Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Brigadier General Mark Rabin and his wonderful wife, Barbara, on their 50th anniversary. The Rabins were wed on June 21, 1964, and have never stopped setting an example for which all who know them strive. It is my pleasure today to celebrate these two genuine Americans and the exemplary marriage they shared for the past half century. I ask all my colleagues to join me in honoring this couple.

Mark and Barbara have lived lives dedicated to their nation, to their community, to their family, and to each other. From 1966 until 2001, Mark served in the Illinois Air National Guard, serving in a wide variety of roles and eventually becoming Chief of Staff in 1996. Concurrent with his military service, Mark pursued a successful career in law, and became the managing director of Rabin, Myers & Hanken, P.C. Matching his work life, Mark sought out challenges in his free time. He is an avid bicyclist, mountaineer, and backpacker, having explored the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains and routinely climbing peaks in excess of 14,000 feet. Barbara is one of the most supportive and understanding people I know. Working as a teacher's aide, Barbara has dedicated her life to the special needs children of Illinois; she has prepared them for success in life, and taught them the value of an outstanding education and a love of learning. She is a longstanding member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mark and Barbara have contributed towards the fight against diabetes, with countless volunteer hours spent in support of this noble goal. Together, the Rabins have raised six wonderful children, and been blessed with ten grandchildren.

The marriage of Mark and Barbara is an example to us all. It exemplifies a healthy partnership, selfless dedication, commitment, and true love. Their marriage is an example to young couples and an inspiration to those that struggle through hard times.

Mr. Speaker, on their 50th anniversary, I am pleased to honor Mark and Barbara Rabin and the remarkable services they have given to our nation and the State of Illinois. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this couple and wishing them continued happiness as they continue their remarkable journey together.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, infrastructure investment creates jobs in southern Illinois and nationwide while repairing highways, bridges and mass transit. The TIGER grant program is critical to infrastructure investment. We must fully fund this program.

Two great examples of successful TIGER recipients are in southern Illinois. America's Central Port in Granite City, Illinois, which was a BRAC'd Army installation, has leveraged Federal dollars with State and local funding to connect rail lines and four interstate highways with the Mississippi River.

Because of that investment, there are more private jobs at America's Central Port today than government jobs when it was an Army support center.

Another Southern Illinois TIGER grant recipient, the Alton Regional Multimodal Transportation Center, will allow passenger transfers between high-speed Amtrak trains, regional transit, bicycle, and even pedestrian trails. TIGER not only creates jobs, but better ways to get to those jobs.

At a time when we need to grow our economy and invest in our infrastructure here at home, it is a mistake to cut this critical program. I urge my colleagues to restore its funding.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Joe Glik and in recognizing his many years of community service and leadership in southwestern Illinois.

Joe Glik is Chairman of the Board and ``patriarch'' of Glik's, a family owned retail business started by Joe's grandfather out of his horsedrawn wagon in 1897 and now employing over 500 people, with 62 stores in 9 states.

The Glik's business model is for the stores to be connected to the communities where they do business and Joe Glik has led by example through his leadership and community involvement in the Tri-City area of Illinois he calls home. The Glik family was a long-time supporter of St. Elizabeth Hospital (now, Gateway Regional Medical Center) in Granite City, Illinois and Joe served as chairman of the hospital building fund and president of its lay board. In 1993, the hospital recognized Joe's support and contributions to the hospital and his community by awarding him the De La Roche Award.

Joe Glik's community service has also involved the Tri-Cities Area United Way, where he served as the Annual Fund Chairman and President of the Board of Directors. He has been recognized for his community and business leadership by being named a Distinguished Business Alumni from the Washington University School of Business.

