Sam Farr

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time. I rise today to compliment the committee that is before the floor today. The Committee on Science in this House did a tremendous job of designing a bill that really meets the science needs of America on energy. This bill is being used as the carrot tied to a stick, which is tied to a very ugly vehicle behind. I want to compliment the members of the Committee on Science on both sides of the aisle for producing a real substantive bill. Unfortunately, the rest of the bill that is incorporated with is one that we cannot support. I look at this bill and what I see in it is whoever wrote the whole big package had one thing in mind, and that is that they were looking at the price, without understanding the value. So this bill addresses the price of everything and the value of nothing. The bill knows the price of rewards for special interests. They put those special interests in perspective by giving them a $36.4 billion tax break in this bill. That is equivalent to what 9.7 million Americans in 1998 paid in taxes. The cost of this bill is in the value to the environment. This bill says drill, drill, drill wherever oil may be. If we had oil under this Capitol, I am sure there would be proposals to drill for oil under the Capitol and under the Supreme Court and under the Library of Congress. This bill costs California ratepayers, who are not allowed to debate on the issue of rebates from obscene costs. This bill, in totality, is a bad bill.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I come from a district which has had seven presidentially declared disasters. If there is anything that I have learned, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Everything we do in this country is to try to prevent injury and harm. One of the dumb things we do is keep going in after a disaster and allowing people to do the same old thing. Mr. Chairman, this program gets people out of doing the same old thing that makes them involved in a disaster. I hope my colleagues march into conference very strongly supporting this amendment.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Robert ``Bob'' Leslie Grainger, who recently passed away. Mr. Grainger was a dedicated community member for many years, and was heavily involved in the California Rodeo in Salinas, California. Mr. Grainger was born in Lincoln, Nebraska and lived in Salinas for 67 years. He attended Stanford University, was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and became a farmer and produce grower. During his military service in World War II, Mr. Grainger held the rank of First Lieutenant, and he received the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. Mr. Grainger served as the California Rodeo Salinas President in 1977 and was heavily involved in announcing at the annual event. Furthermore, Mr. Grainger involved himself in many community activities, such as the Boy Scouts and Eagle Board of Review and the First Presbyterian Church. In his free time, he was an avid fisherman, hunter, and golfer. Throughout his lifetime, Mr. Grainger established himself as a successful agricultural businessman and dedicated community member. Mr. Grainger's contributions and loyalty to the Salinas Valley were hallmarks of his long years of community service. Therefore, I honor the life and contributions of Mr. Grainger with his friends and family, including his wife of 54 years, Sally; his sons, William and Joseph of Salinas, and John of Carmel; his sisters, Olive Bundgard of Salinas and Lesley Browne of Lincoln, Nebraska; his eight grandchildren and one great-childdaughter.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mr. Kenneth Herman Blohm, whose lifelong career of public service influenced many lives on the Central Coast of California. Mr. Blohm, who passed away on July 2, 2001, is survived by his two sisters, five children, nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. His wife of 56 years, Agnes O'Grady Blohm, died in 1990. Mr. Blohm was born in Watsonville, California on November 8, 1908. He worked as an auditor for the Railroad Express Agency from 1926-1963, and then served as a Monterey County judge for ten years. Mr. Blohm served in the California State Guard during World War II, and in 1942, he was President of the Spring District School Board in Salinas. From 1969 until 1974, he served as President of the North Monterey County School District, and in 1976, Mr. Blohm was elected to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, where he served until 1980. Beyond his contributions as a public servant, Mr. Blohm dedicated himself to the broader community. He was a member, and leader, of the Salinas Elks, the Castroville Rotary, the Knights of Columbus, the Gambetta Little League, the Elkhorn School Parent-Teacher Association, and the Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Blohm, known as a man with firm convictions, truly believed in his work, and worked towards improving the quality of lives on the Central Coast. Throughout his term on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, he was a frequent critic of county land-use policy and often voted in favor of property owners who appealed county planning decisions. He strongly believed in voting his conscience and believed that every citizen had the right to be heard on an issue before it became policy. Throughout his years of public service he remained loyal to his belief in less government control over land and property. Although Mr. Blohm was a critic of state Coastal Commission procedures, in 1978, the Board of Supervisors picked Mr. Blohm as its representative on the Coastal Commission. Mr. Blohm remained strong in his beliefs, and was a supporter of programs that he believed would benefit the Central Coast. His admirable career of public service was dedicated to improving the Coastal Coast, and his contributions have made a significant impact. I, along with the Central Coast community, would like to honor the life of Mr. Blohm's whose dedication and contributions are truly commendable.