Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge passage of the Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Prevention Act. I have co-introduced this bill because a more coordinated Federal effort to fight Lyme disease is long overdue.

Lyme disease is one of the most mysterious and misunderstood illnesses that our families, including our children, face every day. Our health care community faces extremely difficult challenges in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease.

The epicenter of Lyme disease is in my district in the Hudson Valley, but incidence rates have increased dramatically throughout the country in the past few years. There are 49 States that have experienced Lyme disease cases.

It is time for the Federal Government to assume greater Lyme fighting responsibilities. Our bill will help develop a realistic and reliable diagnostic test, it will help increase Lyme disease research, and it will create an advisory committee of patient advocates and specialized physicians to help Health and Human Services develop and implement a vastly improved national strategy to fight Lyme disease.

We can't leave the burden of controlling Lyme disease to our local health agencies alone. By passing this bipartisan legislation, more work will be done at the Federal level to help our local communities. Please help me pass this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to call on this House to pass legislation of major importance to my constituents in New York's Hudson Valley. The Indian Point nuclear power plants are located within 35 miles of New York City, making it the largest population in the country that lives within the vicinity of a nuclear power plant.

I visited the plants on January 30 with a nuclear safety engineer from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Afterward, I requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorize an independent safety assessment at Indian Point.

As I saw on my visit, there are many people working at Indian Point who are fully dedicated to ensuring a safe and secure plant. They deserve our sincere appreciation. But Indian Point is an aging plant with a history of problems, and an ISA is the best way to identify areas of weakness before they become serious issues.

My Hudson Valley colleagues and I have introduced legislation to call on the NRC to commit an ISA at Indian Point. Additional colleagues here in Congress have joined me in this. This would ensure the utmost safety at Indian Point for our surrounding communities.

The NRC needs to put the safety of the residents of New York's Hudson Valley first, and I urge the House to promptly consider and approve our legislation.

Mr. Speaker, we have passed important legislation in this Congress to help America's small businesses; we have passed legislation to help make health insurance more affordable and accessible, and legislation to provide tax relief. But we need to continue demonstrating our commitment to helping small businesses in New York and throughout the country by passing legislation that I have introduced to help relieve the excessive regulatory burden on small businesses.

The Cut Unnecessary Regulatory Burden For Small Business Act, passed by the House Government Reform Committee earlier this month, would

enable Congress to better eliminate excessive Federal regulations that hamper small business, job growth, and productivity.

When Federal agencies overregulate small business owners, it forces them to spend extra time and money and manpower completing endless paperwork instead of growing their businesses and creating new jobs. In small business forums and small business walks I have held throughout the year in the Hudson Valley of New York, excessive regulations were cited by small business owners as one of the major problems they are facing. And every small business spends $7,0000 per employee per year on regulatory compliance costs.

Let us help small business remain vibrant and strong, not overregulate it. Let us pass the CURB Act.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk briefly about one aspect of our fight against terrorism that is often overlooked, and that is our efforts to detect and eradicate terrorist funding networks around the world. The fight against terror finance goes hand in hand with the war on terror.

Terrorists infiltrate our financial systems to distribute the money that they need to support their evil activities around the globe. They exploit a wide variety of alternative funding networks that range from charities to commonplace criminal activity like drug peddling and illegal cigarette sales.

My colleagues would likely agree that while we may have targeted the financial resources of terrorists networks at times prior to 9/11, the fight against terror finance didn't begin in earnest until after the 9/ 11 attacks.

The 9/11 hijackers used U.S. and foreign banks to transfer the roughly half-million dollars necessary to the plan to execute their attacks on America.

We fought back against terror financiers with people like Dennis Lormel, a veteran FBI agent who was tasked with tracking down the financial lifelines that enabled the 9/11 hijackers to operate.

We fought back with people like David Aufhauser, who was then general counsel at the Treasury Department who was put in charge of a small interagency terror finance group which met regularly at the White House after 9/11.

And we fought back here in this House. Chairman Oxley and the ranking member, Mr. Frank, convened a Financial Services Committee hearing on terror finance just 3 weeks after the attacks. Shortly thereafter, this body passed the PATRIOT Act, which provided critical new terror finance tools.

We have held numerous hearings since to improve the government's antiterror finance efforts and to identify which foreign countries need to do more to stop terror financing within their borders.

And we have created the bipartisan Congressional Anti-Terrorist Financing Task Force to bring a stronger focus on bolstering our fight against terror financiers.

In just a few years, we have made significant progress in combating terror-funding networks. We still have a long way to go, but we are on the right track.

Last December, the 9/11 Commission came out with a report card grading the government's response to 9/11. The government's efforts against terror finance got the highest grade of them all, an A minus.

Just last week, an al Qaeda planning document was found in al Zarqawi's hideout which laments our successes in restricting the al Qaeda financial outlets. This House has played an important role in this effort, and it has been approached in a bipartisan way even when dealing with terror finance in Iraq. Continued progress on this complex issue requires a sustained commitment from our Congress.

