Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on vote number 590 that was recently taken, I was detained in a hearing in the Intelligence Committee and did not vote on the adoption of H. Con. Res. 323, supporting the goal of ensuring that all Holocaust survivors in the United States are able to live with dignity, comfort, and security in their remaining years. As a cosponsor of that bill, I would have voted ``yes'' had I been present.

I thank the chairman.

Mr. Speaker, this important bill will increase the number of children enrolled in school meals programs, and it will provide more meals for at-risk children nationwide; it will improve the quality of school meals; it removes junk food from the schools; it provides nutrition and wellness for the students, and it increases the reimbursement rate for schools. This is too important to delay another day.

I want to thank Chairman Miller for including in the bill language that I wrote on Farm to School improvements, which will provide tens of millions of dollars in mandatory funding for fresh vegetables.

Now, since I come from New Jersey, it may not be a surprise that I support bringing Jersey tomatoes and sweet corn into the schools, but this has real nutritional benefits and educational benefits as well as improving the economics of local farmers. Of course, it will also help, as we've heard, fight childhood obesity.

It is important to point out--and I must emphasize this to my colleague who just spoke--that this is paid for fully by cuts in other programs, and I pledge to restore any funds borrowed from future years of food stamp funding to cover this.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (S. 3307), which will reauthorize important child nutrition programs and raise the nutritional standards for food served to our school children in a variety of ways.

The number of obese children in the United States has tripled in the last 30 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that as of 2008 almost 32 percent of our children were either overweight or obese. Obesity leaves children at risk of developing adult diseases such as hypertension and Type-2 diabetes, and at increased risk of developing heart disease and suffering from strokes and cancer. A study by Mission: Readiness, an organization of retired senior military

leaders, found that more than 9 million young adults are too overweight to join the Armed Services.

In a strange paradox, while childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in the United States, so too has childhood hunger. As of 2008, more than 49 million people in the United States were living in food insecure households, and more than 16 million of those were children. That's more than 22 percent of all children living in America. Making matters worse, more than 17 million people were living in households that were considered to have ``very low food security,'' a USDA term meaning one or more people in the household were hungry over the course of the year because of the inability to afford enough food. In 2008, the number of people suffering from ``very low food security'' was double the number in that category in 2000.

We are long overdue in taking decisive action to combat these problems, and I am pleased that we are taking an important step today. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act includes many provisions to combat childhood hunger. The bill increases the number of children funded in the school meal program by using existing data to directly certify eligible children. In addition, it provides funds to states to establish and expand school breakfast programs in communities with high levels of children living in poverty. It would also expand the availability of summer food service programs so more children have access to nutritious meals year round. To help reduce hunger outside of school, the bill would allow Child and Adult Care Food Program providers nationwide to be reimbursed for providing a meal to at-risk children after school. Altogether, the hunger-prevention provisions in the bill would provide more than 21 million additional meals to at-risk children.

The legislation would also combat obesity by making the food served at school healthier and more nutritious. It requires that all food served at school meet updated standards that reflect recommendations made by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council, This will finally remove junk food from schools and ensure that the only meal some children get each day is nutritious. Further, the legislation increases the reimbursement rate for schools that comply with these new nutrition standards. This represents the first increase in reimbursement rates in 30 years. The bill also requires schools participating in the school lunch program to offer drinking water in the location where meals are served, while they are being served, and to establish school wellness policies.

I am particularly pleased that my legislation, the Farm to School Improvements Act, is included in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The farm to school provisions in the bill establish a program through which schools, agricultural producers, nonprofit organizations, agencies and Indian Tribes can obtain competitive matching grants to increase the use of locally-supplied foods in schools participating in the school lunch or breakfast programs. Priority in awarding the grants goes to projects that, among other things, make local food products available on the school menu, serve a high proportion of children who are eligible for free or reduced price lunches, and incorporate experiential nutrition education activities such as farming and growing school gardens in curriculum planning. The bill provides $40 million in mandatory finding over 8 years to support farm to school programs.

