Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Affordable Health Care for America Act. I join the American Cancer Society, the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, Consumers Union, AARP, and many other organizations in the strong belief that this bill will bring financial relief to middle class families and businesses who have faced skyrocketing costs for health care.

In the past months, I have listened carefully to the families and businesses I represent on Long Island. I held many public forums on health care; visited businesses facing double digit premium increases; met with physicians and toured hospitals; invited protesters into my office to hear their concerns; convened a tele-town hall that attracted 5,000 senior citizens; hosted another tele-town hall meeting with nearly 11,000 people; organized a live town hall meeting at Suffolk Community College with 500 people; made hundreds of personal phone calls to constituents; and much more.

People with strong opinions on opposite sides of this issue have insisted that I listen to them, believing that they represent a majority of our community. And at the end of the day, I believe strongly that we can no longer do business as usual. In the past 10 years, Long Islanders have seen their health insurance premiums increase 80 percent. And if we do nothing, the average Long Islanders' health costs will increase $1,800 every year.

Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have increased 80 percent in 10 years for Long Island businesses. As a result, more companies are forced to cut payroll, trim raises, or increase employee contributions. Some have told me if this continues, they will have to begin considering offering no health insurance.

And almost every week, my office in Hauppauge receives complaints from neighbors who were denied insurance coverage due to preexisting conditions. They complain about ``sticker shock'' when they open their insurance company statement and learn that they'll have to pay for a greater share of services they assumed were covered.

In a region with unacceptably high property taxes and energy costs, we simply cannot afford to allow health care to continue skyrocketing.

The original bill did contain provisions that concerned me. As a result of my town meetings and other visits, I was able to help improve the bill.

For example:

Many Long Islanders complained that the original family income trigger for the surtax that will fund nearly half of this bill was too low. I successfully fought to raise the trigger to $1 million per family. As a result, no Long Island family with earnings less than $1 million will see a surtax to pay for this bill.

I worked to increase the trigger for small business health care from $250,000 to $500,000 in payroll.

Many seniors in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans asked for faster relief from the so called ``donut hole.'' In 2010, they will receive an immediate $500 expanded benefit. That will assist 8,000 seniors in our district alone.

To lower drug costs, I fought to include a provision allowing the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate volume discounts with big drug companies, just like the VA does.

I sought to increase funding for the Family Caregiver Support program to help Americans who take care of their parents or grandparents.

Some argued that insurance should be sold across State lines. This bill would allow companies to sell plans across State lines where States joined together to form interstate compacts to allow it.

Before accessing the newly created Health Insurance Exchange, one's citizenship and immigration status will be verified by the Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Speaker, I have heard some insist that this bill represents a government takeover of health care. It is simply not true. All the bill does is give Long Islanders the choice to enter into a competitive Health Insurance Exchange to shop for a health insurance plan--just like every Member of Congress. There, private companies will compete for one's business. Among those private businesses will be a ``public option'' which must be self-sufficient and funded from premiums paid by its enrollees. That option will not need to worry about dividends or profits, CEO salaries or expensive marketing campaigns. It will compete against the private plans: just like public colleges compete against private colleges, just like ExpressMail competes against FedEx, just like Perrier competes against the Suffolk County Water Authority. I haven't heard anyone call the water they drink from their faucets ``socialist water''. And I've not heard any reasonable person call Medicare socialized health care. The reason the public option is so vital is that its lower costs will incentivize insurance companies who have doubled their premiums to be more price sensitive in order to attract customers.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, a special word for those who have demanded that I ``listen to them.'' We tend to see the world through our own eyes, leaving very little room for what may be outside our vision. People on polar opposites of this issue have understandably demanded that I ``listen to them.'' Both claim to represent a majority of Long Islanders. I don't pay much attention to polls, Mr. Speaker, but a recent poll in Newsday indicated that 70 percent of Long Islanders support the public option. I will say that after that poll, some of the same people who demanded I listen to the majority told me the majority doesn't know what it's talking about so I should ignore it.

I made a final judgment by listening carefully to everyone. I fought and delivered improvements in this bill. Is it perfect? No. Government can never be perfect, and I'll continue to demand that it be more competent. But this bill, for the first time, will give Americans more choice and control over a virtual health insurance monopoly and will finally end the days when someone who has faithfully paid their premiums from hearing that their diabetes, their cancer, their children's autism, are no longer covered.

Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of the Solar Technology Roadmap Act because I believe that a strong commitment to solar technology is essential if we're going to lead our country into a robust clean energy economy.

I want to commend my colleague from New York, Mr. Hinchey, for his leadership and for partnering with me to ensure that there's a diverse regional balance in the Solar Technology Roadmap.

I'd especially like to thank Chairman Gordon for incorporating the Israel Amendment into his Manager's Amendment. This language requires the Solar Roadmap Committee to work with the Departments of Interior and Defense, the National Park Service, and the General Services Administration on the potential for solar demonstration projects on federal lands. We must be using all the resources we have to tap into renewable energy.

