Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I rise this evening in support of the Adams-Stearns-Scalise-Broun amendment, which ensures the protection of taxpayer dollars at the Department of Energy. American taxpayers were left out in the cold when President Obama's administration went through with this loan when the now-defunct bankrupt Solyndra was restructured.

In the restructuring agreement, the Department of Energy ensured investors and special interests would recover their money first, before the American taxpayers. This is unacceptable.

Although the Department of Energy continues to argue that it has the power under Federal law to put the needs of the American taxpayer at the back of the line in a financial crisis, this amendment makes it absolutely clear the Department shall not do it again.

This amendment will ensure that if the taxpayers take a risk, they will be protected when the loan goes bad. I thank Chairman Stearns, and Representatives Scalise and Broun for their leadership on this issue and I urge support of this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the ongoing troubles at the VA and its apparent inability to effectively manage major construction projects, specifically, the new veterans hospital at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Orlando, Florida, in my congressional district.

Our Nation's veterans have served our country honorably, putting everything on the line to protect our freedoms. After all they have done for us, it is Congress' duty to ensure that our veterans' service- connected medical needs are taken care of.

The American people were told that for $665 million they would receive a state-of-the-art medical facility to care for the hundreds of thousands of veterans in central Florida, which is one of the most underserved veteran populations in this country. This project is desperately needed in our community. Our veterans cannot wait any longer, nor can hardworking taxpayers afford more expensive delays.

Recently, Chairman Miller held a hearing with the Veterans' Affairs committee to examine these delays. During the hearing, it became clear that incompetence and a lack of leadership from the VA is to blame for the egregious amount of errors with this project. Those errors include forgetting to order medical equipment, designing incompatible power sources in patient rooms, and designing doorways too small for the equipment that needs to get through them. These basic design errors are absolutely unacceptable, and we must hold the VA accountable for them.

While I am not a member of the committee, I felt it was my duty, as the Representative for central Florida veterans, to participate in the hearings and conduct the oversight necessary to get answers and move the project forward.

Having toured the hospital construction site recently, I knew that the project was behind schedule and over budget. Listening to the hearing testimony, coupled with seeing the site firsthand, reinforced the fact that the VA has fallen down on the job and is failing our veterans.

Veterans in my district have to drive hundreds of miles in some cases to get the cure and the care they need and have been promised--they've been promised--in return for their service to our Nation. These are often elderly men and women who cannot afford the trips. And we have young veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have sustained injuries that make those long trips incredibly painful.

This is not the best we can offer; and we should be ashamed, in the VA, that those brave warriors have to travel long distances with the vague hope of getting the care they need. The VA can do better. We can do better.

Today's consideration of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill helps put the VA's feet to the fire and will spur them to return the focus to our veteran population and not on bureaucratic mismanagement and political infighting.

The language of the bill makes it clear that, while the hospital construction remains fully funded, it is no longer an open-ended construction project with bills to be paid years into the future. The legislation states quite clearly that funds obligated to complete construction have to be spent within 5 years. The message should be heard loud and clear by the VA: get your management in gear and finish this hospital.

Mr. Speaker, the delays at this hospital are despicable, and the inability of the VA to provide what our veterans have been promised is unacceptable. Our veterans and their families have put everything on the line to defend our country. Making sure their service-connected needs are taken care of is the very least we can do to repay our Nation's heroes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, PRENDA, introduced by Representative Trent Franks.

As the mother of a daughter, I am disturbed by what I am hearing about sex selection occurring in the United States. A 2008 Columbia University report found that there is strong son bias and there is clear evidence of sex selection, most likely at the prenatal stage. The victims of sex-selection abortions are predominantly female and most are later term, which means that these gruesome abortions are occurring after the child becomes pain capable.

In 2007, the United States spearheaded an international resolution to condemn sex selection; however, there are no laws preventing or prohibiting the practice in the United States. And while I stand here, I think about just yesterday as I watched as my little granddaughter-- inside her mother's womb--turned towards that ultrasound.

This issue of life is a divisive one in politics, but I think all Americans can agree aborting babies because they are the wrong sex is just plain wrong.

Let's put a stop to this egregious practice, and let's pass this legislation.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 656, I call up the bill (H.R. 4970) to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 4970, as amended, currently under consideration.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I'm proud to stand in support of this important and life-saving bill.