When he testified in July at the hearing on this legislation in the House Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said that we cannot ``delay the connection between the farm and school.'' It is a crucial link between children and their food supply. Similarly, Beth Feehan, Director of the New Jersey Farm to School Network said ``[w]e can't be penny wise and a pound foolish with this one. What we feed children will determine their health as adults-- how well they learn and perform in all areas of their lives. . . . When our military states that [it] cannot command enough recruits due to the increase in obesity in the eligible population who can serve, it is time to take a serious look at what we are feeding children and make improvements now.'' I am pleased that we are doing that today.

In these challenging fiscal times, every dollar we spend must not only meet immediate needs but also make lasting improvements for the future. Because school food programs currently provide more than half of the daily nutrition for many children, it is vital that these meals be healthy ones. Farm to school programs increase the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables to improve our children's daily nutrition and can lead to permanent improvements in their diets and eating habits.

Farm to School programs also benefit small- and mid-sized agricultural producers by providing access to consistent markets, making them a great stimulus for the local economy. Currently, 10,000 farm to school programs exist, but there are 94,000 public and nonprofit private schools operating school lunch programs that could offer one.

I would like to take a moment to thank Megan Lott of the Community Food Security Coalition, Beth Feehan, the Director of the New Jersey Farm to School Network, and Gabrielle Serra of the House Committee on Education and Labor for helping to make this program a reality.

I was delighted when the House recognized the critical importance of farm-to-school programs by passing my House Resolution 1655 in November, to establish October as National Farm to School Month. Today, I am pleased to support the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend Edith Savage- Jennings, a paragon of the Civil Rights Movement whose accomplishments on behalf of the movement are surpassed only by her humility about them. ``It was just the work that was called for,'' she has said. As I understand, she is currently working on a book to be entitled ``Behind Closed Doors,'' she said, because that is where the most important work on any movement is done.

Let me open the door for you, just a little, so you will come to know and appreciate this paragon of the Civil Rights Movement as I do. First, she started early--when she was 9. She would tell her mother she was going to the library, but instead she would go to the Statehouse in Trenton and watch the proceedings of the New Jersey Assembly from the balcony. Despite getting in trouble for that fib, she persisted in her efforts to learn and to lead.

When she was 13, movie theaters in Trenton were still segregated. Black moviegoers--like Edith--were required to sit in the balcony. But she went to the theater with several friends, including future Mayor of New York, David Dinkins, and they sat downstairs. When asked to move to the balcony, they refused. And she's been making history quietly, but forcefully, ever since.

Whatever road the civil rights struggle took her down, she did her best. In 1963, she was one of six woman asked by President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy to ferret out particular areas of unrest in the struggle to desegregate schools in Mississippi. She became one of the ``Wednesdays Women,'' who travelled in interracial teams to Mississippi in 1964 to advance the cause of desegregation through what you might call white-glove diplomacy. Accompanied by Helen Meyner, wife of New Jersey Governor Bob Meyner, they landed in Mississippi, only to be greeted by white men spitting on the floor in front of them. ``They'd never seen a black woman and a white woman travelling together,'' she said.

They continued on. On Wednesdays, they would bring supplies to rural communities on the front lines of the struggle to end segregation. On Thursdays, dressed in heels, pearls and white gloves, they would meet white and black women for tea and cookies to discuss peaceful ways to desegregate the elementary schools and to resolve the white women's suspicions about the Civil Rights Movement. On this visit, as Mrs. Meyner introduced herself, she shook everyone's hand. In another quiet act of rebellion, Edith took off her white glove, and the women wouldn't shake her hand. But the schools were desegregated.

