Diana DeGette

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining?

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We have heard a lot of emotion today, Madam Speaker, and a lot of ideas and ugly things being thrown around, but as a lawyer with legal training, I did something radical. I actually read this bill. It didn't take me very long, because, as Mr. Farr pointed out, it is only two pages long. I want to talk about what this bill would really do because this bill would do far, far more than its proponents claim that it would do. Let me say, first of all, there is no Federal money that is spent on abortion in most cases in the United States. This has been the law of the land for a long time. I disagree with that law because I think it limits full reproductive health for women who can least afford it, but that is the law of the land. So what are we talking about here? What we are talking about is States being able to deny money to anybody who is directly or indirectly involved with abortion services with nongovernmental money, with private money from women and their family, with insurance money, with nongovernmental money. So here is how this bill would work. A State could decide that, if a hospital provided abortions with nongovernment money, it simply wasn't going to authorize State money or Medicaid money to that hospital. I don't mean just Medicaid money for women's services; I mean all Medicaid money or State money, all money for services. This bill could say that an OB-GYN who has co-privileges at a hospital that provides abortion could now not serve any--any--Medicaid patients. This bill would say that a doctor who provides services at a neighborhood healthcare clinic who has privileges at a hospital that provides abortion could now be banned from taking Medicaid patients. That is how broad this bill is written. Madam Speaker, what this would do is it would allow States to terminate all government funds to any entity that directly or indirectly provides abortions with nongovernment dollars. So what would this do? Well, 72 million people in this country are on Medicaid right now. These people are men, these people are women, and these people are children. These people are people who take women's medical services and those who don't need them. These 72 million Americans risk the loss of all of their healthcare services under Medicaid because of this radical bill. Now, okay, let's say that won't really happen. Let's say that is just an overbroad interpretation of the bill. So then our colleagues on the other side say, well, let's just limit ourselves to community health centers. If we use this bill to deny funding for Planned Parenthood, everyone will go to community health centers. Let's see how that would work. Right now, we have 24 million patients in this country in community health centers. The community health centers themselves tell us, for every one of those 24 million patients they are taking, right now they are turning away seven people. So we have 4.2 million Planned Parenthood patients. Let's say those 4.2 Planned Parenthood patients decide to go to the community health clinics. That is not going to work. They tried this in Louisiana. In Louisiana, a Federal judge found there would be 29 providers for 5,000 women to get healthcare services. That is untenable, that is unacceptable, and it puts our Nation's women's health at risk. Listen, since we have been debating this bill today, we are 1 hour closer to a government shutdown, and we have done nothing to make sure we are not going to do that. I would suggest that we refocus our efforts, that we stop beating up Planned Parenthood, that we stop beating up women's health, that we get together collectively and we say: How are we going to keep this government open? How are we going to work together to make sure every man and woman in this country has a good job, good health insurance, and that they can provide for their families? That is what we are elected to do, and that is what I commit myself to do on behalf of this body. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I didn't agree with much the previous speaker said, but I do agree that, from our perspective, it is about campaign money on that side. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to point out that the gentleman is absolutely correct. Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms. They do provide breast cancer screenings. But under this bill, if there is a hospital or a clinic that does provide mammograms and they also provide abortions, well, then, the States could prevent funding. So, ironically, under the terms of this bill up for discussion today, mammograms could be prevented. I don't think that is the intention of the rider of this bill. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green), a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the new fiscal year starts in less than 36 hours, and Congress has still not passed the annual appropriations bills. If we don't do it, the government will shut down. During the last shutdown, we lost $24 billion and 120,000 private sector jobs. I am sure we could expect just the same now. The debt ceiling will need to be raised within the next couple months, Madam Speaker, and many Republicans are already threatening to refuse to perform even that basic task. This would throw the international economy into chaos. It would cause the loss of tens of thousands more jobs in the United States. Of course, the Ex-Im Bank expired in June, and our business communities are clamoring for reauthorization. Why? Well, last year the Ex-Im Bank financed deals that supported 164,000 American jobs. I would suggest, Madam Speaker, that the U.S. House should spend this week figuring out how to avoid a political and financial catastrophe rather than once again passing a blatantly political bill stripping women of their basic healthcare rights. This latest attack targets both the women who need to see a doctor or healthcare provider as well as the providers themselves. I wonder if the people on the other side of the aisle actually read this bill on the floor today because it is so broadly written that it would target any medical provider--doctor, hospital, clinic, you name it--that has even the most tenuous connection to the provision of a full range of women's healthcare services. The majority claims that this bill targets Planned Parenthood, a healthcare provider that 2.7 million Americans rely on every year. First of all, over 90 percent of the services provided by that agency are routine wellness exams, like breast exams, cervical cancer screening, and birth control and family planning services. As we all know, because we discussed it ad nauseam last week, Planned Parenthood has received no Federal funding for abortions. In fact, no agency receives Federal funding for abortions with a very few exceptions. This bill would, therefore, not stop any government funding of abortions. It would instead allow Federal and State funding to be cut off for any entity, not just Planned Parenthood, which performs abortions with private dollars. That means that poor women would be blocked from the full range of healthcare services that they need not just at Planned Parenthood, but at their local hospital or their local clinic or the offices of another women's health group. Let's call this bill what it is. It is an attempt to eliminate healthcare services for women across the board, using the Planned Parenthood witch hunt as an excuse. Let's be very clear. The investigation of the last few months has demonstrated that the videotapes the majority so heavily relies on are heavily edited, manipulated, and at times downright misleading. We are the U.S. Congress, Madam Speaker, and we are better than that. The American public will not stand for this diversion, and neither should we. Let's defeat this ill-conceived bill. Let's direct all of our collective attention to bipartisan solutions resolving the looming fiscal disaster that we are all facing. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy Chu).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Bera).

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, Planned Parenthood provides basic health services to millions of Americans: Pap smears, breast cancer screenings, family planning, and birth control. In fact, there were over 4 million visits to Planned Parenthood clinics last year, and over 90 percent of this was basic women's health care and not abortions. So why are we talking about this today? Why are we talking about this legislation? Planned Parenthood does these services and no Federal funds are spent on abortion services that Planned Parenthood does provide, but yet the majority will take the radical step of denying women the basic health care they need. This radical agenda is wrong. It is wrong for American women, and it is wrong for us when the Federal budget expires in just 13 days. Madam Speaker, I, too, have reviewed the videotapes. Our committee reviewed the videotapes, and, as Ms. Castor said--and it bears repeating--no wrongdoing was shown. There are no criminal charges. There are no charges at all that are pending whatsoever against Planned Parenthood. Madam Speaker, yesterday in the Energy and Commerce Committee, my Republican colleagues in their radical effort went so far as to show a photo of a stillborn baby, implying that that baby was a fetus being used for fetal tissue development. What is worse, that photo was shown without the woman's consent. It had no relation to Planned Parenthood. It was used without the mother's consent. What I want to know from the majority: Is this the evidence that you are using to decide that you are going to deny funding for Planned Parenthood and all the well-women visits women use? Madam Speaker, my colleagues ought to be ashamed of showing this, and my colleagues ought to be ashamed of putting this bill on the floor today. We are seeing shamelessness right here on the floor today. My colleagues on the other side are trying to do everything they can to insert themselves between American women and their right to make their own healthcare decisions. It is wrong, and I urge a ``no'' vote on this legislation.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Dr. Rebecca Chopp on the occasion of her inauguration as the chancellor of the University of Denver. An advocate for education, inclusivity and community, Dr. Chopp brings decades of leadership experience and success to DU. As a first- generation college student, she understands the importance of access to college for all and the need to continue to mentor and nurture students for their success and that of their community. After earning a BA from Kansas Wesleyan University and a Master of Divinity from St. Paul School of Theology, Dr. Chopp went on to receive her PhD from the University of Chicago. She has received six honorary doctorates from additional institutions and distinguished awards from each of her alma maters. Dr. Chopp has served as dean at Yale Divinity School, as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Emory University, and as president of Swarthmore College and Colgate University. She