Roy Blunt

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I rise today with pleasure and pride to pay tribute to the achievements of the Music Department at Strafford High School in Strafford, Missouri. The Strafford High Flaming Arrow Indian Pride Marching Band and choir will participate in the events surrounding the December 31, 2009, Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia. A long-standing event at the bowl game is the National Chick- fil-A Bowl Band Festival. The music festival has clinics and competition for choir, concert band, jazz band and marching band. The Strafford marching band and choir will compete against other schools while the Marching Band will march in the National Chick-fil-A Bowl Parade in downtown Atlanta on New Year's Eve. Game day, the Strafford band will participate in a pre- game and halftime massed band ``extravaganza'' of 2,000 members performing in the Georgia Dome Olympic Stadium. Strafford, Missouri, is my hometown. Today, Strafford has a population of 1,845 citizens, and the high school has approximately 400 students. The band and choir are made up of 55 motivated, hardworking teens in concert and marching band, 20 students in jazz band and 36 students in choir. The music department is under the direction of Shane Harmon. The Strafford High Flaming Arrow Indian Pride Marching Band consistently ranks among the best bands in Missouri, earning first place at six judged events this year. At the 2007 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida, the Strafford concert band, jazz band and marching band each earned a 1st place Silver rating, and the concert choir earned a 1st place Gold rating. These achievements led to the invitation to participate at the band festival at the Chick-fil-A Bowl. This recognition is the result of long hours of practice, and dedication to excellence by Strafford students, faculty and their families.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I rise today with pleasure and pride to pay tribute to the achievements of the Music Department at Strafford High School in Strafford, Missouri. The Strafford High Flaming Arrow Indian Pride marching band and choir will participate in the events surrounding the December 31st, 2009, Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia. A longstanding event at the bowl game is the National Chick- fil-A Bowl Band Festival. The music festival has clinics and competition for choir, concert band, jazz band and marching band. The Strafford marching band and choir will compete against other schools while the marching band will march in the National Chick-fil-A Bowl Parade in downtown Atlanta on New Year's Eve. Game day, the Strafford band will participate in a pre- game and halftime massed band ``extravaganza'' of 2,000 members performing in the Georgia Dome Olympic Stadium. Strafford, Missouri, is my hometown, and I graduated from Strafford High. Today, Strafford has a population of 1,845 citizens, and the high school has approximately 400 students. The band and choir are made up of 55 motivated, hardworking teens in concert and marching band, 20 students in jazz band and 36 students in choir. The music department is under the direction of Shane Harmon. The Strafford High Flaming Arrow Indian Pride marching band consistently ranks among the best bands in Missouri, earning first place at six judged events this year. At the 2007 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida, the Strafford concert band, jazz band and marching band each earned a 1st place Silver rating, and the concert choir earned a 1st place Gold rating. These achievements led to the invitation to participate at the band festival at the Chick-fil-A Bowl. This recognition is the result of long hours of practice, and dedication to excellence by Strafford students, faculty and their families.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Sam and June Hamra of Springfield, Missouri. An attorney by professional training, Sam Hamra has been a community and political activist for many years. Sam and June are also philanthropists and civic and community leaders in many worthy causes. In late October, Sam and June were honored by Wendy's International with the R. David Thomas Founder's Award. The Founder's Award is Wendy's International's highest honor and is presented annually to its outstanding franchisee who best embodies the common-sense business values of Wendy's founder Dave Thomas. In being honored with Wendy's top franchisee recognition, Hamra and his restaurants were cited for their excellent operations, strong marketing plans, and the value placed on employee development. Another aspect of the award is the support the Hamras give to local civic and charitable activities. In recent years, Hamra has directed the modernization of all 28 restaurants in their Wendy's of Missouri group. Trademarks of Hamra's restaurants are strong management, low employee turnover and increased productivity and store sales. These are not just the restaurant's characteristics, but also reflect the owner's outlook and business acumen. Sam opened his first Wendy's restaurant on March 15, 1976, in Springfield, Missouri, near the intersection of Sunshine & Campbell. The 206th Wendy's restaurant in the United States, it's still in operation today. His Rolla restaurant was selected as one of the top 14 Wendy's restaurants out of 6,600 in the world for an unprecedented two consecutive years. Wendy's of Missouri has eight locations in Springfield, three in Branson, two in Jefferson City and Columbia, and locations in Bolivar, Ozark, Nixa, Lebanon, St. Robert, Rolla, Fulton, Lake Ozark, Clinton, Republic, Sedalia, Harrisonville, and Warrensburg. Congratulations to Sam and June for a job well done.