We have significant resources in the National Parks and on military bases around the country. Just last month, I was hiking in the Grand Canyon and realized the enormous potential for renewable energy on the roofs of visitors centers alone. This past spring I was at Fort Drum touring the expansive land available there for a robust solar installation that will contribute to an independent energy supply for the base. Our National Parks and federal lands should be landmarks for innovation, efficiency and renewable energy.

Currently, National Parks' renewable energy generation rates are only 1.5 percent of their total average need. The Park Service needs to install 5.8 MW of renewable energy sources between now and 2013 to meet current federal mandates. Just 50 of our 391 National Parks use 80 percent of the total energy consumed by the National Park Service. Solar demonstration projects in these high-use parks could tremendously reduce the energy consumption of the entire National Park system.

The DOD is the single largest energy user in the United States. Any marginal increases in efficiency or the use of renewable sources could have significant impacts on civilian supply. According to DOD reports, the military consumes 1.2 percent of the energy required in the entire country. By 2013, the military must acquire 7.5 percent of its electricity from renewables. Energy is not just an economic and environmental issue, but this shows that it's a national security issue as well.

Again, I thank the gentleman for yielding and look forward to continuing to work with him to reform U.S. energy policy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the accomplishments of my constituent, Brentwood High School Principal Thomas O'Brien.

Mr. O'Brien has been recognized as the New York State Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State. This award is given annually to a school administrator ``who has set the pace, character, and quality of education for the children in his or her school.''

Mr. O'Brien has served as an educator for 38 years, 14 in his current position--all within the Brentwood School District. He was recognized for his outstanding work at Brentwood High School, where he worked successfully to move the school from the New York State Department of Education's list of ``Schools in Need of Improvement'' to the list of ``Schools in Good Standing.''

I congratulate him on this accomplishment and applaud his long record of contributions to education on Long Island.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise today to recognize a young man in my district, Sean Michael Hinphey. This young man will receive the Eagle Scout honor from his peers in recognition of his achievements.

Since the beginning of this century, the Boy Scouts of America have provided thousands of boys and young men each year with the opportunity to make friends, explore new ideas, and develop leadership skills while learning self-reliance and teamwork.

The Eagle Scout award is presented only to those who possess the qualities that make our Nation great: commitment to excellence, hard work, and genuine love of community service.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is an extraordinary award with which only the finest Boy Scouts are honored. To earn the award--the highest advancement rank in Scouting--a Boy Scout must demonstrate proficiency in the rigorous areas of leadership, service, and outdoor skills; they must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges as well as contribute at least 100 man-hours toward a community oriented service project.

It is with great pride that I recognize the achievements of Sean and bring the attention of Congress to this successful young man on his day of recognition, October 4, 2009. Congratulations to Sean and his family.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor the life and accomplishments of Mr. Richard Holst, who died in the line of duty on September 9, 2009, while defending the community from a fire.

Mr. Holst served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War in the Atlantic Fleet on the U.S.S. Saratoga. In addition to his military service, after retirement, he joined the Huntington Manor Fire Department as a firefighter, eventually becoming the head of New York State Association of Fire Chaplains.

Mr. Holst was a true leader, who carried the torch of service throughout his life. He will be remembered by his family, friends, and community for his generosity and sincere commitment to helping those in need.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge two young women in my hometown of Dix Hills, Brittany Bass and Kirsten Mueller.

Brittany and Kirsten will receive the Girl Scout Gold Award on August 3, 2009. Their project included teaching younger girls how to stay healthy by collecting new and used sporting equipment, food for local pantry and sneakers for the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe Foundation. I wish to commend them for their community service.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge a young man in my district, Scott Joseph Burger.

Scott will be celebrating his Eagle Court of Honor on August 2, 2009. For his community service project, he designed and facilitated the construction of two lecterns for Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station, New York.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge a young woman in my district, Kimberly Brazier.

Kimberly will receive the Girl Scout Gold Award on August 3, 2009. For her project, she made two decorative wall quilts for the Huntington Hills Center for Health and Rehabilitation for senior citizens there to enjoy. I wish to commend Kimberly for her community service.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge two young women in my district, Brianna Lind and Erika Schreiber.

Brianna and Erika will receive the Girl Scout Gold Award on August 6, 2009. For their project, they put together a project to inform the public on global warming, global climate change, and risk management.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge a young woman in my district, Yvonne Desousa.

Yvonne will receive the Girl Scout Award on August 3, 2009. For her project, she put together sewing squares decorated by younger girl scouts for children at Huntington Hospital. I wish to commend Yvonne for her community service.

I thank the distinguished chairman for the time.

