Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the false argument by the Democrats that the tax relief this Republican Congress has provided the American people during the last 5 years isn't helpful.

Democrats are vowing to repeal these tax cuts and are running around with a terribly false sound bite that tax cuts are for the rich.

So I ask them: Do only rich people have children? Because we increased the tax credit to $1,000 per child for every American family.

So I ask them: Do only rich people get married? Because we fixed a major flaw that punished every American married couple by charging them higher taxes for filing jointly.

And I ask them: Do rich people have a family income of $14,000 a year? Because it was for them that we created an income range, a new 10 percent tax bracket to specifically cut their tax rates. It cuts taxes for 6.1 million low-income taxpayers in New York alone.

Finally, I ask them: Are you labeling every small business owner in America as rich? Because we on the Small Business Committee worked very hard to ensure the majority of these tax cuts specifically helps small businesses.

When I walk down the main streets of Hudson Valley and visit the small businesses, the owners tell me they are certainly not rich. They tell me they need tax cuts to pay their workers, to serve their customers, and create new jobs.

Mr. Speaker, the truth is in the numbers. The Treasury Department shows that a family of four, making $50,000 a year, would experience a 132 percent tax increase in 2011 if Congress repealed these tax cuts.

Let's remain a Congress that votes in favor of the taxpayer.

Madam Speaker, I rise to urge this House to correct a broken impact aid formula that unfairly limits the Federal funding received by local school districts in military communities.

A significant portion of the students I represent in Highland Falls- Fort Montgomery Central School District are children of military families living at West Point. Impact Aid funding complications have Highland Falls struggling to preserve its full curriculum for students. The Impact Aid funding shortfall leaves the local community surrounding West Point facing major property tax increases.

This is not the way the Federal Government should be treating the families of Highland Falls and West Point. Impact aid schools need and deserve consistent Federal support. They are not getting that through the current Impact Aid formula.

I urge this House to pass the Impact Aid Update Act, a bill I introduced to correct the outdated cap that is restricting Impact Aid funding to Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District and other Impact Aid schools.

I also call on this House to pass H.R. 390, a bill I am cosponsoring to improve the Impact Aid program. This Congress needs to permanently fix Impact Aid funding formulas so that local school districts like Highland Falls throughout the country have the full resources they need to teach our children.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Ryan White CARE Act and the great care that it offers for those suffering from HIV/AIDS. But today I reluctantly rise in opposition to this legislation because it contains flawed provisions with harsh and negative effects for New York's Hudson Valley and New York State.

I represent Dutchess County, New York, and the eligible metropolitan area in that county. If this bill is passed, Dutchess County would lose up to 5 percent the first year, and then incrementally more in the second and third year. And by the fourth year, all funds for title I would be eliminated for Dutchess County.

Title I money goes for support and services for people living with HIV/AIDS. The patients benefiting from these services simply will not get their needed medication because the program won't exist. If the funds to Dutchess County disappear, there is absolutely nowhere near where the HIV/AIDS patients would be able to go for support, services, and medication because the entire State is suffering from the cuts for New York that this bill calls for.

This means over 1,600 people in Dutchess County alone will lose out with the passage of the Ryan White CARE Act in its current form. This is unacceptable, and that is why I reluctantly ask that you vote against H.R. 6143 at this time. This legislation should be brought up under regular order so that amendments can be offered.

And while I strongly support the Ryan White Act, the HIV/AIDS problem is a problem that requires resources to fight. While we recognize the need to direct attention to those communities where this is an emerging problem, we must not do so at the cost of the places that need it the most. People in my district and the people of New York need these lifesaving funds. Please don't take away from them. Vote against H.R. 6143.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Coast Guard reauthorization. I am pleased to see that the section that Mr. Barrow of Georgia and I authored in a bipartisan fashion is included in the measure before us.

