Dennis Cardoza

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1983) to amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to renew and amend the provisions for the enhanced review of covered pesticide products, to authorize fees for certain pesticide products, to extend and improve the collection of maintenance fees, and for other purposes.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I come before the House today to encourage passage of S. 1983, the Pesticide Registration Improvement Renewal Act. This reauthorization will ensure continued, stable EPA funding for pesticide registration programs, provide predictable timelines for industry, and support the introduction of new and safer products for consumers that are better for the environment. This legislation received extensive input and strong support from a unique alliance of the pesticides industry and the environmental community. S. 1983 builds on the success of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2003 and deserves to be passed with the unanimous consent of this Chamber. Mr. Speaker, there are a few points I would like to clarify regarding the text of this legislation. Regarding section 5, the summaries of acute toxicity studies shall be based on real data to further protect public health and the environment, and acute toxicity studies shall be conducted in a manner which accomplishes that goal. The summaries of the acute toxicity studies are intended to supplement the full submission of data from the registrants, not to replace that data. Registrants must still provide a full submission of acute toxicity data in their registration application. There are three errors in the chart printed in the Congressional Record of July 31, 2007: The registration service fee for new category No. 133 should be $78,750, rather than $278,250; the decision time for new category No. 47 in fiscal year 3 should be 12 months; and the action description for the new category No. 61 should read: ``Non-food use; outdoor; FIFRA, subsection 2(mm) uses (1).'' And lastly, section 3 of S. 1983 amends FIFRA to add, among other provisions, a new section that is intended to reflect EPA's current practice of identifying in the docket any information claimed, but not necessarily substantiated, as confidential business information. The language in this new section is not intended to change EPA's responsibilities or practices, pursuant to other statutes, regarding the docketing of information claimed as confidential under FIFRA. With this legislation, EPA will continue to have the resources to review each pesticide product using the best scientific practices in a more predictable timeframe. The pesticide registration program is a model of good government because it includes systemized stakeholder involvement and furthers the openness and transparency for which all Federal Government programs should strive. I strongly encourage the passage of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 79) recognizing the establishment of Hunters for the Hungry programs across the United States and the contributions of those programs efforts to decrease hunger and help feed those in need.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I'd like to rise to congratulate my colleague, Mr. Gingrey from Georgia, on this legislation, and also thank my colleague and friend Mr. Goodlatte for managing it on the Republican side. Our chairman on the Democratic side, Mr. Peterson, is an avid hunter and, I'd like to say, a very successful one as well. I know he wants to extend his gratitude for this bill and totally supports it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution just considered.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the bill just considered.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank my colleague from Virginia who's been a tremendous supporter and assistance on this piece of legislation. I rise in strong support of H.R. 1199, the Drug Endangered Children's Act. And let me also thank, as well as my colleague from Virginia, my colleague, Mr. Conyers, who's the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who also assisted us in bringing this legislation to the floor. I appreciate both their efforts on behalf of our Nation's children. Drug trafficking and abuse have a devastating impact on the children of this country and contribute to domestic violence, abuse and neglect. According to a recent study, Health and Human Services has said that over 1.6 million children live in a home where at least one parent abuses illicit drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin or prescription drugs. In my district in the central valley of California, I have seen the harmful effects of methamphetamine on children's lives. While visiting schools in my area, I've been told by teachers and administrators and, frankly, by the students themselves, that a significant portion of the students have a parent or relative who abuses methamphetamine. Sadly, I know that I'm not alone, as similar stories could be told in other parts the country where illicit drugs are prevalent. I'm particularly concerned about the impact of this drug epidemic and what it's having on our foster care system. According to the National Association of Counties, 40 percent of child welfare officials nationwide report an increase in child welfare cases caused