Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as we're up here discussing this, there are folks in the Democratic caucus trying to better understand the support that exists for this bill.

This bill is not Speaker Pelosi's bill, and it's not the Democrats' bill. Mr. Speaker, this is America's bill. We are the only industrialized Nation in the world that doesn't have a plan to take care of health care for its citizens. America is catching up to the 21st century to where other countries have been in the 20th.

In my community our emergency room at our public hospital is about to close because they're so far in debt because they have so many people that don't have insurance and can't afford to pay. They take them, but they can't afford to pay it with the property taxes that are ever- rising.

This bill will help keep emergency rooms and trauma centers open. It will say to people that have preexisting conditions in America, and that's people give or take my age and older, 60 and up, in that area, and even younger people can get insurance, that there won't be a limit on the amount of moneys that you had before. And it will say to the insurance companies they don't make the rules, the people make the rules. And we will have insurance that's affordable and available and save our country economically and save individuals as well.

Mr. Speaker, this weekend, when I went home, I went to the laundry.

A gentleman came up to me and said, You know, we've been friends for 40 years, and you're more liberal than I am--I'm a conservative--but let me tell you that I had a heart attack last month. Do you know what it cost? It cost $100,000. He said, Y'all have got to pass something with this health care. It's just too expensive, and if I were in a different situation, I might lose my health care and might not be able to get it.

I had a Halloween party at a friend's house. I'm 60, and my friends are within the margin of error. They're about the same age. Several of them had had cancer, and they talked about how they couldn't get out of their health policies. The premiums were going up. The deductibles were going up, and it was costing them more and more; and they weren't authorizing certain treatments that they needed.

They said, You need to pass that health care bill. It's important.

I went to my local pharmacy, and a lady came up to me, and she told me about what the cost of prescription drugs was doing to her. I told her we were going to close the doughnut hole, that we were going to help her with her prescription drug prices.

We need to get this country's health care policy where it doesn't destroy the financial condition of people's lives. We need to allow them to move on.

Mr. Speaker, at the end of President Bush's term, this House was faced with a TARP bill. The American public likes bipartisanship, and we had bipartisanship on that bill. There were Democrats and Republicans who voted ``no,'' but there were Democrats and Republicans who voted ``yes.'' Just about everyone agrees that bill saved us from going over the abyss into a Great Depression similar to 1933. It was a moment of bipartisanship and a moment I was proud to participate in.

When President Obama became President, bipartisanship ended. The ARRA--which everybody agrees, the stimulus package, has helped our economy and provided millions of jobs in State and local government and education and other places and provided jobs in the private sector-- didn't have a single vote on the Republican side. Not one single vote.

And now on health care, we see not one single vote coming from the Republican side. Doing nothing is not the answer. Everybody knows the health system needs reform.

In my city, the emergency room at Charity Hospital, the public hospital, is about to close. People are having great problems paying their premiums. We need health reform, and we need bipartisanship.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 177) raising the awareness of the need for crime prevention in communities across the country and expressing support for designation of October 1, 2009, through October 3, 2009, as ``Celebrate Safe Communities'' Week, and October as ``Crime Prevention Month''.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative

days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution, H. Con. Res. 177, recognizes the importance of citizen and community involvement in an effort to prevent crime and express support for the designation of October 1 through October 3 as Crime Prevention Week and October as National Crime Prevention Month.

Celebrate Safe Communities is a relatively recent crime prevention initiative of the Justice Department in partnership with the National Sheriffs' Association and the National Crime Prevention Council.

The goal of this initiative is to strengthen the partnership between citizens and law enforcement. In Memphis, my hometown, Stevie Morris formed a group called FFUNN, which works with young people to prevent crime. There are neighborhood associations. Neighborhood Watch is an effective group that works in the community, and so are Crime Stoppers programs.

During the first week in October, communities throughout the country held events, educating the public about crime prevention and public safety programs. Not only do these events highlight crime prevention, but they encourage citizens to become personally involved in these programs. That's what the FFUNN group in Memphis and Stevie Moore did.

Similarly, during the month of October, communities and law enforcement organizations commemorate Crime Prevention Month, promoting awareness of important issues such as victimization, volunteerism, and creating safer, more caring communities. The monthlong celebration highlights successful crime prevention efforts at the local, State, and national levels, all of which are important in our communities.

I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Reichert) for introducing this resolution. I urge my colleagues to support it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, in Memphis, we've got many programs similar to these that have been discussed.