Over the years, she has been praised and followed for her leadership skills and prowess. She was introduced to Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1957 at a rally in Trenton because, the minister at Shiloh Baptist Church said at the time, she's ``a great fundraiser.'' She became a lifelong friend of the Kings. In 1964, she accompanied Fannie Lou Hamer onto the floor of the Democratic National Convention, where she delivered her famous ``I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired'' speech. She has visited the White House under five different Presidents. She was close friends with Rosa Parks, and brought her and many other civil rights leaders to Trenton. She's been a member of the NAACP for life, and won more than 80 awards for her selfless, tireless work. In 2005, her name was added to the Wall of Tolerance in Montgomery, Alabama, to honor her 50 years of civil rights service. Last year, she was inducted into the National Civil Rights Museum, located at the hotel in Memphis where King was assassinated, and the National Park Service Archives for Black Women's History in Washington

Madam Speaker, Reverend DeForest B. Soaries has dedicated his life to improving the lives of others. Whether it was organizing a campaign in college to stop drug use on campus, starting non-profit groups to improve the lives of his church community or working for the Federal Government to improve the voting system, he has been and will continue to be a true asset to the state of New Jersey. And while we were once adversaries in a political campaign, I am honored now to call him a good friend.

Reverend Soaries' leadership positions within our community, State and Federal Governments show the commitment he has to helping people move forward. As the Secretary of State for New Jersey, he was the first African-American male to serve as a constitutional officer and worked across party lines to achieve progress in the government, including increased funding for the arts.

His time as a Secretary of State and his years of ministry prepared him to be the first chairman for the Federal Election Assistance Commission. The agency was created to help improve the election system in America and to stay ahead of the curve on technological advancements in voting. Reverend Soaries' character was tested as he helped get the agency off the ground without the resources originally promised. While not all of the plans were accomplished during his time as chairman, Reverend Soaries did lay the ground work for the operation of the EAC.

I have appreciated Reverend Soaries insight and collaboration with my efforts to enact election reform. His contributions have strengthened my election reform legislation, and I greatly value his efforts.

Reverend Soaries has also made significant contribution to his community and the congregation of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens over the last twenty years. He has and is continuing to help create better family units by encouraging people to become foster parents or adopt. He is also creating new homes for low and moderate income families, while providing numerous financial and employment support groups to meet the needs of the community. Recently, he hosted a program that allowed those who had run into trouble with the law to come to church and deal with their pending arrest warrants or other legal issues in a safe environment.

The First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens has grown from a parish of a few to over 6,000 people. However the goals of improving the community have not changed. Reverend Soaries has helped the church maintain their goals of ``spiritual growth, educational excellence and economic empowerment'' through his continuous dedication to creating a debt free parish. He has created a four part program called ``dfree'' that teaches people how to live a financially responsible life and get out of debt. Reverend Soaries facilitated the construction of the inspirational $17 million church complex that makes possible a number of church programs and has greatly benefited the surrounding community and Central New Jersey.

Reverend Soaries is a valued pastor of his parish and I congratulate him on the celebration of his 20th anniversary with the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, and look forward to the accomplishments yet to come in the next 20 years.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from California.

I rise to express strong support for House Resolution 1677, offered by Mr. Manzullo, and I rise to denounce the flawed, undemocratic election that took place in Burma earlier this month. For nearly half a century now, the liberties of the Burmese people have been held hostage by successive military rulers. The regime refused to honor the results of open elections held in recent decades and then forced the acceptance of a new, illegitimate constitution in a sham referendum. Last week, the junta once again chose to disregard the will of the Burmese people by staging a fraudulent election.

When I first visited Burma decades ago, I learned what a difference a misguided regime could make. Burma had been a vibrant country known as the ``rice bowl of Asia.'' Burma had had a rich history, fertile land, abundant resources, and a productive population. In the years following the coup in the early 1960s, the authoritarian regime impoverished a nation and brutalized a people. The generals have rejected the choices of the Burmese citizens, imprisoned or killed political dissidents, and failed to address humanitarian suffering caused by their own mismanagement and by tragic natural disasters. The United States has a duty to stand firmly against the military's human rights abuses and to work for justice, reconciliation, and the rule of law in Burma.

