Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, there are 14 million Americans out of work. We have a record 30 straight months of unemployment at 8 percent or above--the longest stretch since the Great Depression. That's simply unacceptable. The President and the Congress must work together to grow the economy and create jobs. As a businessman for over 30 years, I have seen firsthand that the government does not create jobs. The private sector does. Small business does.

My jobs plan would expand overseas markets for U.S. goods and services, lower taxes on business, eliminate frivolous lawsuits, and abolish unnecessary regulation. We need to get our financial house back in order and move towards a constitutional balanced budget amendment. It's time we work together to get America back to work.

Mr. Speaker, we need to cut spending today and reduce the deficit and avoid the dangerous prospects of putting America for the first time in default.

The bill before us today will accomplish that without raising taxes on the American people. With unemployment being what it is today, in terms of looking at small businesses, it also will not raise taxes on small businesses who are the job providers. I support the Budget Control Act because the time is now for Congress and the President to do what is in the best interest of the American people.

Our economy is struggling. Our current national debt is over $14 trillion, and we're adding $4.5 billion a day to our deficit and debt. Let me break that down. That is $188 million per hour to our deficits and debt, $4.5 billion a day.

This reckless pattern of borrowing and spending has put our country on the road to bankruptcy. Washington needs to show the American people that we can deal with these challenges today and in the future. I urge my colleagues to support the Budget Control Act.

Mr. Speaker, America stands on the brink of our Nation's first default in history. Our economy is struggling. The Federal Government borrows $188 million every hour of every day.

For too long, both parties have turned a blind eye to our government's budgetary mess. Washington needs to show the American people that we can deal with these challenges today and in the future. So far, it has failed to do so.

Congress and the President need to quit the partisan games and do what's in the best interest of America. The time to act is now. The American people demand nothing less.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Norman and Dorothy Kreisman for their efforts to provide quality psychiatric services to Southwest Florida residents who suffer from mental illness.

In the 1980s, when the Kreismans' daughter Diane came to live in Sarasota with her parents, they were unable to find adequate local facilities to treat her severe depression and symptoms of schizophrenia.

They worked to raise awareness of the problem in Tallahassee and to secure funding from the State to provide quality care for persons who were suffering from serious mental health disorders.

The Kreismans' efforts helped bring Coastal Recovery Centers, which is now Coastal Behavioral Healthcare, its first mental health services contract from the Florida Department of Children and Families in 1989.

Two years later, they were successful in bringing to Sarasota the funding necessary to build the first public Baker Act receiving facility in the county, now known as the Kreisman Center Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU).

Recently, in recognition of their contributions to raising awareness and making a difference, the Kreisman Family received the Sunshine from Darkness first annual Diamond Award.

Further testament to the efforts of the Kreisman family is a recent four-year, $2 million award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for the integration of primary and behavioral healthcare on the newly dedicated Kreisman Campus for Integrated Health Care.

The Kreismans' determination to deal with this issue head-on has made it possible for many others throughout Southwest Florida to get the care they need to grow and prosper, despite the challenges of mental illness.

On behalf of the people of Florida's 13th District, I recognize the Kreismans' successful efforts on behalf of area residents dealing with mental illness, and applaud Coastal Behavioral Healthcare's dedication of its 10th Street site as the Kreisman Campus for Integrated Health Care in their honor.

Madam Speaker, our economy has seen better days. Our national unemployment rate is over 9 percent, and America is borrowing $188 million every hour. We need to get serious about cutting spending and growing this economy.

We can start by enacting free trade agreements. That will create over 250,000 American jobs. Reforming the Tax Code will encourage companies to create jobs and stay in America, cutting frivolous lawsuits and scaling back needless regulation to give small business owners a chance to grow and succeed.

Finally, we must reduce the debt and balance the budget. The American people don't want more rhetoric; they want results. It is time for Congress to deliver.

Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 496 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Amendment Offered by Mr. Connolly of Virginia

Mr. Speaker, international competitiveness is critical to revitalizing America's economy. That is why it is so imperative that we move forward three free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. Passage of these FTAs will not only improve our relationship with these countries but will also create new trade and jobs for America.

Make no mistake--creating jobs and growing the economy are the most important issue today facing America. The U.S. International Trade Commission reported that passage of these free trade agreements could create as many as 250,000 American jobs. In Florida, we have 14 deepwater seaports that generate over $65 billion in economic value to the State. These trade agreements will only enhance that figure.

It is time that we get serious and start competing in the global marketplace. That time is right now.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk made in order by the rule.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment requires foreign terrorists to be prosecuted and tried in military tribunals.

The current policy, you have the ability to choose between a civilian court and a military tribunal. What my amendment does is it is easier to convict in a military tribunal. It is easier to protect sensitive, classified information. Foreign terrorists can be imprisoned indefinitely. Foreign terrorists are not allowed the same constitutional opportunities as U.S. citizens; and military tribunals have been used since George Washington.

