Sherrod Brown

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I rise to urge the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. In 1994, this very important act became law. It was groundbreaking for women, for law enforcement, and for local advocacy organizations that received the resources they needed to better protect victims of abuse. It empowered us to combat domestic and dating violence and to prevent sexual assault and stalking. The Violence Against Women Act has improved the criminal justice system's ability to keep victims safe and to hold perpetrators accountable. It has been a valuable tool for so many women, so many children, so many families, and law enforcement to make sure we can keep people safe. It is vital we ensure these services remain intact. Last year, the law expired. Critical efforts that help women and their children protect themselves from domestic violence and stalking and now cyber threats continue only on a short-term basis. As a husband, as a father of three daughters and a daughter-in-law and as a Senator, I find any further delay of reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act to be simply unacceptable. Our mothers, our sisters, our daughters deserve more protection and security and less of the political bickering. In 2011, there were more than 38,000 reported cases of domestic violence in Ohio. Of course, many more than that--thousands more, we think--went unreported. Women live, as do children, with fear and pain. These women live with the fear and pain of their partner's physical and emotional abuse. It is because of the Violence Against Women Act that they have somewhere to turn. It is because of that law that when they do, they have the help to escape violent relationships and the support to seek legal representation when they need it. It is why authorizing the Violence Against Women Act is so important. Women's shelters and domestic violence centers clearly would have trouble existing without this law. These are the very organizations that connect women with legal help, emergency housing, transportation, and like services. They help with primary prevention programs so children grow up learning the importance of healthy and safe relationships. The Violence Against Women Act is about assisting law enforcement officials who place themselves in danger when they investigate and prosecute cases of abuse and violence. Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act would invest in State grant programs--such as the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program--that help law enforcement respond to assault crimes. The bill provides tools for law enforcement, victim service providers, and court personnel to better identify and manage high-risk offenders and prevent domestic violence homicides. Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act is long overdue. It is time to stand for the women in this country so they are no longer subject to neglect and abuse and the law's inaction. I urge my Senate colleagues to reauthorize, finally, after the opposition--opposition I don't even understand--from a number of my most conservative colleagues, how important it is to reauthorize one of the most important pieces of legislation affecting women in our country. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Georgia. I so appreciate Senator Isakson's comments about Africa. He is lucky enough to represent the CDC, which is one of the greatest organizations in human history, which has made such a difference in health care for low-income people in this country and around the world and, frankly, not just low-income people but what we call the public health of this country. Few achievements are greater than the achievements of public health, whether it is eradicating smallpox internationally--we are both old enough--the Presiding Officer may not be--to remember kids that we knew from grade school who were afflicted with polio and the fear of every parent that their child might get that, and the CDC and the public health system in this country removed that threat with vaccines and all that. The Export-Import Bank Mr. President, I rise briefly for 4 or 5 minutes to talk about one way that companies in my State grow and create jobs, and that is by selling their products around the world. President Obama set a goal to double exports from the United States in the next 5 years. I am part of the President's advisory council. There is a handful of Senators and a few Members of the House of Representatives who are part of this advisory committee, along with many business leaders in the country, CEOs of large companies, presidents and CEOs of small companies, small businesses, too, to advise the President. Earlier today, I joined with Fred Hochberg, president of the Export- Import Bank of the United States, and Eric Burkland, president of the Ohio Manufacturing Association in Columbus, to discuss the need to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Ohio has had quicker increases in job growth than other States. We are coming back; our unemployment rate is now lower than the national average, but it is still far too high. Too many Ohioans want to work and cannot find jobs. Some have jobs but are not working full time or their pay has been cut or is stagnant. Manufacturing is gaining nationally, adding 470,000 jobs since January 2010. To put that into historical perspective, for 12 years, from 1997 to 2010--12-plus years--we saw a manufacturing job loss in this country every single year from the year before, with fewer factories, fewer workers, and less manufacturing. But since early 2010, we have seen almost every single month, in Ohio and across the country, job growth in manufacturing. It is still not enough. It is positive, but we are not out of the woods yet. I fear we take a step back if Congress fails to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. We know that Ohio manufacturers and small businesses can compete with anyone in the world, from Zanesville to Springfield, to Ashtabula, to Toledo; American manufacturers can compete with anybody in the world if there is a level playing field. We know how to make things in Ohio. When we stamp ``made in Ohio'' on a product, we know it was made with pride and by some of the most efficient, progressive companies in the world, and some of the best workers in the world. Exporting is tough, especially for small businesses. Fewer than 1 percent of the Nation's nearly 26 million small businesses export their products. Very few small businesses are able to export for a whole host of reasons. I hear from small business owners who want to expand and who want to get access to foreign markets, but they can't secure private financing due to the credit risks associated with some overseas investments. One of the most important resources to help small businesses and midsize manufacturers to boost their exports is the Export-Import Bank. Ex-Im's mission is simple: It facilitates exports and contributes to job creation in the United States. It does it through loans, through guarantees, through insurance. It fills in gaps through trade financing at no cost to taxpayers. The market sometimes doesn't deliver in these situations. The Ex-Im Bank can fill in some gaps and help companies that have the ability to grow and export to actually do that. The Ex-Im Bank generates revenue to the U.S. Treasury. Yet despite this record of success in exports, jobs are at stake because Congress cannot agree to the Ex-Im reauthorization. The Ex-Im Bank's lending authority expires May 31. We know companies that export products create jobs, pay higher wages, and are more likely to remain in business. Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing already account for an estimated 7 percent. One out of fourteen of Ohio's total private sector jobs, 1 out of 14 Ohio workers are linked to export. More than one- fourth of manufacturing workers in Ohio depend on exports for their jobs--the eighth highest among the 50 States. We need to do a better job in ensuring that America's small businesses have access to that global market. The Ex-Im Bank helps. It provides credit that otherwise wouldn't be available to turn export opportunities for businesses into increased jobs, higher wages, and increased sales. In 2011, the bank worked with almost 100 Ohio businesses to support more than $400 million in export sales. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, Ex-Im supports 290,000 export-related jobs. More than 8 percent of Ex-Im's transactions supported small businesses last year. Renewing the bank's charter should be a cause all Senators support, just like the 25 times the Senate has overwhelmingly reauthorized the agency since its establishment in 1934. Think about that. Since 1934, time after time after time, this body has unanimously or overwhelmingly reauthorized--kept going--the Export-Import Bank--but not today, for whatever reason. Perhaps it is the same reason as when the Presiding Officer's Buffett rule was on the floor of the Senate this week that a number of Senators said no to moving forward. I don't know if it is because the Republican leader has said he wants President Obama to fail or if it is just this rigid philosophy that there is no positive role for government. Whether it is the highway bill, the Buffett rule or the Ex-Im Bank, we know at least that the Ex-Im Bank works, and it is strongly supported by the chamber of commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the machinists who testified in our Banking Committee this week. It is supported by all kinds of people who want to see this economy grow. Unfortunately, a number of my colleagues, for whatever reason, don't want to move forward. This is a matter of American jobs. It is a matter of competitiveness. We had a trade deficit with China of $295 billion in 2011, meaning every day we buy about $800 million more in goods from China than we sell to China. The first President Bush, some years ago, said that $1 billion in exports or imports could translate into 13,000 jobs. When we have a $295 billion deficit, with one country alone last year, one can see the kind of job loss it means. We know China's Export-Import and development banks provide as much as $100 billion in export credits each year. That is three times as many new export credits as the U.S. Export-Import Bank does. So we know, even with reauthorization, that China still does way more of this than the United States. Yet we are unilaterally disarming if we allow this May 31 date to come and go and the Ex-Im Bank reauthorization expires. It makes no sense for our manufacturers, for our big and small companies, and it makes no sense for our workers and our communities that will all be hurt if we don't do that. It is time to end the delay. It is time to reauthorize the Export- Import Bank. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for up to 15 minutes.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I am joined on the floor today for his first time on the Senate floor with John Crown, who works on our veterans affairs issues. He came from the Veterans Committee and joined our staff in the last couple of weeks. John Crown is a marine, did two tours of duty in Iraq, and we honor him for his service. He, it seems, wants to dedicate his life to serving people who also served their country, people of all ages and both genders and all ideologies and who served their country anytime in the last several decades. I wanted to announce his first visit to the Senate floor today. Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Mr. President, 70 years ago this week, on April 18, 1942, 80 brave American airmen volunteered for an extremely hazardous mission. The Presiding Officer, the senior Senator from Pennsylvania, knows I like to come to the Senate floor and talk about history and honor people who have played such an important role in our history. I want to talk about these men. They were known as the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders. They accepted their mission without knowing what it entailed. Their mission followed the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor happened, obviously, the December before. It was our Nation's first offensive against Japanese soil in the Second World War, planned and led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle. The mission was risky from the outset. It was the first time the Army Air Corps and Navy collaborated on a tactical mission, flying 16 B 25 Mitchell bombers from the deck of the USS Hornet, a feat never attempted before. The morning of the raid, the USS Hornet encountered Japanese ships 170 miles from the prearranged launch point. Fearing that the mission might be compromised, the Raiders proceeded to launch 170 miles earlier than anticipated. By departing 650 miles from their intended target, these men accepted the risk they might not have enough fuel to make it beyond the Japanese lines to occupied China. Accepting this choice meant the raiders would almost certainly have to crash land or bail out, either above Japanese-occupied China or even over the home islands in Japan. Any survivors, they knew, would certainly be subjected to imprisonment or torture or death. After reaching their targets, 15 of the bombers continued to China while the 16th, dangerously low on fuel, headed to Russia. The total distance traveled by the Raiders averaged 2,250 nautical miles over 13 hours, making it the longest combat mission ever flown in a B 25 bomber during the war. Of the 80 Raiders who were launched that day, 8 were captured. Of these eight prisoners, three were executed, one died of disease, and four of these prisoners returned home after the end of the war. Of the original 80 Raiders, 5 are still with us today and they are celebrating this week the 70th anniversary in Dayton, OH, honoring their fellow Raiders who are no longer with them. As they gather this week, I am proud to submit this resolution with my colleagues from both parties and from each State where these men reside. It is my pleasure to have Senator Hutchison from Texas, Senator Murray from Washington State, Senator Alexander from Tennessee, Senator Tester from Montana, and Senator