According to national statistics, an average three women are killed by a

current or former intimate partner a day, every day, and 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner. For me, these statistics are way too real.

Some of you may already know that at the age of 17 I dropped out of high school and joined the Air Force. I soon married by 18 and had a young daughter. For me, it was a blessing, but I soon found out that the man I married had a penchant for drinking and was very violent when he drank. I gave him the chance to be the father I thought he could be, and it didn't happen. So I took my daughter, our clothing, and we left.

Like many women who leave an abusive relationship, there were times that the only thing that kept me going was knowing that I was responsible for my daughter, and she depended on me to make a better life for both of us where we both felt safe.

Years later, I experienced another side of domestic violence while working as a deputy sheriff for the Orange County Sheriff's Office. I encountered many victims who had been abused, whether it was from domestic violence, rape, or stalking. These victims were always victims. That's what victims are, all inclusive. Back then, issues like domestic violence and sexual assault weren't really discussed; they were hidden behind closed doors, leaving many of the victims to either underreport or not report at all. They didn't turn for help because they felt helpless. So when the Violence Against Women Act was enacted in 1994, it brought attention to an issue that was underreported, or maybe not even reported at all.

Eighteen years ago, VAWA established within the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services a number of life-saving grant programs for State, local, and Indian tribal governments. Since then, the act has encouraged collaboration among law enforcement officers, judicial personnel, and public and private sector providers to provide help for the victims of domestic and sexual violence. It also addressed the needs of victims of domestic and sexual violence who are elderly, disabled, children, youth, and individuals of ethnic and racial communities, including Native Americans.

Congress has twice reauthorized the VAWA grant programs with strong bipartisan support, once in 2000 and again in 2006. Keeping with the bipartisan nature of the act, the House bill, H.R. 4970, reauthorizes the grant programs in VAWA for a third time at the same funding levels as our colleagues in the Senate agreed to last month.

In addition to making several key improvements to the Senate bill, including nearly doubling resources for eliminating the backlog of unprocessed rape evidence kits, the House bill brings greater accountability to VAWA grant administration by ensuring that funding is spent on the victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and not on Washington bureaucrats.

To achieve these goals, H.R. 4970 requires that the inspectors general of DOJ and HHS conduct an annual audit of at least 10 percent of all VAWA grant recipients and limits the use of funds for OVW salaries and administrative expenses to 5 percent of the annual authorization. H.R. 4970 also requires the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to improve the coordination of grants within the Department in order to eliminate duplication and overlap.

Make no mistake about it: this is a victim-centered bill which includes all victims--an all-inclusive, victim-centered bill. Turning this reauthorization into a political issue is not only wrong, but it is dangerous. It is dangerous. We cannot allow domestic violence in this country to become a campaign issue. It must be a reflection of our best efforts as Americans united against breaking a cycle of violence and helping victims become survivors.

I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me today in supporting this life-saving legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito). She is a cosponsor of the legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Bono Mack), who is a cosponsor of this important pro- victim legislation.

I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson), who is also a cosponsor of this important pro- woman legislation.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), who is a cosponsor of the legislation and the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Madam Speaker, I yield 10 seconds to myself just to point out that the survey that we've heard about was received back, and the complaint was the lack of data that it received. I will remind my colleagues on

the other side that this bill and the current law protects all victims.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Schmidt), who is a cosponsor of the legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick) who is also a cosponsor of this very good legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Thank you, Mr. Conyers.

I will tell you, shame on them. Shame on them. This bill reauthorizes VAWA for 5 years at the same levels as the Senate. It protects victims.

If the gentleman would yield, I can say that I do, and I know that we have a list of them.

I will tell you, Mr. Conyers, that I have sat quietly and tried to behave here, but I am offended when I hear that this does not protect victims. I am offended when I hear that we are politicizing something that was politicized

on the other side in the other Chamber and by the other side of the aisle.

So I have very much concern about that because, as someone who has been in the situation, who has been on the scenes of these crimes, we are trying to reauthorize something that is very important to victims across our Nation--victims, not politics. And that's where I stand on this issue.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Let me first clarify. The bill requires that U visa holders actually assist law enforcement. Current law does not. Let's make that very clear. The other thing is we do want them to cooperate because we do want those perpetrators off the streets. We want to make sure they're off the streets so that no other victim is victimized.