The Freedom from Unnecessary Negatives with Stevie Moore is in the community, often visited by our sheriff, Mark Luttrell, who was named National Sheriff of the Year, with District Attorney General Bill Gibbons and with others, who visit and have cookouts, who talk about crime and who get the community oriented with their law enforcement officers--where they'll be wanting to report and work with the law enforcement officers. It has been a successful program.

Crime Stoppers is a successful program where people get rewarded for turning in criminals. They get rewarded with financial incentives.

The Neighborhood Watch programs are great programs where people work together to be aware of crime.

These are all important, and this is an important effort to fight against crime, and that's why I ask everybody to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3632) to provide improvements for the operations of the Federal courts, and for other purposes.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to bring to the floor H.R. 3632, the Federal Judiciary Administrative Improvements Act of 2009. This bill will enact basic improvements to the Federal courts to ensure that our Federal court system is efficient and effective.

The first section of H.R. 3632 seeks to address an inconsistency in the law on the eligibility of senior judges to participate in court governance matters. This minor change will ensure that senior judges have the ability to participate in the selection of magistrate judges.

This legislation will also streamline the work of the District of North Dakota by eliminating references to divisions while maintaining the present situation that North Dakota constitutes one judicial district.

H.R. 3632 will also correct inequalities among the members of the judiciary. First, it adjusts the disability retirement coverage and cost-of-living annuity adjustments of four territorial judges so that these members of the judiciary will be treated like other term judges, such as bankruptcy and magistrate judges. Second, this bill will change the annual leave limit for judiciary branch executives, and it will adjust the pay scale.

H.R. 3632 also makes some minor adjustments for criminal matters. For example, it will improve the control and protection of confidential information by allowing the courts to separate the Judgment and Statement of Reasons forms. In addition, small changes will clarify the scope and authority of Federal pretrial service officers to assist juveniles.

Finally, H.R. 3632 will change the timeline for the statistical reporting of criminal wiretapping orders by extending the deadline for judges to file these orders, by several months, with the Administrative Office of the Courts. Wiretap reports will continue to be provided annually to Congress, but this change will ease the administrative burden on judges, and it will make those annual reports more accurate.

This noncontroversial legislation has bipartisan support. It has the full backing of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and the Senate recently introduced companion legislation. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that this is a noncontroversial, bipartisan bill.

As a Tennesseean who represents the district, which over, maybe, give or take, 200 years ago was represented by Davy Crockett, who went to Texas and made sure that these two fine gentlemen weren't part of a territory or part of a foreign nation, I am proud to work with them to see that this legislation comes to the floor.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this amendment.

I would first like to commend Representative Giffords and the Science and Technology Committee for proposing this great piece of legislation. I would also like to thank Representatives Titus and Teague for their work on this very important amendment.

The economic competitiveness and security of the United States depend upon our ability to develop clean, affordable alternatives to oil. But this will not be cheap and it will not be easy, so I commend this legislation's promise for significant investment in the research and development of solar technology. Solar technology holds tremendous promise and has the potential to put the United States on a path to energy independence and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For in just 1 hour, enough sunlight hits the Earth's surface to supply the entire world's energy demands for 1 full year.

With significant investment in the research, development, and implementation of solar technology, we will be well on our way to energy independence. However, one obstacle to solar technology exists that is currently not being discussed--the immense water usage of many leading solar technologies. Currently, plans exist for solar plants that consume 705 million gallons of water a year and are located in the heart of desert regions which receive scant rainfall and have little groundwater reserves.

As the American population continues to grow and water demands continue to rise with our population, our water supply will be in even shorter supply. Thus, we cannot afford to use hundreds of millions of gallons of water a year to operate and maintain one solar site. It is imperative that we invest in research and development of solar technologies that are water efficient.

While our Nation needs clean, affordable energy, we cannot produce it at the expense of our future water supplies. For these reasons, I strongly urge the passage of our amendment to the Solar Technology Roadmap Act.

Mr. Speaker, I've listened to 1 minutes here, and some of my Republican colleagues have made comments I listened to. And one who I respect tremendously talked about President Reagan and President Obama, and certainly they have a lot in common. They're both dynamic speakers and great communicators. Both of them have had high unemployment rates during their first year in office.

But the commonality is that those high unemployment rates were caused by their predecessors. And the press properly pointed out that Jimmy Carter's failed policies in the late 1970s and George Bush's failed policy at the beginning of this century were the cause of the economic malaise that each of these great communicators, Presidents Reagan and Obama, found themselves with.