While Joe Glik still serves as Glik's Board Chairman, the company is actually now in its 4th generation of Glik family leadership and looking forward to passing the torch to the 5th generation, with the headquarters remaining in Granite City.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing Joe Glik well and thanking him for a lifetime of community service.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and its Chairman, Buck McKeon, and Ranking Member Smith, on passage of the FY15 Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 4435) today that includes funding for additional Navy EA-18G ``Growler'' aircraft as well as language to continue the EA-18G and F/ A-18 E/F lines in St. Louis, Missouri.

During this year's deliberations of the President's budget request, the committee received a request from the Navy for an unfunded requirement for 22 additional airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft--the EA-18G Growler. The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Greenert outlined the growing need to control the electromagnetic spectrum to support the warfighter. The CNO indicated to the Committee that the current level of AEA aircraft in the Navy inventory was just meeting the operational needs in today's world. However, based on increasing demands and a projected difficult operational environments in the future, the Navy requested 22 additional EA-18G Growlers. It is this Growler that can meet these expanding and stressing AEA operational requirements.

I have a number of constituents that commute to work on the production line in St. Louis, and like many members have F/A-18 suppliers in my district. Without additional funding for EA-18G aircraft, this important production line will shut down and we as a nation will lose a national asset--including thousands of dedicated and talented workers who make up this defense industrial base.

But the EA-18G is about more than jobs--it is about supporting our warfighter. The Navy has clearly made its case before Congress that it has a growing operational requirement for additional EA-18G aircraft that are vital to current and future operations--both for the Navy and other services.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in the coming weeks, especially on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, to help address this clear Navy requirement. We need to support our warfighter needs and the EA-18G Growler is key to operating and prevailing in the important airborne electronic attack environment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this rule and in support of Representative Speier's amendment.

I am unique in this Chamber. I have served as a military prosecutor, a military defense attorney, a staff judge advocate; and, indeed, before coming to Congress, I served as a commanding general. I understand the impact of sexual violence in the military.

Justice needs to be properly served to victims of sexual assault and to all members of our military. Decades ago, military defense attorneys were taken out of the chain of command. We must do the same with the prosecution. It is the only way that justice can be properly served, without influence, perceived or real.

My fellow colleagues, I urge you to join us in ending the appearance of undo influence in military prosecutions.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Southwestern Illinois College's Programs and Services for Older Persons and to congratulate this organization on 40 years of service. As their founders, partners and members gather to celebrate 40 years of unparalleled service to southwestern Illinois, I ask all my colleagues to join me in honoring this organization.

Founded by Eugene Verdu, Programs and Services for Older Persons began as a Preparation for Retirement class in 1970 at then Belleville Area College. This led to a federal grant for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program in 1973. Additional Federal, State and local grants provided a myriad of services, activities and opportunities for people over the age of 55.

Under the administrative leadership of the General Studies and Community Services division, with full support from the BAC Board of Trustees, an office for PSOP was established in late 1973. This new office was responsible for administering all college activities related to the field of aging. Today, PSOP is part of SWIC Community Services.

In the early years, PSOP was housed in a rented facility. By 1979, more space was needed, so the city of Belleville purchased the building that now houses PSOP at 201 N. Church St. A lease-purchase agreement was established between the city of Belleville and BAC and by 1999, the cost of the building was paid in full and the college now owns the facility.

Today, PSOP's mission is to provide a comprehensive program of direct and referral services to seniors and their families, designed to assist them in maximizing their health and independence. PSOP's programming is directed at healthy aging and enjoying a rewarding lifestyle for those 55 and beyond, allowing them to ``age in place'' and remain independent as long as possible. PSOP's myriad of programs and services focus on engagement in social and recreational activities as well as travel and cultural activities to stimulate lifelong learning. Multiple volunteer programs provide seniors opportunities to serve others.

Mr. Speaker, on their 40th anniversary, I am pleased to honor Southwestern Illinois College's Programs and Services for Older Persons for their service to southwestern Illinois. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this organization and wishing them continued success as they continue to serve the people of our area.