is also a widely published author. While at Swarthmore, Dr. Chopp was committed to admitting the most highly qualified students without regard to financial circumstances, and she supported innovative ways to build new, inclusive communities motivated to contributing to the common good. Though she took the reins during the middle of the Great Recession, she steered Swarthmore through this time without cutting faculty or financial aid. Dr. Chopp was the first woman to serve in several of her previous roles and is the first woman chancellor for DU. She is a true role model and trailblazer. Dr. Chopp joined the University of Denver in September of last year as its 18th chancellor. Within her first 100 days she announced Imagine-DU, a community-wide effort that focused on transforming the student experience, expanding the design of knowledge, and engaging in new ways with the surrounding areas. Chancellor Chopp envisions the University of Denver as an institution capitalizing on the changes and opportunities that come of an institution invested in the 21st Century. In addition, she already has several new innovative projects including serving a more diverse student body and building the next generation of leaders with the establishment of the Latino Leadership Institute, addressing the needs of an aging population in the Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging, and a new interdisciplinary approach to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) with the Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science. Dr. Chopp has been quoted as saying, ``As in any university, the most important resource is its people.'' In her case, that could not be more true. She will be an invaluable resource to DU. Please join me in commending Dr. Rebecca Chopp for her continued commitment and passion for education and community. Her persistence and dedication are an inspiration to build a better future for all who live in Colorado.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, September 3, was PKD Awareness Day. Throughout the country, ordinary citizens took the time to make their neighbors aware of a little-known disease affecting thousands of people in the United States. Polycystic Kidney Disease or PKD is a genetic disease that eventually leads to kidney failure. Parents have a 50 percent chance of passing the disease to each of their children. However, 10 percent of the people diagnosed with PKD have no family history of the disease. More alarming, PKD is the fourth leading cause of kidney failure, and more than 50 percent of people with PKD will develop kidney failure by age 50. Unfortunately, there is no treatment to stop or slow the growth of the cysts that develop and enlarge in both kidneys. The only remedy at this time for kidney failure or end stage renal disease (ESRD) is dialysis or a kidney transplant. While ESRD patients are less than one percent of the Medicare population, they account for nearly seven percent of the Medicare budget--totaling nearly $35 billion annually. PKD Awareness Day helps to bring attention to this debilitating disease and the constant challenges people impacted by PKD face. Advocates joined together across the country this year to highlight the need for research and innovation that could help PKD patients and their families. I stand in support of these tireless advocates to help find better treatments, but more importantly, a cure for PKD. It is essential to raise awareness about PKD in the hopes of bringing relief to the more than 20 million Americans with kidney disease.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of the Lee amendment, which removes completely unnecessary and intrusive policy riders attached to the funding provisions of the underlying bill after its unanimous passage from our committee. At best, these policy riders are immaterial provisions that have no effect on the policies and activities of the NIH or FDA. Many of them interfere with researchers and the scientific understanding that can make us all safer and healthier. The inclusion of the Hyde amendment, among these riders, is especially offensive. The last I heard, neither the NIH or the FDA ever performed abortions. And so Hyde's restrictions remind us that even bipartisan efforts are not immune from political attacks. Women consist of more than half the patients in America, and their healthcare needs should not be insulted and restricted by this Congress. I want to thank my colleagues, Congresswomen Lee, Schakowsky, and Clarke, for introducing this amendment. We should remove these policy riders and keep 21st Century Cures' focus on the great potential to do more for patients.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give my thanks to Fred Upton for recruiting me to help cosponsor this bill with him, and I give my thanks to all of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working together on finding cures from the lab into the clinics for so many diseases that we don't have any treatments for right now. This really is an extraordinary effort that we have made, and it really is Congress at its best. I do want to mention that I was disappointed when, after the bill passed in the Energy and Commerce Committee 51-0, that in the manager's amendment the annual riders from the Labor-HHS bill were put into the bill. I think it is unnecessary, and I think that it distracts our attention from the important mission this bill brings. I will be voting for the Lee amendment, but I would urge all of our colleagues, no matter how you vote on the amendments that are made in order in these rules, to please vote ``yes'' for the patients of America.