Our provision would clarify the role of the Coast Guard in protecting our Nation's nuclear power plants along navigable waterways. This language will allow the Coast Guard to work with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to better safeguard nuclear facilities like the Indian Point facility along the Hudson River in my district and provide vessels and weaponry capable of thwarting waterborne attacks.

I want to thank Chairman Young and Coast Guard Subcommittee Chairman LoBiondo for their great work in support of the U.S. Coast Guard and for working so cooperatively with Congressman Barrow and me to have this provision included. This provision will go a long way towards protecting a segment of our Nation's energy infrastructure that still remains vulnerable of attack.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge the passage of legislation that I am cosponsoring with the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce).

The Health Insurance for Life Act provides extended health care coverage to individuals and families who need COBRA when they are in between jobs or waiting for their health insurance to begin at a new job.

Suburban families like those living in the Hudson Valley in New York encounter a job change an average of seven times. Workers need assurances that their health insurance remains as transferable and uncomplicated as possible when job changes occur.

COBRA provides the safety net that parents and children need to maintain affordable health insurance, but under current law there are time limitations on how long families can use COBRA. H.R. 5740 removes COBRA's time limits and ensures that families in need of extended COBRA coverage cannot be charged unreasonable premiums.

This Congress must continue developing new ways to protect the underinsured and uninsured in New York and throughout our country. Passage of our bill ensures that time is on the side of families and children who rely on COBRA for their health insurance.

Mr. Speaker, 6 years ago, Congress created the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial Foundation. We tasked them with establishing a memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring veterans who became disabled while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.

The Foundation's work is important, but it is not yet complete. When they are finished, they will have created a memorial that is long overdue to pay tribute to our Nation's veterans who have returned from the battlefield bearing the scars of war.

I have been working closely with the Foundation to help them in their efforts. I have introduced legislation in the House, H.R. 1951, that would mint a commemorative coin in honor of our disabled veterans. The proceeds of this coin will go towards the efforts of the Foundation to build the memorial.

This legislation currently has 195 cosponsors, and I invite my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation that pays tribute to our veterans in two ways, by minting a coin honoring our Nation's disabled veterans, and by helping the Foundation in their efforts to build a memorial to disabled veterans.

I would like to quote from a letter from Bradley Barton, the National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans, which has endorsed the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial Coin Act.

Commander Barton says, ``We express our pride, patriotism, values and national identity through memorials that signify and define who we are as a Nation; and it is important that we maintain public recognition and awareness of the extraordinary sacrifices disabled veterans have made on behalf of their fellow citizens and our country.''

Disabled American Veterans,

Washington, DC, September 21, 2006.

Hon. Sue Kelly,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Kelly: Once again, Congress is prepared

to adjourn sine die without addressing the ``American

Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act,'' H.R.

1951. The Senate bill, S. 633, passed on May 25, 2006. It has

been held since then, pending House action.

This legislation provides for the minting and sale of

special coins to commemorate living disabled American

veterans and authorizes special surcharges on these coins to

be contributed to the fund for construction of a memorial to

disabled veterans on grounds near the Nation's Capitol in

accordance with legislation already enacted.

We express our pride, patriotism, values, and national

identity through memorials that signify and define who we are

as a nation, and it is important that we maintain public

recognition and awareness of the extraordinary sacrifices

disabled veterans had made on behalf of their fellow citizens

and our country.

The coins will be minted starting in 2010, the same year

that the groundbreaking and dedication of the American

Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial will take place. A

portion of the proceeds from this coin will support the

construction of this Memorial. Please don't let this

legislation die in the 109th Congress. I call upon you to

cosponsor H.R. 1951.

Please let me know if you plan to cosponsor and support

this legislation.

Sincerely,

Bradley S. Barton,

National Commander.

The Foundation's cofounder and chairwoman is Lois Pope, a woman who is dedicated and committed to making this memorial a reality. To date, the Foundation has raised more than $25 million of the $65 million needed to build the memorial.

More telling still is the sheer number of people they have enlisted to help in their efforts. Within the last 2 years alone, more than 550,000 individual Americans have contributed in support of the memorial.

