John Barrow

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, without H.R. 6331 many doctors across the country will not be able to afford to see and treat Medicare patients. In a rural district like mine where a greater percentage of the population depends on Medicare for their health care, that's not acceptable. We are lucky to have world-class health care in this country, but health care is only as good as an individual's ability to get to that health care and their ability to afford it. H.R. 6331 will keep our doctors in business so that our Nation's poor and elderly can get the health care that they need. I am proud of the fact that H.R. 6331 contains some specific relief for folks in rural areas, making sure that rural doctors get paid fairly, increasing payments to critical access hospitals, and covering the additional fuel costs faced by ambulances in rural districts. This bill will also help poor seniors by increasing the amount of assets that a low-income beneficiary can have and still qualify for financial help with Medicare costs. I recently spent a week touring just about every kind of health care facility in my district. Folks back home have a lot of problems with our health care system. While this bill doesn't fix everything that's broke with Medicare, it is a big step forward and we absolutely need it. Mr. Speaker, we have until July 1 to stop these cuts from taking effect. Unless we adopt this legislation before then, doctors all across the country will have to start turning away Medicare patients that they are seeing right now. We can't let that happen. I therefore urge my colleagues to support this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

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

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, we have until July 1 to stop these cuts from taking effect. Unless we adopt this legislation before then, doctors all across the country will start turning away Medicare patients. We cannot let that happen. I want to thank the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for his leadership on this matter. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. BARROW. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Madam Speaker, on May 8, 2008, I was unavoidably detained and missed Roll No. 295, on agreeing to the Hensarling amendment to H.R. 5818. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, in 6 days, on May 14, we observe the 60th anniversary of the declaration of the independence of the State of Israel. That's also the 60th anniversary, I'm proud to say, of the day that the administration of President Harry Truman recognized the State of Israel as a free and independent state. Throughout the past 60 years, the relationship between the United States and Israel has been based on a shared commitment to democratic values. Also, for the past 60 years Israel has stood on the front lines in confronting those who would use terror against civilian populations as a means of bringing about political change. Throughout that time, the United States has stood for the political independence and the physical security of the State of Israel. But we usually find ourselves as being in the rear echelons as standing behind Israel more than standing beside Israel. But not any more. Ever since 9/11, we in the United States have come to realize that we're members of the same club, that we, too, stand on the front lines alongside Israel in an ongoing war on terror. We not only belong to the same philosophical society, we're also serving in the same outfit. As we congratulate Israel on its 60th birthday, we look forward to the day when each of us will be able to devote less of our national treasures to the vital work of survival and national defense and be able, instead, to devote more of our national treasures to more profitable enterprises. On behalf of my fellow Georgians, I congratulate Israel on this milestone, and I pledge my best efforts to making the next 60 years of our relationship together years of peace and prosperity.

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Madam Speaker, on May 1, 2008, I was unavoidably detained and missed roll No. 234, H.R. 493, The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. I thank Chairman Miller. Madam Chairman, what we have learned in my community since the Imperial disaster hit us is the experts have known about this problems for decades. There have been voluntary standards that effectively deal with this problem, but not enough people even know about the problem, much less the solutions, and those who do know about the solutions, aren't required to adopt them. We have also learned that the only standards that are mandatory really aren't designed with this problem in mind in the first place, and they aren't working. So we have good standards that are not mandatory and inadequate standards that are mandatory. Up until now, the argument has been between those who say we wouldn't go too fast in developing a national standard and those who argue we are going too slow. There are those who argue the costs of a comprehensive solution outweigh the benefits. I disagree. I say that if we can prevent just one of these disasters from happening, if we can prevent just one family from having to go through what families at Imperial Sugar are still going through, it would all be worth it. But don't take my word for it. The Savannah Morning News reported this morning that the chairman and chief executive officer of the National Safety Board believes this bill will, and I quote, ``would save lives.'' He believes that the measure ``is good for business and the corporate world should support it.'' He told the editorial board back home, ``I wish I could take 50 business people at a time to the refinery and have them take a look at the destruction. This is what your facility could look like if you don't take care of the dust.'' Mr. Bresland ought to know what he's talking about. He's not a bureaucrat, he's a ``hard-headed businessman from the corporate world'' who worked for many years at Honeywell International. He is right. This bill isn't just good government, it's also good business. I commend Chairman Miller and Ms. Woolsey for their hard work in support of this bill, and I urge my colleagues to join us and vote in favor of it.