Baucus, also from Montana, and Senator Nelson as my cosponsors. It is my sincere privilege especially to have Senators Inouye and Lautenberg, both veterans of the war, as cosponsors, too. As the Raiders gather this week, these five men will also honor other heroes--this is what is perhaps even as interesting as the first part-- the Chinese citizens who cared for, protected, and enabled them to survive in a foreign land, a very foreign land to these American men. A Chinese delegation is coming to Dayton for the reunion. Among the delegation is a man whose father helped carry injured Raiders to safety and even nursed one Raider to health. I would be certain they could not talk to each other in a common language. They had never seen anybody like the other one. Yet one, a Chinese, helped this American airman. It is only fitting we recognize this week's anniversary and commend the 5 living members and the 75 deceased members of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders for their heroism on that day. It is fitting to remember the compassion shown to the Raiders by the Chinese villagers they encountered. The Senate resolution is our humble attempt to show our gratitude. The valor, skill, and courage shown by the Raiders proved invaluable to the eventual defeat of Japan during the Second World War. Today, these men, with their Chinese friends, remind us that quiet decency and uncommon valor in the face of sure danger, however rare, are traits that know no limit. The Auto Industry Mr. President, the last 2 weeks most Members of the Senate were back in their States talking--I hope listening more than talking and learning more than perhaps talking--and learning about issues and problems they were seeing and hearing in their State. I was in Ohio, from Ashtabula to Parma to Zanesville, to meet with Ohioans to discuss ways to get our economy back on track. Too many Ohioans are struggling as too many people in Pennsylvania are struggling. Many are still looking for work. Others have seen their wages cut or their hours reduced, but from Chillicothe to Toledo, from Portsmouth to Mansfield, there are signs of recovery as our manufacturers, especially auto suppliers, but much more than that, and some of the small businesses supplying these companies, are beginning to show real signs of growth. Few places are more symbolic of this than a company called American Manufacturing, located in Toledo. Three years ago the auto industry, as we know, was on the verge of collapse, threatening to take down with it thousands of auto parts suppliers. American Manufacturing got down to four employees. They had had 125. They supplied container crates, metal container crates, for the auto industry. It had once been 125, down to 4 employees. President Bush tried but was blocked, mostly by Republicans in the Senate, his own party members, to do a bridge loan and assistance for the auto industry. President Obama, with a strong Democratic majority, over the opposition of many Republicans--although some Republicans in my part of the country, the industrial areas around Ohio, including Ohio, were supportive--was able to rescue this industry. We knew that rescuing the auto industry was way more than about helping Chrysler and General Motors. We knew it mattered, not just for those large companies and their workers, it mattered for Johnson Controls, it mattered for Magnam, it mattered for small companies such as American Manufacturing in Toledo, companies that depended on the auto industry. In fact, estimates are that 800,000 people in Ohio are in the auto industry one way or the other; directly or indirectly they work for auto companies. Forty-eight of these 800,000-plus jobs were depending on Congress moving forward in early 2009, doing the right thing. The decision was not popular. There were all kinds of naysayers. There is no question now that it was a success. A number of people--from Governor Romney to lots of people around the country and lots of conservative politicians in Washington--said we can structure it. But let the companies go into bankruptcy and then let them put the financing together to come out of bankruptcy. The only problem was that nobody--from Bain Capital to First National Bank--was willing to loan money to these two behemoths, Chrysler and GM, because they were in such a terrible situation and had such terrible problems. So what happened? The government loaned the money. Much of that money is paid back and things are better. But let's not forget that in January of 2009, when President Obama took office, we were losing 800,000 jobs a month. Our economy was in freefall, and this was the time the auto industry was going down. To stop the bleeding, one of the things we did was unlock the frozen credit market for small businesses and manufacturers through the Small Business Administration. Through these SBA loans, we saw a new local bank that had only been around for a handful of years in Toledo, OH, step up, invest capital in American Manufacturing, which is in Toledo, and this company is now about to hire its 100th person. This company is successful now because of the auto rescue, and it is successful because of the Small Business Administration coming out of the Recovery Act and having enough money to guarantee loans not with a Wall Street bank but a local community bank to get this company on its feet. Even with all of this we are seeing that the auto rescue is working, and we know two terrific examples of how it is working in my State. The Chevy Cruze is assembled in Youngstown, OH. My 28-year-old daughter drives a Chevy Cruze. The Chevy Cruze probably would not exist today if it were not for the auto rescue, and here is what it means to Ohio: The engine is made in Defiance, OH; the bumper is made in Northwood, OH; the transmission is made in Toledo, OH; the sound system is made in Springboro, OH; the steel comes out of Middletown, which is in Butler County, OH; the aluminum comes out of Cleveland, OH; the stamping is done in Parma, OH; and the assembly is done in Lordstown, OH. Look at the Jeep Wrangler. The Jeep Wrangler was assembled in Toledo prior to the auto rescue, but only 50 percent of the parts for the Jeep Wrangler were made in the United States. Today there are more people working at Wrangler, producing more cars--still assembled in Ohio--yet instead of 50 percent, 75 percent of the parts now come from companies in the United States made by workers in the United States. What we are now seeing as the auto industry begins to grow and the auto rescue was so clearly the right thing to do--thank God the Senate and the House didn't listen to the naysayers. In spite of that, we are still seeing huge trade deficits with China in auto parts. Ten years ago our trade deficit with China and auto parts was a $1 billion. That meant we bought about $1 billion in car parts from China more than we sold to China. That was 10 years ago. Today that number has grown to almost $10 billion. The first President George Bush said a $1 billion trade deficit, meaning we bought $1 billion more than we sold to another country, translated to about 13,000 jobs. Do the math. Today the bilateral trade deficit between the United States and China on auto parts alone is $10 billion. We are seeing it in other things. We see it in auto, we see it in solar, and we see that China uses unfair subsidies. They subsidize water, they subsidize energy, they subsidize land, they subsidize credit, and on top of that they have a currency advantage because they manipulate the currency. Sitting idly by is not an option. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle understand that. That is why my China currency manipulation bill--the biggest bipartisan bill to pass the Senate in 2011 by more than 70 votes--costs the taxpayers nothing, but it levels the playing field so China cannot manipulate its currency and cheat in international trade. As I said, that legislation passed with 70 votes. A recently released report shows that if this Congress--meaning the House of Representatives down the hall--would pass this and send it to the President's desk, and if the President signs it, that by addressing the China currency manipulation it could support the creation of 2.2 million American jobs without adding a dime to the deficit. In fact, it would be the opposite. If we take 2 million people who are now unemployed and put them in manufacturing jobs making $15, $20, $25 an hour, we would clearly see the deficit shrink. More people would be back on the payroll paying taxes and contributing to their communities. It is time to take bold action. It is time to stand up on China currency. I appreciate the support of my colleagues in the Senate on the China currency bill. Time is running out in the House. I am hopeful the House of Representatives passes this bill too. It is time we put American workers and American manufacturing companies first. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 5 minutes as in morning business.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, just a few minutes ago, I was presiding over the Senate and I heard remarks from my friend, the senior Senator from Missouri, Claire McCaskill, who sits next to me. I was intrigued by her response to the vote that had just taken place for my colleagues who preach every day about deficit reduction. As Senator McCaskill said, they had an opportunity to pick the lowest hanging fruit there is, take away the tax breaks and the tax dollar subsidies that go to the oil interests in this country. Think about that. We are giving incentives. Taxpayers are spending hard-earned dollars coming from workers in Dayton and Springfield and Akron and Canton that go directly to the most profitable industry in the history of the world, perhaps, particularly the big five oil companies, making billions and billions of dollars. Yet we are simply saying it is OK to give them those kinds of tax breaks and tax subsidies. That is even putting aside the fact that every time there is a pipeline outage or every time there is a fire in a refinery or every time there is turmoil in the Middle East, the oil companies and the speculators use it as a chance to spike up oil prices. They do it over and over like clockwork. A problem in Iran? Prices go up. A fire in a refinery? Prices go up. An outage in a pipeline? Prices go up. The Presiding Officer from Vermont, with his bill, has led this effort to get the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Department of Justice to put the government on the side of the motorist, of small businesses, of the consumer. Just as Senator McCaskill said earlier, to save tax dollars is really obvious and, on the other side, to make sure we go after the speculators when they rip us off. According to a recent study, 56 cents of the price of every gallon of gas you buy when you go to the pump in gas stations all over America goes to the hedge fund operators and speculators. That is about $10 to $12 to $15 a tank depending on how big a car you drive. On the one hand, we are not saying no more tax breaks. On the other hand, we are not saying to the speculators: Stop this. You are not going to get away with this anymore. The government has to be on the side of the middle class here and fight back. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Would the Senator yield for a moment?

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I thank the assistant majority leader. I heard his comments about Chrysler and what happened with the CEO when he was in town today talking to some of our colleagues. And one of the untold stories of the auto rescue is not just that in my State 800,000 people work directly or indirectly for the auto industry. Most of those are part of the supply chain that makes products and sells those products--a large number of them--that are assembled in Lordstown or Toledo or different places around Ohio. But one of the untold stories is that not only were these jobs and these companies saved from going bankrupt--and who knows what would have happened to a State such as mine where much of the State is pretty dependent on the auto industry--but in the case of the Toledo Jeep plant, prior to the auto rescue only 50 percent of the components that went into the Jeep Wrangler were made in the United States. After the President and Vice President negotiated with the auto industry and the auto task force and the House and Senate weighed in, now 75 percent of the components that go into the Jeep Wrangler are made in the United States. So we are not just seeing the 5,000 jobs in Lordstown making the Chevy Cruze or the jobs at the Honda assembly plants in Marysville, OH, or Toledo, or Ford, we are also seeing that a lot more of the components are made in the United States. And these are often union jobs, often not union jobs, but they are almost all good-paying jobs that give people a ticket to the middle-class. It helps them to buy a house, send their son or daughter to school, or buy a car. Without it, my State would probably be in a depression.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I have been to the plant where they make the engine for the Chevy Cruze, I have been to the plant where they make the bumper for some of these cars, and I have been to the assembly plants, and the workers are excited. And the workers sacrificed a lot, as the auto industry--all kinds of people took a hit with the managed bankruptcy of those two companies. But we have seen not just the auto industry, but for 12 years, from 1997 to 2009, in my State and I assume in Illinois too and all over the country we lost manufacturing jobs. Almost every month for the last 2 years we have gained manufacturing jobs. The auto rescue is not the only reason we have seen things turn around. We also have a productive workforce and we are training workers better. I have 55 college presidents I just met with whom I bring to Washington for a conference--it is the fifth year in a row. Senator Portman, Congresswoman Sutton, and others have met with them. They are more focused than ever on manufacturing, working to train those people so they can go into manufacturing. The students they are educating are in a whole lot of fields, but one of them is focusing on how to train people to do this high-end, much more technical, complicated manufacturing than a generation ago, and it is starting to work.