Floor Statements

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

I also rise in support of this bipartisan proposal that provides two small, technical fixes to our country's immigration laws.

The bill removes the so-called ``per-country'' limits from applying to employment-based green cards. Current immigration law provides 140,000 green cards annually to employment-based immigrants. The law, however, prevents any one country from receiving more than 7 percent-- or 9,800--of the total 140,000 visas. Because of this per-country limit, a country like India, with a population of 1.2 billion, is limited to the same number of visas as a country like Iceland, with a population of 300,000 and a lot of ice. This makes no sense and has resulted in decades-long backlogs for nationals from India, as well as China, and it makes it impossible for certain U.S. employers to attract and retain certain essential workers they need to help keep America competitive. Indeed, from India and China there are many people trained in STEM areas that we need in our country to keep competitive.

Eliminating the per-country limit for employment-based immigrants would level the playing field and treat everyone on a first-come, first-served basis. Because the bill does not provide additional green cards, it does not address the current overall backlogs. And that's unfortunate. But the bill does treat people and those backlogs more equitably. And to make sure that there are no unintended consequences, the elimination of the per-country limit is phased in slowly over 3 years.

The bill also raises the per-country limit for family-based immigrants from 7 percent to 15 percent. This would have a similar effect of making the treatment of such immigrants more equitable. These fixes are small, but they mean a great deal to the people they will help.

H.R. 3012 is supported by quite a few business groups, including the United States Chamber of Commerce, Compete America, and the American Council on International Personnel. It is supported by advocates for American and immigrant families, including the Asian American Justice Center and the National Immigration Law Center.

I, like my colleague on the other side, want to thank the people who are above me on the committee level, the chairman in particular, Chairman Smith; and the ranking member of our subcommittee, Zoe Lofgren, who has worked with Congressman Chaffetz, who has worked so hard on this bill, as has Chairman Smith, to get this bipartisan bill through the committee and to the floor.

It's important that we do get bipartisan bills through, and because of our chairman, we have that opportunity on occasion to do such a thing. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes and 56 seconds to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

I yield the gentleman as much time as he may consume.

I thank the gentleman from Virginia. I appreciate his statement, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 2192, the National Guard and Reservist Debt Relief Extension Act of 2011. This bipartisan legislation, which I introduced in June of this year with Mr. Forbes, Mr. Rohrabacher and others, ensures that certain members of the National Guard and Reserves who fall on hard economic times after their service to this country will continue to obtain bankruptcy relief without having to fill out the substantial paperwork required by the so-called means test under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.

H.R. 2192 simply extends the existing means test exception, which will expire in a few weeks if Congress fails to act, and act we should for our reservists and National Guardspeople who have put themselves in the line of fire for our country and our safeties and liberties.

Under the means test, a chapter 7 bankruptcy case is presumed to be an abuse of the bankruptcy process if it appears that the debtor has income in excess of certain thresholds.

The National Guard and Reservist Debt Relief Act of 2008 created an exception to the means test's presumption for members of the National Guard and Reserves who, after September 11, 2001, served on active duty or in a homeland defense activity for at least 90 days. The exception remains available for 540 days after the servicemember leaves the military.

The National Guard and Reservist Debt Relief Extension Act of 2011 would simply extend that exception until December 2015. This modest, but important exception to the means test allows qualifying members of the National Guard and Reserves to obtain chapter 7 bankruptcy relief without fulfilling the means test paperwork requirements.

Since September 11, 2001, more than 815,000 members of the National Guard and Reserves have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, with many having served multiple tours of duty.

As of August of this year, members of the National Guard and Reserves made up 43 percent of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and represent more than 20 percent of those killed in action and 20 percent of those wounded in action. Many of these citizen warriors have been asked to disrupt their civilian lives with little notice to serve their country in active war zones, and like other veterans returning from war zones, they often have difficulty adjusting to civilian life.

It is estimated that approximately 40 percent of all Guard members will experience some sort of financial hardship and that 26 percent of Guard members had money problems related to their deployment into war zones.