I thank the gentleman from Florida.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to show support for the 50 million Americans enrolled in Medicare. Medicare is vital not only to my district, like Mr. Murphy's district in Florida, but our entire Nation, which is why my fellow colleagues and I should support its promise to all our citizens who have earned it, who have paid for it through their taxes, and who now rely on it for a stable health care system and for their medical care.

Medicare has a long and valued history since its inception in 1965. Social Security recipients have consistently benefited from the opportunity to access quality, affordable health care, a right now guaranteed to those who worked hard for that privilege.

There are 122,380 constituents from the 12th District of Illinois who participate in the Medicare program. That is one out of every seven citizens in my district.

Many of these constituents are disabled, and almost all are on a fixed or limited income. Medicare gives these citizens the opportunity to receive essential medical care and to take part in preventive care programs designed to maintain good health, which lowers the cost of health care--lowers the cost of health care.

Of those 122,000 southern Illinoisans, over 28,000 also participate in Medicare Advantage. That is one in four of those Medicare participants taking part in a program specifically designed for those seniors who have high rates of chronic disease. Medicare Advantage focuses on

prevention and on disease management, which reduces the need for unnecessary hospitalizations--keeping our most vulnerable populations healthier and out of the hospital waiting room.

Medicare and Medicare Advantage serve our seniors, low-income families, and those susceptible to disease. I ask, are these the populations we want to cast aside? Are these the citizens that we need not care for? I say no. Yet, the proposed budget unveiled this week virtually eliminates Medicare for future enrollees. It includes plans to shift health care costs to seniors. It removes the guarantees provided by our current Medicare system to make quality, affordable health coverage available for those who need it most. It undermines the promise our Nation made to its citizens--that if you work hard and you pay your taxes, some day, should you need it, your health care needs will be met.

The recently proposed budget also implements what they label a premium support system. That is a plan to move Medicare to a voucher program. I vehemently oppose this proposition. Our seniors don't need a health care coupon--they need health care.

They need the ability to choose their own doctor. They need the ability to access billions in savings for prescription drugs. They need access to wellness visits--all of which are in jeopardy under this Republican budget plan.

I am tired of hearing proposals to eliminate vital government services simply because of party ideology. Let us not govern blindly through rhetoric and sound bites, but rather, let us work for our constituents to better serve those who have paid into the Medicare system their entire working life and now need it most.

Medicare serves those who have earned it, who have paid for it, and who deserve it. Should we take away that service, I fear what the future may hold for our seniors--seniors like Carolyn Morgan from Du Quoin, Illinois. Carolyn needed Medicare's help in March of 2013, when she became ill and hospitalized, put on oxygen, and given a daily regimen of prescription drugs.

I hold her letter to my office in my hand.

Carolyn states:

I cannot afford out-of-pocket health care. My supplemental insurance is useless without Medicare, so it would have been wasted money every month.

I know I will be spending the remainder of this congressional term fighting for Carolyn and fighting for our seniors and disabled to make sure that the health care promises we made so many years ago are not in danger from partisan budget cuts.

My fellow colleagues, I urge you to join me. Let's avoid a grim future for the elderly, for the disabled, and the fixed-income citizens of this great Nation. Let's help Carolyn and the many more American citizens just like her. Let's fight to keep Medicare.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an outstanding institution of higher education in Illinois. Southern Illinois University School of Law celebrates its 40th anniversary this month.

We spend our time here on the House floor discussing, debating, and voting on laws which impact American citizens while the faculty and staff of SIU Law develop the next generation of great legal minds.

With humble beginnings in 1973, that first year began with 90 students and eight faculty members. SIU Law today is a nationally recognized institution with alumni practicing in 49 States and 11 countries.

The school's 3,800 graduates include military general officers, over 90 State and Federal judges, and at least one United States Congressman.

Please join me in congratulating my alma mater, Southern Illinois University School of Law, for 40 years of serving students.