Each will find that the economies will improve. Reagan did, and Obama will, and this Congress is helping to improve this economy.

Another gentleman talked about health care and said we should pray. I'm Jewish, and at our Yom Kippur holiday it's said that we should pray for national leaders that have a government that is compassionate and just. I believe that compassion and justice dictates that we have a health care plan and take care of everybody. I think it's the basis of the Judeo-Christian philosophy.

Madam Speaker, today I am pleased to join Representative Bobby Scott and Chairman John Conyers in introducing the Civil Access to Justice Act of 2009. This important legislation will expand civil legal services to low-income families and individuals.

In 1974, Congress established the Legal Services Corporation (``LSC'') to operate as a private, non-profit corporation to promote equal access to justice under the law and to provide grants for high- quality civil legal assistance to low-income persons. LSC distributes more than 95 percent of its total funding to 137 independent nonprofit legal aid programs to represent low-income individuals and families in every congressional district. Programs receiving LSC grants help the most vulnerable, such as families facing unlawful evictions or foreclosures, displaced persons attempting to obtain federal emergency assistance, and women seeking protection from abuse. In fact, many programs have been besieged recently with requests for foreclosure assistance because of the subprime mortgage crisis.

The current economic downturn will likely lead to more families and individuals needing legal assistance. According to a recently released study commissioned by LSC's Board of Directors, Documenting the Justice Gap in America, many recipient programs of LSC funds must turn away half of all individuals who qualify and seek their assistance because of the lack of resources. Unfortunately, state, local, and private funding and pro bono support have been unable to help close the access to justice gap. The underfunding may result in a potential catastrophe for millions of low-income families and individuals throughout the country who need, but are unable to obtain, legal assistance in matters relating to their housing, employment, and access to health care. Currently, LSC is funded at $390,000,000, which is insufficient to provide legal representation to all of the impoverished in need of legal assistance. This legislation authorizes an increase in funding for LSC of $750,000,000, which represents an inflation-adjusted funding level from fiscal year 1981. This funding will help close the justice gap and provide civil legal assistance to all potential eligible clients.

Additionally, the Civil Access to Justice Act eliminates certain restrictions that have significantly limited the ability of legal aid attorneys to represent all low-income families and individuals. First, the bill would remove many restrictions on the use of state, local, and private money by LSC-funded programs. Second, it would eliminate restrictions on the ability of LSC-funded attorneys to represent clients in class action cases. Also, the bill would provide

programs the opportunity to seek court-ordered attorneys' fees, which they are currently prohibited from seeking.

Finally, this legislation codifies recent recommendations from the Government Accountability Office to improve LSC governance and accountability. These recommendations should lead to better management and oversight of LSC-funded programs.

I urge my colleagues to join me, Mr. Scott, Chairman Conyers, and others, and cosponsor this important and timely legislation. I am optimistic that Congress can send a bill to the President for his signature so that the doors of justice will always remain open to those in need.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday in my office in Memphis, I had citizens come visit me. Two parents had children with spina bifida. They explained the love they had for their child, but the expenses it is causing them because our system of Medicaid is not sufficient in Tennessee to really give them the benefits they need, and how much it costs them.

Another person came to my office to tell me that I had saved her life. Well, I hadn't saved her life, but she would have been cut off of TennCare, our Medicaid system. And but for 10 days when we got them back on, she wouldn't have got the transplant that did save her life.

Do we need health care in America? I think those stories and stories like them say we do. I was gratified last night doing a teletown hall meeting in my district where 83 percent of the respondents said they supported President Obama's health care plan. The Ninth Congressional District of Tennessee gets it. I hope America gets it.

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, the United States of America and my hometown of Memphis lost one of its finest citizens, a brave soldier fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Private First Class Brandon A. Owens was 21 years of age when he died of injuries sustained from small-arms fire. His unit, the 118th Military Police Company, 503rd Military Police Battalion, from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was stationed in Wardak province when it was attacked by enemy forces.

Prior to joining the Army, Private First Class Owens attended Wooddale High School in Memphis, where he played on the basketball team. He was a very well-liked gentleman, small in stature but big in heart.

Private First Class Owens is survived by his parents Eric and Lynda Owens of Memphis.

Let us take a moment to remember the sacrifice he made for the stability of Afghanistan and the protection of its people.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time, and I thank the Owens family for their son. He paid the ultimate sacrifice, and I will join with his family in mourning this weekend.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a great Memphian and a great American, Dr. Vasco Smith. Dr. Smith was one of the true stalwarts of civil rights in the city of Memphis and in the nation. Dr. Smith lived a life of service and sacrifice.

