Dave Camp

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, at this time, I yield 1 minute to a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam).

Mr. CAMP. At this time, Madam Speaker, I have one speaker remaining.

Mr. CAMP. At this time, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from California (Mr. Nunes).

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder).

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary to commemorate the 70th anniversary since its establishment on June 23, 1939. On June 23, 1939, Congress established the Coast Guard Reserve, later known as the Coast Guard Auxiliary, to promote boating safety and to facilitate Coast Guard operations. Beginning in 1942, they became the core of the Temporary Reserve and over 50,000 Auxiliarists performed coastal defense and search rescue duties and patrolled bridges, factories, docks and beaches. Since its inception, the Auxiliary has been expanding its integration with the Coast Guard to allow for further assistance in any Coast Guard mission authorized by the Commandant. It is an organization of pride, bravery, and patriotism that works closely with the Coast Guard to ensure the safety and protection of the United States of America. The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is especially honored in a state such as Michigan. With five Great Lakes surrounding the borders of this state, maritime activity is a critical transportation method. Assistance from the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is essential to ensuring the safety of not only our tourists and residents, but also to all commercial traffic that use the lakes regularly. The men and women who serve with the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary in Michigan are not only revered for their service to the country, but also to the wellbeing and protection of all who venture in our Great Lakes. On behalf of the Fourth Congressional District of Michigan, it is with great honor that I commemorate this 70th anniversary of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary for its continued years of successful assistance to the United States Coast Guard and to our wonderful state. Thank you, Auxiliarists for all that you have done and all that you will continue to do in the future.

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to LT COL Kenneth Bow, USAR RET, in recognition of his 70th birthday this Saturday, June 13, 2009. Kenneth Bow retired from the U.S. Army Reserves in 1993 with the rank of LT COL. He joined the ROTC at Michigan State in 1958. After graduation as an Electrical Engineer, he began his active duty as a Second Lieutenant at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Later, from 1963 to 1965, he was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. After being honorably discharged, he immediately joined the 578th Research and Development Unit in the USAR in Midland, Michigan. On active-duty training assignments over his army career, he served in many Mobilization Designee positions, mainly in the Ft. Belvoir Research Development and Engineer Center. His training projects were highly technical and engineering-oriented, such as standardization of controls across an electrical generator family and related self diagnosis; and the impact of chlorofluorocarbon, CFC, regulations on users. In addition, LT COL Bow co-chaired management of selected engineering and financial teams assembled to conceptualize the design of a state-of-the-art, $100 million automated logistical center/ warehouse at Sharpe Army Depot in California. In his more than twenty-eight years serving the USAR, LT COL Bow was highly decorated with the following awards: Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, USAR Achievement Medal with three Bronze Oak Leaves, National Defense Service Medal, and Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Hour-Glass Device. In 1965, Kenneth Bow joined the Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan, rising to the highest research professional rank of Research Scientist at the time of his retirement in 2007. On behalf of the Fourth Congressional District of Michigan, I am honored today to recognize LT COL Kenneth Bow in celebration of his 70th birthday. I hope the year to come will bring him health, happiness, and special times with family and friends. Birthdays are a time to reminisce over good memories and make new ones. I hope that his is special.

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I strongly oppose H.R. 1886, in particular, language inserted at the Rules Committee to create a new, but poorly designed, trade preference program for Afghanistan and Pakistan. While I would support a well-designed program to create jobs and spur economic development, this legislation is deeply flawed. First, it brings virtually no economic benefit because the product mix is stingy--an economic fig leaf that should fool no one. My second objection is even more fundamental. While the bill is light on commercial benefits, it is heavy on intrusive, impractical labor requirements that could exceed U.S. law. Now, I very much support improving labor conditions; but these new, unnecessarily onerous labor criteria would impede investment and won't improve labor conditions. Specifically, this legislation requires the Secretary of Labor to designate any entity to conduct firm-level inspections in Afghanistan and Pakistan to ensure compliance with ``core labor standards,'' even an NGO hostile to trade. This vague language subjects firms to arbitrary standards that could exceed U.S. law--I repeat, that could exceed U.S. law. Given the dire security situation there, having inspectors go from door to door, even cottage to cottage, to enforce such standards strains credibility. Moreover, this standard exceeds the labor provisions in other preference programs and even our trade agreements negotiated under the bipartisan May 10 standard for FTAs both lauded by the Speaker and Chairman Rangel. It could be viewed as a precedent to justify the inclusion of similar language, not only in new trade agreements, but perhaps even in efforts to revise existing ones, which would, of course, apply to us as well, leaving the United States vulnerable to challenges that our labor laws don't meet this standard. I am also concerned about the pay-for. For every dollar of duty relief that reconstruction opportunity zone exports from these countries receive, other Pakistani and Afghan exports have to pay at least that amount in increased fees, making these countries potentially worse off than they are right now. Lastly, I am disappointed that this is my first opportunity to explain my concerns. This bill was not even considered by the Ways and Means Committee, which, again, it's not about the committee but again this denies the American people their voice. This is not the return to regular order we were promised by the Speaker. And I fear this is not the last time this month I will be on the floor raising that concern. The provision also subverts the prerogatives out of the House by turning an aid bill into a revenue measure, ripe for mischief when it gets to the other side of the Capitol. Because of all of this, I strongly oppose the legislation in its current form. I urge my colleagues to vote against the measure.