I join with those around the world celebrating the recent release from house arrest of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has led the nonviolent struggle for democratic reforms in Burma, at great personal sacrifice, for over three decades. The outpouring of support and affection for her is a clear signal that the spirit of liberty endures among the Burmese people. Yet we must be mindful of history's lessons. The military junta will not tolerate actions that threaten its iron grip on power. That is why the United States must continue to pressure the regime to end its repressive practices and to accept an immediate transition toward a more democratic government that respects human rights and respects the aspirations of the Burmese people.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

I thank the gentlelady, and I rise in support of H. Res. 1654. We would like to see the week of April 11, 2011, designated as ``Undergraduate Research Week.''

Mr. Speaker, as a scientist and an educator, I know the value of undergraduate research both for the students and for the research enterprise. Undergraduate researchers formed the backbone of my research program when I was a faculty member at Swarthmore College, and they also contributed valuable work to my research at New York University and at Princeton University. I watched as their hands-on experiences with the process of discovery helped them develop skills that cannot be obtained just in the classroom, and I watched as it heightened their understanding of science and their enthusiasm for research. I might add, they produced excellent research.

Around the country, thousands of students at hundreds of colleges and universities are involved in undergraduate research experiences that will shape the trajectories of their lives and their careers. Yet we would benefit if thousands more were involved.

Recently, the National Academies followed up on their ``Rising Above the Gathering Storm'' report from 2005 with an account this year of America's progress over the previous 5 years. They concluded, in part, if the United States is to remain competitive, we need to preserve an adequate supply of creative, leading-edge, innovative American researchers. Early involvement in the real-world practice of science is very valuable in meeting this goal, and it is equally vital to our economic progress. It produces a scientifically literate society as well.

I commend the students and faculty who are participating in undergraduate research programs across the country and in organizations that support their

work, such as the Council on Undergraduate Research, the Research Corporation, the National Science Foundation and many others. I encourage our colleges, universities, and Federal agencies to continue robust support for these programs, and to work together to develop new opportunities for all interested students to participate in undergraduate research.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from Hawaii.

I rise in support of House Resolution 1655 that I introduced to establish October as National Farm to School Month. I want to thank the leading cosponsor, Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota, and Chairman Miller for their help in bringing this to the floor today.

It should not be a surprise that I, as a representative of the Garden State, support bringing Jersey tomatoes and sweet corn into schools. But this is not just a local or provincial resolution. Farm to School programs are a key priority for Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, and First Lady Michelle Obama has planted a garden at the White House with the help of local students to symbolize the good nutrition that comes from fresh foods as well as to educate students about where food comes from.

Farm to School programs can help in the fight against childhood obesity and economically support our local farmers. These programs also help address the troubling rate of childhood obesity. Currently, there are 31 million children who eat school meals 5 days a week, 180 days a year. While the National School Lunch Program does a good job feeding these children, the program has the potential to provide fresher and more healthful foods to millions of children in the United States. Farm to School programs fight obesity by increasing children's daily intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. Farm to School programs also benefit small- and mid-sized agricultural producers by providing access to consistent markets, and they're a great stimulus for the local economy. For every dollar spent on local foods in schools, several dollars circulate in the local economy.

While there are presently more than 10,000 Farm to School programs operational in all 50 States, it is but a fraction of the 94,000 public and nonprofit private schools that are operating the National School Lunch Program. Establishing October as National Farm to School Month would increase awareness and provide the recognition that the existing programs have earned.

Farm to School programs exemplify the best use of Federal school lunch dollars, and I am pleased that this legislation that I wrote to provide $40 million in mandatory funding for Farm to School competitive grants is included in the pending reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act on which we will vote soon.

I would like to take a moment to thank Megan Lott at the Community Food Security Coalition and Beth Feehan, the director of the New Jersey Farm to School Network, for their efforts in support of this resolution. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and to join us in helping to spread and strengthen Farm to School programs across the country.

Mr. Speaker, as a cosponsor of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, I urge passage of this important bill.

