Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, tonight on Forest Lane in Cold Spring, my friend Jim Lovell won't be coming home. His children, Brooke and Jack and Finn and Hudson, the youngest who goes to school with my little girls in Cold Spring and who has played in my house, will be missing the father they love and a beloved member of the community because he was one of the four victims on the Metro-North train that derailed on Sunday.

We all are saddened and heartbroken by this tragic event. I stand here with my colleagues from New York to honor the four victims and the dozens of injured. New York lost a devoted father in Jim Lovell; but, of course, we also lost a loving sister in Donna Smith from Newburgh, a caring nurse from Queens named Kisook Ahn, and James Ferrari, a hardworking husband from Montrose.

I know my colleagues, Nita Lowey who represents Montrose and Jim Crowley who represents Queens and Eliot Engel who represents the district where the accident occurred, and I who represent two of the victims join with all of you in standing to offer a moment of silence in honor of those killed and of those injured. I ask that we do so now.

Madam Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

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

Since joining the Congress, I have been working across the aisle on a piece of critical legislation, the Dam Safety Act, which gives communities all across America the support they need to ensure that dams have the highest safety standards possible.

Many of these provisions were included in the bipartisan Water Resources Reform and Development Act, known as WRRDA, which overwhelmingly passed the House just a few weeks ago by a 417-3 vote margin.

I certainly want to thank Chairman Shuster, Ranking Member Rahall, and subcommittee Ranking Member Bishop for their leadership on WRRDA and for working closely with me on this important issue.

With major storms like Irene, Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Lee becoming more and more frequent, I believe Congress needs to place a higher priority on strengthening our infrastructure, particularly on our oldest and often most vulnerable infrastructure--our dams. Should our dam infrastructure fail in the midst of these storms, the effects could be far more catastrophic and immediate than most other components of our States' infrastructure, endangering people's lives, their property and their livelihoods.

Our country has over 87,000 dams, and approximately 10,000 of these dams are what are known as ``high-hazard dams.'' There are dams in virtually every congressional district and community across the country. The failure of any of these high-hazard dams would cause widespread damage and loss of life and, of course, major economic disruption; and approximately 40 percent of these high-hazard dams do not have an emergency action plan. I would like to say that again: more than 40 percent of our most important dams--the high-hazard dams--the failure of which could cause the loss of life or major property damage, do not have an emergency action plan. We live in a world now in which we have these extreme weather events, and you don't want to find out the dam is going to fail when you have a superstorm.

The Hudson Valley--the communities I represent--is home to over 800 dams, and nearly 100 of those dams are known as high-hazard dams, the failure of which could pose a serious risk to the economy and well- being of these communities and families. Unfortunately, during Hurricane Irene, many folks were impacted because of a dam failure. Many of my neighbors in Tuxedo's East Village were devastated when the Echo Lake Dam released an estimated 100 million gallons of water. Some people in Tuxedo reported seeing an 8-foot wall of water rushing towards the town, causing catastrophic damage to the infrastructure and costing millions of dollars in property damage.

For folks like John and Lisa Petriello, who live in the East Village, the failure of this dam flooded their home, cracked their foundation, and ripped the deck off their home. For Gary Phelps, it meant more than $125,000 in property damage. Then for businesses such as SOS Fuels, it meant their headquarters were condemned. In mere minutes, the flood carried away cars and appliances. Folks lost their furniture, their valuables, and their homes.

From 2005 to 2009, 132 dams failed. So it is critical that every single community across the country be prepared and be protected, and they can be with this program.

This important motion will make the final version of the Dam Safety program even better by authorizing the Dam Safety program at $9.2 million per year over the next 5 years. This is $9.2 million which could, itself, be less than the cost of a single dam failure; yet we know that in just a 5-year period 132 dams failed. The National Dam Safety Program provides vital support to assist States like mine, New York, in developing emergency action plans, in implementing existing dam safety programs, in assisting with the purchase of equipment, and in conducting dam inspections.

For the first time, the Senate provision would provide public awareness and outreach funding, an essential step to ensuring that all citizens understand the need to prepare for, to mitigate for, to respond to, and to recover from dam incidents and failures. It is far past time to start paying attention to a program that can make a real difference in people's lives, especially a program that has been passed on a bipartisan basis since 1974.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, at this time, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), my friend, the distinguished ranking member of the committee.

At this time, Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gallego), my friend.