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. The Republican Congresses did send important parts of this plan, the House, to the other body. We sent lawsuit abuse reform seven times. We sent associated health plans at least a half dozen times. They didn't get to the floor. We continue to send the elements of this plan that save every taxpayer money and also save every insured American money. This is the only plan that reduces the cost of insurance for every group of insured Americans. One of the goals that the President set for health care reform was to reduce the cost of premiums. This is the only plan that does that. It does it for individuals. It does it for small businesses. It does it for large groups. This is a plan where we could provide access to coverage for everyone regardless of preexisting conditions. Now, we don't spend $1.3 trillion to do that. We spend about $23 billion to make the risk pools work better and ensure access for everybody. We're for access for everybody to coverage; we're just not for spending $1 trillion to create that access. This plan lowers premiums. It prohibits insurance companies from canceling policies. It prohibits insurance companies from capping the lifetime expenditures that those policies might incur. One of the reasons that there were more people uninsured at the end of the 10 years under this plan is, when our friends on the other side insisted on the children's health insurance plan, they put everybody that goes on that plan in the first 5 years back into no insurance in the last 5 years. Look at the numbers. That's where those numbers go up. You could pretend that our plan puts the numbers up. We're not the one that said we're going to insure all children for 5 years and in the second 5 years they're back to where they are today. Check the numbers. Look at what this does for premiums. Look at what this does for families. Look at what this does for individuals. This is a plan that truly does keep what works and fixes what's broken. The President repeatedly has said, Everyone, if you like what you have, you should be able to keep it. This is the only plan that would allow that pledge to be made and be kept. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this plan. Let's take these first steps that work without bankrupting the American people. I urge support of this plan.

Mr. BLUNT. Thank you, Mr. Barton. Mr. Speaker, there are so many things that I am for in health care. In our Health Care Solutions Group, I am sponsoring a dozen bills. The core of those bills we will talk about later when we get to the Republican substitute. But if those bills cost $1.1 trillion, the bills I am for, I would be against those bills. We can't afford this bill. It cuts Medicare $505 billion. It raises taxes. There is no estimate I see of people who have estimated the job impact who don't say that it cuts jobs. Instead, it's a 2,000-page roadmap to a government takeover of health care. We could be here today talking about real reforms, medical liability reform, access for everybody regardless of preexisting conditions. We think you can do that by expanding a risk pool concept. It costs a little money, but it doesn't cost billions and billions and billions of dollars. If we could find Medicare savings, Mr. Speaker, we should use those Medicare savings to save Medicare. Only the government would have made a commitment to a program like Medicare, know that program is in huge trouble beginning in about 2017, and be here today saying we should make savings from that program to fund a new program. If there are savings in Medicare, we should be using them to save Medicare, Mr. Speaker. I hope we reject this bill. Even if this bill passes today and doesn't go further than this, I hope we can work together to do the things we really need to do to reform the system.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. There are 17 million jobs in the travel and tourism industry, and 200,000 of those jobs have been lost this year already. This bill is a step in the right direction of encouraging foreign travelers to stay longer, as I'm sure I must have said on October 7. They spend more money in their travel than do domestic travelers. Their trips are, on average, longer. Frankly, in virtually every instance, they leave the United States of America understanding us better and liking us better. This is an important diplomatic tool as well as an important economic tool. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to seeing this bill pass the House and the Senate, and hopefully this year, Mr. Delahunt and I, if we're not with the President when he signs the bill, we'll at least know that the President has finally signed this bill into law.

