David Cicilline

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the rich history of Cape Verde as we mark Cape Verdean Independence Day. This week, we honor the people of Cape Verde and those individuals of proud Cape Verdean descent here in America and around the world who are celebrating 35 years of independence. In doing so, we honor the many milestones and important Cape Verdean leaders like Amilcar Cabral, who fought for the liberation of Cape Verde. We also honor the lives, work, and rich history of Cape Verdean Americans throughout our country and particularly in my home State of Rhode Island. Cape Verdeans have made significant contributions in the areas of art and culture, business, and public service. Cape Verdeans have brought jag to local restaurants and added zuca to the music enjoyed by our community. Rhode Islanders of Cape Verdean descent, like speaker of the house Gordon Fox, have been prominent leaders in Rhode Island politics. I would also like to take a moment to pay tribute to the late George Lima. Mr. Lima served during World War II as a Tuskegee airman, the first group of black fighter and bomber pilots in the history of what was then the Army Air Forces. He then served our State honorably as a State representative and as head of the Rhode Island NAACP. Cape Verdeans are generous, skilled, proud, caring members of our community, and I am honored to celebrate Cape Verdean independence with them this week.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to the Afghanistan policy that is funded in the fiscal year 2012 Defense appropriations bill. I join the efforts of my colleagues in a variety of amendments designed to accelerate the end of the war in Afghanistan. For more than 9 years now, our troops have been executing the American mission in Afghanistan with bravery, dedication and extraordinary competence; but what started out as a ``quick war'' in 2001 to bring Osama bin Laden to justice and to dismantle al Qaeda in Afghanistan has turned into the longest war in United States history. The original mission has now been largely accomplished, and with bin Laden's death in Pakistan, this provides an opportunity to reexamine our ongoing mission in Afghanistan, which some estimates indicate is costing us in excess of $8 billion per month. We should no longer be sending billions of American taxpayer dollars to the Afghan people for their schools, their hospitals, their roads, bridges, and police at the expense of making those same investments in our own country, especially when the Afghanistan Government, under the leadership of President Karzai, has proven itself incredibly corrupt. In fact, Transparency International ranked Afghanistan the third most corrupt country in the world; and The New York Times recently reported about a road construction project, just one example in Afghanistan, funded by American taxpayers. It's a 64-mile-long project and is expected to cost $176 million to build, which comes to $2.8 million a mile. Undisclosed amounts of money have gone to pay off local strongmen to buy security while the project is ongoing, and it was reported that the people collecting these bribes staged attacks on the construction crews in order to make the bribes necessary in the first place. With this kind of corruption and many other examples, we simply cannot afford to finance the infrastructure projects associated with this war. Don't forget, Mr. Chairman, that on top of everything else we're not even paying for this war. It's actually being financed on the national credit card. These are difficult economic and budgetary times. It is time to reassess U.S. involvement in Afghanistan so that we can focus on rebuilding our own economy, putting Americans back to work, and making sure our Nation can compete in the 21st century. That is why I'm offering this amendment today, which will strike $475 million from the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund. Vital investments to our country's economic stability, the education of our children, the health of our seniors, and the employment of our workforce have time and again been put on the chopping block in this Congress. We're told that we can't afford to adequately repair our crumbling infrastructure here in America; we're told that Pell Grants and student loans are too expensive; and we're told that we need to change the safety nets for our Nation's seniors and most vulnerable populations--and in the same breath, we're told we should continue to borrow billions and billions of dollars for nation-building in Afghanistan. What we really should be doing is nation-building right here at home. Instead of building roads and bridges and hospitals and schools halfway around the world in Afghanistan, we should be investing resources on the urgent needs of our own country. Budgets are a reflection of our priorities. Are we going to pay down our Nation's debt? Are we going to make the much needed investments in our own roads and bridges and ports? Are we going to protect our seniors? Are we going to ensure that access to college remains affordable? If we continue to spend billions and billions of dollars in Afghanistan, then we cannot have a balanced discussion of these priorities and these choices. As we debate the merits of raising the debt ceiling and as we consider our domestic priorities, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, which strikes $475 million from nation-building in Afghanistan in order to keep those dollars right here at home--to invest in our future and to reduce our debt. There was a recent report, Mr. Chairman, done by the Eisenhower Research Project at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies just this past week. This group's cost of war project has released new figures for a range of costs associated with U.S. military responses to September 11, including our activities in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They project that the wars will cost Americans between $3.2- and $4 trillion and cost 225,000 lives. It is time to end this spending. It is time to make these investments in infrastructure in our own country, and I urge my colleagues to support my amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 375th anniversary of the founding of the city of Providence, Rhode Island's magnificent capital city. Providence, fondly known as the creative capital, the Renaissance city and the beehive of industry, has embodied American values since its founding in 1636. When Roger Williams founded the city of Providence, he could not have known what it would become: the city, built upon Roger Williams' tradition of diversity, welcoming immigrants from around the world into vibrant urban neighborhoods. Having served for 8 years as mayor of this great city, I am aware of its well-earned reputation as the arts and culture center of New England. Providence has been recognized as one of the coolest cities in America, one of the 25 best cities for arts and culture and one of the 100 best cities for young people--to name just a few accolades. It has also been recognized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors for its innovative after-school programs, its world-class arts and entertainment and its restoration of city rivers, the creation of downtown warfront parks and spectacular historic preservation. Three hundred seventy-five years after its founding, Providence is, without question, one of America's greatest cities, and it is a true honor to commemorate its founding.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Emily Gordon and Dylan Burke, young advocates in the fight to cure type 1 diabetes. Emily and Dylan are making a significant impact on the research for diabetes, and their work will benefit future generations. That's because they are both delegates representing Rhode Island in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Children's Congress gathered here in Washington this week, and they are with us on the floor today. Emily, of Lincoln, Rhode Island, and Dylan, of Newport, Rhode Island, are working to raise public awareness of the critical need for diabetes research to eliminate this disease. Diagnosed at 17 months old, Emily has known diabetes for most of her life and doesn't view herself as different from other children. And Dylan has seen firsthand some of the complications of type 1 diabetes since his father also has the disease. The work that Emily and Dylan are performing during the Children's Congress is critical to the nearly 26 million Americans who have diabetes. I commend and congratulate them for overcoming great obstacles to work towards a cure that will improve and save lives in generations to come.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Presidential Scholars Dylan Neel of Moses Brown High School and Sol Taubin of the Wheeler School for the academic excellence. Dylan and Sol have shown themselves to be some of our Nation's most distinguished graduating high school seniors. They are two of only 141 students selected as U.S. Presidential Scholars from more than 3,000 applicants. The U.S. Presidential Scholars program recognizes graduating high school seniors for academic excellence, artistic accomplishments, and civic contributions. These young people represent the great hope of our Nation's youth and the promise of the American education system. I also want to recognize Jennifer Stewart and Christine Barry, who were selected by Dylan and Sol, respectively, as their most inspiring and challenging teachers. I thank these teachers for their dedication to our young people and our schools. I am pleased to join the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the United States Department of Education in recognizing Dylan Neel and Sol Taubin.

