Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time.

I find it interesting that this is all about President Obama engaging in an executive overreach. Look at the statistics. During President Obama's first term and comparing him to prior Presidents, President Bush issued 173 executive orders, President Clinton 200, President Reagan 213, and President Obama only 147. And during this part of President Obama's second term, he has thus far issued only 36 executive orders, while President Bush, during his second term, issued 116; Clinton, 164; and Reagan, 168. So I ask you, based on the statistics, is that overreach? No, it is underreach. It is underreach.

Mitch McConnell said upon President Obama's inauguration the job was to see that this man wasn't reelected. Now the job seems to be to see that the attack on the President can be such that the Republicans take the Senate and hopefully set the stage for 2016 of the Presidency. This unquestionably is impeachment lite. It is an attempt to put the President in a situation in a lawsuit that, if successful, which I find hard to believe, would be the foundation for impeachment.

This President has done nothing that is impeachable, nothing that merits this type of action, nothing that merits this type of disrespect. He should be respected as our President and supported, and we should work to create jobs, pass an infrastructure bill, pass a minimum wage bill, and extend unemployment insurance.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call to the attention of my colleagues an upcoming national art show that will showcase America's creativity and diversity. In August, great American art will be displayed on billboards and buses, as well as in airports, malls, movie theaters, and transit centers. This portfolio, known as ``Art Everywhere US,'' was selected by top museums and was guided by online public voting. This unique celebration of American art will showcase leading African-American artists, including Romare Bearden, William H. Johnson, Archibald Motley and Charles White.

Romare Bearden was born in Charlotte, NC, in 1911. At an early age, he moved to New York City as part of the Great Migration. For much of his life, Bearden worked for the New York City Department of Social Services, leaving nights and weekends available for creating art. In 1964, he was appointed the first art director of the Harlem Cultural Council. In Charlotte, the 5.4-acre Romare Bearden Park opened in 2013, in a prime location near BB&T Ballpark. Bearden's 1968 collage of three musicians performing entitled ``Soul Three'' will be part of Art Everywhere US.

Like Bearden, William H. Johnson (1901-1970) moved from the South to New York, where he became a foremost painter in the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson taught at the Harlem Community Art Center as part of the Roosevelt-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project. Johnson died in obscurity in 1970, but his artwork, which numbers more than 1,000, bear witness to one of America's most important painters. Johnson's ``Blind Singer'' will be displayed via Art Everywhere US.

Archibald Motley (1891-1981) was born in New Orleans before his family journeyed to Chicago when he was two years old. Although he never lived in Harlem, Motley's depiction of urban African-American social life identified him with the Harlem Renaissance. Motley painted portraits and scenes in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, home of most of the city's African-American population. Motley's 1943 ``Nightlife'' is part of Art Everywhere US, showing the motion of jazz through composition.

Charles White (1918-1953) was born in Chicago. His mother, a domestic worker, bought him his first set of oil paints for his seventh birthday. In his career, White was committed to representing the African-American experience, a goal reinforced after he journeyed to the rural South. Art Everywhere US will display White's powerful drawing ``Harvest Talk,'' which depicts two farm hands whose strong and imposing physical presence embody the dignity of their work.

Art Everywhere US spans the history of our nation, from the Revolutionary era to pop artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and James Rosenquist. Supporters and patrons of the arts tell us of the multiple benefits of art education. In August, we'll learn a bit more about great American art and artists, including outstanding art of the Twentieth Century by prominent African-American artists.

Mr. Speaker, Sunday's New York Times editorial page--the entire page, a very unusual circumstance--was dedicated to ending our crazy and unsuccessful and expensive war on marijuana, emphasizing that the war on marijuana costs us much money in prosecuting and also ruins people's lives. It costs us more than it protects, and it has a disparate impact on African Americans and minorities, as they are much more likely to be arrested, have a scarlet M on their chest for the rest of their lives, denying them public housing, scholarships, and often jobs.

