William Enyart

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. I thank the gentleman from Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to show support for the 50 million Americans enrolled in Medicare. Medicare is vital not only to my district, like Mr. Murphy's district in Florida, but our entire Nation, which is why my fellow colleagues and I should support its promise to all our citizens who have earned it, who have paid for it through their taxes, and who now rely on it for a stable health care system and for their medical care. Medicare has a long and valued history since its inception in 1965. Social Security recipients have consistently benefited from the opportunity to access quality, affordable health care, a right now guaranteed to those who worked hard for that privilege. There are 122,380 constituents from the 12th District of Illinois who participate in the Medicare program. That is one out of every seven citizens in my district. Many of these constituents are disabled, and almost all are on a fixed or limited income. Medicare gives these citizens the opportunity to receive essential medical care and to take part in preventive care programs designed to maintain good health, which lowers the cost of health care--lowers the cost of health care. Of those 122,000 southern Illinoisans, over 28,000 also participate in Medicare Advantage. That is one in four of those Medicare participants taking part in a program specifically designed for those seniors who have high rates of chronic disease. Medicare Advantage focuses on prevention and on disease management, which reduces the need for unnecessary hospitalizations--keeping our most vulnerable populations healthier and out of the hospital waiting room. Medicare and Medicare Advantage serve our seniors, low-income families, and those susceptible to disease. I ask, are these the populations we want to cast aside? Are these the citizens that we need not care for? I say no. Yet, the proposed budget unveiled this week virtually eliminates Medicare for future enrollees. It includes plans to shift health care costs to seniors. It removes the guarantees provided by our current Medicare system to make quality, affordable health coverage available for those who need it most. It undermines the promise our Nation made to its citizens--that if you work hard and you pay your taxes, some day, should you need it, your health care needs will be met. The recently proposed budget also implements what they label a premium support system. That is a plan to move Medicare to a voucher program. I vehemently oppose this proposition. Our seniors don't need a health care coupon--they need health care. They need the ability to choose their own doctor. They need the ability to access billions in savings for prescription drugs. They need access to wellness visits--all of which are in jeopardy under this Republican budget plan. I am tired of hearing proposals to eliminate vital government services simply because of party ideology. Let us not govern blindly through rhetoric and sound bites, but rather, let us work for our constituents to better serve those who have paid into the Medicare system their entire working life and now need it most. Medicare serves those who have earned it, who have paid for it, and who deserve it. Should we take away that service, I fear what the future may hold for our seniors--seniors like Carolyn Morgan from Du Quoin, Illinois. Carolyn needed Medicare's help in March of 2013, when she became ill and hospitalized, put on oxygen, and given a daily regimen of prescription drugs. I hold her letter to my office in my hand. Carolyn states: I cannot afford out-of-pocket health care. My supplemental insurance is useless without Medicare, so it would have been wasted money every month. I know I will be spending the remainder of this congressional term fighting for Carolyn and fighting for our seniors and disabled to make sure that the health care promises we made so many years ago are not in danger from partisan budget cuts. My fellow colleagues, I urge you to join me. Let's avoid a grim future for the elderly, for the disabled, and the fixed-income citizens of this great Nation. Let's help Carolyn and the many more American citizens just like her. Let's fight to keep Medicare.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an outstanding institution of higher education in Illinois. Southern Illinois University School of Law celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. We spend our time here on the House floor discussing, debating, and voting on laws which impact American citizens while the faculty and staff of SIU Law develop the next generation of great legal minds. With humble beginnings in 1973, that first year began with 90 students and eight faculty members. SIU Law today is a nationally recognized institution with alumni practicing in 49 States and 11 countries. The school's 3,800 graduates include military general officers, over 90 State and Federal judges, and at least one United States Congressman. Please join me in congratulating my alma mater, Southern Illinois University School of Law, for 40 years of serving students. Go Dawgs.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an outstanding institution of higher education in Illinois. Southern Illinois University School of Law celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. We spend our time on the House floor discussing, debating, and voting on laws which impact American citizens, while the faculty and staff of SIU Law develop the next generation of great legal minds. With humble beginnings in 1973, that first year began with 90 students and 8 faculty members. SIU Law today is a nationally recognized institution with alumni practicing in 49 states and 11 countries. The school's 3,800 graduates include military general officers, over 90 state and federal judges, and at least one United States Congressman. Please join me in congratulating my alma mater, Southern Illinois University School of Law, for 40 years of serving students. Go Dawgs.