Mr. CICILLINE

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

Mr. CICILLINE. I rise in opposition to the underlying bill. Mr. Chair, I rise today in defense of 76,000 residents of the First Congressional District of Rhode Island, which I have the privilege of representing who, according to the advocacy group Feeding America, are at risk of losing their ability to feed themselves and their families. That is because this week the majority party in the House is ready to vote on a measure that will undermine the safety net in this country designed for our Nation's women, infants and children. Mr. Chairman, we all know that one of the greatest challenges before us is reducing our deficit, but we have to do it in a way that is consistent with our values, consistent with the values of our great country. And this week we will be voting on a measure that fails those values miserably. If the majority party has their way and denies necessary funding to a critical safety net for some of our Nation's most vulnerable citizens, nearly 1,000 women, infants and children in Rhode Island's First District will be denied the assistance they need to survive. WIC represents the most basic obligation we have to our fellow citizens most in need--food and nutrition. On top of that, it is an incredibly cost-effective program, serving nearly 10 million Americans each year and costing less than $100 per person. In my district, more than 18 percent of the residents suffer from food insecurity and depend on WIC to make ends meet. At a time when the middle class in our country is being crushed with high unemployment and still reeling from a housing crisis that has left countless families in foreclosure, we are seeing more and more people in need of assistance just to get by. And it is not just affecting people without jobs. It is folks who have a job as well, but they have had their wages cut or they have had their wages diminished or their hours cut. This is not the time to allow people to lose the lifelines they need to survive. We have helped the auto industry. We have helped big banks. It is time to sustain support for families that are most in need and have been most devastated by this difficult economy. Yet we see again this week another attack by the Republican majority in the House on working families while they continue to fight to protect subsidies for Big Oil and to protect tax breaks for the outsourcing of jobs overseas. First they come after seniors by trying to end Medicare, and now they are coming after women, children, and infants who rely on food assistance. We should not be destroying programs upon which citizens rely for their most basic needs in order to fund tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires or big subsidies for the big oil companies. If we got rid of tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires for one week, we could pay for the entire WIC program for an entire year. I urge my colleagues to reject this proposal, to ensure instead that families most in need who have been hardest hit by this recession have access to food and nourishment. We have the ability to provide nourishment to families, and that is a cornerstone of a free and decent society. We cannot abandon this great responsibility. I yield to the gentlelady from Wisconsin.

Mr. CICILLINE. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the United States Challenge Cup Junior Golf Foundation headquartered in East Providence, Rhode Island, which provides competitive opportunities for young golfers throughout New England. Recognizing the need to expand access to competition for young golfers, the Challenge Cup was founded thanks to the vision, passion, and dedication of Dave Adamonis, Senior, in 1980, and continues today under the strong leadership of his older son, Dave, Junior. The Challenge Cup has enabled thousands of young men and women to grow through the game of golf, resulting in hundreds of alumni advancing to compete at the collegiate level, developing the careers of many golf professionals, and fostering the personal growth of all participants. As the 2011 United States Open begins this week, multiple Challenge Cup alumni are part of the field, including one of the tour's first participants, Dave Adamonis, Senior's younger son, Brad. I thank the Adamonis family for their immense contributions to Rhode Island and the national golf community, and I wish Brad Adamonis the best of luck as he battles Congressional Country Club this week in hopes of capturing our national golf title.