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, if my colleague would yield one more time, it wouldn't have just been Chrysler and General Motors that would have faltered. Honda--a foreign-owned company that has made a huge and positive presence in the Columbus area, in northwest Columbus and in Marysville--and Ford, obviously one of the Big Three but one that didn't ask for the rescue--both those companies wanted us to do the rescue because they knew if we didn't, their whole supply chain would begin to fall apart too. So this mattered not just for Chrysler and GM, saving them, and now that they are putting tens of thousands of people all over the country back to work, it mattered for the entire industry, including the foreign companies that have invested and hired a lot of American workers. I thank the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President. I rise today to honor Raymond J. Price III upon his retirement from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, IUPAT. For more than 30 years, Ray Price has represented his fellow workers in Ohio and across the country with distinction and dignity. In September 1978, he started as an apprentice painter at IUPAT Painters Local 867 in Cleveland. He honed his craft to become a journey worker just 3 years later. As he rose through the ranks he earned the trust and admiration of his fellow brothers and sisters progressing as a business representative, business manager, and, by 1995, as manager and secretary-treasurer of IUPAT District Council 6, which covers all of Ohio and central Kentucky. He would become heavily involved with the Cleveland Building Trades Council and served as vice president of the Cleveland AFL CIO Federation of Labor. What IUPAT members in Ohio understood about his loyalty and toughness, soon members from across the country would also recognize. In 1999 he joined the International Union staff as a representative of the general president and, later, as general vice- president at large. With each new challenge and responsibility, Ray showed how a progressive labor movement is critical to our country and to our middle class. Thank you, Ray, for your counsel and friendship. As you spend time at your cottage on the Sandusky River, I wish you a happy retirement with your wife Mary Ann, your children, and extended family by your side. You have left a legacy that shows how one can make a career fighting for working men and women--and making a community and country more just and fairer for all.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, March 2012 marks the 29th annual National Eye Donor Month--a month devoted to honoring eye donors and corneal recipients, and increasing awareness of the need for eye donations. Since President Ronald Reagan declared the first National Eye Donor Month in 1983, the Eye Bank Association of America, EBAA, and its 97- member eyebanks have used National Eye Donor Month to educate the general public about the donors and their families who provide life- changing corneal transplants for over 50,000 people annually. Of the EBAA's 97-member eyebanks, four are located in Ohio, and they possess a deep-rooted commitment to restoring sight by providing corneas for sight-saving transplant procedures. In 2010, charitable eye donations made by Ohio residents allowed our State eyebanks to provide more than 1,000 corneas to help their friends and neighbors regain sight, and an additional 1,000 eyes and corneas for additional surgical procedures, as well as for research and educational purposes. These selfless efforts have not gone unnoticed, changing the lives of thousands of Ohioans through the selfless gifts of donors and their families. The Central Ohio Lions Eye Bank in Columbus, serving 45 counties, has made possible over 12,000 corneal transplants since 1973. In the past 10 years, the Cincinnati Eye Bank for Sight Restoration, located in the southern part of our State, gave the gift of sight to nearly 6,300 individuals through transplantation. In northern Ohio, the Cleveland Eye Bank has provided corneas for over 20,000 cornea transplants since its founding in 1958. Lions Eye Bank of West Central Ohio, LEBWCO, in Dayton has provided high-quality ocular tissue to surgeons and patients since 1982 and serves more than 1 million people in nine counties. LEBWCO is dedicated to making the gift of sight a reality for the Dayton community and all Ohioans. Since the EBAA's inception in 1961, corneal transplants have changed the lives of over 1,000,000 people. However, much remains to be done to offer more people the opportunity to receive life-changing corneal transplants. I encourage all Americans to register to become eye donors. Inform your family of your wishes; designate yourself as a donor on your driver's license; and register as an eye donor through your State donor registry. I urge my colleagues to work with their local eyebanks and the EBAA to promote the importance of eye donation and its life-enhancing effects on corneal recipients. During March 2012, let us commemorate the lives of the donors who make corneal transplants possible, celebrate the sight restored by these transplants, and work to widen the path for additional advancements in corneal transplantation.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, some time ago, I was reading a book about the beginnings of the interstate highway system in our country. I came across a paragraph when the highway builders and the Federal Government were going to run the interstate highway through some stable middle-class, working-class neighborhoods of Baltimore. The highway administration was greeted by an organizer who, on behalf of citizens of this neighborhood, said this is not the place to put this highway. She was successful in convincing them that the highway should go elsewhere so it would not be disruptive of so many homes, well- established small businesses, and the cohesive community in that part of Baltimore. The woman who led that effort several decades ago was Barbara Mikulski. She was not yet on the city council. She was a citizen who spoke for her neighbors and has continued to do that as a member of the city council and then as a Member of the House of Representatives and for many years--3\1/2\ decades--of the Senate. We heard Senator Reid and others earlier today talk about Senator Mikulski being the first female Democrat to serve in both the House and Senate--to be elected to the Senate without succeeding a husband or a father and first to chair an Appropriations subcommittee. Most important, she helped to blaze this path. In 1987, there were only two female Senators. One was the daughter of a Presidential nominee a generation earlier, and the other was Barbara Mikulski. Today, there are 17 female Members of the Senate. It doesn't look like America yet. There is not anything close to the number of minority members as a percentage of the population, but I hope that changes. I think it will. It doesn't come close to