Last year, members from both sides of the aisle joined me in a letter pressing Syria for more action in stopping the flow of fighters and finances into Iraq.

Members from both sides of the aisle joined me in asking the government of Italy to crack down on open fundraising efforts for Iraqi terrorists in their country.

As we move forward, our challenges continue to grow more daunting as terrorists perpetually adapt to our methods to stop them. They are constantly finding new ways to raise and distribute money.

So we must work even harder to keep up with terrorists' ever-changing financing techniques. We must continue pressing foreign governments to do the same.

Continued progress on this complex issue requires a sustained commitment from Congress. By stopping the flow of terrorist money, we can diminish the ability of terrorists to attack our citizens and our country. Fighting terror finance must remain a critical component of the War on Terror.

Mr. Speaker, volunteer service is vital in the basic framework of our nation. Without those sacrificing their time, energy, and efforts for the benefit of others we could not advance as a society.

It is in this notion of service that those in need are given opportunity. It is because of people who dedicate their life to helping others that our communities flourish and lives are changed.

The spirit of volunteerism is alive and well in thousands of communities with the dedicated service provided by volunteer firefighters. Their reward is not monetary, but is in the lives they change, people they save and those they protect day in and day out.

On June 10, 2006, the Minisink Hook & Ladder Company #1 will celebrate 100 years of courageous service to the people of Orange County, New York. On behalf of the people of the 19th Congressional District, in recognition of a century of service I proudly commemorate this momentous achievement. I congratulate and wish the Minisink Hook & Ladder Company continued success in serving the public and keeping people safe.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express the shock, disgust and frustration that I have felt since the Department of Homeland Security slashed homeland security money for New York and increased funding for other smaller, rural cities across America.

For many months since 9/11, Congress has been working to convince this administration that a risk-based distribution formula is the right way to protect Americans in cities like New York that are the most vulnerable to terrorist attacks. If the mission at Homeland Security is truly to protect America, then Department of Homeland Security funding should never be a pork-barrel matter. Yet the lack of common sense displayed by cutting New York's funding by 40 percent, while increasing the funding of nearly every other city, demonstrates that the threat is clearly not foremost in the minds of the DHS.

This is a slap in the face to all of us who experienced 9/11 in New York. We need to look no further than the 9/11 Commission report to understand that we must dedicate our resources to areas like New York where the risks are the highest and where multiple terrorist attacks have already occurred.

Our constituents ask us to spend taxpayer money wisely. By cutting first responder funding for New York and instead sending it to other areas of the country that are not at as much risk, the administration has failed terribly in its responsibility to spend taxpayer dollars wisely. If truly committed to securing our homeland, the administration must work with New York and immediately correct this horrendous blunder.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. I have spent a lot of time working on aviation safety on this issue because we need to establish more fairness in the contract negotiation process between the Federal Aviation Agency and our air traffic controllers. When one side is able to cut off negotiations and impose its will on its employees at any time, it is difficult to argue that this is an environment for fair negotiation.

Unfortunately, this is the system we have in place right now for recruiting and maintaining America's best assets for keeping our air safe, our air traffic controllers. It is a flawed system that would weaken aviation safety. It is appropriate that Congress take action to correct this situation now, before problems grow to a point where we can no longer fix them.

Our air traffic controllers are absolutely essential to protecting our skies. We need to ensure that we are recruiting and maintaining the best possible personnel for our really vitally important jobs. That is why I introduced the legislation this year with my colleague, Mr. Costello, to address this situation.

And as he pointed out, we had a bipartisan group of 267 Members behind our legislation that seeks to establish more fairness in the negotiation process. Well, it would be my preference that it would be our bill that would be up for debate today. I sincerely appreciate the leadership's recognition that this matter merits debate and action by this body. The bill that is offered by my colleagues, Mr. LaTourette and Mr. LoBiondo, provides us with a positive step in the right direction.

Mr. Speaker, it does not favor one side over the other. It does not speak in favor of one specific contract proposal over another. It simply sends them back to the negotiating table. This is the right thing to do to keep our negotiation process fair and our skies safe.

I support this legislation. I encourage the other 265 cosponsors that have cosponsored this bill with Mr. Costello and myself to similarly support this bill offered by my colleagues, Mr. LaTourette and Mr. LoBiondo.

Mr. Speaker, the high gas prices and energy costs that we are experiencing now demonstrate more than ever we have to increase the urgency of achieving U.S. oil independence from foreign sources of oil. Congress needs to work faster to develop new fuel choices and achieve fuel savings.

I am a cosponsor of the Fuel Choices for American Security Act. Our legislation initiates a plan to achieve U.S. oil savings of 2.5 million barrels per day by 2015. That is the amount of oil we currently import from the Middle East every day.

Our plan is committed to developing alternative energy courses and renewable fuels. It will create better market incentives to use the resources and technology already available here in America to develop new fuel choices and bring them to consumers faster.

As long as the U.S. dependence on foreign oil continues to increase, gas prices will continue to increase as well.