H.R. 2192 is a meaningful way for our Nation to recognize the tremendous sacrifice made by National Guard and Reserve members who have served on active duty or homeland defense since

September 11, 2001, and may be suffering financial hardship. This bipartisan measure is in the tradition of the GI Bill, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and numerous other provisions of law enacted to benefit military veterans.

I thank Representatives Forbes and Rohrabacher, two members of the Republican Party who worked with me on this and helped cosponsor it, and Representatives Schakowsky and Nadler of my party for cosponsoring H.R. 2192. I also thank the Judiciary Chairman, Mr. Smith, the Ranking Member, Mr. Conyers, and the Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law chairman, the distinguished Mr. Howard Coble, for their assistance in moving this bill.

This bill does indeed help Reservists and National Guardsmen in a special way. But it also shows that the previous bill that Mr. Chaffetz sponsored shows that we in the Judiciary Committee can work in a bipartisan manner, and that Congress can work, and that we should be at least in double digits.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2192, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of optometrist and World War II Navy veteran, Dr. Truman Kahn. He was a longtime Memphian whose courage and compassion were felt by those who knew him. Throughout his life, he donated his time to the Sam Schloss Lodge of B'nai B'rith, Beth Sholom Congregation, the Memphis Jewish Federation, and the Democratic Party, as well as being a Hadassah Associate.

Dr. Truman Kahn attended Emory University where he was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. After leaving Emory University, Dr. Kahn came to Memphis to attend the Southern College of Optometry, where he graduated with honors. During World War II, Dr. Kahn enlisted in the U.S. Navy to serve his country in its time of need. After training at Notre Dame, he served as an officer aboard the USS Ticonderoga aircraft carrier. Dr. Kahn's name can be found on both the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. as well as at the WWII Museum in New Orleans.

When World War II ended, Dr. Kahn returned to Memphis after being honorably discharged from the Navy. He married his wife, Gloria Kahn, and opened his first optometry clinic in 1947. Like most other buildings in the southern states during this time period, medical offices were segregated based upon racial identity. Dr. Kahn chose to defy this practice, becoming the first medical professional in Memphis to have an integrated waiting room. Dr. Kahn continued to practice optometry for over 50 years.

Dr. Kahn passed away at 89 years of age. He is survived by his wife, his daughter Susan Dreyfus, his son Stanley Kahn, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. His service to country and community will be remembered by all whose lives he touched. His was a life well lived.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate Mr. Willy Bearden for receiving the 33rd annual Distinguished Achievement Award in the Creative and Performing Arts from the College of Communication and Fine Arts at the University of Memphis. Mr. Bearden is a unique filmmaker, musician and storyteller, and he has used his talents to tell the distinct tales about the great city of Memphis, Tennessee.

Willy Bearden is perhaps best known for his Memphis Memoirs, a series of documentary films detailing the rich local history. The series includes Overton Park: A Century of Change, Playing for a Piece of the Door: A History of Garage Bands in Memphis and Elmwood: Reflections of Memphis. Mr. Bearden also has a feature film to his credit, One Came Home, which was inspired by his Mississippi Delta roots.

His recent Memphis Legacy Project, a collection of thousands of photographs of various neighborhoods around Memphis, will be a resource for local researchers and artists for years to come. Mr. Bearden has also generously given back to his community by lending his talents to the Blues Foundation, the Cotton Museum and the Memphis Wonders Series for corporate and educational films, commercials and award show productions.

The Distinguished Achievement Award was established in 1977 after the death of Elvis Presley when Dr. John Bakke, a communications professor at the University of Memphis, suggested that local talent should be honored while they are still alive. Willy Bearden joins Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records, B.B. King, Al Green, Rufus Thomas and a host of other talented Memphis recipients.

I ask all of my colleagues to join me in congratulating Willy Bearden. It is important to recognize and appreciate talent while we are fortunate enough to enjoy their continued output. My hope is that Mr. Bearden continues sharing his gifts and unique perspective with us for years to come.

This past week, I joined with Congressman Lloyd Doggett and with many other Democratic colleagues to introduce the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act.

If Congress fails to pass this bill by the end of the year, Americans who have lost their jobs not by any fault of their own will begin losing their unemployment benefits in January. By mid-February, 2.1 million will have lost their benefits, and by the end of 2012, six million will have, which includes 34,600 Tennesseans.