H.R. 4275, the bill before the House today, would extend the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial Foundation's charter until 2015. This would provide the Foundation with ample time to complete their fundraising, design and construction efforts on the disabled veterans memorial.

The National Park Service also supports the extension. National Park Deputy Director Donald Murphy testified before the House National Parks Subcommittee on May 25, saying that, ``The Foundation has proceeded in a professional and responsible manner in all aspects of the memorial process, and we feel it is fair to allow the Foundation additional time to continue fundraising and complete design development.''

The Foundation was created by an act of Congress in 2000, and the Congress should extend its charter so this organization can complete the important work we have tasked them with. I encourage every Member of this House to support H.R. 4275, and I support the great work that the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial Foundation continues doing to honor our Nation's disabled veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to encourage my colleagues to join me in honoring the extraordinary sacrifices made by American's veterans by voting ``yes'' on H. Con. Res 419.

This resolution supports the establishment of a National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in the birthplace of the Purple Heart in New Windsor, New York. The Purple Heart is the oldest and one of the most prestigious honors bestowed upon an American soldier. By passing this legislation today, we recognize the sacrifices of the brave men and women who have received this honor.

The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor will uniquely highlight the stories of the Purple Heart veterans. Every Purple Heart veteran is a hero whose story needs to be hold. By hearing these stories we can fully honor their sacrifices and learn from their experiences. The stories will echo within the halls of the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, and they should inspire our Nation not only to preserve the legacy of our military heroes, but to better appreciate the freedoms for which they fought.

The Hall of Honor is scheduled to be officially dedicated November 10. It will be located at New Windsor Cantonment, the site in my congressional district. This is the site of the last encampment of the Continental Army, where General George Washington first presented the Badge of Military Merit in 1782. Since then more than 800,000 members of the Armed Forces have been awarded this medal, which is now called the Purple Heart. It is an honor reserved for those soldiers who are wounded or killed while defending the greatest of our principles, freedom.

New York State has done a great deal to make the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor a reality. Governor George Pataki and Bernadette Castro, our State's park and recreation preservation commissioner, led the effort. Our State's senator, Senator Bill Larkin, a retired lieutenant colonel with 23 years of Active Duty in the United States Army, has been a true champion in working on siting the Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New Windsor.

I am also grateful for the efforts of the military personnel subcommittee chairman, John McHugh of New York, who helped bring this legislation to the floor today.

I want to thank especially Rick Weeks, the State commander of the New York Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. The Military Order contributed $500,000 toward the construction of the Hall of Honor.

I will insert this letter of support from the National Military Order of the Purple Heart in the Record.

Commander Weeks was also instrumental in gathering support for this resolution. I thank him very much.

While the Hall of Honor is in New York, it is important to remember it is a national institution that will celebrate the sacrifices of soldiers and veterans who have lived in all areas of our country. Passage of this resolution today, as our troops are courageously fighting overseas to defend and preserve democracy, will send a strong message to our Armed Forces and our veterans that our Nation is grateful and continues to be grateful for the sacrifices made by our military men and women.

Military Order of

the Purple Heart,

Springfield, VA, August 1, 2006.

Chairman Duncan Hunter,

House Armed Services Committee,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: The Military Order of the Purple Heart

(MOPH) is in total support of H. Con. Res. 419, which has

been referred to your committee. This resolution recognizes

and encourages support for the National Purple Heart Hall of

Honor. This Hall of Honor, while located in New York, is

really a national effort and one that will recognize and

honor all our country's men and women who have been

recipients of the Purple Heart Medal for their death or

wounds received in combat.

MOPH urges you and your colleagues on the committee to

support this very worthwhile endeavor in a timely manner.

Respectfully,

James D. Randles,

National Commander.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to continue addressing the needs of small businesses that create seven out of every 10 jobs in our communities. Small businesses are the backbone of our local economies.

