Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the late William Moore McCulloch, a Republican Member of Congress from Ohio, for his extraordinary work on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Fifty years ago on February 10, 1964, the House of Representatives passed what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by a vote of 290 to 130.

This landmark piece of legislation outlawed discrimination against race, ethnicity, gender, and religious minorities. I believe this was the most important piece of American domestic legislation in 20th Century America, as it protected fundamental civil rights and ensured equal opportunities for all Americans.

McCulloch was born in 1901, in Holmes County, Ohio. Despite being raised working on his family's farm and attending local rural schools, he studied at the College of Wooster before earning a law degree from Ohio State University College in 1925.

Following graduation, McCulloch moved to Florida to practice constitutional law for a year. This period of his life was crucial in developing his passion for overhauling civil rights legislation, as he saw the effect of the oppressive Jim Crow ``separate but equal'' racial segregation laws firsthand. This experience fueled his passion for civil rights, and his belief that the Constitution guaranteed equal rights for all Americans. In 1932, McCulloch was elected to the State House of Representatives. From here, his determination to outlaw discrimination began to manifest itself.

For example, he supported the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in its drive to end segregated seating in restaurants in Piqua. I am inspired by his work here, as this was a risky political move in such a rural, white, middle class, and conservative region of Ohio. Nevertheless, his desire to dismantle institutionalized discrimination outweighed everything else, and African Americans and all Americans are better off for it.

In 1947, he was elected to Congress from Ohio's fourth Congressional district. It is important to note that McCulloch only had a small number of African American constituents--roughly 2.7 percent. His determination to protect American civil rights regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or religion was due to his intrinsic desire to achieve equality, and not his own political agenda. He focused purely on doing what was right for the people of the United States. I find encouragement in this, and believe more of us in Congress can learn from McCulloch's example.

However, McCulloch's work in civil rights didn't stop in Piqua, Ohio. He was the ranking Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee in the early 1960s, and used this to ensure civil rights legislation was introduced to the House. In 1963, President Kennedy called for legislation that removed discrimination, and increased protection for the right to vote. McCulloch personally met with the Kennedy Administration, and the two parties confirmed their joint commitment to a bipartisan civil rights bill. Despite his position as a Republican minority Member, he was determined to ensure the Civil Rights Act's passage through the House. He worked tirelessly with the Kennedy Administration and House Democrats for the bill. McCulloch's work was instrumental, and led to President Kennedy's declaration of ``Without him, it can't be done''.

The legislation passed the House on February 10, fifty years ago. Later after a 54-day filibuster, the bill passed in the Senate. The Civil Rights Act became law with President Johnson's signature. Like Kennedy, Johnson recognized McCulloch's significant involvement in the Civil Rights Act, and stated he was ``the most important and powerful political force'' in passing the legislation.

Despite his position as a minority Republican member in the House Judiciary Committee, McCulloch worked across party lines to pass legislation that guaranteed equal rights for all. I am inspired by this, and believe we can all learn something from McCulloch's efforts. He was willing to cooperate with the Democratic majority, including the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, in a time when there was a desperate need for anti-discrimination legislation and positive social change. I hope we can all follow in William McCulloch's example, and commit to finding bipartisan solutions to the issues facing our country. He was a proud son of Ohio.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to an article that recently appeared in the Toledo Blade that describes the family heritage of our colleague and friend, the Honorable Marcy Kaptur. Ms. Kaptur represents Ohio's 9th Congressional District, is the dean of the Ohio delegation, and is the senior-most woman in the House.

As this extraordinary article points out, Congresswoman Kaptur's interest in the current situation in Ukraine is influenced by her grandparents who were born in Ukraine and immigrated to America in the early 1900's.

Last night, the House passed a resolution supporting ``the Ukrainian people's struggle to build an independent, democratic, and strong Ukraine that is free from foreign meddling.''

Ohioans are very proud of our family heritage as I am a son of Irish and Italian immigrants. Marcy Kaptur is proud of her Ukrainian heritage and I am honored to serve with her in the House.

I submit an article from the Toledo Blade by Tom Troy.

Kaptur's Ukraine Roots Run Deep

Behind the Scenes, Congressman Encourages Democracy

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) looks over family

pictures on her desk. Miss Kaptur's grandparents were both

born in Ukraine, and she worries about that nation's future.

She plans to bring some Ukrainian farmers here on a trade

mission this month.

During her 30 years as the representative of Ohio's 9th

Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur has carried on

a love affair.

The object of her affections is Ukraine, the former Soviet

socialist republic that was the land of her grandmother and

grandfather's birth.

``It has been a lifelong interest because, as our mother

used to say, our children know the history of our family,''

Miss Kaptur, 67, said last week of herself and her brother

Stephen, 61, who lives with her in West Toledo. As Ukraine--a

giant eastern European nation famed for its fertile

farmland--roils in political unrest, Miss Kaptur has been

working behind the scenes to encourage democracy to flourish.

The Toledo Democrat said she has made at least a dozen

trips to Ukraine over the last four decades, and she is

cochairman of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus.

In recent months the country has exploded into

demonstrations, triggered by outrage at Ukraine President

Viktor Yanukovych's decision to end negotiations to join the

European Union and turn to Russia to help it pay off a

crippling debt. Some see the revolutionary movement as a step

toward true independence that started when Ukraine broke off

from the Soviet Union in 1990.

Miss Kaptur was the co-sponsor of a resolution that passed

Wednesday in a House committee calling the Ukraine leadership

to a higher standard, and to support rights of assembly.

Whether it will come up for a vote in the full House is not

known.

``As the co-chair of the Ukraine caucus I have met with

literally hundreds of Ukrainian leaders, existing leaders,

emerging leaders, presidents, ambassadors, farmers. The

Ukrainian embassy knows about our caucus,'' Miss Kaptur said.

As the Ukrainian military begins making sounds about

intervening in the unrest, Miss Kaptur said she hopes that if

it does, it exercises restraint.

``The point is there has been a lot of interaction [with

the United States], training at the highest level,'' she

said. ``The kind of bloodshed that is historic in that region

hasn't happened and I hope it won't.''

