

We also passed a bill which expanded financial counseling for families in danger of losing their homes. A lot of it is information. If you're getting this notice and you can't afford that mortgage payment, what can you do? As Mr. Hodes correctly said, this isn't the old days when you went to your local banker, in many cases, and it was a man or woman you knew, it was someone in the community, and they took down your application, they knew where you worked and what your income was and everything else, and that bank was going to hold that mortgage.

Today, that is not the way it works. Many banks, not all banks, but many banks, they take that mortgage and it's sold within 30 days in the package that Mr. Hodes mentioned. Packaged and sold again and again, and most people don't even know who's holding their paper. They send a mortgage payment to some P.O. box somewhere. They won't even know who to call if they were late on their payments.

One of the things this Congress said is let's help people, get them information, and this counseling process is one which you bring people together and say listen, maybe I can't afford this, but I can afford this. It's not in the bank's best interest to foreclose on a piece of property. They lose all the way around. It's certainly not in the best interest of the homeowner. So we are very proud that that was the right thing to do. But there's so much more to do.

This past week, the Treasury Secretary, Mr. Paulson, released a series of proposals. He called them short, intermediate, and long-term views on the financial markets. Unfortunately, the short-term really wasn't much of anything. The way I read it, it was sort of we are going to reinstate this commission, put some new people on it, and study it.

Well, time for study is over. People are in real need right now. We are not into bailouts. We are not into bailouts of banks or investment groups that made bad investments, and we are not into bailouts of land speculators. But there is a narrow group of people that are homeowners, family owners. It's their primary home, their only home. It's where they live. They are raising their kids, or they are senior citizens. This is the group of people that may have got caught short. This is the group of people that I think there are some strategies being discussed right now in Congress just to give them some relief to encourage the lenders to work with them and create some ways that the financing can be stabilized.

So I think that is a very good thing. But, again, it's not in the President's proposal. I am not saying that he is not prepared to work with us, but I think the ideas are going to come out of this Congress.

The second thing I will mention quickly and turn it over to my colleague from Kentucky is the notion that these organizations at the Federal level, SEC, Securities Exchange Commission; CFTC, another group that regulates commodities, and the groups go on and on in evaluating and regulating banks. They call it the alphabet soup of regulators.

It's pretty clear that these organizations have failed or not had the legal authority to do what they need to do. I think what this means to all of us, and the President and through the Treasury Secretary has said let's merge some of these together. That may be a good idea for efficiency purposes and it may be a good idea in term of creating a better form of regulation. But it's like reorganizing the chairs on the Titanic, or even creating the Department of Homeland Security by putting Immigration and FEMA in there. It isn't always necessarily a better idea to just merge everything together.

I am all for efficiency, I am all for saving money, I am all for the better regulatory side without, as Mr. Hodes, said over regulating. But I think there has to be a mission clarification here to understand that a whole lot of things that were being sold on Wall Street are not understandable, not only to the average investor, like any American that buys stocks or investment vehicles, but even to the most sophisticated people.

There are a lot of things being traded that nobody real understood what they were trading, and the result of that is no transparency and a whole lot of businesses and a lot of people have lost a lot of money. Again, I think I am mostly concerned about the average investor and our markets being creative and innovative. That is all a good thing. But at the same time, we want to make sure that there's a regulatory scheme that doesn't stifle innovation, but it's that side of capitalism, that capitalism unregulated results in the Depression, as we had in 1929, and certainly there have been pitfalls along the way. This is obviously a pitfall, and we need to fix it and learn from the mistakes of what got us here in the first place.

So I am hopeful that this Congress in a bipartisan way with the leadership of Chairman Barney Frank will be able to come up with some good ideas, work with Federal Reserve Chair, work with the Treasury Secretary, work with the Bush administration. America is depending on us. Our families are depending on us, our neighbors are depending on us. We are all optimists. That is why we are here. As Americans, we are optimists. Let's not repeat these mistakes again.

With that, Mr. Hodes, if it's okay, I will turn it back to you.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Serena Laine-Lobsinger, an accomplished 7th grader from my congressional district, who recently won the regional finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Florida. Serena competed against 8 opponents for 36 rounds of tense competition, to win as the area's top speller. She will now travel to Washington, DC, to represent Palm Beach, Hendry, Glades, and Okeechobee counties at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the largest and longest standing spelling bee in our country.

Serena is a bright and talented young woman and her hard work and dedication to her studies will surely help her succeed in any endeavor she pursues. I wish Serena the best of luck in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and continued success in the future.

Madam Speaker, today I submit a record of how I would have voted on Tuesday, March 11, when I was unavoidably detained. Had I voted, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall No. 120.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Lieutenant Rafael Vazquez of the Palm Beach Fire Rescue. Known as ``Ray,'' this brave firefighter died tragically on Monday, March 3, as a result of a random shooting in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The details of Lt. Vazquez's death are heartbreaking. The 42-year-old lieutenant had just finished eating lunch with his wife, Michele, and their 4-year-old son when, ever the caring parent, Ray decided to go back inside the restaurant to exchange a toy that had come with his child's meal.

It was a fateful decision. Once inside, Ray was met by a deranged gunman, Alburn Edward Blake, who opened fire. When it was over, Lt. Vazquez lay dead and four others were injured. Then Alburn Edward Blake turned the gun on himself.

Ray's life was one of tireless dedication toward protecting his fellow citizens. Formerly a firefighter with the town of Lake Park, he was hired by the Palm Beach Fire Rescue in February 2001 and was promoted to Rescue Lieutenant in January 2007. He had been assigned to Rescue 28 in Royal Palm Beach, Florida. Lt. Vazquez is survived by his wife Michele, an officer with Palm Springs Public Safety, and their 5 children, ages 4-21.

In closing, I think the best way to honor Ray's life in Congress is to let his wife Michele speak for him in her own words. She says, ``I don't understand why these horrible things happen. But no horrible thing can take away our memories. My husband was an outstanding father and the most giving husband. He was my best friend; I'm going to miss him so much.''

A dedicated firefighter, father, and human being, Lt. Ray Vazquez deserves all the honor and praise this distinguished body can bestow upon him.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, otherwise known as the GIVE Act. This legislation speaks to what makes our country great, Americans volunteering to give back to their communities. Volunteerism is so important to helping the less fortunate, working to better one's community, and instilling a sense of patriotism and love for one's country.

Volunteers are critical to pulling our country through hard times. Following the hurricanes that plagued my home State of Florida, I witnessed firsthand the overwhelming response from volunteers who came out to respond to the needs of hurricane victims. Volunteers came together to provide these victims with clothing, food, shelter, and other items that displaced residents and families needed to get their lives back on track.

The GIVE Act will continue this strong tradition of volunteerism in America by increasing community service opportunities and providing new incentives for volunteering.

Furthermore, I am proud to support legislation that puts a premium on disaster preparedness and emergency response.

I would like to commend Representative McCarthy for her work on this bill and urge my colleagues to support this bill for the betterment of all our communities and our country as a whole.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1922, the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area Act of 2007. As one of its cosponsors, I applaud my good friend, Representative Tim Mahoney, for shepherding this bill through the House.

H.R. 1922 will establish the Jupiter Lighthouse and the surrounding 126 acres as an ``outstanding natural area,'' only the second in the country and the only one east of the Mississippi.

The lighthouse area is well-deserving of this designation. It is home to a wide range of endangered species of flora and fauna, and it tells a rich story of Florida's history and prehistory.

The Jupiter Lighthouse is the epicenter for education, history, ecology, science, and recreation. This legislation will elevate this local and regional site to national prominence and help an important part of Florida's history become a valuable part of our shared American history.