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. I want to also thank the chairman of the committee for inviting me to go to El Salvador right after the earthquake. As a former Peace Corps volunteer from South America, I was able to bring some insight into it. What I learned is more than what I took, and that is that Congress needs to step up to the plate and do more. And not only Congress needs to do more. The churches that have done a wonderful job need to do more; the people-to-people programs need to do more; and the adoptive city programs that have been so effective in El Salvador need to do more. We all need to do more because we cannot afford not to make El Salvador's modernization work. It is a country that has gone through all the struggles we have watched. If, indeed, nation building is going to work, peacekeeping is going to work, microloan programs are going to work, trade policy is going to work, if indeed the credibility of the United States is going to work, then we have to step up to that plate and continue to be there in this incredible disaster. I was able to visit after Hurricane Mitch in Honduras and in Venezuela. El Salvador even needs more help than those countries.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure and pride that I offer my congratulations to the students, faculty, staff, and administration at the University of California at Santa Cruz. The university has recently been named the second-best research institution in the world for physical sciences, based on the number of times research performed at UCSC has been cited by other scientists in journal articles. Opened in 1965, UCSC began as the ``Great Experiment'' of the University of California system. The campus, home to both redwood groves and vast meadows overlooking Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean, has experienced a steady increase in enrollment to more than 12,000 students currently. The students, sons and daughters of farmworkers, doctors, teachers, and lawyers, have come with a common goal: to take advantage of the multitude of opportunities made available to them at this public university. These opportunities continue to expand. A branch of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics opened on the UCSC campus two years ago. The campus was already home to the Institute of Marine Sciences and the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics. The University of California Lick Observatory, utilized by researchers throughout the University of California system, is also headquartered at UCSC. The success of the physical science program, and indeed of all the programs, at the University of California at Santa Cruz is due to the vision of the people who first studied, worked, and lived at the university. It is equally shaped by the dedication and hard work of those there now. They share a strong belief in the importance of improving the research facilities and academic opportunities while preserving the natural surroundings. This belief has fostered a unique academic community and I look forward to its continued success. Congratulations.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Persis ``Perky'' Horner Hyde who passed away on June 15, 2000 of breast cancer. During her lifetime, Mrs. Hyde was an active community member and a dedicated mother and wife. She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Harold ``Hal'' Hyde, four children, one brother, and three grandchildren. Mrs. Hyde, a 50-year resident of Watsonville, was born in San Francisco on October 2, 1924. She received her education at the University of California at Berkeley, and later became a devoted mother and active community volunteer. She was a leader and board member of many local nonprofit, church, and civic groups which include, but are not limited to, the Girl Scouts, the Santa Cruz Symphony Guild, the Cabrillo College Foundation, and the Pajaro Arts Council. Although she devoted much time and effort to numerous organizations, one of her most cherished causes was the Cabrillo Advancement Program. Mrs. Hyde, and her husband, offered $1000 scholarships to local county schools to encourage kids to stay in school. During her lifetime, Mrs. Hyde was honored with various awards commemorating her service to the community. In 1977, the Watsonville Chamber of Commerce named her Woman of the Year, and in 2000, Mrs. Hyde was honored by the Watsonville Soroptimists Club with the Women of Distinction Award. Most recently, the United Methodist Church honored Mrs. Hyde for her dedication and continuous service. Although service in local organizations and her family took up much of her time, she still managed to travel, which she enjoyed and often encouraged her children to do; her travels took her to Sweden, Germany, Africa, and South America. Mr. Speaker, I applaud Mrs. Hyde's achievements and accomplishments. The service of local members of this community are an asset to this nation and I commend Mrs. Hyde for her lifelong dedication to her community and her family. Mrs. Hyde's service is admirable and her character and dedication have made lasting impacts on our community and the people with whom she has worked. I join the County of Santa Cruz, and friends and family in honoring this truly commendable woman and all of her lifelong achievements.