Barbara Boxer

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I want to recognize the Family Service Association of Redlands as it celebrates 110 years of service and support to the communities of southern California. As a nonprofit community service organization located in Redlands, CA, the Family Service Association has been a hallmark institution of assistance and guidance to all who have sought its support. Founded as the Associated Charities of Redlands by community leader A.K. Smiley in February of 1898, this organization has a long history of care and concern for the needs of its local communities. After spending its first few years using funds from local contributors to assist the less fortunate, the organization opened a wood yard in 1909 to provide employment for those out of work. Later, contributors would donate buildings that enabled the organization to expand and establish the first community hospital, enabling more and more community needs to be met. Today, the Family Service Association of Redlands provides a variety of services and programs to benefit needy populations of inland southern California. Their Home Again program has made a significant effort to address the growing issues of poverty and homelessness, through providing homeless families with permanent housing, employment, and family stability. Their Family Support program has made a similar dramatic effort at bringing fundamental goods and services to families in need; these include clothing distribution, rental and mortgage assistance, utility bill assistance, motel vouchers, emergency medical assistance, dental and vision screening programs, educational and training programs, case management services, and many others. As the Family Service Association of Redlands celebrates 110 years of service and support to the communities of inland southern California, I am pleased to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing their more than a century of accomplishments.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, had I been present for the vote today to table the Durbin amendment to help families save their homes in bankruptcy, I would have cast a vote of nay. I am a cosponsor and strong supporter of the Durbin proposal, which could have helped more than 600,000 of these financially troubled families keep their homes by allowing them to modify their mortgages in bankruptcy.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am pleased and honored to salute my dear friend Rebecca, Becky, Wood Watkin as she celebrates her 95th birthday. Born on April 4, 1913 in Portland, OR, Becky graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1933 and went on to the University of Pennsylvania to study architecture. Undeterred by the fact that the architecture department did not accept female students at that time, Becky completed all required courses, and became the first woman graduate in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1937. That same year, Becky relocated to San Francisco and applied at a variety of architectural firms, none of which wanted a woman in the drafting room. Despite her difficulties with finding employment in the male-dominated workforce, Becky persevered, earning her California architectural license in 1944. A vanguard for aspiring women professionals everywhere, Becky opened her own architectural practice in Marin County in 1951. In the midst of these professional milestones, Becky also gave birth to three wonderful children. As a working mother, Becky looked for ways to use her personal and professional talents to help those in need, becoming a tremendous source of support and energy to causes that she believed helped the community, including the Ecumenical Housing Association and Planned Parenthood. Mr. President, 1948 saw Becky enter the political realm for the first time, by fundraising for Roger Kent, a local Democratic candidate for Congress. This initial political activity 60 years ago spearheaded a lifelong involvement with Democratic politics, a passion of Becky's that allowed her to work on the presidential campaigns for Adlai Stevenson, John Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, and Jimmy Carter. Inspired by Becky's trailblazing story and her fervent belief in good government, I first met Becky in the 1960s as we worked together to end the Vietnam war. As a young working mother myself, Becky quickly became a deeply admired mentor. As the years passed and our friendship grew, she was instrumental in helping me move up the political ladder from the board of supervisors to the House of Representatives and then to the Senate. As we celebrate the 95th year of her remarkably courageous and passionate life, I remain in admiration of Becky's strong sense of civic duty, honesty, integrity, and perseverance. Along with hundreds of her family, friends, and admirers, I wish her many more years of continued happiness.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I thank Senator Dodd so much for his great leadership on this issue. The reason I very much wanted to speak this morning is because California is on the front lines of this crisis. We have about 25 percent of all the foreclosures in our State. I want to show Senator Dodd where we rank in terms of the cities. We make up 7 of the top 10 highest foreclosure filing rates nationwide. First is Stockton, Modesto, Merced--Merced is No. 4, actually. These are very much in the farmland countryside. Riverside- San Bernardino, which is east of Los Angeles and one of the fastest growing areas--and by the way, the place where all of the freight goes through to get to the rest of the country as it comes in from Los Angeles. Bakersfield is No. 7, Vallejo-Fairfield, 8, and Sacramento, right near our capital, 9. We have 7 of the top 10 highest