Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, on Thursday, July 9, 2009, I was absent from U.S. House of Representatives while on official business in my district.

Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: ``no'' on rollcall 497; ``aye'' on rollcall 498; ``aye'' on rollcall 499; ``aye'' on rollcall 500; ``no'' on rollcall 501; ``aye'' on rollcall 502; ``no'' on rollcall 503; ``no'' on rollcall 504; ``no'' on rollcall 505; ``no'' on rollcall 506; ``no'' on rollcall 507; ``no'' on rollcall 508; ``aye'' on rollcall 509; ``aye'' on rollcall 510; ``aye'' on rollcall 511; ``aye'' on rollcall 512; ``no'' on rollcall 513; ``aye'' on rollcall 514; ``aye'' on rollcall 515; ``aye'' on rollcall 516; ``no'' on rollcall 517; ``no'' on rollcall 518; ``aye'' on rollcall 519; ``no'' on rollcall 520; ``aye'' on rollcall 521; ``no'' on rollcall 522.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to rise today to congratulate the Mechanicville High School Softball team who, in addition to winning an impressive five New York State titles in Class C this decade, have recently captured the Class B State Championship.

The Red Raiders faced tough competition, in addition to quite a bit of rain, to pull out a 3-1 victory against Fredonia at Waterloo High School. I would especially like to recognize the impressive performance of sophomore Anna Arcenaux, who allowed just one run while winning two games in the final four.

Arcenaux's efforts were aided by freshman Alysa Russell and sophomore Kelsey Hines, two of the team's most outstanding hitters. Leading Mechanicville's young team to victory was head Coach Dan Arcenaux, who will have the opportunity to repeat this success next year with the same roster of outstanding athletes.

On behalf of the citizens of the 20th District of New York, we congratulate the Mechanicville Red Raiders softball team and their coaches for an outstanding display of teamwork and athleticism.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Like so many other Members here today, I rise to speak in favor of this bill and in particular an amendment that I think will make it stronger. For many years, I have been a small business owner, a founder of small businesses, and for the last 8 years, I have been investing in small businesses all over New York. I have seen the challenges that small business people face, and I'm well aware of the needs that they have as they start these businesses. And in particular in this troubled economic time, what those of us that work in the small business world know is that many more entrepreneurs will turn to their own efforts to start small businesses. We will see a lot more small businesses founded by entrepreneurs in these troubled economic times as people can't find jobs and they are getting laid off from bigger companies.

In particular, you have got that combined with the veterans that are coming back from our efforts overseas. And as we draw down in Iraq, a large number of veterans will be coming back and mustering out looking for job opportunities. What they are going to need is help because they are going to go and try to start small businesses. And it is a difficult task.

My amendment would increase the funding for the Veterans Business Centers that are already contemplated in

this bill. Instead of $150,000 for each of the first 5 years, they would be allocated up to $200,000. And instead of $100,000 thereafter for 3 additional years, they could go up to $150,000. I think it is critical that we make sure that we have enough of these Veterans Business Centers, like the one that we already have in the Albany area near my district, to help as many veterans as we can when they come back.

There is a great need out there. I saw this myself. I started my first business when I was 24 years old. People ask me, What would you do differently if you did it again? And every time I say, The thing I would do differently is I would turn to get more advice from experienced people early on. That is exactly what these centers will provide for our veterans. And I ask that people support this amendment to make sure we have the funding for them.

And I reserve the remainder of my time.

I yield back.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a very sad duty of reporting the tragic passing of Roslyn Littman Schulte, who was taken from us by a roadside bomb just north of Kabul earlier today while serving our country.

Roslyn Schulte was a first lieutenant in the United States Air Force, an intelligence officer, and the younger sister of my chief of staff, and a great friend of this body, Todd Schulte.

Roslyn Schulte was born March 18, 1984, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was a graduate of John Burroughs High School in St. Louis, and attended the United States Air Force Academy, where she graduated in 2006. She was deployed to Afghanistan on February 18 of this year.

