Jason Altmire

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. I wanted to transition into talking about the trade deficit that we're facing in this country. But before I did that, I wanted to close the loop with what Mr. Tonko and Mr. Garamendi have been talking about for my colleagues. I hear a lot back home. You'll have town hall meetings, and you'll have discussions with people about federally funded research. It seems as though there's always an example somewhere of a research project that seems on the surface to be unjustifiable, and in some cases, people will argue it's ridiculous that we're funding certain things. I just wanted, for my colleagues, to give a couple of examples of federally funded research that has paid huge dividends for everyday life. There was in the late 1970s and early 1980s a big national story about federally funded research that studied the eyesight of eagles. At the time, it was considered to be a mockery--it was of no use to society, and it was a waste of money. Well, lo and behold, what did we get out of that research? We got night vision goggles for our troops who were serving overseas on the military battlefield. We got soft contact lenses. We got so many innovations from that type of research. The touch screen on our everyday iPad was federally funded research out of the University of Delaware, of course many years after what I'm speaking of. The GPS system, which so many of us rely on, was from federally funded research. The Internet was created, as we all know, through the Pentagon and federally funded research. So I would say to my colleagues, for those who may be skeptical that certain projects--and you know, I'm sure there are some that you can point to that haven't paid dividends, but there are some that maybe on the surface didn't sound like good ideas in the beginning that have paid huge dividends. I would go back to that example of studying the eyesight of eagles. LASIK eye surgery was the byproduct of that type of research. So investment is what we're talking about. Research and development just pays back so much more than what we're paying into it. The R&D tax credit has to be made permanent. That is a key part of this. The manufacturing extension partnership that the gentleman was talking about is a key part of our future in this country, bringing back a resurgent manufacturing base. What happens if you don't do that? What happens if you aren't competitive in the global economy? It's what this chart shows. Now, this will come as no surprise to our colleagues. This is the U.S. trade deficit from 1976 through 2008. You don't even need to look at the numbers, and you can see it's heading in the wrong direction and that it has been heading in the wrong direction for a very, very long time, and there are a lot of reasons why this is. Some of it has to do with our foreign competitors and their getting their act together and joining the world competition in a way that they hadn't before. But a lot of it has to do with our own policies and the fact that we have not invested, that we have not had a strategic manufacturing strategy in this country and that we were a little bit slow to react to what was happening overseas. The role that we have in this House is to change that, and we have a decision to make in this country: Are we going to continue to allow this to happen and just sit back and wait while other countries continue to improve, to modernize, to become more cost-efficient, to become more competitive, and to continue to make this trend worse for the American worker? Or are we going to take action? Are we going to invest in our future? Are we going to change the way that we do our manufacturing strategy in order to incentivize making products in America? We talked a couple of weeks ago, the gentleman from California and I, on this very floor about a provision of our Tax Code which may very well be, in my opinion, the most egregious and unjustifiable provision in the entire Federal Tax Code, which is, if you have physical assets, if you have a plant in this country, a manufacturing plant, and if you want to move that plant overseas, if you're going to close your operations, if you're going to get rid of your American workers, if you're going to move your physical assets, literally move those assets overseas, in some cases, you can get a tax deduction for the cost of your moving expenses. The American taxpayer, believe it or not, will cover the cost to move that plant overseas. That's ludicrous. There is no reason that provision should exist, and that's one of the reasons you see the chart going in the wrong direction--because we have been slow to react. Yet we're at a turning point in this country. We have a tremendous opportunity in front of us to do the right thing, to change the policies that have led to our trade deficit and to begin turning the corner and heading in the right direction.

Mr. ALTMIRE. The gentleman has given me so much to work with here on community colleges, and then I will transition into transportation, as the gentleman would like to do. I visited, just yesterday, the Community College of Allegheny County, outside of Pittsburgh; and they have an amazing fundraising campaign going on, because western Pennsylvanians, private industry, and the foundation community believe in the future of our country, and they believe in the future of community colleges. They have a $40 million fundraising campaign. They've already exceeded $30 million. And the discussion was about all of the wonderful things that are happening as a result of the innovations that are taking place at the community colleges, not just in western Pennsylvania but across the country. We have energy resources in western Pennsylvania that are unique. And all the time we hear about employers saying that they have jobs available, but they can't find people who are trained to fill those spots. So being right on the cutting edge, the Community College of Allegheny County has almost two dozen new programs, new curricula that they have established to train workers and retrain, in some cases, to fill the new spots--geologists, managers, people out there on the worksites, all types of ways, through the natural gas industry, the nuclear industry, energy, research and development, what we were talking about earlier. Our community colleges really do play a unique role in this because of their ability to partner with local businesses, to identify the needs, to retrain workers who have lost their jobs through downsizing or changes in the workforce. It's an amazing resource for this country, and the President is right to put a focus on community colleges as part of our resurgence in this country.