Mr. BLUNT. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of both the Capitol Police Administrative Technical Corrections Act, which is an important bill which is appropriately championed by Mr. Brady, by Mr. Lungren, and by others, and I also hope that whatever the rules are today that they allow us to finally pass the Travel Promotion Act. I, along with Ms. Castor, would refer my colleagues to the comments made on October 7, the colloquies entered into on October 7, which was when the Travel Promotion Act was last considered. My good friend Mr. Delahunt and I worked on an act highly similar to this in the last Congress. The House passed it in the last Congress. The House has passed it in this Congress. I look forward to the House's passing it again today. Again, I want to particularly thank Mr. Delahunt for his efforts on this bill. Sam Farr, who is the cochairman, along with me, of the Travel and Tourism Caucus, has been a leader in this as well.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. I thank my good friend from Georgia for yielding and appreciate the doctors letting me join them here for a few minutes. Most of our doctors in the House, Republican doctors in the House have been on the Health Care Solutions Group that we worked hard on all year to have alternatives, alternatives to government-run health care, alternatives to create access to health insurance, health coverage for people, even people with preexisting conditions. When I joined the doctors on the floor one day last week, there were 15 bills stacked up in notebooks behind, on the dais, Mr. Speaker, that talked about the 15 things that Republicans would like to do. We don't think they have to be in a 1,500-page bill. In fact, the things we have talked about, like access for everyone, allowing people to stay on their parents' plan until they were older, then they have to leave the plan today, medical liability reform, more competition in the system, associated health plans, all of those things could happen individually. It would be great if all 11 bills that I personally cosponsored would pass and none of them conflict with the others. We think that's the way to move forward. But our doctors are consistently our best leaders on this issue, because they know all the problems that come up in health care, all the challenges that come up in health care, the importance of the doctor- patient relationship and how important it is that you don't have someone come between the doctor and the patient. I know, Mr. Speaker, that I and others have been criticized for saying that in the Canadian system, if you want to have a procedure done, you have to get permission from the government. Often that has been interpreted to mean that we are saying you couldn't possibly have that procedure done. What we are saying is not that. What we are saying is that somebody besides your doctor decides whether you get that procedure done or not. A well-read Wall Street Journal article back in the spring talked about the 57-year-old Canadian that even wanted to pay for his own hip replacement procedure and wasn't allowed to do it. It doesn't mean that you couldn't get a hip replacement. It just means he couldn't get one. It just means some bureaucrat decided he couldn't get one. We are going to be talking in the next few days, because of the apparent nature of the closed door, behind closed doors negotiation, we are going to be talking again about this government-run health care plan. The government option would be government-run health care as a competitor. My belief, sincerely, is that the government would not compete fairly. It would drive the other competitors eventually out of business. Now, this new wrinkle, Doctors, to the government-run option is, well, the States could opt out. Now, I was never in the State legislature, but I worked in a capitol building that had lots of legislators in it. Many of my colleagues were in the legislature, and they know and I know, and the majority knows, that if the government-run option is cheaper--and it will be because they, like Medicare and Medicaid, don't have to pay the whole bill--if it's cheaper, no legislature is going to opt out and say people in this State are going to become the example of standing against government- run health care. We are not going to have in this State that cheaper competitor until the other competitors go away. That's just not going to happen. This idea that somehow this is any kind of a compromise doesn't stand any scrutiny. And then the other big issue over the next few days will be this issue of why seniors and people who have been told their entire working career since 1965, and anybody who started work after 1965 has had Medicare, a Medicare deduction from their paycheck every single paycheck, now to be told we are going to cut Medicare benefits for half a trillion dollars to pay for this new government plan, if seniors figure this out in the next 10 days, this will not happen. If seniors understand how this bill would theoretically be paid, this would not happen. Whether it's the elimination, as is proposed, of Medicare Advantage for a whole lot of seniors, one out of four, or whether it's finding $300 billion in cuts in Medicare to pay a majority of the costs, that $500 billion in Medicare Advantage and cuts in Medicare to pay a majority of the cost, now everybody who will walk on this floor is surely for finding any legitimate savings in Medicare, but, my friends, if we are going to find savings in Medicare, we should use them to save Medicare. Everybody else that walks onto this floor knows that Medicare is supposedly in significant trouble beginning as early as 2017. Why do you take savings from a program already in big trouble and say we will use these savings to pay for some new program? It won't make sense to seniors or anybody who really, frankly, doesn't like the idea that they have paid into this program out of every single paycheck they have ever had, and the Congress and United States is not going to allow that program to be solvent in order to start down another road of more health care.

