Steve Cohen

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, with the news today of Dorothy Height's passing, we have now lost two significant civil rights leaders in less than 1 week. Today in Memphis, Memphians and others throughout the country will have the opportunity to pay respects to Reverend Benjamin Hooks during a viewing at Greater Middle Baptist Church where he pastored for 52 years. Yesterday in Detroit, Michigan, Reverend Hooks was honored at Greater New Mount Moriah Baptist Church where he also pastored for some 40 years in the Detroit area. A native Memphian, Reverend Hooks was one of the golden-throated warriors of the spoken word and one of the few silver-tongued giants of oratory. Dr. Hooks was born in 1925 and was the fifth of seven children born to Robert B. and Bessie Hooks. His grandmother, Julia B. Hooks, was the second African American female college graduate in the Nation after graduating from Berea College in Kentucky in 1874. Following in her footsteps, Dr. Hooks attended Le Moyne College in Memphis, where he studied pre-law. He continued to study at Howard University here in Washington, and later at DePaul University Law School in Chicago, Illinois, where he received a law degree. It was unfortunate that when he decided to go to law school, there was not a law school in Tennessee that accepted African Americans, and for that reason, Dr. Hooks traveled to Chicago. After graduation from college but before law school, he entered the Army during World War II, and he had a job guarding Italian prisoners. The prisoners were able to eat in restaurants that were off limits to him because he was African American. He found this experience to be humiliating, and it deepened his determination to do something about bigotry not just in the South but in our country, as our Armed Forces were segregated and our African American soldiers fighting for our freedoms were not allowed freedoms that prisoners of war enjoyed. Dr. Hooks returned to Memphis after being discharged from the war with the rank of staff sergeant. He began practicing law in Memphis in 1949, one of the few African Americans practicing law in Memphis. In 1954, he appeared on a roundtable with late Justice Thurgood Marshall and other southern African American attorneys to formulate a possible litigation strategy days before the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was handed down, the landmark case that ended separate but equal and started the end of segregation in our Nation. Dr. Hooks served as assistant public defender of Shelby County from 1961 to 1965, and in 1965, he was appointed by Governor Frank Clement to serve as criminal court judge in Shelby County. And he became the first African American criminal court judge in the State of Tennessee. In 1956, while serving in the Baptist ministry at Greater Middle Baptist Church in Memphis, he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., about the time that Dr. King in Montgomery was starting the boycotts of the downtown stores in Montgomery and working with Rosa Parks and boycotting the busses, leading to the great civil rights uprisings and movement in the South that made our Nation a more perfect Union. President Nixon appointed Dr. Hooks to the Federal Communications Commission in 1972, and he served from 1972 to 1977 and was the first African American appointed commissioner, and there he wanted to make sure that African Americans had the opportunity to have ownership interest in radio and television and other opportunities that they didn't previously have. In 1977 when he left the Federal Communications Commission, he did so to become executive director and the chief executive officer of the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1977, at that same time, Dr. Hooks' nephew, Michael Hooks, and I were serving on the Tennessee State Constitutional Convention, and we drafted a resolution to invite Dr. Hooks to address the Tennessee Constitutional Convention, limited convention, of 1977, the first African American ever asked to address the joint legislative body in the State of Tennessee. While Dr. Hooks served as executive director of the NAACP, he fought for affirmative action, led efforts to end apartheid in South Africa, and addressed racism in sports and dealt with the Rodney King trial in Los Angeles. He was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, its highest honor. Reverend Hooks served as chairman of the board of directors of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, my hometown and his as well. He taught at the University of Memphis, where the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change was established in his honor in 1976. He made a significant personal financial contribution to that particular institute and commented to me one time that it was appropriate and right and proper that when African Americans have been able to secure monies and savings that they make contributions to their society, and he was able to do that, a first generation of wealth that was able to contribute to civic causes. And he was proud to be a leader in that cause as well. I was present in 2007 and honored to be in the White House when President Bush awarded Dr. Hooks