Steve Cohen

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. I want to thank the chairman and the chairmen for the work they've done, and for the ranking member, on this bill. I rise in support of H.R. 4279, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, or the PRO-IP Act. Our Nation's intellectual property is the basis for our economic success and security. That is something that can't be undermined by cheap labor prices overseas. It's an American product. Therefore, protecting our intellectual property must be among our highest priorities. In addition to undermining our global economic primacy, counterfeit and pirated products can threaten the health and safety of American consumers, American pet owners, steal income from legitimate businesses, deprive American workers of good jobs, and undermine the necessary incentive for innovation and creativity which has made America the great country that it is. It is for these reasons I'm an original cosponsor of the PRO-IP Act. The PRO-IP Act will help strengthen enforcement of intellectual property rights domestically and internationally through enhanced criminal and civil penalties for intellectual property crimes, better high-level coordination among Federal Government agencies, and increased resources to domestic and foreign law enforcement authorities. This bill, Mr. Speaker, rightfully enjoys broad support from a wide range of industries, including the entertainment, pharmaceutical, food, automobile parts and software industries. It has such diverse partners as the Chamber of Commerce and the Teamsters. When the Chamber of Commerce and the Teamsters come together it's like E.F. Hutton--we listen. We've listened well and need to pass this bill. This coalition that supports PRO-IP is indicative of the broad support and the need for passage of such legislation. I urge my colleagues to heed the words and vote in favor of this important legislation.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, the price of gasoline has reached another record high, nearly $4 a gallon. And yet when the Democrats, along with Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic majority, have asked the President to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is 97 percent full and which experts say could lower the price of gasoline by 5 to 24 cents a gallon, the President says he doesn't believe the cost benefit analysis of immediate action for consumers persuaded him. Well, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that the President consider how Americans are suffering with the price of gasoline at the pump, how that's limiting their other choices in expenditures, and how it will reduce their opportunity for summer vacations. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, I signed on to a bill for a windfall profits tax on oil companies. Oil companies presently have subsidies given to them in the past, which this Congress tried to repeal but we didn't have bipartisan support to repeal those subsidies. So these companies making more money than ever have subsidies rather than windfall profit taxes. Mr. Speaker, we need to look out for the motoring public.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, this morning I had a group of students from Hawkins Mill Elementary School in Memphis tour the Capitol, inner city young children. And I thought about what type of future they'll have and how Congress is affecting it. I thought of the children's health plan that would give six million more children around this country health care, and the fact that the President vetoed their opportunity to have health care. I thought about No Child Left Behind to help them in education. But that bill has been $50 billion underfunded, and basically teaches teachers to teach a test and not to teach these children. I thought about the war in Iraq and John McCain's thought that it's going to be a hundred-year war, and how many of them might have to go to Iraq and maybe lose their lives and continue to suck moneys out of our economy and hinder their future with a budget that is out of balance and that they'll have to pay for. Mr. Speaker, I'm concerned about the children at Hawkins Mill Elementary and all the other children and the future we leave them. Mr. Speaker, November's the answer. We need to have a new Senate and a new President that think about the children and the future.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, as many as 2.8 million Americans could lose their homes in the next 5 years due to the subprime mortgage crisis, yet the Bush administration refuses to properly address the crisis. Last month the administration was willing to bail out Bear Stearns, but when they announced their plans to overhaul the regulation of financial institutions, they failed to properly address any of the needs of families who face the loss of their homes in the coming months. The housing crisis demands bold action, and this House has already responded by passing legislation that would expand affordable mortgage loans opportunities to families at risk of foreclosure. We've also passed bills that would raise Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits to increase liquidity in the mortgage market and that would increase the supply of affordable housing. And now we have a plan that would help 1.5 million homeowners afford foreclosure. Madam Speaker, we hope the administration will join us in supporting these important bills that will provide necessary relief to those families feeling the impact of the housing crisis.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, today is the dreaded April 15, and I, like millions and millions of Americans, have filed my returns and those for my mother and others. This Congress has tried to provide and has provided relief for middle-class taxpayers and middle-income taxpayers and extended those tax benefits. We have also passed relief for the people who pay the alternative minimum tax. But with the stimulus package, we provide moneys for people to get a refund. But to get that refund, people have to file their taxes. Be sure and file your taxes, and if your income is $75,000 or less or $150,000 for a couple, you can get your stimulus relief package passed by this Congress. We wish our moneys weren't going to rebuild Baghdad and for war efforts, but with the work of this Congress, one day we will have peace, we won't be spending the money in Baghdad, and we will be spending the money in America to rebuild our infrastructure.