Wm. Clay

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).

Mr. CLAY. I yield the gentlewoman 1 additional minute.

Mr. CLAY. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass this bill honoring the first black marines. I am a proud cosponsor, along with 305 of my colleagues, of H.R. 2447, ``to grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the Montford Point Marines.'' In 1941, President Roosevelt issued a Presidential directive giving African Americans an opportunity to serve in the Marine Corps. These recruits, from all States, were not sent to Parris Island or San Diego. Instead, African American marines were segregated. They received recruit training at Montford Point, a facility on board Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Approximately 20,000 African American marines received basic training at Montford Point during World War II, and 75 percent served overseas. The initial intent of the Corps was to discharge these marines after the war and return them to civilian life. This would have left the Corps an all-white service. As World War II progressed, attitudes changed and reality took hold. Once given the chance to prove themselves, it became impossible to deny that these marines were just as capable as any other marine regardless of race, color, creed or national origin. According to General James F. Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps: ``Montford Point Marines served with distinction in three of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific--Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Montford Point Marines fought with such tenacity, valor and distinction that the commandant at the time was moved to declare, `The Negro marines are no longer on trial. They are marines--period.' Their actions reflected the finest attributes of the `leatherneck' fighting spirit and blazed the trail for generations of African Americans in the Marine Corps.'' The special recognition that Congress has already afforded the first African American servicemen of the Navy, Army and Air Force is long overdue the Montford Point Marines. The distinguished record of these African Americans advanced the cause of civil rights and contributed to President Truman's decision to order the desegregation of the Armed Forces in 1948. Mr. Speaker, the Montford Point Marines' service and sacrifice reflect great credit upon themselves and uphold the highest traditions of the Marine Corps, so I urge all of my colleagues to honor the Montford Point Marines by voting for this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CLAY. I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida and the original sponsor of this legislation, Ms. Brown.

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank my friend from New Mexico for his comments on the historic service of African Americans throughout our history. At this time I would like to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller).

Mr. CLAY. At this time I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

Mr. CLAY. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to first thank my good friend from North Carolina, Mr. Jones, for his leadership on this issue. I know that he represents Camp Lejeune, and he has certainly been a friend to the Marine Corps; and we are all indebted to him for that. Mr. Speaker, the bill calls for the Treasury Secretary to strike a single gold medal of appropriate design in honor of the Montford Point Marines collectively in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service to their country. The bill authorizes the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the award of the medal on behalf of the Congress and authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates in bronze at a price sufficient to cover overhead expenses. To me, this is the least we can do for a group of men who served a grateful Nation so well. During April of 1943, the first African American Marine drill instructors took over as the senior drill instructors of the eight platoons then in training. The 16th Platoon was headed by Edgar R. Huff; the 17th Platoon was headed by Thomas Brokaw; the 18th Platoon was headed by Charles E. Allen; and the 19th Platoon was headed by Gilbert H. Johnson, who was mentioned earlier. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Mr. CLAY. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. I yield the gentlewoman 1 additional minute.

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 2527, the National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act. This legislation would honor the 75th anniversary of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. H.R. 2527 calls for the Treasury Secretary to issue, in 2015, no more than 50,000 five-dollar gold coins, 400,000 one-dollar silver coins, and 750,000 half-dollar ``clad'' coins in recognition of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The program would be operated at no cost to the taxpayer and would be budget neutral. Currently, H.R. 2527 has 296 cosponsors. I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, being from St. Louis, Missouri, and going through this time with the Fall Classic, the St. Louis Cardinals happen to be in the World Series, and hopefully, we can bring home a victory. Speaking of victories, I would like to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, my good friend and the manager of the Democratic baseball team, Mike Doyle.