Today the House has the opportunity to honor the rescue and recovery workers who served our Nation after the devastating attacks at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and, more important than empty honor, to provide for their care. My district suffered causalities that day and nine years later, the memory of that terrible day is still fresh in our minds.

Along with the victims of 9/11, there were thousands of rescue and recovery workers who came to the aid of our Nation that day. These brave women and men rushed to Ground Zero to help the fallen and to participate in the clean-up effort without thinking about their health or safety. These workers were exposed to environmental hazards and have developed significant respiratory illnesses, chronic infections, and other medical conditions. Further, many first responders are only now being diagnosed with illnesses that are related to their exposure at Ground Zero.

The Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 would create the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP). The program would provide medical monitoring and treatment benefits to first responders and workers who were directly affected by the attacks. Additionally, the program would establish education and outreach programs and conduct research on physical and mental health conditions related to the 9/11 attacks. The program would continue until 2020 and the total federal spending would be capped at $4.6 billion. The WTCHP program would serve more than 75,000 survivors, recovery workers, and members of the affected communities.

This bill provides long-term health care and compensation for thousands of responders and survivors. By passing this bill, we will be paying tribute to the sacrifice and courage of these women and men and we will be paying a debt. This bill will be paid for with a partnership with New York City and by closing tax loopholes.

When this bill was considered by the House before, some in the minority party put politics over these brave first responders. Today, we get a second chance to approve this important piece of legislation. We cannot let our first responders down.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act. For every worker, every business, and every nation to get a fair shake in today's global economy, everyone must play by the rules. For too long, China has violated the rules of the global economy by deliberately undervaluing its currency. This practice reduces the costs of Chinese exports and makes it more expensive to export U.S. products to China, giving China an unfair advantage and making it difficult for U.S. companies

to compete. I hear far too often from workers in central New Jersey who have been victims of this unfairness. They are laid off as their employers are undercut by Chinese competitors and forced to cut jobs or go out of business.

That story is repeated time and again around the country, and our economy suffers. The U.S. trade deficit with China ballooned from $10 billion in 1990 to $226 billion in 2009. Economists estimate that China's currency manipulation reduces U.S. Gross Domestic Product by 1.4 percentage points annually and has led to the loss or displacement of millions of manufacturing jobs over the last decade. One recent study concluded that the increasing trade deficit with China will cost over 500,000 U.S. jobs in 2010 alone.

The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act gives the Department of Commerce the necessary tools to combat unfair manipulation of foreign currencies. Upon finding that currency manipulation meets the criteria for an export subsidy, the Department will have the authority to correct the unfair advantage by impose countervailing duties that are consistent with World Trade Organization regulations. When they have a level playing field, Americans can and will out-compete their international counterparts every time. Passing this bill is an important step in preserving a fair world market for U.S. goods, revitalizing our domestic manufacturing base, and creating jobs for American workers.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Mr. Reyes, for bringing this bill to the floor today. It has required a lot of effort, some compromise and hard work.

The bill advances a number of my priorities, including a sustained emphasis on improving our foreign language capabilities, expanding the Government Accountability Office's ability to conduct investigations of intelligence community activities, and a long overdue declassification review requirement of the gulf war illness-related records at the CIA.

I think we can still do more to provide strong congressional oversight of our intelligence activities. And I am also disappointed that the other body blocked the inclusion of language that I developed that would mandate the video recording of detainee interrogations by the Central Intelligence Agency.

A similar version of this language has been law since last year and governs video recording of detainees in custody of the Defense Department. And multiple studies have documented the benefits of video recording, electronic recording of interrogations, and law enforcement organizations across the United States routinely use the practice to protect both the person being interrogated and the officer conducting the interrogations. Clearly, in the intelligence community, this would be a valuable tool as well. And of course we know that at times the intelligence community does think this is a valuable tool. Otherwise, it would not have made recordings of interrogations of high-value detainees after they were captured in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Should a future President direct the CIA to hold detainees for interrogation, those interrogations certainly should be recorded. Accordingly, I hope we will be able to remedy this in next year's bill.