Looking backward and using high gas prices to launch political attacks gives us no solution to the Nation's energy problems. Political maneuvers are not an energy policy. Looking forward by passing this bipartisan legislation is the correct approach to implementing the initiatives we need to tackle the Nation's energy problems. Let us commit ourselves to the American consumer and not to politics.

Mr. Speaker, the more we help small businesses, the more jobs they create for local residents across the country. That is why we passed the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Act in 2003.

The economy has been growing ever since. More than 5 million new jobs have been created. But we need to do more. Small business owners in my district in New York's Hudson Valley tell me they feel overwhelmed by excessive taxes. We need to give them more tax relief and more incentives to continue hiring new workers.

We should extend and make permanent the small business tax relief provisions that have been critical to economic growth. We need to increase small business expensing limits so small businesses can continue growing their businesses and creating new jobs. And we should pass the Small Business Tax Relief Act. We should phase out the Alternative Minimum Tax that is especially harmful to small business owners.

Mr. Speaker, some have suggested letting tax cuts expire, which would amount to a major tax increase on America's small businesses. Raising taxes on small businesses would reverse this trend of economic growth and job creation. We must continue our economic policies that are working and continue developing new ways to help our small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, we must always keep the promises we have made to our veterans who have dedicated themselves to faithfully serving our country. However, under current law, veterans are being prohibited from using Medicare coverage at local VA hospitals. They can only use Medicare at non-VA hospitals, and they lose out on the personalized care they prefer to receive at VA hospitals. This forces

veterans to choose between cost and comfort. That is not the way our veterans should be treated.

I have introduced the Veterans Medicare Assistance Act to correct this problem. Our laws should be working for veterans, not against them. I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort to enable our veterans to use their Medicare benefits to help them pay their bills at VA hospitals.

Most veterans pay into Medicare for most of their lives. This law should not prohibit them from using those Medicare benefits at VA hospitals later on in their lives. Cosponsor H.R. 4992 and show our veterans that we are putting their needs first.

We need to work together in Congress to enhance health care options for our veterans, not take them away.

Madam Speaker, millions of Americans filed their income tax returns last week.

The tax relief measures we have passed in Congress during the past 5 years have helped drive down the Federal tax bill of all Americans, but more work needs to be done to enable our constituents to keep more of the money they earn, rather than sending it here to Washington in taxes.

This year, we have got to get the alternative minimum tax off the backs of small business and the middle-class families once and for all.

It was a tax increase in 1993 that failed to adjust the AMT exemption amounts for inflation. That negligence left us with a stealth tax that is looming at the doorstep of middle-class families throughout New York and across our country.

We protected those middle-class families by increasing the AMT exemption amounts in tax relief we enacted during the past few years, but if middle-class exemptions are not extended or made permanent this year, the number of New Yorkers forced to pay the AMT will more than quadruple to 1.6 million next year, and this is just New York.

Let us not repeat the mistake Congress made in 1993. Let us stop the alternative minimum tax on the middle class and on America's small businesses. Let us commit ourselves to lowering taxes, not raising them.

Madam Speaker, I represent New York's Hudson Valley, where small businesses are absolutely critical to our local economy. Our local small business owners and self-employed workers have repeatedly confirmed to me that the recent tax cuts are working and helping our small businesses create new jobs in our communities. But they also tell me time and again that one of the toughest challenges they face is being able to have affordable health care coverage for themselves and their workers.

This is frustrating, because we have passed the Small Business Health Fairness Act in the House to address this very problem, yet the politics of obstruction in the other body have kept the bill from passing into law.

Solving the problem of America's uninsured begins with helping small businesses. The facts are clear: Six out of 10 small businesses don't offer health insurance because they can't afford the high costs on their own in the private market.

The Small Business Health Fairness Act would provide them with lower costs, giving them the same group health insurance purchasing power already utilized by unions and large corporations. It will give 8 million currently uninsured small business workers the affordable health insurance they need.

Let us work with the other body to give small businesses on Main Street the same health insurance coverage as large firms on Wall Street.

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 on the motion to instruct conferees regarding the Pension Protection Act, H.R. 2830, I meant to vote ``yes'' on the motion but inadvertently voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3505. This bill contains many important items that will benefit banks, credit unions, and, most importantly, the consumers in our country, making it easier and cheaper to receive financial services.

The bill also enhances our national security. Section 706 of the bill, authored by myself and Mrs. Maloney of New York, will establish a certification regime for foreign countries that clearly identifies to taxpayers and financial institutions which countries are not enforcing laws against money laundering and terrorist financing. This certification regime will compel foreign nations to better enforce their laws and seek technical assistance from the United States.

Our government has a duty to inform its citizens of risks in doing business with countries that are not doing enough to protect their financial institutions from money laundering and terror finance, Dubai and the UAE, for instance. This bill gives our government a cost-free, simple means to do it. I urge the House to join with me in passing this bill.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the proceedings had during the recess be printed in the Record.