Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank Chairman Oberstar and Ranking Member Mica, as well as Subcommittee Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Baker for their hard work and leadership on this important legislation--the first water improvement and conservation package in seven years.

Following several earlier impasses, I want to take this opportunity to commend the spirit of bipartisanship and compromise on this important measure. I hope it extends to a bicameral bipartisanship in the weeks to come.

This bill benefits all Americans and their families who use and enjoy our Nation's waterways, public beaches--including over 300 miles of coastline along my district--and for U.S. businesses that depend on healthy and viable waterways throughout the country.

My district benefits from the good work that the Army Corps of Engineers does for coastal communities by helping small towns deal with multiple concerns ranging from erosion to longstanding environmental challenges. The Corps is currently working on several projects on eastern Long Island that will dredge inlets, restore damaged ecosystems, and study coastal health.

In addition, H.R. 1495 will go a long way toward supplying the Corps with all the resources it needs to protect coastal communities and vacationers by modernizing project planning and approval.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the Chairman and Ranking Member again for their hard work on this issue, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to make sure that we get a WRDA bill to the President as soon as we can. We simply cannot afford to let another year go by without passing this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a respected and important landmark in the First Congressional District, the Middle Country Public Library.

Since 1957, the Middle Country Public Library has been a dynamic center for continuous learning that provides information, resources and programs to meet the needs of our diverse Long Island population. Visionary leadership, outstanding facilities, a skilled staff and collaborative partnerships enable the Library to deliver model services including free and spacious meeting rooms for use by community groups.

The Middle Country Public Library has received numerous awards including the ``Pioneer Vision Award'', ``The Godfrey Award for Excellence in Public Library Services for Children and Families'', and the ``Groundbreaker Award'' for promoting diversity and cultural awareness. On Saturday, April 21, the Library will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. The celebration will include performances, puppet shows, and stories to commemorate five full decades of stellar service and commitment to the community.

Madam Speaker, I strongly agree with John Quincy Adams, this great country's 6th President, when he said, ``To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind.'' Indeed, the Middle Country Public Library is a welcoming place for knowledge, dedicated to excellence and to enhancing the quality of life in Suffolk County, New York. I am proud to honor its 50th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 306, expressing our condolences to the victims and the families involved in the tragedy which occurred this week at Virginia Tech University.

April 16 brought terrible loss to all Americans and particularly to those who are part of a college or university. The nearly 30 years I spent working on a college campus were some of the most fulfilling of my life. I know how much a campus can become a community and the people within it, a family. In some ways, a campus is a haven--of learning and growth--in which students feel safe and free to pursue their dreams and aspirations. To young Americans, a campus is among the last places where such horrific fears could be realized.

When we look back on what occurred this week at Virginia Tech, we will honor those whose lives were taken and those who gave their lives to protect others. We will remember that we can never safeguard against every threat. Still, we can take steps to protect the precious communities in which we live. We must do more to ensure that lethal weapons do not fall into the wrong hands. We must equip campuses and cities with adequate emergency communication systems, so that critical information gets out in time.

In the meantime, Mr. Speaker, we stand with the friends and family members around the world who lost loved ones on that tragic April morning in Virginia.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this resolution. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle argue that this budget represents the largest tax increase in history; nothing could be further from the truth. This budget does not increase taxes by a single dime.

Rather, this budget simply extends current law as the President and the then-Republican majority designed with the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which expire on December 31, 2010. At that time we will have a decision to make: Whether to renew those tax cuts, and how to pay for them. The era of blank checks for tax cuts is over. Today, we restore fiscal responsibility to the budget process. With respect to entitlement reform, I think many of us would like to hear some acknowledgment from our friends on the other side of the aisle that the $3 trillion in debt that was accumulated on their watch makes dealing with the growing demands on Medicare and Social Security all the more difficult to contend with.

We balance the budget within 5 years and set the table for tax- writing committees to do their job, which first and foremost, should result in repeal of the AMT for middle-income Americans once and for all.

As this budget puts us on the glidepath to fiscal responsibility, it dramatically raises spending levels education, veterans, and health care. These priorities will never be overlooked on our watch.

We reject the President's proposal to cut funding for education by $1.5 billion and eliminate 44 programs. We give college students and their families a chance to succeed by rejecting the President's plan to zero out SEOG, Perkins loans and need-based grants.

