Rosa DeLauro

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. It eliminates $3 billion in high-speed rail funding for 2010, including the $2 billion that could go to capitalize a much-needed infrastructure bank if authorized. We need to look to improve our way of life, create jobs, foster long-term economic growth, which we can do through an infrastructure bank which is an independent entity, would consider a broad range of infrastructure projects objectively, leverage hundreds of billions of dollars in private capital to put toward rebuilding America. This is not a partisan issue. This past week the bipartisan National Governors Association endorsed the concept of an infrastructure bank by resolution. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, labor groups strongly support this effort. President Bush's transportation secretary, Mary Peters, said there are upwards of $400 billion in private capital available through pension funds, sovereign wealth funds. To invest in our Nation's infrastructure, we need to harvest the power of that private capital and in a smart way and in an effective way in order for us to remain competitive in the 21st century. I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, this is a strong bill, a bill that aims to bring much needed stability and confidence to our financial system and assistance to our small businesses. The bill provides critical funding to the Securities and Exchange Commission to help it strengthen the regulation of our financial markets and to the Federal Trade Commission to enhance its ability to protect consumers. It ensures further oversight of TARP. It requires Treasury reports that will notify Congress of steps taken to implement oversight recommendations. To help small businesses weather the current economic storm, the bill supports $848 million for the SBA, including $25 million in new microlending and $10 million in microloan technical assistance. In 2008 alone, SBA's intermediary microlenders made more than 5,000 loans, totaling more than $60 million, to entrepreneurs who were unable to secure the credit that they needed from conventional lenders. This bill also includes significant funding for IRS tax enforcement to support the administration's efforts to combat tax haven abuse. I have worked to ensure that the bill includes a provision which prevents Federal contracts from going to domestic corporations that incorporate in tax havens to avoid meeting their tax obligations. The bill also eliminates Bush-era restrictions that hamper the ability of U.S. companies to export agriculture goods to Cuba. In this economic climate, we should be opening and not irrationally closing markets for American products. In recent years, many of our regulatory agencies have neglected their responsibilities to protect consumers, taxpayers and investors. This bill takes strong steps to reverse that disregard while making critical investments in programs that help small businesses, the lifeblood of our economy, succeed. I urge my colleagues to support the passage of this important piece of legislation.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Democratic Caucus, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. I object. Mr. SPEAKER pro tempore. Objection is heard. The Clerk will continue to read. The Clerk continued to read.

Ms. DeLAURO. I make a point of order against the motion to recommit because it is in violation of clause 2, rule XXI, legislating. I ask for a ruling of the Chair.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the appeal on the table.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Ms. DeLAURO. I would just say to the gentleman that we have a responsibility that whatever the food product is coming, and that food product from anywhere, that the country that is producing this product or processing this product must have the same set of equivalent standards that we have domestically to ensure the public health of people in the United States. We have witnessed over and over again in the last several months that we will put the public health at risk when children die, when people are ill from either a product that's domestically produced or internationally produced. We, as a Nation, and those of us who serve in this body, I believe, have a moral responsibility to do something about it.

Ms. DeLAURO. Well, certainly, we have had a discussion about it over time. And I think the gentleman knows my position on this issue, and my position has not changed in a number of years. And it's my view that the decisions about the importation of food products from China are a public health issue that must not be entangled in trade discussions. And I understand that Chinese officials are suggesting a quid pro quo, if you will, and they are trying to link the exportation of poultry products with reopening U.S. beef exports to the People's Republic of China. Those talks, in my view, should be separate and distinct. My position in this area has to do with the public health of this Nation. It is clear that the 2006 FSIS declaration that China's safety and inspection system was, quote, equivalent to the U.S. system for processed poultry products, was based on trade goals. From a public health and a safety perspective, the equivalency determination was deeply flawed and cannot be relied on to protect U.S. consumers' safety. Equivalency was granted in the face of overwhelming evidence of contamination in Chinese processing plants and in Chinese slaughterhouses. Therefore, in my view, the ban on poultry products from China must be maintained. And while USDA does have a process, as you pointed out, in place, that process, in making a determination of equivalency for processing U.S. chicken in China, was flawed and was broken and has not worked. The committee, by the way, and you understand this, intends to undertake a thorough review of, convene hearings on the equivalency process in general. And what we will examine are audits of inspection, on-site reviews of processing facilities, laboratories, other control operations, increased level of port entry reinspection and information- sharing programs with other countries. So I look forward to continuing this discussion and working with you as the committee moves forward with its examination. But in the meantime, the limitation in carrying out this rule needs to be maintained.

Ms. DeLAURO. I would just say to the gentleman that there is a need to improve inspections of seafood imports. As you know, less than 1 percent gets inspected each year. And there was a lot of discussion about this provision during the farm bill last year. I, frankly, have some concerns that it would further complicate the organizational structure of food safety, instead of simplifying matters in moving that jurisdiction from the FDA to the USDA. Also, if USDA diverted resources to inspecting catfish, would it take away resources from meat and poultry inspection. And I would just say that we did plus-up funding to the USDA to be able to accommodate this new responsibility. Another concern I had about this provision is that moving seafood inspection, or even catfish inspection, is more complicated than it seems. There is a substantial difference between preventing outbreaks in meat and poultry and preventing outbreaks in seafood. And the FSIS, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, has no experience with identifying seafood pathogens. So I look forward to discussing this issue further with the gentleman in answering some of the questions that you have with regard to this.

Ms. DeLAURO. Yes, if the gentleman would yield, I would be happy to address the issue.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield myself 10 seconds. I want to assure the gentlewoman from Texas that it is of a high priority for me to make sure that we address the very serious issue of hunger in this country and internationally, and we will spend a lot of time in that effort.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 10 seconds.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Ms. DeLAURO. I thank the gentlelady for her support of the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and I would like to work with her very much in the future to expand access to meals in the At-Risk Afterschool Care programs. Through CACFP, 3.1 million children and 108,000 adults receive nutritious meals and snacks each day as part of their day care. The bill before us today expands the afterschool meals program to additional areas. I want to ensure you that we will work together to expand this essential program.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Ms. DeLAURO. The importance of the program is clear, Mr. Kucinich, and you have raised a very valid point. I agree with you that the Organic Production and Marketing Data Initiative should be funded in order to compete with the rest of agricultural commodities.

Ms. DeLAURO. Let me yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 15 seconds. I assure the gentlewoman that we will work together to correct the inequity that has been in place since the 1996 welfare reform bill. I agree with you. The time has come to address this issue in a meaningful way. We are talking about individuals who have paid their debt to society. They should be given a new opportunity to make a new life, to provide food assistance for themselves and their families. It is the right thing to do.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield the gentlelady 30 additional seconds.

Ms. DeLAURO. I am pleased, Mr. Chairman, to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield myself 5 additional seconds. I was pleased to incorporate it into today's chairman's amendment, the amendment to increase funding to the Office of the Inspector General.

Ms. DeLAURO. I agree with the gentleman about the importance of protecting and strengthening USDA's organic standards.