John Boehner

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 283, I call up the bill (H.R. 660) to amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to improve access and choice for entrepreneurs with small businesses with respect to medical care for their employees, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster).

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman referred to his ability to offer a package under ERISA to your 220 employees on the business you managed, but what about those 900 real estate agents that work as independent contractors for this company, who had to go out and fight on their own, day in and day out, to get a policy for themselves or for their family? And under this bill, if I am correct, the National Association of Realtors or the Georgia Realtor Association could offer a group plan to their real estate agents which would bring their costs down substantially.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), a member of our committee.

Mr. BOEHNER. I do, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, we believe that the average reduction for a small employer would be somewhere between 15 and 30 percent.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, would the gentleman yield?

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. The foundation of our health insurance market in the United States is employer-provided coverage set up through ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. It covers 150 million American lives. We are trying to allow small employers who belong to statewide associations, national associations, the opportunity to band together to create an insurance policy that will benefit not only the small business but, more importantly, their employees. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn).

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. VELAZQUEZ). (Ms. VELAZQUEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 660.

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. What we want to do in this bill is to give small employers the same advantages in the marketplace that large companies and unions have today. And that is the real secret behind this. Why can they not go out as a group and design a plan that would meet their needs just like a big company can for their employees? Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Fletcher), the author of this bill and someone who has worked on it for many, many years.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding me this time. I thank both him and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) and many others for their efforts in bringing us here, and I rise today in support of the conference report to S. 342, the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003. This conference report reauthorizes the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act and related programs and acts. The conference report represents, I think, our efforts and commitment to once again ensure that programs aimed at the prevention of child abuse and neglect are strengthened and continue to serve vulnerable children. When this process began, we wanted to ensure that the final bill reflected our strong belief that every child in America deserves the security of being part of a safe, permanent, and caring family. And I am pleased to say that the conference report that we have before us does just that. It aims to improve program implementation, making enhancements to current law to ensure that States have the necessary resources and flexibility to properly address the prevention of child abuse and neglect. This conference report retains language to ensure that children are protected from abuse and neglect through best practice prevention and treatment services. And, importantly, it continues to reflect our belief that we can help achieve this goal by maintaining resources for adoption opportunities, identifying and addressing the needs of abandoned infants, and ensuring that resources continue to be available to promote family violence prevention activities. This conference report also retains language to address the problem of child abandonment and abuse with effective solutions that make a real difference in the lives of children. In addition, this conference report continues to appropriately address issues regarding child protective services across the United States by enhancing training for personnel, requiring more effective partnerships between child protective services and private and community-based organizations, and improving public education on the children protection system. This conference report enjoys a strong bipartisan support and is widely supported throughout the child abuse prevention and family violence prevention communities. I want to thank all the conferees from both the House and the Senate for their efforts in getting us to this point. I especially want to thank the Select Education Subcommittee chairman (Chairman Hoekstra) for his leadership and dedication to the completion of this conference report; the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood); the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa); the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis); and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), my friend and the ranking member of our committee. I wish to thank Senator Gregg, the Chairman of the Senate Health Committee, Senator Kennedy, the ranking member, and Senator Dodd for their assistance in finalizing and helping us bring this legislation forward today. I also want to thank the staff for their hard work and their dedication, especially Krisann Pearce, Pam Davidson, Kate Houston, Holli Traud, Alexa Marrero, and Jo-Marie St. Martin of my committee staff; Ruth Friedman with the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), Ricardo Martinez with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa), Rebecca Hunt with the staff of the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra), Judy Borger and Matt Haggerty with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), and the counsel from the minority side, Mort Zuckerman, whom I see in the Chamber. They have all worked in an especially close way to help bring us here today. So I want to urge my colleagues to support the conference report to S. 342, and thank them for all of their hard work.