Miss Kaptur as an infant sits in her Grandmother Teofila

Swiecicki Rogowski's lap

while her mother, Anastasia Rogowski, stands. During college,

the representative `worshipped' her hard-working

grandparents, who emigrated from Ukraine in the early 1900s.

The realignment of Miss Kaptur's 9th Congressional District

in 2012 to snake along Lake Erie all the way from Toledo to

Cleveland has been widely decried as gerrymandering designed

to achieve Republican goals of squeezing as many Democrats

into as few districts as possible.

But one upshot has been the linkage of one of Congress's

most Eastern European-focused lawmakers with communities that

have a lot of Eastern European immigrants and their

descendants.

The district now contains the Cuyahoga County city of

Parma, which has a large Ukrainian-American population. Miss

Kaptur is also a founder and co-chairman of the Polish and

Hungarian congressional caucuses.

Her mother's family was Polish living in modern-day

Ukraine.

Miss Kaptur's grandmother Teofila Swiecicki Rogowski and

Grandfather John Rogowski emigrated from Ukraine early in the

1900s.

``Then it was czarist Russia. They were not allowed to

graze their one cow on the open field and could not feed

themselves,'' Miss Kaptur said.

Over the years, as their homeland was devastated by

political and military rivalries, including a famine brought

on by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and invasion by the Nazis,

they lost all contact with family members in Ukraine. Her

grandmother took in wash, and worked in the Commodore Perry

and Willard hotels to earn money, while her grandfather, a

carpenter, struggled to find work.

``When I was in college I worshipped her and her husband,''

Miss Kaptur said. She wanted to take her grandmother back to

Ukraine and find the town they came from, Burtyn, but her

grandmother was afraid, she said. Teofila died in 1970.

In 1973, Miss Kaptur--then a planner for the city of

Toledo--and her mother, the former Anastasia Rogowski, drove

into Soviet Ukraine, where they found her grandmother's

brother, a former inmate of Stalin's gulag political prison

system for 20 years.

``He was not allowed to travel out of his area because he

was viewed as an enemy of the state,'' Miss Kaptur said. He

was released from the gulag in 1952, but lost his brother to

the camps. Her great-uncle's crime: He had offered aid to a

wounded Kulak, a member of the property-owning farming class

that was being driven into extinction by Stalin. They had the

only car in the dusty town, and were the only guests in the

hotel, which had no curtains but a listening device. They had

sent word to relatives that they would be at the hotel if

anyone wanted to meet them. They were on their third day with

no visitors when they heard activity in the lobby.

Miss Kaptur's great-uncle Casmierz Swiecicici was a former

inmate in Joseph Stalin's prison system for 20 years. ``We

learned the desk clerk had been denying to the woman visitor

that any foreigners were staying in the hotel, despite her

repeated attempts to contact us,'' Miss Kaptur said.

She said the moment that she finally met her grandmother's

brother, Casmierz Swiecicki, was an emotional one. ``There

stood this tall man and I looked at him and gasped because he

held his hands the same way that our grandmother did. He

looked at my mother and said, `are you my sister?' We just

wept,'' Miss Kaptur said. They gave him an orange. ``That

began the moment when we began to unlock the history of what

happened,'' she said. They met more family members in a

return trip two years later.

Andy Fedynsky, resident scholar at the Ukrainian Museum and

Archives in Cleveland, said Miss Kaptur has actively

supported Ukraine since her first term in 1983. He said that

year she played a leadership role in passing a bill to create

a commission on the Ukraine famine, which was widely denied.

``This commission was set up and did a thorough job

establishing there was a famine, it was planned, 7 million

people were deliberately starved to death,'' Mr. Fedynsky

said. He said Miss Kapttr testified that the victims included

her own family.

``She said, `Don't tell me this never happened. I know it

happened because my ancestors endured it,' '' Mr. Fedynsky

said. The commission ``made a huge difference in Ukraine

historiography.''

Miss Kaptur and others worked to get President Obama to

include a Ukraine reference in his State of the Union speech

last week, which he did. The President said, ``In Ukraine, we

stand for the principle that all people have the right to

express themselves freely and peacefully and to have a say in

their country's future.''

``I have been meeting with Ukrainians on a regular basis.

We are planing a trade mission for farmers to bring them to

Ohio in February,'' Miss Kaptur said.

She has a picture of herself meeting a year and a half ago

with one of the opposition leaders when he was in Washington.

She said she was in Ukraine in 2013 while on her way to

Poland to be awarded an honorary citizenship--her father's

family was from Poland--when she feared that Ukraine was

slipping backward. ``I left very, very worried. I saw how

much more difficult their life had become. I was deeply

worried about what I saw--greater poverty among older women,

farmers that I've known.''

Ironically to the girl whose grandmother had only wanted to

raise money in order to buy a piece of land on which to graze

their cow, Ukrainian farmland is being bought up by

oligarchs.

``There was a real sense that democracy was slipping away.

Then all of this has happened. The people of Ukraine have

stood up, and we should stand with them,'' Miss Kaptur said.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Ms. Margaret Massullo who passed peacefully of natural causes last month in the presence of her loving family at the age of 90. Margaret was born August 14, 1923 in Youngstown, Ohio to her proud and caring parents, Gabor and Elizabeth Vargo. Margaret touched the lives of everyone she came into contact with, and to those who knew her well, knew her as sweet ``Margie Marge.'' Marge enjoyed a life full of traveling, cooking, crocheting, politics, and most of all spending time with her family.

Marge lived a successful life; some of her professional accomplishments included her notable work at the Seamless Pipe Department of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube during World War II, as well as her work with the Triangle Coat Factory. Known for her wealth of knowledge and true leadership, Marge was elected officer of the Bagnolese Ladies Club and the Saint Anthony's Italian Mother's Club. She prided herself in being an active Member of the ITAM Post along with three other veteran auxiliary groups at both a local and national level.

