Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the National Water Research and Development Initiative Act.

There is a tendency to take the availability of clean drinking water for granted. Even in a state like Michigan, which is surrounded by water, we have become increasingly aware that the Great Lakes are a finite resource. To that end, the eight Great Lakes states came together last year and adopted a compact to

manage and protect the Lakes. With the approval of the Great Lakes Compact by Congress, at long last we closed the door to bulk diversion of Great Lakes water. The Compact also establishes a comprehensive management framework to protect this shared resource and requires Great Lake states to control their own large-scale water use.

In other parts of the Nation, it is clear that water supplies are under increasing stress. Drought, population increases; and growing demand has resulted in water shortages in many areas, and these shortages are expected to become more pronounced over time. Currently, more than 20 federal agencies carry out research on water, water quality, and water management. The bill before the House will begin to coordinate national research and development efforts on water to provide the tools and information to manage water resources more effectively.

I want to make clear that nothing in this legislation authorizes, encourages or mentions water diversion from the Great Lakes. That is off the table. What is under discussion today is better coordination of programs that already exist to improve federal activities on water, involving research, data collection, modeling, education and the development of technology to enhance water quality and supply. As much as any other region, the Great Lakes states stand to benefit from more effective use of federal water research and development dollars.

Let me also express my support for the amendment offered by Representatives Kirk and Quigley which requires the National Water Research and Assessment Plan established in this legislation to include long-term projections of water levels and ice cover of major water bodies, especially the Great Lakes. The loss of winter ice on the Lakes results in faster evaporation of the water. We need better data to understand the decline of ice cover in the Great Lakes and the impact this decline has on water levels in the Lakes.

I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent on April 1 during rollcall votes 175 through 182. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote 175 to table H. Res. 312; ``yea'' on rollcall vote 176 on agreeing to H. Res. 305; ``yea'' on rollcall vote 177 on agreeing to H. Res. 306; ``yea'' on rollcall vote 178 on passage of H. R. 1575; ``yea'' on rollcall vote 179 on agreeing to H. Res. 290; ``nay'' on rollcall vote 180 on agreeing to the Bean amendment to H. R. 1664; and ``yea'' on rollcall vote 182 on passage of H. R. 1664.

On April 2, I was absent for rollcall 187, final passage of H.R. 1256. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate my good friend, Dr. Jim Jacobs, as he is inaugurated as the Fifth President of Macomb Community College. Jim has the creative intelligence, passion, in-depth knowledge of the challenges facing Michigan, and collaborative energy to lead this fine institution through these next vital years of economic transformation for our State's businesses, workers and communities.

Jim Jacobs has more than 40 years of experience at Macomb Community College. He began teaching economics in 1967 and continued teaching both economics and political science for sixteen years before leading efforts to establish both the Tech Prep and Machinist Training institutes.

Jim Jacobs has a vast array of expertise in the areas of occupational change and technology, suburban economic development, occupational education, retraining of displaced workers and needs assessment of occupational programs. He has played a significant role in these areas at the national, state and local level, both conducting and publishing research and developing programs.

Jim Jacobs is the past president of the National Council for Workforce Education, a national post-secondary organization of occupational education and workforce development specialists. He served on the team that assisted the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth in the development of Reshaping Michigan's Workforce: An Action Plan of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. He was also part of the research staff and a report writer for Lt. Governor John Cherry's Commission on Higher Education & Economic Growth.

At the local level, Jim Jacobs is viewed by many as the authoritative voice on the economic climate in Macomb County. Each January for the past 23 years, Jim Jacobs has presented his economic forecast for Macomb County to an often sell-out crowd of business, government and civic leaders. He has also served on a number of community boards, including Peoples State Bank, Macomb Inter-Faith Action Center, United Way and St. John Hospital, and is a member of the board of directors of the Community College Research Center, New York.

I have had the pleasure of working with Jim Jacobs on numerous projects over the years. Including, school-to-work efforts, the redevelopment of the Tank Plant property (the local committee was co- chaired by Jim), worker re-training, and the impact of trade and monetary policies. On a whole range of issues, Jim is always available with wise and thoughtful insights and the economic statistics to make his case.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Dr. Jim Jacobs as he assumes this important position. With his immense skills and masterful understanding of the local area he and the community college will play a key role in continuing efforts to revolutionize the work force in Macomb County to prosper in this new economy.

