Lois Capps

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this bill and in support of America's children. As someone who spent over 20 years of my life as a school nurse dedicated to the betterment of children's healthcare, I can think of nothing greater than fulfilling the promise of quality healthcare for all deserving children. It was with great frustration I watched as President Bush repeatedly vetoed our proposals to improve the Children's Health Insurance Program. And I could not be prouder to know that the bill we pass today will be signed into law thanks to the commitment of President Obama to our nation's children. Signing this bill into law will mean 4 million more children get the care they need. Four million more children won't have to unnecessarily miss days of school because of preventable illness. Four million more children's parents won't have to wait in the emergency room for their daughters and sons to receive routine care. Earlier today I met with a school nurse who relayed to me that a child in her school district was injured on the playground and they can't find a doctor to perform a necessary MRI because the child is uninsured. I wish this was an isolated incident and that no other parent had to take their son from doctor to doctor and pray that someone will perform the procedure for free. But it is all too common. Passage of this legislation today may not help this one child's family in time, but we can be sure that four million more children's parents can take comfort that they will not ever face this situation in the future. I urge my colleagues to vote for this legislation and in favor of our children's future.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I am glad that we have taken seriously our challenge to pass an economic stimulus bill right away so that we can take important steps to protect ordinary Americans. I have been particularly concerned about the effect of the current economic situation on health care access and am relieved to see that the bill before us today takes excellent steps to address the health care crisis. Most important, in my view, are the Medicaid provisions that will ensure states can continue to provide Medicaid to their residents with, at minimum, the current level of benefits. My home state of California, much like other states, is suffering a budget crisis that is leading to proposals of slashing Medicaid benefits. We must protect current benefits AND ensure that Medicaid and COBRA are available for the high number of Americans who have lost their jobs. This bill does an excellent job of doing that. I also want to applaud the inclusion of Health Information Technology language, including essential privacy protections. Spurring adoption of HIT will reduce medical errors, allow physicians and nurses to spend more time with their patients and create jobs. But I would be remiss if I didn't express disappointment in one important item that was unfortunately not included in today's bill. The Energy & Commerce Committee, on which I serve, rightly included language to make family planning services for low-income women a state option. Currently, states must apply for a waiver, accompanied by the uncertainty of future applications' success, in order to provide this basic health care service for women who do not otherwise qualify for Medicaid, but are low-income nonetheless. Through a campaign of misinformation perpetrated, I am sad to say, by some of our own colleagues in Congress, we were forced to strip this provision out in order to reinforce the message of the underlying bill. But make no mistake, the family planning provisions would have saved hundreds of millions of dollars over the next several years. And you don't have to take my word for it, just ask the CBO, which scored the provision as a savings. So I will remind my colleagues that we have lost an important opportunity to improve health care services to the extent that this bill originally intended to do and I vow to work with the White House and Congressional leadership to ensure we fix this in the near future. Nonetheless, the remaining health care language is strong and will provide tremendous relief to the millions of currently unemployed Americans as well as those who rely on Medicaid. Mr. Chair, we also have a tremendous opportunity to put America on a path to economic recovery by moving us toward energy security. Immediate investments in renewable energy production and rebuilding our infrastructure to be greener will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, save billions of dollars in energy costs, and reduce our carbon footprint in the long term. And that's exactly what the bill before us today does. It creates new programs, and it makes important changes to others, that will get Americans back to work. And the cash savings achieved through increased efficiency will go back into local communities and could be used to pay mortgages and other necessities continuing to improve the economy. I am also pleased to see that this bill will help our country prepare for the DTV transition. By allocating funds to the converter box coupon program, hotline call centers, and consumer education, we can ensure millions of Americans are not left behind during this transition. Finally, this bill will enable people in un-served and underserved areas of our country to harness the internet as a tool for economic, social and civic empowerment by providing much needed funding for broadband deployment and wireless voice service. So I want to applaud the Chairman for his excellent work on the provisions that fall within our Committee's jurisdiction and urge my colleagues to support it.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, 40 years ago today, on January 28, 1969, a ``blowout'' erupted below Union Oil's Platform A 6 miles off the Santa Barbara coast. Before it was capped, more than 3 million gallons of oil spewed into the sea. For weeks national attention was focused on the spill's disturbing, dramatic images: oil-soaked birds, unable to fly, slowly dying on the sand; 35 miles of sandy beaches coated with thick sludge; over 800 square miles of ocean covered with an oily black sheen. I lived in Santa Barbara in 1969. I recall how our community came together to save wildlife and clean up our beaches. But the spill's impact went far beyond the ecological and economic damage to our community. The disaster was considered to be a major factor in the birth of the modern-day environmental movement. There followed a wave of national environmental legislation, including the Clean Air and Water Acts, and laws to protect coastal areas and endangered species. Now, after 40 years, as we still face the responsibility to protect and preserve our environment, we must never forget this important moment in our Nation's history and commit ourselves to speeding the transition to a clean energy economy.