Although the State of Ohio lost one of its matriarchs, her beautiful memory will continue to live on through the lives she deeply touched and inspired. I extend my deepest condolences to Marge's family. She is survived by her daughter Marguerite, sons Alfred and Ronald (Muzz), sisters Irene and Julie, her brother James, granddaughters Ronelle, Cara, Lauren, Genna and her five great-grandchildren. Marge was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Adolph, brothers Steve and Gabor, sisters Elizabeth, Rose, Goldie, and Julia along with her son- in-law George.

I have a very special friendship with her son Ron, and I know that he, as well as his other siblings, carry their mother's passion for life, her sense of justice for all our citizens, and both a lighthearted and joyous approach to life. Her legacy goes on! Marge was a very special woman and will be long remembered.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the harmonious and melodious career of Eddie Vallus and the Eddie Vallus Band. The sweet sounds of the Eddie Vallus Polka Band included talented musicians John Ross, Ed Wasacz, Al Martini, Lou Tofil, and of course Eddie Vallus. They spent their lives on the bandstand sharing their music with their fans who love to dance, dance, dance. Since the release of their debut album in 1963, the Eddie Vallus Band has been recognized as a musical force. They were honored by former mayor of Youngstown Pat Ungaro and the Mahoning County Commission in 1985. The band's success garnered them a Grammy nomination in 1989, the Cleveland Polka Hall of Fame Trustee Award in 2003, and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

I am convinced that the world needs more polka but after a lifetime of extended bookings, it saddens me that the Eddie Vallus Band has decided to put their instruments down. Many of my friends and neighbors continue to cherish their music. On October 26th, the band played its final concert at St. Paul Church in New Middletown, Ohio. As a 77 year resident of Boardman, Ohio, incomparable Eddie Vallus is an inspiration to our community. Although the Eddie Vallus Band will be no more, Eddie will continue to perform with the Rex Taneri Band. Eddie has led a long and happy life marked by success and a love of the arts. For Eddie there is never a sour note and he is always on key and in rhythm. I wish Mr. Vallus all the best and know he will spend time with his wife Pat of 51 years, his three daughters, and his five grandchildren. And a one and a two and a three for Eddie Vallus.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Barry, I just want to say that there have been a lot of kind words here tonight, and I think a lot of the words are very appropriate, but I have got to say, I don't even like you.

You are full of bad news all the time. We want to go home. You won't let us. We want to come in later. You won't let us. We want to go home a day early. You won't let us. Barbara, I don't know how you put up with him.

As a young boy, I used to go to church with my grandfather. He was an usher at the church. He wasn't the priest. He wasn't the head of the parish council. But he was the guy who made everything run. He helped run the festival. He was the top usher, so he had to handle all the money. He scheduled everybody. I grew up really watching him with an appreciation of how many people that you may not see in that instance on the altar or here speaking on the floor, how many people work to make things happen.

Barry is in that cloakroom making things happen, making things run smoothly; not in the newspaper, not getting the headlines. And I just want to say thanks.

I worked for a Member of Congress 20 years ago, and he had the old things you used to have to slide on. It was huge, it seemed like, back then, and I remember as a staffer hearing Barry's voice, and I knew it was Barry. I just heard this voice, Two bells, three bells, four bells, 15 minutes, 5 minutes. For 2 years, I would hear that.

Then, when I finally became a Member and I got my little clip and I started hearing that voice and I got to meet Barry, it was like I thought I had made it. I get to respond to what Barry has been telling people to do for so many years. It was a great honor.

Then-Minority Leader Pelosi started the 30-Something Working Group with Kendrick Meek and Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other Members, and I would come to the floor sometimes two or three nights during the week and stay very late--sometimes until 10 or 11. And I knew Barry was here, slogging away. He would say, Are you going to go tonight, Mr. Ryan? Yes. Sorry, Barry. He would sit in that room and wait until that was done. But that is the kind of dedication that you had.

We love you. You are the best. Always with a smile and something nice to say, no matter how bad the situation got or how tough things were.

Barbara, thank you. I know there are a lot of late nights here.

Barry, you are the best. Have a great retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Joseph Vrabel. Joe served in the United States Army during the Korean War. Upon his return, he served his fellow veterans by joining the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1956, and soon thereafter, becoming Post Commander. His service continued as a Life Member of the American Legion Mahoning Valley Post 15, where he served five years as Post Commander, going on to serve as Mahoning County Commander of the Dynamic Ninth District; and then proceeding on to serve as the American Legion Department of Ohio Commander. Joe was an enthusiastic supporter of the American Legion's Buckeye Boys State, promoting the program whenever he could and securing local sponsorships which would allow the youth of this area to gain first-hand experience in state government. Joe was a significant supporter of the Gifts for the Yanks program which provided gifts for hospitalized veterans during the Christmas season. Joe was instrumental in obtaining a van to transport veterans from Youngstown to the Cleveland American Legion, where he served as Post 15 Sons of the American Legion Advisor for 15 years. In addition, he spent countless hours as a member of Mahoning Valley Post 15's Honor Guard and Color Guard, providing final military honors to his fellow veterans. Joe was locally known as the ``Veteran's Veteran'', for his dedicated work with veterans. As the owner of Hillcrest Tavern, Joe was able to support local youth sports teams, mainly golf, bowling, and softball in his hometown of Poland, Ohio. For his significant contributions to the veterans and youth of the Mahoning Valley, Joe is very worthy to be inducted, posthumously, into the 2013 Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the distinguished military service of Roger Gardner as he is inducted into the 2013 Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame. Roger has been a member of the American Legion Post 540 Honor Guard in Cortland since 1957, and served as Commander and Captain since 2000. Under his leadership, the Honor Guard has participated in 2,281 funerals. He is actively involved in local Memorial Day and Veterans Day activities each year. As a Post Commander, he was instrumental in the construction of several veterans' memorials in the area, most notably the Korean War Monument in Trumbull County Veterans Park. Roger has logged over 8,000 volunteer hours between the Warren Community Base Outpatient Clinic and the Youngstown VA Clinic. He is an active speaker in the ``Tell America'' program in local schools, where he shares his military experiences and encourages patriotism among young people. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, some of which include the Mahoning County United Veterans Council Veteran of the Year; the Tri-County Funeral Directors Association Award for Community Service for his diligent work as Captain of American Legion's Post 540 Honor Guard; and the Warren Tribune-Chronicle Community Star Award for his significant contributions to the Warren area. Roger is deeply committed to serving the veterans of Trumbull County and is very worthy of being inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the exemplary military service of Alex Kish as he is inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Alex returned to his home in Newton Falls, Ohio, and served as Commander of the AMVETS Post 112 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3332. Since then, he has devoted his life in efforts to honor both the living and deceased veterans. Alex is dedicated to recognizing the contributions of veterans and caring for those less fortunate. He has organized an Honor Guard serving multiple veterans organizations in an effort to provide full military honors during burials at the National Cemetery in Rittman, Ohio. Alex was instrumental in raising funds that provided more than 400 phone cards for veterans and active duty soldiers. He arranged for transportation, hotel accommodations, and admission tickets for World War II veterans to attend the dedication of the World War II Memorial and to tour Washington, D.C. Alex organized a fundraiser that provided a summer camp experience for underprivileged children of Trumbull County. He has served as Vice President of an organization that provides transportation to medical appointments and shopping for senior citizens. Alex is deeply committed to serving the veterans of Trumbull County, Ohio and is very worthy of being inducted into the 2013 Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