Mr. Speaker, it's interesting to hear the debate from the other side. I guess some are going to vote ``yes,'' and I hope the vast majority will, after trying to make political points. This isn't the time for that. We are in the midst of a national economic crisis. Almost 4\1/2\ million jobs lost during this recession, homes are being lost. I think everybody has to participate in the solution and no one should exploit it.

In one bonus payment, these executives, who worked in the division that helped bring about the havoc, are taking home more money than 99 percent of Americans take home in a year.

The head of AIG has suggested their returning the bonuses. They should. And if they don't, we're taking action. We have the authority under the Tax Code not to punish but to protect the taxpayers of the United States of America. That's what we are doing today, and we should pass this overwhelmingly.

Mr. Speaker, one year ago, a wave of protests began in Lhasa and swept across the Tibetan Plateau. In the time since, the Chinese government has pursued policies that demonstrate a failure to live up to its commitments to its ethnic minority citizens--commitments that are well-documented and unmistakable. Chinese law includes protections for the distinctive culture, language and identity of ethnic minority citizens. China's Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, for example, guarantees ethnic minorities the ``right to administer their internal affairs.'' Specifically, the term ``regional ethnic autonomy,'' as the law itself defines it, ``reflects the state's full respect for ethnic minorities' right to administer their internal affairs.'' Over the past year, the actions of the Chinese government have reflected neither ``the state's full respect'' of ethnic minority rights, nor of human rights standards recognized in both Chinese and international law.

On January 19, 2009, the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region established a new holiday called ``Serfs'' Emancipation Day.'' As the Congressional-Executive Commission on China has reported, this new holiday commemorates the March 28, 1959, Chinese government decree that dissolved the Dalai Lama's Lhasa-based Tibetan government. The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress said the new holiday would ``strengthen Tibetans' patriotism.'' He also said that officials had met to ``ensure that all people mark the occasion with festivities.'' Chinese officials have required Tibetans to celebrate the end of the Dalai Lama's government, and, by implication, his departure from Tibet fifty years ago. This is how the Chinese government demonstrates its commitment to ``the state's full respect for ethnic minorities' right to administer their internal affairs.''

For the last several weeks, international media organizations have reported that Chinese authorities have been closing Tibetan areas to foreign reporters and travelers. Last month, China's Central Propaganda Bureau and State Ethnic Affairs Commission publicized a document titled ``An Outline Concerning Propaganda Education on the Party and State's Ethnic Policy.'' As the Congressional-Executive Commission on China has reported, this document calls for resisting ``international hostile forces raising the banner of such things as `ethnicity,' `religion,' and `human rights' to carry out westernization and separatist activities toward our country.'' Let us be absolutely clear: Tibetan grievances exist not as a result of foreign influence. Tibetan grievances exist for one reason and one reason only: in spite of what the Chinese government has written in its laws, in practice it has created an ethnic autonomy system that denies fundamental rights to ethnic minorities. This could not be clearer than it has become over the last year.

The time for change is now. I repeat today what I stated in this chamber nearly one year ago: protest activity that results in the destruction of property or death of anyone, whether Tibetan or non- Tibetan, is unacceptable in any context. But the harshness with which the Chinese government has handled affairs over the last year across the Tibetan plateau and in other ethnic minority regions of China-- harshness that Chinese officials have sought to justify as being necessary to preserve stability--has revealed instead a level of hostility toward China's ethnic minority citizens not seen in decades, and has heightened fears for Tibetans, Uyghurs, and other ethnic minority peoples in China.

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has tracked policies that undercut protections for ethnic minority languages that are stipulated in Chinese law. Measures to promote Mandarin-focused ``bilingual'' education in schools in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, for example, have resulted in language requirements that disadvantage ethnic minority teachers. These and other job hiring and labor practices are part of a broader set of policies that restrict ethnic minority rights, and that illustrate the Chinese government's failure to abide by commitments as set forth in China's own Constitution and laws. Article 4 of the Chinese Constitution and Article 9 of China's Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, for example, both forbid discrimination based on ethnicity. Article 12 of China's Labor Law and Article 3 of China's new Employment Promotion Law state that job applicants shall not face discrimination in job hiring based on factors including ethnicity, and Article 28 of China's new Employment Contract Law states that all ethnicities enjoy equal labor rights.

The Chinese government seems to protect some aspects of ethnic minority rights in communities that are not perceived to challenge state policies. But shortcomings in both the substance and the implementation of Chinese policies toward ethnic minorities prevent ethnic minority citizens from fully enjoying the rights that the Chinese government itself plainly and openly has said are guaranteed under China's own laws, and under international legal standards. A wide range of public policy areas today present challenges that are pressing and real, but concerns in other policy areas do not eclipse the Chinese government's abuses of law and its ongoing violations of the fundamental rights of Tibetans, Uyghurs and other ethnic minority citizens of China, and of Han Chinese citizens as well.