Mr. BLUNT. That's exactly right, you know, one out of every four seniors on Medicare Advantage, that would go away under any proposal out there right now. The administration apparently told the providers of those Medicare Advantage plans that they couldn't tell people that there was legislation that would eliminate the plan. Now, after a lot of appropriate outrage about that administration decision, that gag order to these plans, apparently now they are going to say, okay, you can tell them the truth. What a step forward that is. You can tell people in Medicare the truth about this. If people in Medicare find out the truth about that, and they figure out the truth about the other way to pay for this new government program and they start calling Members of the Congress of the United States, this will not go forward and we will be back to where my friend from Georgia said we should be, where we start over. We work together. We do the things that will fix what's broken in the system, but we also ensure that we keep what's working. More is working in health care than is broken. If we are not careful about this, we will eliminate what's really working and will actually encourage the things that are broken. None of us here on the floor at this minute want to do that, and hopefully none of our colleagues will either, and we can all work together in new ways. Again, I thank the doctors for the incredible credibility and knowledge base that they bring to this discussion. I know they are going to continue to be at the forefront of this debate between now and the end of the year, and, if possible, if it takes until next year. This is one-sixth of the economy. This is the most important thing to every family, people in your family being well. We ought to take the time that it needs to do this right.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Well, I thank the gentleman for yielding. It's good to be here on the floor with so many of our Republican doctors. When you're in a debate on health care, and you can say, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, you'd probably better be in a discussion on health care. And I want to say that our Republican doctors have really been doing a great job leading on this issue. Many of them were on the health care solutions group that I led and, you know, we haven't produced an 1,100- page bill or a 1,500-page bill. But there's lots of legislation out there that Republicans are for that would change health care in the right way and a lot of it that you as individuals are supporting as well. And one thing I've heard, Dr. Broun, all over the summer, throughout the summer and now into these early months of the fall, is why do we have bills that nobody can read, that nobody can understand and certainly, in health care? I suppose if you're on the other side of this issue and you're trying to come up with a health care plan that costs $1 trillion, maybe it all has to work together. You have to have the taxes, you have to have the mandatory insurance for every American, you have to penalize small businesses that don't create insurance for their employees, maybe it all does have to come together. Certainly in our plan, you can take the bills that we're individually involved in and collectively involved in, for medical liability reform, nothing else has to pass for that medical liability reform bill to save $54 billion. Nothing has to pass for our associated health association health plans bill to be out there and suddenly allow lots of people to have access to health care that they don't have right now. Nothing else that I'm for has to pass for fair tax treatment so that if you get your insurance on your own, you have the exact same tax treatment that the biggest company in America has if they give insurance to people. So we've got lots of bills out there. There are Republican solutions. The biggest misleading thing said in this debate, which has lots of misleading elements to it, is you can either do what the administration wants to do, or you can do nothing. There are lots of choices between what the administration wants to do and nothing. They reform health care without devastating taxpayers. And that's what we're doing. And, again, nobody has been better on talking about the doctor/patient relationship and what you do to be sure that doesn't become the bureaucrat/patient relationship than our doctors, and I'm glad to be here on the floor with you and look forward to being part of this discussion for a few minutes.

Mr. BLUNT. If the gentleman would yield, we have plenty of alternatives, and I'm absolutely confident that if you ask the American people would you rather have one 1,500-page bill--I actually heard today that the Senate bill, the Baucus bill, is over 1,500 pages. Would you rather have one 1,500-page bill, or would you rather have 15 bills that were all less than 100 pages that you could debate one at a time, that you could change the system in a way that people understand exactly what you're doing, and that you don't devastate future generations with a health care plan that just simply can't be paid for when we have reforms that would create a lower cost of health care generally, lower cost of taxpayer- provided health care specifically, and not add to the Federal deficit. And I know the answer to that, doctors. I know the answer to that and you do too. You all were at the town hall meetings. You've been on telephone town halls. And people are tired of bills where the answer, where the problem is hidden somewhere in the bill and nobody can find it. And believe me, if there's a 1,500-page bill, if this Congress stays true to form, there will be a 1,500-page substitute put on the table the day we're asked to vote on it, and nobody will have possibly had time to read it. The bills right behind you are not only the Republican solutions to this problem, but they're also the way the American people would like to see this problem solved, and we're working hard to do that. We'd just like to have an opportunity to present these bills. We'd like to have an opportunity to have a hearing on these bills. We'd love to have an opportunity for these bills to be debated on the House floor. So far nobody's given us that opportunity at any level.