It is time we left the situation to the States, like we did with alcohol, the last prohibition we had in this country, and let the States make these decisions, as Colorado and Washington have, the laboratories of democracy. Let's make sense of our drug policies and drug laws and not have marijuana and heroin in the same class.

Mr. Speaker, today I recognize Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity, my Brotherhood, and its antecedent group Phi Alpha Fraternity in honor of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Phi Alpha in celebration of the centennial International Convention of Zeta Beta Tau.

Phi Alpha Fraternity was founded at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on October 14, 1914, by David Davis, Edward Lewis, Hyman Shapiro, Reuben Schmidt and Maurice Herzmark, who saw the need for an idealistic brotherhood. The first pledge ceremony in February 1915 was followed by the establishment of a chapter house, one of the most luxurious establishments in the nation's capital. At one time, Phi Alpha had chapters at nearly 30 universities, but as with many other fraternities, the Depression and World Wars took their toll. During the uncertain war years, many chapters became inactive when almost all the men in the chapters entered into military service. In April 1959, Phi Alpha Fraternity merged with Phi Sigma Delta Fraternity, creating a combined fraternity with 47 active chapters. In 1969-70, Phi Sigma Delta merged into Zeta Beta Tau.

Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity has convened its International Convention 100 times since the first event was held in 1906 in New York City. The event presents the opportunity to share Fraternity in its truest sense with brothers from around the world. Washington, D.C., has hosted the International Convention four times, in 1937, 1957, 1974 and 2014.

Today, as a brother of Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity, I join International President Michael (Mike) D. Cimini, Kappa (Cornell University) '92, and my entire Brotherhood in honoring the men of Phi Alpha Fraternity. We are honored to celebrate our Fraternity's 100th Convention in the nation's capital while honoring Phi Alpha and The George Washington University. I am proud to be a member of the distinguished Brotherhood of Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity, an organization of men who dedicate this day and every day to fostering leadership and service and developing the tenets of our Credo--Intellectual Awareness, Social Responsibility, Integrity and Brotherly Love--in all brothers.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, this amendment is very simple. It would add an explanation of how Federal and private student loans are treated in bankruptcy to the list of the disclosures contained in the underlying bill.

Unfortunately, too many students lack basic financial literacy, and if they don't have a proper understanding of their rights and responsibilities when it comes to student loans, it can lead to serious consequences for their financial future.

That is why I am pleased to support this legislation that Mr. Kline has offered--he has done such a good job bringing a bipartisan bill here--and the important financial counseling it requires.

However, one area that is not included is an explanation of the stringent requirements we have placed when it comes to erasing your student loans in bankruptcy.

While bankruptcy is never something to be taken lightly, our system does allow an honest but unfortunate debtor the opportunity for a fresh start if their financial situation is desperate enough. Most people assume that their student loans can be discharged along with their other consumer debts during bankruptcy proceedings, but that is not the case.

Under current law, borrowers must show that continuing to back their loans would impose an ``undue hardship'' on them and their dependents, a standard that, in practice, is nearly insurmountable. Bankruptcy law exempts very few types of debt from elimination through the bankruptcy process, but there are certain exceptions. For example, for principled policy reasons, we exempt child support, taxes, criminal fines, and intentional torts. In 1978, Congress added Federal student loans to this list.

This protects Federal student loan programs--and the taxpayer dollars that fund them--from fraud and abuse by borrowers. This also makes sense because Federal loans offer certain protections to ease the burden on debtors, like fixed interest rates and opportunities for deferments, income-based repayments and forbearance; but in 2005, the Bankruptcy Protection Act was passed, and the bankruptcy protection was extended to private loans, which are not required to have and often do not have such consumer protections. In fact, private lenders often market directly to students, luring them into unaffordable loans that saddle them with debts for decades to come.

