Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 68) authorizing the use of the rotunda of the Capitol by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks in the Record on this concurrent resolution.

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

Senate Concurrent Resolution 68 authorizes advanced planning for the use of the Capitol rotunda on January 20, 2009, for the proceedings and ceremonies conducted for the inauguration of the President and Vice President of the United States. Congress traditionally passes this measure in the year prior to the event in order to begin security planning and rehearsal for the inaugural, since the rotunda is routinely used for ceremonial purposes during the inauguration and could host the event, itself, depending on the weather at that time.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 68 does not formally authorize use of the rotunda for the inaugural events, themselves, since it will expire on January 3, 2009, like all concurrent resolutions which are not made part of permanent law, and must be renewed in the 111th Congress. However, action today will initiate the period of pre-event planning necessary to bring one of our democracy's most memorable and historic ceremonies to fruition smoothly and safely.

I urge passage of the Senate concurrent resolution.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague has aptly stated, the eyes of the world are on us as we focus on our election in this year of 2008. We know that this planning and preparation for the inaugural ceremonies will move smoothly and very well for all of the world to view.

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

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 81, I was unavoidable detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, we have lost a dear friend and colleague in the House of Representatives. The world has also lost a great humanitarian.

As the only Member of Congress to survive the Holocaust, Congressman Lantos had a deep understanding of the value of freedom and the need to pursue human rights around the globe. He brought life experiences to his work that nobody else could.

On a personal note, I was extremely saddened when I heard the news of his passing. After arriving back in Washington today and seeing the flags at half mast, it set in that he won't be with us any longer.

I will miss him.

He was always very gracious during my conversations and dealings with him. I would listen closely when he spoke because what he had to say was always important. I urge my colleagues to honor Chairman Lantos' memory and fight for human rights and justice around the world with the same passion that he did.

Mr. Chairman, last year Congress passed a budget reconciliation bill that allows servicemembers to get a deferment on their student loans when they are activated, but that particular deferment only applies to repayment of the principle and existing interest on these loans. It does not prevent new interest from accruing while our servicemembers are on active duty.

One Reservist told me that while he was granted a deferment on his loan, he was told that the interest would continue to accrue while he was away and would be added on to his loan when he returned. Servicemembers such as this Reservist already have enough to worry about when they are called to active duty without this added burden.

This amendment will cover all active duty servicemembers, including Reserve units and the National Guard.

According to CRS estimates, this will help the average servicemember save between $1,200 and $1,500 over the course of a 12- to 15-month activation period, with even more savings for those activated for longer periods.

In addition, and the best part, the CBO scored this amendment and found that it will not cost the American taxpayer any significant amount.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 908. I want to thank my colleague from Minnesota for sponsoring this important resolution.

I want to share with you an inspirational story about a young man from my district in San Diego. Eduardo Corona was only in the ninth grade when he got into trouble with the law. Because of this mistake, he faced up to 6 years in a juvenile correctional facility. Instead of going to that facility, the judge met with him and spoke with him and allowed Eduardo to participate in a mentoring program called Reality Changers. I have had an opportunity to meet with the young people in that program and I can tell you, they are inspirational and very engaged in their lives and hoping to change the community someday.

Reality Changers brings at-risk youth in San Diego together with their mentors, half of which are college students from the University of California at San Diego, and for about 3 hours a week over a 4-year time, these mentees study with their peer mentors, they take weekly practice SAT tests, do homework together, listen to guest speakers and take part in leadership development seminars.

In addition to that, Reality Changers also sends its participants, all of which come from low-income families, to a summer program at UCSD where they take college level courses and prepare for higher education. With the help of his mentors in Reality Changers, Eduardo was able to turn his life around. In just 30 days, and this is kind of remarkable to me as I had a chance to work with some of the issues that he had to deal with, Eduardo doubled his

GPA to 3.8. He attended UCSD's summer program and won two awards in mechanical engineering. And although he is just a sophomore in high school, he has already earned college credit and is well on his way to becoming the first member of his family to attend college.

In fact, I need to tell you that all of Reality Changers' participants who have completed this 4-year program have gone on to a 4-year university. Not bad, considering all of these young people are the first in their families to attend college. I think Eduardo's story really tells us and proves that with the right role models and people who truly care about them, our society's most challenged youth, challenged in many different ways, can turn their lives around and become leaders in our community.