I also wanted to say a word about the so-called Gang of Eight briefings. Because of the importance of this issue, it can get obscured by ``inside the beltway'' jargon. I want to make it clear that in this legislation, we are not and we should not cede the congressional prerogative to compel the President to share information on covert action programs.

So as you read the language of this bill, as my colleagues read the language of the bill, I hope they will understand that we have a constitutional obligation, independent and separate from the executive, to oversee the activities of the executive branch in this area.

I opposed the previous administration's effort to subvert congressional oversight of intelligence activities, and I am not convinced that we have struck the right compromise language in this legislation. But even so, the requirement of written notification of covert actions is an important step forward, and passing this bill will not mark the end of our reform process.

Given what is accomplished in this bill, I am pleased to vote for the bill, and I urge my colleagues to do so as well.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the bicentennial of one of America's premier private secondary schools, The Lawrenceville School of Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Founded in 1810 as the Maidenhead Academy and run under such names as the Lawrenceville Classical and Commercial High School for more than 70 years, the school was ``refounded'' in 1883 to become The Lawrenceville School as we know it today. And for 200 years this remarkable institution has provided its students with an education that challenges the mind and has instilled in them a strong commitment to community service.

The Lawrenceville School facilities are designated a National Historic Landmark. Designed by the esteemed American landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted who designed New York's Central Park and Cadwaladar Park in Trenton, the campus contains several houses where students live, based on their gender and year of graduation. Most of the faculty lives on the campus as well, some in the houses with the students, and others in residences with their families. This provides a community rich in teaching and learning. Classes are held around oval wooden tables rather than in the traditional rows of desks. Students are held to the highest academic standards, and each day students practice their team sports, study or work at fulfilling their social service requirements.

Many of the leading figures in almost every field come from the Lawrenceville School. Lawrenceville has a proud history of public service. Graduates include three New Jersey Governors, Charles Olden, Joel Parker and Rodman Price, who also served as a Member of Congress; Lowell P. Weicker, who served as both Senator and Governor of Connecticut; Charles Fried, who was appointed by President Reagan as Solicitor General of the United States; J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, who sits on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; Ricardo Maduro, who was President of Honduras from 2002 to 2006; Brigadier General Horace Porter, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the Union Army; and World War I Aviator, Jarvis Offutt for whom Offutt Air Force Base is named.

Under the inspired leadership of Elizabeth A. Duffy, the first woman to be selected as Head Master, The Lawrenceville School has been faithful to its traditions as it prepares its young men and young women for leadership and service in a changing world. I ask all my colleagues to join me in congratulating this American treasure, The Lawrenceville School, which on October 8, 2010 will be celebrating its 200th birthday.

Mr. Speaker, the resolution before us this week addresses a painful issue: the problem of international parental child abduction. Over the last several years, I've gained a greater understanding of this problem through the travails of one of my constituents, Mr. David Goldman of Tinton Falls, New Jersey. As the case involving his son, Sean, has received international media attention, I will not revisit all of the details of that case now. Suffice it to say that even with a treaty on his side--the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction--Mr. Goldman needed my help and that of our State Department, along with countless other generous Americans, to finally secure the return of his son in December 2009. Their 5\1/2\ year separation and the legal maneuvering surrounding the case helped focus the world's attention on the problem of international parental child abduction, but unfortunately, the overall problem remains.

Over the last decade alone, thousands of American children have been kidnapped by a foreign-born parent and taken to other countries, where the American-born parents inevitably face a years-long process of trying to recover their children. In the case of Japan--which is not a signatory to the Hague Convention--it has proven literally impossible for American parents to recover their parentally-kidnapped children. The resolution before us calls upon the government of Japan to facilitate the resolution of all such abduction cases, and to ratify the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Nearly a year ago, the members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission received testimony from parents whose children had been parentally kidnapped to Japan. Each story was heartbreaking, and the frustration and sense of despair of the affected parents was palpable. H. Res. 1326 will send a clear message to the government of Japan that the Congress remains seized of this issue, and it will also remind the affected parents that we stand with them and that we know we have much more work to do on behalf of their abducted children. I'm proud to be a co-sponsor of this measure, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act.