foreclosure filing rates nationwide. And the reason I stress it is because the things I am about to say are not theoretical. I have seen them happening. I held five roundtable discussions in various parts of my State, in many of these communities, and everything Senator Dodd is saying about what occurs in a community is right on target because when you start with one foreclosure, and a house gets boarded up, and then someone else puts their house up for sale and it sits, suddenly you have a circumstance where crime is going up and properties are going down. It is a vicious cycle. Suddenly people owe more on their home than the home is worth, and it is a very dangerous circumstance. The way I would describe it, Senator Dodd, in thanking you so much, is this: This crisis keeps getting away from us because while this administration definitely cares about Wall Street--and, by the way, I used to work on Wall Street, and I think what they did makes sense--the question is, where are they when it comes to my communities, to your communities, to the communities all over the country that are struggling? Why don't they bring that same sense of purpose? Today, we are going to see if our Republican friends have a change of heart because, of course, they stopped us the last time we tried to do this. But the commonsense things that are in your bill, and now I guess it is the leadership bill as well--and I thank you, Senator, I know you need to rush off--are just so sensible. It provides $200 million in additional funding for housing counselors. And let me tell you anecdotally what I know from having spoken to counselors. When the counselors sit down with the mortgage lender and they sit down with the homeowner, miracles happen, and anecdotally I can tell you about 50 percent of the cases are resolved. Now, times have changed. In the old days--and I would say that is when I bought my house, the old days--you had the banker down the street. If you wanted to refinance, you visited the banker down the street, and you told him the purpose of the refinance. Maybe you wanted to borrow on the equity of the home because you wanted to send a child to school. Maybe you wanted to add a new bedroom, expand the house, do some landscaping. It was very much a face-to-face situation. But because of the way the markets have changed, a lot of people don't even know who holds on to their mortgage. That mortgage may have been securitized, may have been put inside a big package of other things and may be sitting somewhere in a hedge fund. They do not know who actually holds their mortgage. So you get a counselor who understands how to go about following this trail, and it makes a huge difference. One would think, and I certainly would, that it is to everybody's benefit to save a home, not only for the lender and the homeowner but the community. So counselors are important. We provide $4 billion in community development block grants for localities so they can get involved as part of the solution. We are in Washington, but the city council people, the mayors, the county supervisors, the Governors and the rest, they are on the ground where all this is happening. Give them some tools and give them some standards and let them have a chance to resolve some of this. Allow bankruptcy judges to modify loans on principal residences. Right now--and I was struck to find this out, as most of my constituents are--if you declare bankruptcy and go to court, the judge can do a lot of refinancing to straighten you out, but he can't touch the principal home. If you have a second home, a third home, a yacht, a car, all that can be refinanced. But the judges have been blocked. Now, I know there are some on the other side of the aisle who don't like this provision. Well, if you don't like it, please explain why because it doesn't make sense. They say it will raise interest rates. It is just not true the way this provision has been modified. But if you want to change it, then vote to proceed to this bill and then fix that provision. Don't stop us from going to this bill. We provide an additional $10 billion in tax refunds for housing refinance agencies to refinance subprime loans. This is just another very good way to set up an agency that can help you out of your mess. If you want to stay in your home and you prove that you can stay in it, that you have the financial wherewithal, you can go to this to get these funds. This increases transparency and accountability by simplifying disclosure on mortgage documents. We all know that is key. And we allow struggling companies to apply current losses to tax returns from prior profitable years. This has hit home builders very hard, this downturn, and they need this help with Uncle Sam and the Tax Code. So I want to say to my colleagues who may be listening--maybe there is one or two--that to stop us from going to this bill is very hurtful to the American people. It is very harmful to the American people. Experts are predicting that over 2 million Americans with subprime loans, including more than 460,000 Californians, will lose their homes. Let's grab this crisis finally by the tail and pull it toward us and resolve it. Don't let it get away further. I can tell you, since we are in many ways at ground zero of this crisis, it is a very sad thing to watch what is happening. We have the ability to do a lot, and this is a modest bill. It is a good bill. It certainly doesn't spend as much as the bailout of Wall Street, which, again, I think was a good idea, but we certainly need to know more facts about it, and we certainly need to give the same attention and concern to the middle class of this great country. From all the meetings I held around my State, I can tell you that people are looking to us, and they are not going to understand it when