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend the team members of the Midland Northstars Pee Wee AA hockey team on winning the USA Hockey Tier II 12-and-under Youth Nationals on Sunday, April 5, 2009. They have represented the state well with their perseverance and athleticism, and we are very proud of their national accomplishments. The Northstars' 6-3 win over the East Coast Eagles of Raleigh, NC completed a six-game unbeaten run through the national tournament. The Northstars--a travel team from the Midland Amateur Hockey League located in my district, outscored their opponents 36-7 in the five-day national tournament. Team members include Turner Anderson, Tyler Angers, Samuel Brushaber, Drake Cergnul, Cam Fisher, Andrew Healey, Matthew Lee, Michael Leslie, Jacob Mackie, Travis McNally, Zachary Paisley, Steven Roberts, Joshua Ruthig, Derek Striker, Jacob Swartz, Brandon Veihl, Colin Walters. The team is Coached by Gregory Walters, assisted by Scott Cergnul, John Hollingsworth, Terry McNally, and James Roberts. The team manager is Kent Striker. The Northstars are also two-time Michigan state champions. I am honored today to recognize the Midland Northstars Pee Wee AA team for their accomplishments, and congratulate them on their outstanding performance.

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support S. 735, the ``Protecting Incentives for the Adoption of Children with Special Needs Act of 2009.'' Throughout my time in Congress, I have built on the lessons I learned working as an attorney helping families with their adoption proceedings. As a Member of the Committee on Ways and Means, I have been privileged to continue working on these issues, helping parents adopt children and form loving families. I am still impressed with the number of individuals, organizations, and legislators interested in the well-being and development of children and in encouraging more families to take in and adopt children in foster care. Congress has made important strides improving the adoption process, by enacting my legislation, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, in 1997, followed by the Adoption Promotion Act in 2003. Additionally, just last fall I was pleased to support the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, which was enacted with bipartisan and bicameral support. The legislation further encouraged adoptions from foster care by revising the Adoption Incentives program and extending its authorization through fiscal year 2013. Among other improvements, this law gave States more generous Federal incentive funds if they succeed in helping more families adopt children now languishing for years in foster care--especially older and disabled children. Unfortunately, the fiscal year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill (P.L. 111-8), which passed through the House with limited consideration, included a flawed provision that effectively overrides the improvements to the Adoption Incentive program made in last year's Fostering Connections law. In short, the Omnibus bill incorrectly stipulated that Adoption Incentive funds should be provided under the ``old'', less generous rules Congress wanted to replace, instead of the ``new'', more generous rules included in the Fostering Connections law. That means States would have less incentive to pursue the adoption of older and disabled children in foster care, among others, because they would receive less Federal funds if they are successful in achieving those goals. We can't know for sure which States would lose if this fix is not made, because we don't yet know which States will successfully improve their performance in increasing adoptions in the wake of the Fostering Connections law. But we do know that America's most vulnerable young people stand to lose if, as a result of this error, they spend more time in foster care instead of with loving adoptive families. We can't and shouldn't let that happen. That is why I and my colleague Charlie Rangel, the Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, introduced legislation to correct this error. Our bill (H.R. 1840) is identical to the legislation (S. 735) the Senate passed on April 2 and that is being considered by the House today. I encourage all Members to support this important legislation so it can be signed into law as quickly as possible.

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 1 minute to the distinguished minority leader.

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from California.

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, just briefly. We have a chance today to do the right thing by those who acted right, those who went to work every day, paid their taxes, and did nothing wrong, and that is the American taxpayer. This is their money, and we should get it back. I urge support for this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CAMP. I yield 1 minute to a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady).

Mr. CAMP. I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. CAMP. I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).

Mr. CAMP. At this time I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).

Mr. CAMP. At this time I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence). (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CAMP. I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz).

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann).

Mr. CAMP. I yield myself the balance of our time.

Mr. CAMP. I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

Mr. CAMP. I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns). (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CAMP. I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg).

Mr. CAMP. I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).