Mr. BARROW. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I understand the appeal that the amendment has. I can appreciate its superficial appeal and what I think it is getting at. But the notion that we have to finish everything before we do anything is a formula to do nothing. With the National Emphasis Program and everything that is going on right now at OSHA, it is perfectly obvious that the current folks who have got OSHA under their control can cram more activity into less action than anybody I know or any agency I know. The time for us to take into consideration and to follow all leads and to learn as much as we can will always be with us, but the time to act is now. This is the time to take the actions and begin the process of fixing what's broke with the regulatory system at OSHA.

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BARROW. I thank the Chair and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chairman, the whole purpose of the SBIR and STTR programs is a generally recognized acknowledgement of the fact that in the bidding wars with the big guys for Federal contracting, small businesses are just generally outgunned. And while that is true for small businesses generally, it's even more true for a subset of small businesses. Minority-owned small businesses are at even a greater disparity and disadvantage when it comes to competing for government contracts, research and development. Less than 10 percent of the SBIR grants are made to minority-owned small businesses. Now if SBIR and STTR are at the forefront of ensuring that American small businesses remain competitive, we've got to make sure that minority-owned businesses have an opportunity to participate. But too often, minority and disadvantaged small businesses don't even know about these grants. If they don't know about them, they can't compete for them. My amendment seeks to address this in a carefully drawn and constructive manner. It does this by authorizing grants to partnerships between minority institutions, as that term is defined in the amendment, and nonprofit organizations that have experience in linking up minority-owned businesses with government contracting. There are limits, carefully drawn limits drawn into the amendment. One of those is that the administrator of the SBA gets to set the terms and conditions for submitting and applying for these grants. Second, it requires these grants can only be made to partnerships with experienced partners. Minority institutions, as defined by the amendment, consist of colleges that serve a minority, 51 percent or more of minority students. This is basically HBCUs, but not exclusively HBCUs, and also requires they be in partnership with nonprofits that have experience in linking small businesses with government contracts. Finally, what the bill does is it doesn't create any authorization for spending new money. It doesn't appropriate any new money. What it does is it directs the administrator to set up a pilot program that authorizes him to spend up to $4 million in money that is already authorized and appropriated for such purposes. HBCUs and local nonprofits, they have the experience in connecting small businesses with government contracts. My amendment allows them to work together to increase minority-owned business participation in government contracting. That's good for the government when it's the customer, it's good for the taxpayers, and it's good for the economy. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARROW. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1473) to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require child care providers to provide to parents information regarding whether such providers carry current liability insurance, as amended.

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend their remarks and insert material relevant to H.R. 1473, as amended, into the Record.