Mr. ALTMIRE. Earlier, our colleague, Mr. Tonko, was talking about the Erie Canal and the foresight and the commitment that went in and just the unbelievable feat that it was to accomplish that. And I was thinking, as the gentleman was speaking, about the debate that we're having in this country about transportation and infrastructure. We are going to debate tomorrow and vote probably Thursday in this House on a very underfunded transportation bill that does not contain the same foresight that the gentleman was discussing occurred in New York. And I think about the debate that must have occurred in New York when the Erie Canal was proposed, and the cost and the expense and the manpower and just the time commitment that was necessary, a seemingly impossible task. You think about the intercontinental railroad in the 1800s and what the country's debate, the political debate had been at that time. What must have been the debate in the 1940s and 1950s when President Eisenhower finally got off the ground the interstate highway system and began connecting our roads in a way that we'd never done before. That's what we're facing right now. We have a system of transportation in this country to move goods from point A to point B, manufacturing and make it in America, what we were talking about. Well, if you make it in America, you have to have a way to move goods across the country. We can do that in all kinds of ways. We can do that on our waterways, through shipping, cargo ships; and we also have barges in my neck of the woods. In Pittsburgh, I have a system of locks and dams in the district that I represent, six different locks and dams that average 85 years old. They were built to last 50. Two of them have been rated by the Army Corps of Engineers as in imminent threat of failure. That is a crisis of infrastructure, and that's happening in similar ways all across the country. You look at our aviation system. If you want to move goods by air, we have an air traffic control system in this country that is still based in technology from the 1950s. And this NextGen technology that is possible through satellite technology, it is expensive but it's long overdue, and it's a commitment that we need to make in this country, as they've made in other countries. Our competitors don't have the same bottlenecks that we do at their airports because they have more modern air traffic technology. And then you get to our rail system. We all understand the bottlenecks outside of Chicago and other places in this country and our lack of modern investment in our rail system. But what we're going to be talking about this week in the House is our roads and bridges and a highway system. I spoke earlier about President Eisenhower's vision with the interstate highway system and the way that this bill lacks that same vision because it underfunds that investment and it doesn't require or doesn't even incentivize products to be made in America. There are literally trillions of dollars of need in our transportation infrastructure. Certainly we don't have the ability to afford it all; but I can't think of a better way to put American workers back to work, to put American jobs back in play in the manufacturing sector, to have a resurgence, a regeneration of our manufacturing sector than through our transportation infrastructure. I'm very disappointed at the lost opportunity that the bill we're debating presents because there are so many ways American workers can win, American manufacturers can win, and, most importantly, America can win. And we're missing that opportunity. But through the discussion that we are having today, maybe we can move this country in a different direction.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank the gentleman. And I would just say briefly, I am an original cosponsor of that bill. I don't know that my colleagues are. I presume they're cosponsors. But it's very simple, actually. All it says is we're going to do this infrastructure. We're going to come up with the resources in this country to rebuild America, to invest in our infrastructure. It's long overdue in this country. And it just says, if you're going to do that, you have to seek out American workers and American products to do that. You have to use manufacturing from American workers to rebuild our infrastructure. It just sounds so simple. And our colleagues listening today and others might be surprised to know that that's not already in the law, that we would have a preference in this country for American workers and American steel and American goods to perform our infrastructure improvements.

Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank the gentleman from California for leading the hour and for yielding some time. I come from a region of the country in western Pennsylvania--the Pittsburgh area and surrounding region--that knows a little bit about manufacturing. And just as important, we know a little bit about the policies that have led to the loss of manufacturing, not just in western Pennsylvania, but in this country; policies that have given a preferred tax treatment for companies that outsource jobs, that transfer physical assets overseas and then can claim a tax deduction for the cost of moving expenses. We understand that those policies have failed. They do not lead, certainly, to job and economic growth. It's quite the opposite. But they do not help America become more competitive in the global economy, which is what this House is debating right now. And, yes, I do serve on the Transportation Committee, and we are talking about a long-overdue reauthorization of the transportation funding reauthorization. We also, in western Pennsylvania, we have locks and dams. The roads and bridges that we have are in serious decay. Our waterways infrastructure, just as an example, with locks and dams averages 85 years old. Locks and dams that were built to withstand 50 years before they would need to be replaced are now rated in imminent threat of failure by the Army Corps of Engineers. On the transportation side, we in the State of Pennsylvania have over 6,000 structurally deficient bridges. And in western Pennsylvania, my region, we have 1,000 structurally deficient bridges. Our infrastructure is literally crumbling around us, and we must do something about it. And that presents a wonderful opportunity for the Make It in America agenda, because when these roads and bridges and locks and dams are rebuilt, we want it to be American workers. And when the American taxpayer pays their tax dollars to fund infrastructure improvements, we want it to be done here in America. And we're going to talk more about that tonight. I know the gentleman from California understands there's a bridge project, which is leading the discussion on this, across the country. I believe it's a $400 million renovation. The gentleman can correct me.

Mr. ALTMIRE. A $4 billion bridge project. And the American taxpayer is funding the Chinese to give the steel to California to rebuild this bridge. And the infrastructure improvements that are being made, certainly we'll see some benefit, but those are American jobs. And American tax dollars are going overseas for something that could be done better and more cost efficiently here at home. So I know the gentleman wants to talk about that, but I appreciate his leadership.

Mr. ALTMIRE. Right. You have to find a way to pay for it because it's only going to get worse if you ignore the problem. Now, you might say as a family, you know what, we can't take the kids out for that steak dinner. We can't go out to see the movies this month like we were talking about. But we have to find a way to fix this leak because it's only going to get more expensive, it's only going to get worse, and it's only going to create more damage if we ignore that problem. I talked earlier about the state of our roads and bridges, the state of our locks and dams; and the gentleman's chart shows the first word on that chart is ``airports.'' Our aviation infrastructure in this country is as out of date as any other developed nation on the planet. Our air traffic control system literally operates with 1950s technology. One of the debates that we are having with infrastructure and aviation is this NextGen system, which is where we would utilize what has become commonplace everywhere else in the country: the system of satellites and GPS. It just makes common sense. The reason we have such bottlenecks at the major hub airports in the country, which affect everybody in this country, is that even if you don't live in that city, you're affected by it because that plane is going to be coming to your city; and if it's delayed, it affects you. We have those delays worse than anywhere else on the planet because of the state of our infrastructure with aviation and with airports. It touches every type of transportation infrastructure you can think of--waterways, rail, roads, bridges. It is critically important. This is a tremendous opportunity for America. In using American workers, in using American resources, we're all going to win from this; and that's why I support the gentleman's plan.