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to speak on the memorial of Justice Stanley Mosk. Many of you know that as a fifth- generation Californian, born in San Francisco, where Stanley Mosk died, that he was a giant among supreme court Justices in the United States. He left a legacy of justice in California, having served on the supreme court in that State for 37 years. I knew him as a lawyer. My father was in the State legislature and was very close to the Mosk family and to the Pat Brown family. Governor Pat Brown appointed him to the bench. The tragedy of his loss is that one of the greatest legal minds of this century served in all of that time when California was emerging as a State, growing to be the incredible nation-state that it is, and the California Supreme Court rose to, I think, in respect probably the highest among all State supreme courts in the United States. Stanley Mosk led that drive. It is a great tragedy that we lost him before we could totally record all of his memories, but his legacy will live on in the history of California. He was one of the men that matched our mountains.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I would say to my colleagues, wake up, wake up and smell the coffee. How do we know the coffee is brewing? How do we know that there are French and Italian wines at the market? The answer is because these countries that grow these products also advertise these products in our country. They want us to buy agriculture in other countries. That is why we see oranges from South America being advertised in the United States, coffee from Colombia, wine from France and Italy and so on; and yet when it comes to our own agriculture, the most abundant agriculture in the world, where we grow more than we can consume and where we actually grow products for other countries, we should not be allowed to be on a competitive field where everybody has a fair chance by small matching money that the private sector has to put up and match by the Federal Government? The Federal Government spends $3.187 billion on advertising and recruiting for the military. Our States advertise for tourism. Let us also advertise for agriculture.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Jesse Gallardo as he recently celebrated the end of his tenure at Major Farms Inc. in Soledad, California. Mr. Gallardo retired on March 31, 2001 bringing an end to sixty-four years of service to Major Farms Inc. and the entire Soledad community. After moving from Orange County to Soledad as a young boy, Mr. Gallardo grew up living on the property of Major Farms. When he was fourteen years old, he began working full time on the farm, which at that time was barely one year into operation. Until his retirement at the age of seventy-eight, Mr. Gallardo continued to work ten hour days, six days a week, and in distant years past, it was common practice during the spinach harvests for Mr. Gallardo to work seventeen hour days. After twenty-three years at Major, Mr. Gallardo moved into Soledad, yet continued to work at Major Farms while simultaneously raising six children. Mr. Gallardo's dedication and hard work was not exclusively held to Major Farms, rather his positive influence has infiltrated the entire city of Soledad. To honor Jesse Gallardo's dedication to the community of Soledad, the city of Soledad presented Mr. Gallardo with a plaque and even designated a baseball park in his honor. Every Fourth of July, Mr. Gallardo participates in a softball game at Jesse Gallardo Park. Mr. Speaker, the service of local members of the community are an asset to this nation, and I applaud Mr. Gallardo's contributions. The retirement of Mr. Gallardo signifies the end to a dedicated sixty-four years of service to Major Farms and the entire Soledad community. It is clear that Jesse Gallardo's dedication has made a lasting impact on his community, and I join the city of Soledad in honoring Mr. Gallardo.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to join with my friend and colleague, Congressman Mike Honda of the 15th District of California, in honoring a dedicated public servant. Stephen Walpole, Chief of Police for the Scotts Valley Police Department, will be retiring on July 6, 2001, bringing an end to 30 years of service to his community. Chief Walpole is a constituent of Congressman Honda, since part of Santa Cruz County is in his congressional district. However, Chief Walpole and I came to know each other well during my years serving in the California Assembly. His work on behalf of the residents of Scotts Valley is an amazing reminder of the importance of public service in our nation. When Chief Walpole's career began as a reserve officer in 1970 with the Scotts Valley Police Department his potential was quickly realized. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1974, Lieutenant in 1979, and Chief of Police in 1986. Besides his focus on the community of Scotts Valley, Chief Walpole has also served in several County and State-wide positions, bringing his experience and leadership to others in law enforcement and government. Chief Walpole has also been the recipient of many awards and recognitions, including the Exchange Club Officer of the Year in 1973 and 1983; the Meritorious Service Award from the Scotts Valley City Council in 1989 for his efforts during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which devastated many parts of Santa Cruz County; and was named as the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year in 1989. Mr. Speaker, when he retires on July 6, 2001, Chief Walpole will be leaving behind a three-decade legacy of excellence and professionalism. It has been a pleasure for myself and Congressman Honda to work with him and other members of the Scotts Valley community, and it is an honor to be able to pay tribute to him here. We wish him well in his upcoming retirement, but we know that he will always remain an active member of the community.