Mr. Speaker, I am saddened to learn of the death of Wally Bell of Austintown, OH in my Congressional district. Wally Bell was a very well known umpire who had risen to the highest level of officiating in the MLB. Wally was another great sports product of the Mahoning Valley. I extend my heartfelt sympathy to all of his friends and family.

I submit the following article that appeared in the New York Daily News on October 15.

[From the Associated Press, Oct. 15, 2013]

MLB Umpire Wally Bell Dies of Apparent Heart Attack at Age 48

New York.--Major League Baseball umpire Wally Bell, who

worked the NL playoff series between the Pittsburgh Pirates

and St. Louis Cardinals that ended last week, has died. He

was 48.

The commissioner's office confirmed Bell's death Monday.

He died of an apparent heart attack in his home state of

Ohio. ``All of us at Major League Baseball are in mourning

tonight regarding the sudden passing of Wally Bell,''

Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

``I always enjoyed seeing Wally, who was a terrific umpire

and such an impressive young man. On behalf of our 30 clubs,

I extend my deepest condolences to Wally's family, fellow

umpires and his many friends throughout the game.''

Bell became the first active MLB umpire to die since John

McSherry passed away of a heart attack on the field in

Cincinnati on opening day in 1996.

Bell worked the 2006 World Series and three All-Star

games, including this year's event at Citi Field, where he

was stationed at first base. A veteran of 21 big league

seasons, he had also worked four league championship series

and seven division series since joining the major league

staff in 1993.

According to Bell's biography on MLB.com, his proudest

moment as a big league umpire was returning to the field

after having open heart surgery in 1999. ``I am deeply

saddened and shocked at the loss of umpire Wally Bell,'' said

Joe Torre, MLB executive vice president for baseball

operations.

``Umpiring was his life, and he touched so many people

within the game of baseball. Aside from being an

accomplished, All-Star-caliber umpire, Wally was a loving dad

to his two teenage children. I extend my deepest condolences

to them, his girlfriend Renee, the rest of his family and his

admirers across Major League Baseball.''

Bell was 34 and 2\1/2\ weeks from leaving for spring

training in 1999 when his heart problem was detected. He had

quintuple bypass surgery on Feb. 18, 1999, that left him with

an 8-inch scar down the middle of his chest. Two of his

arteries had been 100 percent blocked. Two more had been 80

percent blocked, another 70 percent. But he returned to work

11 weeks later in San Diego for a game between the Padres and

Atlanta Braves. That night, plate umpire Mark Hirschbeck took

the first ball out of play, and planned to have all the umps

sign it before presenting the souvenir to Bell.

Seven years later, Bell was behind the plate for Game 3 of

the World Series between Detroit and St. Louis at Busch

Stadium. During the 2013 regular season, Bell was a member of

Tim McClelland's crew.

``Wally was a great umpire, a great partner and a great

friend. The umpiring community is deeply saddened by this

tragic loss. He will be sorely missed by many,'' said major

league ump Joe West, President of the World Umpires

Association.

Bell is survived by his son, Jason, and daughter, Lindsey.

I thank the gentleman, and I appreciate my colleagues' words here tonight. There's not a whole lot left to cover, whether it was the gentleman from Pittsburgh or the gentleman from Paterson or the gentleman from East Hartford or the gentleman from Somerville in the Boston area, and also the gentleman from upstate New York. We've seen them cover many of the issues here. They've been broken down. I would just like to maybe touch on a point or two.

A lot of Members have come to this floor. On all the TV shows they talk a lot about, We've got to pay our bills, we've got to pay our bills. I think everybody here agrees that we've got to pay our bills. It's important for us to remember the bills that were racked up that we have to go out and pay, those appropriation bills, off-budget many times, were to fund two wars. They went right on Uncle Sam's credit card, both of them. They were not paid for, and many of our colleagues on the other side never came to this floor and said, Oh my, God, how are we going to pay for all of this?

Economist after economist would come back and say this is going to be maybe $100 billion, $200 billion, $300 billion, $400 billion, $500 billion today. If we factor in all the veterans that are coming back, these wars are going to be $2 trillion to $3 trillion to $4 trillion when it's all said and done. I don't remember being here watching a Member come up on the other side of the aisle, get in the well, and make an argument that we need to pay for these wars if we are going to go. There was not one.

Today, they want to talk about being responsible. They want to talk about us meeting our obligation. Now they want to say, Oh, yeah, we ran up those credit cards. We swiped them, and we kept swiping them. Then we doubled down. We need a surge. Let's double down. Let's run that credit card one more time. Now today they're saying, We're not going to pay the bills. We're going to default unless you repeal the Affordable Care Act, and then we'll have a conversation.

It's the height of irresponsibility.