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the dedicated community service of Mr. Nick J. Mance as he marks his 20th anniversary as a Trustee for Southwestern Illinois College. Mr. Mance was elected to then Belleville Area College's Board of Trustees in 1993 and has been continuously re-elected since that time. His fellow Board members chose him to serve as the Board's Chair in 2001 and have re-elected him to this post each year since. In addition to his many duties as Board Chair, Mr. Mance works enthusiastically with the administration, faculty, and staff on the Facilities and Finance and the Planning and Policy Committees and the Strategic Planning Council, and has served on all of the Board's standing committees. Also, he has served as the Illinois Community College Trustee Association's Regional Chair and is an ex-officio member of the Southwestern Illinois College Foundation Board of Directors. Mr. Mance is a certified public accountant and a partner in The Mance Leahy Group accounting firm in Columbia, Illinois. He helped found the company in 1991 with his partner, one employee and only one client. After 22 years in business, the firm has numerous employees and more than 1,000 clients. As a Cahokia, Illinois resident, business owner, taxpayer, husband, father of three, grandfather of three, and past Chair of the Cahokia School District No. 187 Board, Mr. Mance chose to pursue a seat on the Southwestern Illinois College Board because he believed he could help ensure access to quality education for area residents, contribute to the success of the community college, and contribute to the success and growth of the Southwestern Illinois region. Mr. Mance has consistently and actively helped SWIC maintain its longstanding accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission, and achieve model-institution recognition from the HLC for its Academic Quality Improvement Program initiatives and achievements by insisting on the highest academic standards and state-of-the-art classroom technology. During his longstanding service to the Board of Trustees, Mr. Mance has been a proponent of capital development projects, including the construction of the Information Sciences Building, Liberal Arts Complex, and Schmidt Art Center at the Belleville Campus, and extensive expansions and renovations at the Red Bud and Sam Wolf Granite City campuses. Mr. Mance was one of the driving forces behind renaming the institution Southwestern Illinois College in 2000 to better reflect the college's 2,100-square-mile district; and renaming the Granite City Campus, the Sam Wolf Granite City Campus, in 2007 in honor of fellow SWIC Trustee and longtime legislator Sam Wolf. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in an expression of appreciation to Mr. Nick J. Mance for his 20 years of service as a Trustee of Southwestern Illinois College and to wish him the very best in the future.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to bring the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act up for a vote. It is crucial that we fix the critical problems created by the rushed implementation of the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. We cannot ensure the National Flood Insurance Program's long-term viability at the expense of homeowners and potential buyers. Opponents of the Senate-passed flood insurance bill say that it overwhelmingly benefits wealthy Americans who buy beachfront property. I urge those opponents to come to my southern Illinois district. My district borders more than 150 miles on the mighty Mississippi. The folks who live there are not owners of second homes or vacation rentals, but are middle class families in Jackson, Union, and Alexander Counties, and in the American Bottom in the Metro-East St. Louis area. Without reform, people in my district and across the U.S. will see their property values plummet. Many of these properties have been family homes for generations and have never once endured flooding. I urge that we pass this act now.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Perry and I might debate about the causes for the budget cuts at the Pentagon and for the reasons for the budget cuts there, but what we do not debate and what we stand shoulder to shoulder on is the fact that the Army National Guard, the Air National Guard, is the best- trained, best-equipped, best-led National Guard force that we have ever had in our history. I had the honor, before I came to Congress, of serving as the Adjutant General, commanding the 13,000 Army and Air National Guardsmen of the great State of Illinois. Unfortunately what has happened, as the drawdown has started to occur, the Pentagon has put forth a plan that would slash the Army National Guard. The Army National Guard and, for that matter, the Air National Guard--today we are specifically talking about the Army, but every remark I make applies to the Air National Guard as well. The Army National Guard serves as America's insurance policy. It serves as the shock absorber for our military. We can't maintain a large enough military to answer every contingency, and that is why we have the Army National Guard and that is why we have the Army Reserve. Those are the soldiers that we call forth when we need them. When we don't need them, they train at home. In 2005, in Iraq, 51 percent of the soldiers in Iraq were Army National Guardsmen and Reservists--51 percent. Over half were Army National Guard and Reserves. Yet today, folks in the Pentagon want to slash the Army National Guard. We had a blizzard in Illinois last week. That blizzard was so bad that Interstate 57 at its juncture with Interstate 70 in Effingham, Illinois was closed. There were six jackknifed semitrucks. There were 375 cars stacked up, couldn't get through, snow blowing, 35-below windchill factor. That blizzard was so bad that the wreckers couldn't get through. That blizzard was so bad that the snowplows, the Illinois Department of Transportation could not get through. Who got through? What did the Governor do? The Governor called out the Illinois National Guard. He called out those battlefield wreckers that serve the purpose in battle of going forth on the battlefield and pulling the Humvees and other Army vehicles that are damaged and inoperable off the battlefield. Those eight wheel-drive vehicles could get through that blizzard. They could get through those snowdrifts. They rescued those hundreds of stranded people in those 375 cars and six semitrucks on Interstate 57. Now, that equipment, that is wartime equipment. And you know what the folks over at the Pentagon are arguing today? Well, they are going to strip every single AH-64 attack helicopter out of the Army National Guard, saying, well, the Governors don't need them. What do you need an attack helicopter in the Illinois National Guard or the Pennsylvania National Guard or any other National Guard for? And, by the way, Illinois doesn't have AH-64s, so I don't have a dog in this fight other than supporting the National