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor the 60th anniversary of the Ventura County Economic Development Association, VCEDA. In the past two decades, VCEDA has been actively involved in a myriad of projects aimed at maintaining the economic vitality of the county, including BRAC '95 and '05 to protect our military bases; mediating air quality issues to resolve differences and prevent costly court battles; working with schools, businesses and corporate executives to determine needs for a skilled trained workforce; and working with local governments to remove unwarranted obstacles to the growth of business and industry. VCEDA has played an important role in bringing and continuing to support Channel Islands State University in Ventura County. And it has set a goal of working with all educators at all levels to ensure that the upcoming workforce is ready to meet the needs of business in the 21st century. Most recently, VCEDA has been recognized as ``The Champion of Job Growth'' by the Workforce Investment Board of Ventura County, ``The Small Business Advocate'' by the Pacific Coast Business Times and received ``The Distinguished Business Leader Award'' by the Ventura County Leadership Academy. I commend VCEDA for its outstanding leadership and commitment in serving the needs of its members and the surrounding community.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, I have 30 seconds to explain why H.R. 2, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, means everything to a school nurse. And I'll just tell you, I can see the faces of the children I cared for as best as I could who would have benefited so dramatically from this program. And I'll tell you what this feels like now, as so many moms and dads are losing their jobs and need this program even more. And my State, California, is cutting even the children who presently are served so dramatically. And give States the option of covering pregnant women. That is the greatest thing we can do for the health of a child is to cover the mom.

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation to strengthen SCHIP and in strong support of America's children. As a former school nurse, I consider it a crime that there are children in America who cannot access all of the healthcare services they need. And today we have an opportunity to fix this injustice. The excellent bill we have before us will ensure that millions of children in working families can get the proper preventive and primary care they need to ensure a healthy childhood. I am also pleased to see that this bill preserves State options to cover pregnant women. After all, the health of a mother is the greatest contributor to a child's health. The current economic climate only adds to the urgency of this legislation. States are experiencing budget shortfalls which threaten the status of children already enrolled in SCHIP. And as parents lose their jobs; their health coverage is lost, too. So I hope every one of my colleagues will join me in voting ``yes'' on this bill today and secure a better future for the health of our children and grandchildren.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague. Madam Speaker, I rise in full support of H.R. 11. I was extremely proud last year when the House swiftly acted to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Supreme Court had made a terribly misguided decision and failed to fully recognize the rights of women to seek remedy for pay discrimination. And how proud I am today that we are wasting no time and again passing legislation to clarify that victims of pay discrimination should not be punished because they were not aware of the discrimination against them earlier. The Civil Rights Act exists to protect individuals precisely when they find themselves in the situation Lilly Ledbetter found herself in, and it was never meant to be interpreted in a way that provides a loophole for employers to discriminate--if they can just make sure that their employees are kept in the dark for 6 months. Lilly Ledbetter will never be compensated for decades of discrimination by her employer, but let us ensure that none of our sisters, our daughters, our granddaughters are ever punished in the same way. I urge my colleagues the vote yes for the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 12, the Paycheck Fairness Act. I want to commend our colleague Rosa DeLauro for her stellar work on this legislation and thank our leadership for making sure that this bill is one of the first we are considering in our new Congress. I am thrilled, and I know it is a testament to our commitment to equality for all. H.R. 12 closes existing loopholes that otherwise prevent employees from recouping deserved wages. Existing law allows employers to use a myriad of excuses to justify a pay disparity between men and women. This is true even if the excuse has nothing to do with the job itself. Furthermore, women cannot always safely discuss salaries with their coworkers to determine if there is discrimination occurring for fear of retaliation from their employers. The Paycheck Fairness Act will ensure that women can safely discuss wages with other workers and modernize the law so that companies must show more proof that pay disparities did not occur because of gender. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this important legislation to ensure a better economic future for all American women.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague for yielding. Madam Speaker, I will vote for this resolution today, but I'm disappointed that we are doing, once again, what we've done so often. Of course we all condemn Hamas and support Israel, but we should be saying and doing so much more. I applaud the statements of the chairman and of our Speaker, and I wish they were part of the resolution. We must call for greater U.S. engagement to achieve a durable cease- fire and to restart the Israel-Palestinian peace process. We all know the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will never be settled militarily. My fear is that this action by Israel, justified as it is and provoked by Hamas, will not enhance Israel's security but only further endanger it. Achieving peace in the Middle East is in Israel's best interest, and it is in America's best interest; but the violence that now permeates Gaza only puts off the serious and difficult work of diplomacy that is a predicate to peace, and it obscures the remarkable progress that is even now being made in the West Bank. And in the meantime, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has grown to unspeakable proportions, and millions of innocent Palestinians and Israelis are suffering. I urge my colleagues not only to make statements of support for Israel but to call for a cease-fire and to press for peace.