Madam Speaker, in my opening remarks, I also should have mentioned the chair of the subcommittee, Mr. Gibbs. I would like to thank him in addition to the chairman and my ranking member of the subcommittee, Mr. Bishop, for the excellent work they have done on this.

With that, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Nolan), my colleague.

(Mr. NOLAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I would like to forgive the gentleman from Minnesota for his vulgarity on the House floor. It is hard not to curse when mentioning the title of this motion. It is also hard not to curse when you realize that only 60 percent of the high hazard dams have an emergency action plan. That is one of the reasons why this bill is so important.

I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen), my friend.

No, Mr. Chairman. I am prepared to close.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank, again, the chairman, Mr. Shuster.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

In closing, as frustrating as Washington can be for many of us who are new to the Congress, we can actually get results and make a difference by conferencing the Water Resources Reform and Development Act. We have the opportunity for the Congress to set aside petty politics and partisanship to actually get something done for the American people.

WRRDA is a critical and strategic investment in our Nation's aging infrastructure and creates jobs, strengthens our local economies, and keeps families all across the country safe. We can make it even better by ensuring that every State and community has the resources to conduct safety inspections and to create emergency action plans. Again, there are 14,000 high hazard dams in this country, 60 percent of which--only 60 percent of which--have an emergency action plan.

This program makes sense. Don't take it from me. You can take it from the folks in Warwick, New York, where one of these high hazard dams exists. After experiencing nearly a foot of rain in 24 hours, many families were forced to evacuate for fear of a potential series of dam failures and catastrophic flooding. Warwick had a plan in place, though, and conducted a safe evacuation.

Dams like those in Warwick rely on the National Dam Safety Program to enhance the safety of their dams by hiring staff to conduct inspections, to purchase equipment, and to develop emergency action plans for dam safety. These plans save lives and prevent catastrophe. Investing in the National Dam Safety Program provides our communities with the resources they need to protect our families and our economy by conducting safety inspections and creating plans. Simply put, a stitch in time saves nine. Nowhere is that more true than here.

I hope we can join together in a bipartisan way to support communities all across America by passing this motion to make the final version of this bill even better.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, in order to end this Republican shutdown today to get the people's government working for them again, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59 and open the government without further delay.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that, to help the hundreds of workers at West Point and the Stewart Air National Guard base, we bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, the clean CR, and stop this reckless Republican government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the 98 World War II veterans of the third Hudson Valley Honor Flight, who are traveling to our nation's capital and seeing the memorials that stand as a tribute to their selfless service for the first time.

Because of these Honor Flights, 98,500 veterans since 2005 have had the chance to see our national monument to their service. As a son of a Navy veteran, it is a tremendous honor for me to welcome these American heroes to Washington, and I am proud to see them off in recognition of their service to our nation.

We owe these brave veterans a debt of gratitude. They stood in defense of our freedoms and the freedoms of those around the world. Their sacrifice made our country and the world a safer place. Our nation can never fully repay our veterans for their service, but we can continue to honor all the brave veterans who fought for our country and the many who gave their lives in defense of our way of life.

Mr. Speaker, today we should honor the sacrifices of these 98 courageous veterans from the Hudson Valley who bravely stood up in defense of our freedoms. Please join me in thanking these American veterans for their tremendous service to an eternally grateful nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor dozens of World War II veterans and volunteers traveling to our nation's capital, many seeing for the first time the memorials that stand as a tribute to their selfless service.

As a son of a Navy veteran, it is a tremendous honor to welcome these American heroes to Washington, and I am proud to accompany them on a visit to the United States World War II Memorial, in recognition of their service to our nation.

We owe these brave veterans a debt of gratitude. They stood in defense of our freedoms and the freedoms of those around the world, and their sacrifice has made our country and the world a safer place. Our nation can never fully repay our veterans for their service, but we can continue to honor all the brave veterans who fought for our country and the many who gave their lives in defense of our way of life.

Mr. Speaker, today we should honor the sacrifices of these brave veterans from the Hudson Valley who bravely stood up in defense of our freedoms. Please join me in thanking these American veterans for their tremendous service to an eternally grateful nation.

Mr. Speaker, the dangers of a nuclear Iran are real and represent one of the greatest threats to our country and to our allies.

In addition to the existential threat to our ally, Israel, Iran is a growing source of violence in the Middle East, propping up the Syrian regime, arming Hezbollah, and undermining a fragile peace in Iraq. More troubling, the Iranian regime is pursuing an active nuclear capability, which we cannot allow.