But we know that Eduardo fortunately and even programs like Reality Changers are not unique to San Diego. At this very moment, there are countless mentors across the Nation who, through their hard work and dedication, are making miracles happen every single day. And so that's why I rise today to encourage my colleagues to support this resolution that Congresswoman McCollum has brought forward and join all my colleagues here, and I am pleased to see them, to support House Resolution 908.

In addition to this resolution, I ask all my colleagues to join me in support of increased funding for our Nation's mentoring programs, because we know that with that help, we can replicate Eduardo's success all around the country.

I thank my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, on November 6, we passed the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act, and today we reaffirm our commitment to those who volunteer to protect the United States by putting forward a final product that reflects our commitment to veterans and servicemembers. I want to thank the hard work of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee for the hard act.

My colleagues have highlighted a number of provisions. I wanted to just do two. One provision adjusts how the Social Security Administration calculates income for SSI eligibility to help military families keep their SSI benefits.

I really want to thank a number of my families in my district in San Diego who shared their stories with me and gave me this opportunity to help make a change in this legislation. And the second I believe has already been mentioned, and that removes a date of service requirement, preventing those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to fully take advantage of the federally supported Qualified Veterans Mortgage Bond program. This legislation, I believe, Mr. Speaker, demonstrates our Nation's appreciation for our military families and veterans, and I encourage my colleagues to vote for it.

I want to thank my distinguished chairman for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, while the holiday season is a time of joy for most Americans, it can be a very difficult period for our servicemembers and their families. When I sit down with members of our all-volunteer force, whether it's in my district or in the mess halls in Iraq, I'm very aware of the stress military service can have on our servicemembers and, of course quite specifically, on all of their family members as well. The stress of being deployed over the holidays can only be more difficult.

Mr. Speaker, a vital component of our strong national defense is the ability to care for members of our force, as well as recruit and retain men and women to serve in the military. To quote the first Commander in Chief, ``The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their Nation.'' With this bill, current and future generations of servicemembers will know that their Nation cares for their sacrifice.

Mr. Speaker, why is this bill important to men and women in uniform? It provides a 3 percent across-the-board pay raise for our troops. The compensation we provide our servicemembers must remain competitive with the private sector.

We were also successful in making major improvements to the Reserve Montgomery GI Bill. For the first time there is a 10-year portability in benefits for Reservists so they can continue to receive educational assistance after they separate.

Additionally, this bill will help services recruit and retain desperately needed health care professionals by prohibiting any further conversion of military medical professionals to civilian positions.

Mr. Speaker, most importantly, the mental health needs of our troops continue to grow, and this bill includes a number of provisions that will improve access to quality care for members and their families. The creation of Centers of Excellence on TBI and PTSD is just one example.

This report also includes a number of the recommendations from the Dole-Shalala Commission, including an expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover family members of those on active duty so they can care for wounded servicemembers on extended leave for up to 26 workweeks. Family members will no longer have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a wounded loved one.

This bill addresses one of the concerns Members have heard from their constituent Reservists, early retirement. The bill would reduce the age at which a member of the Ready Reserve can draw retired pay below the age of 60 by 3 months for every aggregate 90 days of active duty performed under specified circumstances.

Mr. Speaker, there is so much more I wish we could do for our men and women who serve, but I feel that this bill represents the best efforts of this body to provide for our Nation's Armed Forces and their families.

I would like to thank my predecessor, Representative Snyder, and ranking member, Representative McHugh, and the Personnel Subcommittee staff for all of their hard work on this conference report.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution. As a representative with a bustling port in San Diego, I fully recognize the importance of this historic occasion, and I am very proud to join my colleague in honoring the Port of Los Angeles and celebrating its 100th anniversary.

As my colleagues have cited, the Port of Los Angeles is a bastion for commerce and the economy for the region, and it provides one out of every 24 jobs in Southern California.

Madam Speaker, we know that seaports are gateways for domestic and international trade connecting us to the rest of the world. And because ports are naturally located on coasts and inland waterways, they really play a special opportunity to act as environmental stewards and caretakers for our precious coastal resources. Just last year the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach jointly released the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, which aims to reduce emissions by 50 percent over the next 5 years.