During the past month, I held small business walks down the main streets and through the business districts of towns and villages in New York's Hudson Valley.

I talked directly to small business owners and employees in places like Warwick, Port Jervis, Beacon and Highland Falls to hear directly from them about the challenges they face every day.

They asked for continued tax relief so they can afford to pay their employees. They need to keep more of their earnings in order to create new, good paying jobs in our local communities.

They asked for affordable health insurance to be more accessible for them to be able to provide for their employees. Only 41 percent of the smallest businesses can afford to offer health benefits, compared with 99 percent of large companies.

When I discussed small business health plan legislation that we have passed in the House, they often agreed that would be a practical first step toward solving the problem of America's uninsured.

Mr. Speaker, these and other proposals are part of a five-point plan I have been pushing to help our small businesses, and I ask my colleagues to support these initiatives that level the playing field for small businesses and provide them the tax relief they need

Mr. Speaker, I rise, along with several of my colleagues, this morning to urge this House to pass a bill I am sponsoring called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. I appreciate the co- leadership of the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) on this important bipartisan bill.

We are here today seeking to improve treatment coverages and access to inpatient care for women suffering from breast cancer. No woman should be forced to fight breast cancer and red tape at the same time. It is our responsibility in Congress to make sure that necessary laws are in place to protect a breast cancer patient. We need to guarantee the best treatment and support possible.

A breast cancer diagnosis is scary and stressful for a woman. Insurance restrictions and difficult cost-saving decisions only complicate her fear and stress.

By passing our bill, we can eliminate undue anxiety and ensure that a woman and her doctor are in control of her treatment decisions. More than 175 cosponsors of our bill have recognized the need to help more than 200,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer every year. But we believe every Member of this body should be cosponsoring our legislation.

Together, this Congress can make a positive difference in the lives of women suffering from breast cancer by passing the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act.

Mr. Speaker, this Congress needs to continue the tax relief and economic policies that have helped small businesses create new jobs and foster strong economic growth across our country. I have been pushing a five-point agenda to help small businesses succeed:

One, continue the tax cuts for small businesses, which we accomplished earlier this year by passing the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act into law.

Two, we need to make health care costs more affordable for small businesses and their employees. The Senate, like the House, needs to pass legislation to create small business health plans that will lower their premiums by up to 30 percent.

Three, we need to level the playing field for small businesses. The Senate can help us do this by approving two of my bills that have been overwhelmingly passed in the House to help small businesses earn interest on their checking accounts and gain increased access to capital.

Four, the Senate, like the House, needs to vote to permanently end the death tax on small businesses and family farms.

Five, we need to stop excessive and redundant Federal regulations on small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the House to immediately consider my bill that has passed the Government Reform Committee and would help prevent Federal agencies from imposing unnecessary regulations that suffocate small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, let's fully demonstrate our commitment to small businesses by passing these legislative solutions to help small businesses in New York's Hudson Valley and all over the Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Sensenbrenner for his hard work on this piece of legislation, which goes a long way toward protecting our children from predators and abusers.

Our Nation loses four children a day to abuse and neglect. Our government owes it to these children to provide our law enforcement and child protective service communities with a deep, ready, and effective arsenal that they can utilize to protect the most vulnerable element of our society.

The conference report contains a provision I authored in the House to create a Federal registry of child abuse and neglect at the Department of Health and Human Services. This registry will close a glaring loophole in our current law which allows child abusers to find sanctuary by merely crossing States' borders.

This legislation puts a ``go-to'' Federal resource in place to help local jurisdictions identify and track those with a history of child abuse anywhere in this country. Now our State and local child protection services will be able to access this valuable tool to weed out predators and help them fight child abuse and neglect across State lines. It is a commonsense child protection measure. It was passed by the House twice, and I am very happy to see it included in this conference report before us today.

With the establishment of the Federal Child Abuse and Neglect Registry, local and State child advocacy services will have a full picture of the individual who would have children placed in their care, abuse them, and then try to escape; and our Nation's most vulnerable children will now be protected.