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, back home in Augusta, Georgia, there's a little 7\1/2\- year-old boy named Anthony DeJuan Boatwright, who is in a semicomatose state and hooked up to a ventilator. He wasn't born that way, but that is how he ended up. He ended up that way because of an accident, negligence, really, that never would have happened if his mother had been given the information that this bill requires. Back in 2001, Juan's mother, Jacqueline Boatwright, was doing what millions of mothers all over the country do every day: she placed her child in day care so that she could work to improve her life and that of her child. She was a sophisticated consumer. She had done her homework and she shopped around and found a day care center. It was licensed by the State; it was clean and it complied with all sorts of Federal regulations under the Child Care Development Block Grant Act governing such things as the prevention and control of infectious diseases, building safety, premises access, and mental health and safety training for staff. But there was one thing that Jackie Boatwright did not know: that these folks could take her money, they could take her child, they could harm her child, and they would not be financially responsible for any of the harm that they could do. That is because they had no liability insurance and there was no law, State or Federal, that required them to tell her that. Mr. Speaker, sure enough, that is what happened. They ignored little Juan long enough for him to find a bucket of water. Like every child that age, he had just enough strength to pull himself up and to look over inside and to fall inside, head first, but not enough upper body strength to push or pull himself back up. It was a death trap, and little Juan fell into it. Well, Juan survived, but his life and that of his family have been ruined and changed forever. This bill would have prevented all of this from happening. It would not have done it by creating a whole new bureaucracy of day care inspectors to watch the watchers. It would have done it in the least expensive and most efficient way possible, by simply requiring the day care center to tell Jackie Boatwright what they knew but did not tell her, that they were willing to accept the moral responsibility of taking care of her baby, but they were going to accept none of the financial responsibility for failing to do so. That would have prevented this from happening, because that is all it would have taken to prevent this tragedy from happening. Because if Jackie had known that, she would have done what any other parent would do: she would have taken her business someplace else, someplace where they accept some degree of financial responsibility for the consequences of their negligence and incorporate the cost in the cost of doing business, just like every other financially responsible business does. Jackie has tried to make something positive out of this. She has determined to prevent this from happening to anybody else. Thanks to her efforts, financial responsibility disclosure laws are now on the books in four States: Georgia, California, Virginia and New Hampshire. This bill will close the gap by requiring financial responsibility disclosure for licensed day care facilities in the rest of the country. In 2005, there were literally millions of kids in this country receiving day care in facilities that are governed by the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. Only a fraction of these kids live in the four States that have now stepped forward to enact financial responsibility disclosure laws. That means that millions of kids still go to licensed day care facilities all around the country today whose parents have no idea that their day care centers can harm their child and accept none of the financial consequences of doing so. This bill will give the parents of these millions of children the same information that parents are entitled to as a matter of law in the States of Georgia, California, Virginia, and New Hampshire. These parents have just as much need to know about the financial responsibility of the folks they give their kids to, and this bill will give them the same information. This bill does not require any day care facilities to go out and get liability insurance. It merely requires licensed day care centers to tell parents whether or not they have insurance, and, if so, how much. That is all. It then leaves it up to the parents to do what Jackie Boatwright would have done if only she had had this information, and that is to decide for themselves whether or not to leave their child with someone who wants to accept the responsibility for caring for your child, wants to take your money for doing so, but is unwilling and unable to accept any of the financial consequences for failing to fulfill this responsibility. Indirectly, Mr. Speaker, this bill actually does more than that. By giving parents the information that they have a right to know, it places a powerful economic incentive on all day care centers to do what all of the responsible day care centers are already doing, and that is to assume the financial responsibility and to incorporate the costs of that into the cost of doing business that goes along with the moral responsibility to take care of the children in their care. Anyone who wants to do business without doing that will be at a competitive disadvantage compared to those who do. This approach gives the invisible hand of self-interest the opportunity to do some good in the marketplace; the interests of day care centers to do the right thing or compete at a disadvantage compared to those who do, and the interests of parents in placing their children in day care centers that are ready, willing and able to do the right thing if and when they mess up. We have truth in labeling; we have truth in lending and truth in advertising. This is truth in day care. The States have led the way, and now it is time for the Federal Government to follow their lead. The families that end up being harmed because they are kept in the dark deserve no less. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his remarks in support of the bill, and I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa).