Vasco Smith served our nation in the Air Force in the Korean War. A graduate of LeMoyne College in Memphis and Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Dr. Smith was a dentist by profession. In 1955, he and his wife, Maxine, returned to their beloved Memphis, completely segregated at the time, and used their passion and commitment to become leaders in the Civil Rights movement.

In 1962, Dr. Smith convinced the owner of the segregated Malco Theatre in downtown Memphis to gradually integrate by selling tickets to African-Americans in the ``whites only''

orchestra level of the theatre. In their pursuit to end racial discrimination, the Smiths endured numerous death threats, many arrests by the police, and the tragic murders of their friends Dr. Martin Luther King and Medgar Evers.

In 1973, Dr. Smith became the first African-American elected to an at-large position on the Shelby County Commission where he served until 1994. Dr. Smith was a compassionate and effective County Commissioner. He and I served together as Commissioners from 1978 to 1980. During this time on the Commission, we worked together to build the Regional Medical Center, our charity hospital and trauma center in Shelby County that serves people who would otherwise have no access to health care. He and fellow County Commissioner Jesse Turner, Sr., who also served as National Treasurer for the NAACP, were known as ``the freedom fighters.'' They fought for civil rights in Memphis and stood up when others did not. They were always the voices of conscience, reasonableness, and morality in our community.

Vasco Smith was a loving husband to Maxine Smith. As Wendi Thomas of the Commercial Appeal noted, it is difficult to think of either Smith without the other because they were a team; indeed, together they were a force for change and progress. Maxine Smith served as the Executive Secretary of the Memphis branch of the NAACP for more than forty years and continues to serve on the NAACP National Board of Directors. For two decades, Maxine Smith served on the Memphis City School Board. She served on the Tennessee Board of Regents for over a decade. Married 56 years, Maxine and Vasco Smith were true soulmates. Together, they had one son, Dr. Vasco ``Smitty'' Smith, III, a dentist like his father, who made his parents very proud.

Dr. Vasco Smith was a special man to me because he showed moral rectitude of a type that's rarely seen. He knew justice beyond color and will be remembered in Memphis as a great civil rights leader, a husband, a father, a professional, and a great Memphian.

He will be buried Friday. I will be there with him. His was a life well lived.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mr. Charles ``Tif'' Bingham, one of the kindest and most personable individuals I have ever known. He was always thinking of people and was truly concerned about others. His smile and demeanor attracted friends and warmed their spirits.

Tif Bingham graduated from Yale University and then served our country as a captain and fighter pilot in the Marine Corps. In 1960, he moved to Memphis as a Vice-President for Conwood Corporation.

He was a civic leader, serving as the Executive Director of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce and founder of the Mid-South Parkinson's Disease Foundation.

Tif was one of the founders and Second President of the Memphis In May International Festival, which highlights the best of Memphis culture: music, barbecue, and arts. Each year the festival showcases the best of Memphis and, simultaneously, brings the world to our city, exposing our citizens to people from around the globe, enriching our lives and expanding our horizons.

I have had the pleasure of representing Tif and wife Sandy as constituents of the Ninth District. They were frequent visitors on Capitol Hill and were much loved by those in which they came in contact with. Several members of Congress as well as Jimmy Miller, Director of Committee Facilities and Travel for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, wish to express their deepest regrets to the Bingham family.

Tif Bingham was an avid sailor and world traveler. As grandson of U.S. Senator Hiram Bingham, who discovered Machu Picchu, he inherited a curiosity and urge to explore the world, all to be knowledgeable about public affairs. He leaves his wife Sandy Dickey, to whom he was married for 27 years. Sandy loved Tif and was the epitome of ``for better or worse''. He is also survived by three children, Eleanor Bingham Mallory, Grace Bingham and Charles Bingham and six grandchildren.

Tif Bingham loved life and lived it to the fullest. He enriched the lives of his family, friends and the city of Memphis. He will be sorely missed and always remembered.

Mr. Speaker, this week in Congress will be ending, and I have some interesting experiences to relate.

In Transportation Committee today, we had a hearing, and one of our former Members is now the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, a Republican member from Illinois. Secretary LaHood reported to the committee that the ARRA is working, that much of the money has been spent or utilized in plans by State governments and that lots of employment has been made on building of roads and bridges and airport improvements and on rail programs around the country, that people are going back to work.