That is why I have introduced legislation to remove the exemption for private student loans and why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has called for a study on whether bankruptcy rules for student loans should be modified. That, however, is not the issue here. The fact remains that this is the law, and students should be aware that their loans, both Federal and private, can only be discharged in bankruptcy in exceptional circumstances. That is why I propose this small refinement to the underlying legislation--to ensure that borrowers understand the hurdles they may face in wiping the slate clean.

I thank Mr. Kline for allowing this and the Rules Committee for allowing this amendment to be made in order, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I thank Mr. Kline for his explanation and his support. He is upriver from us, but that is where the Mississippi River starts before it becomes so beautiful on the bluffs of the city of Memphis.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, Friday, July 25, marks the 40th anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). In 1974, Congress--with bipartisan support, including that of President Nixon--established LSC to be a major source of funding for civil legal aid in this country. LSC is a private, nonprofit corporation, funded by Congress, with the mission to ensure equal access to justice under law for all Americans by providing civil legal assistance to those who otherwise would be unable to afford it. LSC distributes nearly 94 percent of its annual Federal appropriations to 134 local legal aid programs, with nearly 800 offices serving every congressional district and U.S. territories.

LSC-funded legal aid programs make a crucial difference to millions of Americans by assisting with the most basic civil legal needs, such as addressing matters involving safety, subsistence, and family stability. These low-income Americans are women seeking protection from abuse, mothers trying to obtain child support, families facing unlawful evictions or foreclosures that could leave them homeless, veterans seeking benefits duly earned, seniors defending against consumer scams, and individuals who have lost their jobs and need help in applying for unemployment compensation and other benefits.

It is LSC-funded attorneys who help parents obtain and keep custody of their children, assist parents in enforcing child support payments and help women who are victims of domestic violence. In fact, three out of four legal aid clients are women, and legal aid programs identify domestic violence as one of their top priorities.

Given the vital role played by LSC-funded attorneys, we need to do better than turn away more than 50 percent of eligible clients who seek assistance because of lack of LSC program resources. With the growing number of Americans eligible for services and increased demand for legal services, the need for legal aid attorneys has never been greater. On this anniversary, I salute the Legal Services Corporation and LSC-funded attorneys for the vital work they do every day on behalf of Americans who need qualified counsel. Every day that a legal aid attorney protects the safety, security and health of our most vulnerable citizens, they bring this nation closer to living up to its commitment to equal justice for all.

Mr. Speaker, on July 14, 2014, my flight was delayed and I was unable to vote on rollcall votes 405 and 406.

If present, I would have voted ``yea'' on H.R. 4195 and H.R. 5029.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise on the provision in this bill that would deny the D.C. Council the right to have a different policy on marijuana than they have had in the past.

I can understand politically the other side not wanting the people of D.C. to have Senators and Reps because the likelihood is they would be Democrats, but not to let them have self-rule smacks of colonialism, colonialism that is of another era, colonialism that is of the days of Jim Crow.

To not allow D.C. to have the right to pass their own laws and to have the same opportunity to have laboratories of democracy, as Louis Brandeis talked about, is wrong. What it will do is it will not stop teens from doing marijuana, but it will put more teens in jail with a scarlet letter and an expense and maybe prevent them from having the opportunity to get a scholarship, housing, and a job.

It is against the wrong side of history for them to stop D.C.'s Council from having the authority and for putting African Americans, who are disproportionately affected, in jail and ruining their lives. I object to what has been included and wish that they would reconsider.

Mr. Speaker, while we were on break, the 58th anniversary of the interstate highway system was celebrated, and while there is a lot of discussion here in the House about different issues, there is nothing more important for this Congress to do than to create jobs for the American public. The best way to create jobs is to pass an extension of the Highway Act--infrastructure bills.

President Eisenhower was a President who knew we needed a strong infrastructure and a highway system. When he needed a sponsor in the Senate, it was Albert Gore, Sr., from Tennessee--a Democrat--who sponsored that bill.