a colleague votes no to proceed to a bill because they didn't like one out of the six things in it. It just doesn't make any sense. Let me give you from this chart one more look at the crisis in my State. This shows you nationwide that there have been 223,000-plus filings for foreclosure. That is 1 in every 557 homes nationwide. That is a 60-percent jump from 2007. In my State, which is a huge State, about 37 million, 38 million people now, we saw 53,000-plus filings, or 1 in every 242 homes, for an increase of 131 percent from 2007 to 2008. And then we break it down by counties here and we see the desperate situation that some of our counties and cities are going through. We have already made some progress, and I want to thank my colleagues for the stimulus package where we did a few things that helped our State. One of them, in particular, was raising the conforming loans by Fannie and Freddie. That was very helpful. We also have moved to work to get more counselors out there. But there is not enough counselors out there. So there is no question it is time but for us to act. We have faced, I don't know what it is now, 60, 70 filibusters by my Republican friends, and they have every single right to do it, but they also know--I know they know this--they will take the blame for this if nothing gets done. So I say to my friends, I understand you don't like everything on our list. I totally get it. By the way, there are things that are missing from this list that I would like to add. But I am not going to vote no to go to solving this crisis because there is something on here that I feel is missing. In conclusion--the words everybody waits for when a Senator speaks-- it is our turn to step forward, and if we fail to do so, we are irrelevant to this country. If we cannot have the courage to cast a vote to go to solving the housing crisis, we are irrelevant to this country when every leading economist tells us that it is the housing crisis that is at the heart of this recession. I thank the Chair for this chance to speak. We need this bill to help our families stay in their homes.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and, of course, I will not object, I just want to make sure that when Senator Dodd finishes, I be recognized for 10 minutes.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I wish to honor and share with my colleagues the memory of a very special man, Arthur Lyons of Palm Springs, who died March 21, 2008. He was 62 years old. Arthur Lyons was a man of many talents and will be fondly remembered for his groundbreaking work with film noir cinema, his success as an author, his dedication to the city of Palm Springs, and his love for the environment. Arthur was born on January 5, 1946, in Los Angeles, CA. His family moved to Palm Springs when Arthur was 11. After graduating from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1967, Arthur tapped into his lifelong passion for film noir and began writing as a novelist, a screenwriter for Universal Studios, and as a cofounder of the Writers Conference, among other projects. Arthur wrote his first novel, ``The Dead Are Discreet'', in 1974 and went on to author 23 more books, many of them mystery novels, including the successful Jacob Ashe detective series. His nonfiction sensation, ``Death on the Cheap: The Lost B Movies of Film Noir'', reflected his interest in film noir cinema, the traditional Hollywood crime dramas of the 1940s and 1950s. After writing crime novels for over 25 years, Arthur partnered with Craig Prater in 2001 to launch the Palm Springs Film Noir Festival--one of the first such festivals in the Nation. A man of unbridled enthusiasm for the film noir style, Arthur would encourage attendees to dress up in mobster-style clothing that was typical of that Hollywood era. A member of the Palm Springs City Council from 1992 to 1995, Arthur was an advocate of energy deregulation in California and helped create Palm Springs Energy Services. During his time on the city council, Arthur also helped to create Palm Springs Villagefest, a street fair held every Thursday that hosts food booths, a certified farmer's market, and craft and artisan booths. In recognition of his positive contributions to the Palm Springs community, Arthur was honored with the 287th Golden Palm Star on May 30, 2007. Those who knew Arthur Lyons recognized him as a uniquely passionate and brilliant man. He took pride in promoting causes that he held close to his heart. His work as an author, screenwriter, director, and elected official will be remembered fondly by all those whose lives he touched. He will be deeply missed. Arthur is survived by his wife Barbara Lyons and his uncle David Lyons.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to recognize the 10th anniversary of the Bay Area Green Business Program in Contra Costa County, the Contra Costa Green Business Program. Founded in 1998, the Contra Costa Green Business Program was one of the first green business programs to be established in the nine-county Bay area region. Composed of a partnership between local, regional, State, and Federal Government agencies and utilities, the Bay Area's Green Business Programs help local businesses throughout the Bay area proactively conserve resources, prevent pollution, and minimize waste. Californians have always led the way in fighting for a clean environment. I applaud the Contra Costa Green Business Program for strengthening and sustaining the quality of the environment in the county through a collaborative partnership of public and private organizations that encourages, enables, and recognizes businesses taking action to prevent pollution and conserve resources. Breaking with the tradition of environmental initiatives targeting big businesses, the Contra Costa Green