Mr. CLAY. Let me thank my friend from Texas (Mr. Barton) for his encouragement for his home team, and we are certain that the better team will prevail in this Fall Classic. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I certainly think that the National Baseball Hall of Fame is deserving of this recognition. I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation. I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CLAY. I rise today in support of the Waxman amendment as well as of the subsequent amendments to come, especially the Capps amendment. Mr. Chairman, we in Congress need to be working to create jobs. Instead of doing anything that would create jobs, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are making yet another assault on our public health and the Clean Air Act in the form of H.R. 2681. We should pass the President's American Jobs Act and other pieces of emergency jobs legislation that create jobs as soon as possible. As my friend the President said, ``Pass the bill. Pass the bill.'' Then we will create jobs. Unemployed Americans need emergency jobs legislation now, not an ideological attack on public health. Instead of focusing on jobs, Republicans want to eliminate or delay reasonable Clean Air Act regulations. This will jeopardize our public health and the clean air that we all breathe--regardless of party affiliation. This clean air regulation will reduce toxic pollutants produced by cement plants and will prevent 2,500 premature deaths every year. It will also be very cost-effective. This regulation provides up to $19 in public health benefits for every dollar spent on reducing harmful air pollution. I represent the State of Missouri, the St. Louis metropolitan region. Less than 100 miles south of the St. Louis metropolitan area, we have the largest cement kiln in the country. The people that I represent in the St. Louis region suffer disproportionately from pollutants in the atmosphere, pollutants that come from that nearby cement kiln, as well as from other pollutants that are emitted through smokestacks in the region. Children in my district suffer from a high incidence of asthma as well as from other respiratory diseases. Mr. Chairman, let me make it rather personal. Shortly after my youngest son was born, he contracted asthma. It is no mere coincidence, as we were so close to a cement kiln, that he, as well as thousands of other children in the St. Louis region, suffer disproportionately from asthma attacks and respiratory diseases that are unnecessary. The Clean Air Act is a commonsense approach, a balance, in order to allow for industry to do its work and create jobs and to also protect those children and others who live in the St. Louis region who have to breathe this air. The Clean Air Act is a commonsense approach, and it does not deserve to be attacked. I urge my colleagues to pass the Waxman amendment as well as the Capps amendment. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a native St. Louisan, Dr. Henry Givens, Jr., who has served as president of Harris-Stowe State University since it became a state institution in 1979. He was educated in the St. Louis public schools and earned his baccalaureate degree at Lincoln University in Missouri. He earned his master's degree at the University of Illinois and his Ph.D. at Saint Louis University. His postdoctoral studies in higher education administration were at Harvard University. Dr. Givens' professional experience in education is both broad and varied. He began his career as a teacher in the Webster Groves School District and became principal of the first prototype of a magnet school in the nation. Before leaving the Webster Groves public schools, he held the post of Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools. Soon after, he became the first African-American to serve Missouri as Assistant Commissioner of Education, which he did for 5 years. At the request of the Governor of Missouri, Dr. Givens served as interim president at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO, during a financial crisis in 1987, while continuing his duties at Harris-Stowe. Such an appointment was without precedent in Missouri public higher education. Under the leadership of Dr. Givens, Harris-Stowe has greatly expanded its degree programs; has significantly increased its facilities--from one building to seven, and including, for the first time in its long history of over 150 years, the new state-of-the-art William L. Clay, Sr. Early Childhood Development/Parenting Education Center and the Rev. Dr. William G. Gillespie Residence Hall and Student Center. An eighth new building, a second residence hall, is currently under construction. In addition, Harris-Stowe has opened its first business school satellite campus in South St. Louis; has expanded the University's academic program to include 14 degree offerings in selected applied professional disciplines; has tripled its student enrollment since entering the State System; and has changed its status from College to University, to name a few of its accomplishments. Dr. Givens has served as Chairman of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Statewide Celebration Commission for Missouri since its inception in 1986 to 2011. Under his dynamic leadership, the State of Missouri now hosts the second-largest celebration in the nation, extending to every corner of Missouri. Dr. Givens was appointed by President Barack Obama to the HBCU Capital Finance Program Advisory Board, and has served in the past and present on local, national, and international groups as a consultant, including the U.S. State Department at its American School in Lima, Peru. In addition, he currently serves on several local, state and national Boards and Commissions. He serves on the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority board, and on local and national Corporate Boards of Directors, including, U.S. Bank (Regional). He is a past board member of Laclede Gas/Laclede Group, Peabody Energy, Inc., and Automobile Club of Missouri (AAA). President Givens is affiliated with numerous national and local professional and social organizations, and has received over 125 national, state and local awards and recognitions, including honorary doctorate degrees from Saint Louis University, Lincoln University and Washington University- St. Louis. Dr. Givens is married to Belma Evans Givens. They have a daughter, a son, and three grandchildren.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask our friends in the majority to put their country ahead of their party and join us by enacting the Make It in America jobs agenda. Jobs is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. Putting America back to work is what we all should be fighting for. When working families hurt, America hurts, and what elevates them lifts up the entire Nation. We must pass without delay a reauthorization of the vital highway and transit bill. We need to enact the Make It in America agenda to strengthen our manufacturing, technological, and industrial base. We need to build up America's infrastructure by putting people to work, rebuilding our roads, bridges, railways, ports, schools and airports; and we need to speed disaster assistance to hard-hit communities without injecting partisan politics into the process. The time for political games is over and the time for jobs is now.