We need bipartisanship the way we had it with Eisenhower and Gore in order to come up with a highway extension. If it is a gas tax--whatever it is--we need to do it. We need to put Americans back to work, and we need to put our infrastructure first. Those should be the responsibilities of this House.

I pledge to support transportation efforts to get a bill passed and to make America proud about its infrastructure again--bridges, runways, and roads.

I offer an amendment, Mr. Chairman, which should be at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I offer this amendment with Mr. Scott Peters of California. Mr. Peters and I both have an interest in saving money-- and this amendment would save $5 million--and in putting our money wisely in research on renewable energies which saves individuals money--individual citizens money--and protects our environment and using that money, instead of putting the money in the budget to do research on coal and fossil fuels that contribute to global warming and a threat to our environment.

The fact is the Department of Energy's energy efficiency program has been effective. This would increase it by $10.3 million. This program is underfunded already in the bill, and it would take $15 million from funds that are in the budget for coal research and development--$15 million that are in excess of the President's budget request.

The Department of Energy's energy efficiency programs partner with private industry, small business, and academics to facilitate research, development, and deployment of innovative energy efficiency technologies in manufacturing, buildings, and homes.

In this collaboration with these different stakeholders, they have determined the best practices that can be found and then put into commercial use, resulting in energy-saving advancements that create jobs and give businesses competitive advantages with foreign competitors.

Increasing energy efficiency is often done in ways that the individual citizen benefits in their home by saving money by more energy-efficient devices and appliances.

We work on these in the Energy Department now, and they finalized new efficiency standards for more than 30 household and commercial products. These include dishwashers, refrigerators, water heaters--just the general stuff you have got in your kitchen and your home.

Because of the Energy Department's new efficiency standards, consumers are estimated to save more than $400 billion--$400 billion for our constituents, consumers--and we will be cutting greenhouse emissions by 1.8 billion metric tons through 2030. That is a lot of help to our environment and a whole lot of help to our constituents in saving money.

Just as an example, walk-in coolers and freezers, the rules that have been proposed will yield $37 billion in savings, while cutting 159 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That is the equivalent of taking 30 million cars off the road.

As the cost of energy continues to pose a burden on the American consumers' wallets--our voters, our taxpayers, our constituents--and costs them more money and extreme weather causes climate change which threatens the fauna and the flora, our property and way of life, we need to find ways to reduce energy consumption and decrease those adverse affects upon our environment.

Mr. Chairman, we need to redouble our efforts at this point on renewable energy and energy efficiency, and the efforts by this amendment would save money--$5 million for the budget, energy deficit reduction--it would protect our environment by having more research on energy efficiency standards, save our consumers and constituents money, and protect our environment at the same time, and yet not have us invest needlessly in fossil fuels, which is the opposite direction we should be going.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment and show their vote for fiscally conservative, sound budget deficit reduction programs, as well as protect the environment and be concerned about the effects on the pocketbook of our individual consumers.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I am going to close by saying that one day-- one day, this House will see that we need to have more and more money put into research on energy efficiency and renewables and not into fossil fuel.

I feel a cold wind coming from the South, and I realize that today is not that day, but one day, one day. I feel a chill coming, and I don't want anyone else to get a cold.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I have unfortunate news. We have lost a great American and a great Tennesseean, Senator Howard Baker, Jr.

Senator Baker passed away today. Howard Baker served this country well, and he served it in a fashion that was worthy of admiration from both parties and all people because he was an American first, a Tennesseean second, and a Republican third.

He served three terms in the United States Senate. He served as majority leader and minority leader. He served as the United States Ambassador to Japan, and he served as Chief of Staff to President Ronald Reagan. He was a private practicing attorney as well, at the firm Baker Donelson, which was a firm his grandfather started, and he practiced law at one time with his father, who served in this House as a United States Representative from Tennessee.

Howard Baker had been recognized since his retirement from the Senate on many occasions. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and had received other awards.