It's true, every single one of our districts benefits from the imports and exports that flow through the Port of Los Angeles.

So I want to urge my colleagues to join me in bestowing this well- deserved honor on the Port of Los Angeles after 100 years of successful operation, and I particularly want to commend my colleague for bringing it forward.

Madam Chairman, I rise in support, but I am sorry we are not debating a more inclusive gender identity bill today, which I would have supported, and let me tell you why.

Employment discrimination strikes at a fundamental American value, the right of each individual to do his or her job without facing unfair discrimination. Transgendered people are among the most marginalized and vulnerable groups within the LGBT community.

I worked with a nationally known landscape architect as a member of the San Diego School Board that San Diegans know today as Vicki Estrada. Vicki Estrada spent the first 50 years of her life as Steve Estrada. Soon after Steve became Vicki, she was assured by a leader within the California Department of Transportation, where Vicki worked as a contractor, that she would be treated no differently.

Vicki had only a few problems with her transition, for two reasons: She had an internal advocate and the comprehensive protection of California State law. Others, Madam Chairman, are not so lucky, which is why it is so important for us to provide inclusive Federal protections.

I urge my colleagues to join me in continued support of the entire LGBT community, and I also urge them to join me in supporting this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues from the Ways and Means Committee for including provisions from H.R. 337 and H.R. 551 in the HEART Act. These are two important bills that I have been championing since I came to Congress.

The first bill addresses a glitch in the SSI program. Because eligibility for SSI benefits is based on a family's income, military families lose benefits when additional pay is added to their income. A military family struggling to make ends meet loses benefits for their children if they receive jump pay, hazardous duty pay or a number of other pays considered ``unearned income.'' I think I speak for my colleagues when I say these pays are not unearned but hard earned.

The second bill addresses qualified veterans mortgage bonds. And as a Californian, I join with other colleagues in the desire to provide veterans who signed up for service after 1977 with a better opportunity to achieve homeownership. Why should a veteran who served in Iraq be treated any differently than somebody who signed up before 1977? Correcting this flaw in current law will allow those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to have

great opportunities towards owning a home in California's high-cost real estate market.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from California as well.

Mr. Speaker, I was honored for the opportunity to introduce the Purple Heart Equity Act along with Representative Virginia Foxx, Minority Whip Roy Blunt, Chairman John Murtha, and a number of other bipartisan sponsors. We came together, and this is a unanimous bill because honoring the women who have won the Purple Heart is something that we can all stand behind.

As commander of the Continental Army, as has been mentioned, George Washington wanted to recognize soldiers whose sacrifices and distinction forwarded the cause of independence. As a result, he created the Military Merit. He also designed the award, shaped it like a heart in the color purple. And after the Revolutionary War, this award was actually abandoned. But in honor of the bicentennial of Washington's birth, President Herbert Hoover revived the award in 1932, and it maintained its original design and became more known today, of course, as the Purple Heart.

In that same year the Military Order of the Purple Heart formed with the mission of fostering a positive environment among wounded veterans as well as providing services to all veterans and their families. But when the organization was federally chartered in 1958, few women actually had won the Purple Heart. So, under the current law, male members today can invite their wives to join the Ladies Auxiliary of the Purple Heart, but there is no place in this organization for the husbands of female members.

So that's why H.R. 1119 is important today, because it adds the word ``spouses'' to the Federal Charter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. And with this small update, the husbands of female members will have the option of joining the organization just as the wives do.

Just a little bit more history, Mr. Speaker. The first woman to be awarded the Purple Heart was Lieutenant Annie G. Fox after she was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Since then, the Military Order of the Purple Heart has identified at least 97 female Purple Heart recipients who have joined the organization.

It has been 66 years since Lieutenant Fox earned the award, and now it is time, certainly time, that we act to fully honor the courageous women who are bestowed with the Purple Heart. H.R. 1119 honors and recognizes these brave women and future recipients of the Purple Heart. This is the least, certainly, we can do for the women who sacrifice for our country.

And, finally, H.R. 1119 will allow the siblings of all who belong to the organization to join as associate members.

By passing this legislation today, we certainly honor every family whose son or daughter or sister or brother has won the distinguished Purple Heart.