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CICILLINE. I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CICILLINE. This amendment is offered by me, along with my colleagues Mr. Langevin of Rhode Island, Ms. Matsui of California, Ms. Berkley of Nevada, and Mr. Ellison of Minnesota. I rise to offer this amendment that restores funding for State and local grants, which includes funding for the Urban Areas Security Initiative, which is referred to as UASI. This bill makes dangerous cuts to the Urban Areas Security Initiative, the UASI program, which is a program critical to the security of cities that have been deemed at high risk of terrorist attack. One of those cities is Providence, Rhode Island, in my congressional district, along with more than 50 other urban areas in our country. Just last year, the Providence area was one of 64 cities with either critical assets or geography that was identified by Homeland Security experts as being most at risk of being targeted by terrorists. As a result, the city of Providence and other communities across this country have received critical Federal funding under UASI to support efforts to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks and other emergencies. Providence also became the first city in America to have an accredited Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. However, the cuts that are proposed in this legislation will cripple the ability of cities to effectively ensure proper safety should an attack occur. The elimination of the UASI program means that staff will not be able to attend critical training, maintain certifications or purchase the equipment necessary to be prepared. Thousands of devices, like security cameras and radios and projects such as port sirens and watercraft, will not be able to be maintained. Emergency Operations Centers will not be able to be constructed or maintained. These are urgent, urgent priorities for America's cities. Mr. Chairman, we cannot in good conscience spend billions of dollars protecting people all over the world at the expense of our own national security. I urge Members to adopt this amendment. I yield to my colleague from Rhode Island.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mike Connolly, an educator at the Charles E. Shea Senior High School in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for his leadership in launching the Voters in the Classroom initiative. Voters in the Classroom is a statewide mock election initiative involving nearly 25 percent of public high schools across the State of Rhode Island. Mr. Connolly's Voters in the Classroom initiative is an effective classroom-based program helping to prepare students to be engaged public citizens. Students in the Voters in the Classroom program participate in mock statewide referendums on important topics, establish voting procedures through classroom discussions and assemblies, and staff polling places at their schools. I recently visited the students and educators at Shea High School and have seen firsthand the importance of this program. Civic education programs like this are key to the success of our democracy because they increase the likelihood that young people will engage in the election process when they become of age. I congratulate Mike Connolly on this achievement and thank him for his forward-thinking commitment to Rhode Island's students and the preservation of our democracy.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today in opposition to this rule which allows for debate on the fiscal year 2012 Homeland Security appropriations bill. This bill makes dangerous cuts to the Urban Areas Security Initiative, or UASI, a program critical to the security of our country's urban areas that have been deemed at high risk of terrorist attacks. One of those urban areas is Providence, Rhode Island, in my congressional district, along with many other communities. Just last year, the greater Providence area was one of 64 cities that was identified either because of their capital or their critical assets or their geography as being areas at most risk of being targeted by terrorists. As a result of those designations, Providence has been receiving critical funding from the Federal Government under the UASI program to support efforts to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks and other emergencies. And Providence, under the leadership of Colonel Pete Gaynor, became the first city in America to have an accredited Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. However, the funding cuts to UASI that are contained in this bill will cripple the ability of key urban areas like Providence to effectively ensure public safety should a terrorist attack occur. How? The loss of funds will limit the ability of Providence and other communities to address cyber-terrorism and to communicate with first responders in an emergency, among many other critical emergency functions. Mr. Speaker, our Nation's defense must come first. We cannot in good conscience spend billions of dollars protecting people all over the world at the expense of our own national security. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of restoring funding for the Urban Areas Security Initiative and against this rule.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. One of the most frustrating parts of that is when you look at the technology that forms the basis of those products, they were developed in large part--sometimes exclusively--by the great scientists and researchers at our great universities, and then they are manufactured outside the United States, and we're using public money to make those purchases. So you're absolutely right, having that requirement that it be manufactured in the United States is a critical part of it.