Mr. ALTMIRE. Yes.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to a cause of great importance, the fight against Pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is a disorder of the lungs that, over time, deprives its victims of their ability to breathe normally. An estimated 200,000 Americans currently suffer from Pulmonary fibrosis, and 48,000 additional cases are diagnosed each year. Sadly, the disease claims 40,000 lives every year, yet there is no known cause, and even worse, no cure. Despite the prevalence of Pulmonary fibrosis, it remains virtually unknown to the public. That is why I was proud to cosponsor the Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Enhancement Act in the past, and why I believe it is important to do so again in the 112th Congress. This bill would require the creation of a National Pulmonary Fibrosis Registry to collect data, expand research for prevention, and generate much needed awareness for the individuals who suffer from Pulmonary fibrosis, and the loved ones who care for them. It would also create a national advisory board that would report to Congress, convene a national summit, and foster greater coordination among federal agencies to better facilitate information in an effort to better understand the disease. The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis is a group of dedicated individuals who together are working to raise awareness in the hopes that one day we can discover the cause of Pulmonary Fibrosis, as well as a treatment and cure. In August 2011, the Coalition held an inaugural walk/run to raise money for Pulmonary Fibrosis in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The event was a great success. Over 270 people participated, and they raised over $28,000. The Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Enhancement Act is a crucial step in the fight towards increasing public awareness and understanding of the disease. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this worthy cause, and this important piece of legislation.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. I ask that the President reconsider his reported rejection of this project. This project will increase employment while reducing our dependence on overseas oil. Canada has already made its decision. The pipeline is going to be built. The question is whether it lands on the gulf coast of the United States or the west coast of Canada. And make no mistake: If it ends up on Canada's coast, that oil will only continue westward to China and their markets. The jobs and the economic benefit of the pipeline would then be lost here in the United States. Mr. Speaker, this pipeline is a foregone conclusion; who will benefit is not. This is a chance to employ Americans and help protect them in a volatile oil market. I ask the President to reconsider his reported rejection of this project.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, the two key takeaways from the debate today are, number one, there is nobody in this Chamber--nobody, Republican, Democrat--nobody in the Senate on the other side--Republican, Democrat, Independent--nobody believes that a 2-month fix is the end result of this process. The 2-month fix is to allow the benefits to continue so that the 160 million Americans that are now benefiting from the reduction in the payroll tax continue to have those benefits while we come together and while we compromise, while we come to a long-term agreement. That's what this is all about. The other takeaway is the majority party did not allow a vote on the Senate plan. For all the talk about how flawed they believe the Senate plan to be, they didn't allow a vote on the Senate plan because they would have lost their position. That bill would have passed. We would be done with it today. So when you hear Members of the majority talking about how flawed the Senate bill is and how the American people don't support it, their own Members would have voted for it, and we would have passed the bill if they would have allowed it.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Lions Club International Century of Service Commemorative Coin Act. This legislation commemorates the Lions Club's 2017 Centennial, at no cost to the taxpayer, as the cost will be paid for by sales to the public. As former president and zone chairman of my local Lions Club in Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, I know firsthand the great work done by Lions Club International, which now has 1.3 million members and chapters spanning every corner of the globe. The Lions Clubs focus on the five goals of preserving sight, combating disability, promoting health, serving youth, and disaster relief, for which Lions Club donated over $50 million in relief funds to Japan, Haiti, and most recently to our own southern States. I commend the great work carried out by Lions Club International, and look forward to helping them commemorate their 2017 centennial year.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank the gentleman, my friend from Tennessee, and I especially thank the gentleman from Texas for his kind words. There are other things that are more important than this--our friends in the American Legion would be the first to agree--that we are working on in this Congress; but as the gentleman from Texas pointed out, this is something only the Congress can do. This is an important issue for the American Legion. It modernizes the charter of the American Legion, and it clarifies the local autonomy of the local posts throughout the country. This needs to be done. It is important, and it is something that we in this Chamber have come together to do. It is long overdue. When I first introduced this bill in June, I started to talk with folks in this Chamber, and I found out that there really are things we can agree on. We've spent a lot of time over the course of the year--in fact, a lot of time today--pointing fingers at each other and casting blame and talking about all the things that we don't agree on. Yet, for our men and women in uniform, the people who are honorably and bravely serving this country, and our American veterans, we agree that they need this change and that we support them. As the gentleman from Texas pointed out, according to the Congressional Research Service, this bill that we