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill just passed by the House.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill that was just passed by the House.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, and Ways and Means be discharged from further consideration of the Senate bill (S. 3712) to make a technical correction in the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Commerce be discharged from further consideration of the Senate bill (S. 3663) to require the Federal Communications Commission to provide for a short-term extension of the analog television broadcasting authority so that essential public safety announcements and digital television transition information may be provided for a short time during the transition to digital television broadcasting, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 3663, the Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act. On February 18, 2009, full-power television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and transition to all-digital broadcasting. This is undoubtedly an important step forward for our country; it allows us to more efficiently utilize our airwaves, and to lay the groundwork for a nationwide public safety network. However, we must proceed with caution to ensure that segments of our population are not left behind and remain informed in cases of emergency. That is why I introduced the SAFER Act. This bill creates a program within the FCC that allows for the continuation of analog signals to televisions for 30 days following the DTV transition. It ensures that, once the digital television transition has taken place, unprepared analog televisions will receive a short ``slide''--in English and Spanish--explaining that the digital transition has occurred and what viewers need to do to continue receiving television broadcasts. The bill also allows for emergency communications, such as natural disaster alerts, to be broadcast to unprepared analog televisions. The fires that raged through my congressional district and other parts of southern California last month are an example of alerts that could be broadcast to television viewers who were unprepared for the DTV transition. According to the GAO, over 17 million households rely exclusively on analog over-the-air television, and while broadcasters, the FCC and others have been working furiously to let them know about the upcoming transition, there will inevitably be some folks left behind. In fact, that is exactly what happened after an FCC ``test'' transition in Wilmington, NC. Despite saturation advertising announcing the change and a geographic topography most conducive to it, nearly 2,000 households woke up to find that their televisions did not work; when extrapolated to the entire Nation this could mean that at least 1.5 million households will wake up on February 18 without a working television. We also know that certain segments of our population will likely be disproportionately impacted by the digital transition: Latinos, African Americans, and seniors. As someone who represents a congressional district that is 42 percent Latino and has many senior citizens, I find this very troubling. Clearly, we should be doing everything we can to ensure that no Americans are left behind during this important time. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to my colleague Senator Rockefeller and his staff for taking leadership on this important bill in the Senate, and to Chairman Dingell and his staff for working closely with us to ensure that no one is left behind by the DTV transition. I urge my colleagues to support S. 3663, the Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act. The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, today I rise to acknowledge Mr. John Scherrei, Fire Chief of Santa Barbara County, upon reaching his retirement after 38 years of fighting fires. Fire Chief Scherrei was appointed as the Santa Barbara County Fire Department Chief in 1999. He previously had a 28-year career with the City of Los Angeles Fire Department where he held all ranks from firefighter to Assistant Chief and was often the highest ranking fire official on duty for the Los Angeles area. During Fire Chief Scherrei's time with Santa Barbara County, the Fire Department has added paramedics on its engine companies; created and integrated two brush clearing crews to the department; acquired the County's first high-rise tower ladder truck to its firefighting equipment inventory and has successfully deployed two firefighting and rescue helicopters. Fire Chief Scherrei also oversaw the merger of the Solvang and Orcutt fire departments into the County Fire Department and guided the Fire Department through both recent wild land forest fires: the 2007 Zaca Fire--at about 240,000 acres the largest fire in the County's known history--and the 9,400-acre Gap Fire that occurred earlier this year. In both major tires, no lives were lost and no homes were destroyed. Most recently, Fire Chief Scherrei helped supervise efforts related to the 2,000-acre Tea fire, which damaged or destroyed 219 residences. Over the last decade, Fire Chief Scherrei has worked with concerned citizens to form the Firefighter Alliance, which helps the department acquire urgent, unbudgeted tools and equipment and he has helped establish a firefighter Benevolent Association which is a charity to assist the fire family with personal loss, and family tragedy situations. Fire Chief Scherrei was also instrumental in creating the County's first memorial event at the historic Courthouse Gardens regarding the September 11th terrorist attacks and also the 75th anniversary event commemorating the founding of the County Fire Department. He has a master's degree in public administration from Cal Lutheran University and a bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University, Northridge. Fire Chief Scherrei also proudly served in the U.S. Marine Corps and is a Vietnam Veteran. Madam Speaker, Chief Scherrei will retire from the County of Santa Barbara on January 23, 2009. To his wife, Piper; his four children; his 11 grandchildren; and to everyone whose lives have been enriched by him, Chief Scherrei is a man of courage, vigor, and guidance. Throughout his tenure as Fire Chief, Mr. Scherrei has advanced the state of fire and all-hazard emergency response in the County. As a result, our residents, businesses and visitors have benefited from his leadership and duty to serve. Therefore, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. John Scherrei for his 38 years as Fire Chief and honor his admirable service to the community and our country.