His was a life well lived and a life to be demonstrated to others as a role for legislators to work with both sides of the aisle and to work for America first. A life well lived, Howard Baker.

Mr. Speaker, due to unexpected flight delays, I was detained from voting on Monday, June 23 and was unable to be present for rollcall vote No. 339 and rollcall vote No. 340. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on both. I was also detained by a meeting with constituents on the evening of June 24 and was unable to be present for rollcall vote No. 350. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, how do we all get here? How do we get to be one of 435 people in the United States Congress, a great honor that it is to serve in this Congress?

Madam Speaker, we all get here because people vote for us, the American public votes. It is the essence of a democracy. That is what makes this country great. That is why we have sent soldiers to Iraq and other places, to try to give other people democracy and have people vote.

Forty-nine years ago, this Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. John Lewis, a Member of this Congress now, marched in Selma, Alabama, and was beaten by troopers to get the right to vote.

Even before that, students went to Mississippi and throughout the South--which was called the Mississippi Freedom Summer--to register people to vote and had to fight to give African Americans the opportunity to vote.

Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman were killed in Mississippi. They were Mississippi Freedom Summer fighters. I met with Andy Goodman's--who was murdered down there--brother yesterday because a year ago, almost to the day, if not to the day, the Supreme Court, in Shelby v. Holder, ruled part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. Our Chief Justice said it is no longer needed.

Well, he was wrong. It is needed. Everyone should be entitled to vote. There are issues about States, right now, denying people the right to vote--voter ID, Madam Speaker, long lines, ending early voting, different problems being placed before people to stop them from voting, that is anti-American, yet it is occurring in this country right now.

There is a Voting Rights Amendment Act proposed, right now bipartisan, but limited bipartisan. Mr. Sensenbrenner and a few other Republicans--I can count them on both my hands--are cosponsors, along with Democrats, to pass a law that would require preclearance in States that have shown by actions--indeed, discriminatory practices--that would inhibit the right to vote and stop it before it becomes discrimination, but we have got just a paucity of Republican support.

I haven't been a sponsor of that act because the decision was we wanted to be bipartisan, and for a Democrat to be a sponsor, they had to bring a Republican along.

I went over here, Madam Speaker, and I talked to at least 15 different Republicans and asked them to be a cosponsor because I thought they should have been a cosponsor because I wanted to be a cosponsor, and I had to bring somebody with me.

It would have been easier to go to the South Pacific and find that airplane in the ocean than to find another cosponsor over here, so today, it is being opened up for Democrats to show that they want to be for voting rights. I will be added as a cosponsor today, and many, many, many other Democrats will be too. Madam Speaker, every Republican should join as well.

This is American as apple pie, to have a Voting Rights Act that gives the courts--the Justice Department--the right to go and have preclearance and stop discrimination before it occurs.

The Voting Rights Act amendment would create a new coverage formula to identify those States and localities with a recent history of discriminatory voting laws and practices that are still at high risk for continuing voting discrimination.

It would enhance the authority of courts to order a preclearance remedy, require greater transparency regarding voting changes, and clarifies the Attorney General's authority to send Federal observers to monitor elections in jurisdictions subject to preclearance requirements.

Those changes that the Voting Rights Amendment Act would make to current law would help prevent voting practices that are likely to be discriminatory before they have a chance to cause harm.

The House Judiciary Committee, of which I am a member, and particularly the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, of which I am the ranking member, should have hearings immediately and pass this act now.

Forty-nine years ago, this Chamber historically passed voting rights, and now, we can't pass an amendment. In 2006, the House voted to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act by a vote of 390-33, which meant, on both sides of the aisle, great majorities were for it, but now that the Supreme Court has struck it down and said we need to modernize it by finding States in localities that are currently exercising discriminatory practices, we can't come up with a formula because, politically, it would harm, theoretically, one side more than the other.