I also have an opportunity on Tuesday to attend the National Institutes of Health for a briefing, which I plan to do with other colleagues. President Obama announced that $5 billion has been spent on cancer research through NIH. I offered an amendment to the ARRA in the House for a $10 billion improvement. That didn't make it through the House, but a similar proposal made it through the Senate. It will be interesting to see where those moneys are creating jobs and finding cures for cancer and other catastrophic illnesses like Parkinson's, diabetes, and Alzheimer's.

The ARRA is working.

I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a great Memphian and a great American, Dr. Vasco Smith. Dr. Smith was one of the stalwarts of civil rights in our city of Memphis and in the Nation. He served on the county commission with me from 1978 to 1980, but he served on the county commission in Shelby County from 1973 until 1994. He and his fellow county commissioner, Jesse Turner, Sr., were known as the Freedom Fighters.

Jesse Turner, Sr., was the national treasurer of the NAACP. Dr. Vasco Smith's wife, Maxine Smith, was the national secretary of the NAACP. Vasco Smith and Jesse Turner worked on all things in civil rights in Memphis and stood up when others did not and were always a voice of conscience and reasonableness and morality in my community.

Dr. Smith was a great county commissioner. He worked with me and others to build the Regional Medical Center, our general hospital in Memphis that serves the people that need health care. He was a dentist who served his community as a physician. He served in the Air Force and served our Nation.

He was a special man to me because he showed moral rectitude of the type that's rarely seen. He knew justice beyond color. He will be remembered in Memphis as a great civil rights leader, as a husband, a father, a professional, and a great Memphian.

He'll be buried Friday. I'll be there with him. His was a life well lived.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mr. Richard Shadyac, the former C.E.O. of the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), the fundraising arm of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Mr. Shadyac passed away last Wednesday at the age of 80. For many years, he split his time between Memphis, Tennessee and the Washington, D.C. area.

He was widowed in 2001 when he lost his first wife, Juliette. He leaves behind their two children, Richard and Thomas, as well as two grandchildren. Richard followed his father's footsteps and recently assumed the position of C.E.O. of ALSAC on September first of this year. Thomas is a celebrated comedian, producer, director and writer in Los Angeles. Mr. Shadyac also leaves behind his wife of seven years, Lynn Caruthers Shadyac of McLean, Virginia.

Here in Washington, Mr. Shadyac was well known for advocating on behalf of the government of Libya. He also had a hand in the founding of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Mr. Shadyac received his Juris Doctor from Boston University in 1952. He served in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps during the Korean War. After he left the Army, Mr. Shadyac went to work at the Justice Department. Later, he became a founding partner of two law firms: McGinnis, Berg, Shadyac and Nolan and Metzger, Shadyac and Schwartz.

Thirty years after becoming a board member for St. Jude, Richard Shadyac became the

C.E.O. of the hospital's fundraising operation in 1992. He held this position for 13 years, leading an effort that raised millions upon millions of dollars for the purpose of researching and treating childhood cancer and other diseases.

In 1985, St. Jude seriously considered leaving Memphis, Tennessee to relocate to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. It was through Richard Shadyac's efforts that the hospital remains in Memphis today. I first met him when I was a Tennessee State Senator. He was on one of his many trips to Nashville, where he would adroitly encourage state officials to work to keep St. Jude in Tennessee. He advocated for his cause throughout the halls of the Tennessee State Capitol, and it was through these efforts that we became friends. I cherished his friendship in Memphis for many years, as well as in Washington D.C. when I joined the United States Congress.

After the death of his good friend and St. Jude's founder, Danny Thomas, Mr. Shadyac took the reins to ensure that the hospital would remain stable and secure. Without Mr. Thomas to publicly promote the hospital, it was Richard who decided that the children should be the new face of St. Jude. Under his leadership, St. Jude's donations increased four-fold.

Mr. Shadyac displayed a great interest in the individual well-being of St. Jude's patients. He would often visit the children and their families at the hospital. It was Mr. Shadyac who gave them a voice in the fight against cancer.

Upon his retirement, St. Jude's fundraising operation, the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, was ranked among the three largest health care charities in the country.

My heart goes out to Mr. Shadyac's family, as well as the St. Jude community. Richard Shadyac dedicated his life to finding a cure for childhood cancer. He leaves behind a strong legacy of good will and deeds, and will forever be remembered by the Memphis and St. Jude communities.