In the earlier version of the bill, I was very concerned about: What about the next victim? If we do this and we don't address this, what about the next victim? Which victim doesn't make it out of that house? And I've heard my colleagues on the other side talk about how we're trying to do something because of immigration. No. We're trying to do something to protect the victims and the next victims if we don't get the circle of violence stopped. It always repeats itself.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem), who is also a cosponsor of the legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would just say that I agree that all victims need to be covered, and that is what this piece of legislation does. We do not segment out. We do not pit victim against victim. It is all victims.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Gowdy), my dear friend, a former Federal prosecutor and an original cosponsor of this bill.

I oppose the motion.

Madam Speaker, Democrats in Congress and others have been accusing Republicans for months for waging a war on women. We've been called antivictim, elitist, homophobic, and racist. These ridiculous attacks stop now--right here, right now. It's a shame, really. We've always had a bipartisan vote on this issue. It has always been a bipartisan issue, but this year, it has turned into an election year politic.

The Violence Against Women Act was bipartisan legislation when it was enacted in 1994 and when it was reauthorized by a Republican-controlled House in 2000 and in 2006. Instead of coming together to reauthorize grant programs to help victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have created a phony war on women to score political points. These attacks are unfortunate and divisive. Domestic violence knows no political or socioeconomic boundaries. Neither should legislation to fund these important programs.

Critics of this bill outright dismiss the dozens of good, broadly bipartisan things that this bill does in its nearly 200 pages of text, and they have chosen to focus their attention on a handful of things it doesn't do. So let's be real about what the bill does:

It reauthorizes the VAWA grant programs for 5 years at the same levels as the Senate-passed bill. That's over $680 million a year in Federal funds to support these programs, and this is on top of the increase in funding for these programs that were adopted just last week by this House in the CJS appropriations bill.

It sets aside specific funding for sexual assault investigations, prosecutions, and victim services as well as reauthorizes State rape prevention education programs, programs to promote educational awareness to prevent violence and to improve services for young victims. The bill also improves emergency and transitional housing services for victims.

This bill provides greater protections to Indian women by designating domestic violence tribal liaisons within the U.S. Attorney's Offices, and it creates a new provision to allow victims of domestic violence or Indian tribes on behalf of victims to seek protection orders from U.S. district courts against Indian or non-Indian abusers.

When I made the decision to pack what few belongings I could carry and leave with my daughter to escape an abusive relationship, all I cared about was protecting my daughter and providing her a safe and healthy life. In my years of service in law enforcement, not once did a domestic assault or rape victim question where the help was coming from or which political party or organizations endorsed the law that made that funding possible.

The reason for that is this: This bill isn't about Washington politics. It's about people's lives.

If you vote against this bill today, you will vote to deny help to millions of victims. Opponents are willing to sacrifice helping millions of American women escape their abusers in the name of political gamesmanship, so I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the motion to recommit and ``yes'' on the final passage.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Bryan A. Rivera-Bruno for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

Throughout the history of the Boy Scouts of America, the rank of Eagle Scout has only been attained through dedication to concepts such as honor, duty, country and charity. By applying these concepts to daily life, Bryan has proven his true and complete understanding of their meanings, and thereby deserves this honor.

I offer my congratulations on a job well done and best wishes for the future.

I thank you, and I would again ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to quit making politics with an issue so near and dear to all of us.

We are above what the President put in. Just like the chairman said, we have constantly been above what the President has asked for. And you, as well as I, know that this has become a political issue when it should never have been a political issue. We can no longer allow politics to take control over good policy. We can no longer allow misrepresentation about amounts and this and that over good policy.

We have a bill coming to the floor. We know that we need to address this issue, and it has been addressed even more than the administration has asked for. So with that, I would ask that you do not--do not-- approve this motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Kyle Holysz for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

For his Eagle Scout project, Kyle led the construction and installation of reusable garden boxes for local nursing homes. Throughout the history of the Boy Scouts of America, the rank of Eagle Scout has only been attained through dedication to concepts such as honor, duty, country and charity. By applying these concepts to daily life, Kyle has proven his true and complete understanding of their meanings, and thereby deserves this honor.

