Danny Davis

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3803) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3100 Cashwell Drive in Goldsboro, North Carolina, as the ``John Henry Wooten, Sr. Post Office Building''.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. As a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 3803, which names a postal facility in Goldsboro, North Carolina, after John Henry Wooten, Sr. H.R. 3803, which was introduced by Representative G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina on October 10, 2007, was reported from the Oversight Committee on December 12, 2007, by a voice vote. This measure has the support of the entire North Carolina congressional delegation. A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, John Henry Wooten, Sr. was a graduate of the city's Dillard High School where he would later serve as the last principal of the school before it closed after integration. Mr. Wooten's postsecondary educational pursuits took him to North Carolina A&T State University where he earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Beyond his educational accomplishments, Mr. Wooten also was a World War II veteran having served as surgical technician in the Pacific theater for the 2nd Infantry, 10th Army Division. A loyal servant to his community, Mr. Wooten held seats on the Board of Trustees of North Carolina A&T University, Wayne County Board of County Commissioners, and on President Lyndon B. Johnson's White House Commission for Education. Mr. Speaker, for the years in which Mr. Wooten gave unselfishly of himself for the betterment of his community and our country, I wholeheartedly agree that he is worthy of the admiration and recognition of having the postal facility on Cashwell Drive in Goldsboro, North Carolina, named in his honor. Therefore, I would urge swift passage of this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield such time as he may consume to the chief deputy whip and sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from North Carolina, Representative G.K. Butterfield.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I join Representative John Yarmuth and his fellow colleagues from the Bluegrass State of Kentucky in considering H.R. 4454, which renames the postal facility at 3050 Hunsinger Lane in Louisville, Kentucky, as the Iraq and Afghanistan Fallen Military Heroes of Louisville Memorial Post Office Building. As stated in the measure at hand, it was first introduced by Congressman John Yarmuth on December 11, 2007, and is cosponsored by all members of the Kentucky congressional delegation. The measure was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where it was considered and passed by voice vote on January 29, 2008. H.R. 4454 is intended to remember the lives, service, and legacy of dozens of military men and women from the Louisville, Kentucky, area, who died in service during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. By renaming this particular Louisville, Kentucky, post office, H.R. 4454 would set into motion the creation of a living tribute to the sacrifices made by so many of Kentucky's sons and daughters who gave their lives abroad in order to ensure our protection here in the homeland, an honor befitting the thousands of military men and women, past and present, from every State of the Union, that have unselfishly given themselves in service and battle for America. H.R. 4454 will help to memorialize for generations to come the memory of Louisville, Kentucky's fallen loved ones. So, Mr. Speaker, I ask that we too pay tribute to the sacrifices made by these great American heroes and sheroes and pass H.R. 4454. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I would urge passage of this legislation, and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. I want to commend the committee, especially Chairman Miller, Ranking Member McKeon, and all of the members, actually, of the committee, for such an outstanding bill. In particular, I want to thank the committee for its consideration of items and issues of particular interest to me, students with disabilities, the handling of Pell Grants and student loans, veterans and their needs, especially those who are returning, and the efforts to strengthen the Historically Black Colleges and Universities so that those institutions can have master's degree programs that allow students access to them. It's an outstanding bill; and, again, I commend Chairman Miller and Ranking Member McKeon for an outstanding piece of legislation.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Chairman, I yield myself 2 minutes. Unlike most kinds of debt, student loans of all types are currently nondischargeable in bankruptcy, except on a judicial finding of undue hardship. Under this amendment, government student loans, Federal and State, and loans made directly by nonprofit entities would remain nondischargeable. Other student loans made by for-profit banks and other lenders would continue to be nondischargeable for the first 5 years after they come due, but after that, they would be treated like other unsecured consumer loans in bankruptcy. This amendment also closes the loophole that lenders were beginning to pursue just before the 2005 changes went into effect. Currently, loans that are funded in whole or in part by a nonprofit institution are nondischargeable. Lenders offering private student loans were setting up affiliations with nonprofit institutions in order to take advantage of this loophole, even though the nonprofit was not the source of funding. The current law is unfair to students. Students who take out student loans are trying to better themselves and contribute to the advancement of our economy. Unlike Federal student loans, private loans lack basic consumer protections, such as limits on interest rates, loan limits, and flexible payments; yet the bankruptcy law treats student loan borrowers who face financial tragedy in the same severe manner as people trying to escape child support payments, alimony, overdue taxes, and criminal fines. People should not be punished for trying to get an education. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the chairman of the Education Committee, the Honorable George Miller.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Chairman, I yield myself the balance of our time. For many of these students who secure loans without the protection of bankruptcy, it's like receiving a life sentence with no appeal. That is to say, they get a loan that is supposed to help them get a college degree, an education so that they can pay the loan off. Unfortunately, many of them are stuck on $70,000, $80,000, $90,000, $100,000 that they're never able to pay. And so they struggle along for the rest of their lives trying to pay off a loan that was supposed to have secured for them a level of financial ability. I would urge that we pass this amendment to give those hundreds and thousands of students throughout the country the simple protection of bankruptcy that is provided for individuals with any other consumer loan. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Chairman, it's my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia, a member of the Judiciary Committee, Representative Hank Johnson.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I was unable to cast votes on the following legislative measures on January 22 and 23, 2008. If I were present for rollcall votes, I would have voted ``yea'' on each of the following bills: Roll 19, January 22, 2008: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass: H.R. 4211, Naming the Judge Richard B. Allsbrook Post Office. Roll 20, January 22, 2008: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree: H. Res. 866, Honoring the brave men and women of the United States Coast Guard whose tireless work, dedication, and commitment to protecting the United States have led to the Coast Guard seizing over 350,000 pounds of cocaine at sea during 2007, far surpassing all of our previous records. Roll 21, January 23, 2008: On Ordering the Previous Question: H.R. 3963, Children's Health Insurance Program Extension and Improvement. Roll 22, January 23, 2008: Passage, Objections of the President Not Withstanding: H.R. 3963, Children's Health Insurance Program Extension and Improvement.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4240) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 10799 West Alameda Avenue in Lakewood, Colorado, as the ``Felix Sparks Post Office Building''.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter).

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I'm pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 4240, which names a postal facility in Lakewood, Colorado, after Felix Sparks. H.R. 4240, which was introduced by Representative Perlmutter on November 15, 2007, was reported from the Oversight Committee on December 12, 2007, by voice vote. The measure has the support of the entire Colorado congressional delegation and provides us with yet another opportunity to pay tribute to an extraordinary American citizen. Felix Sparks served his country proudly as a World War II Army brigadier and served his community diligently as a member of the Colorado supreme court. For his service in World War II, Mr. Sparks was awarded a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts after being wounded on the battlefield. Additionally, for over 20 years, Mr. Sparks worked to protect and improve the environment in the great State of Colorado by serving as director of Colorado's Water Conservation Board. Mr. Speaker, given Mr. Sparks' contribution to Colorado, and to America in general, he deserves to be commended. Therefore, I would urge swift passage of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers and would urge passage. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I know we are going to be looking at economic stimulus packages, and we are going to be trying to jump- start and help our economy. It is my belief that one way that we can do that is to make sure that we provide a jobs training program for the 1 million young people across the country who don't have any money, no job, no employment, many of them are out of school. Let's consider a job training program for our young people as a part of the economic stimulus package.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2110) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 427 North Street in Taft, California, as the ``Larry S. Pierce Post Office''.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I would ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time and urge the passage of this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I now yield myself such time as I might consume. As a member of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, I'm pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of S. 2110, which names the postal facility in the town of Taft, California, after Larry S. Pierce. S. 2110, which was introduced in the Senate by Senator Dianne Feinstein of California on September 27, 2007, and passed by the Chamber with unanimous consent on November 16, 2007, was considered and reported out of the Oversight Committee by voice vote on December 12, 2007. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us seeks to pay tribute to a great American serviceman by requesting that the postal facility in Taft, California, be renamed in honor of Staff Sergeant Larry Pierce, who lost his life at the young age of 24 while fighting for our country in the Vietnam War. A recipient of the Medal of Honor, Staff Sergeant Pierce stands as a reminder to us all of the great sacrifice our men and women in uniform are making on a daily basis to protect America. And so, Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleagues from California in recognizing the contributions of Staff Sergeant Larry S. Pierce and urge swift passage of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I would continue to reserve.