the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Most recently he gave one of his last lectures on civil rights and social justice as part of the premier lecture series of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change of the University of Memphis here in our Judiciary Committee room in the Rayburn House Office Building. It was October 6, 2009. Several Members of Congress were present and other interested parties in D.C. and on the Hill, and he was accompanied on that occasion, as he was on so many occasions, by his beautiful and jovial bride, Frances. Frances Dancy was a teacher. She met Ben Hooks at a Shelby County fair. Ben Hooks was a lucky man because he found the perfect bride. Frances was by his side and gave up her career as a teacher. She gave up that career to be first lady of the church, whether it was Mount Moriah, Greater New Mount Moriah in Detroit or Greater Middle Baptist in Memphis, whether on Lamar or on Knight-Arnold. They were married in 1952. They renewed their vows for the third time after nearly 50 years of marriage on March 24, 2001. She has encouraged him in all of his endeavors, and she will see that his memory is maintained and preserved in an appropriate fashion. Dr. Hooks was one of the greatest civil rights icons in American history and a community leader in Memphis and a friend of many in this Congress. He is survived by his beautiful and devoted wife, Frances, his daughter Patricia Gray, grandchildren and a nephew, in particular Michael Hooks, who served in public office and a great grandnephew, Michael Hooks, who also served in a public office. His funeral will be tomorrow in Memphis, Tennessee, at Bountiful Blessings, the flagship Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Superintendent Hawkins presides. His was a life well lived. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1271) honoring the life and achievements of Rev. Benjamin Lawson Hooks.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life of Mr. Charlie Vergos, founder of the world-famous Rendezvous restaurant in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. He was known by Memphians as the dean of Memphis barbecuers. The son of Greek immigrants, Charlie Vergos was a World War II Army veteran who fought in the European theater. He was later transferred to the Philippines in preparation for the planned invasion of Japan when the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war. Charlie Vergos was the definition of an entrepreneur. After returning from war, Mr. Vergos married Tasia and opened a tavern and sandwich shop in a downtown alley of Memphis in 1948. Mr. Vergos started out by selling ham and cheese sandwiches and beer until he discovered a coal chute in the basement of his diner. The chute gave him a vent for grilling which allowed him to expand from ham and cheese sandwiches to ribs. He specialized in dry rubbed ribs, a unique blend of seasonings and an acidic base that dries in the cooking process leaving the ribs impregnated with seasoning. Charlie Vergos built his business from selling about a box of ribs a week to what the Rendezvous cooks now-- about a ton of ribs every day. Since Charlie Vergos founded Rendezvous in 1948, the barbecue restaurant has served guests such as former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and former Vice President Al Gore, along with entertainers such as Bill Cosby, Justin Timberlake, Kirk Catron, Eric Brown, Luke Laird, Travis Morris, Trevor McFarlin and Mick Jagger. The Rendezvous was recently designated one of 50 All American Icons by Nation's Restaurant News magazine for its entrepreneurial spirit, its concept and its impact on the Memphis community. Rendezvous has catered events at the American Embassy in Ottawa Canada, meals on Air Force One and Air Force Two, President Bill Clinton's inaugural gala in 1992 and a Fourth of July celebration at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia. Charleie Vergos loved Memphis and was a major force in the resurgence of downtown Memphis in the decades following the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He not only refused to relocate to the suburbs, but was active in the community through donations and sponsorships that increased the beauty and viability of Memphis, TN. His son, once my classmate and still my close friend, John Vergos, gave up his law practice and political career to join the family business. John explained that his father was always grateful to the citizens of Memphis who supported the business. The feeling is mutual and, around the world, Rendezvous Ribs are inextricably linked to the city of Memphis. Charlie Vergos passed away on Saturday morning, March 27, 2010, at the age of 84. Charlie Vergos' legacy lives on through his wife, two sons and their wives, John and Ellen Vergos and Nick and Jenny Vergos, his daughter Tina Jennings--co-owners of Rendezvous--his brothers Pete, George and Nick Vergos, and eight grandchildren. We are truly honored for his dedication to Memphis, Tennessee and his contributions to Memphis barbecue.