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Madam Speaker, I rise today because I haven't been able to open up a newspaper in the last few months without reading about another product coming into this country from overseas that is tainted, poisonous, or dangerous in some major way. Tainted pet food, counterfeit alcohol, poisonous toothpaste, children's toys with lead paint . . . the list goes on and on. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about these dangers only when it's too late to do anything about them without spending valuable time and resources to fix the problem. We need to do a better job of ensuring the safety of these imported products across the board. As a father and a consumer, I hope that in the coming weeks we'll devote the time necessary to figuring out how to identify these problems. We need to act before we read about more recalls or worse-- when someone gets physically ill because of lax regulations or enforcement. We have a duty to ensure that the stream of commerce isn't polluted.

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, September 4, 2007, Molly Parish Howard, Principal of Jefferson County High School in Louisville, Georgia, was named National High School Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. I had the privilege of attending her recognition ceremony and was moved by her dedication to, and passion for, her students, her school and her community. Dr. Howard has devoted the past 30 years of her life to the children of Jefferson County, Georgia. In one way or another, she's been walking the halls of the public schools in that area nearly all her life. Dr. Howard began her own education in the schools of Jefferson County. Just three years after her graduation from Wrens High School she returned to become one of the school system's first special education teachers. Dr. Howard has been serving as Principal of the Jefferson County High School since 1995. When she became principal, she made it her policy that every child in her high school would receive a college preparatory education. Even with an increasingly challenging curriculum, nearly every indicator of the success of a high school has improved since Dr. Howard took that job. Dr. Howard represents what is best about our best schools. What's more important, she brings out the best in her faculty and staff, her students, and their families. She uses innovation and creativity to inspire excellence in her teachers; she is a conscientious member of her community; and she is a friend, a mentor, and a good example to her students. She is the kind of person I'm grateful to have working on the front lines of our nation's future. I'm proud to represent her and her school, and I congratulate her on this well deserved achievement.

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, as Congress works to expand domestic energy production alternatives, one area of renewed focus is nuclear power production. For those of us who support nuclear energy, it is essential that there be adequate oversight and independent research to make sure that nuclear technology is safe and sustainable. For the past 50 years, Mr. Chairman, that independent research has been the primary objective of Savannah River Ecology Lab. In fact, the ecology lab was founded to give the public confidence that the Energy Department's works at Savannah River Site would not sacrifice public safety or the environment. That work continues today. In fact, the lab is the only lab in the Nation funded by the Department of Energy that conducts independent research into the long-term effects of low-level radiation and nuclear energy production. Unfortunately, the Department of Energy doesn't seem to want independent oversight, and they have zeroed out the $4 million in funding for the lab. It seems to me that $4 million a year is a small price to pay to make sure that the ongoing work at the SRS, and nuclear energy production in general, is being done in a manner that promotes public safety and protects our land, our air, and our waterways.

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Chairman, I look forward to continuing to work with him and our colleagues in the other body to make sure that the Nation has the adequate oversight and the independent research that is needed to safely promote nuclear technology.

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Mr. Chairman, this is an important bill that addresses the needs of our veterans who've been neglected for too long now. Taking care of our veterans is important at any time, but it's particularly important in a time of war. So I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and your staff for your hard work on this bill. I recently conducted a tour of veterans service organizations all across my district, and one of the things I heard over and over again was the growth in demand for veterans services in the future, and that's what I'd like to discuss with you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, community-based outpatient clinics play a vital role in meeting the health care needs of our veterans, especially in the rural parts of our country. My district, a 17-county area centered on Statesboro, Georgia, contains some 34,000 veterans. And I ask for your commitment, Mr. Chairman, to work in conference with the other body to look at this area and evaluate the need and determine the feasibility of a community-based outpatient clinic in Statesboro, Georgia.