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, I rise again in reluctant support of this legislation. I spoke earlier this week about the necessity for the underlying economic rescue legislation and I stand by that statement. If anything, the events of the last week have demonstrated that point even more vividly. The credit crisis that is gripping America is choking Main Street and affecting Americans of all walks of life. Businesses, small and large alike, are finding it more and more difficult to get credit to run their businesses. This slowdown is costing American jobs. Just today the administration announced that another 159,000 jobs were lost in September, the largest monthly loss in more than 5 years. That means we've lost nearly 800,000 jobs in the first 9 months of this year. I share my constituents' deep anger over this situation created by the greed of lenders and Wall Street players, the inattentiveness of Federal regulators, and the overall failure of the Bush administration's policies. We must act quickly and this proposal to meet this crisis is the best option we have. I know it would be much easier for me to take the easier, more popular route and vote against this measure, but I believe that would be the wrong choice for my district and my country for all the reasons I laid out earlier in the week. This legislation adds a number of provisions to the economic rescue package the House considered on Monday, most of which are unrelated to the financial crisis. I support many of them and oppose others. First, the bill temporarily raises deposit insurance from $100,000 to $250,000 in federally insured banks and credit unions. This is a good step to increase confidence in our banking system and a long overdue update to this critical protection for the assets of millions of American families and small businesses. Second, the bill protects some 22 million taxpayers from the effect of the Alternative Minimum Tax. This is a tax provision intended to keep the wealthiest in our society from avoiding all income taxes but, because it hasn't been updated in decades, now threatens to ensnare millions of middle income taxpayers with higher taxes. I hope that in the next Congress we can permanently fix this increasingly difficult problem but we must at least stave off its ill effects for this year. Third, the bill includes critically important mental health parity legislation. It would require insurance companies to treat coverage of mental health services the same as other medical services. As a public health nurse, I know there should be no distinction in the necessity of treating heart disease, bone disease, or mental health disease. I have long supported this effort to destigmatize mental health and ensure that Americans suffering from mental health problems can receive treatment. This is an extremely positive step forward for health care in America. Fourth, the bill extends Federal support for the development of wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources. I have been arguing for a 5-10 year extension of these provisions to encourage the development of alternative energy so we can finally break our crippling addiction to fossil fuels. Establishing a long term investment horizon for these efforts is critical to making that work. These extensions should be for longer than the 1-3 years included in this bill but they cannot be allowed to expire, which most would do by the end of this year. Unfortunately, included in these energy tax provisions is support for so-called clean coal production and shale oil extraction. The oil and gas industry could not possibly be more profitable and needs more taxpayer support like Warren Buffett needs investment advice. In addition, both the oil and coal industries already received overly generous taxpayer subsidies in the Republican's 2005 energy bill. I do not support these provisions and believe they should be removed or repealed in the next Congress. Also, much of the cost of these energy tax breaks are not offset so they will increase the already huge Bush deficits. In an effort to reinstate fiscal discipline, House Democrats have consistently voted to pay for these alternative energy production tax breaks by closing corporate loopholes and other measures. It's a shame the Senate cannot follow suit and we are faced with a take-it or leave-it choice on continuing these important alternative energy provisions. Finally, I am very concerned about the inclusion of language giving the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, the go-ahead to alter or suspend so-called ``mark to market'' accounting principles. The SEC just issued what it calls ``clarifications'' on these rules at the behest of the financial services industry and I believe this could be a big mistake. Investors simply must be able to trust that a company's financial statements give a clear and accurate portrait of the health of the company and ``mark to market'' is part of ensuring that is the case. I understand that today's market conditions make establishing prices for securities difficult, but we have to be careful that we don't enable the kind of opaque accounting that has led to numerous financial debacles in recent years. Despite my concerns about these provisions, I still believe it is in the best interests of the country to pass this legislation.