Business Program offers small- to medium-sized businesses a complete environmental guide, scaled to their operations, for conserving energy and water, reducing waste, preventing pollution, and complying with environmental regulations. It also certifies and recognizes businesses of all types for meeting these rigorous environmental standards. The Contra Costa Green Business Program has certified over 300 businesses throughout the county in the last 10 years. I commend the program's dedicated staff and volunteers who work diligently to show local businesses how they can be both green and profitable at the same time. By recommending a wide range of measures that help lessen greenhouse gas emissions and conserve resources, the Contra Costa Green Business Program is helping smaller businesses protect the climate in very meaningful ways. I congratulate the Contra Costa Green Business Program for its dedicated work on this special occasion, and I send my best wishes for many future successes over the next 10 years.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am pleased and honored to salute my dear friend Rebecca ``Becky'' Wood Watkin as she celebrates her 95th birthday. Born on April 4, 1913, in Portland, OR, Becky graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1933 and went on to the University of Pennsylvania to study architecture. Undeterred by the fact that the Architecture Department did not accept female students at that time, Becky completed all required courses and became the first woman graduate in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1937. That same year, Becky relocated to San Francisco and applied at a variety of architectural firms, none of which wanted a woman in the drafting room. Despite her difficulties with finding employment in the male-dominated workforce, Becky persevered, earning her California architectural license in 1944. A vanguard for aspiring women professionals everywhere, Becky opened her own architectural practice in Marin County in 1951. In the midst of these professional milestones, Becky also gave birth to three wonderful children. As a working mother, Becky looked for ways to use her personal and professional talents to help those in need, becoming a tremendous source of support and energy to causes that she believed helped the community, including the Ecumenical Housing Association and Planned Parenthood. Mr. President, 1948 saw Becky enter the political realm for the first time, by fundraising for Roger Kent, a local Democratic candidate for Congress. This initial political activity 60 years ago spearheaded a lifelong involvement with Democratic politics, a passion of Becky's that allowed her to work on the presidential campaigns for Adlai Stevenson, John Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, and Jimmy Carter. Inspired by Becky's trailblazing story and her fervent belief in good government, I first met Becky in the late 1970s when she helped me get reelected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors in 1980. As a young working mother myself, Becky quickly became a deeply admired mentor. As the years passed and our friendship grew, she was instrumental in helping me move up the political ladder to the House of Representatives and then to the U.S. Senate. As we celebrate the 95th year of her remarkably courageous and passionate life, I remain in admiration of Becky's strong sense of civic duty, honesty, integrity, and perseverance. Along with hundreds of her family, friends, and admirers, I wish her many more years of continued happiness.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mrs. BOXER. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I have a modification at the desk seen by both sides. We left out the second page originally. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be modified.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, this is a little complicated. The only reason I am offering this amendment is as a substitute to the Ensign amendment which is coming next. The Ensign amendment does something I have never seen in all my years in the Senate. It funds a program that is not the law of the land. It funds a program that Senator Ensign strongly supports. It did pass the last Congress--not this Senate, the last Senate. He is setting aside $50 million in the Justice Department for this particular priority. What if we each came down here with our priority bill? I have one to fund preschool for all kids, but it is not passed. If I asked you to set aside $50 million for a bill that was not law yet, it would make no sense. When I asked Senator Ensign, he said: Well, it could pass. The Child Custody Protection Act could pass. It could pass here. It could pass the House. It could be signed by the President. But my friends, what I do here is just say: Let's take that same amount of money and use it for all child protection laws. I hope Members will support my amendment.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I wish to inform all colleagues on both sides of the aisle that you voted for $50 million to enhance the enforcement of child protective laws. If Senator Ensign's bill becomes a law--which it is not the law; it has not passed this Senate in this Congress and I do not believe people feel it is going to become law--if it does become law, then that money is already there to be used for such a program. But now to set aside funding for a bill that is not a law is the oddest kind of precedent. It is kind of ``Alice in Wonderland,'' to be honest with you. Every one of us could take our favorite bill and say: Let's set aside funding in case my bill becomes law. This is not the way to legislate. We have put in $50 million to enhance the enforcement of child protective laws, including this particular bill.

