Mike Honda

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. I support this process, and I hope my colleagues will support my efforts to make it the permanent solution to the debt crisis. I urge a ``no'' vote on the resolution, but I support this process that allows it.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to voice my concerns about provisions in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act that put communities, taxpayers and the environment at risk by undermining the National Environmental Policy Act. NEPA reviews have been useful for identifying potentially costly problems with water projects, allowing changes to save taxpayer dollars and avoid delays. This bill contains so-called ``streamlining'' provisions based on the flawed notion that NEPA is causing project delays; but studies have shown that other factors, like insufficient funding for the Corps, are the cause of delays. The bill limits public participation in the decision-making process, which will deny the Corps the benefit of public and expert input. I ask the chairman to work, as this bill moves forward, to ensure that the bill does not degrade the NEPA process. I also hope that the chairman will work with me to provide the Corps the authority to perform ecosystem restoration work on lands owned by other Federal agencies, which is needed to complete important projects such as the South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. I tried to offer a simple amendment to the Water Resources Reform and Development Act today, but the Rules Committee did not make my amendment in order. Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers has the authority to use construction funds to perform flood protection work on lands owned by other Federal agencies, but the Corps does not have the legal authority to use construction funds to perform ecosystem restoration work on lands owned by other Federal agencies. In 2013, we all believe that good flood protection projects must incorporate ecosystem restoration, and the Corps has the ability to do integrated projects like this everywhere else except on lands owned by another Federal agency. This poses a significant hurdle in the case of the South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, which seeks to return the San Francisco Bay to its natural state and provide flood protection and wetlands restoration. In this case, the State of California and the United States Government, through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, own the land on which the project will be performed even though most of the funding to buy the land came from the State and non-Federal interests. The Corps has told the local partners that it does not have the legal authority to perform the ecosystem restoration aspects of this work on lands owned by the Fish and Wildlife Service and that it needs Congress to provide that authority. My amendment simply sought to fix this situation by granting the Corps that authority so it could pursue this joint flood protection and ecosystem restoration project. I ask Chairmen Shuster and Gibbs and Ranking Members Rahall and Bishop to work with me as this bill goes to conference with the Senate in order to provide the Corps with the authority it needs to carry out this project and projects for which it has already been authorized to perform feasibility studies.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor veterans from America's greatest generation and thank the Government of Japan for recognizing the sacrifices of these men. On Sunday, October 13, seven former members or widows of former members of the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Air Corps, and U.S. Marines who fought in the Pacific Theater of World War II--and who were once prisoners of war of Imperial Japan--will travel to Japan as guests of the Japanese government. Marking an act of historic reconciliation and remembrance, this is the fourth delegation of U.S. POWs to visit Japan through this program. Their first trip to Japan was on aging freighters called ``Hellships,'' where the men were loaded into suffocating holds with little space, water, food, or sanitation. The conditions in which they were held are unimaginable. At the POW camps in the Philippines, Japan and China, they suffered unmerciful abuse aggravated by the lack of food, medical care, clothing, and appropriate housing. Each POW also became a slave laborer at the mines, factories, and docks of some of Japan's largest companies. In the end, nearly 40 percent of the American POWs held by Japan perished; compared to two percent of those in Nazi Germany's POW camps. The POWs of this delegation slaved for Mitsubishi, Nippon Express, Sumitomo, Nisshin Flour, Hitachi, Dowa Holdings, and JFE Holdings. In September 2010, the Japanese government delivered to the first American POW delegation an official, Cabinet-approved apology for the damage and suffering these men endured. Although the Japanese government had hosted POWs from the wartime Allies of the United States since the late 1990s, the 2010 trip was the first trip to Japan for American POWs. It was also the first official apology to any prisoners of war held by Japan. I know that the American POWs fought hard for this recognition. Dr. Lester Tenney of California, a former POW who mined coal for Mitsui, was instrumental in persuading the Government of Japan to offer the apology and initiate the trips of reconciliation. He says he is ``honored to have had the opportunity of assisting the U.S. State Department and the Japanese Embassy in arranging this year's POW Visitation Program. Like the years past, the visit will no doubt yield many memories while at