by methamphetamine. This issue strikes close to home for me. In my home county of Merced, California, between 67 and 75 percent of foster care cases are methamphetamine-related. As a father of two adopted children, I have seen firsthand the damaging impact of drug abuse on the foster care system. Ladies and gentlemen, we must do more to help these children in need. Methamphetamine is an extremely dangerous drug for children not only because meth addicts are more likely to abuse and abandon their children but also because meth-addicted parents often set up meth labs in their homes. These labs are highly toxic and susceptible to fire and explosions and therefore place innocent children in physical danger. In my district, children have been found at labs with burns from spilled ingredients from the methamphetamine production process. In addition, there is a high risk of lasting health damage from toxic fume inhalation. Tragically, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, children are found present at 20 percent of all meth labs that are seized. H.R. 1199, the Drug Endangered Children Act, will address the challenges facing children abandoned, neglected, or abused by parents addicted to illicit drugs. The legislation would authorize the Department of Justice to make $20 million in grants available for drug- endangered children for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. The grants are designed to improve coordination among law enforcement, prosecutors, children protection services, social service agencies, and health care providers to help transition drug-endangered children into safe residential environments. The Drug Endangered Children program would build on the successful Federal, State, and local partnerships of the COPS program and the Edward Byrne Memorial Grant program. By funding coordination across jurisdictions and among several different types of government agencies, the Drug Endangered Children program would foster cooperative efforts to address the needs of children affected by drug abuse. These grants would leverage the Federal Government's investment by offering an incentive for local government to invest their own money in confronting this important problem. It's time to pass this vital piece of legislation. The 1.6 million children across this country impacted by parental drug abuse need our help. Let us help these children by passing the Drug Endangered Children Act and rid ourselves of the scourge of drug abuse. I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 1199.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Madam Chairman, I yield myself 2\1/2\ minutes. I rise in support of this amendment, Madam Chairman. And I wish to begin by thanking Chairman Frank for bringing this much-needed legislation to the floor, and for all his efforts to help the reeling housing industry in my area, and the country in general. As we have heard from countless media reports, we are facing a growing mortgage crisis. Sadly, I represent an area that is particularly hard hit by this crisis. The community of Stockton has acquired the distinction of having the highest foreclosure rate of any U.S. city in the country, and there one in 20 households are in jeopardy of foreclosure at this time. In fact, Stockton has had 8,000 foreclosures so far in 2007. This morning, the Modesto Bee reported that central California and central valley homeowners were six times more likely to be in mortgage default for last year than the national average. In addition, home values have plunged 15 to 20 percent so far this year. This amendment will address this problem and help ameliorate the harsh effects of the credit crunch. First, the amendment raises the FHA loan limit to the lower of, A, 125 percent of the local median home price or, B, 175 percent of the national GSE conforming loan limit. The biggest impact of this will be to make FHA loans available in low- and moderately income priced home markets. By raising the local loan limit up to 125 percent of the local median home price, FHA will be able to serve currently neglected populations and ensure loans in this vast and middle-market area. In addition, the amendment will have the effect of serving high-cost areas as well. By raising this artificial cap to 175 percent of the GSE conforming loan limit, the amendment will allow FHA to serve high-cost areas. California has some of the highest priced real estate anywhere in the country. This amendment, by expanding FHA's reach to high-priced areas, will finally bring the benefits of FHA to millions of deserving Californians. In addition, there are other areas of the country where this will have a monumental impact. Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and other areas are all high-cost areas and will benefit tremendously from raising the loan limit. Raising loan limits and enhancing the ability of FHA to serve currently neglected populations will have the effect of generating more liquidity in the market and enhancing lender confidence. This will enable more borrowers who are facing loan resets to refinance their mortgages on more favorable terms. This amendment has strong support of the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Home Builders, and others on the front lines of the housing industry. They know the needs of this industry, and they know that this bill will help.