Congress has never allowed emergency unemployment benefits to expire when the unemployment rate is anywhere close to where it is now--9 percent. This extension not only will help the unemployed, but it will also promote economic recovery.

The Congressional Budget Office has declared that unemployment benefits are ``both timely and cost-effective in spurring economic activity and employment.'' The Economic Policy Institute has estimated that preventing UI benefits from expiring could prevent the loss of over 500,000 jobs. They are timely, targeted and temporary--the best way to stimulate our economy. In addition, there are benefits for the States that are having problems with their unemployment insurance programs and with certain extensions there.

I urge the Republicans to join with us in passing this Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act.

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

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

Before I came to Congress, I was a member of the Tennessee Senate for probably an inordinate amount of years before I graduated to this august body. It took me 24 years to matriculate. But during those 24 years, I worked on much important legislation to help the people of Tennessee.

One of the things I helped the people in Tennessee with is I wrote the Right to Carry bill in Tennessee. The fact is this was a difficult bill to pass; it was a difficult bill to craft. There were people with different opinions of what should be in the bill, and we debated it. We went back and forth on what should be in it. We took votes and certain things passed and certain failed, and we came up with a bill we thought was a good bill.

I always felt that people who could take a gun and have enough vision and calmness of hand and hit a target at some pace, not have a criminal record, and pass a written test of limited challenge, should have a right to carry a gun. In fact in Tennessee, very few people with the right to carry a gun have committed crimes and used their guns improperly.

But the fact is we worked on this law and we had certain restrictions, and one of the restrictions is you had to be 21 years of age, the same age that you have to be to buy a beer or to drink. And 36 other States came to that same decision that you should be 21 before you can get a permit to carry a gun.

Eight States have differed: Alabama, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, and South Dakota. So you've got a southern State in there, you've got an eastern State, a couple of Big Tens, a couple out in the Big Sky world, and some in the east. And they decided you only had to be 18, those eight States.

This bill, if passed, would tell the citizens in those 37 States and the legislators in those 37 States that argued and determined that 21 was the right age that it would be the right age in your State for the people who are residents of your State, but if somebody from one of those other eight States came into your State and was less than 21, they could carry a gun when your citizens couldn't. Because their State decided 18 was sufficient, your laws made no difference; and you'd have teenagers carrying guns in States that had determined that it was not the appropriate age.

Twenty-one is the right age to drink, and I'm not submitting that it should be less at this time, but the fact is the brain doesn't really develop to a certain extent until you're out of your teens; and that is why much of the crime and the violent crime is committed by people 18 to 20. They are only 5 percent of the population, but 20 percent of the homicides in violent crime are committed by people from 18 to 20. And if you pass this bill, you'll have people 18 to 20 going into States and having a right to carry a gun when the citizens of that State won't have it. That makes no sense.

In 2007, the most recent year in which we have data, there were 13,000 people who lost their lives in this country to accidents involving alcohol; but there were 31,000 people, over twice as many, who lost their lives because of gunfire.

It doesn't make sense that we would not only trample on the laws of the different States but also the work of the legislators such as me who worked hard within the legislative bodies, within the give-and-take of Senate and House and conference committees to come up with what we thought was the policy of our State to have that overridden by the folks here in this United States House of Representatives, the Senate would be concurring, to pass a bill to say your laws make no difference, and 18- and 19- and 20-year-olds from Alabama and South Dakota and Maine and New Hampshire are going to be able to come in your State and carry a gun when your citizens won't be able.

It should be up to each of the States to decide that, and what we're getting to is the lowest common denominator, which isn't right.

So the fact is these laws should be left up to the States. The States right now can have reciprocity agreements. Tennessee didn't have one when we passed our bill in 1996, but in 2003 they got one. But the State of Tennessee decided on its reciprocity, not the United States Congress. And States have reciprocity agreements, and they're all going to be overridden. Some are more liberal than others--Tennessee is the most liberal--but other States have got restrictions. They're all going to be set aside because of this.

