Michael Arcuri

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to say how thankful I am to live in such a great country, a country where we have inalienable rights guaranteed to us by our Nation's founding documents, and the knowledge that our government is set up to protect those rights. We know that we are guaranteed the right to peaceful, public protest, and we see many great Americans utilizing that right here in Washington, D.C., on a daily basis. It is not until haunting and disturbing images of blatant violence and oppression run across the front pages of our newspapers and TV screens that we realize how important these rights are. The people of Iran are expressing themselves peacefully in the streets, and are being viciously attacked by armed guards and police. The violence needs to end now, and the people of Iran should be heard. I want to commend President Obama for his leadership and his judgment in such a difficult and intense foreign policy crisis, and I agree with his resistance to instigate a foreign nation through demagoguery, a distinct difference from the carelessness that sometimes was used by administrations in the past. Let me be clear, I know the world understands that the United States will always vehemently oppose oppression and violence against a nation's people and we will do everything we can to ensure this type of behavior is not tolerated. I thank President Obama for his thoughtful leadership on this matter and offer my support in the future.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, I stand today in recognition of the State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland Men's Lacrosse Team, which won the NCAA Division III championship with a 9-6 victory over Gettysburg College on May 24, 2009. The SUNY Cortland Red Dragons finished 2009 at 19-2, setting a school record for wins in a season. The game also marks the 200th career victory for three-year head coach Steve Beville and Cortland's second national championship in four years. The Gettysburg Bullets held the lead at 4-2 after the first quarter, only to be shut out by the Cortland defense in the second and third quarters--a scoreless run that spanned about 38 minutes. The Red Dragons tied the game at the half before pulling ahead in the third quarter and closing the game with the title. Junior Brandon Misiaszek (New Hartford, NY) was named the Most Outstanding Player with a career-high five goals. Mike Tota (Webster, NY) had a goal and an assist, finishing the season just one goal away from becoming the seventh player in school history to score 50 in a season. Senior goalie Matt Hipenbecker (Mountain Lakes, NJ) recorded 10 saves--seven alone during the fourth quarter--finishing an impressive performance in the NCAA playoffs during which he registered 40 saves. Madam Speaker, I am honored to represent such talented and dedicated athletes in my district. I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating the SUNY Cortland Men's Lacrosse Team and wishing them the best of luck in their future athletic and scholarly endeavors.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, the health care crisis in our Nation is real. We need to step forward and take action to provide quality and affordable care for those who need it. With 46 million Americans uninsured in this country, there is no time to waste in offering hardworking families the option of health insurance while infusing competition into the health care market, which desperately needs it. Our broken health care system also happens to be the most expensive health care system in the world. If we don't act now, the cost of health care in this country in 10, 20 or 30 years will bog down our economy. Reforming our health care system now makes economic sense. Proposed health care reform is all about options. If you are happy with your current plans and with your current providers, keep them. The choice to have health insurance and the choice to get the best medical care you can possibly get is up to you. Health care should be a right for every American, and our current health care system in this country is broken. It is time for Congress to take the lead and to make the tough choices that we were sent to Washington to make.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 545 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. General Leave

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 545.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H. Res. 545 provides for consideration of the supplemental conference report, legislation that supports our military in the field in both Iraq and Afghanistan. This spending plan provides our troops with everything they will need during the remainder of this fiscal year, and the President has said this will be the last supplemental spending request he will send to Congress. I hope this will be the case. I, along with a majority of my colleagues, share the President's goal of winding down the war in Iraq and leaving behind an Iraq run by Iraqis. This conference report takes a step towards that goal by providing for the training of security forces, economic development, and diplomatic operations. We are also looking to secure Afghanistan, and this conference report provides for training of Afghan security forces and counterinsurgency measures in bordering Pakistan. Although there are no deadlines or timelines in this conference report, I think we share in the desire to have troops wrap up their missions abroad and return home to their families. It's my hope that we will see the beginning of that troop drawdown this year. This report also provides for a few key domestic economic priorities like the Cash For Clunkers program, which will allow Americans to trade in old vehicles for new ones with higher fuel efficiency. This conference report also includes $1.5 billion for response to the swine flu pandemic to help State and local governments but also to fund global efforts to track, contain, and slow down the spread of this flu. Although it is not perfect legislation, it provides some essential funding, and I will support it and urge my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to point out that this bill does provide for the troops; and it provides very well for our troops because that is the most important thing that we, as Members of Congress, can do. It provides $1.9 billion more than requested for MRAPs and $2.5 billion above the President's request for U.S. troops. Those are the kinds of things that we need to do as a Congress to make sure that our troops are provided for. Mr. Speaker, with that, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin). (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. ARCURI. Yes, I have an additional speaker.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. ARCURI. I have one more speaker.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Sutton).