I would urge all of my colleagues to take full advantage of the resources available to the public on the web site of the Congressional- Executive Commission on China--www.cecc.gov_and to make use of the Commission's analysis of developments as they unfold in Tibetan areas, and across China. The Commission monitors and reports continuously on human rights and the rule of law in China, and I encourage all to check the Commission's web site regularly for updates, to subscribe to the on-line newsletter, and to rely on the Commission's published reports to keep up with developments in China.

Finally, the resolution of Tibetan grievances can occur only with direct talks between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama. As China plays an increasingly important role in the international community, other countries will appropriately assess China's fulfillment of the commitments it has made in both Chinese and international law, including legal and constitutional commitments to ethnic minorities. The international spotlight remains on China. We hope that the Chinese government will welcome such attention with a full commitment to openness, and to the implementation of basic human rights.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life of an important community leader and a good friend, Jaroslaw Duzyj, who passed away on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Mr. Duzyj was a leader of a very strong and vibrant Ukrainian community in Michigan, and was a founding member of the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren, Michigan. He was born in 1923 in Peremysl, Ukraine and was one of 10 children. At the age of 19 he was arrested by the Nazis and sentenced to death. Miraculously, he survived five Nazi concentration camps before being liberated on April 15, 1945.

Mr. Duzyj immigrated to the United States in 1949 with little money and limited ability to speak English. He found work at Ford Motor Company and began establishing strong roots in the community. He married his beloved wife, Olga and they went on to raise three children, and now have seven grandchildren.

Throughout his life he continuously worked to promote Ukrainian causes and also display his love for America. His passion and unwavering dedication allowed him to participate in several unique and prestigious events. In 1991, he was invited to a personal audience with Pope John Paul II, and on his 70th birthday he received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal from the Pope. He also had the distinct honor to meet with two sitting U.S. Presidents. In 1984, as former president of the Ukrainian-American Republican Association, he chaired a reception for President Ronald Reagan at the Ukrainian Cultural Center, and was a guest of President Bill Clinton at a state dinner honoring the president of the Ukraine.

Mr. Duzyj also experienced personal success as a business owner, as he became co-owner and president of Cylectron, which made high- precision parts for rocket and aircraft engines. In 1992 he started a company called Envotech Systems, which builds mobile laboratories for the detection and control of nuclear matter in the environment. In 1995, he became a partner in Crocus Co. in Ukraine, a company that manufactured road building machinery. In 1996, Michigan Governor John

Engler named him to Michigan's Bilateral Trade Team to the Ukraine.

Mr. Duzyj cared deeply about higher education. He and Olga donated $100,000 to establish a fund at Harvard University to enable the Ukrainian Institute to publish significant works on the history of the Ukraine. He also published several books about Ukrainian history, geography, and the Ukrainian genocide of 1932-33. In 2005 he was honored as Ukrainian of the Year by the Ukrainian Graduates of Detroit and Windsor for the role he played in the business community, with higher education and his church.

The experiences Mr. Duzyj endured early in life and the triumphs and selflessness he displayed through his entire life are truly inspirational. Mr. Duzyj is a shining example of what the American success story is all about. Today, I join with Mr. Duzyj's family, friends and the extended family of the Ukrainian community, in both mourning his loss, celebrating his life and honoring him for all the good work he did for others.

This is what is in the recovery package for Michigan families: Creating jobs for 519,000 unemployed in Michigan. I spoke to the electrical workers this morning, 40 percent of whom are unemployed, 2,000 individuals; 50 percent of iron workers, 1,200, are unemployed. This package has $1 billion for Michigan transportation and water infrastructure. This is just one example of the recovery package putting people to work.

For the unemployed, an extension of unemployment benefits to an additional 161,000 unemployed workers and the historic expansion of

Well, for you, John--and I guess I'm not supposed to be directing my comments to a particular Member. To John Dingell and to Debbie Dingell, this is an emotional moment, but it is for all of us.

To know John Dingell, one has to know his roots and his father's-- coming from an area that saw the middle class develop. Really, for many, for the first time, there were jobs that really paid. There was health care for so many for the first time. They were provided pensions for the first time, and in most cases, in many cases for the first time, provided for a single family house.