Another thing that I find humorous is how over the past few years we've been lectured to by many members of the Tea Party about the Constitution of the United States and how they're the only Americans, this 20 percent, 25 percent, maybe 30 percent, are the only Americans who have read the Constitution, and they're the only ones who adhere to the Constitution. Yet when we talk about the political process that we need to work through, and as Mr. Capuano was just saying, you can have a reasonable position. If you don't like it, go to the ballot box and win the election. Yet those very same Members are now thumbing their noses at the political process that the Founding Fathers set up for us to adhere to.

We were here during the Iraq war. I was. I wasn't for it. I campaigned against it in my first campaign. Guess what? I didn't win. I didn't win the argument in 2002 and 2003. I didn't win it in 2004 or 2005. I came to this floor night after night after night. We finally won the House and Senate in 2006. We tried to stop the war. We didn't do it, but we took it to the people and we won the House and the Senate back. In 2007 and 2008, we took it back to the street, won the Presidency. Then, longer than any of us wanted, we finally started winding things down. We went through the political process. We didn't shut the government down. We didn't say we're going to default on the credit card bills that previous Congresses ran up, even though we disagreed with how they spent the money.

What's happening is radical. These are radical acts here in the House Chamber. To say we are here to negotiate, if you get rid of the Affordable Care Act, is ludicrous. It doesn't make any sense. Have the guts to go to the American people and make the argument. For the life of me, I can't figure out why you wouldn't let the Affordable Care Act get set up. If it's so awful, if it's so bad, set it up, and let it go. President Obama has his fingerprints all over it. The Democrats have their fingerprints all over it. If it fails, you'll win the Senate in 2014; and if it's so bad, you'll win the Presidency in 2016. You can then defund it, dismantle it, and put 30 million or 40 million people out of the health care system, make sure you can get denied health care for having a pre-existing condition and put the insurance companies between the doctor and the patient. Fine, you won the elections. You're perfectly capable of doing that.

Have the guts to go to the street and make the argument. Seventy percent of Americans are saying do not shut the government down to try to end the Affordable Care Act.

I will say what I think's happening here. I think the House leadership on the Republican side has Stockholm syndrome. I think they have started to identify themselves with their captors. The Tea Party has now convinced the leadership in the House of Representatives that they should have sympathy and empathy towards their captors, so the whole country at this point is being shut down because of this.

Lastly, let me say that the only successful moments in politics that our friends on the other side have had is when they divide the American people. Who's in a union; who's not in a union. Who's in a public sector union versus who's in a private sector union. Who's black; who's white. Who's gay; who's straight. Divide, divide, divide, divide; and here we are in 2013 a divided Nation that is ungovernable at this point because of the power that is held by the Tea Party in the United States House of Representatives.

I just want to say that there is a future waiting to be taken for this country, investments back in the United States into our infrastructure, into our research, into renewable energies, into expanding the grid and making it smarter, and into making sure everyone has access to the latest technologies such as three dimensional printers in schools, robotics, Legos. Get kids excited about learning.

We only have 313 million people in the United States. We're competing against 1.4 billion people in China, and we're sitting on our hands. We're not making the investments we need to be making, and there are colleges and universities and schools that need the investment. Every day that goes by, Mr. Garamendi, we see one more, two more, five more, 10 more situations where investments were made collectively by the public to benefit our country.

We need to end this lockout that's happening right now.

I thank the gentleman for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the remarkable life of Raymond F. ``Rambo'' Barry, Sr., who passed away on July 15th, 2013 at the age of 75. He was born on February 7, 1938 to the late Marjorie Barry of Altoona, Pennsylvania. Raymond happily spent his days traveling, watching his beloved Bengals, keeping up with politics, playing cards and engaging in lively conversations with his longtime friends.

Raymond felt an uncanny closeness to his fellow man, serving as a vital member of his community and church. He loved to support his friends and family, especially in their athletic endeavors. As Raymond was the recipient of a lung transplant, we were extremely fortunate that he was able to spend five and a half additional years with us. Every day, Raymond provided an example of friendliness and warmth, much to the benefit to those he met.

I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to Raymond's family, particularly his wife of 24 years, Teri Barry, as well as his sister Edna Hoskins, sister-in-law Ruth Reed, children Pamela Lucero, Warren Barry, Jerimie J. McKinley, and Jamie McKinley-Taylor, grandchildren Brian Hammer, Raymond Barry III, A.J. Hammer, Xzandria McKinley, Jonathon McKinley, Kat Taylor and Aleutian Taylor, 6 great- grandchildren, and numerous other family members and friends.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the remarkable life of my friend Thomas Joseph Gillen, who tragically passed away on March 9, 2013 at the age of thirty-eight. Tom was born on November 19, 1974 in Warren, Ohio, to his proud and caring parents, John and Gloria Gillen. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and spending time with his loved ones.

Tom led an exemplary life of service and dedication; he graduated from John F. Kennedy High School where he helped his football team win a State Championship in 1991 and place runner-up the following year. Afterwards, he went on to graduate from Youngstown State University and work for the State of Ohio Department of Corrections for the past fifteen years. Tom's life, although all too brief, was highlighted by success, commitment and loyalty.

I extend my deepest condolences to Tom's family. He is survived by his parents, as well as his sister Annie Needs, brothers John Gillen, Brian Gillen and James Gillen, niece Maggie Needs, nephews Matthew and Ian Needs, as well as several aunts, uncles and cousins. Although Tom is no longer with us, his memory will endure in the hearts of his family and friends.

Thomas was a successful and caring man, and I am deeply saddened by his premature passing. He knew how to be a team player and how to make difficult sacrifices. Thomas left an impression in the minds of everyone he met and will be greatly missed. The state of Ohio lost an outstanding citizen and his community will miss him dearly.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life of an outstanding and charitable woman, Ms. Martha M. Muransky. Martha was born on May 28, 1923, to Joseph and Martha Kukara and spent her 89 years as a resident of the Youngstown, Ohio area. She witnessed almost a century of change and was always filled with humor, wit and kindness. She enjoyed cooking, baking, sports, and, most of all, spending time with her family.

