Rodney Frelinghuysen

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson), the chairman of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), the chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart), the chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent), the chairman of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer).

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this responsible, necessary legislation. Let's keep the Federal Government open for business to serve our constituents across the Nation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mount Saint Dominic Academy of Caldwell, New Jersey on the occasion of its 125th Anniversary. Mount Saint Dominic Academy serves the surrounding community as an all-girls Catholic College Preparatory School dedicated to the education of young women from a variety of ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds. The institution's goal of inclusivity aims to both inspire and empower students to realize their unique gifts and talents in an academic atmosphere fostering excellence, respect, and diversity while at the same time reinforcing the Christian-centered value of moral integrity. The history of Mount Saint Dominic Academy began in 1892 with the Academy's founding by the Sisters of Saint Dominic. Although the Caldwell Dominican congregation was initially based in Jersey City, New Jersey, the municipality was ravaged by tuberculosis throughout the 1880s. With the threat of contracting the disease an everyday concern, Mother Mary Catharine Muth sought out a location for her ill sisters to recover. This refuge was found twenty miles west of Jersey City in the Borough of Caldwell. It was here where Mother Catharine purchased the Harrison Estate on Roseland Avenue, a plot of land comprising of a small home and garden where Mother Catharine taught day students and boarders, all the while, looking after her ill Sisters. Over the next decade as the student body increased, so did the necessity for larger quarters. In 1893, the cornerstone was laid for a new Motherhouse convent and school in Caldwell. In 1903, with the increased demand in time devoted toward the education of New Jersey's youth, the sisters decided to renounce their cloistered lifestyle and become Third Order Dominicans. By the late 1920s history repeated itself as the school saw a greater influx of new students. This influx led to renewed efforts to expand. Under Mother Joseph Dunn, the institute constructed a larger dormitory that came to encompass both the school itself as well as the residences for those boarding. More improvements and renovations were made under Sister Germaine in the 1950s to add additional classrooms, offices, and a larger library. Recently, the academy has continued to improve upon the renovations that took place during the twentieth century by continuing to add more physical alterations and expansions to the campus. Among these expansions has been the construction of a new 19,000 square foot athletic center to accommodate the growth in participation within women's athletics. Furthermore, under the guidance of Sister Francis Sullivan, the school transformed its former gymnasium into the Doris M. Byrne Performing Arts Center which offers Broadway quality experiences for both performers and patrons. These installments not only serve to improve the experiences of students attending the Academy, but are also available to benefit the greater West Essex community as well. Mount Saint Dominic Academy remains today one of New Jersey's foremost educational. institutions. Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and our colleagues join me in congratulating Mount Saint Dominic Academy on its 125th Anniversary.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mayor James ``JIM'' Oscovitch from the Township of Byram, New Jersey. Mayor James ``JIM'' Oscovitch has given over 20 years of service to the Township of Byram and its residents as an elected official, beginning his first term as a Council member in 1997 and then becoming Mayor in 2009. During that time, he served on its Planning Board and Recreation Committee. Jim has also served on the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, and as a member of Legislative Committee on Land Use for the New Jersey League of Municipalities. Jim is also very active within the community. He was a founding Board member of the Friends of Waterloo Village; a past Co-Chairman of the Andover-Byram Chamber of Commerce; and a past Board of Governors member and Parliamentarian of the Cranberry Lake Community Club. He has also served as a coach in the Township's youth sports programs and Byram's Boy Scout Troop 276, along with his son Matthew. An outdoors enthusiast, Jim can regularly be seen hiking and biking local trails, or conducting spin classes at a local fitness center. Jim has always been a very ``hands-on'' elected official, and in over eight years as Mayor, he has worked hard to establish a high level of professionalism within the township. Jim quickly earned a reputation for maintaining respect and decorum during public meetings. As ``the face of Byram Township,'' he has earned the respect of our neighboring municipalities and Sussex County, working closely with them to establish and maintain shared services programs. Jim Oscovitch is ending his over two decades of service to Byram on December 31, 2017. As Byram's Mayor--and most importantly, as a friend to Byram residents--Jim motivates everyone he works with to do their best. I am proud to have someone of his caliber among my constituents. Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and our colleagues join me in congratulating Mayor James ``Jim'' Oscovitch, on the occasion of his 20 years of extraordinary public service.