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, I rise in very reluctant support of this bipartisan effort to address our nation's economic crisis. I do so because the very core of our American economy is at risk and we must act now in order to prevent its collapse. This is the diagnosis presented to us by Treasury Secretary Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and countless economists. In my own survey of the finance and banking world, I have heard the same analysis of our current predicament and the need for Congress to act quickly. What we face here is an economic meltdown brought on by a housing bubble, fueled in part by the subprime mortgage scandals, and made possible by the lack of regulatory oversight by the Bush Administration. Wall Street now sits on billions of dollars of mortgages it cannot price and it cannot sell. The response to this uncertainty has been a near freeze of credit markets, increasing unemployment and a slowing of our economy. Already, car, home, student and business loans are drying up across the economy and should this continue--or get worse--the markets would likely drop precipitously and the economy would come to a standstill or worse. Obviously, my concern is not with the effect on large financial institutions. They got themselves into this mess and if we could just turn our head while they failed that would be fine with me. My concern is how this economic calamity would affect ordinary Americans. And here the prediction is truly dire. If the Secretary is correct, lending would come to a near halt. That means it would be much, much more difficult--and expensive--to obtain loans to buy a car, a home or to run a business. Small, medium and large businesses alike would begin layoffs because the ability to obtain a loan is such a critical part of running a business today, much less growing a business. We have already seen over job losses of over 600,000 people in the U.S. this year. The unemployment rate in California has increased to 7.7 percent, the highest in over 12 years and up from 5.5 percent only 12 months ago. Foreclosures would continue unabated. So far this year, over half a million foreclosures have been filed in California, and the state is on pace to see more than 841,000 foreclosure filings this year. Eight of the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates in the nation are in California. As bad as those foreclosures are for the people losing their homes, they also contribute to the downward pressure on home values for other properties in the neighborhood, hurting homeowners who are totally innocent in all this. In addition, more innocent and hardworking Americans could see their life savings sapped, as IRAs and 401Ks lose value in a plummeting stock market. And increased unemployment also means lower tax revenues and greater calls for government assistance, resulting in even more exploding federal deficits. In short, we could be facing a huge recession if we're lucky, a depression if we aren't. This is what our economic leaders tell us is the future we face if we don't act now. I share my constituents' disgust with this situation. The idea that hardworking taxpayers have to put their money at risk to stabilize the economy because of the bad choices, nefarious actions and utter incompetence of Wall Street, its regulators and the Bush Administration is nauseating. But, if Secretary Paulson and the others are correct, the alternative is much worse and a serious threat to every single American. Madame Speaker, the proposal originally offered by President Bush to address this crisis was completely unacceptable. True to form, the President simply asked the Congress to provide him with a blank check, no questions asked. The Administration wanted no oversight--by Congress, the courts or anyone--of how it would spend the money it asked for. It rejected calls to limit CEO pay in companies that would be bailed out by taxpayers. It refused to help the growing number of Americans facing foreclosure and the millions of Americans whose housing values affected by those foreclosures. And it failed to ensure taxpayers would benefit as much as the Wall Street firms getting this federal assistance. The legislation before us today is very much the President's product. But Democrats have made critical improvements. Most importantly, the bill contains mechanisms to ensure taxpayers get their money back by requiring taxpayer ownership stakes in companies that benefit from this rescue plan, so if the companies return to profitability then taxpayers prosper as well. And it sets up insurance collections measures and a potential new tax on the financial services industry after 5 years if repayment of taxpayer rescue funds hasn't occurred. We limit the compensation of top corporate executives whose companies benefit from taxpayer assistance, put a halt to ``golden parachutes,'' and require repayment of bonuses based on company profits that may vanish at a later date. We establish an oversight board and a special inspector general to oversee Secretary Paulson's actions, and require the details of his actions to be posted on the Internet. The bill also should help small business and families that need credit by aiding smaller banks hurt by the mortgage crisis, expanding eligibility for mortgage refinancing help and encouraging loan servicers to make problem loans more affordable. While these steps are helpful to homeowners potentially facing foreclosure, they are critical to innocent families whose home values are plummeting from record foreclosure rates and abandoned, foreclosed properties in their neighborhoods. Finally, while the immediate need is to stabilize the markets and get our economy back on track, we begin the process of reestablishing common sense regulation protecting consumers and encouraging stability in our markets. Much of this current mess arises from the governing choices of President Bush and his party, especially their undying faith in deregulation and a systematic policy to dismantle vital consumer protections. That has to be reversed. On President Bush's watch we have seen widening income inequality, anemic job creation, skyrocketing energy prices, record federal budget deficits and now a potential historic financial meltdown. This record of failure is clear and we have to turn a page on it. Madam Speaker, this is not an easy vote to cast, but it is necessary for the future stability of our economy and the lives of everyday Americans.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments on 40 years of success. The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, SLOCOG, is an association of local governments in the San Luis Obispo County region. Its members include all 7 cities Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Mono Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo, as well as unincorporated areas of the County. SLOCOG provides transportation, public works, and environment planning and funding for the region, and serves as a forum for the resolution of regional issues. Over the course of four decades, San Luis Obispo County residents have looked to SLOCOG to lead our community forward. They have adopted a regional infrastructure plan, and helped certify several important projects, including the Cuesta College siting plan, the Lopez Lake water project and numerous community sewer and water plans. In addition to preparing the region's infrastructure plan, SLOCOG works in coordination with local transportation agencies in the region, including the San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority, the Air Pollution