I offer my congratulations on a job well done and best wishes for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Andrew Ryan McKelvey for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

For his Eagle Scout project, Andrew organized the collection and distribution of thousands of pairs of socks and underwear for men, women, and children in need. Throughout the history of the Boy Scouts of America, the rank of Eagle Scout has only been attained through dedication to concepts such as honor, duty, country and charity. By applying these concepts to daily life, Andrew has proven his true and complete understanding of their meanings, and thereby deserves this honor.

I offer my congratulations on a job well done and best wishes for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Max Christopher DiRocco for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

Throughout the history of the Boy Scouts of America, the rank of Eagle Scout has only been attained through dedication to concepts such as honor, duty, country and charity. By applying these concepts to daily life, Max has proven his true and complete understanding of their meanings, and thereby deserves this honor.

I offer my congratulations on a job well done and best wishes for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Joshua Beard for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

Throughout the history of the Boy Scouts of America, the rank of Eagle Scout has only been attained through dedication to concepts such as honor, duty, country and charity. By applying these concepts to daily life, Joshua has proven his true and complete understanding of their meanings, and thereby deserves this honor.

I offer my congratulations on a job well done and best wishes for the future.

Madam Speaker, I come to the floor today to speak about the continuing Iranian threat to the United States and Israel.

Just as the President of Iran continues to spew his vile poison into the civil discourse of the United Nations, the regime of the Ayatollah issued a threat of violent aggression 2 weeks ago against Israel through the deputy head of the armed forces.

Through its actions, Iran has proven that it will never work with the peaceful nations of the world community. In fact, in yet another affront to diplomacy, Iran recently offered to allow inspectors from the IAEA into the country only to refuse them entry into the most important facilities to examine those nuclear sites in dispute.

The threat of a nuclear-armed Iran is not only a threat to Israel; it is also a direct threat to the United States and to the entire world community. Just this week, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency said there were unspecified activities at an Iranian military site which inspectors wanted to visit.

The Iranian regime has publicly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for Middle Eastern nations to export oil and supply the world's energy needs. This threat by Iran amounts to economic warfare, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz would trigger spikes in crude oil, gasoline bottlenecks in the supply chain, increased prices for all manufactured goods, and would likely lead to massive increases for gas here in the United States.

At a time when our domestic economy is struggling to recover, the last thing hardworking Americans need is for gas prices to soar even higher.

While drastic reductions in the supply of crude oil would be devastating to the world economy, the threat of a theocratic, unstable Iranian regime bent on the destruction of Israel and its allies is even worse. A nuclear Iran will not care about economic sanctions. A nuclear Iran will not care about diplomacy. A nuclear Iran will not negotiate in good faith. And a nuclear Iran will not be a friend of the United States.

Perhaps the greatest threat to peace and security in the world is the refusal to heed the warnings of the most violent and dangerous regimes when they tell us what their exact intentions are. My hope is that it will not be a mistake of this Nation, one that this Nation makes with this regime in Tehran. Again, my hope is that it will not be our mistake not to pay attention to the signals from the regime in Tehran.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Trevor Philip Conte for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

Throughout the history of the Boy Scouts of America, the rank of Eagle Scout has only been attained through dedication to concepts such as honor, duty, country and charity. By applying these concepts to daily life, Trevor has proven his true and complete understanding of their meanings, and thereby deserves this honor.

I offer my congratulations on a job well done and best wishes for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Jack Ehrhardt, Jr., for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

Throughout the history of the Boy Scouts of America, the rank of Eagle Scout has only been attained through dedication to concepts such as honor, duty, country and charity. For his Eagle Scout Project Jack labeled over 400 storm drains to educate the community about the potential hazards of pollution to local waterways and wetlands. By applying these concepts to daily life, Jack has proven his true and complete understanding of their meanings, and thereby deserves this honor.

I offer my congratulations on a job well done and best wishes for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Talon M. Falconer for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

Throughout the history of the Boy Scouts of America, the rank of Eagle Scout has only been attained through dedication to concepts such as honor, duty, country and charity. By applying these concepts to daily life, Talon has proven his true and complete understanding of their meanings, and thereby deserves this honor.

I offer my congratulations on a job well done and best wishes for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Eric Thomas Pugnet for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

Throughout the history of the Boy Scouts of America, the rank of Eagle Scout has only been attained through dedication to concepts such as honor, duty, country and charity. By applying these concepts to daily life, Eric has proven his true and complete understanding of their meanings, and thereby deserves this honor.

I offer my congratulations on a job well done and best wishes for the future.