Go Dawgs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an outstanding institution of higher education in Illinois. Southern Illinois University School of Law celebrates its 40th anniversary this month.

We spend our time on the House floor discussing, debating, and voting on laws which impact American citizens, while the faculty and staff of SIU Law develop the next generation of great legal minds.

With humble beginnings in 1973, that first year began with 90 students and 8 faculty members. SIU Law today is a nationally recognized institution with alumni practicing in 49 states and 11 countries. The school's 3,800 graduates include military general officers, over 90 state and federal judges, and at least one United States Congressman.

Please join me in congratulating my alma mater, Southern Illinois University School of Law, for 40 years of serving students. Go Dawgs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the dedicated community service of Mr. Nick J. Mance as he marks his 20th anniversary as a Trustee for Southwestern Illinois College.

Mr. Mance was elected to then Belleville Area College's Board of Trustees in 1993 and has been continuously re-elected since that time. His fellow Board members chose him to serve as the Board's Chair in 2001 and have re-elected him to this post each year since. In addition to his many duties as Board Chair, Mr. Mance works enthusiastically with the administration, faculty, and staff on the Facilities and Finance and the Planning and Policy Committees and the Strategic Planning Council, and has served on all of the Board's standing committees. Also, he has served as the Illinois Community College Trustee Association's Regional Chair and is an ex-officio member of the Southwestern Illinois College Foundation Board of Directors.

Mr. Mance is a certified public accountant and a partner in The Mance Leahy Group accounting firm in Columbia, Illinois. He helped found the company in 1991 with his partner, one employee and only one client. After 22 years in business, the firm has numerous employees and more than 1,000 clients.

As a Cahokia, Illinois resident, business owner, taxpayer, husband, father of three, grandfather of three, and past Chair of the Cahokia School District No. 187 Board, Mr. Mance chose to pursue a seat on the Southwestern Illinois College Board because he believed he could help ensure access to quality education for area residents, contribute to the success of the community college, and contribute to the success and growth of the Southwestern Illinois region.

Mr. Mance has consistently and actively helped SWIC maintain its longstanding accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission, and achieve model-institution recognition from the HLC for its Academic Quality Improvement Program initiatives and achievements by insisting on the highest academic standards and state-of-the-art classroom technology.

During his longstanding service to the Board of Trustees, Mr. Mance has been a proponent of capital development projects, including the construction of the Information Sciences Building, Liberal Arts Complex, and Schmidt Art Center at the Belleville Campus, and extensive expansions and renovations at the Red Bud and Sam Wolf Granite City campuses. Mr. Mance was one of the driving forces behind renaming the institution Southwestern Illinois College in 2000 to better reflect the college's 2,100-square-mile district; and renaming the Granite City Campus, the Sam Wolf Granite City Campus, in 2007 in honor of fellow SWIC Trustee and longtime legislator Sam Wolf.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in an expression of appreciation to Mr. Nick J. Mance for his 20 years of service as a Trustee of Southwestern Illinois College and to wish him the very best in the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to bring the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act up for a vote.

It is crucial that we fix the critical problems created by the rushed implementation of the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. We cannot ensure the National Flood Insurance Program's long-term viability at the expense of homeowners and potential buyers.

Opponents of the Senate-passed flood insurance bill say that it overwhelmingly benefits wealthy Americans who buy beachfront property. I urge those opponents to come to my southern Illinois district. My district borders more than 150 miles on the mighty Mississippi. The folks who live there are not owners of second homes or vacation rentals, but are middle class families in Jackson, Union, and Alexander Counties, and in the American Bottom in the Metro-East St. Louis area.

Without reform, people in my district and across the U.S. will see their property values plummet. Many of these properties have been family homes for generations and have never once endured flooding.

I urge that we pass this act now.

I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Perry and I might debate about the causes for the budget cuts at the Pentagon and for the reasons for the budget cuts there, but what we do not debate and what we stand shoulder to shoulder on is the fact that the Army National Guard, the Air National Guard, is the best- trained, best-equipped, best-led National Guard force that we have ever had in our history.