Mr. CARDOZA. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Miller, for his kind and accurate comments. And I would like to now yield 1 minute to my colleague from California (Ms. Waters).

Mr. CARDOZA. Madam Chairman, in the short period of time we have remaining, I just want to thank the chairman of the Financial Services Committee for his leadership, my colleagues on the Republican side for their support, particularly Mr. Gary G. Miller. This is important legislation for our country when you live in an area where the housing prices have declined precipitously by 20 percent less in a year, where you see foreclosures rampant. In my district alone, there are probably over 20,000 such foreclosures. It is having real impacts on real families in my district and across America. We need to change these regulations and bring help to these citizens in need.

Mr. CARDOZA. Madam Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. CARDOZA. I yield 1 minute to the chairman of the committee, Mr. Frank.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my friend from Massachusetts for yielding. Madam Speaker, as a subcommittee chairman on the House Agriculture Committee and as a member of the Rules Committee, I am pleased to rise in support of the Agriculture appropriations bill before us today. One of the reasons the farm bill that we just passed last week was so hard to put together was over the past years the Republican appropriators had repeatedly chipped millions and millions of dollars out of mandatory farm bill programs, specifically in the area of research, and research is an area that has been woefully inadequately funded in previous years. As a result, the rest of the world has been catching up, and we have been struggling to maintain our preeminence in agriculture in the last few years. We used to have a $30 billion trade surplus in agriculture, and now, like in everything else, we are falling behind and having that traded away. If we aren't careful, we are going to become a net importer of agriculture for the first time in the history of the United States. It is bad enough that countries like China, Japan and Saudi Arabia are already our bankers. We cannot afford to let them become our farmers, too. This bill represents a stark difference from the drastic cuts we have seen in recent years. Members of the Agriculture Committee and the Appropriations Committee were vigilant to ensure that we met the promises we made, especially in the areas of research, food safety and nutrition. I do have some concerns, however, about the horse slaughter transportation language contained in the bill which could have unintended consequences on the horse racing industry, an industry I have strongly supported since my time in the California legislature. I am hearing from a lot of my constituents back home that have serious problems with the potential workability and practicality of some of that language. My good friend from California (Mr. Costa) and I are working with Mr. Chandler and Chairwoman DeLauro to correct this problem. Madam Speaker, this is a good bill. It follows through on our commitments, reinvests in rural America, improves nutrition for millions of Americans, and puts us on the right track by making sound investment in research, and will help us maintain our standing in the world as undisputed agricultural leaders. I also want to thank and say something about our wonderful chairwoman, Ms. DeLauro. Without her help, we would not have been able to write the farm bill we wrote last week. She is a tireless advocate for her concerns in specialty crops and farmers markets and nutrition and making sure that our young people eat nutritious food, and also food safety. With her leadership, we got the farm bill done. With the leadership of Collin Peterson, we got the farm bill done. And with the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, we were able to write a good farm bill for America. I want to thank the chairwoman and all those who helped. She has done an unbelievable job shepherding this bill through her committee and to the House floor. I thank her and congratulate her on meeting the needs of America's farmers.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mr. CARDOZA. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chairman, I understand that the CBO has determined that my amendment violates the PAYGO rules. As such, I would like to engage the chairman of the Agriculture Committee and the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in a colloquy. As you both well know, buried within the authorization of the Homeland Security Department was a little-known provision that mandated the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's 1,800 agricultural inspectors move from USDA to the newly created Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection Division. This move was made in order to consolidate custom and border enforcement into one agency, a decision I'm sure was made with all good intentions in mind. However, as the GAO has recently reported, since the transfer of these USDA employees, Customs and Border Protection has not developed sufficient performance measures to take into account the agency's expanded mission or to consider all pathways by which prohibited agricultural items or foreign pests may enter the country. Mr. Chairman, this deficiency in our border security cannot and should not be tolerated. Stopping foreign pests and prohibited agricultural products from entering the United States might not be as sexy as stopping terrorists, weapons, or drugs, but it is certainly as important. These are six-legged terrorists, Mr. Chairman, that can wreak havoc on our Nation's agricultural industry, costing billions of taxpayer dollars in eradication efforts and decimate our ability to access new export markets. I would like your assurances that by withdrawing this amendment I have the commitment from both of you to work with me on this issue. While I certainly would prefer to see these employees moved immediately back to USDA, where I believe they belong, my greater concern is that wherever they are right now, they must certainly have the tools and resources at their disposal to do their job effectively and efficiently. I would like to have a hearing on the staffing, training and morale problems that persist within the agency. I also believe that we should direct USDA and the Department of Homeland Security to develop standardized, reputable training programs that properly identify and assess the major threats posed by foreign agricultural pests and disease. I believe USDA and Homeland Security should be required to fully and accurately account for all agricultural quarantine inspection fees. But perhaps most importantly, I want this issue to have the attention it deserves from both Agriculture and Homeland Security Committees. Preventing pest and disease infestation is a paramount concern to all of American agriculture, but primarily to our specialty crop industry. I have vowed to fight for them on this issue and would appreciate your help in ensuring their concerns are met.

Mr. CARDOZA. I have been working closely with Congressman Adam Putnam on this issue, and I would be happy to yield to my friend from Virginia on this issue.

Mr. CARDOZA. I will yield.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 574.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to set the record straight. The gentleman would like to say that this is the first time we have had a structured rule. That is absolutely not the case. In 1996, the farm bill that year, when the Republicans were in charge, allowed 16 amendments. It was a structured rule. This rule allows 31 amendments. Further, Mr. Ryan accused us of busting the budget because of timing shifts. Let me just point out that the 2002 farm bill had $2.6 billion in timing shifts, and the 2006 budget resolution had $1.5 billion in shifts, with a total of $4.1 billion in timing shifts on their watch. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.