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong opposition to this rule. This rule, for the first time that I am aware of, allows the Defense authorization bill to become a vehicle where other social legislation is finalized, where the country's laws are changed, where those of us who have always voted for the Defense authorization bill now have a choice of voting for a bill that includes something that we've always voted against. And even if it was something that I was for, I don't think this rule should move forward in a way that changes the law so that we would, in the future, have two classifications of criminals and two classifications of victims. Criminals should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Victims should be protected to the fullest extent of the law, and it should not, Mr. Speaker, happen in the Defense authorization bill. To use this bill in this way is a step in the wrong direction, and I am afraid it's the first step in that wrong direction where every bill to defend the country, every bill to find out what our enemies are up to, every bill to fund our troops, every bill to take care of their families will become a vehicle for other social legislation that has nothing to do with defense. That should not be in this bill. This rule should allow a vote that takes it out of the bill, at the very least, and it sets a very terrible preference, Mr. Speaker. I urge this rule be rejected so we can move forward with a Defense authorization bill like every Defense authorization bill for at least a decade that dealt with defense and those who defend our country.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I would say that I'm as hopeful as all the speakers have been that this bill passes, that this effort encourages foreign travel and that this effort encourages that important segment of our economy. This is an area where the United States has a lot to gain by encouraging foreign travelers who, as we've said before, come, stay longer, they spend more and they like us better. It's an important part of our diplomacy. It's an important part of our economy. I urge the passage of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I second the views expressed by my friend from Massachusetts. The territories should, without question, be made part of the corporation's and the Commerce Department's effort to promote international travel. Having traveled to the territories, I recognize the value of their visitor industries to their economic development and reiterate our expectation that this legislation, when implemented, will take into account travel promotion for the territories. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield 2 minutes to my friend from California (Mr. Farr). He and I are co-Chair of the Travel and Tourism Caucus. Again, every State and probably every congressional district feels that it has a tourism destination. And over 100 Members of the Congress are members of the Travel and Tourism Caucus to promote that important part of our economy, and nobody more actively does that than Mr. Farr.

Mr. BLUNT. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUNT. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join Mr. Roe in supporting the Morris K. Udall Act, and that now includes the Travel Promotion Act, an act that passed this body in the last Congress with 244 cosponsors and by voice vote, a very similar piece of legislation we sent to the Senate and to the other body in the last Congress. I'd also like to thank my good friend, Mr. Delahunt from Massachusetts, for his sponsorship of the House version of this legislation, and my co-Chair of the House Travel and Tourism Caucus, Mr. Farr from California, for his support and advocacy of this bill. Also, Mr. Barton from Texas, Mr. Radanovich from California, Mr. King from New York and Mr. Smith from Texas have been helpful in moving this bill through the process. I believe that the House bill was superior in some ways to the Senate bill, but the goal of both of these bills is a worthy goal. It's a goal that this Congress should move forward with. Every State and every congressional district is a tourism destination. In Missouri, whether it's the St. Louis Arch, the world's largest sporting goods store in Springfield, Missouri, the Bass Pro Shop, or for the 8.4 million tourists that visited Branson, Missouri, last year, all benefit from tourism, and our country benefits from international visitors and international tourism. This bill does create a fee paid by visitors to the United States that, in fact, based on information I have, is lower than the entry and exit fees in the countries that are generally discussed. The Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. all have entry fees for Americans that would exceed this entry fee that would allow us to have a matching fund to encourage international tourism. After barely recovering to its pre-9/11 numbers in 2007, international tourism took a 17 percent decline. The bill we're considering today will remind people overseas of what the United States has to offer. The corporation created by this bill will be composed of individuals with expertise across the spectrum that will show the value and the logistics of international travel. Foreign travelers to the United States spend more time in the country than the average domestic traveler. They spend more money, and frankly, in virtually every case, they like Americans and America better after they've visited here than they did when they first came. I'm hopeful the House will pass this legislation today, and I'm looking forward to seeing it signed into law. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUNT. I am wondering if I can enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from Massachusetts, the principal sponsor of this bill, Mr. Delahunt. Mr. Delahunt, as this legislation advances, it's important that tour operators, most of which are small businesses involved in inbound U.S. travel, are not adversely affected and that any marketing Web site the corporation will create is protected from being misused in a way that would favor particular companies or segments of the industry over any other and would provide equal access and choice. There are three issues I need to have further clarification on as we move forward. First, the board of directors of the Corporation for Travel Promotion created by this legislation will include representatives from many sectors of the travel industry. I'm hopeful that at least one member of this board will be a representative from the receptive/inbound tour operator sector. In addition, given their current efforts to market the United States as part of their business model, tour operators should be excluded from any assessment the corporation may impose. Second, any marketing Web site the corporation might create may include destination information for all 50 States, the U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia; but it should not include an internal consumer booking engine or reservation system that would infringe on the services provided by existing travel operators. A Web site should include no link to sites promoting non-U.S. destinations except those I mentioned, and any external Web links on the site, including those connected to paid advertisements, should be prohibited from the homepage. Third, any advertising space on a Web site the corporation might create should be equally available to any sector or company promoting travel to the United States and should not be focused on any one sector. To ensure this availability, I'd encourage the corporation to ensure that no single entity be allowed to purchase more than 5 percent of the total advertising space available on the marketing Web site, and at least 10 percent of the space offered should be reserved for small businesses. No industry segment should receive any favored pricing or access. I respectfully ask my friend from Massachusetts that he work with me to ensure that all sectors of our travel industry be protected and any Web site created by the corporation be used effectively and without abuse. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who has become an icon to fishermen, an innovative retailer and perhaps the humblest guy you might ever meet. You may not immediately recognize the name Johnny Morris, but you probably know the company he started in 1972-- Bass Pro Shops. Johnny is also a dedicated conservationist who supports a host of national wildlife and habitat conservation efforts. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, the Nature Conservancy, International Game Fish Association, Ducks Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Quality Deer Management Association, Trout Unlimited, International Bowhunting Organization, The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, Quail Unlimited, Federation of Fly Fisherman, and Safari Club International are among the organizations that Bass Pro Shops publicly supports. Johnny's ideal work is fishing. While fishing the Bassmaster professional circuit, he was always taking notes of what lures were catching fish, who made them and how to find them. Starting with hand- tied lures and bait made from sowbellies and sold in jars, Johnny started his business in his father's store. Within two years he needed more room for his growing enterprise. In 1972 Bass Pro Shops--or Pro Bass as many of his regulars still call it--began issuing catalogs. Today those books are 700 pages of full color pictures of lures, worms, hooks, sinkers, reels, rods and everything an angler would ever need. There is a line of hunting equipment and clothing too. Among Johnny's successful ideas was selling fishing boats in packages-- boat, motor, trailer and trolling motor. It had never been tried before, but it's an industry standard now. That is just one of several reasons why he was named the National Retail Federation's Retail Innovator of the Year in 2008. Johnny Morris' vision has expanded from that small space in his dad's store to 56 megastores in the United States and Canada, a 1.7-million- square-foot warehouse and headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, and jobs for 16,000 employees. If you want to know the real success of Morris' Bass Pro Shops, visit one of their stores. Complete with aquariums full of game fish or rare turtles, a Bass Pro Shops store is a visit that will satisfy your interest in everything outdoors. Equipment for most any sportsman's experience is available along with advice from people who have used it. Bass Pro Shops receives nearly 100 million customers, sightseers and visitors a year. The Springfield store is Missouri's number one visitor attraction, welcoming more than 4 million people through its doors last year. Johnny is a conservationist who enjoys the outdoors and preservation of America's scenic beauty found in its open spaces, wildlife and waters. Earlier this week, the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership honored Johnny Morris with its Lifetime Conservation Achievement Award for his dedication to conserving our national resources and ensuring the future of America's sporting traditions. This is an honor Johnny Morris has earned through a lifetime of work as a retailer and sportsman. Foremost, I think Johnny would like to be thought of simply as a pretty good fisherman.