Floor Statements

I thank the distinguished chairman of the Science Technology Committee, Mr. Gordon. I would also like to thank both Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall for their generosity in letting me voice suggestions to this very important piece of legislation.

As this legislation demonstrates, Congress will not allow the Deepwater Horizon incident to end safe exploration for American energy resources. If America fails to safely and securely produce our own energy resources, we increase our dependence on foreign oil, weaken our national security, and stand to lose good-paying jobs. I commend the chairman for this legislation making deepwater drilling technologies safer and want to call particular attention to the work of the National Energy Technology Laboratories.

These workers have scientific expertise related to fluid flow, imaging, fire science, and ultra-deepwater, and can integrate research across academia, national labs, and industry. The national energy labs have unique capabilities related to the containment of high-pressure fluids/gases in the subsurface under extreme conditions, like the prediction of materials' behavior under extreme conditions.

The Federal Government has a critical role to play in the research of new drilling technologies. In representing the interests of the taxpayers, the Federal Government is the fair arbiter--weighing the risk of exploration against the environmental impacts, unrelated to the value of economic return. The workers at these labs have demonstrated themselves to be responsible stewards of taxpayer money with respect to ultra-deepwater programs, and I hope they'll continue to do so.

Although H.R. 5716 eliminates specific reference to the National Energy Technology Labs, it is not the chairman's firm belief that this vital research that is so necessary to ensuring America's energy independence will continue to be coordinated and overseen by the dedicated and experienced Federal employees in the award-winning laboratories in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Oregon. Would that be correct, Mr. Chairman?

I yield to the gentleman.

I thank the gentleman for his response.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 448 and 449, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, what were world leaders saying last weekend about their troubled economies?

German Chancellor Merkel: Budget cuts are urgently needed.

Prime Minister David Cameron: Those countries that have big budget deficits like ours have to take action.

The Washington Post headline said: ``President Obama urges G20 nations to spend; they pledge to halve deficits.''

Just like England, the U.S. has a budget deficit that's equal to 11 percent of gross domestic product. While other nations are tightening their belts, Washington is borrowing Chinese money belts.

By year's end, the national debt will reach 62 percent of the GDP, the highest leveled since World War II. The more Washington spends, the more it borrows, the more interest rates, the more taxpayers must spend on interest payments to Chinese and foreign debt holders.

You know, the first rule when you're in a hole, especially a $13 trillion hole, is stop digging. American families understand that just because there are checks in the checkbook, that doesn't mean there's money in the account. And that's the message from Main Street to Wall Street. Is anybody listening?

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor two sons of southwestern Pennsylvania who gave their lives to their country. While on patrol in Afghanistan, Sergeant First Class Robert Fike and Staff Sergeant Bryan Hoover were killed by a suicide bomber. They became the 35th and 36th members of the Pennsylvania National Guard to be killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sergeant Fike was described as ``one of those guys you just liked instantly.'' He graduated in 1989 from Penn-Trafford High School, joined the National Guard in 1993, and served in Panama, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. His experience in military as well as a State prison guard made him an excellent leader of the younger troops. It was said of him that the guys respected everything he said. They trusted and liked him.

Staff Sergeant Hoover graduated from Elizabeth Forward High School in 2000, where he was a standout athlete in track, football, and wrestling. He enlisted in the Marines and served in Iraq and then served in the Army Reserves before joining the National Guard. Back home, Bryan Hoover was an assistant track and cross country coach at Elizabeth Forward High School. He also volunteered to coach low-income children at the YMCA. While he is no longer with us, Bryan left a mark on his students. One described him as an ``inspirational coach.''

These two guardsmen were friends, having served together with the 28th Military Police Company in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. It was also their shared commitment to community and country that led them to join the military, where together they protected the reconstruction teams, building schools and infrastructure for the people of Afghanistan.

Hundreds gathered to pay their respects this past week for Sergeant Fike and Staff Sergeant Hoover as they were laid to rest. As we mourn with these families, we know there are two more heroes keeping watch over us from above. On behalf of a grateful Nation, we thank them for their service and sacrifice. May God bless their families and the country they loved.

I thank the ranking member for yielding.

One of the amendments in there I'd like to talk about here.

According to a RAND study, there are more than several hundred thousand potential cases of post-traumatic stress disorder in our veterans from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suicide rates among them are also higher than that of the general population. The Department of Defense has rightly doubled its budget for treatment and research of PTSD and traumatic brain injury and set higher goals for the number of behavior health providers. And although care has also been supplemented through TRICARE and contract providers, the military remains understaffed to meet the needs.

Combat veterans should not be placed on a waiting list, especially dealing with mental health problems and suicide. And servicemembers who need care can only get care if they are near care. Now, a huge investment has been made into many of the great clinicians in medical services at the dawn of their careers. Stipends, bonuses, educational expenses are paid in hopes we can recruit and retain them for 20 or 30 years, although many do not remain that long. Sometimes we discourage those from signing up later in their careers who, because of their age, they can't remain for 20 years or so. Yet there are those who are at the peak of their career who we could look to not only to fill the immediate needs with highly skilled and ready-trained experiences, but to provide mentorship and training to those starting out in their medical and behavioral medicine careers.

This amendment simply calls upon the Surgeons General of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to report on other incentives that can be offered to recruit and retain those with 20 or more years of nonmilitary clinical experience to serve in active or reserve duty. This might include, but is not limited to, offering a 10-year retirement instead of the traditional 20- or 30-year retirement.

I might add that we are very proud of our servicemen and -women and want to make it very clear that all of us in Congress--and I know all the military--are absolutely dedicated to making sure that we take care of all of their wounds, whether they are visible or invisible wounds of war. We are proud of their service, and we will continue to support them. And along those lines, I hope my colleagues will also support this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an American hero. On April 27, the Kennedy family in the Town of Claysville, Pennsylvania, in my district, lost a son and a brother. Sergeant Nathan Kennedy was less than a month away from completing his second tour with the U.S. Army when he was fatally wounded by enemy sniper fire in Afghanistan.

Nathan Kennedy was a 2004 graduate of McGuffey High School, where he excelled as a champion wrestler. In 2006, he enlisted in the Army, and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sadly, he was killed in battle on his late mother Penelope's birthday, and Nathan was laid to rest beside her this past Mother's Day.

While Sergeant Kennedy returned a few weeks too early, he returned to a grateful group of friends and neighbors standing along the flag-lined streets of Claysville to honor his sacrifice. In joining the procession, I will never forget the overwhelming solemn presence of that silent crowd. Not a sound was made during Sergeant Kennedy's procession, none but for the strut of the team of horses that pulled the caisson carrying his flag-draped coffin.

Although our hearts are heavy in remembrance of Nathan, we may rejoice, because while the small town of Claysville has lost a son, a grateful Nation has gained a hero.

Madam Speaker, when it comes to exploring for Earth's natural resources, there can be no compromise on safety. The recent catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico reminds us that the safety of our workers and the environment cannot be taken for granted.

There are 3,500 oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Accidents are extremely rare, and our goal needs to be zero tolerance. We are better off having high standards and drilling for our own oil than crossing our fingers and hoping that other countries will adhere to our standards.

We have to pursue safe drilling, and use our own resources to clean our air, land, and water. The U.S. can reap between $2.2 trillion and $3.7 trillion in revenues and use our own offshore oil and gas to fund cleaning up our Nation's waterways, build energy efficient transportation systems, and invest in clean coal, nuclear, wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources.

H.R. 2227 does just that. We create millions of jobs, don't borrow money from China, stop sending billions to OPEC, and don't raise taxes. So instead of running up record deficits, instead of having millions without jobs, let's get Americans back to work and pass H.R. 2227, the American Conservation and Clean Energy Independence Act. America can't keep waiting.

Mr. Speaker, over the past 14 months, I have held 235 meetings and town hall meetings, received and sent hundreds of thousands of emails and mail, and heard from my constituents loud and clear. There is much we can agree on with each side of the aisle, but we still did not fix the underlying problem of health care.

We still will have $700 billion in waste. We still will have $50 billion wasted each year in hospital infections alone. We'll have a Medicare program that's going bankrupt, and, instead, we take another $500 billion from Medicare. We take $52 billion from Social Security.

We cannot confuse anger with action, passion with policy, or rancor with results. We have to understand that we will not give up on real health care reform that really cuts costs and saves lives to make it acceptable to all. We will never, never, never give up.

But above all, we have to make sure that this is not a moment that divides America. And to use the words of Abraham Lincoln, we must end this debate with understanding that we must have malice towards none, with charity for all, and to bind up the Nation's wounds. And that will include working together in the future to make sure we have real health care reform and help take care of those in need.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this flawed health care bill.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 144, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 146, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Madam Speaker on rollcall No. 147, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 145, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

I have sent or received nearly 750,000 letters and emails from my office and have held 225 constituent town hall meetings. I have a pretty good idea why my constituents are upset about this health care bill. They were promised that it wouldn't tax health care, but it does. They were promised that it wouldn't mandate health care, but it does. They were promised it wouldn't raise taxes on people with incomes less than $250,000, but it does. You can only pay for this by doing some manipulation of taking $52 billion from Social Security and $72 billion from long-term health care. And it doesn't pay doctors to the tune of $371 billion. It doesn't allow doctors to volunteer at community health centers. It doesn't reduce infection rates at hospitals. And it doesn't deal with the $700 billion of waste in health care that we've got to address.

You don't reform health care by demonizing insurance companies, drug companies and doctors. And Americans are saying we've got to reform health care, not just continue to pass bills that are facades to real health reform.

And that's why they're mad as hell.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 108, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye''.