I would hope that the Members who come from the 37 States that require your citizens to be 21 would not allow people under 21 to come into your State and have teenagers who are most likely to commit crimes with guns to come into your State with a concealed-carry permit.

I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan.

I thank the gentleman.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Will the gentleman yield?

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Based on your argument, you would think that the state that the laws of the 37 States have that limit gun permits to people that are 21 should be abolished. Why does your legislation not go further and trample on the States' rights and say that you can only have a limitation of age 18 and say that you cannot have a limitation of age 21?

No. What I'm saying to you, sir, is your belief is obviously that the Second Amendment is an individual right so that the States that have laws that say you have to be 21, those laws should be abolished and we should limit it to 18.

For the record, I have talked about States' rights on medical tort liability, and I've talked about States' rights on medical marijuana.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker, this weekend many of us, probably all of us, honored our veterans. And they deserve the honors that we gave them. The Senate honored them with the passage of a COLA increase, which I hope our House will, too--and I'm sure it will--in a bipartisan fashion.

In Memphis, I had a Veterans Day lunch, and so did our city mayors, and we honored Bobby Rush. Not the Bobby Rush of the United States Congress, but Bobby Rush, the great blues guitarist, singer, and guitar player; a blues legend in Memphis who has done much to honor veterans throughout this country. Bobby Rush has been the International Ambassador of the Blues, named by the State of Tennessee, and has traveled to Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan to perform for our troops. He holds an annual Red, White and Blues Day Jam in Memphis to honor our veterans. When he visited Iraq, Bobby Rush said: I was just overwhelmed to witness the very real level of commitment and sacrifice they go through so that people like me and you can live our lives without feeling threatened. It is something that must not be forgotten or taken for granted.

So as I did in Memphis last weekend and I do again today, I thank our veterans, and I thank Bobby Rush for taking his talents to entertain our troops and honor our veterans and be a great American.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Lt. Col. Luke Joseph Weathers Jr., a Tuskegee Airman in the 332nd Fighter Group. He was born to Luke Joseph Weathers, Sr. and Jessie Rita Hawkins on December 16, 1920 in Grenada, MS. In 1925, he and his mother moved to Memphis, Tennessee to reunite with his father who had moved to Memphis earlier with his brother, William ``Bill'' Weathers.

Luke Weathers was baptized at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Memphis and later attended St. Anthony Catholic School. Weathers transferred and completed his high school education at Booker T. Washington where he excelled academically and athletically. Upon completion, he was accepted into Xavier University and studied from 1939-1942. He returned to Memphis in 1942 and read an article in a newspaper about an experimental training program for African-American pilots and aviation in Tuskegee, Alabama. After speaking to his parents about the program, Weathers met with Mayor E.H. Crump who made a call to President Roosevelt informing him that he would be sending Luke to the program. On July 27, 1942, Luke Weathers arrived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and trained for nine months and one day. On April 29, 1943 he began his active duty as a Fighter Pilot Single Engine in the 302N Fighter Squadron flying P-51 bombers. The 302N Fighter Squadron was later merged into the 332nd Fighter Group, also known as the ``Red Tails.'' Weathers named his plane the ``Spirit of Beale Street.''

Lt. Col. Weathers departed for Italy January 3, 1944 to begin his tour in WWII, traveling to North Africa, Italy, France, Europe, and Germany. For his courage and service, he earned an Air Medal with 7 clusters, a Distinguished Flying Cross medal and an American Theater Ribbon Victory Medal WWI. Weathers was credited with shooting down two German fighter aircrafts while on a mission to protect U.S. Army Air Corps bombers in Europe. During this tour, the Tuskegee Airmen never lost one of their bombers. Lt. Col. Weathers returned to Memphis on March 13, 1945 and became the first African-American to receive the key to the City of Memphis. He was also honored with a parade down Beale Street and the day was declared ``Capitan Luke Weathers Day.''