Mr. Speaker, 45 years ago, President Kennedy compelled the Soviet Union to remove offensive missiles from Cuba without a shot being fired. The Soviet missiles represented a true threat, but President Kennedy knew that the consequences of war were severe and that there was a viable option short of direct military confrontation.

The Iranian threat, while certainly a continuing and growing concern, cannot be compared to the danger of Soviet efforts during the Cold War. The President's perceived rush toward the possibility of military conflict with Iran highlights the executive's inability to find real solutions to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons or supplying weapons to our adversaries in Iraq. We must exhaust every economic and diplomatic opportunity before even considering a military response.

This administration has reduced our leverage around the world, but there is still time to build an international consensus around this issue. Congress has a constitutional responsibility in this debate. I hope Members will urge the President to take the moral high ground and deal with Iran through

international pressure, not unilateral action.

Madam Speaker, I was on a leave of absence on October 25, 2007 due to the San Diego wildfires. The following list describes how I would have voted had I been in attendance.

Rollcall No. 1001: Motion to Adjourn--``nay''; rollcall No. 1002: Motion to Adjourn--``nay''; rollcall No. 1003: On the House Now Considering H. Res. 774--``yea''; rollcall No. 1004: Tabling motion to reconsider--``yea''; rollcall No. 1005: Motion to Adjourn--``nay''; rollcall No. 1006: Ordering the Previous Question--``yea''; rollcall No. 1007: Agreeing to the rule providing for consideration of H.R. 3963--``yea''; rollcall No. 1008: Motion to Recommit with Instructions--``nay''; rollcall No. 1009: Passage of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, H.R. 3963--``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, Kurt Vonnegut once said, ``I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine,'' and I agree. Last week, my district in San Diego bore witness to extraordinary displays of humanity and resiliency as wildfires swept through our region.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the firefighters, National Guard and military personnel who fought and continue to fight the fires on the ground and in the air. Some of them lost their homes, others were seriously injured,

and all made enormous sacrifices to ensure public safety.

The firefighters with whom I spoke, it has been mentioned that they came from throughout the State and beyond, said Mother Nature outdid them on this one, but they do not feel defeated, and instead they were anxious to get back to work performing their job.

In addition, I think it bears repeating that San Diego County and City leadership should be commended for coordinating a quick and effective response. And I agree, San Diego region should be used as a model for the country. There is much that we have learned and much that we can also teach.

Last week, firefighters caused the largest evacuation in California's history. As residents fled the fires, volunteers from all walks of life came forward to help the evacuees. I saw such a tremendous outpouring of compassion and support at the evacuation centers. San Diegans rolled up their sleeves and found a way to help their neighbors during this crisis.

At Qualcomm Stadium, I spoke to a volunteer who is a professional tour guide. He realized he could put his organizational skills and strong voice to work at the relief center. The coordinators at the stadium agreed and assigned him to training volunteers.

I also saw staff from the City's Park and Rec Department organizing entertainment for children and families, volunteers passing out food, and even massage therapists helping evacuees to relax.

Although the majority of fires are now under control and many residents have left the evacuation centers, the San Diego region faces a lot of hard work in the months ahead. Our prayers go out to the many families who lost their homes.

As the shock and heartbreaks subside, we must do everything in our power to ensure that full recovery is within sight as soon as possible. And as we think ahead, Mr. Speaker, to the precarious nature that we are in and the inevitability of future massive fires, we must also engage in the most serious discussions of lessons learned.

I support House Resolution 778.

Madam Speaker, I was on a leave of absence on October 24, 2007 due to the San Diego wildfires. The following list describes how I would have voted had I been in attendance.

Rollcall No. 995: Motion to Recommit with Instructions on Celebrating America's Heritage Act, H.R. 1483--``yea.''

Rollcall No. 996: Passage of Celebrating America's Heritage Act, H.R. 1483--``yea.''

Rollcall No. 997: Previous Question on the Rule providing consideration of Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, H.R. 505--``yea.''

Rollcall No. 998: Providing consideration of Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, H.R. 505--``yea.''

Rollcall No. 999: Motion to Recommit with Instructions on Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, H.R. 505--``nay.''

Rollcall No. 1000: Passage of Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, H.R. 505--``yea.''