I regularly meet with Central New Jersey small business leaders and hear the difficulty they have finding the loans and credit needed to expand and hire more employees.

The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act will help small businesses on Main Street to create jobs through a new $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund for small- and medium-sized community banks. In order to participate in this program, these banks will have to turn

around and provide the credit that small businesses need to grow. The $30 billion fund, could leverage up to $300 billion in lending.

These small- and medium-sized banks are staples in communities across the country and critical sources of capital to help small businesses get off the ground, but the financial crisis on Wall Street and subsequent recession diminished these banks' ability to lend.

The bill also will support a State Small Business Credit Initiative, which will provide $2 billion in funding for new or existing state lending programs. These programs already exist in about 30 states, including my home state of New Jersey, and use small amounts of public dollars to generate substantial private financing. By supporting existing expertise in states around the country and using an easy-to- replicate model, this program will be able to quickly increase small business lending and create jobs.

In addition, this bill will improve access to credit by increasing Small Business Administration loan limits and lowering costs for small business to access SBA loans.

But this bill does not merely expand access to credit--it contains billions of dollars in tax relief for small businesses. It will spur investment by giving a 100 percent exclusion from capital gains taxes on small business investment and by allowing businesses to write off immediately 50 percent of the cost of new equipment. It also will increase the tax deduction for business start-up expenditures. By allowing entrepreneurs to recover more start-up expenses, small business owners can focus more growing their businesses.

It is unfortunate that this bill was held up by partisan obstructionists, because this is something that could help small businesses now. The small business owners I talk with in New Jersey are not concerned about political gamesmanship--they're concerned about lack of credit and tight lending standards. Passage of this legislation is long overdue and I urge my colleagues to support it and support our nation's small business leaders.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado.

Madam Speaker, I rise as an original cosponsor of H. Res. 1582, to honor and salute Americans for the Arts on its 50th anniversary. My colleagues should not be surprised that two of the scientists here on the floor, the gentleman from Michigan and I, would rise to speak in favor of the arts.

I want to commend Representative Slaughter for introducing this important resolution but especially for her tireless work to champion the arts and to remind us all of the importance they play in our lives and in our society.

As a member of the Congressional Arts Caucus, I believe that the arts play a crucial role in our society--enhancing our creativity, promoting critical aspects of education, and providing Americans with opportunities to view works of beauty and personal expression. Through the arts, we as a Nation, as a people, come to know ourselves. We push our boundaries, and we break free of our prejudices. Furthermore, the arts inspire our children to explore their own creativity and to encourage positive development in the course of their educational careers.

Has anyone here not observed how a student can blossom academically after the student finds a sense of accomplishment and achievement through artistic expression? The arts are a fundamental component of our society and warrant Federal funding.

Americans for the Arts was chartered in 1960 in North Carolina with the ``mission of enhancing public and private support for the nonprofit arts and serving local arts councils in the United States.'' Fifty years later, we all owe Americans for the Arts a debt of gratitude for successfully accomplishing this mission year in and year out. A few years after they were formed, Americans for the Arts helped establish the National Endowment for the Arts, which, to this day, has exposed millions of Americans to the arts and has supported local artists in a multitude of disciplines.

Even in this difficult economy, Americans for the Arts has continued to lead by supporting local public and nonprofit arts agencies. Americans for the Arts has also continued to help expose a new generation of students to the arts, both in and out of school. Further, as the gentlewoman from New York reported, Americans for the Arts has noted in its report of ``Arts and Economic Prosperity'' across the country that the ``nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year.'' The report also details that the arts support 5.7 million jobs and generate $29.6 billion in government revenue. So not only are the arts good for our cultural development as a society, but they are good for our economic development as well.