introduced in the House, which is the companion bill to the Senate bill on which we will vote tomorrow, has received the most cosponsors of any bill ever introduced in the history of the Congress--432 cosponsors. It's more than any bill that has ever been introduced in history. It passed unanimously in the Senate after it was introduced in October, which shows there really are things we can work together on. Maybe this isn't the most important thing we could be doing, but it's something we need to do; and it's something we're going to do. Hopefully, it will send a message on both sides of this Capitol that we should come together and that we should put our differences aside. That doesn't mean we have to always agree, but at least let's work together, because this bill proves we can do it. So I am proud to stand here as the author of the House companion of this bill, and I am a proud supporter of the Senate bill that we will be voting on. I'm grateful that Senator Tester took the leadership role in the Senate to get this done. I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I thank the gentleman from Tennessee. I support this bill and urge my colleagues to vote for it.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to recognize the good work being done in Pennsylvania to help children and teenagers cope with the loss of a loved one. For more than a decade, Highmark Caring Place centers in Pennsylvania have worked with hundreds of schools and businesses throughout the commonwealth to promote better strategies for helping young people deal with the death of a loved one. This type of tragedy is a burden faced by too many young people. One out of every twenty children will lose a parent, and one in seven children will lose someone close to them--such as a brother, sister, or grandparent--before they reach the age of 18. As the holiday season approaches, the pain of losing a loved one often grows as memories of past holidays are revisited. Many grieving children will feel alone and afraid, and although it is often believed that children are less affected by loss and more able to easily continue with their lives, the opposite is true. These children need the caring support of family, friends, and others to help them understand and cope with their feelings. Since its founding in 1997, Highmark Caring Place has served over 30,000 people and in 2008 alone, provided the equivalent of $428,000 in volunteer service hours. The program brings together grieving children, their families, and trained volunteers to share meals, talk and play games, and engage in group discussions with other families coping with the same experience. These programs are free of charge to the community and open to anyone. On November 17, Pennsylvanians will mark Children's Grief Awareness Day, a day of remembrance initiated by school students across the commonwealth to bring attention to their classmates coping with a loss. Thousands of students will wear blue to show solidarity with, and support for, their peers. Others will hold assemblies, bake sales, and presentations to raise awareness. I commend these students for their initiative and the compassion they are showing for their peers. Through their programs and the generosity of their volunteers, Highmark Caring Place is truly making a difference in the lives of grieving children and their families. I wish to express my sincere gratitude for the work they do.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the balanced budget amendment. Forty-nine of the 50 States are required to balance their budgets. And while I'm certain that State legislatures will agree that it's always a difficult process, somehow they annually meet their obligations while achieving balance. The Federal Government should be able to do it, too. But States aren't the only place Congress can look to for examples. Every family and every business in America has to balance expenses and income. They have every right to expect the Federal Government to do the same; but, unfortunately, Congress has let them down time and again. Mr. Speaker, the time has come to fix the problem. Constitutional amendments to require a balanced budget have been introduced in Congress for the past 75 years. Most recently, in 1995, the House passed a balanced budget virtually identical to the one we're debating today, and it passed this House with bipartisan support, 72 Democrats and 228 Republicans. And because that amendment failed by one vote in the Senate, our national debt has now surpassed $15 trillion. The situation has only gotten worse, and the stakes today are much higher than 1995. This vote is an opportunity to prove to the American people that this Congress can work together and that we are finally committed to balancing our budget and putting our country back on fiscally solid ground.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, I spoke in favor of repealing the 3 percent withholding provision when it passed the House just last month, and I am pleased the Senate has not only passed it but has added important provisions to help our brave men and women in uniform find work when they return home. The amended bill provides retraining assistance to unemployed veterans as well as tax credits to businesses that hire unemployed veterans, which is a segment of our population that has been especially hard-hit by our sluggish economy. An estimated 12 percent of veterans who have served since the attacks of September 11 are unemployed. This is far above the national average and is not what our Nation's heroes deserve. Our servicemembers have gone above and beyond for their country, and this legislation is one way for Congress to honor their sacrifice and to help them succeed here at home. I strongly support this legislation and urge my colleagues to vote in its favor.