Mr. Chairman, I commend the distinguished chairman and his staff for their excellent work, restoring middle-class priorities is accomplished. Fiscal responsibility is achieved. Finally, the fiscal blueprint of America's future reflects our hopes, dreams and the promise of economic prosperity and security in the years ahead.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act. I concede that the legislation we are voting on today is by no means perfect, but I do believe it is a step in the right direction and deserves the support of those Americans who want to bring this misguided and mismanaged war to a responsible and timely conclusion.

In an ideal world, we would bring our troops home today, but that doesn't match the reality of our struggle in Iraq. We have an even smaller chance of accomplishing that goal in the Senate. The bill before us represents the best opportunity to affect the conduct of this war.

The benchmarks established within the supplemental are the same as those proposed by the President in January, the Iraq Study Group, and endorsed by Iraqi leaders. They include real consequences for the Iraqi government and a definite timeline for a phased and deliberate redeployment of American combat forces from Iraq by no later than August 2008. The bill provides what is currently missing in the President's policies--a plan to redeploy our troops from a situation that cannot be improved by their continued presence.

It's unmistakable that our presence in Iraq has weakened our Armed Forces and jeopardized our standing in the world. It has also diverted valuable resources away from fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan, tracking down Osama bin Laden, and preventing another terrorist attack against America. The supplemental not only provides a new direction in Iraq, but also redirects resources to fight the real global war on terrorism.

To all of those who argue that passage of this legislation would mean conceding defeat to the terrorists, I would say both that they are wrong, and that the alternative they endorse is unacceptable. For what they propose is simply ``stay the course,'' more of the same--more deaths, more life altering injuries, more destruction, more squandered opportunity, more debt, and more diminished standing in the world. This legislation is about sending a message to the President that he cannot pursue the same failed strategy of the past 4 years and receive a blank check from this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I am opposed to this war. I believe the decision to invade Iraq is the single most devastating and misguided foreign policy decision our Nation has ever made. I will vote for the supplemental because I believe it is the best course available to us at this time to bring our involvement in this misguided tragedy to an end.

I want to thank my colleague and friend from New Jersey for introducing this important legislation, and I wish to commend Chairman Oberstar and Chairwoman Johnson for their leadership in moving this bill to the floor.

Mr. Chairman, this bill is extremely important to my district, which is bordered by water on three sides. Each year, many of my constituents and millions of other Americans are sickened by swimming in water contaminated by sewer overflows. This inadequately treated sewage is filled with bacteria and viruses.

Also, the cumulative costs from sewer systems result in thousands of days of closed beaches at a cost of billions of dollars due to swimming-related illnesses. The impact of such contamination to my district, with over 300 miles of coastline, can be devastating to the fishing and tourist economies that depend upon clean water and healthy beaches.

According to the EPA, an estimated 850 billion gallons of raw sewage and industrial waste escape each year much of it into public waters. Unfortunately, despite this obvious need, the President's fiscal 2008 budget cuts infrastructure funding by $400 million or 36.6 percent. It is my hope that our budget resolution and our appropriators will override this cut.

Yet many Americans do not become aware of sewage leaks until they show up on a closed beach or, worse yet, are made ill because many sewer systems do not routinely monitor to detect sewer overflows or report those that do occur to environmental or public health agencies.

This bill authorizes $1.8 billion over the next 5 years for grants to prevent dangerous sewer overflows. More needs to be done, but this is a good first step. Vote for this bill, protect the health of our Nation's beachgoers and protect our environment.

Madam Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 800, the Employee Free Choice Act. We will hear today about how this bill will deny workers their fundamental right to a secret ballot. It sounds compelling but it's just not so.

Here is what the bill will deny: it will deny the employer the ability to veto a workforce's effort to form a union by virtue of majority sign up. Under current law, if a majority of workers sign cards indicating their support for a union, it is the employer, not the workers, who gets to choose if there is a secret ballot election. Under current law, therefore, if the employer doesn't like the result of the sign up process, he can, in effect, demand a do-over. How is this fair to workers?

Our bill places the power to choose to seek a union affiliation where it should be--with the workers, not with the management. If the majority of workers want a union--they get a union.

As a son of a union member, I witnessed firsthand the advantages of a unionized workforce. In fact I stand here today because of the protections my father's union afforded him, as they allowed him to provide for his family and send kids to college.

This bill will finally give workers the protection they need. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this straightforward legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution which is a clear and concise response on behalf of the majority of Americans who share our opposition to the President's misguided plan to escalate the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

We can all agree upon and indeed must take this opportunity once again to affirm that our support for the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces is steadfast and unyielding.