I had the honor, before I came to Congress, of serving as the Adjutant General, commanding the 13,000 Army and Air National Guardsmen of the great State of Illinois.

Unfortunately what has happened, as the drawdown has started to occur, the Pentagon has put forth a plan that would slash the Army National Guard. The Army National Guard and, for that matter, the Air National Guard--today we are specifically talking about the Army, but every remark I make applies to the Air National Guard as well.

The Army National Guard serves as America's insurance policy. It serves as the shock absorber for our military. We can't maintain a large enough military to answer every contingency, and that is why we have the Army National Guard and that is why we have the Army Reserve. Those are the soldiers that we call forth when we need them. When we don't need them, they train at home.

In 2005, in Iraq, 51 percent of the soldiers in Iraq were Army National Guardsmen and Reservists--51 percent. Over half were Army National Guard and Reserves. Yet today, folks in the Pentagon want to slash the Army National Guard.

We had a blizzard in Illinois last week. That blizzard was so bad that Interstate 57 at its juncture with Interstate 70 in Effingham, Illinois was closed. There were six jackknifed semitrucks. There were 375 cars stacked up, couldn't get through, snow blowing, 35-below windchill factor. That blizzard was so bad that the wreckers couldn't get through. That blizzard was so bad that the snowplows, the Illinois Department of Transportation could not get through.

Who got through? What did the Governor do? The Governor called out the Illinois National Guard. He called out those battlefield wreckers that serve the purpose in battle of going forth on the battlefield and pulling the Humvees and other Army vehicles that are damaged and inoperable off the battlefield. Those eight wheel-drive vehicles could get through that blizzard. They could get through those snowdrifts. They rescued those hundreds of stranded people in those 375 cars and six semitrucks on Interstate 57.

Now, that equipment, that is wartime equipment. And you know what the folks over at the Pentagon are arguing today? Well, they are going to strip every single AH-64 attack helicopter out of the Army National Guard, saying, well, the Governors don't need them. What do you need an attack helicopter in the Illinois National Guard or the Pennsylvania National Guard or any other National Guard for?

And, by the way, Illinois doesn't have AH-64s, so I don't have a dog in this fight other than supporting the National Guard.

The Pentagon is saying you don't need them.

What is the first maxim you learn in the Army? You train as you fight. You have to train as you fight so you know what you are doing when you go into battle. That is why the Army National Guard needs those attack helicopters, so they can go into battle with them. They will train with them so that they can fight with them.

Based on the Army's logic, the Illinois National Guard wouldn't have had those battlefield wreckers to go in and rescue those people.

We can't let this happen to the National Guard.

I went to the retirement ceremony for Lieutenant General Bill Ingram this week over at Fort Myer, and General Ingram was the TAG of North Carolina. We served together as TAGs. He commanded North Carolina; I had Illinois. He got promoted to Lieutenant General; I got demoted to Congress.

But at his retirement ceremony, he got up and spoke. And what was the first unit that the Army called up out of North Carolina in 2001 when we were ready to go to war? It was the attack helicopters. It was the AH-64s. They were the shock absorber. They were the insurance policy for America.

While we are talking about the Pentagon, when you look at the Pentagon today, you look at the Active Duty military establishment. We have more generals and admirals today than we had during World War II. We have an army of less than 500,000 people. In World War II, it was about 5 million. It was about 10 times the size. But today we have more generals, and every one of those generals on Active Duty Has a staff, and they have cooks and drivers and so on and so forth. Right now they have 250 one- or two-star generals serving on Active Duty in the Army.

Now, a division, you need to understand, is commanded by a two-star general.

Does anybody in here besides Representative Perry and Representative Duckworth know how many Active Duty divisions we have in the United States Army?