Guard. The Pentagon is saying you don't need them. What is the first maxim you learn in the Army? You train as you fight. You have to train as you fight so you know what you are doing when you go into battle. That is why the Army National Guard needs those attack helicopters, so they can go into battle with them. They will train with them so that they can fight with them. Based on the Army's logic, the Illinois National Guard wouldn't have had those battlefield wreckers to go in and rescue those people. We can't let this happen to the National Guard. I went to the retirement ceremony for Lieutenant General Bill Ingram this week over at Fort Myer, and General Ingram was the TAG of North Carolina. We served together as TAGs. He commanded North Carolina; I had Illinois. He got promoted to Lieutenant General; I got demoted to Congress. But at his retirement ceremony, he got up and spoke. And what was the first unit that the Army called up out of North Carolina in 2001 when we were ready to go to war? It was the attack helicopters. It was the AH-64s. They were the shock absorber. They were the insurance policy for America. While we are talking about the Pentagon, when you look at the Pentagon today, you look at the Active Duty military establishment. We have more generals and admirals today than we had during World War II. We have an army of less than 500,000 people. In World War II, it was about 5 million. It was about 10 times the size. But today we have more generals, and every one of those generals on Active Duty Has a staff, and they have cooks and drivers and so on and so forth. Right now they have 250 one- or two-star generals serving on Active Duty in the Army. Now, a division, you need to understand, is commanded by a two-star general. Does anybody in here besides Representative Perry and Representative Duckworth know how many Active Duty divisions we have in the United States Army? We have 10. That is 10 two-star generals. We have 250 on Active Duty. I think before we start cutting those soldiers who go out onto that battlefield of a blizzard, operating that battlefield wrecker, pulling people and saving lives, doing that double duty, doing that double duty of saving lives in floods, blizzards, and hurricanes, as well as deploying to Afghanistan, I think maybe we need to look at cutting some of the fat, some of that excess, some of those excess two-stars. That is what we need to do. We need to preserve our insurance policy. We need to preserve that best-trained, best-equipped and best-led National Guard force that has fought for us, not only in Afghanistan, not only in Iraq, but also on the home front. And one last pitch for the Illinois National Guard. We have had Illinois National Guard soldiers on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in the battle, first in Iraq, and then in Afghanistan, every day since we went into Iraq--every single day, National Guard soldiers. So to those folks over in the Pentagon who think that National Guard soldiers are second-class soldiers, I have got a few brave people I would like you to meet, and one of them is sitting right there, Lieutenant Colonel Tammy Duckworth. Thank you very much, Mr. Perry.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, it is the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty. Although in many ways it has been a success, economic opportunity is still too often a stacked deck. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal stated that J.P. Morgan, the giant Wall Street bank, last year paid out nearly $22 billion due to misdeeds and misrepresentations. The stock market sets new records every day. Wall Street has recovered. When will Main Street? While this is happening, 41 percent of the unemployed people in my district have been out of work for more than 26 weeks. They have run out of unemployment because Congress failed to act. The income difference between the wealthy and workers is greater than any time since the 1920s. Mr. Speaker, when will a nation that proclaims itself a bastion of freedom, both economic and personal, free the poor from the shackles of poverty?

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the memory of one of my constituents, Mr. John Rednour of Du Quoin, Illinois. John passed away on December 1, and I had the privilege of attending his funeral service last week. All of us came to honor a man who did so much for southern Illinois. John had many titles, and most of us knew him as the mayor of Du Quoin, a position he held for 24 years. He was a businessman, a banker, and an ironworker. He served for many years on the Illinois State Police Merit Board. But none of those titles do the man justice. He was one of the foremost civic leaders in Illinois, and he worked tirelessly to improve southern Illinois and to create opportunity and jobs for its people. John was a self-made man who rose from humble beginnings, but never forgot where he came from. His passing is a loss to our region. Most of all, it is a loss for his family; and today I ask my colleagues to remember the Rednour family, especially John's wife of 61 years, Wanda, who was his true partner. Southern Illinois is a better place because of John Rednour, and today I am proud to honor my friend's memory.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Thank you, Mr. Garamendi. I am privileged to represent the people of southwestern Illinois, that swath of the great State running along the Mississippi River from just north of St. Louis, from Alton, Illinois, all the way south to Cairo. And those 12 counties of southern Illinois, southwestern Illinois, were once an industrial powerhouse. It was said four decades ago, five decades ago, if you wanted to work, go to East St. Louis, Illinois, and there will be a job for you there. There were jobs in the steel mills. There were jobs in the packing houses. There were jobs in the stove foundries in Belleville. There were jobs in the coal mines of southern Illinois. Those jobs are, by and large, gone today. There are a few bright spots. U.S. Steel has a plant in Granite City that is still pouring steel. Alton Steel in Alton, Illinois, has reopened. A local entrepreneur bought it, and they are pouring steel in Alton again. But, you know, those jobs in the packing houses are gone. The jobs in the aluminum industry, those jobs are gone. And that is why they call it the rust belt, because so many of those factories are closing and rusting away. Technology has changed a lot of that, and we need to adapt to that technology. And to that end, the assistant minority leader, Mr. Steny Hoyer, along with Mr. Garamendi and myself, introduced the JOBS Act. The JOBS Act is sitting here. It needs to be acted upon. We can't get the leadership to act upon it. But we introduced this JOBS Act, and we introduced it because there are really four priority areas that are central to achieving manufacturing growth in this country again: First of all, we need to have a national manufacturing strategy. Other countries have it. We need to have one. We need to have a strategy that pushes our manufacturing; Secondly, we need to promote the export of U.S.