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a concurrent resolution and ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Morristown & Morris Township Public Library's Willis Wing, located in Morristown, New Jersey on the occasion of its 100th Anniversary. Library services have been available in Morristown since 1792. The first circulating library consisted of 97 members and 96 books. The Morristown Library Association was formed in 1812 and by the middle of the 19th century the library had grown to several thousand volumes. From 1875 to 1914 the Library was housed on South Street in the Morristown Library and Lyceum, an organization that officially incorporated in 1866. Its collection grew from 8,000 books to over 30,000 when the building, and almost everything in it, was destroyed by fire in 1914. A temporary library was soon opened in the old YMCA building on South Street. With money from both insurance and the sale of the land on which the Library and Lyceum stood, the property at the corner of Miller Road and South Street was purchased with the intention of building a new library building. In 1916, Grinnell Willis, a retired textile merchant who lived in Morristown since 1889, approached the Library Trustees and offered to pay the entire cost of a new fireproof building. The new Library would be built in ``grateful remembrance of the love and affection bestowed on his late wife by her friends and neighbors in Morristown.'' The day after Mr. Willis made his offer, an Act of Incorporation for the Morristown Library was filed. Its objective was ``to establish and maintain a free public library and reading rooms, to establish and maintain an art gallery and museum for the encouragement of arts and science, to establish and maintain a collection of books and documents of historic interest and to advance the literary and educational interests of the community.'' On December 13, 1917 the Library, with 8,000 volumes and a staff of four was opened to the public. In 1929, with the collection now totaling 43,500 volumes, Mr. Willis funded the cost of an addition to the original 1917 building. This addition, which opened in 1930, contained the Children's Wing. Grinnell Willis died shortly after the new wing was completed. In his will he left the library an endowment of $200,000. The Library continued to grow and serve its public as an association library until 1966 when the residents of Morristown and Morris Township united in the support, maintenance, and control of a joint free public library. In 1987 the cornerstone was laid for an addition to the Library largely financed by Edythe and Dean Dowling, which became the Dowling Wing. In addition to the generosity of the Dowlings, many members of the community contributed to this addition which doubled the size of the Library. In 2006, the latest addition of the Library was completed. Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and our colleagues join me in congratulating the Morristown & Morris Township Public Library's Willis Wing, on the occasion of its Centennial Anniversary.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 569) providing for the concurrence by the House in the Senate amendment to H.R. 2266, with an amendment.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material in consideration of H. Res. 569.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present H. Res. 569, making additional supplemental appropriations for disaster relief requirements for the current fiscal year to help respond to recent devastating natural disasters. Over the past 2 months, millions of Americans have had their lives forever altered by destructive hurricanes in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, and by raging and deadly wildfires in the West. We all support those who are victimized, particularly those who lost their lives or lost loved ones, and we will continue to be with them every step of the way with the Federal support they need as they recover and rebuild. Our thanks go to the first responders, volunteers, and States who saved countless lives, protected communities, and demonstrated the best of humanity; that includes FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, and many other Federal agencies for getting the first installment of relief to those in need. However, with such massive, unprecedented damage, more help is clearly needed to continue to respond to these recovery efforts, to rebuild communities with dollars, with resources, with manpower, and with our support. This emergency funding legislation, the second installment, addresses urgent short-term immediate priorities: replenishing FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund, supporting ongoing Federal wildfire suppression efforts, providing debt relief for the Federal Flood Insurance Program, and other assistance that will help our fellow Americans in their time of greatest need. To summarize the $36.5 billion in emergency funding provided in this bill, in total, $18.7 billion is provided for the Disaster Relief Fund. This includes $13.77 billion for the most immediate response needs: lifesaving missions, emergency protection, the repair and restoration of public infrastructure like communications, power, transportation, and, yes, shelter, and financial assistance to individuals and families affected as they rebuild their lives. This package also includes $4.9 billion for community disaster loans, which will ensure local governments are able to provide basic municipal services such as police and fire protection and public education throughout this trying time. In addition to the Disaster Relief Fund, this bill provides a one- time payment of $1.27 billion to allow Puerto Rico and our fellow citizens to receive the same access to emergency disaster and nutrition program benefits that other States receive. The bill also ensures that the National Flood Insurance Program is able to meet its existing claim obligations as Americans cope with the tremendous flood damage to their homes and communities. For wildlife suppression, the bill contains $576.5 million. As we have seen, the situation out West has grown even more desperate and deadly. We must ensure that those heroic firefighters can continue to save lives and protect property. As we know, the needs of each disaster area are ever changing. Consequently, our Appropriations Committee and all of our Members continue to monitor the progress of recovery efforts as well as anticipate emerging needs. This will be a long process, Mr. Speaker, and the second package or installment of the Federal support will certainly not be all that is needed over the long term. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this bill. It is important for the Nation, for the communities affected, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), the chairman of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Appropriations.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon), whose leadership in this time of crisis we all salute.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.