Martha graduated from Campbell High School in 1940 and was an active member of the SS. Cyril & Methodius Church. Martha possessed a keen intelligence, a love for reading, and understood the value of commitment. She worked as a precinct committee woman during elections, belonged to the First Catholic Slovak Union and without a doubt was her son Ed's number one fan as he pursued an outstanding football career. A hard worker, Martha was employed by G.E. Mazda Lamp Company, operated her family's produce store until 1957, and worked for both Union Bank and the Home Savings and Loan Company.

I extend my most sincere condolences to Martha's family. Her long and productive life set an example to all of us and all who knew her. Her life and the values she embodied greatly influenced her relatives, including her two brothers, Larry and Ray Kukara, daughter Elaine Mulichak, son Ed Muransky, grandchildren Brian Mulichak, Melissa Kellgren, Eddie Muransky, Deloran Muransky and Donielle Muransky, and great grandchildren, Luke, Paige and Karter. Martha was preceded in death by her sister, Ethel DeNicholas, and two brothers, Frank and Joseph Kukara. Martha was a very special woman and will be long remembered.

Mr. Speaker, we hear a lot from our Republican friends about funding for NIH and these pediatric research programs where dozens of children can get cancer treatment, and they make a big deal about it. On our side, we want to make sure every child in the United States has access to health care in case they get cancer.

We hear from the other side: We want to open the World War II Memorial so that veterans can have access to the memorial. But if that veteran's spouse or that veteran's child may have cancer or not have health care, we're saying, as Americans, that we should cover every American. Isn't that what they fought and died for, justice for all, and health care justice for all? And we hear from the other side: They're shutting down the government.

I was against the Iraq war. The Iraq war was unaffordable. The Iraq war was unpopular. Fifty-eight percent of the American people were against the Iraq war. Democrats didn't shut down the government.

Use the political process--which we did, and won the House back in '06, won the Presidency in '08, and wound down the Iraqi war. That's how you govern in democracy.

Two hundred-plus years we have been governing in this country through a political process. You wrap yourselves in the flag, and then you don't use the democratic process.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to be here to do a Special Order.

We are here, and I am here as a cochair of the House Manufacturing Caucus, to celebrate and recognize National Manufacturing Day. We know there are a lot of divisive issues being talked about here in the Nation's Capitol. But I think one issue, as we start to lay some groundwork for what the world looks like after we shake this virus that's happening here in Washington, D.C., I think manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, three-dimensional printing, and all of the issues that surround rebuilding the United States of America, can happen. And we have an obligation, I think, as we have arguments about the issues of the day, also to lay that seed corn, that long-term investment in strategies that will help our country grow.

We have a group of men and women, Members of Congress here this evening, that would like to speak on that. And I would like to work quickly through that list. First, I would like to yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts. Congressman Kennedy, coming from New England, coming from Massachusetts, which obviously is a huge manufacturing State with a long history of manufacturing, beginning with the early stages of our country.

I thank the gentleman. And I would also like to thank him for his leadership on that particular bill. We do have the National Additive Manufacturing Institute in

downtown Youngstown, Ohio, and we're starting to see how that public- private partnership is beginning to light up not only downtown Youngstown but the entire tech belt region, from Cleveland to Akron, Youngstown down to Pittsburgh.

And there are multiple companies involved in that. We just had Siemens Corporation donate over $400 million in software to Youngstown State University as we begin to create that pipeline for people to go into this new and what will be a transformational industry.

Our next speaker is the gentleman from Delaware, also a State that is crucial to our defense industrial base and our manufacturing base here in the United States. I yield to Congressman Carney.

I thank the gentleman from Delaware, who obviously gets it, and is involved in, I think, a lot of initiatives that we're beginning to push here in a bipartisan way.

And as I said, I hope when we get through the next few weeks and this tough time that we're having here, that we can begin to push some of these initiatives.

Our next speaker is the gentlelady from Connecticut, another New England State that is deeply, deeply engaged in manufacturing in the United States from very, very early on, a key component to our defense industrial base, whether it's any branch, quite frankly, of the military, especially the Navy, and the technologies that spin out of a lot of the public investments that we make.

And I think when we talk about public/private partnerships, and when we talk about public investments, Connecticut's the kind of State that, if we make these investments, benefits a great deal. It has a very skilled workforce, a well-educated workforce, but also a great manufacturing workforce.

I yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. Esty).

I thank the gentlelady for her good work and good words.

Our next speaker is from the great State of California which, obviously, has one of the most diverse economies. But many people think California, and they don't necessarily think manufacturing. And the leadership that the gentleman has been providing here, a number of issues, a number of bills sponsored and pushed throughout his career here, and we're going to learn more about, I'm sure, what's going on in California.

So I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda).

I thank the gentleman. And that point of the supply chain, I think, is essential; to recognize that it's not just the General Motors plant, but it's all of the Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 suppliers right down the line that are making component parts, that are providing good manufacturing jobs for Americans.

Those jobs, as has been stated here several times, pay a lot more. The average manufacturing worker makes about $77,000 a year. The national average is $60,000 a year.

So more patents, more innovation coming off the factory floors around the country, in the field of manufacturing, and so that happens in supply chains, the companies that are involved in the supply chains, and also the big manufacturers that we often think of.

One statistic I'd like to make, too, before I introduce the gentleman from Rhode Island, is we think of big companies like Boeing and like Facebook. And Facebook, which has a lot of prominence today, Facebook, they both have market values over $50 billion.

Facebook employs about 5,000 workers. Boeing employs about 170,000 workers because you need the manpower, the woman power in these facilities to make that happen.

So I'd like to yield to my friend, a strong advocate for working- class people on the House Budget Committee, and it's always fun to be on that committee with him.

I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).

Will the gentleman yield on that point?

I think it's important and it's a critical point. We have legislative fixes and we have strategies down here, but much of this is cultural. As you said, these facilities are not your grandparents' manufacturing facilities. In Youngstown and Akron and in Rhode Island, we remember growing up and hearing about that long legacy of the steel mills blowing out soot. You've got to sweep your porch off two or three times during the course of the day because of the soot that's coming out. The mill was running and people said, That means we're working. It's gold dust, really.