-made goods; Thirdly, we need to encourage businesses to bring jobs and bring innovation back to the shores of our country; and Lastly, we need to train and secure a 21st century workforce. And that is really what the JOBS Act does. That act invests in our future. It invests in our infrastructure, our human infrastructure, the people who drive those machines and the people who drive our economy. And it was interesting that Mr. Garamendi mentioned food stamps. I want to talk about food stamps for just a minute because far too many people in my district survive on food stamps. Something like over 60 percent of the people on food stamps are children. It is not people who aren't working because they don't want to be working. Sixty percent are children who are in low-income families. And the bulk of the adults who are on food stamps are working adults, and they are working in minimum wage jobs. They are working in fast-food restaurants. They are working in other minimum wage jobs. And you can't raise a family in southern Illinois on a minimum wage job. We need to have jobs that pay a living wage with good health insurance, with good fringe benefits that provide a living wage for families. When you do that, what happens? You don't have people on food stamps. You don't have people on unemployment. You, instead, have people who are paying taxes. You have people who are spurring the economy. You have people who are buying new pickup trucks and new curtains for the living room and so on and so forth, and that generates an economy that generates good jobs. Now, to talk about the JOBS Act that Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Hoyer, and I introduced, what does it do? It is designed to support advanced manufacturing. Now, why do we want to support advanced manufacturing? We want to support advanced manufacturing because--there was an article in The Wall Street Journal just the other day. I have it right here, The Wall Street Journal, the journal of American business. Manufacturing jobs pay nearly 40 percent more than other jobs in our Nation's economy. That is why we need advanced manufacturing. So our bill--Mr. Garamendi's bill, my bill, Mr. Hoyer's bill--would amend the Workforce Investment Act to provide targeted investment to partnerships with community colleges, local workforce investment boards, and advanced manufacturing firms to design and implement education and training programs for current and prospective workers. Now, currently, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College program does provide some funding for that type of thing; but, unfortunately, there is no assurance for investments in advanced manufacturing, and that is where we need to go in this Nation. What we need to do is to align the training opportunities for those advanced manufacturing firms, for their needs, for adaptability in the training of workers. I toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis.

Mr. ENYART. I toured that brewery a couple of weeks ago, and the brewery manager told me that, in 1999, they had 3,500 hourly employees. And those were good jobs. Those are good jobs. Anybody can tell you that if you work union work, a brewery job working for Anheuser-Busch, that was a job you would have for your entire life. That would be a great career for a working man. That would be a great career for a working man. Today, they are down from 3,500 to 785 jobs. Now that is due largely due to improved technology, and they simply didn't need that many workers anymore. But that displacement of workers has happened throughout our economy, and it has happened in other areas of our economy, in addition to breweries. So we need to grow the kind of advanced manufacturing jobs, and we need to have the workers who have the skill to move up so they are not working in those minimum-wage jobs and getting food stamps and Medicaid and those other government programs. Instead, we need people who are paying money in, and that is what our jobs bills does. I know that Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Hoyer, and I want that bill to come to a vote. We believe that bill would pass with a resounding bipartisan vote if simply the leadership would allow it to be brought to the floor for a vote. Advanced manufacturing is growing in this country. It is increasing, but the problem is it is not growing fast enough. When we look at our economy over the last 5 years since President Obama won election the first time, we lost 5 million jobs when he was first elected, virtually immediately, and we have been growing those jobs back at 200,000 a month, 200,000 a month, 195,000 a month. We need to grow them back faster, and we can do that with this JOBS Act. With that, I yield back to my partner and friend here, Mr. Garamendi.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. I thank the gentleman from California for this time to speak about the importance of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act. Mr. Garamendi was talking about the coast, the east coast and the west coast and the great coastlines of our Nation. I always like to tell folks out here that I represent the west coast of Illinois. I always get a strange look when I say that, and sometimes a chuckle. But I represent the western-most counties of Illinois, the river counties, reaching from Alton, Illinois, just north of St. Louis, all the way to Cairo, the very southern tip of Illinois. That piece of Illinois encompasses the great maritime highway that is the economic backbone of our inland agriculture industry, indeed, all of our inland industries. Just north of my district, the Illinois River, which transits from the Mississippi up to the Great Lakes, flows into the Mississippi. Directly across from my district, the Missouri River feeds into the Mississippi; and then as you go downstream, the Mississippi and the Ohio converge at the very southern tip at Cairo, Illinois. So we understand in southern Illinois the