While we have strong laws on the books already, we can and must go even further to isolate the Iranian regime and the major sources of funding that support it. The Nuclear Iran Prevention Act will cripple that country's energy sector and tighten sanctions on Iran's radical leadership and human

rights violators. For the first time, the bill authorizes the President to impose sanctions on any entity that maintains significant commercial ties with Iran.

Without question, we must come together to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to join us in sending a clear message to the Iranians that we will stand firmly with our friend, Israel, until the Iran regime forsakes this reckless course and rejoins the peaceful community of nations.

Mr. Speaker, I rise, not to speak about the food assistance program, others have done that eloquently, but as one of 90 new Members of Congress, one of 15 freshman on the Agriculture Committee, one of 36 Members, bipartisan Members, who voted this bill out of committee to bring it to the floor.

We did so, not because we agreed with everything in it; in fact, many of us disagreed very strongly with things in this bill. We did it because we respected our chairman and our ranking member, who worked across the aisle together for years to get a product that would help the country, that would help our farmers, that would help the people I represent in the Hudson Valley.

What we have watched on this floor is the sabotaging and the undoing of careful, bipartisan work. And the result, once again, is paralysis.

Five hundred farm groups are supporting the defeat of this bill. Don't tell me it's good for farmers. Everyone who cares about food assistance for kids is opposing this bill. Don't tell me it's good for food stamps.

And your own conservative groups, the most conservative groups, are opposing this bill as a big-spending bill. Don't tell me it saves the taxpayers money.

We came here to get results. This Congress can do better. Defeat this bill, bring it back, and let's work together to get a good result.

Will the gentlelady yield?

I thank the gentlelady, because it is with a full heart that I come to the well of the House and address the Members to say that the gentlelady from Texas and I didn't see eye to eye on every part of this bill, although we are in the same party. And those of us who are new to this Congress, who came here to work because we heard that the American people wanted us to work together and solve problems, those of us on the Agriculture Committee approached this bill with an open mind and with a willingness to compromise, and we did so.

We worked together to include in this bill the best combination of things that we thought would help the American people, and in my case, the people of the Hudson Valley. And that meant that we also tolerated things that we disagreed with very strongly, Mr. Speaker, but we moved the process forward because we believed if we brought it to the floor of the House, and if the House passed it and we sent it to conference with the Senate, that we would be able to accept the compromise in good faith that this body worked out.

But what happened today on the floor of the House of Representatives was that the extremism of a small number of people has set back progress for the rest of us. Once again, the insistence on something so extreme has defeated good-faith efforts, like those of my colleagues, particularly the new Members of Congress on the Agriculture Committee who wanted to reach an honorable compromise, to make progress for our farmers, to help our dairy farmers in particular, to help our conservation efforts, to help our beginning farmers, to help folks with flood mitigation, particularly in the black dirt region of Orange County, New York, that I represent. We thought we could work together.

And what we saw today, what we learned today, was that extremism is still alive and well on the floor of this House, and that there are those who would rather destroy the fragile efforts of bipartisan cooperation than work together on something that we can all move forward together with that will help the American people and help our farmers.

The Southerland amendment, which the gentlelady has properly described, is so punitive, so mean spirited that it would deny basic food assistance to women with small children, to people with disabilities. It would require work where there is no work. It is not designed to be reform. It was designed to kill this bill, and it succeeded in that purpose today, by destroying the good-faith efforts of those who worked together.

Once again, tea party extremism has destroyed the efforts of people of good faith to make progress and get results. It is a sad day in the House of Representatives, and it's a tough education for those of us who have come here ready to work together across the aisle and who have much proven that with our votes in a bipartisan fashion to move this bill forward, despite the presence of things we didn't like.

I call on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring this bill back to floor because it matters. It matters for our farmers. It matters for our communities in the Hudson Valley. We can

work together to improve it, but we must stop these destructive efforts to stop all progress.

I thank the gentlelady.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

I am in its current form.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to offer the final amendment to the bill. It will not kill the bill or send it back to the committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage as amended.

I rise to offer this motion to recommit because this bill in its current form misses an opportunity to do more, and we should not let that opportunity pass.

The underlying legislation has the goal of extending reasonable accommodations to like-minded friends and allies around the globe. A stronger, better coordinated global regulatory framework is, of course, a goal that we all share.