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, as an alumnus of the University of Memphis Law School and the congressman from the University of Memphis district, I still grieve over the outcome of the game Monday night, but I want to congratulate the University of Kansas for winning the national basketball championship and thank the city of San Antonio for being such a wonderful host. On behalf of the citizens of Memphis, I want the country to know we love our team. They brought our city together, which needed a unifying force. We are proud that our coach who made that team what it was has been named the National Coach of the Year by the Naismith Society. Our players played valiantly. We came very, very close to a national championship. We won more games than any team in NCAA history. We will look back upon this year with fondness and appreciation and we will, like General MacArthur, return.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, every day that we spend money in Iraq means missed opportunities to invest in priorities here at home. While the Bush administration spends $339 million a day in Iraq, we are diverting money from our Nation's needs. With that $339 million that we spend today, we could instead ensure that 2.6 million Americans have access to medical and dental care at community health centers. We can provide 955,000 families with help for their energy bills, and we could hire 50,000 more cops to protect our citizens on our streets. With the funds we are spending in Iraq today we could also provide 937,000 grants for research into diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes, provide 317,000 kids with vaccinations and could send 18,000 more students to school. The millions we are pumping into Iraq today is desperately needed here at home as this country stares recession in the face. Yet President Bush continues to recommend nothing but the status quo in Iraq. Put America first.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, during Read Across America Week, I went to Lincoln Elementary School in Memphis, Tennessee, and we read our favorite book, ``Green Eggs and Ham.'' I asked the young people if they ever watched C-SPAN, and they looked at me quizzically. Then I asked them if they ever watched Nickelodeon, and they all raised their hand and cheered. I said, ``Which show do you watch the most?'' They watch ``The Naked Brothers Band.'' The Naked Brothers Band is a show on Nickelodeon that has been an award winner starring Nat and Alex Wolff, produced by their mother, Polly Draper, and co-produced by their father, Michael Wolff. It is the ``Ozzie and Harriet,'' the Nelson brothers of the 21st century, and it shows that there is good television that gives kids good values and teaches them about the environment and how to be good young people and grow up to be great Americans. So my congratulations to the Nickelodeon Network and to the Wolff- Draper family and Nat and Alex.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, on Friday, April 4, this Nation will observe the 40th anniversary of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a great American who fought injustice; not just social injustice, but economic injustice. His beliefs 40 years later have not been fulfilled. His dream is still alive, but not fulfilled. In his time, he fought a war and was against a war in Asia that this country was fighting and losing, and costing us much in terms of human sacrifice, as well as financial sacrifice. We see that same situation today, as we have the cost in Iraq taking away from our cities and our people. He fought for working people who were working hard but not moving forward. Today, we see working people in the middle-class continuing to having their power eroded and taken away from them. I ask each person in this House and each person in America to think of Dr. King this week and to think of Dr. King every day and keep his dream alive and move this country forward with economic and social justice, for we need it more now than ever.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This Friday, our Nation will recognize the 40th anniversary of a most infamous day in our country's history, the assassination of the great Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. It's impossible to speak about Dr. King without remembering his eloquence and powerful oratory. Dr. King brought his brilliant mind and God-given speech to bear against mighty forces, forces which were entrenched and interwoven so powerfully in the very fabric of our country that the task to overcome seemed nearly impossible. But he was not deterred. And even from the distance of 40 years, what Martin Luther King, Jr., accomplished in his short number of years on this earth is awe-inspiring. He started a march to justice that he still inspires and which moves toward fulfillment. An assassin's shot rang out in Memphis, silencing a most beautiful and eloquent man, but it didn't silence his dream. He was a man who worked with Bayard Rustin to take Gandhi's principles of nonviolence and change a country through different forms of civil disobedience that had not been seen in this country successfully. He brought a march to Washington that's still the greatest march known to this day, a collection of individuals demanding a change of course for this country. And he changed this country and changed, his force made this Congress and the President of the United States, at that time, Lyndon Johnson, change its course and bring about great civil rights legislation. A man whose life and death continues to define our country and our world, his dream survives his death, and will continue to survive as long as we know what is good and just about our Nation. The man could be killed, but not the dream. The dream lives in each of us. Though the fires of progress sometimes seem to dwindle to embers, each time we declare that all people are equal, each time we fight against discrimination and intolerance, and each time we speak truth to power, each time we do those things we fan the flame of Martin Luther King's dream and his purpose and his passion lives on in us. Martin Luther King spoke truth to power, and that is a great thing.