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague from the Rules Committee for his management of this rule and also for talking about what I think is ultimately the most important thing with respect to this bill, and that is, of course, our troops. There are many of us who opposed the war in Iraq. I was one of them. I continue to oppose it. There are many of us who believe that the funding that this bill contains should be greater. I think on both sides of the aisle there is agreement that we should do as much as we possibly can. And there are things about this bill that clearly are not perfect. But we can't allow the perfect to get in the way of the good. This bill is a good bill. Let's not deprive our brave sons and our daughters, their husbands and their wives, of what they need to return to their families safely. This is not about what is right or what is wrong. This is about what we as a country, what we as a Congress, need to do, and that is to make sure that our troops, our sons and our daughters, the people who put their lives on the line each and every day, have all and each and every thing they need. Some people may argue it is not enough, but we need to give them everything that we possibly can. Voting ``no'' simply because you think it is not enough is not a solution. That absolutely is not a solution. We need to do everything we can to ensure that our soldiers have what they need. With that, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. ARCURI

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 544 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, for purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz- Balart). All time yielded during consideration of this rule is for debate only. General Leave

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 544.

Mr. ARCURI. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 544 provides for the consideration of H.R. 2847, the Departments of Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010. I want to thank the distinguished chairman of the committee and ranking member for reporting out this bill that does not pay mere lip service to making communities safer, but makes critical investments in our Nation's communities. The bill provides $802 million for Community Oriented Policing Services, which we know as the COPS program, 45 percent above the current funding level. As a former prosecutor, I know how vitally important these programs are in assisting local law enforcement to hire and train new officers, to participate in community policing, purchase and deploy new crimefighting techniques and technologies, and develop and test new and innovative policing strategies. So often State and local governments are critical of the Federal Government's programs because they pass down mandates without funding them. But this bill appropriates money to put more police on the street, funds successful drug court programs, and increases Byrne funding to help develop new and innovative law enforcement techniques which put violent criminals in jail and keep our streets safe for our children. This funding includes $298 million for the COPS hiring grants program, which help our local law enforcement agencies put more police on the street. When combined with the $1 billion provided in the Recovery Act for the COPS hiring grants, the funding in H.R. 2847 will enable the hiring of more than 7,000 police officers. Those are officers in each and every State in this country. Increasing the number of police on the street will help local law enforcement agencies to reduce violence and get illegal guns off the street. As a former prosecutor, I know that the vast majority of the violent crimes committed with guns in this country are committed with illegal guns, not legal guns. By putting more police officers on the street, it will give officers the ability to better enforce the laws on the books, not by creating new laws, but by reducing the number of illegal guns, which is the cause of the majority of gun violence in this country. This bill provides $15 million for the Weed and Seed program. Weed and Seed helps localities develop programs to weed out and deter crime and then take the all-important step often left out, that is, seeding the formerly high crime areas with programs to promote neighborhood revitalization. The funds will be used to carry out this mission in sites and communities such as my home in Utica and Rome, New York, cities which I represent. H.R. 2847 also includes $384 million for Juvenile Justice programs, $11 million above the 2009 level. This underscores the strong Federal commitment to supporting States and communities in their efforts to develop and implement prevention and intervention programs and to improve the juvenile justice system so that it protects public safety and holds offenders accountable while also providing rehabilitative services that are tailored to meet the needs of juveniles and their families. Additionally, the underlying bill includes $45 million for grants, technical assistance, and training to State and local governments to develop dedicated drug courts that subject nonviolent offenders to an integrated mix of treatment, drug testing, incentives and sanctions. As a district attorney, I quickly learned that no matter what initiatives law enforcement took to reduce the supply of drugs, it never really affected the demand for drugs, which never seemed to go down and therefore created a market for drug dealers. One thing I saw is that reducing the supply can work, but reducing the demand for drugs always works. When my office established a drug court program, I realized the powerful effect that the program had on helping enrolled participants get control of their addiction, thereby freeing them and their families from their awful addiction and reducing the demand for drugs. The appropriation of $45 million for drug courts provided by H.R. 2847 is 12.5 percent more than the current level, and I congratulate the committee on that increase. The bill also includes funding for upgrades to emergency communications systems around the country. Mr. Speaker, I have addressed only a handful of the important programs for which H.R. 2847 would appropriate funds. My remarks are focused on the criminal justice aspects of this bill, but there are many other important areas addressed in this legislation. It provides funding for critical scientific research, including programs to keep America on the cutting edge of technology, innovation and those that study climate change as well as funding the Department of Commerce and Economic Development Administration. The Appropriations Committee has approved a bill which would provide funding for these critical programs, and I once again thank them for their work and welcome the chance to vote in favor of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin, the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Obey.

Mr. ARCURI. I yield the gentleman from Wisconsin an additional 2 minutes.

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Ohio, a former colleague from the Rules Committee (Ms. Sutton).

Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California for sharing with us his thoughts. Clearly, his institutional knowledge of this grand institution is second to none. But there is one point that I think is important to clear up, and that is the fact that this bill has a preprinting requirement that in no way, shape, fashion, or form means that anyone is precluded or prevented from filing an amendment. What it does, however, mean is that any amendment that an individual Representative files has to be filed by a certain period of time, and that was yesterday. That does one thing. And I would submit that that enables our constituents to have the very, very best legislation that they can because it does one thing, it gives the Representatives an opportunity to read that amendment to see what that amendment means and to have an opportunity to interpret it and determine whether or not it is the best thing for the bill or, in fact, whether it should be pulled.