Mr. Speaker, I was one of the original sponsors of the Cash for Clunkers bill. Many of us knew that it would work well. Few of us realized how well it would work. This program has been truly stimulative. Lots of people are questioning whether the Congress has passed anything that is stimulating the economy. This program has stimulated the economy. We have doubled car sales over the past 5 days. This is truly stimulative. It is creating jobs. It

is creating a surge for car dealers. The American consumer is satisfied with it, and we need to continue it. The American consumer has taken Cash for Clunkers on a test drive, and they want to continue driving Cash for Clunkers. They want to continue this program. In fact, not only should we continue it over the next 6 weeks by providing emergency funding, but we ought to improve it when we return in September. We should improve it by increasing the efficiency standards. We should improve it by making used cars eligible for the program. We should improve it through a long-term program because we have learned that the short-term program was so successful that we have exhausted the funds in only 5 days. This is an example of a bipartisan program that makes sense. We need to create a bridge of funding for the next 6 weeks, come back and extend it and improve it into the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life of Fran Greenspan. If we are lucky in our lives, we will have come across someone who inspires us to be better citizens, someone who we hold out as a role model for our children, someone who makes it her life's work to improve the community in which she lives. Thankfully, there are hundreds of students in a town I represent who can say that their lives were touched by Fran Greenspan.

For over twenty years, Fran has been involved in the education of students in the Half Hollow Hills School District. After she gave up teaching to raise her family, she joined the Parent Teacher Association, then the district's school board and ultimately became the district's President. She was a passionate advocate for child safety, expansion of the district's gifted students program and improvement in the drug and alcohol awareness programs. Her list of accomplishments is lengthy, but does not fully express the measure of her impact because woven into each one is a caring and warmth unique to Fran. For example, she founded and hosted a small program in the district for families with working parents who left for work before the start of the school day that needed a place for their children. At the elementary school each morning, Fran served those kids breakfast. For years, The Breakfast Club eased the burden on working families, and each child that passed through it became one of Fran's children. In this and a thousand other ways, the community came to know and cherish Fran Greenspan. In honor of her years of dedication and service, the district's central administrative building now bears her name. Her memory is an inspiration to all who work there that we can in our own lives make the lives of others better through community service and an unending kindness.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the key role American workers played in putting man on the moon and to honor their respective contributions to mankind.

On September 12, 1962 President John F. Kennedy challenged America to ``go to the moon in this decade . . . not because it is easy but because it is hard.'' Long Islanders heard this call, rolled up their sleeves and made that dream a reality. I am proud of the Long Islanders who produced the Grumman-built Lunar Module nicknamed ``the Eagle'' which achieved its rightful fame when astronaut Neil Armstrong announced to the world that, ``the Eagle has landed.''

America landed on the moon on July 20, 1969 and the men and women of Long Island got us there.

July 2009 is the 40th anniversary of mankind landing on the moon, an eternal tribute to America's engineering genius that sits some 235,000 miles away on the lunar surface. The Grumman-built Lunar Module is a permanent symbol of the collective efforts of the hard-working American men and women who met President Kennedy's call to achieve the impossible.

During the height of the Cold War, a significant portion of the Nation's scientific and technological genius was turned not to weapons but to space exploration.

Forty years later, we honor the ingenuity and tenacity of all Americans that answered President Kennedy's call to reach to the heavens and thank them for their historic contributions to mankind.

I thank the chairman and my friend. Mr. Chairman, why Tuesday? Why do we have Federal elections on Tuesday? My guess is that most Members of this House of Representatives don't know the answer to that question, and the answer is: There is no good answer for our voting on Tuesday.

There is good reason to change voting from Tuesday to weekends. One out of four people say they don't vote in Federal elections because the weekday is too busy for them. They're balancing their jobs and their schedules and their kids.

I've introduced the Weekend Voting Act, which would move Federal elections from Tuesdays to weekends. And I want to thank the chairman of this subcommittee for including language that I had proposed in this bill directing the GAO to conduct a study on the cost-benefit analysis of weekend voting.

That study is going to answer the question: Why Tuesday? But, more importantly, it's going to answer the question: Why not weekends, and lead to the empowerment of the American people.

We ought to make it easier for people to vote, not harder.

I thank the gentleman and appreciate your yielding me the time and commend your leadership on the bill. I'm proud of the subcommittee's decision to double the International Renewable Energy Program from $5 million to $10 million this year.

Last year, the committee provided $2 million to promote cooperation between the United States and the Government of Israel for renewable and alternative energy programs. The Government of Israel matched that funding, which is now being directed towards cooperation in the fields of advanced battery technology, solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and energy efficiency.

Moving forward, I urge the House to support continued cooperation between the United States and Israel in the field of alternative energy.

And with that, I yield to my distinguished colleague from New York, Chairwoman Nita Lowey.

I thank the gentleman and the gentlewoman.

I thank the distinguished gentleman from Arizona. I appreciate his leadership on so many issues. In particular, I want to thank him for including my bipartisan amendment with our colleagues, Mr. Larson from Connecticut, Mr. Massa, Mr. Dent, Mr. Doyle, and Mr. Inglis to restore $45 million to the hydrogen and fuel cell program at DOE. This bill brings the total to $153 million, which I believe can be used to establish a public-private partnership with industry partners who have already displayed a significant investment in the United States.

Currently, Mr. Chairman, the United States is in a neck-and-neck competition with the global market on hydrogen fuel cells. We've got to support these technologies for commercialization within 5 years as a matter of national security, energy independence, and to remain competitive in the energy sector. This investment keeps us ahead.

And I want to again thank the gentleman from Arizona for his leadership and his cooperation, and my colleagues for their bipartisanship in drafting this legislation which the gentleman has accepted.