Luke Weathers met LaVerne Nalling while in Memphis. Together, they owned and operated several businesses including the Weathers Jeffery vocational school in Jackson, Tennessee where Weathers was a flight instructor. He was also the Director of Boone-Higgins Trade School for Negro Veterans in Jackson. They also operated a beauty shop, Laundromat/dry cleaners and a carpet cleaning service. In 1959, Weathers founded The National Defense Cadet Corps, NDCC, for the Memphis City School System at Manassas High school. This program created an opportunity for African American males who had a desire for military training but did not have access to a ROTC program. For a brief time afterwards, Weathers moved his family to Anchorage, Alaska where he had accepted a position with the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA. He moved his family back to Memphis and became the first African-American Air Traffic Controller in Memphis. During his tenure with the FAA, he accepted tours of duties in Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, DC.

In 1985, Lt. Col. Weathers retired from the FAA in Washington, DC and the Air Force Reserves. In his retirement he stayed active with Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. and continued to promote African Americans in the military including women. Lt. Col. Luke Joseph Weathers Jr. died on October 15, 2011 at 90 years of age. He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Moore Weathers; two sons, Luke Joseph Weathers III and Andre M. Weathers; daughters Wanda Weathers Smith, Renee Weathers Powell, and Trina Weathers Boyce; and 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Mister Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the life of Tuskegee Airman, Lt. Col. Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr. His was a life well-lived.

Mr. Speaker, jobs is the most important issue this House can deal with. And it's been said in the past that there are two things that are bipartisan: defense budgets and infrastructure budgets, transportation.

Historically, we've gotten together on transportation and we've had a transportation bill and we've developed a great infrastructure that made this country the country that it is. No longer is America the top nation in the globe on infrastructure; it's countries in Asia and other places. We're 15th on the list on infrastructure.

The President's got a jobs bill that will put $50 billion into roads and bridges, infrastructure, and put people to work--25,000 people for $1 billion of investment go to work.

Ray LaHood, a Republican Member of this House when I started, now the Secretary of Transportation, said yesterday that the Republican side-- or at least some part of it--is not here to get things done, that they're here only to defeat this President, and they need to pass the bill to put people to work and improve infrastructure.

I agree with Secretary LaHood. Let's work for America together, let's be bipartisan, and let's rebuild our infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, this weekend I had the privilege, unfortunately, to attend a funeral of a great American, a constituent of mine living in Tucson, Arizona, when he passed at age 91, Colonel Luke Weathers.

Colonel Weathers was a Tuskeegan Airman. Born in Mississippi, he came to Memphis at I think it was age 5, and went to the famous Booker T. Washington High School. At age 23, he went to Tuskeegan. He was one of the first Tuskeegan Airmen and was decorated with more honors and awards than you can imagine, every flying award you can possibly get.

He later went on to work with the air traffic controllers and was the first African American air traffic controller in Memphis, Tennessee, at our air traffic control station. He served 25 years with the FAA as an air traffic controller, serving duties in Anchorage, Alaska, where he started; also in Atlanta, Georgia; and in Washington.

Luke Weathers was a great man who didn't let race stop him, even though sometimes his country's policies made it difficult to both integrate the Air Force and the squadron and the FAA. And even his church where the funeral was, Little Flower, he was the first African American member of that church in 1963. I was pleased to be with the family, honor this man's memory, and appreciate what he did for our country.

Mr. Speaker, Luke Weathers was a great man.

Tonight is going to be the sixth game of the World Series. Sports means money, business, and jobs. The St. Louis economy has been spurred on by the World Series to where they're not cutting employees because they have had increased sales tax. It's the same way with college sports.

I want to encourage all the Big East presidents to consider the University of Memphis for membership. Memphis is a major city. It is the home of Federal Express, International Paper, and other major companies. We don't have a professional football team in Memphis. So if we get in the Big East, in essence, you are our professional football team and the city would rally around it, unlike in Dallas and Houston, where they have professional teams. The Big East is known for basketball.

Rick Pitino, the coach of our rival, the University of Louisville, has suggested Memphis should be in the conference to keep the Big East as a primary basketball conference. What a great thing to see Memphis and Louisville again in a conference game.