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, a great cedar, a great lion, a leader, a golden-throated warrior and silver-tongued orator of the Gospel, and a great civil rights icon, Benjamin Hooks, fell in Memphis, Tennessee this morning. The Reverend Benjamin L. Hooks was the head of the NAACP from 1977 to 1992. He was also the first African American on the Federal Communications Commission, appointed by President Nixon. He served 5 years, from 1972 to 1977. And the first African American trial court judge in Tennessee, appointed by Governor Frank Clement in 1965, and elected in 1966. The Reverend Hooks led this country through some of its more difficult times in civil rights. He joined with Dr. King in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1956 after he had been ordained as a minister in Memphis at Middle Baptist Church. He was an attorney, he was a businessman, he was a minister, he was a civil rights leader. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Bush in 2007, and recently was up here in Congress and talked to many Members of the Congress in the Rayburn Building just 2 months ago. He leaves his wife Frances and many, many millions who benefited from his leadership and his courage. His was a life well lived. Thank you for coming our way, Benjamin Hooks.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Dr. Lawrence Seymour, a Memphis doctor who dedicated his life to fighting prostate cancer. He was born in Fayette County, Tennessee and moved to the historic LeMoyne Gardens neighborhood in Memphis before beginning grade school. He was class valedictorian at Booker T. Washington High School, one of the first African American high schools in the city. Rising out of poverty, he attended Howard University College of Medicine on a full scholarship. After graduating in 1961, Dr. Seymour regularly sent money back to Howard University to help other aspiring doctors pay for their medical school education. Becoming one of the first African American urologists in Memphis, Dr. Seymour earned a reputation as a doctor who provided treatment for people whether they were insured or not. He would see patients regardless of their ability to pay him because, according to his wife Mrs. Anita Seymour, ``He felt like he owed it to his community.'' Dr. Seymour would always remind his patients of the importance of receiving specific antigen blood tests, which are critical in helping doctors diagnose prostate cancer in its early stages. For him, the fight against prostate cancer was personal because the disease claimed the life of one of his brothers. Dr. Seymour was a pioneer in the fight against prostate cancer, developing several new treatments for the disease including one that shrinks the prostate gland before surgery. Dr. Lawrence Seymour passed away on February 23, 2010, at 75 years of age. The Memphis community mourns the life of one of its great doctors. He is survived by his wife, his four children and a host of friends and family across Tennessee and the country. We are grateful to have had the pleasure of his dedication, perseverance and passion in the Memphis community.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join my distinguished colleague, Representative Danny Davis of Illinois, in introducing today the ``Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2010.'' This legislation would amend the Bankruptcy Code so that private student loan debt can be discharged in bankruptcy. This bill will help to ensure that people who seek higher education to better their futures are not dissuaded from doing so by the threat of financial ruin. Under current bankruptcy law, educational debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy unless the debtor can establish--through an adversary proceeding--that repaying her educational loans would impose an undue hardship on her and her dependents. Congress's intent in enacting this provision back in 1978 was to protect Federal student loan programs from fraud and abuse by student borrowers and ultimately to protect the taxpayer dollars that fund Federal student loan programs. Inexplicably, this provision was extended in 2005 to protect for- profit educational lenders, even though doing so was not consistent with Congress's rationale for making Federal student loans non- dischargeable. This 2005 change is troublesome because private student loans often lack the consumer protections of Federal loans, making the need for bankruptcy much greater. Federal student loans offer certain protections to minimize the risk that a financially distressed debtor will need bankruptcy relief, whereas private student loans are not required to have, and often do not have, such consumer protections. For example, Federal loans have fixed interest rates, whereas private loans often have variable rates that can be as high as 19 percent. Unlike Federal loans, private loans have no limits on origination fees, which can be as high as 9.9 percent, with lenders often charging additional fees such as late fees or fees for any deferments or forbearance, and half of the private loans in one survey had no forbearance option at all. Federal loans also provide flexible options for distressed debtors, such as income- based repayment plans and partial or complete loan forgiveness in some circumstances, whereas private lenders are not required to offer such options. For these reasons, private loans should be dischargeable in bankruptcy. The bankruptcy system should work as a safety net that allows people to get the education they want with the assurance that, should their finances come under strain by layoffs, accidents, or other unforeseen life events, they will be protected. Our legislation takes a modest but important step in achieving this goal. I thank Representative Davis for working with me in crafting this important legislation. I also thank Senator Richard Durbin for introducing a similar bill in the Senate. I urge Congress to act quickly and pass these bills.