Just as Mr. Gutieerrez spoke earlier about immigration and how that is going to affect the Republican Party in the future elections, voting rights will affect them too, and it won't affect them positively because, if the party becomes a party that is against people of color and giving them the American right to vote, as well as opportunities for sound and logical immigration practices, which this country needs for labor, it will be a minority party forever.

I am not here to lecture the Republicans about what they can do to help themselves politically. I am saying what they can do to make America more America. Pass the voting rights amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of an outstanding guitarist, songwriter, singer, and legendary Memphis musician, Mabon Hodges, better known as ``Teenie'' Hodges, who passed away in Dallas just yesterday.

Teenie started playing the guitar at age 12, and he and his brothers were part of the Hi Rhythm Section, which was part of Royal Studios and Hi Records music that produced Al Green and Otis Clay and others, a great part of the Memphis sound in the seventies under Willie Mitchell, a great producer and great musician himself.

Willie Mitchell kind of adopted Teenie and taught him something about playing guitar and helped him in his career. Willie's grandson, Boo Mitchell, now runs that studio.

Teenie has been a part of it in the heart of the Hi Rhythm Section, which is well known throughout the world. He cowrote, with Al Green, ``Love and Happiness'' and ``Take Me to the River'' and other great tunes.

He continued playing through the spring. He fell ill with emphysema, which he had for years, but the emphysema got so strong that he had to be taken to the hospital in Dallas this spring, and then he passed away from emphysema. Services will be held in Memphis next week.

I was a friend of Teenie's. He was a great Memphian, a wonderful spirit, and a great talent. All of Memphis will miss him, and all of us in the country appreciate his great music and contribution to our culture.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 149th anniversary of Juneteenth and the 21st annual celebration in Memphis, Tennessee. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced in the town square that all slaves were free. Although this came nearly three years after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the newly freed men and women rejoiced in the streets with jubilant celebrations, and thus, the Juneteenth holiday was born.

This year, the Memphis Juneteenth celebration was very different from past celebrations. First, the Board of Directors changed the name of the celebration from the ``Juneteenth Freedom & Heritage Festival'' to the ``Juneteenth Urban Music Festival.'' Second, the celebration took place in the Robert R. Church Park on Beale Street in Downtown Memphis instead of the historic Douglass Neighborhood, where the celebration has taken place for the past twenty years.

The importance of this change in location to the Robert R. Church Park is especially significant to the celebration of this important day in history. Robert R. Church was born in Memphis on October 26, 1885 and soon became a prominent civil rights leader in the City of Memphis and in the State of Tennessee. In 1916, he founded the Lincoln League, which helped African Americans in the Memphis area by organizing voter registration drives and paying poll taxes for those who could not afford it. Through the Lincoln League alone, he enabled thousands of African Americans in the Memphis area to exercise their right to vote in local, state and national elections. However, his work did not stop there. In 1917, he chartered the first Tennessee chapter of the NAACP in Memphis. Two years later, his dedication to the organization and its mission was recognized when he was elected to serve on the national board.

Robert R. Church continues to be a prominent and revered political figure in Memphis because of his work to make the processes of government inclusive to all members of society, regardless of race or social class. As such, the Juneteenth celebration this year focused on the same mission: expanding the Juneteenth celebration so that thousands more people may take place in this joyous celebration. This year, the celebration included a variety of musical performances varying from gospel performers to neo soul artists. In addition to these performances, the celebration offered a poetry slam and a showcase featuring majorettes, drummers, cheerleaders, and steppers. By appealing to all members of the community and relocating to a larger space, the Juneteenth celebration provided the people of Memphis with a celebration that was consistent with the mission of Robert R. Church: a mission of inclusiveness that we should all strive for as we continue to serve the people of our great nation.

Mr. Speaker, this is a time to commemorate the end of slavery in America and to recognize the many contributions of African-American citizens. I ask my colleagues to join me in observing our nation's 149th anniversary of Juneteenth and the 21st annual celebration in Memphis.