My amendment is simple. It says that the accommodations we extend to our friends must not be extended to those who actively seek to harm the United States--our citizens, our allies, our corporations--by violating the Iran Sanctions Act or by engaging in cyber attacks against the United States.

The dangers of a nuclear Iran are real. They are made even more real by actors who continue to bypass American and U.N. sanctions.

Iran is an existential threat to our friend and our ally Israel. Iran is a growing menace in the Middle East, arming both the Syrian regime and Hezbollah, and undermining peace in Iraq. Iran is actively pursuing the development of a nuclear capability, which we cannot allow.

We cannot let countries or corporations who do not share our values reap the benefits of this bill. That's why my amendment would target countries and corporations and deny them the benefits of this bill if they violate the Iran Sanctions Act.

We have very strong laws on the books blocking any violation of the Iran Sanctions Act, here or abroad, either by countries or corporations who don't share our values. That's a good thing.

In fact, the President just recently issued a new Executive order further tightening these sanctions, particularly in the financial sector. That's why this final amendment is key to keeping this legislation aligned with these efforts to keep Iran isolated from the international community and to eliminate any new sources of funding to the Iranian regime.

My amendment also targets countries that engage in cyber attacks against our country or our corporations. Countries like Iran and other countries such as China try to undermine the United States, our companies, our infrastructure, our systems every day, thousands of times a day.

Cyber attacks result in a huge economic loss to our intellectual property to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars annually, not to mention the extreme danger to our national security, our banks, our infrastructure.

My amendment doesn't allow transactions under this bill that would harm either the United States or Israel. We cannot and should not walk away from making this bill better, and I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

I want to join my colleagues in commending the terrific work of the No Labels group.

I, like others, came to Congress not to fight but to fix problems. And I've always thought there's so much work to do, if we just start working on the things we agree about, we'll all be tired at the end of the day and we won't have time to fight. And it's in that spirit that we've approached our work, many of us that are new to Congress, and I think we're seeing results.

The last Congress was content to have an argument about a farm bill. And as my colleague noted, we're working in a bipartisan way to bring one to the floor and to get results for the American people. The last Congress was content to give us the sequester, but a bunch of us working across the aisle in this Congress are more interested in implementing the nonpartisan recommendations of the GAO to help us cut government waste that we can all agree shouldn't be there. We've agreed on things like no budget, no pay. We've agreed on things in a bipartisan way like the Violence Against Women Act. These are delivering real results for real families.

I represent the Hudson Valley of New York, and I'm proud to say that we've got one of the largest chapters of the No Labels group in Westchester. I didn't come here to be part of the red team or the blue team. I didn't come here to fight. I came here to find solutions and to get results for my constituents and the people who pay the bills, the taxpayers. And I'm encouraged and delighted that there are so many friends across the aisle in the Republican Party who want to do the same thing. I think if we can get more of our colleagues to join us, we can create a real movement in this Congress and we can start a new day.

It may be too soon to say that we've turned the corner, but I believe we've made an important start. I'm committed to continuing to work across the aisle to get results.

Mr. Speaker, no one should fight for their country, only to return home and have to fight their government. But that's exactly what's happening with over a million disabled veterans today who are waiting far too long to have their claims processed by the VA.

There are, right now, thousands of folks in my home State of New York and in the Hudson Valley who are waiting, on average, over 400 days to have their claims processed. That's a year and a half. That's wrong, and we can do better by our veterans.

I met one veteran recently named Edward Kackos. Ed served his country in Vietnam. He came home. He filed a disability claim just in February 2011. But that was 800 days ago, and Ed's still waiting for an answer. He said to me recently, ``Sean, I just need an answer so I can decide whether I'm going to have to sell my house, because I don't want to have it foreclosed.''

Think about how disgraceful that is. We need to give him an answer sooner, and there's a solution.

I recently introduced the Disabled Veterans Red Tape Reduction Act. This is a simple idea that would allow veterans to go to doctors outside the VA system to get their claims processed, and it would speed it up.

But this program is at risk right now, a program that 20 percent of all veterans use, because the last Congress failed to reauthorize it.

I urge my colleagues to support this measure for another 5 years.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the sestercentennial celebration of the Town of New Windsor, New York, which was established on April 5, 1763. Throughout the past two and half centuries, the town has witnessed and participated in numerous events that have shaped our nation's history.