representing the gender makeup of our society. But to go from 2 female Senators, when she first came, to 17 today--and if I can predict elections, which none of us can, and we certainly cannot try--I think there is a good chance there will be a number of additional women in this body this time next year. I wish to say a couple more things about Senator Mikulski on a less serious note. I have been privileged to serve on two committees with Senator Mikulski--one being the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. During the health care legislation, she was so helpful to so many of the causes we care about and to justice in this country, and on the Appropriations Committee, where she cuts a wide swathe of involvement for Maryland and this country, she champions women's health and many talked about this earlier. She cares so much about the National Institutes of Health, not just because it is located in Maryland but because it matters so much for scientific research, for curing a whole host of diseases and preventing diseases, and the number of jobs NIH creates, not just government jobs but the jobs that come out of commercialization of scientific research. My State is one of the leaders; whether the jobs come out of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Southwest Hospital, and where Case Western Reserve University is and its medical center around Cleveland, we see that kind commercialization. I often call her Coach B because she is someone who has been around here a long time and is always willing to advise newer and younger Members. She has been following, especially in my State, what is important, the issue of health care. My State has some of the leading health care institutions in America. Also, what she has done with the space program--the only NASA facility north of the Mason-Dixon line is in Cleveland, with a satellite in Sandusky, NASA Glenn, named after former Senator and astronaut, John Glenn. She has been one of the strongest advocates for the space program, and science, technology, and R&D. She has been particularly helpful to me as I fight for the kind of work NASA Glenn does in Cleveland, and I am appreciative of her for that. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I rise to talk about a new record that has been set. It has nothing to do with the number of votes the highway bill garnered last week in the Senate, and it has nothing to do with length of service of Senator Mikulski. For the first time in history, this year one State has four teams in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men's Division I basketball tournament: Ohio. A special congratulations to the Ohio State University, in Columbus; the University of Cincinnati, in Hamilton County; Ohio University, in Athens, OH; and Xavier University, also in Cincinnati, for their outstanding run so far and making our entire State proud. I am hosting, for the fifth time, an annual Ohio College President's Conference next week. We bring in 50 to 60 college presidents to meet with each other and with me and we bring in people from the administration, Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate Members, who lead on higher education issues. We bring 55 or 60 college presidents in from Ohio for a day and a half, and there are public and private institutions, 2-year community colleges, and 4-year colleges and universities. They learn best practices from one another. They build relationships that help all 55 or 60 of these college Presidents to do better. Perhaps, we will talk more about college sports this year because of these four Ohio teams that made the Sweet 16. We also know another point of reference for Ohio this year was that March Madness started in Dayton, in what has become an important tradition to Miami Valley and our country. This weekend, before the games started, Dayton's Oregon District hosted the First Four Festival, where 15,000 people crowded local restaurants and bars, listened to live music, and watched games on big screens. A few days later, President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron came to the same city where the Dayton peace accords were negotiated and joined the Dayton community and teams from Kentucky, Mississippi, New York and Utah and their fans to watch the first rounds of the NCAA Division I men's tournament at the UD Arena. The UD-- University of Dayton--Arena now holds the national record for the number of NCAA basketball tournament games held in a single venue. The business community in Dayton, one of the most active in the country--the Dayton Development Coalition--rallied together to make sure military families from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base were able to attend, and $3.5 million was pumped into the local economy, showcasing the Miami Valley's world-class tourism infrastructure of hotels, parks, entertainment, and recreation. We saw the same thing later in the week in the Arena District of Columbus, where the city hosted games on the opening weekend. Local Columbus leaders and businesses hosted teams from St. Louis, North Carolina, Michigan, New York, Tennessee, California, and Washington, DC, with their fans. The city expected a $10 million impact on the local community, with tens of thousands of people staying at hotels, eating in restaurants, and enjoying one of the fastest growing cities in America, where, I might add, the Presiding Officer once lived. We saw a boost in tourism in northern Ohio, where Bowling Green hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. Organizers in Bowling Green said the games were more than about basketball, it was about people from across the Nation coming to town and boosting the sales of small businesses. All the excitement and economic activity goes to show that Ohio is a tremendous attraction of basketball tourism and basketball talent. As the tournaments continue, and Ohio's teams continue to win, I look forward to working with our communities and our business leaders to further leverage our assets in tourism and recreation to help create jobs throughout our State and to promote economic development. I thank the Presiding Officer, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, are we in morning business?