For John Dingell, the automotive industry was not a special interest. It was an area that had interests that were special, and so John Dingell has never forgotten those roots. He has never forgotten the blossoming of the middle class and his determination to fight for it. John Dingell has never forgotten his roots. It is a good example for all of us.

Another example has been that John Dingell was able to grow beyond his roots in a sense, to have a sense that there were underdogs virtually everywhere. So John Dingell came here, not only fighting for those who were part of a new middle class but for those who were not, and he had the courage, if one remembers, it was not so easy, to fight for the rights of every human being.

As has been so often said, John Dingell's service here is more than the days numbered; it is the issues fought for with esteem and success. So this is an emotional moment for us all--as I said, for John and Debbie Dingell but, I hope, for all America--because his service has been a truly American service and story.

I am really saddened to hear the Republican substitute. We have new challenges, and now we hear again the same old song; tax breaks, tax reductions. But the way they tailor it, a family with $30,000 would get what, less than 10 percent of a family that is making three times that? Unbalanced tax cuts.

Mr. Camp, if I might, you and I have known each other for a long time. We are going to go back to Michigan. I think perhaps you won't go until the weekend. And here's what you're going to have to defend by trying to defeat our package. A reduction in health and education benefits for the State of Michigan of $2.2 billion, when our colleges are in trouble in terms of enrollment and our schools are in trouble in terms of providing a good education and school construction.

You're going to have to go back to Michigan and say to at least 25,000 families that health care provided under the Democratic approach--and I hope it's a bipartisan approach--would be eliminated. And you're going to have to go back, and I use you, Mr. Camp, and it's true throughout this country.

Announcement by the Acting Chair

I will do that. Because what I was saying about Michigan would be true throughout this country. Infrastructure in Michigan, we are providing over $1 billion. This is for Michigan.

Your bill would eliminate that, when we need to build roads, fix bridges. And we talk about the auto industry and the need for a new industry with electric vehicles. And your proposal on the Republican side would eliminate $2 billion for battery development.

It's really a sad day for you to come here with the same old tune.

The families today are in fear. I want to make this point. They are afraid, not only of losing their jobs, but education for their kids, and health care.

Our proposal addresses these fears. Yours ignores them. I urge its defeat.

Announcement by the Acting Chair

Well, the opponents of this bill say there is a dramatic set of conditions that are new, but they have too narrow a focus, and they are singing the same old song, and we just heard it.

There are crises of confidence in this country, and this bill addresses it. There's a crisis of confidence in jobs. This bill addresses the need for jobs and for those who lose them. Families are worried about the education of their kids, and they wonder whether the government will respond. This bill provides, I think, $140 billion to make sure that the education of the kids in this country will continue.

Families are worried about whether health care will continue. This bill provides dramatic new provisions for health care for 8 million families, at least, in this country.

Vote for this bill.

Mr. Chair, there is a crisis of confidence in our country. Much of it related to the meltdown that has occurred within the financial system.

But there is also an uncertainty on the part of everyday people across this country about whether they will be able to maintain the basics in their lives. They wonder if the bottom is going to fall out from beneath their families.

People are worried about their jobs and whether they will be able to meet the mortgage payment. This bill contains funds to create jobs by building roads, sewers, a new electric grid and other needed infrastructure. It also contains a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans.

People are worried about whether they'll have health insurance for themselves and their families. This bill provides a 65 percent subsidy for COBRA health care coverage for unemployed workers. There is another provision that will allow people to qualify temporarily for Medicaid until they find another job or alternative health care. It is estimated that these two provisions will provide health insurance to more than 8 million people.

They are worried about the cutbacks they see happening in education and how it will affect their kids. And they wonder if they will be able to send their children to college. This bill contains funding for States and school districts to prevent deep cuts in critical education programs and modernize and repair schools. The

bill also boosts Pell grants by $500 to make college more affordable.

As much as anything, people are wondering whether the Federal Government is going to take action to help them--or will the old political divisions keep this Congress from taking effective action to help people in their daily lives.

By passing this bill, we show that we will step up to the plate and help address these concerns. This bill is a first step. Other steps will be needed, but this recovery package is a good beginning. Vote for the bill.

Madam Speaker, some of the issues we debate in Congress are complicated. This one is quite simple. Americans want the children of this country covered by health insurance.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program currently covers about 7 million children, including 114,000 kids in my home State of Michigan. However, there are still about 9 million children in our country who are uninsured. This is unconscionable. No mother should have to worry about whether she can pay for the health care her child needs. No father should have to take his son to the emergency room because he does not have insurance to visit a primary care doctor. No society should allow a child to go without the security health insurance provides.