As this resolution declares, our first priority must continue to be protecting the brave men and women in uniform who have served this Nation honorably and valiantly. The decision to invade Iraq is the single most devastating and misguided foreign policy decision our Nation has ever made, and the process of protecting our Nation from compounding this tragic error must begin this week under new leadership with a clear vision and a plan that finally acknowledges that we can no longer stay the course in Iraq.

After nearly 4 years of war, the sacrifice of more than 3,100 brave servicemen and -women, tens of thousands more injured, and over $600 billion spent on the war to date, President Bush's ``mission accomplished'' declaration certainly rings hollow.

We must not forget whose war and misguided strategy failed us, and we must ask who the President is listening to beyond the small circle of advisers who were the architects of this fiasco in the first place.

The only strategy this administration has proposed is to stay the course, augmented by four earlier surges, along with the most recent plan to deploy the additional 21,500 U.S. troops, likely to escalate further to 40,000 to 60,000 more troops before the year's end. This latest policy is stay the course writ large.

The President's plan operates under the assumption that somehow, despite

all the evidence to the contrary, there is a military path to success if only more forces are on the ground. Not only is this logic flawed, it flies in the face of the wisdom of his top generals in the field, such as the former commander of the U.S. Central Command, John Abizaid, who told the Senate Armed Services Committee that ``more American troops right now is not the solution to the problem.''

I agree. We cannot afford to inject more of America's best and bravest into the chaos, particularly without the armor and training to protect them. Shortchanging our heroes in the face of a relentless insurgency is unworthy of this Nation. If we can't supply our troops with what they need, how can we possibly contemplate an escalation?

Without a reduction to the violence against U.S. troops, without stability in the region, and without evidence of a correlation between the raging violence and the number of U.S. troops and the number of trained Iraqi troops, now is the time to reduce the U.S. combat presence in Iraq, not expand it.

The Republican mantra has been that the Democrats don't have a plan for Iraq other than cut and run, an assertion that is simply false. We do have a comprehensive plan for Iraq that includes implementing the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, a regional conference to engage Iraq's neighbors diplomatically, and seeking political solutions to the escalating turmoil in the region. But again I would ask, what evidence is there to suggest that this President will listen to anyone's plan other than his own?

This is simply not an insurgency that needs to be crushed. Confirmed by the President's most recent National Intelligence Estimate, Iraq is in a state of civil war, and thus political solutions are needed to address the real problem. Although al Qaeda remains active in Iraq, they have been surpassed by ethnic violence, the primary source of conflict and the most immediate threat to stability in Iraq.

Proponents of the war claim that those opposed to the surge aren't supporting the troops. I would ask them how we are supporting our troops while keeping them in a country where 70 percent of Iraqis believe it is acceptable to attack U.S. troops, where 78 percent believe that our troops provoke more violence than they prevent, where three-quarters of them would feel safer if American forces left Iraq.

By staying the course in Iraq, we are putting our troops in a situation that has no positive outcome. Aren't the lives of our troops more valuable than saving political face and trying to prove a point?

And while it is well known that the claims of weapons of mass destruction were based on faulty intelligence and there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, why are we committing our troops and resources towards refereeing a civil war in Iraq, thereby diverting resources required to win the global war on terror rather than fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan, tracking down Osama bin Laden, and preventing another terrorist attack against America?

The President's earlier NIE made it very clear last September that the war in Iraq has become a primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists, motivating a global jihadist movement and a new generation of potential terrorists around the world whose numbers may be increasing faster than the United States and our allies can reduce the threat.

Opposition to this surge does not mean a lack of support for our troops; rather, it affirms what the American people made clear last November, that our policy in Iraq is not working and that we need a new direction. I will vote for this resolution, and I will continue to join with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring our involvement in this misguided tragedy to an end

The NIE also indicates that, rather than contributing to eventual victory in the global counter-terrorism struggle, the situation in Iraq has diminished America's position, What additional evidence does the President need to prove that his policies in Iraq are only making matters worse for Iraqis and making the world decidedly less safe for America?

And to those who would argue that this resolution sends a signal to our enemies that we are weak and divided, you are wrong. This debate proves why democracy works, unites us, makes us stronger, more resolute, and why these strengths--that our enemies envy and seek to overcome--will ensure that we ultimately prevail over them.

Opposition to this surge does not mean a lack of support for our troops. Rather, it affirms what the American people made clear last November--that our policy in Iraq is not working and we need a new direction.