We ought to be beyond just dollars--although Memphis can bring them-- but also competitive rivalries that make the sport what it has been in the American appetite. I encourage the Big East to include the University of Memphis in its expansion plans.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend President Obama for announcing a plan this morning to lower student loan payments. The New York Times recently reported that student loan debt outpaced credit card debt for the first time last year and that the growth in student loan debt threatens to undermine the future life prospects of the current generation of students.

It was this realization that led me, as a State senator, to pass the Tennessee Education Lottery program that gives scholarships to our Tennessee students.

Too many young people have an unbelievable amount of debt that burdens them for the rest of their lives. The students that participate in Occupy Wall Street are very aware of this threat.

Earlier this year, I reintroduced H.R. 2028, the Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act, which will restore fair treatment to Americans in severe financial distress whose debts include private student loans.

Before 2005 private student loans issued by for-profit lenders were appropriately treated in bankruptcy like credit card debt and other similar types of unsecured consumer liabilities. The bill I've introduced with Senator Durbin in the Senate would ensure that privately issued students loans will once again be treated like other debt and be dischargeable in bankruptcy.

We need to give our students a fair chance.

Mr. Speaker, just this past week, the country of Turkey, an ally of ours, experienced a devastating earthquake. Nearly 400 people, they believe, have died, and there's been great damage to the countryside. We've seen these disasters now in Japan and South America and other places. We've seen them in our country, too. We had problems last year.

Who comes to the aid of the people in Turkey whom we look out for as well and are concerned about? First responders, policemen, and firepeople.

My city of Memphis, Tennessee, lies on the New Madrid fault, the most likely place in our country to have a major earthquake. When that event occurs, I want to have adequate policemen and firemen there to help our citizens. We can have them with the Jobs Act, have them this year when we don't know whether it will occur or not.

First responders are so important to the future of America, and passing the Jobs Act will guarantee that we will have security when a natural disaster occurs. We need to keep policemen and firemen employed.

Madam Chair, I rise today to state my opposition to H.R. 2273, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act. On October 14, 2011, I inadvertently cast a vote in support of final passage of this measure. However, I am adamantly opposed to this legislation and want the Congressional Record to reflect my true sentiments.

The EPA's proposed coal ash rule is a much needed response to an incident that occurred in 2008 in my home state of Tennessee. On December 22, 2008, a coal ash pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Kingston power plant breached, spilling 1.2 billion gallons of coal ash and its contaminants--including arsenic, selenium, and mercury--into two rivers. The disaster moved homes off of their foundations, and the ongoing cleanup, which has only removed half of the coal ash that was spilled to date--is expected to cost about $1.2 billion.

The EPA coal ash rule would set standards in place to ensure that a horrific tragedy such as the Kingston spill never occurs again. However, H.R. 2273 would undercut the coal ash rule and create a dangerous plan consisting of nothing but ``guidelines'' for regulating coal ash--guidelines that do nothing to protect citizens throughout America from another Kingston spill. Despite the Kingston disaster and EPA's acknowledgement that wet ponds can pose as high as a 1-in-50 risk of cancer to nearby residents, this bill fails to take the obvious and necessary step of phasing out surface impoundments. Meaning if this legislation were adopted, it would do nothing to avert tragedies such as Kingston from occurring in the future.

Another reason I oppose the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act is because it interrupts an EPA rulemaking process that has been ongoing for nearly three years and silences the concerns of the American people. Over the last three years, the EPA has held eight public hearings and received more than 455,000 public comments on its proposed coal ash rule--a precedential response to an EPA rulemaking. Congress should not be interfering and obstructing this critical public process.

In an effort to prevent the passage of H.R. 2273, I circulated a Dear Colleague letter that informed my colleagues of the legislation's immense shortcomings and failures to protect the American people. I also offered an amendment, which unfortunately was not made in order, but would have required the EPA Administrator to revise the disposal criteria upon which the bill relies to ensure that human health and the environment are protected from the risks posed by coal combustion residuals.