importance of these river systems. We understand the importance of port authorities. Port authorities aren't just limited to Los Angeles and New York and the east coast and the west coast or the gulf coast, but they are very important to our inland maritime industry also. Back when I served as the adjunct general or the commanding general of the Illinois National Guard, I had the unfortunate problem of dealing with floods on the Mississippi and on the Ohio. Back when I was a young officer, we had the terrible flood of 1993. We had the flood of 2008 and then the flood of 2011. And then just last winter, we had the terrible drought that wound up dropping the river levels in the Mississippi so low that it nearly stopped navigation on the river. So we need to work on this infrastructure for the three reasons that I ran for Congress. When I ran for Congress, I said I ran for jobs, jobs, and jobs. And that is what this is about. When the rivers started drying up and when that drought hit and those barges couldn't transit the Mississippi and were having to go up and down the Mississippi with significantly lighter loads, it did several things to impact our economy. First, the barges couldn't transport nearly as much corn or as much soybeans; and at one point, the world's corn supply was down to less than 30 days, 30 days for the entire world. The world needed that corn from Illinois and from Iowa, the Dakotas and Missouri. That corn gets shipped on the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. When that river was drying up, that corn didn't flow. Coming upstream is the oil that goes into the refineries at Wood River, Illinois, the steel that gets processed at the steel mills in Alton, Illinois, and Granite City, Illinois, and the fertilizer that goes on the fields throughout southern and central Illinois. There are several provisions in this bill that have passed through the Senate that we think need to be added to the House bill that would help those navigation requirements on the Mississippi River. Additionally, we have provisions in the bill that, as Mr. Garamendi talked about, would improve the levee system. The levee system is critical not only throughout my district, but, indeed, up and down the rivers because of the problems with flood insurance. I have families who have lived for generations in homes located near the Mississippi River and other contributory rivers who, because of the potential rise in flood insurance rates, will be unable to afford to pay the insurance and unable to sell their homes, to relocate as necessary. We need to improve those levees. By the way, while we are improving those levees, what are we doing? We are putting people to work. This bill is supported by multiple groups throughout our Nation. It is truly a bipartisan bill. It passed the House 417-3 and the Senate by a vote of 84-14. You can't get much more bipartisan than that. Let's look at the supporters of this bill. Labor supports the bill because they understand the importance of these jobs, and they understand the importance of maritime industry along that river. The Chamber of Commerce supports this bill. The National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau, the Illinois Farm Bureau all support this bill because it is important to all of those industries and to all of those jobs. It is not just the local economy of southern Illinois. It is the regional economy, the national economy, and, indeed, even the world economy. Remember when I was talking about when the world's corn supply was down to less than 30 days. If we can't ship corn from Illinois and Iowa and the Midwest and out to the world, we will have a very serious food problem. The bill provides provisions for the Corps of Engineers to maintain navigation on the river, to improve the navigation aids that were virtually useless during the drought. Some of those navigation aids are simply lines painted on bridges. Those are navigation aids that date back to the 19th century, back to Mark Twain. Today I think we can do a little bit better than painting lines on bridge abutments to provide navigation aids for our maritime industry. Additionally, the Corps, at this point, is restricted to working in the 300-foot congressionally mandated channels. So 300 feet going down the river the barges transit through is the only place the Corps is allowed to work. This bill would give the Corps more authorities to work outside that channel to ensure that we have safe navigation for those barges filled with oil and with fertilizer and other industrial materials. The bill would also provide for a Greater Mississippi River Basin extreme weather management study. Today, we don't understand how the river system operates, and we don't treat it as a system. When you look at that map that Mr. Garamendi showed you of the river system, you see an entire system. You see the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Missouri, the Illinois. Those aren't separate entities. But today, in the law, we treat them as separate entities. The Missouri River is governed under completely different legislation than the Mississippi River is. And the Corps of Engineers, even if everybody agreed, couldn't release water from those Missouri River dams down into the Mississippi River to help the navigation because they didn't have the authorities to do so. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and I think we need a commonsense solution to that: we treat the entire system as it is, indeed, a system. Another issue that we need to consider is the locks and dams. Many of those locks and dams are 70 years old. They are in need of maintenance. They are in need of improvement. Those locks and dams, many of them are only 600 feet, and for efficiencies they need to be 1,200 feet in order to get the barge tows through. That will do several things. It will help the economy by lessening shipping costs, by making the cost of transportation for that corn, for that fertilizer, for that oil that gets refined into gasoline, dropping those transportation costs, making it less expensive to process and to buy. It would also be good for the environment, because by using bigger tows, you are burning less fuel to ship the same amount of goods. Shipping by barge in the inland waterways is by far the most fuel efficient method of transportation compared to either rail or trucking. Clearly, for all of those reasons, we need to get this bill passed. We need it for my three issues: jobs, job, and jobs, for southern Illinois, for the region, for the Nation.