I will vote for this resolution, and I will continue to join with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring our involvement in this misguided tragedy to an end. Voicing opposition to this war, to this President's policies, and to more of the same is our solemn responsibility, consistent with the objectives of this resolution, the hopes of the American people, and the mission of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the Majority leadership and the distinguished chairmen of the Armed Services and International Relations Committees for their hard work and making this debate a priority of this Congress.

Madam Speaker, a front page story in today's Washington Post reports that once again we are sending our troops into harm's way in Iraq ill equipped.

Madam Speaker, it is unconscionable that our Commander in Chief is resigned to send another 21,500 of America's brave sons and daughters into battle again not ``with the Army you want but with the Army you have.''

Although the Deputy Defense Secretary and Chief of Naval Operations told us in the Budget Committee last week that they will need another $5.5 billion just to fund the surge, apparently that is not enough to supply these troops with an adequate number of Humvees or training needed to achieve the mission.

Short-changing our heroes in the face of a relentless insurgency is unworthy of this Nation. If we cannot supply a surge, we must not escalate our presence.

Madam Speaker, let us resolve to make this year the year of transition out of Iraq that Americans have been waiting for. And let us make sure our policy never again falls short of measuring up to the valor and sacrifice of our troops.

Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate and recognize the extraordinary efforts of the William Floyd High School Varsity Football Team, for winning the 2006 Long Island High School Championship and the coveted Rutgers Trophy.

After an undefeated regular season, the William Floyd Colonials captured the Conference I Championship, the Suffolk County Championship, and finished the season with a 34-27 victory over Baldwin High School for the Long Island Championship. The Colonials executed on both sides of the football, in front of more than 5,200 boisterous fans. They controlled the game, exhibiting teamwork and great individual effort to finish with a perfect 11-0 season.

I am honored to represent William Floyd High School and these athletes who not only strive to succeed on the field of play, but in the classroom as well. As a parent, I value the important lessons that competitive athletics teaches our students in pursuit of a lifetime of success. I have long been an advocate of sports and extracurricular activities as they complement academic excellence, inspire leadership, and build character, which better prepare our students to face the challenges of the 21st century.

Special congratulations to William Floyd's head coach, Paul Longo, and the coaching staff who trained this football team to be the best on Long Island. These young student athletes represent all that is good about high school sports, and it is my privilege to serve as their Congressman.

Go Floyd!

Madam Speaker, during the most recent vote to extend the Higher Education Act, I stood in this very spot and expressed my hope that during the next session of Congress, under a new majority, we would again address the needs of America's college students and make it this time about increasing access and affordability. Madam Speaker, that hope is now being realized.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5, the College Student Relief Act of 2007. This important legislation cuts interest rates for subsidized student loans in half, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over 5 years. In my home State of New York, students will save an average of $4,500 over the course of their loan once the 3.4 percent interest rate takes effect. This reduction of the student interest rate will save millions of college students thousands of dollars, and it will help the estimated 4.4 million high school graduates who will be prevented from attending college this year because of financial barriers.

It is important to note that all of the changes proposed here today are accomplished under this Congress' new PAYGO rules and are done without harming students' access to loans. In addition, all but one of the offsets included in the bill have been proposed by either the former Republican majority or by the President himself.

Madam Speaker, during the 109th Congress this Chamber chose to cut $12 billion out of the student loan program. These cuts, coupled with no increase in the Pell Grant maximum for 5 years, have sent a message to America's students that they are no longer among this Nation's top priorities. Today the message we send to students is loud and clear: We in this Congress are dedicated to helping you achieve the dream of a college education.

The changes we make here today are just a first step in a series of proposals that will make it easier for students and their families to afford college. As we move forward with the long overdue reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, I hope to see an increase in the maximum Pell Grant, simplification of the FAFSA, and an increased investment in campus-based aid programs. These changes are all part of an effort to narrow the expanding gap between the amount of available student aid compared with the cost of attaining a college education.

As a former college administrator, I know firsthand the beneficial impact this legislation will have for needy students and their families who are working to help their sons and daughters realize their slice of the American Dream.

Mr. Speaker, after watching last night's Presidential address, I must question whether or not our President actually listens to anyone besides the same neoconservative ideologues who are the architects of the fiasco in Iraq and who have insisted that victory in Iraq is just around the corner.