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, March 12, I was unable to vote on roll No. 126 on the Motion to Adjourn. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on this motion.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, as most everybody in America knows, this is March Madness, and March Madness is a wonderful experience when people cheer for their basketball teams and watch great athletes compete for the national championship. One of the teams competing in San Antonio for the national championship will be the University of Memphis Tigers, my home university and my alma mater. We are extremely proud of the University of Memphis. And in Tennessee, it was 173 years ago that a great group of Tennesseeans, including my predecessor from the Western District of Tennessee, Davy Crockett, went to the Alamo. This time, Mr. Speaker, it's going to be a different story. Tennesseeans will win, have a victory in San Antonio, and your Congressman who is in the House will come back to the House.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, our pastor today was Pastor W. James Thomas II. Pastor Thomas is God's visionary for Shiloh Church of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Serving as Senior Pastor since 1994, his consistent obedience to God has taken the Shiloh congregation from glory to glory. The membership has grown from 75 to 600 and counting. During these years, Pastor Thomas has been preaching and teaching God's uncompromising Word with a boldness that has changed the lives of the people at Shiloh and throughout the country. To accommodate the vision and growth of the church membership, Pastor Thomas led the congregation in the acquisition of a 19,000 square foot worship and educational facility in 1998. In 2003, the sanctuary was completely renovated and office complex expanded to accommodate staff and daily operational needs. Spiritually, Pastor Thomas was saved and received much of his spiritual development in the Church of God in Christ. He was called to the ministry at the age of 14 and began pastoring at the age of 18 in Knoxville, TN. Educationally, Pastor Thomas graduated cum laude from Crichton College in Memphis, Tennessee with a bachelor of science degree in biblical studies and is currently a candidate for the masters of divinity degree. He has also been awarded a doctor of divinity degree from St. Thomas Christian College in Jacksonville, FL. Pastor Thomas was selected from among 300 clergy nationally to participate in, and has completed the first Graduate School of Theological Studies Special intensive at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA in September, 2005 and Yale School of Divinity in September, 2006. Pastor Thomas has accomplished many tasks on the local and national level. He is the founder and CEO of Grace Community Development Corporation and Grace for Living Ministries International and currently serves as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Marchell Foundation, a regional scholarship granting foundation. In July of 1998, he was appointed and installed as the District Overseer for the West Tennessee Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. Apostolically, he serves as the overseer of True Praise & Worship International Church in Raleigh, NC and Fresh Annointing Christian Fellowship Church in Clarksville, MS. He is a member and chapter officer of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He's very active in our community in Memphis, Tennessee. He is married to Minister Antonia R. Thomas, who serves alongside him in the ministry. And even possibly more important than his congregation, Pastor Thomas has two children. One is Private First Class Reginald Cleveland, who has been serving this Chamber for the past 4 years as an officer with the Capitol Police. His daughter Joshlyn Thomas is a student at Craigmont Middle School in Memphis. Generations are changed because of his passion for mentoring youth, empowering the saints and serving as a spiritual father for Pastors. Through the ministry of Pastor Thomas, people are discovering their destinies. His favorite Scripture is Psalms 37:4--``Delight thyself also in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.'' I appreciate Pastor Thomas serving the United States House of Representatives as our pastor this morning.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, our pastor today was Pastor W. James Thomas, II. Pastor Thomas is God's visionary for Shiloh Church of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Serving as pastor since 1994, his consistent obedience to God has taken the Shiloh congregation from glory to glory. The membership has grown from 75 to 600 and counting. During these years, Pastor Thomas has been preaching and teaching God's uncompromising Word with a boldness that has changed the lives of the people at Shiloh and throughout the country. To accommodate the vision and growth of the church membership, Pastor Thomas led the congregation in the acquisition of a 19,000 square foot worship and educational facility in 1998. In 2003, the sanctuary was completely renovated and office complex expanded. Spiritually, Pastor Thomas was saved and received much of his spiritual development in the Church of God in Christ. He was called to the ministry at the age of 14 and began pastoring at the age of 18 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He graduated cum laude from Crichton College in Memphis with a bachelor of science degree in Biblical studies and is currently a candidate for the master of divinity degree. He has also attended and received degrees from Harvard University and Yale University, where he had completed the first Graduate School of Theological Studies' special intensive course at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge and the Yale School of Divinity in September 2006. He's very active in our community in Memphis, Tennessee. He is married to Minister Antonia R. Thomas, who serves alongside him in the ministry. And even possibly as important or more important than this congregation, he has two children. One is Private First Class Reginald Cleveland, who is an officer and security person for this Chamber, from Memphis, Tennessee, who is here today; and he has a daughter in middle school. I appreciate Pastor Thomas serving the United States House of Representatives as our pastor this morning.