Today, it's much different. You can eat your breakfast off the floor in some of these facilities.

And so how do we break with guidance counselors with, in my estimation, the robotics in the schools, Legos in the early schools, and begin this pipeline to get people excited about using their hands and making things again. And not everyone is going to go to college and get a 4-year degree.

Yes. I think a lot of the jobs people have today, you're tied to a Blackberry after 5 or 6 o'clock, your iPhone on the weekend. A lot of these manufacturing jobs you put a good hard day's work in, you go home. You go home and get the grill going. You go to your kid's little league game. You go watch the Browns. You do whatever it is you've got to do. The Patriots or whoever you're rooting for. You have time to do other important things and be with your family and other things.

And I remember looking back in the heyday in Youngstown and Niles, where I grew up, my grandfather had a great job, was well paid in the steel mill, and at 3 or 4 o'clock, he was gone. And he would go to his garden, they would have time to make dinner, have a happy hour where the families would come together and be together and have that quality of life.

And I think we can look at manufacturing and say, Well, hey, it's clean, it's a new skill set, it's exciting. There's a lot of really hot things going on in manufacturing today. You can work in a team. You're creating new products in all different sectors of the economy, and you have a life outside of your work that is important for your family, your children, your kids, and everything else.

I agree. The issue really is we need to get on the stick because China, the European Union, many other countries are pumping a good deal of money into 3-D printing. We have one set up. The President wants to do an additional 7 to 10 or 20, maybe 30 additional centers, where you have these public-private partnerships where you're innovating in areas of the economy. We have the first in Additive Manufacturing. You have one of the first grants to start developing in Rhode Island.

The Chinese are dumping tons of money in 3-D printing. They're going to have 10 innovation centers in China. So they're full speed ahead. And this is an area that we want to win. We want to make sure that we are on the cutting edge, not just because we're Americans, but because our success is the world's success.

I think making these investments is critical. There really isn't that much money. In the grand scheme of things, putting hundreds of millions of dollars into these critical areas of the economy, if you look at three-dimensional printing, it's a printer, in essence, like the printer you would have on your desk, except you pump materials into the printer, and it can print your iPhone, it could print a shoe. They have YouTube videos of houses being printed one day.

It's just amazing how this is going to revolutionize manufacturing. We used to have the mainframe computers that became desktops.

So we have manufacturing today that builds rooms that could also be shrunk. And parts. And it has a transformational effect to have a desktop manufacturing unit that every American could utilize. And the kind of innovation that's going to come from this, the kind of decentralizing, streamlining efficiencies in the supply chain, all of these things that can revolutionize our country. Look at what the Internet has done for wealth creation. But this is the kind of wealth creation that hits people in Rhode Island, hits people in Youngstown and Akron, Ohio. It's not just Silicon Valley. They benefit, manufacture it somewhere else, and no one else really benefits from it other than the product, which is a significant benefit. This, I think, can be very revolutionary in that regard.

So we've got an obligation here. Seeing the tea leaves, reading the leaves, we've got to make those investments.

Well, it takes some public investment. That's what I worry about and I talk to our Republican colleagues about.

My concern really is this national narrative that there isn't anything that the government could spend money on that would be a good thing--it's all bad, any spending at all. So that is a bad narrative to operate from when you're trying to say, hey, here's the public-private partnerships that we want to see, as I said in my opening.

So the public-private partnership with NAMII in Youngstown, the Additive Manufacturing Institute, public-private partnership; a lot of companies, defense companies--companies like Siemens. So here is the investment in Youngstown. Now there is the building that was refurbished was an old warehouse--and that's great--in old downtown. Now there's other businesses looking to locate. They say well, we want to be around the innovation that's happening there. So for an older industrial area, fantastic for us to have that opportunity.

Then Siemens comes in, and Siemens donated $440 million worth of software to Youngstown State University to create that pipeline. You can see how just that little public investment is driving all of the private investment that's not just going to help our region--the tech belt from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, to Akron and Youngstown, that whole region--but transform throughout the entire country. Everyone will benefit from this.

So you begin to see that pipeline that you can create. And as you said, get on a track for manufacturing when you're in high school so that when you're 18, you're not wandering around saying what car can I go buy and get myself into debt, or go to college for 1 year and accumulate debt and drop out because it's not your thing. We want kids to graduate from high school with a skill, to be able to go out in the world and earn if they don't want to go to college.

Get these 3-D printers in the schools. These kids are amazing. They'll learn it like that. That's going to take some public investment.

I appreciate the gentleman being here. I see States represented here, Rhode Island and Connecticut and Massachusetts and Ohio and California, and you could go on into Michigan and Indiana and Wisconsin and all through New England and into Maine and New Hampshire. We are a manufacturing country. We always have been. So I thank the gentleman.

Can I ask, Mr. Speaker, how much time I have remaining?

I would like to make a few comments slightly off topic for celebrating Manufacturing Recognition Day tomorrow and just explain to my constituents at home in a couple of minutes--because I don't want to take the entire time, but in a couple of minutes, explain to my constituents at home my feelings and how I think things are playing out here in Washington. I haven't had an opportunity to be home, and I want to communicate to them.

My position here obviously is we need to get the government up and running. We have the national discussion going on about health care, the Affordable Care Act. I voted for the Affordable Care Act, support the Affordable Care Act. We're going to have its glitches as it rolls out. But prior to a few years ago, as we were getting into the run-up of the Affordable Care Act, I had 1,700 families in 1 year go bankrupt because of health care costs, numerous people losing their insurance.

As we're talking about the next generation of manufacturing, it has been an ugly process in communities like ours with people losing their jobs and not having health insurance, and 45, 50, 55, 60 years old can't yet qualify for Medicare, are stuck, can't get any insurance. That was a problem. Health care costs going up dramatically.

But what's happening here is we're now having a discussion from a smaller group in the Republican caucus of Tea Party members who are hellbent on killing the Affordable Care Act and dismantling it.