While today we are recognizing Americans for the Arts for their first 50 years of accomplishments, we here should wish them well for the next 50 years. We need Americans for the Arts to remain, for years to come, a vital institution in our society.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Indiana, and I rise in strong support of this legislation to award Dr. Muhammad Yunus a Congressional Gold Medal for his efforts to fight global poverty.

This bill already has passed by unanimous consent in the other body. I am pleased to have introduced the House version of this bill, which garnered 297 bipartisan cosponsors, an indication of the remarkable impact of Dr. Yunus's work.

Muhammad Yunus is widely known as the banker to the poor, and is one of the world's great humanitarians and an economic genius. In 1974, as Bangladesh was struggling with a terrible famine, this professor of economics led his students out of the classroom and into a village nearby. There they discovered that impoverished people could not get ahead because of the oppressive business practices of money lenders who exploited their poverty and desperation.

With just $27, as we have heard today, of his own money, Professor Yunus liberated 42 victims of these unfair practices from their debt burdens. And from that first experience with the power of a small amount of money, Dr. Yunus developed the concept of microcredit.

With just a few dollars to work with, the poor are able to become entrepreneurs. They sell vegetables or clothing or handmade goods and other products in order to slowly generate and accumulate profits, or they devise clever service industries with a cell phone or a computer that they can buy with their microloan. And it turns out that the poor are wary of debt and are careful stewards of money. Repayment rates for microloans are consistently near 97 percent. And step by step, these borrowers build individual ladders on which they can climb out of poverty and into the mainstream economy.

Within a few years of his first trip to that destitute village, Professor Yunus created the Grameen Bank to act as a bank to the poor in Bangladesh. Today, Grameen Bank has over 2,500 branches. It serves over 8.3 million people in 81,000 villages. It has disbursed nearly $10 billion to the poor, with a recovery rate around 97 percent. Most importantly, it is estimated that nearly 60 percent of Grameen Bank's borrowers have crossed the poverty line. Many of these are women.

Over the last three decades, Dr. Yunus has made the elimination of poverty his life's work. And the concept of microcredit has been widely adopted as an idea. And the idea has evolved from microcredit into the field of microfinance, which now serves the poor with a portfolio of financial services, including savings accounts and insurance and fund transfers, educational loans, and pension plans.

The World Bank estimates that microfinance institutions now serve 160 million people in developing countries. Women, who make up 60 percent of the world's poorest citizens and disproportionately shoulder the burdens of poverty, receive over 95 percent of the microloans. The funds allow them to increase their independence and improve the quality of life for their entire families. Children of borrowers are more likely to attend school and enjoy better nutrition.

Yet even with these accomplishments, there is more to be done. There are 2.6 billion people around the world who live on less than $2 a day. And the poorest 1.4 billion live on less than $1.25 per day. Microfinance still needs to take deeper root in Africa, where 75 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day. We must commit ourselves to addressing their needs, and microfinance can be a key component of that work. Muhammad Yunus and those who have followed in his footsteps have made it possible for the working poor to transform themselves into an entrepreneurial middle class and for beggars to become business people.

Professor Yunus has been recognized with the Nobel Prize for Peace and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. He continues to challenge economic preconceptions and to challenge the acceptance of poverty around the world. We, with this, further honor his achievements and his extraordinary vision of making poverty, as he spoke in Oslo, a concept that future generations may understand only by visiting a museum.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge some of the people who helped bring this bill to the floor. My colleagues Representative Moran of Virginia, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Representative Carter, Representative McDermott have been instrumental. Grassroots members of the RESULTS advocacy organization from around the country have helped raise awareness about microfinance and the effort to recognize Muhammad Yunus for his efforts. I commend Senators Durbin and Bennett for their leadership in moving this bill through the Senate, and I thank Chairman Frank for his assistance in expediting consideration here in the House.