Mr. BARROW

Mr. BARROW. Madam Speaker, today I am pleased to introduce CREATE-21, a measure aimed at ``Creating Research, Extension, and Teaching Excellence for the 21st Century.'' America has arrived at a critical juncture with respect to the food, agricultural, and natural resource sciences. Ahead of us are two paths. The first is the path of the status quo. It is not a bad path--after all, it has provided the Nation and the world with bountiful and affordable food and numerous other benefits. No, this path is not bad; it's just not as good as it should be. The other path--the CREATE-21 path--recognizes that the status quo, when it comes to the Federal-State Partnership in the Food and Agricultural Sciences (as that term is broadly defined by statute), is no longer sustainable and thus no longer acceptable. This Nation and the whole planet face both daunting challenges and tremendous opportunities that will require structural and funding improvements. Here are some examples: Challenges such as the effects of changing climate on farms and forests cannot be solved with an inadequate USDA science organization and woefully inadequate funding. Opportunities for replacing a substantial portion of U.S. petroleum consumption through increased production of renewable fuels (without raising grain and livestock prices unduly) cannot be attained without a major increase in funding for basic research and applied research and ``integrated'' efforts (where research is combined with education and technology transfer through extension agents). Efforts to boost the U.S. specialty crops and organic food industries will not come to fruition in a timely manner--thereby threatening America's world leadership positions--if part of the responsibility for research continues to lie within one USDA agency and part in another, with inadequate coordination between the two! Problems such as the twin (and related) epidemics of obesity and diabetes cannot be overcome with Federal research, education, and extension efforts divided among two USDA agencies (and some 105 land- grant universities) unless the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics has under his immediate supervision a national program staff that can provide overarching vision, guidance, and leadership for those two agencies. Madam Speaker, these are only four examples--among dozens that I could have chosen--but they make the case for the comprehensive approach embodied in CREATE-21. They demonstrate that the opportunities and challenges we face demand both an improved organizational structure and enhanced funding. When the House Committee on Agriculture sits down in the next few weeks to develop the 2007 Farm Bill, I am hopeful that the foundational precepts and specific provisions embodied in the legislation I introduce today will form the basis for the Committee's Research Title. Therefore, I want to take a few minutes to highlight three key provisions: CREATE-21 will increase planning and implementation across intramural (e.g., ARS and ERS) and extramural (e.g., land-grant) facilities through a single national program staff working directly for the USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics. CREATE-21 will also establish a new National Institutes for Food and Agriculture (replacing the current Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service) to provide continuing and expanded support to America's land-grant and other universities and related institutions. Finally, CREATE-21 will double authorized funding for the food, agriculture, and natural resource research, teaching, and extension programs currently administered by Cooperative State Research, Education, and Economics Service in order to address the enormous opportunities and daunting challenges that face the country and the greater global community. Besides these distinctive elements, CREATE-21 has three other unique attributes: CREATE-21 will strengthen the land-grant system with its integrated, National network of State Agricultural Experiment Stations, more than 3,000 Cooperative Extension offices, and universities in all 50 states, DC, and the U.S. territories. CREATE-21 will augment ``integrated'' USDA funding programs so that many more grants which integrate research with extension and/or education are awarded through competitive, peer-reviewed procedures. Lastly, CREATE-21 will bolster university capacity, especially for the historically black (1890), tribal (1994), insular area, and small 1862 land-grant universities and members of the American Association of State Colleges of Agriculture and Renewable Resources (AASCARR). In addition to these provisions, the legislation I am introducing today contains many other amendments to USDA research, extension, and teaching statutes, reflecting the best thinking of a broad cross- section of America's land grant community. These provisions include critical updates that will enhance, among other things, the basic programs providing sustenance for the 1890 land-grant institutions and critical food, health, and nutritional information to low-income families and youth through the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. In fact, this legislation addresses ALL of the Farm Bill priorities outlined by the Presidents of the 1890 colleges. While I support the key tenets of this legislation and am pleased to introduce it in the House, we all recognize that difficult problems require consensus-based solutions and I remain open to suggestions. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues on the Agriculture Committee as we develop a Research Title for the 2007 Farm Bill that truly has at its core mission: ``Creating Research, Extension, and Teaching Excellence for the 21st Century.''