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for up to 10 minutes.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I wish to thank my colleagues today for supporting an amendment by voice vote showing overwhelming support to the Transportation bill that improves ``Buy American'' provisions by making the waiver process more transparent, giving U.S. manufacturers fair and clear notice when a waiver is sought. It tells the Department of Transportation to report annually on waivers, analyzing what taxpayer dollars are spent on foreign materials and infrastructure projects. While some Members of the Senate may oppose it, it passed in a voice vote, so, in some sense, unanimous almost. But while some Members may oppose it, I hardly ever met anybody in the American public who thinks taxpayer dollars should not go for any infrastructure projects. That is the way you want to do it, and this legislation will move us closer to it. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was the most outrageous example, where much of that steel was made in China when U.S. steelworkers weren't all back at work the way they should be. I thank Senator Boxer and Senator Durbin. I thank Senator Graham from South Carolina and Senator Merkley for their help on this legislation. Today President Obama signed into law a trade enforcement measure that last week passed this Chamber by unanimous consent. It is bipartisan legislation--which I cosponsored with Senators Baucus and Thune, primarily--which gives the Commerce Department authority to impose what are called countervailing duties on imports from countries that are nonmarket economies, and that means countries with sort of command-and-control economies, such as the People's Republic of China. Last year the Federal appeals court issued a ruling that hamstrings our Nation's ability to fight back against illegal Chinese trade practices. Here is why Congress passing this bill is so important. We know China doesn't play by the rules, from direct export subsidies, to currency manipulation, to providing below-market loans to exporters. China does things our country doesn't and many other countries don't. It gives its exporters an unfair advantage. American industries fight back by petitioning the Commerce Department to investigate these subsidies. Sixteen Ohio companies have petitioned for this relief, including steel pipe companies in Youngstown, paper companies in Miamisburg, aluminum companies in Sidney, and tire manufacturers in Bryan, which is in northwest Ohio near the Indiana- Michigan border. These are good companies. They are not looking for handouts or an unfair edge; they want a level playing field. This legislation does this. When countries such as China don't play by the rules, they suffer. This helps to fix that. Also today, President Obama announced that his administration would pursue a case at the World Trade Organization against China's hoarding of rare earth materials. Rare earth hoarding is one of the many illegal trade practices China employs to tilt the playing field in its favor. U.S. Manufacturers rely--as they do around the world--on rare earth materials for the production of a number of products, including wind turbines and electronics. China currently accounts for 97 percent of the world's materials. They impose quotas and heavy tariffs on their export, putting American manufacturers at a severe disadvantage. This almost forces companies to go to China to do the manufacturing because of subsidies the Chinese give to themselves, their own companies, and because of the tariffs they can extract from these companies for export, these raw-material makers for export, our companies are at a severe disadvantage. Today the administration said that enough is enough. One Ohio CEO told me when I visited his company in northeast Ohio: As an Ohio-based manufacturing company with roughly 80 percent of our sales outside of the United States, GrafTech has a keen interest in protecting our ability to compete aggressively in the global marketplace. Obtaining key raw materials at a reasonable cost is critical to our mission. They are not asking for handouts; they are not asking for subsidies; they are just asking others to quit cheating. Senator Portman and I have repeatedly urged the Obama administration to take this case. Senator Portman, who was a former Bush Trade Representative, who almost always is on the other side of major trade issues from where I am--we came together on this, as we have on other trade issues that matter for our country. In 2001 the United States had an $83 billion trade deficit with China. Ten years later, last year, there was a $295 billion trade deficit with China. President Bush once said that $1 billion in trade surplus or trade deficit translates to 13,000 jobs. So if our trade deficit grew from $83 billion to $295 billion just with that one country, think of what it does to manufacturing in Springfield and Akron and Cleveland and what it means to a State such as Colorado, what it means to any States that make things in this country. Jobs are at stake, and addressing our trade imbalance with China is essential. To do that, we must make China play fair with the United States. Not too long ago, the Senate passed the largest bipartisan jobs bill. In 2011 we passed my legislation on currency. The bill would curtail China's ability to illegally manipulate its currency so they could flood our markets with cheap goods, undermining our workers and making it much more difficult for our companies to sell there. After years of China gaining the benefits of WTL membership without adhering to the rules, it is time for the House of Representatives to again pass--as they did when Speaker Pelosi was Speaker--they passed it with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. It is time for Speaker Boehner to bring up that legislation so we can vote for it. It will mean more companies around my State and around the country will be able to manufacture, will be able to be competitive, will be able to export, will be able to play in the global economy in a fair and balanced way.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up amendment No. 1819.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, our amendment requires DOT to report annually on waivers, including analysis of taxpayer dollars that are spent on foreign materials and infrastructure. It closes a loophole that currently exists that allows the project to be split into several pieces, thus evading ``Buy American'' requirements. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is the most outrageous example of that. The $6 billion project was divided into 20 separate construction contracts, resulting in a Chinese-owned company building a 520-foot steel tower and 28 steel bridge decks. That was not what this was meant to do. It is modeled on language House Republicans passed. It is consistent with our international trade obligations. I yield the remainder of my time to Senator Merkley, a cosponsor.