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Tom Turner, a man who devoted his life in service to the Memphis community. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1924, and graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology, after which he served his country as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Afterwards, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he worked as the Division Manager for External Affairs at Buckeye Cellulose Technology for forty years. Tom Turner was active in a multitude of local organizations during his career and in retirement. He was Chairman of the Boards of Agricenter International, the Memphis Chamber of Commerce, Junior Achievement, and Goodwill Industries. In addition, Mr. Turner served as Vice Chairman of the Boards of the Airport Authority and Christian Brothers University. He was an active participant with Le Moyne Owen College, MIFA and was a big fundraiser for the United Way and the Salvation Army. He was active in the Rotary Club, Memphis in May, Memphis partners and the Tennessee Independent College Fund. Mr. Turner was an active member of his Church, Wesleyan Hills United Methodist, where he was Chairman of the administrative board and taught Sunday School. This is only a partial list of Mr. Turner's involvement in the Memphis community. He was truly a tireless proponent of civic involvement. The Volunteer Center of Memphis awarded him the Golden Rule Award as the ``Top Volunteer in Memphis.'' Christian Brothers University also awarded him the Maurelian Medal for ``exceptional service to the university and to the wider community.'' Thomas Turner's impact was deeply felt in the Memphis Community and his absence will undoubtedly be deeply felt. Tom Turner passed away on March 27, 2010, at the age of 85. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Doris Turner, two daughters, Terri Panitz and Lisa Turner and partner Rob Sangster, and five grandchildren. Memphis mourns the loss of Mr. Turner who was tirelessly involved in his community's growth. His life was a reminder of just how much one person can accomplish while serving the community.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the first sponsor of H.R. 610, a bill originally introduced by Representative Wexler of Florida, for the purposes of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, today is Tax Day, of course, and that is somewhat of a dreaded day in many people's minds. But the fact is in the past year we have had more tax cuts than almost any time in our Nation's history. But with President Obama and this Congress, they have been directed to the lower working class people, the lower income people, and not the top 2 or 3 percent, as happened during the Bush administration. President Obama stood at the podium behind me in his State of the Union address and said, ``Now let me repeat, we cut taxes. We cut taxes for 95 percent of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college. We put $300 billion worth of tax cuts into people's pockets so there was demand and businesses had customers.'' I am proud to have supported the President in these measures. A third of the stimulus package, the ARRA, was tax cuts. It is something the American people don't realize because of the false rhetoric that has been spread throughout this country. I appreciate the work of this Congress and President Obama, and I thank him for his leadership.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the life of Mr. Wilroy Sanders, a Korean War Veteran, legendary blues musician, and beloved Memphian. Mr. Sanders was born Willie Roy Sanders in Byhalia, Mississippi and moved to Memphis in the early 1930's. From an early age, he demonstrated a remarkable gift for music--teaching himself to play guitar and even making his own guitars. His unique musical style was developed from a combination of his church upbringing and traditional blues music. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1953-1955, Mr. Sanders returned home to Memphis to pursue his passion for music. In the early 1960s, he played in a series of bands including the Binghampton Blues Boys which became renowned for their song, ``Crosscut Saw.'' Many blues musicians, including Albert King and Eric Clapton, have since covered this hit. Wilroy Sanders went on to form the Fieldstones, a blues band known for the songs ``Blues at Nightfall'' and ``Dirt Road.'' In the 1990s, The Fieldstones became the house band for the popular Green's Lounge in Memphis. Soon afterwards, Mr. Sanders and his wife, Dorothy Mae Tucker Sanders, became owners of Green's Lounge, which they owned until it was destroyed by fire in 1997. Memphis music label Shangri-La produced a 1999 documentary celebrating the life and work of Wilroy Sanders entitled Will Roy Sanders: The Last Living Bluesman. The documentary noted that Mr. Sanders was, like Rufus Thomas, ``a total entertainer'' and dubbed the Fieldstones ``one of the hottest blues bands ever from Memphis.'' Mr. Sanders touched the lives of many in Memphis and across the nation. He passed away on Tuesday, February 16, 2010, at the age of 76. We are truly honored for his service in the U.S. Army and for his contributions to the Memphis blues community. Wilroy Sanders' legacy lives on through his wife, children and his music.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, it has been interesting listening to the other side of the aisle talk today. One gentleman got up and talked about the health care bill in a cold and calculating fashion that made me think that he wanted the trains to run on time. Never did he consider the fact that the Congressional Budget Office said that this is the largest deficit-reducing bill in the history of the United States, over a trillion dollars in the second 10 years, and $123 billion in the first 10 years. Another said it is patient centered, patient centered. It sounds nice, Madam Speaker. What that means is that if the patient has money now, they can get health care; and if the patient doesn't, they don't get health care. And if you don't get health care and you don't get wellness programs and you don't get prevention programs, you die. You don't get mammograms and you don't get colonoscopies. You don't find out if you have cancer, and you die. Patient centered, very cold and calculating. They say we need to fix this bill. They never explained what part of the bill they liked. They were against it all. Daniel Webster said to do something worthy to be remembered. What the other side did was say you lie, baby killer, and encourage outsiders that almost brought about civil unrest.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, today I come before you with a heavy heart, for a friend of mine and a great friend of music in the world, and particularly from my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, passed away last night. Alex Chilton, who was a rock-and-roller, who was an indie music alternative producer, songwriter, and guitarist, passed away. Alex Chilton, at age 16, had a number one hit with a group called the Box Tops, a song called ``The Letter.'' Gotta get a ticket for an airplane. Ain't got time to catch a fast train. Lonely days are gone. I'm a-going home. My baby just wrote me a letter. That was number one when he was 16. He went on with the Box Tops to do other songs. And then he had a group called Big Star. Big Star wasn't well known. They did three albums. But ``Rolling Stone'' put all three albums in the top 500 albums ever produced in America, and two of his singles were among the top 500 singles ever done in America. Alex Chilton was like so much in Memphis. He grew up at a time when Elvis Presley was our emissary to the world. He wanted to play music, and he did it, and he did it in his own way: independent, iconoclastic, innovative. He never cared for the critics. He didn't have that much acclaim at the box office or in record sales, but he did with others. REM was a group that he influenced greatly, and the Replacements did a song called ``Alex Chilton.'' He was supposed to play at South By Southwest this week in Austin. They are mourning him. He was supposed to play in Memphis on May 15 with the reunion of Big Star at the Overton Park Shell. He won't do that. His music will live on forever. He is an embodiment of Memphis music: hard, different, independent, brilliant, and beautiful. We are lucky he came our way. He leaves a wife and a daughter.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1141) honoring the accomplishments of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

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

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to reiterate my extreme commendations of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's life and the appropriateness of the resolution. When I was a member of the National Conference of State Legislators, I suggested we give an award each year to the State legislator who had done the most later in their lives, and Sandra Day O'Connor as well as Julian Bond were the two people I put up as examples of people who should be honored by the National Conference of State Legislators to encourage State legislatures to go on beyond that and to do extra in their lives. And Sandra Day O'Connor was a State senator who did much. And, as Mr. Smith said, she had an open mind, and that is something we need to commend. And in Arizona, where Representative Giffords is from and sponsored this resolution, we had Barry Goldwater who, like her, came in at a certain posture. But as his career went on, he had an open mind, and he stood up for tolerance and he stood up for diversity. I am proud to be here to speak in favor of this resolution, and I would ask that my colleagues vote to support unanimously this resolution and to pass H. Res. 1141.