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Con. Res. 162, honoring the City of Dayton, Ohio for its Inventing Flight celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of powered flight. In addition to commending Dayton's efforts this year, efforts which actually began back in 1989, we would be remiss if we neglected to pay tribute to the dedication Dayton, the Miami Valley community, and the military and civilian personnel at Wright Patterson Air Force Base have shown in both preserving Wilbur and Orville Wright's legacy and advancing the dream of human flight. One hundred years ago, the Wright Brothers made Ohio the ``Birthplace of Aviation.'' It was in their bicycle shop in Dayton, now part of the Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, that the Wright Brothers researched and designed the first successful, heavier-than-air, manned, powered aircraft. It was there in Dayton, on the Huffman Flying Prairie, where the brothers learned to fly--where they learned to control and maneuver their aircraft. Today, the tradition of the Wright Brothers lives on in the Dayton community. Engineers, scientists, and inventors continue to research, develop, and test the latest advances in airpower at the Wright Patterson Air Force laboratories. At the Air Force Institute of Technology, they learn the technical skills to build the aircraft of the future. At the United States Air Force Museum, three hangars attest to the commitment the community has to preserve the history of the Air Force and its contributions to the advancement of powered flight. July 3, 2003 marks the beginning of the month-long Inventing Flight activities, transforming Dayton into an international hub of aviation entertainment. The Centennial Celebration, the largest public centennial event in Ohio celebrating the first powered flight, is one of only four nationwide events endorsed as a full partner by the United States Centennial of Flight Commission. The Centennial Celebration includes the Dayton Air Show at the Dayton International Airport. This year's show will include an unprecedented joint appearance by all three North American jet demonstration teams: the Air Force Thunderbirds, the Navy Blue Angels, and the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. I am proud to represent communities working so tirelessly to preserve and promote powered fight, a community where the Wright Brothers lived, dreamed, invented, and perfected man's first powered aircraft. In Dayton, the legacy of aviation is celebrated for its critical contributions to the economy, to business and personal travel, and to our military. I salute Dayton' legacy and extend an invitation to everyone throughout our country to visit this city and all of the Southwest Ohio and to join the celebration where Imagination Takes Flight.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER.Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Ready to Teach Act of 2003, introduced today by Representative Gingrey. The Ready to Teach Act is the first, in what will be a series of bills, the Committee on Education and the Workforce will consider in our continuing efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The No Child Left Behind Act calls for a highly qualified teacher in every classroom by the end of the 2005-2006 school year, lending new urgency to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act as we seek to ensure that teacher colleges are producing highly qualified graduates. Provisions in the Ready to Teach Act complement the No Child Left Behind Act and will help to improve the quality and accountability of teacher preparation programs to ensure that highly qualified teachers are teaching our children. As we work to place highly qualified teachers in classrooms across the nation, I am particularly pleased that this legislation allows for innovative programs that provide alternative options to the traditional teacher training programs. Proposals outlined in the bill, such as charter colleges of education, provide a much-needed alternate route to training highly qualified and effective teachers. This bill takes the important step of recognizing that individuals seeking to enter the teaching profession often have varied backgrounds--and by creating flexible approaches that step outside the box, these individuals can become highly qualified teachers through training programs as unique as their individual experiences. The key to producing highly qualified teachers is not the path by which they travel, but the destination they reach. Teachers trained through innovative options, or certified through alternate means, will still be held to the same standards of accountability and quality, but will not be constrained by artificial requirements that could place barriers between high quality individuals and the classrooms where they are desperately needed. In addition to innovative options such as alternative training and certification options to prepare highly qualified teachers, the Ready to Teach Act makes several improvements to the programs responsible for training the teachers of tomorrow. The bill authorizes three types of grants, each with a specific and important role to play in the training of America's teachers. State and partnership grants under the Act must be used to reform teacher preparation requirements, coordinate with teacher activities under Title II of the No Child Left Behind Act, and ensure that current and future teachers are highly qualified. Authorized grant activities will place a renewed emphasis on the skills needed to meet the highly qualified standard: the use of advanced technology in the classroom, rigorous academic content knowledge, scientifically based research, and challenging state student academic content standards. In particular, states are authorized to use grant funds for innovative methods for teacher preparation programs, such as charter colleges of education, that exchange flexibility in meeting state requirements for institutional commitments to produce results-based outcomes for teacher education graduates--measured based on increased student academic achievement. The Ready to Teach Act authorizes partnership grants to enable effective partners to join together, combining strengths and resources to train highly qualified teachers and achieve success in the classroom. These partnerships will require faculty of participating teacher preparation programs to serve with a highly qualified teacher in the classroom, allowing effective in-class experience to ensure that highly qualified teachers are truly prepared to teach. Teacher recruitment grants under the Act will help bring high quality individuals into teacher preparation programs and gives a funding priority for applicants that will emphasize measures to recruit minorities into the teaching profession, providing a teaching workforce that is both highly qualified and diverse. The Ready to Teach Act will also hold teacher preparation programs accountable for preparing highly qualified teachers. While current higher education law contains annual reporting requirements, these reporting measures have proven ineffective in measuring the true quality of teacher preparation programs. In fact, the current requirements have often been manipulated, leaving data skewed and often irrelevant. The Ready to Teach Act includes accountability provisions that will strengthen reporting measures and hold teacher preparation programs accountable for providing accurate and useful information. This bill makes needed reforms to improve the quality and accountability of our nation's teacher preparation programs. I would like to commend Mr. Gingrey for his work on the Ready to Teach Act. I would also like to thank Mr. McKeon, Chairman of the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness, for his continuing efforts to improve all aspects of our country's higher education system. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and believe that this legislation will enjoy broad support in the Congress.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker I am pleased to have the opportunity to congratulate the Gentleman from Delaware, Mr. Castle, on the introduction of the School Readiness Act of 2003, which reauthorizes the Head Start program. This legislation demonstrates a tremendous commitment to strengthening Head Start. It represents a great accomplishment not only for Mr. Castle, but for disadvantaged children and their families from across this nation. As many of you know, President Bush's biggest domestic priority has consistently been education reform. In his State of the Union address in January 2002 the President outlined his plan (known as the Good Start, Grow Smart initiative) for ensuring that children are prepared to read and succeed in school. This proposal focused on strengthening Head Start, increasing partnerships with States, and providing information to teachers, caregivers and parents. The Bush Administration's proposal laid the foundation for many of the reforms in this legislation. I would like to take this opportunity to thank President Bush for his leadership on this issue. I think we all recognize that Head Start is a great program that has helped millions of low-income children access the resources they need in order to help them succeed in school and later in life. I was troubled to learn, however, that while children in Head Start show improvement when compared to other disadvantaged children who are not enrolled in the program those same children are still far behind their more advantaged peers when it comes time to enter school. The School Readiness Act of 2003 will address this ``readiness gap'' in much the same way that the No Child Left Behind Act addressed the ``achievement gap'' between low income and middle class students. I am particularly pleased that this legislation increases Head Start's emphasis on school readiness allows us to align the goals of Head Start with recent reforms of K-12 education, while continuing to maintain the comprehensive services that are provided by the program. The No Child Left Behind Act made it clear that children should be reading successfully by the end of the 3rd grade. The School Readiness Act of 2003 makes it clear that Head Start should be providing economically disadvantaged children with the opportunity to enter school with the literacy, pre-reading, and pre-math skills that are essential for success in school. I am also pleased that the School Readiness Act of 2003 focuses on improving teacher quality in Head Start. Research has demonstrated that having a well qualified teacher in the classroom is one of the best predictors of student success. This is why the School Readiness Act of 2003 requires 100 percent of all new Head Start teachers to have at least an Associates Degree in early childhood education or a related field within three years. The legislation also requires 50 percent of Head Start teachers nationwide to hold at least a Bachelors Degree in early childhood education or a related field by 2008. In order to provide an incentive for states to continue investing in early childhood education, the School Readiness Act of 2003 also creates a state demonstration project that allows a limited number of states to voluntarily apply for and receive the option of coordinating Head Start programs with their own early childhood education programs, in exchange for an agreement to maintain or expand funding for early childhood education. This state demonstration project would be limited to states with a demonstrated investment in early childhood education and an established, pre-existing preschool system. Participating states would be barred from making funding cuts to early childhood education programs as a condition of their participation. Current Head Start grantees in participating states would be guaranteed funding during the first year of implementation of the demonstration project. In addition, States would be strongly encouraged to continue utilizing current service providers that have demonstrated the capacity to provide high quality Head Start services consistent with State guidelines for school preparedness for children entering kindergarten. I am confident that this type of state control and collaboration will allow states to increase all-day Head Start classes, better coordinate state pre-school programs with Head Start, and improve the alignment of Head Start instruction with state K-12 standards. These types of reforms will not only improve the school readiness of participating children, but will also allow States that are held accountable for student performance under the No Child Left Behind Act to have the opportunity to do everything possible to ensure that their students succeed. Once again, I would like to congratulate Mr. Castle on the introduction of this legislation. I look forward to working with him, and other members of the House, as we continue our efforts to strengthen Head Start and ensure that our nation's neediest children are prepared to succeed in school.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1170, the Child Medication Safety Act, which will prevent school personnel from requiring a child to obtain a prescription for a medication in order to remain in the classroom. I would first like to thank my colleague from Georgia, Representative Max Burns, for his leadership in introducing this legislation to address this significant issue. I would also like to thank Lynn Woolsey for her help to improve this legislation. I am please to support this bipartisan legislation and am thankful for their efforts. We have heard from numerous parents and grandparents that have been coerced or pressured by school districts into placing their child on medication in order for the child to attend school or receive services. I recognize the difficulty that children with attention or behavior problems bring to school, but no one should react by automatically assuming that the child should be on drugs. And certainly an individual without a medical license should not presume to understand the severity of a problem and simply assume that the child would be better off with drugs. I'm sure that in these situations school personnel think they are doing the child, and the parents, a favor. But they are not. Instead they create new problems, unintended problems, and add to the culture where a pill should magically solve all of the child's