Clearly the President is not listening to his top generals on the ground who have expressed doubt in the President's call for a surge in troops; nor is he listening to the advice of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which has called for a redeployment of troops and additional training for Iraqi security forces; nor is he listening to the Iraqi people, 78 percent of whom say the presence of American troops is adding to, rather than controlling, the violence.

Most importantly, the President isn't listening to the American people, who sent a clear message last November that his policies in Iraq aren't working, and that a change of course is needed.

Mr. Speaker, I am opposed to the President's plan to escalate this war. I believe the solutions to the problems in Iraq are political ones. And I will support my colleagues in using the constitutional authority vested in the Congress to control our future involvement in Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, due to a previously scheduled commitment, I was not present in the House chamber to vote on rollcalls 526 or 527.

Please indicate as such in the appropriate place in the Congressional Record that I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall 526 and ``yea'' on rollcall 527 had I been present.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for your attention to this request.

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

I rise in strong support of House Resolution 343. But before I speak on the resolution, I would just like to say a few words about the author of the resolution, my friend and colleague and fellow New Yorker, Congressman Boehlert.

Congressman Boehlert, during your time in Congress you have been a fair and open-minded public servant; you have been a model of bipartisanship. You have been a very strong voice for the Science Committee and for the scientific community, and I wish you good luck and congratulations in your future endeavors.

I rise in strong support of House Resolution 343. This bipartisan resolution recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1956, the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities is a statewide association representing the public policy interests of more than 100 independent colleges and universities in New York State.

The private colleges and universities of New York award 56 percent of the baccalaureate degrees, 71 percent of the master's degrees, and 87 percent of the professional degrees earned in New York State. Over 460,000 students in New York are enrolled in independent higher education, which comprises 38 percent of all students attending colleges in New York State. Collectively, these campuses employ over 158,000 New Yorkers and generate more than $40 billion annually of economic activity within their communities.

Before coming to Congress, I was lucky enough to work for 29 years at a member institution of CICU, and thus I have had the opportunity to see firsthand its effective and unified approach to ensuring access, quality, and diversity.

As a result of CICU's relentless advocacy, New York's students have seen increases in both the Tuition Assistance Program and the Bundy Aid program, both of which are New York-based financial aid programs that fill a vital need in both student aid and in institutional aid.

In Congress, I have found CICU and its president, Abe Lackman, and his staff to be a valuable resource on higher education issues, keeping me abreast of trends and concerns of the New York higher education community.

The students and private colleges of New York are lucky to have CICU advocating on their behalf in both Albany and Washington. I would like to personally congratulate CICU on their 50th anniversary, and I look forward to working with them during the next session of Congress on ways to improve college access and affordability.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

MR. KUHL of New York. Likewise, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in support of H.R. 6206, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship Fund provides an essential service to students in our country. By awarding graduate students scholarships in the fields of public service, they not only help to make higher education more affordable, but encourage students to give back to their country with service. The fund was founded nearly 30 years ago, and continues to serve as a living memorial to President Truman and his service to this country.

The scholarship foundation awards approximately 75 scholarships each year to students pursuing careers in public service. After leaving graduate school, students must serve at least 3 years in public service employment, including teaching, government service, or public interest organizations. In 2004, the foundation awarded 77 scholarships to students from 67 universities and colleges. Additionally, 52 percent of the scholars were women, and 32 percent were of African, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American heritage.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, college affordability is a serious concern for students and families in this country. Tuition at 4-year public colleges has increased by 35 percent in the last 5 years, higher than at any other 5-year period in the last 30 years.

Additionally, recent estimates show that the debt burden from paying for college has priced students out of public service careers. These estimates show that 23 percent of 4-year college students graduate with too much debt to manageably repay with a starting teacher's salary.

Meanwhile, public investment in higher education is waning and we are expecting students to bear more of the burden of paying for college. Students are now taking out more loans than grants to finance college. This is especially true for graduate students; only 28 percent of graduate school financing is grant aid.

Scholarship funds such as the Truman Memorial fund help to limit the reliance on loans and the growing debt burden of students. Since its inception in 1977, the Truman Memorial fund has given scholarships to 2,480 students of public service from States and schools across the Nation.

Some notable graduates include Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, David Atkins, vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center, and Margot Rogers, senior executive with the Gates Foundation working on elementary and secondary education issues.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation will help the Truman Foundation continue to serve students and our country by allowing them additional financial flexibility and autonomy, which will allow the foundation to continue to award substantial scholarships to students and will continue the living memory of President Truman.

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

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

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