Now, here is the problem: They have every right as an American citizen and as an elected Member of the United States Congress to have that opinion and to fight for that.

Here's where I think there is a problem: We have an obligation here in this Chamber to make sure that the government runs--runs smoothly, gets funded. We're going to have our arguments as to what the investments are, what the Tax Code looks like, what are the trade agreements. These are all fights we have in this Chamber. I'm not here to say that democracy is pretty. It's ugly. It's messy. There's a House of 435 Members, a Senate of 100 Members, a President, an executive branch. This is an ugly process. It is inherently ugly. As Churchill said, it's the worst form of government on the planet, except for all the others.

We have an obligation to keep the government running. So my argument, my complaint with what the Tea Party members are doing by saying, well, we'll extend what we call a continuing resolution--funding of the government--we will agree to extend it for 6 more weeks if you defund ObamaCare or if you delay ObamaCare.

Now, as I said, they have every right to make that argument and they have every right to have that belief, but a couple of points.

We fund the government, and then through the normal process of governing--committee process, the struggle between the House and the Senate, the Republican House and the Democratic Senate and a Democratic President--we have that fight through the normal budgetary process.

You do not shut down the government because you don't like a piece of legislation that passed the House, passed the Senate, was signed into law by the President of the United States, and the Supreme Court deemed it constitutional. You do not shut the government down because of that. You continue the government operating, and then you have this other fight.

And guess what? Maybe you won't win the fight. I was here in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006. The Iraq war was going on. I was against the Iraq war, had no interest in us going to Iraq, campaigned against it my first election. But when we got down here, we, through the political process, fought it and we tried to end it. Then, eventually, in 2006, Democrats won the House, won the Senate. We began the process of trying to continue to end the war in Iraq. We didn't do a very good job of it because President Bush was still in office. President Bush had just won reelection in 2004, but we continued the fight.

My friends say the Affordable Care Act is not affordable and not popular. Guess what? The Iraq war was not affordable. The Iraq war was not popular. Well over 50 percent of Americans did not want us to be there at one point. But you just don't shut down the government because a policy has shifted in the country or the mood of the country has shifted on something. You have to work through the political process.

So let's have that fight. And if you don't win it--if I were the Tea Party, I'd say: Boy, this ObamaCare is so bad, set it up and let it go. Wait until the American people see this. We're going to sweep them in 2014. We're going to win the Presidency back in 2016.

Why wouldn't you just let it go? If it's so bad, let it go. You win the House back. You could defund it. You could strip it down. You win the Presidency. Start back over. We could go back to that old system where people are going bankrupt with their current health care plan or getting kicked off or not getting coverage for a preexisting condition. You have every right to do that.

So let's get back to regular order. If Speaker Boehner brought a bill to the House floor today, right now, called all Members and said we're having what we call a clean CR, we're just going to extend funding from the current levels out for 6 weeks or 8 weeks--whatever the number would be--and he brought it to the floor, it would pass, Democrats and Republicans. The Senate would send their bill over; the President would sign it. The government would open back up, and we could go back to having our fights about the Affordable Care Act; and the Tea Party folks could talk about how bad it is, and we'll have examples of people that have benefited and we'll move on.

Now, the other problem I have is that we've already had this political fight. It doesn't stop us from having it again. Sometimes political fights take some time. So we just had this fight.

Our friends on the other side called this ``ObamaCare,'' and President Obama just won reelection--clean sweep across the country; more Democrats in the Senate in States like Indiana. Sherrod Brown won reelection in Ohio. President Obama won Ohio and a bunch of other key swing States where the central issue was repeal ObamaCare. So that battle was just fought, and to shut down the government in this process, I think, is improper.

Here we have now all these other issues with the debt ceiling coming up and all of these other things. Let's have the fight, win the political argument, win the political battle. Take it back to the people in 2014 and 2016 if that's ultimately what you want to do. As I said, you have every right to do that. This is a democracy. The political system will allow for it.

So I just want my constituents to know, you know, I don't think we should get into a position of necessarily picking what parts of the government should open and not open. Open it up.

The other point is, the Democrats, for the number we want to open it up at, we wanted a much higher number. There's been too many cuts, in our estimation, for some of these essential

programs that are long-term investments for our country. So we already compromised, because our number was $1.58 trillion, or something like that, and the Republican number was $986 billion. And the President said we'll take that number, so we already compromised.

If you go out and want to buy a car and someone makes an offer for $10,000 and you say, ``No, I'll give you 9 for it,'' and they say, ``Okay, we'll take it for 9,'' that was a compromise. That's what happened here.

But still, to be clear to my constituents, every bill that has come off this floor didn't just say we're going to extend funding for the government. It said we're going to extend funding for the government and we want to repeal ObamaCare, we want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and we want to delay it for a year. That is an issue that has been argued. We can continue to do it, but let's do it through the normal political process.

Let's get NIH back up and running, Centers for Disease Control, Food Safety. All of these things can be funded with a total package.

If Speaker Boehner brought a bill to the floor, a clean continuing resolution that funded the government without any of this extraneous stuff, it would pass with Democrats and Republicans. The Senate would agree to it, the President would sign it, and the doors would open back up.

Lastly, let me say--because my friends have come up on the other side and said, well, we want to fund NIH because there's pediatric cancer patients there that need help, and I say of course we want to do that. But we want every family in America to have insurance if their child gets cancer. We want every citizen to have access. And the Affordable Care Act has done that for millions and millions of people. It got rid of preexisting conditions. It has taken the insurance companies out of the doctor/patient relationship.

Before, if you were a child or you had cancer, you could hit your lifetime limit on your insurance policy and then you were screwed. You couldn't get insurance because you hit your lifetime limit in just a year or two. The Affordable Care Act removed that cap and it allows those investments to be made and allows that person to be able to get their health care.

These are commonsense things. So I wanted to communicate that to my constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say thank you. We are here also to recognize National Manufacturing Day tomorrow. I want to thank Congressman Reed, who is the cochair of the House Manufacturing Caucus, for his leadership on establishing more of these innovation centers, along with Congressman Kennedy and all of our speakers here tonight.

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