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the First Baptist Church in Bolivar, Missouri, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary of serving its community guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ. Starting with a charter group of seven believers in early September, 1859, today the First Baptist Church in Bolivar includes more than 1,500 members. Its 150 year history has been marked by steady growth and renewed commitments of service to the community and members of its congregation. Today, First Baptist in Bolivar provides more than spiritual richness; it offers recreation, child care, educational and family support through an array of missions, programs and services all geared to serve God. It started as a small charter group organized as the ``United Baptist Church of Jesus Christ at Bolivar'' and at its second meeting voted to build a house of worship--the first of what would be five structures. With unrest in the nation caused by events that would lead to civil war, the church treasury was empty in January, 1861. Three months later with the start of the Civil War, construction of the new church for its 17 worshipers was halted. The building was left unfinished and in debt. The conclusion of the war left only four members of the original congregation living in Bolivar. It was 1866 when D.R. Murphy stepped into the leadership role at the struggling church. As pastor, Murphy took up the call to resume construction of the church building and mount a donated church bell in the new tower. Two years later the church was still under construction, but the congregation decided to move their worship services from the courthouse to the new church in August, even before the walls were plastered. The building was painted with pews and kerosene lamps in place by the end of the year, and the Bolivar church began to grow. The first organized choir could be heard in 1869 accompanied by organ music. And the size of the congregation underwent a dramatic increase when Southwest Baptist College was moved from Lebanon to Bolivar in 1880. A month-long revival in January saw the congregation more than double, including the baptism of 28 people on February 8, 1880. By 1888, the church's name had been changed to the First Baptist Church, and membership continued to increase as the town and nearby college grew in population. In 1897 an entirely new building, complete with baptistery and gravity furnace, was in place. It was wired for electricity in 1901. It was replaced in 1926 with larger quarters on the northern half of Block #32 as Sunday school enrollments and congregational growth demanded expanded educational quarters. Other expansions came in 1959 and in the early 1980s. The character of the First Baptist Church in Bolivar has been shaped over the decades by its location in the bedrock center of the nation and its close relationship with Southwest Baptist University, where I had the privilege of serving as President before my tenure in Congress. Education and leadership have given the church a unique outlook on the world, its community and the good works it does in the Lord's name. First Baptist is making plans for their 150th anniversary celebration events throughout the month of September. The anniversary theme is Celebrate God's Faithfulness--Yesterday, Today, Forever. As my former house of worship, I know the people of this congregation, their work ethic, their love of God and the strength of their faith as they serve their community and the world.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3326, The Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010. Requesting Member: Congressman Roy Blunt Priority Name: Command & Control Service Level Management (C2SLM) Authorized Amount: $4 million Account: Global Command And Control System Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Accenture National Security Services Address of Requesting Entity: 407 S Pennsylvania Ave # 201, Joplin, MO 64801 Description of Request: C2SLM addresses the articulated needs by the warfighter in both the short and long-term to deliver critical information across a low-bandwidth enterprise while providing the ability to manage services. It will be able to be deployed on top of legacy C2 systems, as well as the envisioned C2 systems of the future. In addition, this technology is being explored to provide the Secretary of the Air Force with the ability to finally integrate command and control data with financial data. The ability to distribute services and manage them for the entire military enterprise is critical to achieving today's and tomorrow's mission. C2SLM, while leveraging the work done by the Network-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES) program, views the enterprise from the warfighters' perspective, not the networking perspective. C2SLM pushes the military enterprises capability to the edges and to the warfighter. C2SLM will enable our military to respond to the agility of our opponent by building agility and flexibility into our technology. C2SLM has been selected by the Pentagon to be the early pathfinder for the A- Staff, which will lead to use by non-AOC command and control for COCOMs and NAFs. Priority Name: Lithium Ion Storage Advancement for Aircraft Applications Authorized Amount: $2.5 million Account: Force Protection Applied Research Legal Name of Requesting Entity: EaglePicher Technologies Address of Requesting Entity: 1215 W B St, Joplin, MO 64801 Description of Request: This funding will be used toward continued advancement in Lithium Ion storage. Protection of Li-Ion power systems is absolutely necessary on all current chemistries to prevent catastrophic failures due to over charge, over discharge and temperature excursions. In conjunction with the necessary safety aspects of the power system, a management function is necessary to achieve maximum performance. Maximum performance is achieved by monitoring individual cell voltages, temperature and currents and using this information to control each cell's charging based on environments. By managing the system at the cell level, premature power system degradation and failure can be greatly reduced. This translates into reduced maintenance