Mr. CLAY

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CLAY. I rise for the purpose of entering into a colloquy with the distinguished chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Moran, for your leadership and for this opportunity to discuss an important and urgent matter. As the chairman knows, there are two acts that seek to conserve marine mammals--the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. I am not here to debate the merits of those acts but to discuss an inadvertent and unexpected consequence of them. There is what seems to be a contradiction when it comes to the protection of polar bears. Exactly the opposite may be happening.

Mr. CLAY. I yield to the gentleman from Idaho.

Mr. CLAY. Mr. Chairman, you are correct. This is an urgent issue, as we know, of polar bears, specific bears today that are in danger of being lost and which could be saved by importation into the United States. While it was the intent of Congress to protect these animals, the acts were never intended to be bureaucratic obstacles to common sense and to saving their lives. Some brief background is in order. Mr. Chairman, section 101 of the Marine Mammals Protection Act established a moratorium on the importation of marine mammals. However, section 102 and 104 of the act allow for the issuance of permits for the importation of marine mammals under certain circumstances. Now, the act generally prohibits permits from public display of marine mammals from a species of stock designated as depleted, which is defined as one that is listed as an endangered species or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. On May 15, 2008, the Secretary of the Interior listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act; and since then, no permits for the importation of polar bears for the health and welfare of the animals or for the purposes of public display have been issued by the Secretary. The act does require that conservation plans for taking animals include proposals to enhance their habitat which, in this case, is impossible. One of the main reasons the polar bear was listed as threatened is the loss of their habitat. It is not possible to comply with this requirement, and we urge the Secretary to take this into consideration when making a final determination on these permits. There is also a requirement that such takings be for scientific purposes. Mr. Chairman, I think you would agree that establishing successful captive breeding programs for a threatened species fits into the Congress's intent for scientific purposes. Declining habitat conditions for the polar bear and an increasing number of human-bear interaction have resulted in an increase in the number of polar bears brought into temporary or permanent captivity in Canada in recent years, including an increase in the number of non-releasable animals and orphaned cubs. Canadian institutions cannot house all of these bears and any animals not placed in suitable facilities could be used, euthanized or left to die in the wild. The Government of Manitoba, Canada, has passed legislation allowing such bears to be exported from Canada for purposes of captive maintenance and public display at accredited zoological institutions in the United States. These are institutions that have undergone a thorough and rigorous review and inspection process by zoological professionals to examine all aspects of an institution's operation. Prior to issuing those permits, the Secretary of the Interior should determine the institution is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and meets specific public display criteria as determined by the Secretary. Mr. Chairman, I would like to clarify that it is your understanding that under these acts, the Secretary of the Interior may issue permits for the importation into the U.S. of live polar bears for the purpose of public display at appropriate accredited zoological institutions. Upon a finding that such importation of such will benefit the health and welfare of the animal or is otherwise consistent with the conservation of the polar bears, in addition with the other areas, the Secretary's authority is granted under the Marine Mammals Protection Act, section 102(b) and 104(c)(4)(A). Again, I want to thank the chairman for this opportunity.

Mr. CLAY. I yield to the gentleman from Idaho.

Mr. CLAY. I thank the chairman, as well as Ranking Member Dicks for requesting additional time. I yield back the balance of my time.