Control District, and the California Department of Transportation. Since 1998, I have had the pleasure of working closely with SLOCOG to successfully address important regional priorities, such as the designation of Highway 1 north of the city of San Luis Obispo as a National Scenic Byway and All American Road, and securing Federal funding for such high priority regional transportation system improvements as the widening of Highway 46 East and the Santa Maria River Bridge, and bikeways, boardwalks and streetscapes throughout the region. During its 40 years of existence, SLOCOG's activities have touched every aspect of the lives of the citizens of the Central Coast. I rise to express my appreciation and gratitude to its board members and staff, and applaud them for the work they continue to do to improve the economic well-being and quality of life of the residents of San Luis Obispo County. Madam Speaker, in closing, I call upon my colleagues to join me in congratulating SLOCOG's past accomplishments and in wishing them the best of luck in the many years to come.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, 750,000 American teenagers will become pregnant this year. This is clear evidence of a serious problem in our country. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, teen parents are less likely to complete their education and more likely to depend on welfare. Unfortunately, for the last several years the Bush administration has insisted we waste money on abstinence-only education programs that the GAO has deemed ineffective. In fact, a University of Washington study revealed that students who receive comprehensive sex education are less likely to become teen parents than those who receive abstinence-only information. Not surprisingly, my home State of California, which rejects title V abstinence-only funding, has a teen birth rate that is lower than the national average. Madam Speaker, we need to teach our children commonsense decisionmaking skills and not withhold vitally important health information from them. I urge my colleagues to join me in rejecting any future funding for abstinence-only education. Instead, let's spend it where we will see real results.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. I thank the chairman of our Health subcommittee for recognizing me. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6568, for which I am proud to be the lead Democratic sponsor. I want to commend Congressman Kevin Brady for his tireless work on behalf of pulmonary hypertension awareness over the last several years. As the name of this legislation indicates, our dear friend and former colleague, Tom Lantos, was a champion of working against this disease because of a very personal connection, his lovely granddaughter, Charity. I am so proud that we could help the Lantos family fulfill their goal of seeing this bill acted on during the 110th Congress. I am sure that many of us will remember forever the day that Charity testified, that was in December of 2005. She testified before the Energy and Commerce Committee. She so eloquently relayed to us the challenges of getting properly diagnosed and then adjusting to her daily complex routine in order to cope with her illness at the same time she pursued her musical career. Pulmonary hypertension is a very rare disease, which is marked by increased blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, as has been described. There are very few treatments available, and this legislation is aimed at improving research and awareness about the disease so that we can find more effective treatments and, one day, a cure. I want to thank the Energy and Commerce majority and minority staff for working hard to bring this bill up today, for the ranking member of the minority Health committee for insisting that it come before us today, and for the lead sponsor, again, Kevin Brady, for his efforts on behalf of the pulmonary hypertension community. Of course, we thank the Lantos family for their advocacy on behalf of pulmonary hypertension, and the efforts to ensure this bill's passage in Tom Lantos' memory.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 393 which would recognize October as Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, and I want to thank my colleague from New Jersey, our chairman of our Health Subcommittee, for recognizing me. I also want to thank the resolution's sponsor, Chip Pickering, and thank him for his leadership on this topic. I have proudly served with Mr. Pickering as cochair of the Heart and Stroke Coalition for the past 2 years. I have enjoyed working with him as well on the Stop Stroke Act, which we are so close to passing into law, and for his advocacy on behalf of these issues. He will sorely be missed when he retires this year from Congress. Sudden cardiac arrest claims the life of over 300,000 people per year. It's known as SCA, and it can strike at any age in people who appear to be otherwise healthy. We all know the famous stories of young athletes mysteriously dying on the basketball court or the football field. But perhaps none of us know enough about how to prevent it from happening in the future in our families with our loved ones and in the future. There are certain warning signs for sudden cardiac arrest which can be identified through screenings, and we hope that establishing a Sudden Cardiac Awareness Month will help more Americans learn what those warning signs are and to encourage more medical professionals to conduct proper screenings. I'd also like to take this time to promote awareness about the greatest chance for survival after a sudden cardiac arrest: the automated external defibrillators, or AEDs. Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have been proud of the efforts to increase the presence of AEDs on school campuses and other public buildings. Many of you are probably familiar with the placement of AEDs on every floor through the Capitol and our office buildings. They are so simple to use and are crucial to improving survival. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of House Concurrent Resolution 393 and help improve awareness about sudden cardiac events and AEDs.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. I thank our chairman for yielding and for his leadership. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6353, the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy bill. And in doing so, I want to pay tribute to its author, Bart Stupak, who would be here giving this statement except that his voice ran out tonight. So I am stepping in on his behalf, but it is something that I truly support as well. Nearly 7 million Americans are abusing prescription drugs; more than the number of individuals who are abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, ecstasy and inhalants all combined. Over the past 6 years, we have witnessed a dramatic 80 percent increase in prescription drug abuse from 3.8 million to 7 million. That's more than double. A large number of individuals are obtaining their prescription drugs over the Internet through rogue Internet pharmacies. Purchasing drugs online without a valid prescription can be simple: A consumer just types the name of the drug into a search engine, quickly identifies a site selling the medication, fills out a brief questionnaire, and then clicks to purchase. The risks of self-medicating, however, can include potential adverse reactions from inappropriately prescribed medicines, dangerous drug interactions, use of counterfeit or tainted products, and addiction to habit-forming substances. Several of these illegitimate sites failed to produce information about potential adverse side effects, effectiveness, and where the pharmacies are located. A 2004 GAO study obtained 68 samples of 11 different prescription drugs, each from a different Web site. GAO found that 45 online pharmacies provided a prescription based on their own medical questionnaire or had no prescription requirement. Among the drugs GAO obtained without prescription were those with special safety restrictions and highly addictive narcotic pain killers. The tragic case of Ryan Haight has already been mentioned. His mother has testified before Congress and is nationally known. Ryan died at the age of 18, as has been stated, from an overdose of pain killers, including Vicodin. He ordered these over the Internet without a legitimate prescription while he was a 17-year-old minor. The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act would bar the sale or distribution of all controlled substances via the Internet without a valid prescription. In order for a prescription to be valid, it must be issued by a practitioner who has conducted at least one in- person examination of the particular patient. H.R. 6353 would also require online pharmacies to clearly display on their Web site a statement of compliance with U.S. laws and DEA regulations. This would allow consumers to clearly identify which pharmacies are safe and which are not. This legislation also creates a new Federal cause of action that would allow a State attorney general to shut down a rogue site selling controlled substances in any State and increase the penalties for all illegal distributions of controlled substances classified as Schedule III, IV or V substances. This legislation is supported by the administration, including the DEA and FDA, the Chain Drug Stores, Go Daddy, eBay, Federation of State Medical Boards, and the Fraternal Order of Police. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation. I thank Congressman Lamar Smith, Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, Senator Feinstein, Chairman Dingell and Ranking Member Barton. I also want to thank Virgil Miller, Ryan Long, Caroline Lynch and Jeff Spalding with the committee staff, and Erika Orloff of Mr. Stupak's personal staff for their hard work on this bill.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2994, the National Pain Care Policy Act. I want to thank the chairman of our subcommittee, Mr. Pallone, for yielding me the time and also for his leadership in making sure this bill has gotten to this point. I thank the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Dingell, and our staff who are here and have been working diligently on both sides of the aisle to get this bill to where it is today. I thank our colleague from Michigan, Mike Rogers, for his work in paving the way for the passage of this bill today. The National Pain Care Policy Act would take important steps to improve the coordination of research and treatment of pain. More than 75 million Americans suffer from pain, both chronic and acute, making pain the most common reason Americans access or try to access the health care system. Yet they often face significant barriers in receiving the proper diagnosis and treatment. Pain is often, too often, only researched and considered as a symptom of another disease, and best practices haven't always been shared across disciplines. H.R. 2994 would amplify research at the National Institutes of Health and also improve education and outreach efforts for health professionals and the general public alike. I am proud of the significant support we have received in the community from various advocacy groups, health professionals and providers. I urge all of our colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 2994. American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Washington, DC, September 22, 2008. Hon. Lois Capps, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Congresswoman Capps: On behalf of the more than 39,000 members of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), I am pleased to express the Association's support for HR 2994, the National Pain Care Policy Act of 2007. The AANA is the professional association for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and student nurse anesthetists, representing over 90 percent of the nurse anesthetists in the United States. CRNAs are advanced practice nurses who administer about 30 million anesthetics to patients each year in the U.S., provide assessment and evaluation for acute and chronic pain and deliver pain management services, and are the sole anesthesia providers in most rural hospitals, affording these medical facilities obstetrical, surgical, and trauma stabilization, and pain management capabilities. AANA is pleased to support HR 2994, which seeks to eliminate barriers to pain care and improve pain care research, education, and clinical practice. Recognizing that pain is both a significant public health challenge and a burden to millions of Americans' quality of life, we believe that adoption of the National Pain Care Policy Act would help focus our nation's healthcare research in a new and important way on the cause, prevention, treatment and management of pain. As recognized experts in the field of anesthesia and pain management, America's CRNAs have made substantial contributions to clinical practice in pain care, and help provide millions of patients relief from pain. As HR 2994 would help focus national resources on research and translate research findings into improved clinical practice, we ask that upon the measure's enactment that representatives of the profession of nurse anesthesia be represented on government panels and councils that the legislation authorizes, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Pain Care Research Advisory Committee, the development of the Institute of Medicine Conference on Pain, the development of the Secretary of Health and Human Services' Public Awareness Campaign on Pain Management, and any others intended to guide and lead this critical healthcare policy agenda. In addition, we ask that grants that the legislation would authorize for expanding education and training to health care professionals in pain care also be made available to accredited nurse anesthesia educational programs. The AANA applauds the work of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for its bipartisan effort in advancing the National Pain Care Policy Act and will continue working toward its enactment. If we can be of further assistance, please contact Frank Purcell, AANA Senior Director Federal Government Affairs. Sincerely, Jackie S. Rowles, President.