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer tribute to one of those persons who toil endlessly, without complaint, and generally in the background, but who make some of the largest and most important contributions to our lives: our staff. In particular, I rise today to congratulate and thank my long-time staffer, Donna Blitzer, who, after nearly 20 (I'm sure in her eyes) l-o-n-g years, has decided to explore other career opportunities. Ms. Blitzer is now the Director of Government and Community Relations for the University of California, Santa Cruz. Donna began in my office when I was in the State Legislature, serving as one of my support staff. As I grew in elected office, she grew as staff and together we served as partners in many initiatives to improve and protect the quality of life on California's Central Coast which I represented then and continue to do so today. Throughout it all, Donna was my constant advisor and supporter, my advance and back up, my most loyal and trustworthy counsel. She was always there to put me back on track when my ideas de-railed, and to bring form to my vision. Most important, she protected my ethical and moral compass from ever going astray. Mr. Speaker, we all have good staff. They are the heart and soul of our public selves as we reach out to our constituents. But sometimes there is one who just gives so much to so many that it deserves our special acknowledgment and praise. Donna Blitzer is such a person. I will miss having her on my staff and at my side as I have for 20 years. But I wish her well in her new job and know that her contribution to the public will still be appreciated, no matter where she finds herself.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. I yield to the gentleman from New Mexico.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman. I look forward to working with him in solving this problem in much of the West.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. I would like to engage the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee in a colloquy. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from New Mexico for his hard work and leadership on the interior appropriations bill and mention that it is not the same on the agriculture appropriations bill without the gentleman's presence. Mr. Chairman, I want to address an issue concerning a devastating disease. It is called the sudden oak death syndrome; and as the gentleman knows, sudden oak death has left miles of dead tanoaks and oaks in woodlands across California. In addition to its forest impacts, this disease has a potential impact on interstate and international trade. Both Canada and the State of Oregon have issued emergency quarantines banning the importation of nursery stock such as rhododendrons, azaleas and huckleberries. Mr. Chairman, I am concerned that this bill does not include the resources necessary to address the lack of fundamental knowledge and tools for effective eradication or containment of sudden oak death. I am prepared to offer an amendment to increase the funding for the Forest Service and Range Land Research Account. However, I am encouraged to hear by the gentleman's efforts that he has agreed to work with me; and will, therefore, withhold offering my amendment at this time.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I would like to express my strong support for the Slaughter/Dicks amendment to the FY02 Department of the Interior Appropriations bill (HR 2217) to increase funding for the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). A small investment in these agencies will provide our nation with limitless cultural, educational, and economic returns. Yet, each has been subject to massive budget cuts over the past six years, with the NEA receiving its first budget increase last year since 1992. The modest increases proposed by this amendment represent a step in the right direction toward ensuring that the arts and humanities have the increased funding they richly need and deserve. The mission of these agencies is to provide access to the arts for all Americans, thus nurturing our nation's diversity and creativity, fostering community spirit, educating our citizens, and helping our struggling youth. The arts teach us to think, encourage us to feel, challenge us to see the world from different perspectives, and help us to grow. They improve the critical thinking skills and raise the self- esteem of our children through highly successful arts in schools and after-school arts programs. They reach into underserved areas, exposing smaller communities to the many intangible benefits the arts have to offer. That is why when we deprive our arts, humanities, and museums agencies of necessary funding, we are really depriving the heart and soul of this entire nation. And investment in the arts and humanities just makes ``cents.'' The NEA budget represents less than one-hundreth of one percent (0.01%) of the Federal budget and costs each American the equivalent of one postage stamp per year. Each year, the nonprofit arts industry returns $3.4 billion to the federal treasury, generates $36.8 billion in economic activity, and supports at least 1.3 million jobs. Without a doubt, the arts contribute to the economic health and growth both of our communities and of the nation as a whole. The Central Coast of California has a vibrant arts community, and I want to ensure that our well-loved cultural traditions--like the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Cabrillo Music Festival, and the Kuumbwa Jazz Society--continue to thrive and are accessible to all. We must increase funding for the NEA, NEH and IMLS and ensure that they have the resources to help our diverse local arts community continue to shine.

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee).