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, my father-in-law, Lino Lipinsky de Orlov Senior, was a true renaissance man. During World War II, he was a member of the Italian resistance, whose family sheltered Jews and Allied solders in their apartment. An artist by training, he made his way to this country with letters of introduction and became a world- renowned etcher and museum curator. Most importantly, Lino Senior was a wonderful person. Kind to all and beloved by his family and friends, he reveled in life's small pleasures, creating whimsical drawings for his loved one's birthday cards and recounting tales of Italian youth, from idyllic summers on Capri to his escapades in the Resistance. So, Mr. Chairman, it was more than a tragedy when in 1988, we lost Lino Senior to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a debilitating disease that weakens and atrophies muscles, leaving those with the disease the inability to perform even the most mundane tasks, much less the ability to create great art. Last week, at Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in Denver, I met a young man stricken with ALS who was already confined to a wheelchair. He was there to support our bill, the 21st Century Cures. But what struck me was, in the 25-plus years since we lost Lino Senior, there has been no cure. There has been no real treatment for patients who receive this diagnosis. ALS has been well known and thoroughly evaluated for a long time-- after all, it gets its nickname from one of the most popular athletes of the 1920s--but we have made virtually no progress in finding a cure. This is not for lack of trying. The ALS community is incredibly active. Plenty of us in this Chamber and people all around the country took part in the ice bucket challenge last year. I thank Fred Upton for a lot of things, but maybe the thing I should thank Fred for the most was giving me the opportunity to take the ice bucket challenge last year. Thanks so much, Fred. There is real hope, however, though, for ALS and for thousands of diseases for which we lack treatments and cures. Thanks to the mapping of the human genome and technological advances like electronic health records, researchers are poised to discover new breakthroughs that promise dramatic improvements for patients. The bill before us today, 21st Century Cures, will ensure that the great promise of these developments is harnessed by our Nation's premiere research facilities, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration. 21st Century Cures is a comprehensive bill which will encourage the development of new treatments and cures. It starts by making a major investment in research with the creation of a 5-year, $8.75 billion innovation fund at the NIH. We create this fund to give the leaders the chance to plan strategically and to give longer term support to promising research projects. Ultimately, these investments will help produce new discoveries in the lab. Cures then helps to take those discoveries and turn them into treatments for patients. We begin by modernizing clinical trials, including new efforts to ensure diverse populations participate in these research projects. We allow centralized approval for clinical trials and adaptive trial designs to eliminate wasteful duplication of effort. We include the patient perspective into every facet of discovering, developing, and delivering treatments, so that a conceptual breakthrough can be applied in practical ways. We encourage new disease registries to pool information and help researchers drill into the data to find the unique and sometimes subtle needs of patient populations. We help new scientists begin their careers in research so that great minds can tackle our biomedical challenges, and we will unlock the potential of modern technologies by facilitating safe data sharing and using digital medicine. We include many of the proposals in President Obama's precision medicine initiative as part of this. With this bill, Mr. Chairman, we are going to make sure that in the 21st century, the pace of breakthroughs, treatments, and cures accelerates to meet the challenges of our time. A healthier world is coming, and I look forward to getting there as fast as we all can. You know, we couldn't have done this without this team, and I want to take my minute to thank so many people who have helped with this. Ranking Member Pallone's staff: Jeff, Tiffany, Kim, Arielle, Rachel, Eric, Waverly; Ranking Member Green's staff: Kristen; Chairman Upton's staff: Gary, Clay, John, Paul, Carly, Katie, Adrianna, Robert, Josh, Joan, Bits, Mark, Sean, Noelle, Tom, Leighton--they are the majority; they have a lot more staff than we do--Chairman Pitts' staff: Heidi; Representative Burgess' staff: JP and Daniel; my unbelievable and intrepid staff: Rachel, Elizabeth, Matt, Eleanor, Diana Gambrel, Cole; my wonderful chief of staff who has been with me for 19 years; leg counsel. Most of all, I want to thank my partner and compatriot, Fred Upton. You have been fabulous, and I look forward to taking this over the finish line with you.