Congress passed two SCHIP bills last session. Both pieces of legislation were bipartisan, and both cleared the House and Senate with large majorities. Unfortunately, President Bush vetoed these bills.

As economic conditions have worsened over the course of the last year and more and more children have lost health insurance, this bill has become even more vital to ensuring that children do not fall through the cracks of our current health care system. The legislation under consideration today would extend coverage to another 4 million low- income children. It is an important step toward the goal of ensuring that all Americans, especially children, have the quality and affordable health care they need.

President-elect Obama strongly supports this SCHIP legislation. I can think of no better beginning to the next 4 years than to send the new President this critical investment in children's health. I urge my colleagues to vote for passage of H.R. 2, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009.

The test isn't in our rhetoric, but what action we propose, and for the gentleman from California, his action plan is bankruptcy. Bankruptcy. The suggestion is go into chapter 11.

Essentially that is being proposed by the minority.

By some in the minority. They are saying do chapter 11. Mr. Dreier, that is bankruptcy.

Many on your side are.

Yes.

And not from all. We hope for a bipartisan effort. We worked with the White House. It is interesting that now we face opposition, though the White House has said action is necessary; the President-elect has said action is necessary; the Speaker has said action is necessary; the majority leader in the Senate has said action is necessary. And now what many are saying on the other side in this House is bankruptcy, chapter 11. Chapter 11 will lead to chapter 7.

I just want to quote from a few documents that say that. A recent study by the Anderson Economic Group says, ``It would be four times more expensive for a bankruptcy proceeding than a Federal bridge loan.''

Also J.P. Morgan, I want to read this, their analysis: ``Without government support, we believe auto suppliers will tighten terms, causing Big Three bankruptcy filings. Due to a potential sales decline and fixed-cost absorption issues, we expect a chapter 11 reorganization would rapidly move to liquidation.''

Look, this is complex. But what isn't complex is the essential continuation of a domestic auto industry.

Mr. Dreier says don't play favorites. Winners and losers. Doing nothing to help the domestic industry is playing favorites.

So I suggest we look at what is involved here. This bill proposes strong oversight. All parties will come to the table, all parties, without chapter 11, without chapter 7; all parties will be brought to the table and taxpayers will be protected.

Let me just say what is at stake here. We are talking about millions of people. We are talking about people who work in the factories and people who manage them. We are talking about suppliers. If one of the Big Three goes down, the supplier network will be devastated, and all those who sell automobiles and all those who are involved indirectly in the economy.

So I just urge, the time for rhetoric is gone. Why is this going so fast, Mr. Dreier? It is because there is an international economic and national credit crisis. Every country that has an automobile industry is now helping them. Rushing? It doesn't matter whether they are conservative or liberal or socialist; all of the other countries are moving to help.

Yes.

Let me take my time back, because the main proposal, as Mr. Frank has said, from some on the minority side is bankruptcy. Let me just finish and I will ask for an additional 30 seconds, if I might.

Every country with an auto industry is helping. You can call it rushing. The German Government.

I didn't yield. Look: There is nothing that you proposed that would help like a bridge loan so the companies would survive, so that there could be continued restructuring that they have started.

Germany, the European Commission is being requested for $50 billion. This bill is $15 billion. Brazil, $3 billion. Argentina. Even China, because of this credit crunch, is now saying they are going to help their industry.

Essentially what is being proposed by those who oppose this is paralysis. We

need action to help bridge. They have started on restructuring. They have a long ways to go. It is up to us to provide this bridge to the future. These domestic companies are moving on electric cars, on hybrids. Don't shut them down when they want to move ahead.

I am not from Detroit. I am from Michigan.

I am not from Detroit. I am from Michigan. And this is a national issue, not a Michigan or Detroit issue.

Thank you very much, Mr. Frank, for your being a pillar of commitment and of intelligence.

I want to ask a question, but before I do that, I just want to say: We hear from the minority that they don't want the domestic industry to collapse, but then they give all of the reasons why they'll do nothing to help it from collapsing. They talk about the power, as Mr. Frank has said, of someone appointed by the President, and give it to a trustee who is accountable to no one. Well, a person appointed by the President is accountable to the President of the United States.

To Mr. Frank, our distinguished chairman: Is the savings clause in the subordination provision of the legislation intended to apply to unfunded committed credit facilities of an automobile manufacturer in effect on December 2, 2008?

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 7222) to extend the Andean Trade Preference Act, and for other purposes, and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill just passed by the House.