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman. I yield to the gentlelady from Texas.

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin our remarks today which will focus on our Make It in America agenda, the agenda that we put together to put the American people back to work to really support manufacturing, and we are going to have a good discussion about that. I would like to yield first to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell) who has some important remarks to share.

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentlewoman, and I know we all stand in strong support of the work that is under way in your district and all across this country and our hearts and prayers continue to go to the families who have suffered such tragic losses during those terrible, terrible incidents. We compliment the first responders and the mayors and all those you have recognized tonight. I would like now, Mr. Speaker, to turn to the agenda that we announced several weeks ago that involves really comprehensive pieces of legislation to really support American manufacturing. Our country has a proud tradition of making things. We built the world's strongest middle class because, in large part, so much of what the world needed, we made here in America. And for millions of Americans, our tradition of making things here has been a source of opportunity and great pride. Today, with millions of Americans still out of work and with an economy which is still struggling, it's time to draw from that tradition to build a positive, job-creating agenda. The American Dream used to mean something, that if you put in a hard day's work you could expect good American wages, benefits, and a better life for your family. It meant that when products said ``Made in America,'' people knew that they were getting the highest quality manufactured goods money could buy. It's time working Americans used our strength in numbers to reclaim the American Dream. Working people deserve a voice at the table; and if we lose that voice, we will lose what our grandparents fought so hard to leave us. We should start with manufacturing. The number of Americans involved in producing goods is still near its lowest point since World War II. Manufacturing is central to our economy. The National Association of Manufacturers tells us that manufacturing stimulates more economic activity than any other sector. It's time we started expanding opportunity and stopped shrinking the middle class. So this effort is to really understand that we have to start making things again, that manufacturing matters. My friend, Mr. Garamendi, certainly our leader in this Make It in America agenda, is someone who has spoken so passionately and so forcefully about our ability again to lead the world in making goods so that we can start shipping goods that are made in this country all over the world. Instead of exporting jobs, let's export American-made goods. I tell my constituents--I hear from them all the time--go into a store and try to find something made in America. It's almost impossible, and it doesn't have to be that way. We still have the best workers in the world, we still make the best products in the world, and what we need are good public policies that support American manufacturing, that support job growth in American manufacturing to give fair trade and tax policies that give American manufacturers a fighting chance to compete in a global economy and efforts to be sure that our trading partners like the Chinese stop cheating and play by the rules and are held accountable when they do. So we put together an ambitious agenda to really make things again in this country. Because when we make things in America, families can make it in America. We have a series of bills we want to talk about tonight, but think of those days when you would go into a store and you would pick up an item and it said ``Made in the USA'' and the kind of pride we felt because we knew that was a product that was made well, built well, that would stand the test of time, and we could sell it all over the world. We can do that again. We are doing it. We have some great manufacturing in this country. We are seeing a real growth, particularly in new manufacturing, high-tech manufacturing, which requires innovation and entrepreneurship and the kinds of investments in technology that will help us lead the world in this new knowledge-based economy. So this effort is to really understand this is part of our history, it's part of the present day, and it is part of our future as a great economic power. I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi) who has been such an important voice on the importance of rebuilding and strengthening manufacturing in this country.