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2576, the TSCA Modernization Act. Since the 111th Congress, a lot of us have been wrestling very seriously with how to reform the EPA's current regime for reviewing and regulating chemicals. Everyone agrees that the statute has been broken for most of the decades that it has been in effect. Devising a new program, though, that would both enable the EPA to take meaningful action on the chemicals that truly need regulation and that will protect the health of our citizens was an uphill battle in deeply partisan times; yet what we have come up with is a true compromise. We have focused on the aspects of current law that really need to be addressed, and we have developed language that will move the ball forward. As all of the other speakers have said, our work is not done after the vote later today. The Senate, in working its own will, has come up with a reform bill that takes a distinctly different approach. We have a lot to reconcile. It is important that legislation makes it to the President's desk that will equip the EPA to protect us from toxic chemicals over the long term. Ultimately, we will be judged by how well the new law works, not only over the next few years, but over the coming decade. I want to add my thanks, Mr. Speaker, to Congressman Frank Pallone, Congressman Shimkus, Congressman Tonko, Congressman Gene Green, all of our staffs, and, in particular, to my legislative director, Eleanor Bastian, who has been working on this bill ever since we really started seriously negotiating. One last thing--and I think it is important--is that Congresswoman Capps mentioned that this bill will not preempt State law and that it will not preempt Proposition 65. This was an important provision, and I want to thank Congressman Shimkus and his staff for working on it with us because it is important that we have these kinds of protections that we need.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the Coterie organization as they celebrate their 100th anniversary. I have the privilege of representing this outstanding organization and many of its members, who are truly a great asset to our community. Established in 1915 by a small group of African American women in Denver who had a great thirst for knowledge, the group has persevered for a century. Since their founding at a time when the Ku Klux Klan predominated and then through two world wars, the Great Depression, economic recessions and segregation, their tradition has endured. Each year, Coterie has investigated a new research topic, choosing subjects as diverse as the ages and interests of their members. Through the years, topics have included Milton and English Drama, Contemporary Women Meeting Today's Challenge of the Space Age, The World's Great Opera, and Spotlighting Colorado Afro-American Achievers. Since Coterie members understand the value that education brings to a community, they have shared it with countless others over their 100 year history. Members have been mentors to others and have inspired young people to continue their education. The findings from their research will be stored at the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library, an appropriate depository of their work given, its mission of ``sharing resources and services about African-American History.'' The preservation of their work will enable future generations to benefit from their efforts for many decades to come. Coterie has been an important part of African-American culture in Denver, and many of their members have also served as community leaders. Some of their notable living members include Marie Greenwood, who is now 102 years old, joined Coterie in 1937, and is the first African American woman to receive a contract to teach with Denver Public Schools. Erma Ford, now 89 years old and a member since 1958, served as past president of the Colorado Association of Early Childhood Education. Life, present and past, has been their teacher. Please join me in celebrating 100 years of Coterie in their dedicated pursuit of knowledge.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, in 6 days, the highway trust fund expires. So what is Congress spending its time doing today? Of course, it is debating a bill that will limit a woman's access to a safe and legal medical procedure and that will place politicians in a place they should never be--between a woman and her doctor. Ask your mother, your sister, your daughter, your wife, or your neighbor, and she will tell you that women don't need politicians' interference when making their own healthcare decisions. Yet here we are again today, debating a bill that does just that. Everybody remembers that this bill was pulled from the floor in January because it was so extreme, but, today, the bill that is on the floor is even worse than the bill that they pulled in January. H.R. 36 is particularly harmful to victims of rape and incest. Women who have had unbelievable trauma would be effectively forced to get permission before they could seek the medical treatment that they needed to regain some control over their bodies, their health, and their safety. They would have to jump through complex and punitive legal hoops before they could have the procedures that they need. Therefore, somebody who has been victimized once would end up being victimized again by our government. Let's be clear. The new provisions in this law include a number of burdensome requirements on rape and incest victims: First, there is a waiting period of 48 hours for an adult rape survivor; Second, there is a requirement that a minor who is a victim of rape or incest would give written proof after 20 weeks that she reported the crime to law enforcement or to a government agency. A minor who is a victim of incest has to do this. There is language that specifies that the counseling or medical treatment described above may not be from a health center that provides abortion services. So let's say she goes to her doctor, and she gets counseling, but someone else in that medical practice provides abortion. She is out of luck. If she doesn't thread that needle, too bad. She can't get it. Perhaps the most outrageous thing about this bill, though, is the fundamental disrespect that it shows to women. It assumes that women will just wake up in this country after 20 weeks of pregnancy, decide to have abortions, and then lie about being victims of rape or incest. That view is just wrong, and it is offensive to women. By the way, as Ms. Slaughter mentioned, this bill is patently unconstitutional, and even if it didn't get vetoed by the President, it would be struck down by the Supreme Court. I suggest that we vote ``no'' now and that we respect women's ability to make their own health decisions.