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

Mr. COHEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to wish you and all of America a happy St. Patrick's Day, and in support of House Resolution 1141, to honor the accomplishments of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Justice O'Connor blazed paths of history for women throughout her career. In 1969, she was appointed to the Arizona State Senate, and in 1972 she became the first woman to serve as the majority leader of any State senate in the United States. Later, she became a trial judge for Maricopa County, Arizona, and only a few years later was appointed to the court of appeals. Then in 1981, she was nominated to the Supreme Court, the first woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court, and she did us proud. Justice O'Connor retired in 2006, but she continues to be actively involved with promoting good government and civic education. For example, she spearheaded ``Our Courts,'' a Web-based education project designed to reinvigorate learning inside and outside the classroom. There were so many opinions when she was a part of the majority and also when she was a part of the minority to where we know her voice is missed today. Although appointed by a Republican President, she was bipartisan and called them by the book and did a lot to see that this country's Supreme Court was highly respected and not politicized. This resolution is a way to honor her for service to our country. I commend my colleague, Gabby Giffords of Arizona, for introducing this resolution. I urge my colleagues to support it. I hope we have more Justices like her in the future. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN

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

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1147) to prevent tobacco smuggling, to ensure the collection of all tobacco taxes, and for other purposes.

Mr. COHEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, S. 1147, the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009, or PACT Act, will allow law enforcement to strengthen their efforts to combat illegal smuggling of tobacco products. Every year, tens of billions of cigarettes are illegally smuggled across State lines and across borders, cheating State and local governments out of much-needed tax revenues. In fact, tax evasion is the chief motivator for cigarette smuggling. Buying in a State where the cigarette tax is low and selling illegally in a State with a higher tax, the smuggler can sell at a discount and still turn a nice profit. Cigarette smuggling costs States $1 billion in uncollected tax revenue each year. The size of this illicit revenue stream has attracted organized crime and even terrorist groups. Because of the interstate scope of this criminal activity, as well as its sheer magnitude, States cannot adequately address it on their own. It has long been recognized as a Federal matter. And there are Federal statutes. The Jenkins Act requires reporting interstate cigarette sales to tax officials in the buyer's State. And the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act prohibits knowingly dealing in contraband cigarettes or smokeless tobacco. But these statutes in their current form are no match for the Internet. The Internet is being used to shepherd tobacco products across State lines in massive amounts, and the existing Federal statutes are unable to effectively stop them. Internet-based smuggling operations are so mobile, in fact, that even when the smugglers can be identified and pursued, they can act quickly to shut down and simply reappear under a new name on a new Web site. The PACT Act addresses the shortcomings in current law by targeting the delivery systems for illegal Internet tobacco sales, the postal system, and commercial delivery services. First, the bill permanently prohibits, with limited exceptions, sending tobacco products through the U.S. mail. Second, vendors using commercial delivery services for retail sales are required to notify the tax authorities in the receiving State, conspicuously label all tobacco products, verify the purchasers are of legal age, and keep careful records of all sales. Third, the bill raises the offense of cigarette trafficking from a misdemeanor to a felony. Finally, the bill also authorizes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to inspect the premises and files of sellers of significant quantities of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco. S. 1147 passed the Senate on March 11 and is substantially similar to H.R. 1676, which passed the House under suspension of the rules on May 21, 2009 by a 397-11 roll call vote. I would like to thank Mr. Weiner for his leadership in sponsoring the House version of this legislation. I also commend our ranking member, Lamar Smith of Texas, for his leadership in making this a bipartisan effort. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and provide extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the silver-throated Representative from New York's Ninth Congressional District (Mr. Weiner).

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I just want to commend both Ranking Member Smith and Mr. Weiner. This is bipartisan, bicameral, and bilegally. And since it's tri-bi, I encourage everybody to vote ``aye'' on S. 1147. I yield back the balance of my time.