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, please excuse my absence from votes on Monday, March 10, 2008. My flight was delayed due to mechanical problems. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on each rollcall vote: 108, 109, and 110.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. I thank the gentlelady from Florida for making this time available. My father was a physician. After being a pediatrician for many years, he chose to change his specialty and go into psychiatry, and then child adolescent psychiatry. As a result of that, I was exposed to mental health issues and mental health treatment and the need for mental health professionals throughout this country. There has been a misconception in this country about people needing mental health treatment and their being adequately covered by insurance. In the same way that a physical illness affects people, mental illnesses do. And mental health treatment has been woefully undercovered and underserved, people who suffer from that in our country. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this bill and to join with the gentleman from Minnesota and the gentleman from Rhode Island who brought the bill and other cosponsors, because I think it shows that this Congress understands that mental health treatment needs to be covered, that diseases of the mind are similar to diseases of the body, the effect they can have on a person's overall well-being, but that their mental health and their physical health are also intertwined, and if mental health is not treated, physical health is affected. We need to be concerned about all of our fellow citizens, our brothers and sisters who might suffer from any illness. And it's time that we came out from the cloak of an ancient time when we looked upon mental health treatment as something to be shunned, to be embarrassed about if it was somebody in our families, our friends, or even ourselves. And so I wholeheartedly endorse this bill and feel that the passage of this bill will be a great day for Americans and for science.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, yesterday evening in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, there was a senseless killing of six individuals. Four adults and two children were shot and/or stabbed in the Binghampton community. We have seen more and more and more urban crime in this country, and the response has not been sufficient from the Federal Government to help the locals with law enforcement funding. This House has passed a COPS bill that is still pending in the Senate and is opposed by the administration. We need to see that the COPS bill becomes law and we have an opportunity to help fund the policemen on our streets in our urban centers, and all over this country. We also need to help the Second Chance programs to see that people don't resort to crime. Crime must stop, Mr. Speaker, and we must do our part.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Turkish Government took its troops into northern Iraq and went after their nemesis, the terrorist, the PKK. They defeated, destroyed, and killed a great number of the PKK who've killed over 40,000 Turks since the 1980s and what is possibly the greatest terrorist group to attack a sovereign country. Our Secretary of Defense Gates is going to be in Turkey today and has said he will tell the Turks to make their foray short, a matter of days, weeks, not months, and to respect the sovereignty of the Iraqi Government. I can only imagine what the Turks will tell Secretary Gates. Do as I say, not as I do. For have we respected the sovereignty of the Iraqi Government? Has our foray been short? Can we afford to lose more blood and more dollars in a losing attack in Iraq? I submit to Secretary Gates, Mr. Speaker, we should do as we say, not as we do.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise and join my colleague, the Honorable Al Green of Texas, in honoring the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 99th anniversary. As we celebrate Black History Month, it is only appropriate that we do so by recognizing our Nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. The NAACP was founded on February 12, 1909, by Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Dubois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, and William English Walling. Since its inception, the NAACP has united students, laborers, professionals, scholars, officials, and others of all races to advance its vision of ``a society in which all individuals have equal rights and there is no racial hatred or racial discrimination.'' Historically, the NAACP is probably best known for its role and that of Thurgood Marshall in the seminal case of Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court held in 1954 that ``separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.'' Yet we must not forget that the NAACP has been at the forefront of all efforts to secure equality and justice for every American throughout the 20th century and now into the 21st century. The NAACP spoke out against lynching, challenged racially biased Supreme Court Justice nominees as early as 1930, and pursued nondiscrimination policies in the military, war-related industries, and the Federal Government during the world wars. At the height of the civil rights era, the NAACP fought battles on the ground, in the courtroom, and in Congress, where it lobbied for passage of civil rights legislation, like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Since then and during our current session, the NAACP has lobbied for hate crimes legislation and other legislation that protects minorities, not necessarily based on race, but based on discrimination. Today, on the shoulders of distinguished members and leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Merlie Evers-Williams, Benjamin Hooks, Julian Bond, Jesse Turner, Sr., Maxine Vasco Smith, and Kweisi Mfume, the NAACP continues to fight the good fight. Most recently, the NAACP is promoting African American graduation and college readiness, protecting and advancing voting rights, and identifying solutions to the subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis. I have the privilege of working with the association to further these important efforts. So, in recognizing the NAACP's past and present, I again salute the organization on its near centennial anniversary. I am confident the NAACP will remain an integral part of our Nation's efforts to protect and promote civil rights in the future and move society forward in a progressive manner on a wide array of issues. I urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 289.