In some parts of the country people justify the status quo because they have not seen the full dangers of unregulated coal ash. In Tennessee we cannot ignore these consequences and cannot tolerate legislation that would usurp a beneficial rulemaking and replace it with legislation that fails to protect the American people. For these reasons, I oppose H.R. 2273 and would like the record to reflect my strong opposition.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, one of the great, unsung leaders of the Civil Rights movement, and a major figure in the historic fight for justice and equality. Fred Shuttlesworth was born Fred Robinson on March 18, 1922 in Mount Meigs, Alabama. He was raised in Birmingham, Alabama by his mother, Alberta Robinson who married William Nathan Shuttlesworth at which point Fred Robinson took the last name Shuttlesworth.

Fred Shuttlesworth was the eldest of eight siblings. His family survived by sharecropping and making moonshine liquor. In the early 1940s, Fred Shuttlesworth became a truck driver before joining the Baptist Church in 1944. He then studied ministry at Selma University and began preaching at Selma's First Baptist Church. He graduated from Selma in 1951. In 1953, Shuttlesworth became pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham. His life as a social activist peaked that following year, when his attention was captured by a newspaper headline announcing that the U.S. Supreme Court had outlawed school segregation in Brown vs. Board of Education. ``I felt like I was a man, that I had rights,'' Shuttlesworth said, recalling his reaction.

In 1955, he supported the Montgomery bus boycott, led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Shuttlesworth became a Birmingham activist, joining the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in their voter registration efforts. When the state of Alabama essentially outlawed the NAACP in 1956, Shuttlesworth found and led the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights to take direct action to end racial segregation.

Reverend Shuttlesworth was no stranger to adverse racial situations and always emerged strong and undefeated. On Christmas night in 1956, Shuttlesworth survived a bomb blast that blew out the walls and floor of his home, destroying his residence. In response to being told by an officer that he should leave town, he replied, ``Officer, you're not me. You go back and tell your Klan brethren if God could keep me through this, then I'm here for the duration.'' The next day he led 200 people onto Birmingham's buses.

In 1957, he undertook integrating Birmingham's schools by attempting to enroll his daughters in an all-white high school. Outraged by his act, Klansmen attacked him with brass knuckles and chains. He miraculously survived without a concussion and said to the doctor, ``Doctor, the Lord knew I lived in a hard town, so he gave me a hard head.'' Dr. Martin Luther Jr. described Shuttlesworth as ``the most courageous civil rights fighter in the South.''

Later that year, Shuttlesworth joined Dr. King, Ralph Abernathy and Bayard Rustin to launch the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which became the leading force of the civil rights movement. Shuttlesworth served as the organization's first secretary from 1958 to 1970. He later served briefly as its president in 2004.

During the early 1960s, Shuttlesworth participated in numerous sit-in protests, mobilized marches, helped Congress on Racial Equality organize its Freedom Rides and had already been arrested more than 30 times in his fight for equality. In 1963, this collaboration culminated in colossal demonstrations in Birmingham to pressure downtown department stores to desegregate. A few days after being hospitalized due to being slammed against a wall by water from a fire hose, the local leaders of Birmingham announced that fitting rooms and lunchroom counters would be desegregated, signs on restrooms and drinking fountains would be removed and that there would be further steps to advance African-American employment. When President Kennedy introduced to Congress legislation that would later become the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he told Shuttlesworth and King, ``But for Birmingham, we would not be here today.''

In 1966, Rev. Shuttlesworth became pastor of the Greater New Light Baptist Church. In 1988, he founded and served as director of the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation, an organization that helped low- income families buy their homes. In 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Rev. Shuttlesworth a Presidential Citizens Medal--the nation's second-highest civilian award--for helping found the SCLC and for his ``leadership in the ``non-violent'' civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, leading efforts to integrate Birmingham, Alabama's schools, buses and recreational facilities.''

Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth passed away on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 in Birmingham, Alabama at 89 years of age. Reverend Shuttlesworth is survived by his wife, Sephira Bailey Shuttlesworth, four daughters, Patricia Massengill, Ruby ``Ricky'' Bester, Carolyn Shuttlesworth and Maria Murdock; a son, Fred Jr.; a stepdaughter, Audrey Wilson; five sisters, Betty Williams, Truzella Brazil, Ernestine Grimes, Iwilder Reid and Eula Mitchell; 14 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. He will be remembered for his leadership and commitment to the Civil Rights Movement. His was a life well-lived.