We have 10. That is 10 two-star generals. We have 250 on Active Duty.

I think before we start cutting those soldiers who go out onto that battlefield of a blizzard, operating that battlefield wrecker, pulling people and saving lives, doing that double duty, doing that double duty of saving lives in floods, blizzards, and hurricanes, as well as deploying to Afghanistan, I think maybe we need to look at cutting some of the fat, some of that excess, some of those excess two-stars.

That is what we need to do. We need to preserve our insurance policy. We need to preserve that best-trained, best-equipped and best-led National Guard force that has fought for us, not only in Afghanistan, not only in Iraq, but also on the home front.

And one last pitch for the Illinois National Guard. We have had Illinois National Guard soldiers on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in the battle, first in Iraq, and then in Afghanistan, every day since we went into Iraq--every single day, National Guard soldiers. So to those folks over in the Pentagon who think that National Guard soldiers are second-class soldiers, I have got a few brave people I would like you to meet, and one of them is sitting right there, Lieutenant Colonel Tammy Duckworth.

Thank you very much, Mr. Perry.

Mr. Speaker, it is the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty. Although in many ways it has been a success, economic opportunity is still too often a stacked deck. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal stated that J.P. Morgan, the giant Wall Street bank, last year paid out nearly $22 billion due to misdeeds and misrepresentations.

The stock market sets new records every day. Wall Street has recovered. When will Main Street?

While this is happening, 41 percent of the unemployed people in my district have been out of work for more than 26 weeks. They have run out of unemployment because Congress failed to act. The income difference between the wealthy and workers is greater than any time since the 1920s.

Mr. Speaker, when will a nation that proclaims itself a bastion of freedom, both economic and personal, free the poor from the shackles of poverty?

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the memory of one of my constituents, Mr. John Rednour of Du Quoin, Illinois.

John passed away on December 1, and I had the privilege of attending his funeral service last week. All of us came to honor a man who did so much for southern Illinois. John had many titles, and most of us knew him as the mayor of Du Quoin, a position he held for 24 years. He was a businessman, a banker, and an ironworker. He served for many years on the Illinois State Police Merit Board. But none of those titles do the man justice. He was one of the foremost civic leaders in Illinois, and he worked tirelessly to improve southern Illinois and to create opportunity and jobs for its people.

John was a self-made man who rose from humble beginnings, but never forgot where he came from. His passing is a loss to our region. Most of all, it is a loss for his family; and today I ask my colleagues to remember the Rednour family, especially John's wife of 61 years, Wanda, who was his true partner.

Southern Illinois is a better place because of John Rednour, and today I am proud to honor my friend's memory.

Thank you, Mr. Garamendi.

I am privileged to represent the people of southwestern Illinois, that swath of the great State running along the Mississippi River from just north of St. Louis, from Alton, Illinois, all the way south to Cairo. And those 12 counties of southern Illinois, southwestern Illinois, were once an industrial powerhouse.

It was said four decades ago, five decades ago, if you wanted to work, go to East St. Louis, Illinois, and there will be a job for you there. There were jobs in the steel mills. There were jobs in the packing houses. There were jobs in the stove foundries in Belleville. There were jobs in the coal mines of southern Illinois. Those jobs are, by and large, gone today.

There are a few bright spots. U.S. Steel has a plant in Granite City that is still pouring steel. Alton Steel in Alton, Illinois, has reopened. A local entrepreneur bought it, and they are pouring steel in Alton again.

But, you know, those jobs in the packing houses are gone. The jobs in the aluminum industry, those jobs are gone. And that is why they call it the rust belt, because so many of those factories are closing and rusting away.