the same time erase many bad experiences that left its mark on the POWs. This year, for the first time, Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs has allowed three widows of former POWs to participate in the program and visit the sites of their husbands' Japanese prison camps located in various cities in Japan.'' I thank the POWs for their persistent pursuit of justice, and commend the U.S. State Department for helping them. I also appreciate the willingness of the Japanese government to pursue an historic and meaningful apology. It is my hope that the POW Visitation Program continues to expand, and that it will be a healing mechanism for the POWs, their families and communities. Now, it is time for the many Japanese companies that used POWs for slave labor during World War II to follow the example of their government by offering an apology and supporting programs for lasting remembrance and reconciliation. Mr. Speaker, I wish these men a fulfilling trip to Japan, and I hope that their trip contributes to securing the historic peace between the U.S. and our important ally Japan. Fourth U.S. POW Delegation to Japan, October 13-21, 2013 Phillip W. Coon, 94, is a full blood Muscogee Creek who grew up in Oklahoma. After graduating from the Haskell Institute (today's Haskell Indian Nations University) in Lawrence, Kansas, he enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 29, 1941. He was assigned to the 31st Infantry Regiment and sent immediately to the Philippines Islands aboard the USAT Willard A. Holbrook arriving on October 23, 1941. At Fort McKinley he trained as a .30 caliber machine gunner (M1919 Browning). He fought on Bataan Peninsula against the invading Japanese forces and was surrendered on April 9. Forced on the infamous 65-mile Bataan Death March, he was subjected to capricious cruelty and abuse, denied water, food, rest and protection from the sun. Nearly all on the March had surrendered sick and malnourished causing thousands to die before they reached their destination of Camp O'Donnell. Coon credits his survival to God, or as he said, ``We ran out of food, ammunition and men, but we didn't run out of prayer.'' His first POW Camp was Camp O'Donnell where he worked burial detail. For the next two years, he was held at Cabanatuan, Camp Lipa-Batangas, Camp Murphy-Rizal, and Bilibid. On October 1, 1944, he was shipped via Hong Kong on the Hellship Hokusen Maru to Taiwan where he was held briefly at the Inrin Temporary POW Camp. From Taiwan he was sent to Moji, Japan, via the Hellship Melbourne Maru arriving January 23, 1945. He was then shipped north to Sendai and became a slave laborer mining cooper for Fujita Gumi Kosaka Kozan (today's Dowa Holdings Co. Ltd.) at the Sendai-#8B Kosaka POW Camp. After his liberation in September 1945, he returned to the U.S. and was discharged from service as a Corporal on June 24, 1946. He returned home to work as Union Painter doing high-scaffold work. Helen, his wife of 67 years, died this spring. Mr. Coon lives with his son, Michael, a Vietnam vet who works with DAV Creek County Chapter #9 as a Service Officer helping veterans with their disability claims. Six members of the Muscogee Creek Nation became prisoners of Japan on the Philippines: five from Corregidor and Mr. Coon who was on Bataan. POW#Unknown Lora Cummins, 87, is the widow of Ferron E. Cummins (1917-1990). She lives in San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Cummins grew up in New Mexico where he graduated in 1938 from Tyler Commercial College in Texas and went to work as a bookkeeper for the First National Bank in Hagerman, New Mexico (today's First American Bank). In November 1940, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and had his Basic Training at Brooks and Kelly Fields near San Antonio, Texas. He was assigned to the V Interceptor Command, 24th Pursuit Group, 34th Pursuit Squadron at Hamilton Field, California. In November 1941, Cummins was transferred to the Philippines Islands aboard the USS Coolidge. He arrived on November 20 and was assigned to Nichols Field. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines on December 8, he was sent to Aglaloma Point, Bataan to fight with the 71st Infantry joining men from all branches of the Armed Services. He was surrendered on April 9, 1942 and forced on the infamous 65-mile Bataan Death March on April 10, 1942 from Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell arriving on April 21, 1942. From Camp O'Donnell, he was moved to Cabanatuan, then Bilibid. At these camps he survived sunstroke, dysentery, malaria, dengue fever, wet and dry beriberi, yellow jaundice, and blindness. In August 1944, he was shipped to Moji, Japan, aboard the Hellship Noto Maru. He was taken to Hiroshima and became a slave stevedore for Hitachi Shipyard (today's Hitachi Zosen Corporation) at Mukaijima [Mukaishima] Hiroshima Sub-camp #4. A Japanese elementary school in Mukaishima today honors the memory of the men of this camp. On August 6, 1945, he felt the air warm and watched a three-mile high mushroom cloud rise above Hiroshima from the atomic bomb. He was officially liberated September 14, 1945. He returned to Lake Arthur, New Mexico where he remained in the Air Force and married the girl down the street, Lora Mae Lane. Upon retirement, he owned a laundry and vending machine business. In 1967, the family moved to San Antonio, Texas where he worked for SEARS. He and Lora had one child, Glenda, and were married 43 years. Lora was a civilian employee of the Air Force. He passed away on March 26, 1990 of a heart attack just days after returning from his second trip to the Philippines with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson, Ferron. Mr. Cummins