Mrs. BOXER. I hope my colleagues will vote no.

Mrs. BOXER. Excuse me, if I may, Mr. President.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, if I may have a moment, the amendment I agree with is the Vitter amendment which says that the rules surrounding FACE, which is the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, would apply to recruiting stations because we do not want anyone hurt by demonstrators. Whether it is at a reproductive health care clinic or a recruiting station, we fully agree, and we are very happy to accept that amendment. The amendment by the Senator from North Carolina, on the other hand, would take funds away from the University of California, would take funds away from the police and firemen in Berkeley, would take funds away from the children who go to school there, would take funds away from transit--these people who had nothing to do with anything any city councilman in Berkeley said. And, by the way, P.S., they took it back. They took back what they said.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President and my colleagues, this is a moment we could be together because we had some outrageous statements coming out of the Berkeley City Council. They rescinded. They apologized. And what the Senator wants to do is take it out on people who, A, had nothing whatsoever to do with this in the first place; and, B, the whole thing ought to be moot because they have apologized. Now, I don't see how you are faithful to the Marines--and by the way, I hope everyone will donate, as I do, to the Semper Fi Fund. Since you mentioned semper fi, there is a fund that takes care of our wounded vets. I hope we will all write a personal check tonight. You want to help the Marines? How do you help the Marines and their families when you take money away from paralyzed people, including paralyzed veterans? That is what the earmark was about. How do you help the Marines when you take money away from American kids who are learning about the importance of nutrition? How do you help the Marines when you take money away from police and fire? Please vote this down. It is mean spirited.

Mrs. BOXER. And it is not in the interest of America to do this.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I did not want to have to offer another amendment here to tonight. The only reason I am doing that is because the amendment that will be offered in a moment by Senator Allard says that the SCHIP program, our kids health program, should cover children--this is from his amendment--from the moment of conception until 19 years old. I am assuming the idea is to make sure pregnant women are covered. Yet it doesn't say that. So my side-by-side says pregnant women will be covered. That means you don't get into that whole area of when does life begin and so on. We are saying, please vote for this. Let's cover pregnant women, and that will, indeed, cover the pregnant woman and her fetus, all the way from the minute she is pregnant. This is what we hope you will vote aye for. We hope you will vote no on the Allard amendment. I am sorry to trouble you with another vote.

Mrs. BOXER. I call up amendment No. 4379.

Mrs. BOXER. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 4246

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Jerry Butkiewicz, a labor leader in San Diego who recently retired as secretary-treasurer of the San Diego Imperial Counties Labor Council. He has devoted the past 30 years to improving the quality of life for all people. In 1975, Jerry Butkiewicz joined the American Postal Workers Union, APWU, in Phoenix, AZ. He became shop steward and within a few years rose to president of the local. Five years later, attracted by the beautiful weather in California, Jerry Butkiewicz and his family moved to Oceanside in San Diego where he continued to work for the U.S. Postal Service. Shortly after his arrival, he was elected president of the APWU in Oceanside. In 1981, the San Diego Imperial Counties Labor Council selected him as their liaison between organized labor and the United Way of San Diego County. Elected secretary-treasurer in 1996, Jerry Butkiewicz led the Labor Council with compassion, practicality, and a tireless work ethic until January 2008. Over his 12 years as secretary-treasurer, he worked to grow and strengthen the labor movement in San Diego. Through his efforts, the Labor Council has improved the lives of countless San Diegans. Jerry was active in the San Diego Greater Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of San Diego, the San Diego Workforce Partnership, the Environmental Health Coalition, and the State Workforce Investment Board. Jerry Butkiewicz has worked tirelessly to provide all Californians with a fair wage, affordable health care, and a safe working environment. His service to the working families of San Diego has been an invaluable contribution to all who live in San Diego and California. I congratulate Jerry Butkiewicz on his retirement, and wish him continued success in his future endeavors.