costs, increased battery life, increased performance and overall increased safety. The use of taxpayer funds is justified because the results from advancements in overall safety and chemistry not only provide safety for aircraft applications but can also be transitioned to the commercial, industrial, military as well as consumer product industries. The next generation of energy storage can be achieved. In addition, by leveraging the results from efforts on current projects, advancements toward new technologies can be realized sooner. These batteries have significant weight and power density advantages over legacy technologies that are currently in use. Priority Name: Long-Loiter, Load Bearing Antenna Platform for Pervasive Airborne Intelligence Authorized Amount: $5 million Account: Aerospace Technology Dev/Demo Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Missouri State University/QinetiQ North America Address of Requesting Entity: 901 S National Ave, Springfield, MO 65804 Description of Request: This funding will be used toward a revolutionary approach to the realization of truly load bearing antenna arrays. In addition to load bearing antennas, the DF hardware will be structurally integrated such that weight is minimized. DF algorithms have been developed and modifications for the severe conditions in Afghanistan will be used as a baseline. The use of taxpayer funds is justified because this new, affordable, antenna platform will significantly increase the DF capabilities of the Zephyr platform. This will enable rapid deployment and affordable assets in theater, adding significantly to the nation's assets. Priority Name: Self-Decontaminating Polymer System for Chemical and Biological Weapons Systems Authorized Amount: $3.5 million Account: Chemical And Biological Defense Program Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Missouri State University/Lumimove d/b/a Crosslink Address of Requesting Entity: 524 N Boonville, Springfield, MO 65806 Description of Request: This funding will be used to continue development of an on-demand, self-generating and self-renewing polymer- based decontamination system that produces, in real time, activated hydrogen peroxide for the destruction of chemical and biological warfare agents on fabrics for collective and individual protection applications. Hydrogen peroxide is known to be an effective broad spectrum decontamination agent for both chemical and biological warfare agents. The system will interface with state-of-the art chemical and biological stand-off sensors currently deployed in theater and will react to signals generated by such sensors to initiate the production of the activated hydrogen peroxide. Such a system will reduce the logistic burden associated with maintaining product stores in theater and the continuous monitoring of the product due to loss of effectiveness.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is exactly right: there are things we can agree on. In fact, there are things we have already agreed on. The minority has never reached out on issues to the majority more aggressively than on this one, where we have said we want a plan where everyone has access regardless of preexisting conditions. We want more competition and more choice that we believe will impact price. We are not satisfied with the current system. Internally, we think you change this system by medical malpractice reform, by more health IT, by more transparency of both results, cost and care. Those are the principles we ought to be advancing. The administration insists that this be done their way. We are not for government takeover of health care. We're for a system that works better for the American people, and we stand ready to work together to make that system happen.

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3288, The Departments of Transportation-HUD Appropriations Bill for FY 2010. Bill Number: H.R. 3288 Requesting Member: Congressman Roy Blunt Priority Name: Springfield MO Transit Related Improvements for National Avenue, Monroe Street, Brick City, and John Q. Hammons Parkway Amount: $500,000 Account: Buses & Bus Facilities Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Missouri State University Address of Requesting Entity: 901 S. National, Springfield, MO 65804 Description of Request: Missouri State University, an authorized recipient of transit funds, will make needed transit related improvements to make accessing transit safer and more convenient in order to increase transit use and reduce vehicle traffic in and around campus. The use of taxpayer funds is justified as decreasing vehicular traffic by increasing transit usage will have a significant impact on safety and the environment. Priority Name: MODOT Reconstruct I-44/Range Line Road Interchange in Joplin, MO Amount: $550,000 Account: IM--Interstate Maintenance Discretionary Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Missouri Department of Transportation Address of Requesting Entity: 3901 East 32nd Street, Joplin, MO 64804 Description of Request: The use of taxpayer funds is justified because this request would fund the redesign and reconstruction of the functionally obsolete and structurally deficient cloverleaf interchange at Interstate 44 and Range Line Road in Joplin. The project would eliminate weaving movements traffic must now perform, and it also would eliminate two structurally deficient bridges. Priority Name: City of Springfield, MO--West Wye Rail Line Relocation Amount: $500,000 Account: Rail Line Relocation and Improvement Program Legal Name of Requesting Entity: City of Springfield, Missouri Address of Requesting Entity: 840 Boonville Avenue, Springfield, MO 65802 Description of Request: The funding would be used to fund the design and construction of a new West Wye that will allow relocation and reconfiguration of freight rail traffic. The use of taxpayer funds is justified because completion of the project will have a large impact on safety.