Floor Statements

I rise today in support of the 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, a bill that will improve the safety and security of our cities, ports, borders, and air travel.

This bill also provides important funding for our first responders on the front lines of emergencies through State and local grants, including the Metropolitan Medical Response System. I would like to thank Chairman Price and Ranking Member Rogers for including my amendment to increase funding by $4 million for this vital program in the manager's amendment.

Increasing funding over fiscal year 2009 will help ensure that high- threat, highly populated communities such as the Orlando metropolitan area will be better prepared to respond when faced with emergencies, whether it be a terrorist attack, an epidemic disease outbreak, or a natural disaster.

The MMRS program assists 124 highly populated jurisdictions across the country in their efforts to coordinate among law enforcement, fire, EMS, public health, and emergency management agencies. It allows these jurisdictions to develop response plans, conduct training and exercises, and acquire personal protective equipment to respond most effectively to emergency situations.

I believe, and I think we all believe, that preparedness is the key to mitigating disasters, and this additional funding will ensure that our local

emergency responders will be better able to protect their citizens and to reduce damages.

Mr. Chairman, I would now like to enter into a colloquy with Mr. Mollohan.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to clarify a point in the committee report related to the space shuttle program.

It is my understanding that the committee's position relative to the retirement of the space shuttle is consistent with NASA's testimony and the administration's position that there is no hard date on shuttle retirement. This position that the space shuttle will fly until it completes its current manifest, even if it runs beyond 2010, has also been supported by this Congress, as demonstrated by the inclusion in this year's congressional budget resolution of shuttle funding in fiscal year 2011.

We also expect the administration to fund the fly-out of the shuttle when it submits its fiscal year 2011 budget request.

I hope you can clarify whether this is the committee's position as well.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this consideration.

Mr. Chairman, I also rise to express my concern with the level of funding for NASA contained in the bill.

According to preliminary estimates, the funding included in the bill for exploration could cause additional delays of up to 2 years and could increase the cost up to $8 billion. These levels will also mean a greater reliance on Russia, a loss of our highly skilled workforce, and it could create a situation that could be detrimental to over 1,500 businesses that supply NASA and commercialized spinoff technologies. This level would result in thousands of layoffs in 2010. This will only exacerbate the challenges related to retaining our uniquely skilled workforce, many of whom are already working on both shuttle and exploration.

So we must recognize that the investments in NASA have large multiplier effects, contributing $100 billion to our economy last year and employing nearly 300,000 people in 41 States.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your consideration.

Thank you, Congressman Bright.

I rise today in support of the Bright-Kosmas-Cuellar-Green amendment. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important amendment that will set aside funds for the schools that need it most.

The bill we are considering will provide critical funds to modernize our schools and to turn them into green buildings, which will help our environment, reduce energy consumption and costs for school districts, and create jobs in the process. However, we must take into account that many school districts across the country are suffering greatly from the economic downturn or have been affected by recent natural disasters.

Central Florida, where I reside, has been hit very hard by two devastating forces, both the recession and natural disasters. As a result, our education system is experiencing a budget crisis that has only been temporarily relieved through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Many of our schools still do not have the money in their budgets to complete basic repairs, let alone repairs needed following hurricanes in recent years.

This funding will ensure that schools will not only be able to make those repairs, but also to make them green, bring them up to safety codes, and create overall healthier learning environments.

This is not only a problem in central Florida. Numerous regions throughout the country are experiencing similar problems.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I thank Chairman Gordon for bringing this important bill to the floor to address our water research needs.

Access to clean and reliable water supplies is an issue that affects every community across our country. In my district along the central Florida coastline, local communities also must deal with the other impacts of weather conditions such as hurricanes, which have the potential to affect our water supplies. However, this is not just a coastal issue, as recent floods in North Dakota and Florida, tornadoes in Tennessee and Alabama, and other weather events across the country, have exhibited to us and show us the need for this to be addressed at a national level.

My amendment, which adds a provision to the Water Research Outcomes and Assessments section, mandates an assessment of the impacts of major weather events on our water supplies. Hurricanes, floods and tornadoes can lead to salt water intrusion, infrastructure damage, sewer overflows, storm water runoff and other conditions that can harm our water supplies and the surrounding environment.

A better understanding of these impacts will aid local communities and States in addressing water supply issues before, during and after major storms.

Combined with the provisions in this bill, including the requirement to develop innovative tools to enhance water treatment and water purification technologies, this amendment will help address the impacts of major weather events over the long run through the development and implementation of policies to prevent and mitigate such vulnerabilities to our water supplies.

A nationally coordinated assessment of major weather events will ensure that our constituents have access to safe, reliable water supplies without interruption and that providers will be able to meet Federal standards and that we will use our resources in a more cost- effective and efficient manner.

I would like to yield 2 minutes of my time to the Congressman from Ohio (Mr. Driehaus).

I appreciate your comments, Congressman Driehaus, and I urge adoption of the amendment.

I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.

Thank you very much for your comments.

I reserve the rest of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker,

Whereas, since its founding in 1960, the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, which is an all volunteer effort supported by the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival Committee, the City of Winter Park and numerous volunteers, has grown to become one of the premier art festivals in the county; and

Whereas, every year hundreds of Winter Park citizens contribute thousands of hours to ensure that the 350,000 visitors to the Festival enjoy the best in fine art and that the 225 exhibiting artists enjoy the best in outdoor art venues; and

Whereas, exhibits by Orange County school students have been part of the Festival since its inception, and the more recent Children's Workshop Village has integrated local museums and art centers to provide exciting art experiences for children of all ages; and

Whereas, the Festival Emerging Artist Program gives promising and talents artists who are determining their career paths the opportunity to exhibit in their first outdoor art festival, all expenses paid; and

Whereas, The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival Foundation provides scholarships to local colleges and universities for promising art students.

Now, therefore, I, Suzanne M. Kosmas, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Congresswoman, 24th District, Florida, do hereby proclaim March 20, 21 and 22, 2009 ``The 50th Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival'' and encourage all residents to recognize and show their appreciation for the many memories and contributions the Festival has made to our community over the years.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal to be affixed this 16th day of March, 2009.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased today to rise, my first time on the floor of the House, to speak in favor of the State Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act.

This bill, for me, is an opportunity for working families in my district to provide health care to their children. Let me say it again, it's an opportunity for parents to provide health care, working families to provide health care for their children. In these tough economic times, we have more and more families which are unemployed or underemployed, and this gives them an opportunity to give their children the health care that they need and deserve.

With many of them providing health care to their children through emergency rooms, as opposed to having this access to quality care, we are losing both an efficiency factor and an economic factor.

So I rise again, as I say, to speak in favor of this bill. Providing health care to children is not just the right thing to do, but this is an economic investment that we are making in the future of those who will carry us forward into the next generation.