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1014, the HEART for Women Act. I thank my colleague for yielding to me, and I thank the lead co-sponsor of this bill, Congresswoman Barbara Cubin of Wyoming. I was proud to first introduce the HEART for Women Act in 2006 with the help of organizations such as the American Heart Association, WomenHeart, and the Society for Women's Health Research. Since then, the list of supporters has grown to over 50 organizations, 237 cosponsors in the House, and 47 cosponsors of the Senate companion legislation. This legislation was borne out of the realization that despite heart disease being the number one killer of women, too few people are aware of it. In 2006, only 21 percent of women identified heart disease as women's greatest health problem, and too few people were aware that heart disease manifests itself differently in women than in men. The HEART for Women Act would improve the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women in three important ways. First, it would authorize educational campaigns aimed at health providers and older women to make them more aware of the risks for cardiovascular disease among women. Secondly, it will authorize the expansion of CDC's highly successful WISEWOMAN program, to which our chairman alluded. Since 2000, WISEWOMAN has been providing screenings for low-income uninsured women. The CDC has touted the success of WISEWOMAN in that they have screened over 79,000 women in need, identified over 7,600 new cases of high blood pressure, over 7,900 new cases of high cholesterol, and over 1,000 cases of diabetes. I am proud that this legislation will play a part in reaching hundreds of thousands of new women in the years to come. Finally, H.R. 1014 will improve the way we collect and analyze research data. By directing the FDA to collect data about safety and the efficacy of new and investigational drugs and devices according to gender, age, and racial subgroups. We will help women and their health care providers better understand which course of treatment may yield the best outcome. Once again, I thank our colleague Congresswoman Cubin, the coalition of supporters, and the Energy and Commerce Committee majority and minority staff. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1014.

Mrs. CAPPS

Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1907, which formally codifies NOAA's Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, informally known as the CELCP program. First, I want to thank the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, Mr. Rahall, and the chairwoman of the subcommittee, Ms. Bordallo, for bringing H.R. 1907 before us today. I also want to join with the ranking member, Mr. Young, in recognizing the author of this legislation, Mr. Saxton, for his leadership in all of the areas that he has worked on, especially in this area. Those comments of my colleague from Alaska were very well said. For years, Mr. Saxton has been a champion for the marine environment, and his passion for our oceans will be missed. Mr. Speaker, it's well-known that more and more people are moving to the coast to enjoy its beauty and its recreational opportunities. An estimated 60 percent of Americans will live along our coasts during the next 2 years. More than ever, the pressures of urbanization and of coastal pollution threaten to impair watersheds, to impact wildlife habitat and to cause irreparable damage to our fragile coastal ecology. We see strong signals of what continuing down this path could bring us: beach closings, fish kills, human health impacts, and a lack of public access to beaches and to coastal waters. That's why we need initiatives like the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, the CELCP program. This existing program pairs willing sellers through community-based initiatives with sources of Federal funds in order to enhance environmental protection. Lands can be acquired in full or through easements, and none of the lands purchased through this program would be held by the Federal Government. It puts land conservation initiatives in the hands of State and local communities. That's why it's supported by the Coastal States Organization. In my congressional district, we've worked collaboratively with coastal communities, with environmental groups, with willing sellers, and with the State to conserve lands around the Morro Bay National Estuary, on the nationally significant Gaviota Coast and near the Piedras Blancas Outstanding Natural Area. These lands are home to a wide variety of plants and animal species that are particularly threatened by encroaching development and pollution. By working with local communities to purchase lands and easements, California has been able to successfully preserve the natural and scenic heritage of some of its last undeveloped stretches of coastline. Mr. Speaker, programs like CELCP will help other coastal States to participate in these community-based conservation efforts. Given the importance of healthy, productive and accessible coastal areas, it's time to formally authorize CELCP. This legislation makes important improvements in the program. It provides a better framework for its administration, and it will ensure the consistent implementation throughout the country. I know that we all would like to do something like this in honor and in the memory of our good friend in his days in Congress, Mr. Saxton. So I want to thank the chairwoman and Mr. Saxton for their leadership on this legislation. I look forward to working with them in the coming days to ensure its passage so that we can fill this vital need for coastal protection. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1907.