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, today the House considers the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act. I'm a proud cosponsor of this bill because it will protect Americans' Second Amendment rights by allowing citizens who have a valid permit to carry a firearm in any State in the country with a concealed carry law. The Second Amendment applies to law-abiding citizens all across America, and this reciprocity act will protect Americans' rights as they travel throughout the country. Law-abiding citizens in western Pennsylvania should be allowed to exercise their constitutional rights even when they leave the Commonwealth's borders. All Americans have an individual right to bear arms that is protected by the Constitution. I urge my colleagues to support the Second Amendment and vote for the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank the gentleman from Minnesota. I can't think of anybody in the Congress who has done more for medical innovation, his leadership on the medical device tax, on FDA reform issues, than Mr. Paulsen. It's an honor for me to be here tonight to discuss this issue before the House. What we have done in a very strong and forceful bipartisan way, which is critically important and something we don't do nearly enough of in this Chamber, is to send a message that we want to protect the medical device industry in America. The innovations that are created in this country are second to none. The way that we handle the FDA process could be improved, and we are going to talk about that shortly. But with regard to medical device issues in particular, I'm fortunate that the district I represent is home to a number of large and small medical device manufacturers that are doing great work right here in America, producing medical devices that we rely on in this country, that millions of Americans depend on. And when we last year, in the last session of Congress, went through the debate and eventually passage of the health care reform bill--which I voted against--one of the issues that was in there was the medical device tax, which seemed pretty arbitrary. They were looking for sources of funding. They were looking for ways to make the bill come into balance. And one of the industries that they targeted for the tax was the medical device industry. I believe very forcefully that it was shortsighted. I think it was something that should not have been done. That's an industry that we have international leadership on in this country. It's an industry that millions of Americans have an everyday benefit from. What we did was say, Well, you look at the portion of overall health care costs in the country that that industry represents, and you are going to create a tax that's going to pay for approximately that portion of that industry to go towards the health care bill. I didn't think it made sense then. I don't think it makes sense now. What I want to do, along with the gentleman from Minnesota and the other 202--the total of 204 cosponsors of this legislation--is just put common sense back in place to say, we want to continue to have those innovations take place in America, not in other countries; to continue to show the worldwide leadership that we have shown and to continue to allow American citizens to benefit from the great work that's being done across the spectrum, large and small, of medical device manufacturers in this country. So the $20 billion cost that's associated with this tax is just the tip of the iceberg. We're going to lose a lot more than just the cost of what it's going to take to pay that tax if you're in the medical device industry. We're going to lose the innovation. We're going to lose the talent because we're competing with other countries for the top talent in the world, and where individual people want to reside when they undertake research and development of new drugs, new pharmaceuticals, and also new medical devices. This tax is absolutely the wrong thing to do, and I strongly support the gentleman's effort to repeal the tax. We're going to talk later on, and I'm going to join the discussion on FDA reform and some of the things we're doing, working together, but this medical device tax, the reason it has attracted bipartisan support for the repeal is because it makes no sense. It's burdensome, and it's absolutely the wrong thing to do.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. I rise in support of this legislation, which is bipartisan and cosponsored by almost two-thirds of our colleagues in this Chamber. Earlier this year, Congress passed another bill with almost equal support when we repealed the burdensome 1099 requirement. Today, we are again working in a bipartisan way to make this commonsense change to the Tax Code that will provide much needed certainty to businesses around the country. I've heard from numerous small businesses in my district that if the 3 percent withholding provision goes into effect as scheduled, firms that do business with the Federal, State, and local governments will face what amounts to a tax increase at this time when they can least afford it. Congress has previously voted to delay implementation of this provision, but we can do more to show businesses in western Pennsylvania and across the country that we are serious about helping them succeed. I urge my colleagues to join me in permanently repealing the 3 percent withholding tax provision.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, we should do this more often, have a bipartisan discussion on the floor. We have debates. We have bipartisan interaction, but we don't have this type of situation occur very often where we have Members from all across the country, from all political points of view that have come together in support of a piece of legislation that is going to impact the country. It's going to impact all of our districts. There is no district in the country that is not going to see a positive benefit from the legislation that we are discussing here today, H.R. 1861. When I'm home, I hear from constituents all the time about infrastructure. And in southwestern Pennsylvania, we have 1,000 structurally deficient bridges. We have roads that are in great need of modernization and improvement, and we need to invest in our locks and dams. The district that I represent along two different rivers in southwestern Pennsylvania has six locks and dams that average more than 84 years old, and they're crumbling and they need help. We have a discussion every day in this Congress about the importance of Federal investment and the wisest use of money and taxpayer funds. I can't think of anything that we could be doing in this country that's more important domestically than improving our infrastructure, than repairing our roads and bridges, our locks and dams, our airports. The