I would like to thank Chairman Sensenbrenner again for his leadership on this issue, and I also want to thank my constituent John Walsh for his hard work over many years to bring this bill to fruition.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of today's H.R. 5068, to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. I want to thank Chairwoman Pryce, Chairman Oxley, and Chairman Manzullo. We have created a strong bill that will empower small businesses in America to export.

This legislation gives small businesses dedicated loan officers and creates a structure for dealing with small business concerns that ensures that they are dealt with at the highest level of the bank. America's competitiveness and economic growth depends on small business exporters.

American-made products are still the best in the world, and they deserve to

have the same support from our government in making sales that our foreign rivals do. Today's bill recognizes that fact and challenges Ex- Im to meet its commitment that 20 percent of all the lending goes to small business.

Passage of H.R. 5068 today will not end the strong oversight of Ex-Im that Chairmen Manzullo and Pryce have provided in the last few years. Our success will not be measured by passing this bill, but it will be measured by the number of small business jobs that we create through increased exports by supporting America's small businesses. I urge passage of H.R. 5068.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge passage of the Homeowners Tax Relief Act. I have introduced this act to help bring much-needed property tax relief to middle-class families.

Taxes are one of the most critical issues our constituents face. When I talk with residents of the Hudson Valley in my New York district, they repeatedly tell me they are at wit's end because their property tax rates are increasing faster than their incomes.

We have passed significant tax relief legislation in this Congress, but we can do more to show our constituents that we are committed to tax cuts, not tax increases.

My legislation is particularly aimed to help middle-class families. It would enable homeowners to deduct on their Federal tax forms the amount of property and school taxes that they pay in excess of the national average. This also brings a first-of-its-kind property tax deduction to residents who use the standard deduction. The IRS estimates that two-thirds of taxpayers use the standard deduction. They would be able to get this tax relief.

Mr. Speaker, both Republican and Democrat cosponsors are on my bill. We need to move it forward to bring additional tax relief to middle- class families in New York and throughout the country.

Mr. Speaker, last year in the wake of the Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London decision, House Republicans drafted and passed legislation to better protect private property owners from eminent domain.

Today I rise seeking support for my effort to stop the potential for eminent domain abuse brought forth by last year's energy bill.

Permit holders now have the ability to petition U.S. District Court for authority to use eminent domain to construct power lines. This gives eminent domain power not to an accountable government agency, but rather to private companies.

In my Hudson Valley district, a company has a disruptive and damaging plan to place a power line from central New York all of the way to New Windsor, in spite of objections from numerous municipalities in its path.

Eminent domain is a tool that will likely be sought to advance this widely opposed plan. To end this threat, I am introducing a bill called the Protecting Communities from Power Line Abuse Act.

Let's value our constituents' rights to personal property. Cosponsor my bill and prevent efforts to abuse eminent domain and undermine our local communities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise once again in opposition to the recent decision by the Department of Homeland Security to cut antiterrorism funds for New York City and Washington by 40 percent, while increasing spending for many smaller cities that are far less prone to terrorist attacks.

This week's revelation by the DHS Inspector General about the serious flaws in the National Asset Database

further underscores this irrational judgment by the DHS. Not only is DHS taking money away from the Nation's largest and most populated city, while another recent terror plot against New York came to light just last week, but its antiterrorism database listed the States of Indiana and Wisconsin with more potential terrorist targets than New York.

This New Yorker finds it painfully ironic that the DHS said that one of the reasons for the cut in funding is our lack of landmarks necessary to protect New York. Well, if that statement is not illogical enough, consider this. Among the items in its National Asset Database that the DHS does find necessary are a petting zoo in Alabama, a popcorn factory in Indiana, and Mule Day. And here is a picture of the Mule Day Parade in Tennessee.

As a New Yorker, it is certainly fair to question the rationale for our funding reduction if these are the priorities in other States which are receiving New York's money instead.