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I think the interesting debate on this emergency supplemental, which appropriates about $6.7 billion to fix emergencies in the United States, I think it is appropriate that it did that; but I want to point out that the debate all session, since we began in January, has been a lot about the California energy problem, and it now recognizes a national energy problem. If we watch the debate, it has been for 6 months essentially a Washington, White House-led accusation that the problem in California is Californians; that we have not built enough power plants; that we have too many environmental regulations; that it is essentially a State problem. Californians, on the other hand, have responded that if we look at the facts, we are using the same amount of energy that we used last year, so the demand is not up. If we look at the national facts, California uses less energy per capita than any other State in the United States. So this debate, it is California's problem on infrastructure and California's response, it is the Federal Government's problem on not being able to control costs. Well, guess what? Guess what this bill does? This bill recognizes that it is a cost problem. It recognizes that it is a cost problem for our military, our Federal military installations and the men and women in uniform who work for the military bases. They did not say that they have a problem with the way they are conserving energy. They did not say they have a problem with the way they are producing energy. They said, we have a problem with what we are paying for energy. It is a cost problem. So in this bill, we appropriate $6.8 million for the Army to pay its energy bills; and by the way, we waive points of order on that. We appropriate $7.2 million for the Navy to pay its electrical bills, and we waive the points of order on that; and we appropriate $3 million for the Air Force to pay its electrical bills, for a total of $17 million. Now, I support that, but I want it to be known that we are being two- faced here when we say we are going to pay for the military and nobody else; nobody else gets any cost reduction. The last debate was about how a cap is put on those costs, and I think it was an appropriate debate to have. Now, the amendment that I am presenting is essentially to answer that other accusation. It is, let us fix the infrastructure. Well, Mr. Chairman, in the United States there are about 13 gridlocks. There are places where the power cannot get through the transmission line. There is too much power on one side and a need for power on the other, and it is too tight. It is too old. It is too archaic. This simple amendment would appropriate $350 million nationally to have applications for those funds on the basis that one could not get a loan anywhere else and that the President would have to declare that these, indeed, gridlocks are an emergency. It is a simple amendment. It has to be paid back in 25 years, and it answers what this accusation is in Washington: let us fix the transmission problems; let us fix the distribution problem. The reason they need to have a Federal guarantee is because these gridlocks are owned by a whole consortium of companies. No one of them can stand alone and qualify for those loans. It is a complicated ownership. It is so complicated that these transmission gridlocks, which are pointed out in the President's energy report, are a serious problem; so serious that the Secretary of Energy testified that during the summer of 2000 cool weather in the Midwest and hot temperatures in the South created a heavy north-to-south flow of lower-cost energy to serve air conditioning loads. Because the transmission system was unable to accommodate the heavy loads, regions in the South had to rely on inefficient, older generation units at higher prices. Went on to say, high density urban areas such as Chicago, New York and others have also old, inefficient, obsolete power transmission systems. This amendment would fix that. Mr. Chairman, I suggest that this amendment is exactly putting money where our mouth has been for the last 6 months. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FARR of California. No, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, for this debate. Let me point out on page 38 of the bill, it says, ``The bill includes several appropriations that are not authorized by law and, as such, may be construed as legislative in nature. The bill includes several emergency appropriation designations that may be construed as legislative in nature,'' and the first three that they list say that language has been included for the Department of Defense, military, in the operation and maintenance, Army, which extends availability of funds for California energy demand reduction, and goes on to repeat that for the Navy and the Air Force. In fact, it goes on and lists 35 waivers. Now, the point here is that I think that we are all, and this is the problem, we are sort of getting into this blame game, and I hope we can get off the blame game and really help solve the problem. There has been a suggestion here that in this emergency, which the Secretary of Energy has indicated is a problem, that we ought to appropriate money which the committee of jurisdiction said was an appropriations problem. Here is an appropriations bill that is declared as an emergency that ought to solve that, and points of order have been waived for other provisions recognizing it is an emergency. That is all that I am trying to point out, is that we have got to deal with the availability of funding. If we are going to talk about infrastructure improvement, let us improve infrastructure. If we are going to talk about cost, let us not just help the military, and I support 100 percent of what we are doing here, but I think we leave it flat by also not helping the civilian community. That is an emergency as well as it is for the military. Point of Order

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy). (Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham).

Mr. FARR of California

Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, as Chair of the Democratic delegation from the great State of California, it is a great privilege and honor to introduce our newest Member of the United States Congress, former Senator, former ambassador, now Congresswoman, Diane Watson. I had the privilege of serving in the California State legislature with then Senator Watson for a long time, and I do not know if all the world knows what a leader, what a dynamic leader she is. She was first involved in education, an issue very dear to all of us here in Congress, as a teacher and then as a lecturer, a lecturer at Cal State Long Beach, which our colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Horn), was president of. She was the first African American woman elected to the Los Angeles Board of Education and, historically, became the first African American woman to be elected to the California State Senate. In the State Senate she chaired the Health and Human Services Committee for over 17 years. Her legislation is landmark legislation, setting up the California birth defects monitoring program. She also ensured quality for community care and residential care facilities. And most recently, she has served this Nation well as our ambassador to Micronesia. The remarkable and historical fact of Congresswoman Diane Watson coming to the United States Congress from the State of California is for the first time in the history of this House, a delegation from one State, the largest delegation, 52 members in all, which is broken down into 20 Republicans and 32 Democrats, the 32 Democrats, with her election, makes it parity for the first time in Congress where, for the first time in history, the largest delegation is half women and half men. So I am very proud to introduce to my colleagues one who will be a great Member and a great leader of this House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson).