Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, a couple of months ago, the talk from congressional leadership was to produce legislation that was about providing jobs for America's families and small businesses, with lots of opportunities for our needed investments.

Sadly, what was supposed to be a jobs bill has turned into a spending bill that is going to provide about a $7.70 tax break for workers while adding $9,400 of debt, plus or minus some, with interest, for each family that is going to have to be paid by our children and grandchildren. I think if you have got one person working in that family, it is going to take a few years of saving up all those tax credits in order to pay for this bill.

Plus, unfortunately, we still never got guarantees that the billions of dollars worth of automobiles, buses, furniture, computers, and everything else here even has to be made in the United States of America. I am not very happy about that, and I don't think Americans should be, either.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, Mike Doyle from Pittsburgh, for introducing this resolution and helping the Nation know once again what this towel means.

The six pack, Six-burgh, six Lombardi trophies, six Super Bowl wins, six Super Bowl rings, the only team to have achieved that landmark status.

The incredible Super Bowl XLIII champions, from Roethlisberger to Polamalu to Holmes to Miller to Ward to Harrison, a super team that brings pride to Pittsburgh, to Pennsylvania and professional football.

But there is a back story here that needs to be told. How is it that the Steelers are able to do so much? After all, other cities have great teams and great talent. What happens here with this team that unites them so closely with the city and its fans, it's also the Steeler Nation.

First, has to be their attitude about winning, the attitude about pushing themselves harder each week, of playing not just the 60 minutes on the field till the last second ticks off the clock, but playing hard in their practice and being part of the community. It's about that drive to do better each time; knowing that the line for excellence keeps moving up, whatever or wherever it is, you've got to get there. Period. And that's what they do.

Second, it's about trust and loyalty. This is a team that raises loyalty and trust to a whole new standard. Three coaches only in the last 30 years; the Rooney family owning the team from the start, that not only stays loyal to their hometown of Pittsburgh, where it works to make the town better for their charitable work and quiet leadership. The players trust the coaches and the owners to do the right thing and the best thing. The fans in the city trust the team, and the loyalty shows every Sunday in football season when the black and gold terrible towel waves proudly at every stadium for every game, wherever the Steeler Nation is.

Third, know this: The Steelers aren't just a team, and it's not just a game. They represent the people and our hearts. They aren't some players on the field that we passively watch. We are there on the field with them, and they are with us. During that couple of hours every autumn Sunday, we can dream and we know that all together, we can make dreams come true. This ain't fantasy football. It's the real thing. It's what we believe in. It's what we expect. It's what we all do. And that's why they win.

In the 1970s, Pittsburgh was feeling the pains of the steel industry hurting. But the Steelers were winning. The steel mills were closing down, but the Steelers were winning. The steel jobs were disappearing, but the Steelers were winning. When Pittsburgh was struggling the most, the Steelers were winning the most. Four Super Bowls in the 1970s. We saw and we believed that no matter what, we could still work together and make it, the 11 players on the field and the 12th player all over the country.

And here we are again, a fifth Super Bowl just a few years ago and a sixth a few weeks ago. Again, we may be struggling in our town, in our Nation, but the Steelers find a way to win. The Nation may be hoping we can, but the Steelers Nation know we can and we do. The talent and tenacity of tens of thousands of Terrible Towel wielding fans make it happen.

And the way the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII was the way we win, fourth quarter, behind in the score, but with an on-the-money throw, a long reach, a fingertip catch and by the tip of the toes, a touchdown that puts them ahead. And that's how they win, and they do it with class.

This is not just the Pittsburgh Steelers. They're the Steelers that are symbolic of our Nation. Being behind doesn't mean you give up. Losing a game doesn't mean you slink off in the sunset and write off the season. Like our Nation, we will keep at it and fight, time and time over again until we win. That's when we play as a team, all with the same goal and determination. We can, we do, we will. Not just champions for the City of Pittsburgh, but for our Nation. Taking a page from their playbook, we will all come from behind, we will all be stronger, better smarter and, as a Nation, just like the Pittsburgh Steelers, we will win.

Mr. Speaker, thank you so much.

I just want to add one other element to what's being discussed here.

As the final moments are taking place in putting together this economic stimulus package, I'm still holding out a little bit of hope that we can put some things in there that protect American jobs.

There is a segment in the bill, we think, that would say that steel used in transportation infrastructure would be bought in America. There is no provisions yet that say that $600 million worth of cars purchased would be bought in America, $400 million worth of buses would be bought in America, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of furniture for Federal buildings would be bought in America, $1 billion worth of computers.

It is so important. This is not a violation of any treaty. It's clear that when a Nation is spending money to create jobs, we ought to be creating those jobs in this country. We love other countries, but we can't trade with other countries if we don't have the money to buy their products.

I still hope this is part of what may end up in this bill. The American people are depending on it. I hate to see our dollars go overseas or where we're borrowing money from other countries. Let's make sure it's used to purchase American goods.

In this $835 billion bill being described as a ``jobs'' bill, it's good to see Representative Kissell was able to offer this amendment to ensure American cloth is used for these uniforms. His arguments are compelling that we should support U.S. jobs.

I offered a similar amendment to the health information technology portion; $20 billion spending there. It was stripped out after the Energy and Commerce Committee passed it unanimously and then rejected by the Rules Committee.

This bill also has a lot of other spending which is not protected for U.S. jobs; $600 million for cars--no guarantee they're U.S. cars; $400 million for fuel-efficient buses. Guarantees for Americans? Not so much. How about $871 million for computers at the State Department, Agriculture and States? No. Nine hundred million for a new computing center for the Social Security Administration? Not there. Two hundred million for scientific equipment for the U.S. Geological Survey? Nope. Five hundred million for new detection systems for the Department of Homeland Security? Absent. How about $6.5 billion for broadband? No guarantee made in the USA. How about $7.7 billion for Federal building construction? Not there.

If this is an American jobs bill, shouldn't we have included ``buy American'' clauses for these other areas as well? It's disappointing and frustrating that what happened with this bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee was actively removed, and then it was refused by the Rules Committee.

I'm glad that we're going to be supporting American textiles. I'm happy we're going to be supporting American steel. In a jobs bill, I'm frustrated that there are no guarantees in here that so many of these other jobs aren't going to happen in the United States.

I worry that of these billions of dollars being spent, much of these parts for computers, services and materials are going to be made overseas. That's not about American jobs.

Mr. Chairman, with 11 million Americans out of work, we indeed should be concerned about Americans out of work and helping Americans to have jobs.

Tomorrow the House will vote on a bill of some $835 billion as an economic stimulus and spending package. Thirty billion dollars of that will be for infrastructure spending for roads and bridges, some $20 million for electronic medical reports, both worthy causes, which perhaps should be put into the highway section, but that's as it is. What's key here is are these really for American jobs?

The electronic medical records is important because it allows hospitals to have their records on computers so doctors can access them from everywhere competently and confidently, and can help reduce millions of dollars of waste and deaths that occur from hospital errors.

However, in the Energy and Commerce Committee a few days ago I offered an amendment to say let's guarantee that the software work and the applications of that technology be done in America. It's too easy, at the stroke of a keyboard, to send electronic data across the globe where these software applications for hospitals could be done.

So we put an amendment in. The chairman agreed to it. The committee unanimously agreed to, but, mysteriously, when the bill was printed, that and a few other Republican amendments were omitted.

Tonight I was at the Rules Committee asking them to please restore this amendment to say if we are going to spend $20 billion to help American jobs, let's make sure we have a clause in this bill that helps American jobs.

There's another amendment I offered too that says for construction and other parts of this bill let's also use that for American jobs. Let's not have the same mistake that occurred when we approved building a fence line at the border with Mexico, and it turned out it was done using a loophole with Chinese steel. Our concrete, our rebar, the cars that are going to be bought supposedly with this bill ought to be made in America.

From the iron mines to the manufacturers, to the mills, let's use it to buy America. Let's return those amendments to this bill. If we really are going to be serious about American jobs, let's make this American jobs.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 661 H.R. 928, the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes''.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 662 H.R. 7081, the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Nonproliferation Enhancement Act, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes''.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 663 H.R. 6707, Taking Responsible Action for Community Safety Act, had I been present, I would have voted ``no''.

Madam Speaker, as we pursue this, there are several things that still are of concern to me. We need to make sure we enact real consequences for those who are accountable for this mess and make sure that we enact real change to the system. We need to make sure that we say loud and clear to those who gamble with public funds that they have an obligation to the taxpayer. We need to also make sure that those who are offered loans with a wink and a nod who have no ability to pay, no identification, no credit, and no money down can't get these loans anymore until we get this system fixed.

We also need to understand that what we're talking about is a $700 billion bailout. It happens to be the same amount of money, $700 billion, that we send every year to foreign oil. If this Congress had taken care of our energy problems and had allowed drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and of the Colorado shale oil, we would have had a real commodity to sell. We would have had real investments in the market and not just paper that we would have been shuffling around and would have been hoping that someone would have bought at auction.

Trillions of dollars in our economy and hundreds of thousands of jobs, that's what we should be doing to fix our economy, not just selling more paper.

Madam Speaker, Pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 2638, Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009:

Requesting Member: Congressman Tim Murphy.

Bill Number: S. 3001.

Account: Department of Defense, Navy, RDT&E, Shipboard System Component Account.

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Converteam Inc.

Address of Requesting Entity: 610 Epsilon Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15238.

Description of Request: Appropriation in the amount of $2 million for Navy Integrated Power System Converter. The Navy initiated the Integrated Power System (IPS) program in 1995 to develop all-electric power systems that can be used in any class of ship; CVN, DDG-1000, CGX and SSN. IPS provides capacity for future combat system upgrades, improved ship survivability, greater flexibility in ship design, and reduced operating and support costs. The Main Propulsion Converters (MPC) form the heart of the IPS concept, and with this development, will provide significant advantages in size, weight and cost reduction across all IPS equipment. In addition, this development will significantly simplify the insertion of advanced weapons. This is an ongoing project with the U.S. Navy.

Requesting Member: Congressman Tim Murphy.

Bill Number: S. 3001.

Account: Department of Defense, Army, RDT&E, Military Engineering Advanced Technology Account.

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: PPG Industries.

Address of Requesting Entity: 440 College Park Dr., Monroeville, PA 15146.

Description of Request: Appropriation in the amount of $1 million for Nanotechnology for Potable Water and Waste Treatment. PPG Industries proposes to use its nanotechnology to water filtration technologies. One such technology applicable to water filtration is nano-fiber mats which may be produced in high volumes through an electromechanical spinning technique developed by PPG. These nano-fiber mats can be functionalized to sequester water contaminants quickly and efficiently. Additionally, fiberglass can be modified with nano-materials and then films to mitigate waterborne contaminants. The program will address both conventional water treatment and water security needs in a military field environment and the public sector.

Requesting Member: Congressman Tim Murphy.

Bill Number: S. 3001.

Account: Department of Defense, Navy, RDT&E, Force Protection Advanced Technology Account.

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Curtiss-Wright.

Address of Requesting Entity: 291 Westec Drive, Mt Pleasant, PA 15666.

Description of Request: Appropriation in the amount of $1 million for Navy High Power Density Motor Drive. Funding will complete drive design and initiate prototype assembly of High Power Density Motor Drive for Naval Submarine and Surface Ship Applications to meet the Navy's need for a motor drive that is power dense, lightweight, with low distortion and noise, high efficiency and high reliability as a companion to the Extreme Torque Motor (XTM). The drive is the element which provides proper energy to the motor, allowing for variable speed and direction. Advances in control techniques and the combination of several power electronics technologies will enable the development of a drive system design that meets all of the Navy's requirements. The motor concept is based on Harmonically Neutralized Frequency Converter (HNFC) technology, a combination of proven power conversion techniques that have been used for several decades in icebreaker and cruise ship propulsion systems. Integration of this drive technology with XTM motor development offer will enable the design of a complete Navy ``system'', optimized for high demands of propulsion. This is an ongoing project of the U.S. Navy.

Requesting Member: Congressman Tim Murphy.

Bill Number: S. 3001.

Account: Department of Defense, Army, RDT&E, Munitions Standardization, Effectiveness and Safety Account.

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: National Center for Defense Manufacturing & Machining.

Address of Requesting Entity: 1600 Technology Way, Latrobe, PA 15650.

Description of Request: Appropriation in the amount of $1 million for Virtual Opportunity and Information Center (VOICe). The National Center for Defense Manufacturing & Machining (NCDMM) has been working with private industry under congressional support to produce a Virtual Opportunity and Information Center (VOICe) that matches the requirements of DoD and original equipment manufacturers to the capabilities of small to medium manufacturers in Western Pennsylvania. Many of these contracts require state-of-the-art machining tools and techniques in order for the subcontractor to be successful. To assure small manufacturers bid successfully and fulfill all contract requirements, the NCDMM will work in partnership with industry to build a Virtual Opportunity and Information Center (VOICe). VOICe will match opportunities with job shops, as well as supply best practices and requisite knowledge to solutions in high-speed machining, new machining techniques, use of advanced measuring and testing equipment and protocol, work holding, five-axis machining and other best practices.

Requesting Member: Congressman Tim Murphy.

Bill Number: S. 3001.

Account: Department of Defense, Army, RDT&E, Weapons and Munitions Advanced Technology Account.

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Kennametal.

Address of Requesting Entity: 1600 Technology Way, Latrobe, PA 15650.

Description of Request: Appropriation in the amount of $1.6 million for Advanced Medium Caliber Tungsten Penetrators. Funding is needed to continue development and conduct testing of advanced Tungsten alloys that have the promise to deliver superior performance compared to Depleted Uranium, and Tungsten/Nickel/Cobalt alloys. Funding for this project will continue a multi-phased program that investigates several Tungsten alloy candidates and consolidation techniques. After laboratory characterization, multiple iterations of ballistic testing in a variety of weapons systems are planned. Successful completion of this phase will allow the Army to investigate the use of new Tungsten penetrators in current and FCS weapons systems. The effort will involve the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, Maryland, and the U.S. Army ARDEC at Picatinny Arsenal, to ensure programs are properly targeted and result in new technology acquisition.

I thank Ranking Member Deal, also Chairman Pallone and Ranking Member Barton and Chairman Dingell for their work on this bill, but particularly to Representative Gene Green, the cosponsor of this legislation, for his hard work and commitment and also really for the teamwork that he engineered with the committee to work on this.

There are about 1,100 community health centers that employ about 6,000 physicians. They provide critically affordable primary care to more than 16 million people nationwide. It is important to note when people toss about numbers of the number of uninsured in America, and many of those uninsured are extra covered by Medicaid, many by their private plans; but these 16 million people we agree really are uninsured folks in America, and the community health centers are a place where they can have a quality health care home.

When we note that what happens with community health centers, what they provide in terms of primary care, dental care, podiatry, mental health care, and so many other areas that provide care, particularly in prenatal, it is of great concern that there simply are not enough physicians and other health care providers to give that care.

The greatest vacancy rates are in rural and inner city health centers where their vacancy rates range between 19 and 29 percent of the current workforce. These are shortages of physicians, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, midwives, dentists; and all of those are open because the community health centers simply do not have the money to pay for all of those employees.

What I'm disappointed about in this bill--and I know Congressman Green worked very hard, as did Congressman Deal to keep this in here-- is the idea that we cannot let physicians volunteer at these centers. I know we're all jointly disappointed because the community health centers, if they were able to have physicians volunteer at these centers, they could be covered by the Federal Torts Claim Act. Otherwise, they have to rely on paying their own malpractice insurance, which could run tens of thousands, if not well over $100,000, and community health centers cannot afford to cover that cost. The legislation I offered would have allowed Good Samaritan doctors to volunteer their time helping those in need.

We have to come back to this next year because in the meantime, many people without health insurance, or who are underinsured, rely upon community health centers for a whole host of their care. I look forward to working with my House and Senate colleagues in the future to ensure that legislation allowing doctors, nurses, psychologists, and other specialists to volunteer their time at community health centers. We must make that a law in order to provide care for so many people who need it at, I might add, a very, very low cost.

Again, I thank Chairman Dingell, Ranking Member Barton, Chairman Pallone, Ranking Member Deal, and Representative Green for their hard work on this bill. Their impassioned teamwork to help provide care to those most in need is to be applauded.

Mr. Speaker, while Congress and our Nation is concerned about the crisis in our financial markets, it is important that we keep our ear to what the people of this Nation are saying. They're hearing words about liquidity, about the markets, about margins, there are even concerns about mortgage-backed securities. What they want to hear is the talk about three basic principles to get this Nation's economy back on track.

First and foremost is to protect the people--their nest eggs, their pensions, their homes. It is more important that we look at establishing that as the

base of what we should be working on and not simply talking about Wall Street and protecting millionaires there. It is what people have in their own funds, their own accounts that they want to make sure we're attending to.

Second is the issue of accountability. Most workers, most employers, most executives are good people, honest and decent, God-fearing, ethical people who are trying to do the right thing, whatever their job is. But there are also those who bend the rules, break the rules, ignore the rules, or create their own rules. This is what has gotten our Nation into this mess. And there has to be accountability, strong accountability to investigate and prosecute anyone who bankrupted their firms on Wall Street--or on Main Street--and then expect the taxpayers to pay for it.

Third, it is important that Congress, in the future, review the regulations carefully to close loopholes and to prevent further mismanagement and misconduct.

But there is a fourth principle which we have to make sure that we in Congress take care of, and that is to do something about our economy.

Over the last couple years, many times in this Congress we've debated and discussed issues where we could be boosting our economy. One of those has to do with health care. I have spoken many times about the $400 billion waste in our health care system each year, money that people pay out of their own pockets each month to pay for health care that we're wasting. We're spending money we don't have to try to protect our economy when we can save money on such things. In the health care area, for example, we waste $50 billion a year on health care acquired infections. We could be saving that money to make our hospitals accountable. Unfortunately, Congress has not acted on that.

We could save money by using electronic medical records or electronic prescribing to take care of the waste, fraud and abuse in our health care system, and we have far to go. But another major area where our economy can get going is to stop spending $700 billion a year on energy that we're purchasing oil and gas outside of our Nation.

Much of that, of course, several hundred billion dollars, is to go to OPEC. OPEC buys its lavish palaces, its beautiful hotels, its built islands, and unfortunately they also buy up our debt. We're going to owe them on our national debt for several years because they buy that up. And recognize also what OPEC is doing with that is not only are they owning our economy, they will own it for the future, they are also nations building weapons and threatening our national security and our economic security.

Oddly enough, while Secretary Paulson is asking us for $700 billion to help get Wall Street back on its feet, it's $700 billion a year we spend each year on energy. If we drilled our Outer Continental Shelf, if we went for the Colorado shale oil, if we looked at the North Slope of Alaska, while just drilling the Outer Continental Shelf alone would yield $2.6 trillion in Federal income. But we continue to set that off- limits. That does not include how much we could have in Federal income if we also use a shale oil in Colorado and also the North Slope of Alaska.

We put together a bipartisan bill. Congressman Abercrombie, Congressman Peterson and several of us worked and drafted a bill which unfortunately this Congress has ignored. It is not enough just to say we will open up by default these areas for oil drilling, because the oil companies know they won't invest in that because they expect Congress to once again pull the rug out from under them.

We have to take definitive action to get our economy back on its feet. So follow these principles. Protect people and their money, have accountability to those who did wrong, and work on reviewing the rules and regulations. But above all, I hope that Congress in these final waning days of this session does not continue to ignore how we could be boosting our economy and change it from the largest bust in our history to the largest boom in our economy. That is what we can do. That is what I still hold out some small ray of hope that our Nation can do.

Mr. Speaker, America is threatened by four securities: Family security which finds itself hurting to pay for gasoline, food and heating costs; job security which sees our jobs going overseas, not only for manufacturing, but where other countries are drilling for oil, we can only sit back and watch; economic security, when we see our trade deficit improving in every area except for energy, when we see OPEC spending so

much money to buy our national debt and $700 billion of our money goes overseas every year; and our national security, when we see what other countries do with oil dollars, Iran buying missiles, building nuclear weapons, Venezuela sending terrorists to attack Colombia, the Saudis paying off al Qaeda, and Russians attacking Georgia, threatening Ukraine and Poland.

We have to have energy independence, and the means to energy independence is to drill for our oil and use that money to fund vast conservation efforts and innovative fuels so we can get off of oil. We have got oil to do that, and the oil is off of our Outer Continental Shelf and out in Colorado in the shale oil and out in the Arctic shores, and we can't get to it if we put a lock on it and turn the key and throw away the key.

We need energy independence, and this is a means towards the end.

Mr. Speaker, the American public wants real solutions to this energy crisis. Unfortunately, what we're voting on today is not a real solution. It's a no drill bill.

Our country's security is threatened in four ways. One is family security. With the price of natural gas and food on the increase, families can't afford the next loaf of bread, the next gallon of milk, the next tank of gas or the heating bill for their homes.

Two, job security. As we continue to rely on OPEC countries for oil, we are refusing to create jobs here. Consider this: One oil refinery during construction would be 8,000 jobs and then another 1,800 during its use. Oil and natural gas exploration employs nearly 386,000 workers. We could double or triple this number if we drill for more oil. Indirect incomes in other industries resulting from this gas activity can support another 4 million jobs, and this bill cuts out our vast coal supplies and the jobs from clean coal energy and coal-to- liquid.

Three, our economic security is also threatened. As we rely on OPEC countries, other nations in the Mideast get rich off our dollars. Our national debt continues to rise and our dollar falls. OPEC buys our national debt, buys our businesses, and our trade deficit with energy gets worse.

Fourth, our national security. Many of these oil producing countries are threatening the United States. Iran uses oil money to fund missiles and nuclear weapons and supplies bombs to attack our troops. Russia invades Georgia, threatens the Ukraine, threatens Poland, and sends bombers to Venezuela.

We must drill for our own abundant oil as a means to end our dependence on foreign oil, but this bill cuts off 90 percent of U.S. oil off our coasts, which means we cannot use that energy to help our country.

Americans understand: We cannot tax away the independence. We cannot cut off our energy as a way to independence. We can and should use our oil, use our coal, use our nuclear energy, use our innovation and use conservation to be energy independent. That comprehensive solution is what we have to have. That's not what we have yet.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana for allowing me to participate in this particular bill to help not only our seniors but everyone who is afflicted, the 5 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Of these, nearly 3 million, or 60 percent, will become lost from their families or loved ones or caretakers. If not found within 24 hours, up to half will become seriously injured or die.

H.R. 6503, the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program, will increase the chance of locating missing persons suffering from this disease within the critical first 24 hours. H.R. 6503 authorizes funds for grants for nonprofit organizations to assist in paying for the costs of establishing and operating programs to protect and locate missing patients with Alzheimer's disease.

With police departments now being called upon to find missing elderly, these community organizations are critical in assisting law enforcement officials with their searches. Tips from family and people in the community often lead to the whereabouts of any missing person, including the elderly.

Each year, thousands more Americans are being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. The symptoms of these diseases often leave their victims feeling disoriented, lost, and vulnerable. H.R. 6503, the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program, provides support to those local programs working everyday to offer these patients protection and their loved ones some peace of mind.

I might add here that just this weekend I found out a dear friend of mine was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He's been a long-distance runner for all of his adult life, and ironically enough, he's still able to go out and find trails and run on them, but it is something that his doctors are concerned about for him that one day will he, too, become one who is perhaps lost as he tries to negotiate his community and his neighborhood.

Certainly for folks like my friend and others around the country who are suffering from dementia, early states or later, we have to recognize the value and importance of this bill. I might note this passed the Judiciary Committee unanimously, and I certainly urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, it seems like every day in this House floor we call for a moment of silence to recognize some tragic loss of life across our country. And it is fitting that we do so.

If we were to recognize with a moment of silence those who die in hospitals from avoidable infections, we would be stopping House business many times each day.

So I am here to express my concern that we continue to ignore the increasing problem and potentially fatal epidemic of health care- acquired infections. Another week goes by and more and more patients are becoming infected with preventable infections. And instead of tackling this issue head-on, we continue to let the number of cases rise. And the costs strains our health care system, and more lives are lost.

Well enough is enough. This year alone, up to today, there have been 1,243,835 cases of health care-acquired infections. There have been a total of 61,562 deaths. And the total cost on our health care system has been $31 billion 95 million 999,420.07. By the end of this year, that estimate will be $50 billion and 100,000 lives lost.

Something must be done. We must put self-interests aside and work together to improve the safety of our hospitals. And I am committed to making sure this happens. That is why I introduced legislation last year that saves lives and money, H.R. 1174, the Healthy Hospitals Act. And it has received strong bipartisan support and support from consumer groups.

This legislation offers a simple solution to lower the costs associated with health care-acquired infections. It is not expensive. It simply requires hospitals to publicly disclose their infection rates and let the public see this transparently.

Hospitals should be taking commonsense measures, like washing hands, sterilizing equipment between uses, testing patients and giving antibiotics at the right time. It is, after all, people's lives we are trying to save.

How can a hospital or health care system argue that they don't want to report their infection rates if reporting is shown to save lives? How can hospitals complain that they don't want patients to know about patient safety and patient quality? Aren't hospitals supposed to be in the business of saving lives?

Hospitals need to be held accountable for opposing legislation, for opposing legislation, that would require reporting, because evidence shows it makes a difference. In my home State of Pennsylvania, there are shining examples of what happens when hospitals are held accountable for reporting.

Hospitals in Pennsylvania are required by State law to make their infection rates public, and we have seen the infection rates drop dramatically. Some hospitals were able to get to a zero infection rate, no lives lost. And here is the mortality statistic. According to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, the average charge of hospitalization for a patient who became infected with a hospital- acquired infection was $185,000 each, while the average charge for a patient without an infection was $31,000. Reporting infections is proven to save money and lives.

Hospitals say ``it will cost us more to keep track of it.'' That simply is not true. Isn't this enough to get our hospitals on board? Isn't this enough proof to save lives? Our health care system is in need of repair, not just simply saying it is too expensive, let's let government take it over. It needs to be fixed.

While we continue to talk about reforming government, cutting costs and eliminating funding for infrastructure projects back home, I hope my colleagues in the health care industry will support commonsense legislation that will save money and lives.

Public reporting of health care acquired infections is exactly what it sounds like, but the benefits of this simple action are far reaching. I hope that patients and their families will speak up to Members of Congress about the need for this transparency and demand such legislation be enacted.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues and hospitals around the country, especially those hospitals that know this saves lives and money, to support public reporting of hospital-acquired infections. Let's do this right. Let's save lives. After all, the families of so many Americans are at stake here. We can act on this. We can make a difference. We can save lives and save money.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and ranking member for the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which I'm here to offer my strong support, and I thank Chairman Miller and Congressman McKeon for ensuring the language for my bill, H.R. 2220, the Mental Health Security for America's Families in Education Act, was included in the legislation.

This language directs the Secretary of Education to clarify how and when schools can communicate with the parent if a student demonstrates that they pose a significant risk of suicide, homicide, or assault. Schools acting in good faith by communicating with parents would also be protected from liability.

The current Family Education Rights and Privacy Act passed in 1974 was originally passed to protect the confidentiality of student records. However, it's a confusing array of regulations meant to notify parents but often stands in the way as schools are more prone to call an attorney to get clarification than they are to call parents.

As a child psychologist, I understand the importance of confidentiality, but there are times that it may be in the best interest of the student to inform those who can provide the necessary help to protect them and others. Parents are in the best position to help students suffering from mental illness by providing emotional support medical history, coordinating care with various mental health professionals, and long-term follow up. Parents will be around long after the school is gone.

Behind a law like this there are stories of beautiful lives tragically stopped in their youth. Children like Stephanie Cady from North Franklin Township who was a junior at Elizabethtown College until she withdrew for medical reasons. According to her parents, she was struggling with depression and paranoia during her sophomore year. Her friends persuaded her to get help, but her parents were never told that she was taking medication until just this past Christmas. Unfortunately, the right combination of help from her parents and therapists came too late and, sadly, she took her own life in April of 2008.

In 2002, Charles Mahoney from Burgettstown took his own life while in school at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania.

And since the passing of their children, the Mahoneys and the Cadys have advocated for change to existing laws so the parents can help before it is too late.

Families know the privacy laws that prevent schools from sharing information with parents have to be changed so the parents can get involved to help with the children that they love. Our shared hope is that through the important change of law, their actions will prevent other parents from suffering the same losses, and their children's lives can be remembered at least in saving the lives of others.

This bill we are dealing with today is taking an important step in saving those lives, and I want to thank Chairman Miller and Ranking Member McKeon for their support of this critically important and life- saving provision that will prevent other tragedies like this and Virginia Tech happening again in the future.