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman. I think one of the important investments that we need to make in supporting manufacturing that you just referenced is infrastructure. And one of the parts of the Make It in America agenda is the making of a national infrastructure bank which will create a public-private partnership to finance the construction of roads, bridges, transit, and the ability to move information, goods, and services in the 21st century. If we're going to successfully compete in the manufacturing sector, we need to have an infrastructure that has the ability to move goods, services, and information to be competitive and succeed in the 21st century economy. When you look at what other nations who are investing in manufacturing, are investing in their infrastructure to support manufacturing, in roads, in bridges, in transit, in information technology, and the ability to move goods and services competitively, they are racing by us, literally and figuratively. And what we need is an infrastructure that will support this growth in manufacturing, an infrastructure that will really allow American manufacturers to compete successfully in the 21st century.

Mr. CICILLINE. Yes, I know she, I'm certain, is going to join the conversation. I think the point you made, Mr. Garamendi, is an important one. These are not always pieces of legislation that require additional investments of resources. It's also about ensuring that the resources that we're expending are used in ways that support the growth of American jobs and American manufacturing, and your bill is an excellent example of that. I think we also have, as part of this package, kind of as a beginning point, the development of a national manufacturing strategy, a legislation that would direct the President to convene the stakeholders in industry, in labor, and manufacturers to really develop a national manufacturing strategy with benchmarks and with ways to hold ourselves accountable to meeting those benchmarks; because, again, all of our competitors who are serious about growing manufacturing are doing it pursuant to a well-conceived and developed manufacturing strategy. We need to put the same kind of thoughtful consideration in the development of that strategy and then really hold ourselves accountable with good benchmarks. And I think that's a great other piece. Of course, my favorite in the package is my very own Make It in America block grants.

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman for that excellent question. But this legislation really grew out of my visits to manufacturers in Rhode Island, some who have been very successful, some that are growing, some that have not been growing. And I said, What are the impediments? What would allow you to grow? What do you need as an American, as a Rhode Island manufacturer? And developed this idea of the Make It in America block grant that would provide resources in a competitive process as you described, for manufacturers to retrofit their factories to make energy improvements in their plants, to train workers on new equipment, to buy new equipment, to engage in activities which will allow them to increase their exports, but really a shot in the arm to help manufacturers to compete successfully in the 21st century by identifying what they need. And, look, we invest lots of resources in other areas of our economy. We don't do enough for American manufacturing. This would respond to many of the urgent issues that Rhode Island manufacturers, American manufacturers are facing, do it in a competitive way with real measurement of outcomes, but really invest again in making things in this country. I know the gentlelady from Hawaii has now joined us, who has also been an important part of the Make It in America agenda. I would like to yield to Congresswoman Hanabusa.

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentlelady. I think the other very important part of that conversation has to be a continued investment in science and research and innovation. A lot of the things you are talking about, kind of new manufacturing, we are going to continue to rely on the knowledge economy and the brilliant new innovators and the great new scientists and the great new technologies and research. We need to be sure that even in these difficult budget times, we are making investments in science and research that will help protect those jobs of the 21st century so we can not only develop the ideas, but then manufacture the products. I think that is an additional important point.