Mr. ENYART. Thank you, Mr. Garamendi. Actually, I do. I would like to point out that the Democratic motion to instruct conferees--as you pointed out, you serve on that conference committee-- passed on November 14 with bipartisan support. That motion encouraged the conferees to reauthorize an effective dam security program. The goal here is to reduce risks to people, to life and property from dam failure. With the age of some of these dams and the aging infrastructure in place, the potential loss of life and limb and property is astronomical. By putting money into maintenance now, we are saving not only lives and property, but saving money downstream because we know that sooner or later, with the age of that infrastructure, that it is going to fail. That is one of the important things that the Democratic motion to instruct conferees did. Additionally, Mr. Garamendi, I signed the bipartisan letter to the House leadership of both parties requesting a speedy conference report. We need to move this conference report. As you pointed out earlier, Mr. Garamendi, this has been waiting for 6 years. We can't afford to wait another 6 years. So we need a speedy conference report between the Senate and between the House so that we can merge that legislation, add the items that we believe are on the House bill that need to be part of that Senate bill and vice versa so that we can begin bringing these jobs back to America and bringing the use of these American products to our districts. That letter emphasized the importance of WRRDA, not only to the district, but also the difficulties which it imposes on business and on labor and on the trades if this bill is not moved in a prompt manner. One of the other important aspects of the bill for my particular district--you were talking about the Sacramento River. But one of the particular parts of bill that we want to see added that has passed the Senate establishes the Metro East Flood Risk Management Program. What we are talking about there is the urban industrial area in southwestern Illinois across from St. Louis, running all the way from Alton, down through east St. Louis, south to Columbia, Illinois. It encompasses three counties, with a population of about 600,000 folks. So it is very significant. It includes oil refineries, steel mills, chemical plants, residential areas, and many of the bridges, both rail and passenger car, that transit the Mississippi there. So it is critical that we get this taken care of.

Mr. ENYART. Thank you, Mr. Garamendi. I appreciate that. You know, what we are really talking about here, Mr. Garamendi, it seems to me is, are we spending money, or are we investing in America? I like to tell folks at home that when that roof starts getting old on your house, and you know those shingles need to be replaced, do you want to replace those shingles? Do you want to put a new roof on that house before it starts to leak? Yes, you want to do that because you are going to save the money then of the damage that is going to be caused when this roof does start to leak. We are really talking about the same thing. We are talking about investing in America. We are talking about investing in our house, investing in our home, protecting that infrastructure, protecting that roof before it does begin to leak. It is interesting you were talking about how money gets siphoned off, and this bill does change that. This bill would increase--you know, we have a special fund that is supposed to go to the maintenance of harbors and of ports, and this bill would increase the investments in improving our Nation's ports by increasing the percentage of the money that is collected each year through the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. As you pointed out, it is unfortunate, but half of the money that is collected to maintain harbors gets siphoned off and spent on other things. Now, I believe and you believe, we believe, and the folks who voted for this bill believe that we should spend that money for the purpose for which it is collected, and that is to maintain and improve our harbors and our ports. Now, you know, some of the Democrats on the committee have said that the bill is a compromise. Some of the folks don't like the fewer environmental reviews. But, you know, we voted for it. We pushed it forward even though it was a compromise. And sometimes in this business, you have to give a little to get a little. And it is like I talk about at home. When you go buy that new pickup truck, the dealer wants one price, and you want another price, you have got to meet somewhere in the middle to get there.

Mr. ENYART. Wonderful. Well, you know, Mr. Garamendi, while you are working on that conference committee, I would really appreciate it if you could see fit to--and this goes back to the environmental piece a little bit. The Senate bill includes the Middle Mississippi River Environmental Pilot Program, which gives the Army Corps of Engineers authority to restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat along the Middle Mississippi River while they are undertaking navigation projects. Right now, they are just constrained working on navigation. Well, doesn't it make a lot of sense, by the way, while you are working on navigation to also, when you can, improve the fish and the wildlife habitat. In southern Illinois, fishing is a big sport. We have a lot of tourists come in. Hunting, goose hunting is a big sport and deer hunting. And if you can improve that wildlife habitat, it is going to help the environment as well as help our tourist economy in southern Illinois. Now, that was part of the bill that I introduced, but it got stripped out before it passed the House. But it did pass the Senate. So as part of your conference, if you could help me out with that, I would really appreciate it.