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I wish to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of Young Audiences Arts for Learning and commend it for its contributions to our Nation's school children. Young Audiences is the Nation's leading source of arts-in-education services. Comprised of 30 affiliates and 5,000 teaching artists, Young Audiences, in 2011 alone, reached 5 million children in over 6,000 schools. Specifically, I would like to recognize the Young Audiences affiliate in my home state of Ohio, Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, YANEO. Serving 18 counties, YANEO has enabled over 2,000 students in urban, rural, and suburban Ohio school districts to benefit from arts education through more than 7,000 programs during the 2009 2010 school year. Young Audiences' mission and goal is to help make the arts an essential part of education. For this reason, Young Audiences offers programs for students throughout the P 16 pipeline. From integrating music into a middle school math class to providing poetry writing classes for high school students, Young Audiences takes a comprehensive and innovative approach toward strengthening students' academic experiences. According to the Arts Education Partnership, art plays a central role in a child's social, emotional, and cognitive development. Over time, this can help make students more engaged in school and thus better learners. Arts education can alter a student's entire school experience. Involvement in the arts fosters creativity and problem solving--both of which help students during the school day and in their personal lives. From helping a student find a new social group, to providing a student with a new avenue of achievement, arts-in-education can keep students engaged and enrolled in school. Young Audiences has helped numerous students get back on track in the classroom and on a path towards higher education or the workforce. Young Audiences not only plays a valuable role in our classrooms, but can benefit entire neighborhoods. Members of the Fullerton School community in Cleveland participated in the `Parents as Arts Partners' program. With the guidance of a Young Audience artist, community members were able to design and install a mural that now brightens the Cleveland neighborhood. The experience was so positive for the parents, students, and the Fullerton community, they are now looking for funding to create another community mural. To all the students who participate in Young Audiences, thank you for taking a stake in your education and in your community. To the teachers and parents like those in the Fullerton community, thank you for your commitment to integrating arts throughout your students' lives. Even during challenging economic times, you go above and beyond your duties to provide your students with a well-rounded academic experience. And to the dedicated artists of Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, thank you for your service to the students throughout the region. Your passion and dedication for the arts will help lead to a new generation of artists and musicians--and engaged citizens. I am proud to celebrate the work of Young Audiences nationwide. Thank you, for your 60 years of service.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I join my fellow colleague from Ohio Senator Portman to offer our condolences and prayers to the people of Chardon, OH, who experienced a terrible tragedy earlier this week. On Monday morning, February 27, a troubled young boy opened fire in the crowded cafeteria at Chardon High School. Three students were killed. Two students were wounded. The entire community remains shaken. As fathers, we cannot imagine the loss of a child and the loss of innocence of children who will now grow up knowing tragedy all too early in life. As Members of the Senate, we couldn't be more proud of the resiliency and the love and the compassion the people of Chardon have shown in the wake of such fear and sorrow. During the shooting, teachers and school administrators risked their lives to protect and save the lives of their students. Assistant Football Coach Frank Hall chased the gunman out of the cafeteria, Principal Andy Fetchik called 911, and countless other teachers and students provided safety and comfort until help could arrive. Chardon law enforcement and first responders--from the 911 dispatchers to the police, to the emergency medical people--arrived at the scene to apprehend the suspect and restore calm and order. Chardon Police Chief Tim McKenna and his team--especially the three officers who rushed to the school--did an outstanding job. Hospital staff at MetroHealth and Hillcrest cared for the victims and counseled the families of lost ones. Out of this week's turmoil and tragedy, we remain proud of the community that has come together through vigils and prayer services, through support and red ribbons worn. The day after the shooting, more than 1,000 people crammed into the St. Mary's parish across from Chardon High School. The overflow crowd of another 1,000 was outside listening to Principal Fetchik express how proud he was of the students. Yesterday, President Obama spoke to Principal Fetchik to say how proud he was--as Senator Portman and I are--of the school and of the community. At the prayer service, Superintendent Joseph Bergant explained why the school would close for a few days this week to reflect, for students and families to get the help they need, for parents to hug their children, and for children to hug their parents. Yesterday, I spoke with Superintendent Bergant to express Connie's and my gratitude and prayers. The investigation into how and why this happened continues, but resilience, compassion, and love, we know, will remain. Tomorrow classes resume in Chardon and at Lake Academy and Auburn Career Center, where students and staff are also dealing with this tragedy. Tomorrow, Chardon High School students will march together from the town square to the school in a show of solidarity and unity. They will remember Joy Rickers and Nicoloas Wajczak, who are still recovering from their injuries. They will honor those fellow students no longer with them. Daniel Parmertor was a 16-year-old high school junior. Known as Danny, he was a student who loved snowboarding and video games and computers. He enjoyed wing nights at Cleats with friends and was excited about starting his first job in a bowling alley and picking up his first paycheck. His father Bob, a boiler technician with First Energy, and his mother Dina, a nurse at Hillcrest Hospital, were finishing their night shifts. If we can imagine, they were finishing their night shifts when they learned of the shooting. In their statement, the family said: Danny was a bright young boy, who had a bright future ahead of him. The family is torn by this loss. He is survived by his parents, siblings, grandparents, a great- grandmother, and numbers of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Russell King, Jr., was 17 years old. His friends described him as sociable and who got along with everyone. A junior, he was enrolled in Chardon High School and the Auburn Career Center. He was studying alternative energy such as solar and wind power as so many young people are today. Demetrius Hewlin was 16 years old, affectionately known as ``D'' to his family and friends. Demetrius was interested in healthy living, staying active, playing computer games, and reading books. In their statement, his family said: We are saddened by the loss of our son and others in our Chardon community. Demetrius was a happy young man who loved life and his family and friends. We will very much miss him, but we are proud he will be able to help others through organ donation. Imagine that, the parents and the family thinking of others so immediately. He is survived by his parents, grandparents, a brother and sister, and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. On behalf of all Ohioans, the Senate, and joining with Senator Portman, we offer our continued prayers and condolences to the Chardon community. Thank you. I yield the floor.