problems. Worse, the quick fix of a pill fails to account for the potentially harmful effects of these drugs when not properly administered. The diagnosis of a disability or emotional or behavioral problem requires the careful examination and discussion with a licensed medical practitioner. This bill protects that dialogue and ensures that parents are not forced to decide between their own preferences and a school official who is acting inappropriately. I think it is also important to point out that we have provided strong safeguards to protect appropriate communication between the parent and the teacher. Teachers will still be able to share their observations with parents about the child's behavior in the classroom and the school. Teachers and parents will still be able to discuss the child's academic performance. This bill does not stifle appropriate communication. This bill has the clear and simple goal of preventing school officials from requiring children to be medicated with a controlled substance in order to attend school. This is a goal we can and should all support. H.R. 1170 is an important bill that will provide security and comfort to both teachers and parents to ensure that our children are protected. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, today we are considering H.R. 1925, the Runaway, Homeless, and Missing Children Protection Act, which authorizes Federal assistance for programs that serve and protect runaway and homeless youth and missing and exploited children. H.R. 1925 contains the reauthorization of both the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and the Missing Children's Assistance Act. This legislation strengthens these programs in order to address the unique needs of these at-risk youth. With this bill, we will ensure the protection of runaway and homeless youth, keeping them off the streets and away from dangerous circumstances by providing both emergency shelter programs and long-term supportive assistance. Additionally, we continue to support the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and its efforts to locate and recover missing children and help prevent child abductions and sexual exploitation. H.R. 1925 reauthorizes the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA), and will continue to fund the Basic Center Program, the Transitional Living Program, and the Street Outreach Program. Grants are used to develop or strengthen community-based programs that are not part of the law enforcement, juvenile justice, and child welfare system. The Act has been successful in meeting the needs of runaway and homeless youth and in reuniting these youth with their families. There are, however, some specific improvements in H.R. 1925, including adjusting the funding allocation between the Basic Center Program and the Transitional Living Program to address the increased need for transitional services and enable more communities to serve the long-term needs of runaway and homeless youth. This legislation also clarifies that group homes in the Transitional Living Program may provide parenting youth and their children with a supportive and supervised living arrangement in which the pregnant or parenting youth learn parenting and other skills to promote their long-term economic independence and self-sufficiency in order to ensure the well-being of their children. The Runaway, Homeless, and Missing Children Protection Act also addresses the needs of missing, abducted, and sexually exploited children by reauthorizing the Missing Children's Assistance Act. This legislation increases the authorization level of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children from $10 million to $20 million for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2008, extending the authorization that was begun in the PROTECT Act, and extends the authorization of the remaining activities under the Act through 2008. I would like to thank Congressman Gingrey for his leadership as the sponsor of this bill, Subcommittee Chairman Hoekstra for his guidance on this bill, as well as Mr. Miller and Mr. Hinojosa for working with us in a bipartisan manner from the very beginning of the process. This legislation includes provisions worked out by Members on both sides of the aisle, and reauthorizes programs that should be supported by the Congress. I would urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I join with my House colleagues of the past and present and especially those with whom I have served on the House Agriculture Committee, to extend my best wishes to Larry Combest as he embarks on a new direction in life after serving the people of Texas' 19th District with distinction and honor for 18 years. Over the course of our 12\1/2\ years together on the House Agriculture Committee, I enjoyed the relationship we were able to build and the spirit with which we pursued the best policy for rural America and for America's farmers and ranchers. There can be no doubt that Larry has been a strong voice in Congress and a consistent advocate for our nation's agriculture community. I congratulate my friend Larry on all of his accomplishments here in Congress and I know that all his friends and House colleagues will sorely miss him.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, the telecommunications sector of the economy has taken a real battering. Market caps are a fraction of what they were 2 or 3 years ago. Companies such as Lucent continue to lay off employees and cut back operations. Even the large telephone companies have taken significant hits in the market and laid off thousands. The Federal Communications Commission had an opportunity to give these companies a boost. In its Triennial Review decision, it could have eliminated some regulations that have stifled investment and created uncertainty. Unfortunately they did not, and to make matters worse, here we are 3 months later and we still have not seen the FCC's final order. The telecom sector continues to languish under burdensome outdated regulations. Mr. Speaker, it is vital to our nation's economy that we promote policies that will encourage investment and create jobs and reviving the telecom sector is an important part of rejuvenating the nation's economy.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 230, I call up the bill (H.R. 1000) to amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide additional protections to participants and beneficiaries in individual account plans from excessive investment in employer securities and to promote the provision of retirement investment advice to workers managing their retirement income assets, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), chairman of the Subcommittee on Employer- Employee Relations. (Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon), the chairman of the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson) and ask unanimous consent that he be permitted to control that time.