Mr. ENYART. I will just close out with saying, Mr. Garamendi, thank you for the time this evening. I think this has been a true team effort from manufacturers and business groups, labor unions, port authorities, and the Agriculture Committee. You know, I sit on the Agriculture Committee, and the ag community knows how critical this legislation is for Illinois. And Congress needs to get things done for the American people, and no job is more important than keeping our economy strong right here at home.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, when I was elected to Congress, I pledged to my constituents I would come to Washington to be a problem-solver and offer solutions. In this spirit, I introduced the Biofuels Development Act. This legislation will create American jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. The goal is simple: establish a $25 million pilot program for the Air Force to make competitive grants supporting research and development, education, and training to produce bio-based aviation fuel for use by the Air Force. In addition, this initiative is paid for--I repeat, paid for--using unobligated funds from the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund. In southern Illinois, the potential for this approach is tremendous. My district is home to a vibrant agricultural economy, as well as Scott Air Force Base. If this legislation became law, a great partnership between those two communities would produce tremendous results, with a positive ripple effect throughout the local and national economy. It is high time for this body to focus on rebuilding our economy, putting Americans back to work. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this important legislation.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Command Sergeant Major Howard O. Robinson, thanking him for his service and wishing him well as he retires from the Illinois National Guard. CSM Robinson served as my senior enlisted advisor when I was Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard. I presided at the Change of Responsibility Ceremony in 2011 and passed the sword to CSM Robinson as he became the 10th Command Sergeant Major of the Illinois National Guard. In this capacity he helps provide training for approximately 13,000 Illinois National Guardsmen. CSM Robinson enlisted in the Illinois Army National Guard in 1983 with the 2nd Battalion, 122nd Field Artillery in Chicago. In 2001 he was selected as the Senior Enlisted Adviser for the 2nd Battalion 123rd Field Artillery in Milan, Illinois. Over the next eight years, his assignments would include: Battalion Command Sergeant Major for the 2nd Battalion, 122nd Field Artillery in Chicago, Brigade Command Sergeant Major for the 404th Chemical Brigade based in Chicago and Army National Guard Land Component Senior Enlisted Adviser. A 2006 graduate of the United States Army Sergeant Major Academy, CSM Robinson's military education also includes the Army's Primary Leadership Development Course, Basic and Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Courses, Tactical Information Operations Course and the Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Development Course. He served overseas in Germany, participating in a War Fighter Exercise and has participated in various training events throughout Europe. CSM Robinson has received numerous awards and decorations during his service, including: Meritorious Service Medal (2nd award), Army Commendation Medal (4th Award), Army Achievement Medal (3rd Award), Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (Numeral 4), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Training Ribbon, Long and Honorable Service Medal, Military Attendance Ribbon, State Active Duty Ribbon, and Louisiana Emergency Services Ribbon. Prior to his current position with the Illinois National Guard, CSM Robinson has enjoyed a career in healthcare administration and is currently pursuing his Master's Degree in Healthcare Administration at Governors State University. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the distinguished career of Command Sergeant Major Howard O. Robinson, congratulating him on his retirement and wishing him well as he enters his next life chapter.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 10th Anniversary of Lindenwood University- Belleville. While Lindenwood University-Belleville, at 10 years old, is a relative newcomer for institutions of higher learning, it is part of Lindenwood University which has a long history in the Midwest. Founded in 1827 in St. Charles, Missouri, Lindenwood University is the second oldest college west of the Mississippi River. As a four-year liberal arts university with a rich tradition in the St. Louis metropolitan area, the administration of Lindenwood University began talks with city leaders in Belleville, Illinois around 2001, looking to expand the university to the east side of the Mississippi River. The Belleville High School District had recently moved the location of the Belleville West High School to another location, leaving an existing facility ready for use. Talks proved fruitful and Lindenwood University acquired the 22 acre tract of land for its Belleville campus in November of 2003. The first classes for LU-Belleville were held in the Spring Quarter of 2004 for an incoming class of 52 students. Initially only offering evening classes, the first programs were a Master of Arts in Education and Education Administration. Today, LU-Belleville has over 1,000 full-time students enrolled in a wide range of academic programs with hundreds more in graduate, continuing education and specialized programs. In its first decade, LU- Belleville has grown into a strong and vibrant institution that contributes much to the richness of Belleville and to the higher education choices of Southern Illinois. This past spring, I had the high honor of addressing graduates at LU- Belleville's first commencement exercises. I quoted Lindenwood University's mission statement to provide programs ``leading to the development of the whole person-an educated, responsible citizen of a global community.'' In its first decade, LU-Belleville has done just that. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the administration, faculty, staff and student body of Lindenwood University-Belleville on the occasion of their 10th Anniversary and wishing them continued success for many more years to come.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the 10th anniversary of Lindenwood University's campus in Belleville, Illinois. On November 3, 2003, Lindenwood acquired the 22-acre site at the old Belleville West High School. Fifty-two students enrolled in evening classes that semester. In the decade since, Lindenwood University- Belleville has grown into a strong and vibrant institution that contributes much to the richness of Belleville and to the higher education choices of southern Illinois. Today, Lindenwood has over 1,000 full-time students enrolled in a wide range of academic programs, with hundreds more in graduate, continuing education, and specialized programs. This past spring, I had the high honor of addressing graduates at Lindenwood's first commencement exercises. I quoted Lindenwood University's mission statement to provide programs ``leading to the development of the whole person--an educated, responsible citizen of a global community.'' In its first decade, Lindenwood has done just that. I congratulate Lindenwood University-Belleville on its 10th anniversary and wish the entire campus community much continued success.