Technology has changed a lot of that, and we need to adapt to that technology. And to that end, the assistant minority leader, Mr. Steny Hoyer, along with Mr. Garamendi and myself, introduced the JOBS Act. The JOBS Act is sitting here. It needs to be acted upon. We can't get the leadership to act upon it. But we introduced this JOBS Act, and we introduced it because there are really four priority areas that are central to achieving manufacturing growth in this country again:

First of all, we need to have a national manufacturing strategy. Other countries have it. We need to have one. We need to have a strategy that pushes our manufacturing;

Secondly, we need to promote the export of U.S.-made goods;

Thirdly, we need to encourage businesses to bring jobs and bring innovation back to the shores of our country; and

Lastly, we need to train and secure a 21st century workforce.

And that is really what the JOBS Act does. That act invests in our future. It invests in our infrastructure, our human infrastructure, the people who drive those machines and the people who drive our economy.

And it was interesting that Mr. Garamendi mentioned food stamps. I want to talk about food stamps for just a minute because far too many people in my district survive on food stamps.

Something like over 60 percent of the people on food stamps are children. It is not people who aren't working because they don't want to be working. Sixty percent are children who are in low-income families. And the bulk of the adults who are on food stamps are working adults, and they are working in minimum wage jobs. They are working in fast-food restaurants. They are working in other minimum wage jobs. And you can't raise a family in southern Illinois on a minimum wage job.

We need to have jobs that pay a living wage with good health insurance, with good fringe benefits that provide a living wage for families. When you do that, what happens? You don't have people on food stamps. You don't have people on unemployment. You, instead, have people who are paying taxes. You have people who are spurring the economy. You have people who are buying new pickup trucks and new curtains for the living room and so on and so forth, and that generates an economy that generates good jobs.

Now, to talk about the JOBS Act that Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Hoyer, and I introduced, what does it do? It is designed to support advanced manufacturing. Now, why do we want to support advanced manufacturing? We want to support advanced manufacturing because--there was an article in The Wall Street Journal just the other day. I have it right here, The Wall Street Journal, the journal of American business. Manufacturing jobs pay nearly 40 percent more than other jobs in our Nation's economy. That is why we need advanced manufacturing.

So our bill--Mr. Garamendi's bill, my bill, Mr. Hoyer's bill--would amend the Workforce Investment Act to provide targeted investment to partnerships with community colleges, local workforce investment boards, and advanced manufacturing firms to design and implement education and training programs for current and prospective workers.

Now, currently, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College program does provide some funding for that type of thing; but, unfortunately, there is no assurance for investments in advanced manufacturing, and that is where we need to go in this Nation. What we need to do is to align the training opportunities for those advanced manufacturing firms, for their needs, for adaptability in the training of workers.

I toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis.

I toured that brewery a couple of weeks ago, and the brewery manager told me that, in 1999, they had 3,500 hourly employees. And those were good jobs. Those are good jobs. Anybody can tell you that if you work union work, a brewery job working for Anheuser-Busch, that was a job you would have for your entire life. That would be a great career for a working man.

That would be a great career for a working man. Today, they are down from 3,500 to 785 jobs. Now that is due largely due to improved technology, and they simply didn't need that many workers anymore. But that displacement of workers has happened throughout our economy, and it has happened in other areas of our economy, in addition to breweries.

So we need to grow the kind of advanced manufacturing jobs, and we need to have the workers who have the skill to move up so they are not working in those minimum-wage jobs and getting food stamps and Medicaid and those other government programs. Instead, we need people who are paying money in, and that is what our jobs bills does.

I know that Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Hoyer, and I want that bill to come to a vote. We believe that bill would pass with a resounding bipartisan vote if simply the leadership would allow it to be brought to the floor for a vote.

Advanced manufacturing is growing in this country. It is increasing, but the problem is it is not growing fast enough.

When we look at our economy over the last 5 years since President Obama won election the first time, we lost 5 million jobs when he was first elected, virtually immediately, and we have been growing those jobs back at 200,000 a month, 200,000 a month, 195,000 a month. We need to grow them back faster, and we can do that with this JOBS Act.

With that, I yield back to my partner and friend here, Mr. Garamendi.