Since the 1600s, it has been New Windsor's natural beauty along the breathtaking views of the Hudson River that has attracted its earliest residents. From the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the majority of Town residents supported the war efforts and its leaders, like General George Washington, and welcomed thousands of men, women and children from many states. New Windsor also proudly served as the major encampment for the Continental Army. While the army was based there in 1782, General Washington ordered the establishment of the highest military honor, the Badge of Merit--now known as the Purple Heart. That important history lives on today through the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, located in New Windsor.

Mr. Speaker, this sestercentennial celebration is for all the people of New Windsor, both past and present, whose character define this historical community and have preserved its many remarkable qualities to be enjoyed by residents and visitors today. That is precisely why I am proud to recognize this special event and have the opportunity to represent New Windsor in the United States House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. William Kaplan, an inspirational individual who has selflessly served our community in the Hudson Valley.

Mr. Kaplan is the founder of the Elaine and William Kaplan Family Foundations, which concentrates on supporting innovative and sustainable projects primarily in the Newburgh area. He has made a tremendous impact on countless organizations in our community including Mount St. Mary College, St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital, Hospice of Orange, The Greater Hudson Valley Health Center, Occupations, Inc., McQuade Foundation, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh, and Orange County Community College. Mr. Kaplan has provided scholarships to help students have to opportunity to attend college.

Mr. Kaplan frequently donates his time and resources in his tireless pursuit to better our community. His philanthropic contributions to his neighbors in the Hudson Valley have led to the betterment of our education system, local infrastructure, and community programs.

Throughout the years, Mr. Kaplan has been recognized for these accomplishments among many others. This week, he is recognized by the Orange County Human Rights Commission as a Human Rights award recipient.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to Mr. Kaplan and his continued commitment and service to our Hudson Valley community and I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing this remarkable individual.

Madam Speaker, earlier this week, I was home in the Hudson Valley at the United States Military Academy at West Point talking to the cadets there to better understand these arbitrary cuts to that legendary American institution that will happen if we fail to act.

West Point has been educating and training our Nation's next generation of military leaders since 1802. It is as old as the Nation itself. Each year, over 1,000 young men and women from all across our country step into the long gray line where two American Presidents, 18 astronauts, 74 Medal of Honor recipients, 70 Rhodes Scholars, and three Heisman Trophy winners have stood before them.

These kids take the hard road. They give up the easy life to serve us and our country. For many of them, their time

at the Point is just the beginning of a lifetime of selfless service. Indeed, scores of West Point graduates--recent West Point graduates-- have made the ultimate sacrifice serving us in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While I was there, I had the opportunity, in fact, to walk among the graves of the heroes buried there on that beautiful plain high above the Hudson River. Many are buried by year with the classmates with whom they went to school.

Tomorrow, General Norman Schwarzkopf will be laid to rest in this cemetery; and in that very hour, we will be here facing a choice of whether we will ask more of those who love and serve West Point or whether we will look elsewhere.

If we do nothing, sequestration will clobber West Point with $92 million in arbitrary cuts. In fact, West Point is taking the biggest cut of any Army institution in New York. Sequestration means that our cadets will continue to live and train in outdated facilities that are over 40 years old. It means that furloughs will happen for 1,300 employees working there.

The men and women who feed, instruct, and protect our Nation's next generation of military leaders shouldn't lose their jobs because this Congress can't do ours. Sequestration is a terrible idea. It is the dead hand of the last Congress reaching out to strangle economic activity. We are 2 days away from the deadline, and there are people here who actually think it's a good idea to let it happen.

I believe we need to cut spending. I believe we need to bring down our debt and start balancing our deficit. But we have choices: we can end lavish tax breaks to private jet owners before we ask the kids at West Point to do with less; we can stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas before we weaken the Long Grey Line; and we can end massive tax cuts for oil companies before we weaken a great American institution like West Point.

This Congress has a clear choice. And for those colleagues who choose to do nothing, I ask you to head home to your district and explain to the kids whom you nominated to West Point that these are good ideas and necessary sacrifices, that it's better for them to sacrifice than for private jet owners, for big oil companies, or for companies that ship our jobs overseas.

The Army's motto is ``This we'll defend.'' West Point is something that we should defend because the cadets there will continue to honorably serve all of us and our country.

Congress doing nothing is not a choice. It's not good for our cadets, and it's not good for our country. Let's stop this series of self- inflicted crises and work together to reach a balanced compromise to replace these across-the-board cuts with a smart, balanced approach that will address our fiscal challenges.