Like so many patriotic Americans, Lieutenant Schulte was willing to give her life in service to all of us and to her country. The expression of our gratitude to her is beyond words.

Roslyn is survived by her parents, Bob and Suzy Schulte, and her brother, Todd. The thoughts and prayers of a grateful Nation are with the Schulte family and with Roslyn's fellow troops and friends at this difficult time.

As we stand on this floor and debate the profound issues of our times, let us never forget the true cost of the freedoms that we so often take for granted.

Thank you, Chairman Rangel. It's an honor to stand on this floor of this House and join the outstanding men and women of this 111th Congress. I look forward to getting to know all of you, to learning from you, and, most of all, working with you in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation that our challenges so desperately demand.

Upstate New Yorkers made clear to me that while the challenges we face as a country are some of the greatest we have ever known, they're not Democratic challenges, they're not Republican challenges. And as our President has said, this country is not as polarized as our politics would suggest.

So while we may disagree at times on issues, we must never forget that our goals are the same: to make sure that we have good jobs for our workers; to keep our families healthy and safe; to help our small businesses grow and prosper; to build a cleaner, independent energy future; and to make sure that our kids can find jobs so that they can stay near their families and in our communities like those all across Upstate New York.

I have dedicated my career to creating jobs and helping small businesses grow, working with people of all backgrounds and parties to solve complex challenges. Beginning today, I will fight to invest in the 21st century infrastructure that will create jobs and get our economy moving again.

There are so many people to thank for making this journey here today possible. First and foremost, the voters of the 20th District of New York. I'm humbled and honored by the faith and trust that they have placed in me, and I pledge to work every day to make their lives a little bit better and to live up to my ultimate job description of being their voice here in this House.

Now, the first person I would like to thank is the most important person in my world, my best friend, the love of my life, my wife, Jen, who is up in the audience here. Without her encouragement and support, I never would have tried this and would never have been successful.

I also want to thank my kids, Simone and Lux, who are down here on the floor with me, and my son Duke. Their curiosity and energy inspires me every day and reminds me and reminds all of us that we are here fighting for a brighter future for them and all of America's children.

I also want to thank my dad. And I am a very lucky man, I have my grandparents here with me today. I want to thank them and my mom, who is not around anymore, for teaching me the lessons of hard work and thriftiness and compassion that allowed me to achieve what I have in life and to join this body.

And I want to say thanks to the family and friends that have made the trip down from New York. Many of you have heard I've got a huge family. We have got 57 people in our immediate family. At least half of them are up here in the gallery. So thank you all very much for being here and for all your support.

And I want to say thanks to Speaker Pelosi for your wonderful leadership and to the rest of the leadership team: the majority leader, Steny Hoyer; Caucus Chairman Larson; Whip Clyburn; Chairman Van Hollen, who have all been very helpful in putting this all together, and I couldn't have gotten here without your help. So thank you very much.

A special thanks to Senator Gillibrand, who made this opportunity possible and who did an amazing job representing the families of Upstate New York, and I heard that consistently on the campaign trail. So thanks for your support and your wonderful work on behalf of our district.

I also want to say thanks to President Obama and Vice President Biden for their excellent leadership. And I look forward to working with them and all the Members of this body to make sure that we get the stimulus money, the economic recovery money out and make sure it's as effective as it can possibly be in impacting our communities and getting this economy moving.

Thanks also to the outstanding New York delegation that was so excited and helpful in this race. I am looking forward to working on behalf of a brighter New York with so many other Members from our fine State.

I want to say thanks to all the other leaders that were helpful, Governor Paterson and Senator Schumer and all the volunteers and staff, and particularly the excellent staff that I had that are here that did so much on our behalf for this campaign. So thank you to everyone who was involved.

As I began serving the people of Upstate New York, I pledged to work with each and every Member of this body to put people back to work, to take care of the taxpayers of today and of tomorrow, and to give our kids a 21st century education, and, most of all, to summon the true spirit of cooperation that it will take to make sure that America's brightest days are still ahead of us. Thank you.