waterways commerce that has been discussed here tonight means billions of dollars in southwestern Pennsylvania, and it's critically important for the entire country. Our roads and bridges need to be repaired. I talked about the thousand bridges in southwestern Pennsylvania. We have 6,000 just in Pennsylvania as a State that are in need of repair. So this bill takes a critical step in answering the fundamental question that we all deal with every day. That's great, I'll hear, that's fine. We need to improve our infrastructure, but where's the money going to come from? Where are we going to get the funds to do this investment? Hundreds of billions of dollars are required to complete or even make a dent in the work that needs to be done with the infrastructure in this country. How are we going to pay for it? Well, currently we have a Federal highway trust fund that's 18.4 cents per gallon of gas purchased in the country. That trust fund annually runs out of money before the end of the fiscal year. Every year we find ourselves scrambling just to maintain our current infrastructure. What the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) has done in introducing H.R. 1861 is come up with an alternative source of revenue that does not include raising taxes. It does not include finding revenue from some other program or transferring funds from some other priority for the country. It increases the amount of money that's available by doing something that I think we all agree we need to do in this country and that's explore our own domestic resources for energy, because if there is any issue that I hear about as often or more often than transportation infrastructure, it's energy. It's this country's energy resources and why aren't we tapping into our own reserves and why aren't we exploiting the use of coal and natural gas and in this case offshore drilling to increase our domestic energy supply. We have had many discussions and will in the future on this floor about the necessity of getting ourselves off foreign oil, of increasing our domestic energy reserves. And what this legislation does is increase the supply of our own domestic resources, yes, which is critically important; but it then takes the royalties, it takes the money that is generated from that and applies it to our much needed infrastructure repair. So what does this bill do? This bill expands offshore drilling and uses the permit and royalty revenue to fund the infrastructure improvements and clean energy technology--solar, wind, hydro--the things that everybody in this country wants to support, but there hasn't been the money to maintain and upgrade that technology and do the innovations that are necessary in the future. The revenue goes towards repairing roads, bridges, locks and dams, developing that renewable energy structure, developing clean coal technology, and improving nuclear technology. Twenty percent of the domestic energy supply with electricity comes from the nuclear technologies, and it helps develop alternative fuel vehicles. I hear all the time the internal combustion engine is a century-old-plus technology. With all of these wonderful things that we have done in this country, can't we find a way to make a car run on something other than gasoline? It seems like something we should have done a long time ago. We haven't done it yet. We're making progress. This bill helps us get there, whatever that technology may be, whether it be electric, natural gas; some advocate hydrogen. But it does the R&D that's necessary to pursue those technologies. And 10 percent of the drilling revenues are set aside to pay down the national debt. Nobody can argue with that. So it creates a new pot of money that doesn't exist currently that's going to be used to pay down our debt, expand our energy resources, and repair our roads and bridges and our locks and dams. I just can't imagine there is a more worthwhile piece of legislation and a piece of legislation that impacts everybody in a greater way in this Congress. So I would say to my friend from Pennsylvania, thank you for your leadership on this issue. And to the Members from across the country who have spoken here tonight, I hope that is a message not only to this Congress but to the entire country that, yes, we can come together as a Congress. There are things that we agree with on a bipartisan basis; there are things that we can do to improve the financial situation in this country, to improve our roads and bridges, to get ourselves off of our dependence on foreign oil, and to cultivate our own domestic resources. And we are going to get this done. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, October 12, tragedy struck my home town of Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania. That night, Police Officer Derek Kotecki was shot during an armed confrontation with a wanted criminal. He is believed to be the first Lower Burrell police officer ever to be killed in the line of duty. Patrolman Kotecki was a 1989 graduate of Burrell High School and had been a local police officer for 18 years. At the time of his death, Patrolman Kotecki was Lower Burrell's K-9 officer and a regular and respected face at community events throughout the year. I ask my colleagues to join me in praying for the family he left behind. We hope that his wife, two sons, and his parents know that Lower Burrell will always remember Derek's bravery and valor. He died serving the community he loved, and for that we are forever grateful.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Recently I had the honor of being reappointed to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, a committee on which I served during my first two terms in Congress. Consequently, caucus rules require me to, in turn, step down from the Small Business Committee, where I've proudly served for the past 5 years. As I leave the Small Business Committee, I wanted to take a moment to discuss a few of the important initiatives on which the committee has played a meaningful role during that time. Some of the most important initiatives have been to support the brave men and women who have served our Nation in uniform. The Small Business Committee, over the past 5 years, has led the way in helping small business owners deal with the loss of key employees during long-term overseas deployments, and has helped incentivize the hiring of our military veterans. Committee successes include the enactment of my legislation to increase business opportunities for veterans and reservists, and support business owners who employ them. This bill was signed into law by President Bush in 2008 and has since helped countless veterans and employers. We also successfully enacted laws to help returning veterans access job training programs and learn entrepreneurial skills to help them transition back into the workforce. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, I was able to convene hearings that gave voice to all sides on pending issues in Congress, including bringing more than a dozen people from western Pennsylvania before the committee to make sure that their voice was heard and their point of view understood during the critical early stages of the legislative process. Our subcommittee held hearings that brought to light the unintended consequences of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's lead regulations on small businesses and home-based toy manufacturers. We also held hearings that raised concerns about the effect that various health care reform proposals might have on small employers, and the devastating impact that skyrocketing gas prices can have on businesses and consumers. When CMS proposed a flawed Medicare competitive bidding program that would harm medical equipment suppliers and negatively impact patient access and quality of care, our subcommittee heard the concerns of small businesses across the country. And when necessary, our subcommittee also convened field hearings to discuss important issues, such as a hearing we held in western Pennsylvania to discuss ideas on how to increase access to capital for small businesses. When flooding impacted businesses in western Pennsylvania, we brought the SBA to Aliquippa to personally inspect the damage and improve the SBA's response. And as gas prices continued to climb and the Nation looked for solutions to our energy crisis, I joined our former colleague, Mary Fallon, now Oklahoma's Governor, to cochair a field hearing in Tulsa to hear directly from the oil industries their explanation of why gas prices were so unacceptably high and what we can do to help bring them down. Our subcommittee also led the way in twice passing through the House my bill to expand access to private capital investment through the SBIR program. And we held the first hearing in either Chamber of Congress on the controversial credit card interchange fee, an issue that since has grown into a top priority for businesses, consumers, and banks. We worked in a bipartisan way to successfully advocate for repeal of the onerous 1099 reporting requirements included in the health care reform law. All in all, quite a record of bipartisan success. As I leave the committee, I want to thank Ranking Member Velazquez for her help and support during my time on the committee, and I look forward to continuing to work on small business issues through my new committee assignments in the months ahead.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the brave men and women who have served our Nation and are today members of the American Legion, a congressionally chartered organization. That charter is in need of modernization. So the American Legion, at their national convention, adopted a resolution asking Congress to amend the charter to clarify that the Legion members may pay their annual dues and renewals using modern technology, such as over the Internet by credit card. For this reason, I have joined my good friend from Florida, Congressman Rooney, in introducing a bill to support the Legion's recommendation. Our bill, H.R. 2369, enjoys widespread support, as evidenced by the 350 of our colleagues who have cosponsored this legislation. Hopefully, this bill will soon move through the legislative process in order to modernize the Legion's charter and make this small, but significant, change to make life a little more convenient for members of the American Legion.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act. The cement industry is in its weakest economic condition since the 1930s. Domestic demand for cement has dropped by more than 35 percent in the last 4 years, killing more than 4,000 manufacturing jobs. In March of last year, 136 cement workers were laid off at the Wampum cement plant in my district. It was the oldest continuously operating Portland cement manufacturing site in the United States, but now cement production at Wampum has ceased and only 15 jobs remain. Despite this bleak scenario, the EPA issued its regulation which has a $3.4 billion price tag and standards that no cement plant in the United States can achieve while demand languishes. The economy will have to improve for these jobs to return to Wampum; but when the EPA issues unfair, unachievable regulations, it sets these manufacturers back even further. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 2011 Deer Lakes High School Boys Volleyball Team. This past season, the team won the WPIAL championship as well as the Pennsylvania State Championship. I congratulate them on an outstanding season and commend their hard work in winning both prestigious titles. Over the course of their season, the team showed remarkable consistency while displaying exemplary team play. Incredibly, the team did not lose a match all season. I would also like to give special recognition to two members of the team who played to the best of their abilities each and every game. Tony Nicotra and Jeremy Gaston deserve praise for their team leadership and work ethic throughout the season. Their hard work was rewarded when they received the co-most valuable player award for both the WPIAL and state tournaments. In addition, a team is only as good as the coaching staff that stands behind their players. Head coach Richard Tatrn along with assistant coaches BJ Ruyes, Terry Gaston, Joe Giradi, and Kevin Hamilton all deserve recognition for their encouragement, instruction, and leadership throughout their championship season. I again congratulate the Deer Lakes Boys Volleyball Team's players and coaching staff on all of their achievements. It is with great joy that I pay tribute to this team on their well-deserved accomplishments this season.