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor one of Colorado's most respected and valued organizations, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), on its 60th anniversary. Through collaborative cooperation, DRCOG speaks and leads with one voice while serving nine counties and 47 municipalities, and it stands as one of the three oldest Councils of Government in the country. DRCOG serves as the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Denver metropolitan region, skillfully serving nearly three million citizens in three broad-based areas: Regional Growth and Development, Transportation & Personal Mobility, and Aging & Disability Resources. Currently, local governments are represented in a cooperative and comprehensive multi-modal transportation planning process for the entire region while incorporating state and federal practices and regulations. The Denver Regional Council's Mobility and Access Council (DRMAC) ensures people with mobility challenges have access to the community by increasing, enhancing, sharing, and coordinating regional transportation services and resources with a vision of mobility and access for all. DRCOG's Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) has worked with the Department of Housing and Urban Development while leveraging the multi- billion dollar FasTracks transit system expansion already in place. The SCI just concluded its collaborative partnership of governmental, public and private-sector organizations to support the planning and implementation of its ideas to foster greater access to more economically diverse, multi-modal communities that will put less strain on our natural resources. Now in its 40th year as the designated Area Agency on Aging (AAA), DRCOG helps people live independently as long as possible in their own homes and communities. DRCOG contracts with community-based agencies to provide a broad continuum of services addressing the needs of the region's booming population of older adults and those living with disabilities. In coordination with other stakeholders, the AAA helps ensure that community leaders are aware of the needs of older adults, the benefits of community-based services, and the costs to taxpayers of failing to address needs of seniors in the region. DRCOG has a long list of accomplishments shaping the region in a way that benefits us all. From helping transition the Valley Highway to what we know today as I-25, including the T-Rex project, to the discussion about where to relocate Stapleton Airport--which we know now as Denver International Airport. DRCOG helped establish the Mile High Compact to help shape growth in the metro area in an intelligent manner and designed mechanisms to protect the region's air quality through the oversight of the Regional Air Quality Council. From funding major highway and transit projects in the region to helping with the formation of RTD, DRCOG has been involved with seemingly every major regional issue and project. Please join me in commending DRCOG. As their motto says, they make life better.

Ms. DeGETTE

Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act. As this legislation was under negotiation, several of our colleagues tried to add unnecessary language that would have expanded the Hyde amendment to embed this harmful policy into the Affordable Care Act and the Public Health Services Act. Thanks to the commitment of leaders for women's health care rights, we secured important changes to this language. Current appropriation policies concerning the use of funds at community health centers will not change, and when the funding in this bill for community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, and teaching health centers expires, so will the funding restrictions. Also, this language is freestanding, and it does not amend the Affordable Care Act or the Public Health Services Act. Let me be clear. I oppose the Hyde amendment. It is backwards policy because it denies full reproductive coverage to poor women who need it the most of everybody in this society; but this bill does not restrict their access any further than current law, and the Pro-Choice Caucus will continue to fight for health parity in this country for all women. In the meantime, we have a bill here that has real advances in finally fixing the physician reimbursement, extending the important Children's Health program, extending the special diabetes fund that helps so many Americans, and gives $7 billion to extend the important community health centers for the next 2 years. Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the work we did in a bipartisan way. I want to thank the majority, and I want to thank my colleagues on my side of the aisle for working together and only showing, as the Speaker just said, what we can do when we really do the job that Congress is supposed to do. I urge support of this legislation.