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in honoring L. Goebel Patton on his 100th Birthday--tomorrow, October 24, and in recognizing his many years of community service in Southern Illinois. Considered by many as ``Mr. Southern Illinois,'' Goebel Patton has worn many hats in his 80+ years of service to the people in his region. Educator, administrator, board member, lodge member, church and community leader, mentor--While this is an impressive list, it does not encompass all the roles that Goebel Patton has filled in service to the people of Southern Illinois. Goebel Patton began his career as an educator at Logan School in West Frankfort, Illinois in 1931, just prior to his 18th birthday. He served as principal of several area elementary and middle schools before serving as Principal and Superintendent at Frankfort Community High School from 1946-1960. Between 1960 and 1970, Patton put his years of experience in education to use as Director of Public and Professional Relations for the Illinois Education Association before returning to Southern Illinois as Superintendent of Frankfort Community School District No. 168, the school district that he was instrumental in forming, from 1970 to 1984. A member of the Second Baptist Church in West Frankfort for over 75 years, Patton has had the same impact and influence in that congregation as in his community. He was instrumental in constructing two sanctuaries for the church and organized a weekly Men's Prayer Group in 1990. Patton has served on virtually every community and charitable organization in Franklin County. The list includes: Lions Club, Masonic Lodge, Salvation Army, Franklin-Williamson Human Services, Egyptian Council, Boy Scouts, JALC Foundation, SIU Foundation and the American Cancer Society. As chairman of the fund raising committee, he helped raise $600,000 for an Aquatics and Activity Center in West Frankfort. A banquet room in the center was named in his honor. After his 98th birthday, Patton received a six year appointment to the Board of Trustees of a new private college being organized in West Frankfort. When asked about taking on such a lengthy commitment at his age, he repeated one of his favorite quotes for which he is famous in Southern Illinois--``Community service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on this earth.'' Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing L. Goebel Patton a Happy 100th Birthday and thanking him for a lifetime of community service.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, my wife had a call last night from one of her best friends. She was angry, disappointed, and frightened. Her husband is a civilian worker at Scott Air Force Base. His paycheck was one-half what it usually is. Their son is a community college student who just got laid off. Their daughter is disabled. They are my voters. They are my friends. What do I tell them? What do I tell the veterans whose disability claims aren't being processed? What do I tell the laid-off prison guards in southern Illinois who will lose their food stamps? What do I tell the retired mine workers who have lost their pensions in bankruptcy and now have to worry about their Social Security checks? I can't tell them to call their Congressman. They already have. I tell them, Call 202-225-6205, and tell the Speaker to put America and its government back to work.

Mr. ENYART

Mr. ENYART. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

Mr. ENYART. I am, in its current form.

Mr. ENYART. Madam Speaker, the underlying bill pays Reservists and Guardsmen for weekend drills during this government shutdown, but it does nothing to pay the full-time support force. The vast majority of full-time Guardsmen and Reservists wear a uniform but are considered civil service technicians; thus, they're currently furloughed. I spent nearly 37 years serving this great Nation's military; 32 years of those years were in the National Guard and the Reserve. As a young enlisted airman and later as a junior officer in the Army Guard, I certainly appreciated that paycheck for a weekend of duty. I, like many of the young troops serving today, needed that paycheck, kind of like the civilian employees at Scott Air Force Base need their paychecks or the Forest Service workers in the Shawnee National Forest need their paychecks or the clerks at the Social Security office in Carbondale, Illinois, need their paychecks. The absolute utter cynicism of the underlying bill appalls me. As the only former general serving in Congress, I'm sponsoring this amendment to correct the underlying bill which only makes pawns of dedicated American Reservists and Guardsmen. The only thing that bill does is give the politicians who sponsored it and who vote for it a claim, while wrapping themselves in the flag, to say they're supporting the troops. It's as phony as putting a flag pin on your lapel and claiming that makes you a patriot. The underlying bill is as phony as the bill I voted against Tuesday. That bill was falsely named ``Honoring Our Promise to America's Veterans Act.'' My father was a disabled veteran. He's buried in a national cemetery. My brother is a combat disabled veteran. I'm a veteran. Between the three of us, we have accumulated a total of 65 years of military service to this Nation. I tell you, as a veteran, that bill is a disservice to veterans. It cut $6.1 billion from the VA budget, which was already passed by the House. It eliminated funding for VA construction. It eliminated funding for national cemeteries, that cemetery my father is buried in. It eliminated funding for medical and prosthetic research. That bill was a lie to America's veterans and America's voters. I am sick of phony bills designed solely to create political ads. I and my constituents are sick of the messaging that makes bad policy out to be good politics. It is time to drive the moneychangers from the temple and to bring an end to this sanctimonious foolishness. Just as a soldier refuses to leave his or her battle buddies behind, I refuse to leave all of the people who proudly serve this great Nation behind. Stop this charade. Have the moral courage to tell the truth to the American people. The amendment I offer today presents the continuing resolution, which has the Republican budget numbers in it. It would pay not just the part-time National Guard, not just the part-time Reservists, but the full-timers, too. It puts 70 percent of the CIA back to work. It puts the VA back to work. It puts our government back to work. Let's not call this a continuing resolution. Let's call it what it is: Put Our Government Back to Work. I ask you to have the integrity to vote ``yes'' or ``no.'' If you're a patriot behind that American flag pin, have the guts to show it. I yield back the balance of my time. Point of Order

Mr. ENYART. Yes, Madam Speaker, I would like to be heard on the point of order.