I commend the Obama administration for changing its mind and announcing it will send Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to military tribunals. Let's guard against this so that in the future other White Houses and administrations won't change their mind. This amendment makes it clear, a consistent policy moving forward in terms of prosecuting foreign terrorists.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Again, I would just remind the gentleman that the Obama administration did make the change in New York in terms of Mohammed, and I just think it's the right amendment in terms of moving forward, and I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Offered By: Mr. Buchanan

Amendment No. 1: At the end of the bill add the following

new title:

Mr. Speaker, in my home State of Florida, seven people die a day, each day, of prescription drug abuse. We had three teenagers a couple of weeks ago die in 1 week. A gentleman, a friend of mine, buried his daughter on a Saturday. I talked to him on Monday, and he pleaded with me to do something about killing these pill mills all across our State.

Florida prescribes 10 times more oxycodone pills than all other States combined. To put it simply, we have more pain clinics than McDonald's restaurants.

It's time to put these pill mills out of business. We have 1,300 pill mills in Florida. We need to shut them down now. Four thousand deaths in Florida in 2008.

I've introduced legislation to crack down on pill mills. My bill will stiffen penalties and fines and use the seized assets to fund prescription drug databases. Forty-two States have databases. Florida does not. We need a database today.

The time to act is now. I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to join me in this fight, to put these pill mills out of business and stop these needless deaths.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of The Sarasota Ballet.

Jean Weidner founded The Sarasota Ballet in 1987 as a presenting organization. Her dream of a full resident ballet company was realized in 1990 when The Sarasota Ballet became the first and only professional ballet company on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Through the seasons, The Sarasota Ballet has become an exceptional company of artistic and talented dancers.

In recent years, under the direction of lain Webb, The Sarasota Ballet has achieved national and international recognition with critical acclaim from the New York and European press. In October of this year, the Company will be performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The Sarasota Ballet has made a significant contribution to the arts community for which Sarasota is famous.

I join my constituents in celebration of The Sarasota Ballet's 20th Anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the construction of the Anna Maria Pier in Florida's 13th Congressional District.

In 1911, Will Bean, the son of the first Anna Maria Island homesteader, George Emerson, had a 776 foot pier constructed by the Anna Maria Beach Development Company at the foot of Pine Avenue.

The pier has been in continuous use since then by hundreds of thousands of residents, fishermen, boaters and tourists. In fact, the pier has been named the number one tourist attraction in Manatee County by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

In 1928, the pier was acquired by the City of Anna Maria, which provides for its maintenance.

In 2008, the Anna Maria City Commission designated the pier as an historic structure and added the pier to the Florida Master Site File.

This year, the Mayor of the City of Anna Maria proclaimed May 14, 2011, as the Centennial Celebration Day to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Anna Maria City Pier's construction.

I join the City of Anna Maria in the centennial celebration of this important landmark.

Madam Speaker, I recently introduced legislation that ensures that foreign terrorists are tried in military courts instead of civilian courts like common criminals. Attorney General Holder originally wanted some terrorists, including the mastermind of 9/11, to be tried in a New York City courtroom. This proposal was soundly rejected on a bipartisan basis. My bill solves this problem.

The Military Tribunals for Terrorists Act requires terrorists to be prosecuted and sentenced before military courts. This is the appropriate judicial review for terrorists who kill innocent men, women, and children. Classified intelligence may be made public if terrorists are given access to trial in public courtrooms.

I urge all my colleagues to cosponsor this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I represent a gulf coast district in Florida; so the safety of our coastlines is critical--it's of the utmost importance to me.

I am troubled that Cuba is moving ahead with plans to drill oil 50 miles off Florida's coast. Florida doesn't allow drilling within 125 miles of our shores; so why in the world would we allow Cuba to drill even closer?

Cuba's rig, built by the Chinese, would even drill deeper than BP's rig that exploded a year ago. And if there was a spill, they claim it would only take 3 days to get to our shores.

Whose problem does it become then? Let me guess, America's problem.

I have introduced legislation to stop this project. I hope my colleagues from both sides will join me in this effort to protect our coast.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the accomplishments of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall's education programs and the work of the Van Wezel Foundation in support of arts education.

I also recognize Mary Bensel, Executive Director of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Florida for her service in support of the educational programs and community engagement activities of the Van Wezel.

The mission of the Van Wezel Foundation is to enrich the Gulf Coast community, with an emphasis on children, through the performing arts while supporting the needs of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

The arts education and community engagement programs of the Van Wezel are celebrating their fourteenth year, are nationally known, and are a major factor in the integration of arts education within our region's schools.

Each year tens of thousands of students, educators and lifelong learners from four counties are introduced to national performing arts programming through the support of the Van Wezel Foundation.

Annually, over 23,000 students from DeSoto, Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota County Schools attend the School-time performances conducted by the Van Wezel and supported by the Foundation.

Each year the Van Wezel, in collaboration with the Kennedy Center and local school districts provide specialized workshops to train teachers of science, math, history, social studies and literacy on ways to use the arts to enhance the presentation of their subject materials.

The Van Wezel is affiliated with the Partners in Education Program of the Kennedy Center and is one of the only projects nationally that has conducted a longitudinal study on the impact of integrative arts education on student learning and achievement. It is the only Kennedy partner in the country to have received seven national research grants on the impact of the arts and education programs within county schools.

Furthermore, the Van Wezel Education Department and the Manatee County schools are in the second year of Project Stage, a project funded through a U.S. Department of Education three year grant to increase literacy in elementary schools.

Under the leadership of Mary Bensel, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and the Van Wezel Foundation have made a remarkable contribution to the cultural life of our community and education of our children.