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. I appreciate the time. I do serve on Judiciary Committee, and I looked at that empty chair that Ms. Miers was supposed to be sitting in when she was asked to testify before our committee. Nothing is more contemptuous of an official than not to simply appear. To appear by counsel, to appear in person, to allege a privilege is one thing. Not to show up is the uttermost peak of contempt that a person could have for the Congress and for the legislative body. She didn't even send a little note, Ms. Miers regretfully cannot attend your hearing. This is the highest contempt. We are representatives of the people, and we are upholding the Constitution and our jobs as being an equal branch of government, which this legislative body is, and there is no such thing as an imperial Presidency, and no one is above the law.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Today I rise and join my colleague, the Honorable Al Green of Texas, in honoring the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 99th anniversary. As we celebrate Black History Month, it is only appropriate that we do so by recognizing our Nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. The NAACP was founded on February 12, 1909, by Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, and William English Walling. Since its inception, the NAACP has united students, laborers, professionals, scholars, officials, and others of all races to advance its vision of ``a society in which all individuals have equal rights and there is no racial hatred or racial discrimination.'' Historically, the NAACP is probably best known for its role and that of Thurgood Marshall in the seminal case of Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court held in 1954 that ``separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.'' Yet we must not forget that the NAACP has been at the forefront of all efforts to secure equality and justice for every American throughout the 20th century and now into the 21st century. The NAACP spoke out against lynching, challenged racially biased Supreme Court Justice nominees as early as 1930, and pursued nondiscrimination policies in the military, war-related industries, and the Federal Government during the world wars. At the height of the civil rights era, the NAACP fought battles on the ground, in the courtroom, and in Congress, where it lobbied for passage of civil rights legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Since then and during our current session, NAACP has lobbied for hate crimes legislation and other legislation that protects minorities, not necessarily based on race, but based on discrimination. Today, on the shoulders of distinguished members and leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Merlie Evers-Williams, Benjamin Hooks, Julian Bond, Jesse Turner, Jr., Maxine Vasco Smith, and Kweisi Mfume, the NAACP continues to fight the good fight. Most recently the NAACP is promoting African American graduation and college readiness, protecting and advancing voting rights, and identifying solutions to the subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis. I have the privilege of working with the association to further those important efforts. So in recognizing the NAACP's past and present, I again salute the organization on its near centennial anniversary. I am confident the NAACP will remain an integral part of our Nation's efforts to protect and promote civil rights in the future and move society forward in a progressive manner on a wide array of issues. I urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 289. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, if I may go on with my remarks. I rise to support House Resolution 971, which is a resolution to express sympathy and support for the individuals and institutions affected by the powerful tornados that swept through the Southeastern Conference States of Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee just over 2 weeks ago. Over 100 tornados landed, they killed over 50 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, schools and businesses, and left thousands of people without power. In true American spirit and resolve, hundreds of volunteers cared for the victims and provided shelter, food and clothing. I express my heartfelt sympathy to all of our fellow citizens in the wake of Mother Nature's wrath, and to commend the men and women who serve this Nation as first responders, police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel who place themselves in great danger every day but did on this day as well to protect us and the people that were in harm's way. Our neighbors and friends deserve our sympathy and prayers, and the first responders deserve our deepest thanks and respect. On the occasion of the day after the tornados, Congresswoman Blackburn joined me in Memphis, and we toured around Hickory Hills and met with some individuals, the mayors of Wharton and Harrington and other city officials in Memphis to make sure that the proper procedures were followed. I talked to the FEMA Director, Mr. Paulison, and he assured me, and he's followed through on his promise that FEMA would do all they could to help the residents in Tennessee and in the other States as well. I would like to commend President Bush for his quick response. He responded to Governor Bredeson's request to have Tennessee and other areas declared disaster areas, and that was done. And FEMA is on the ground, already issuing checks and helping people. We've seen a great response from the Federal Government when it was needed, and we're looking for more response, which we're working on now, to provide to our people throughout that district. I appreciate the gentlelady from Oklahoma (Ms. Fallin) indulging me and allowing Mr. Tanner to speak and make his important appointment. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as the gentleman from Pall Mall, Tennessee (Mr. Lincoln Davis) needs.

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