is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. POW# 115 Robert B. Heer, 92, lives in Sequim, Washington. He grew up in Iowa and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in June 1940 becoming a carpenter with the 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bomb Group (Heavy), V Bomber Command stationed at March Field, California. He was stationed at Kirtland Field in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before being ordered to the Philippine Islands in October 1941 He arrived on October 23, 1941 aboard USAT Willard A. Holbrook and was sent to Clark Field. On December 29, 1941, the 30th Bombardment Squadron was evacuated to Mindanao and he was sent to the Del Monte Airfield. He was surrendered on May 10 and sent to Camp Casisang, about five kilometers southwest of Malaybalay, Mindanao. On September 6, 1942, the Generals and Colonels were removed from Camp Casisang and sent to Formosa (Taiwan). Heer served as an orderly to Brig. General Joseph P. Vachon, the former C.O. of the Philippine Army's 101st Division on Mindanao, with whom Bob Heer was sent to Karenko POW Camp via the freighter Suzuya Maru. At Karenko he wrote a message to his family that the Japanese broadcast to the U.S. over shortwave radio. In May 1943, he was shipped to Heito POW Camp to clear and work in sugar cane fields. He remained there nearly a year before being moved to Taihoku POW Camp #6 where he slaved at building a memorial park for Japanese soldiers and a man-made lake for the irrigation of rice fields. In early 1945, he was shipped to Japan, first to the port of Moji on Kyushu and then north to Hokkaido. There he was first a slave stevedore for the Hakodate Port Transportation Company at Hakodate 2-D POW. In late May 1945, he was moved north to become a slave laborer mining coal for Sumitomo Mining (today's Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd.) at Hakodate #2 Akihira POW Camp. He was liberated in early September 1945, when American Army records clerks arrived and told them the war was over. After liberation, Heer remembers eating well and gaining 40 pounds in Japan, making friends with post-war civilians there. ``I was giving food to the Japanese,'' he said, even eating dinner with one family who invited him in after he gave them matches and soap, which was in short supply. On April 20, 1946, Heer was honorably discharged from the Air Corps at Camp Beale (Beale A.F.B.) in California. He used the GI Bill to earn a degree in photography from the Fred Archer School of Photography in Los Angeles, California. Missing friends and the military life, he returned to active duty with the Air Force in 1950, retiring in 1966 as a Technical Sergeant. In retirement he has worked as an amateur historian of American POWs of Japan and embarked on a ``third career'' as a house husband. He has been married to Karen Harper since 1989, and has four children from two previous marriages. POW# 330 Esther Jennings, 90, is the widow of Clinton S. Jennings (1919-2004). She lives in San Francisco, California. Mr. Jennings, a California native, served in the Civilian Conservation Corps before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1941. He was sent to the Philippine Islands the same year aboard the USS Republic (AP-33). He was stationed on Corregidor to join Battery ``K'' 59th Coast Artillery Regiment where he helped man fixed 60" Searchlights No. 1 through 8, plus a number of 60" and 30" mobile seacoast searchlights. Surrendered on May 6, 1942, he was sent to a series of POW camps on the Philippines: Bongabong, Cabanatuan, Lipa-Batanga, and Bilibid. In July 1944, he was herded along with 1,600 other American POWs aboard the Hellship Nissyo Marti to be shipped to Japan. The nightmarish two-week voyage to Moji, Japan included an attack by an American submarine wolfpack on the unmarked transport. Jennings was first held in Fukuoka-23-Keisen as slave laborer mining coal for Meiji Mining [Meiji Kogyo] Hirayama Mine (The company was dissolved in 1969, but its exploration and research division became independent as Meiji Consultant Co., Ltd. in 1965, and still exists). He was then transferred to Fukuoka #9B, located near the town of Miyata (now the city of Miyawaka), again to be a slave laborer mining coal, but for Kaijima Coal Mining Onoura Mine (the company no longer exists). After the war, he spent 25 years in the Army working in finance. He retired in 1965 and worked in public finance at the Bank of America retiring again in 1985. Jennings was a dedicated volunteer: he spent 27 years at KQED; 24 years at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; and 20 years for the San Francisco Opera Guild where he enjoyed being a supernumerary. He was a member of American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor; American Ex-Prisoners of War; Philippine Scouts Heritage Society; American Legion; San Francisco History Association; VFW; Military Order of the Purple Heart; Past President of Golden Gate Chapter #18 of National Sojourners; Native Sons of the Golden West, Guadalupe Parlor; The Great War Society; Past Master of Masonic Lodge San Francisco #120; Scottish Rite, Shriners; President of the National Assn. of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni; The Retired Officers Association and the Reserve Officers Association. He was married to Esther Bloom for 34 years and had three children from a prior marriage. He succumbed to cancer on October 28, 2004. Mr. Jennings is buried at Hills of Eternity, Colma, California. POW# Unknown Erwin R. Johnson, 91, divides his time between Wynantskill, New York, outside of Albany and Lacombe, Louisiana. He grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in September 1940. He was assigned to the 48th Materiel Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group (Light), V Bomber Command where he was trained as a mechanic for A-20 fighter planes. He was transferred to the Philippine Islands aboard the USS President Coolidge in November 1941, arriving on November 20th and was deployed to Fort McKinley south of Manila. When Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands in December 1941, though not trained as an infantryman, Johnson was issued a rifle and ordered to defend against the Japanese advance. He and all American and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula were surrendered on April 9, 1942. Immediately, he was forced on the infamous 65-mile Bataan Death March to Camp O'Donnell. He recalls many horrific events during the march; maybe the worst was a Japanese guard bayoneting to death a Filipino mother and her baby for trying to pass food to the starving, sick POWs. At Camp O'Donnell he volunteered for work duty building bridges and other projects. Later that year, he was transferred to Cabanatuan where he volunteered for work details outside of the Camp. He was among 500 other American POWs shipped from the tropical Philippines to the freezing Mukden, China (today's Shenyang) in October 1942 aboard Mitsubishi's Hellship Tottori Maru via Formosa and Korea to Manchukuo (Manchuria). None of the men had winter clothing. Johnson was housed at the Hoten POW Camp and became a slave laborer at MKK (Manshu Kosaku Kikai or Manchouko Kibitsu Kaishi, which some researchers believe was owned by Mitsubishi and known as Manchuria Mitsubishi Machine Tool Company, Ltd.). The camp was liberated in August 1945 by Russian and OSS forces. Discharged in June 1946, he used the GI bill to obtain a mechanical engineering degree from Tulane University. He worked for a number of technology manufacturing companies in Southern California including North American Aviation (today's Boeing) and eventually returned to Louisiana, retiring from the Port of New Orleans in 1993. In retirement, he and his wife Margaret traveled throughout the United States and were active in a number of veterans and POW organizations. Margaret, his wife of 53 years, passed away in 2010. Together they raised five boys. In 2011, he married Ann Wilbur Lampins whose brother, Staff Sgt Charles S. Wilbur, was also a member of the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was with the 28th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, Far East Air Force in the Philippines. He too became a prisoner of Imperial Japan and was also shipped to Mukden. He died of pneumonia soon after arrival on December 28, 1942. The Johnsons are active members of the Mukden POW Survivors group and other veterans' organizations. POW # 277 Marjean McGrew, 87, is the widow of Alfred Curtis McGrew (1922-2008). She lives in San Diego, California. Mr. McGrew grew up in Columbus, Ohio. After high school and briefly working with the Civilian Conservation Corps, he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Hayes. In January 1941, his unit sailed to the Philippine Islands aboard the USS Republic (AP-33). He took Basic Training at the 92nd Garage on Corregidor and was assigned to Battery ``D'' (Denver) 60th Coast Artillery (A.A.). He was transferred to Battery ``H'' (Hartford) 60th, Coast Artillery (A.A.) at Herring Field, Middleside and was taken prisoner there on May 6, 1942, with the surrender of Corregidor and the Philippines. He was held in the following POW camps: 92nd Garage, Bilibid, Cabanatuan 2 and 1; Camp O'Donnell, Nichols Field. In August 1944, he was shipped to Moji, Japan aboard the Hellship Noto Maru. In Japan, McGrew became a slave stevedore for Nippon Express (still in operation) at Omori Tokyo Base Camp; then a slave stevedore for Nisshin Flour Milling Dispatched Camp (Tokyo 24-D) (today's Nisshin Seifun Group); and finally at Suwa Branch Camp (Tokyo 6-B) he was a slave laborer for Nippon Steel Tube & Mining Company (today's JFE Holdings). He was liberated in Yokohama on September 6, 1945. He later became an Honorary Member and friend of the U.S. Army 503rd Parachute Regiment Combat Team (RCT) who liberated Corregidor from the Japanese in 1945, and the 4th Marine Regiment who had defended it. After returning to Columbus, he met and married Marjean Herres of Bellefontaine, Ohio (the love of his life for 59 years). They moved to San Diego to be nearer the ocean and raise their two children, Vicki and Steve. He retired from Control Data Corporation after 27 years when the manufacturing division left San Diego. In retirement, McGrew traveled back to Corregidor many times to collect photos, documents, and data from those who served on Corregidor. During his many trips back, he sat in the ruins of Corregidor thinking of the great times and the bad times as well as the many young friends he lost. As a long-time amateur historian, he assisted many families and friends in their search for information on their loved ones serving and/or captured on Corregidor. McGrew's approach to life was to use humor as a base for survival and survive he did several times in his life. For fun, he enjoyed scuba diving, golfing, table tennis, camping, and traveling with his wife around the U.S. in their R.V. Mrs. McGrew was a nurse and an avid folk dancer. He succumbed to cancer on January 27, 2008, surrounded by his loving children and his wife. Mr. McGrew is buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, California. POW# Unknown Marvin A. Roslansky, 91, lives with his wife Josephine in Mesa, Arizona. Mr. Roslansky grew up in Minnesota and enlisted in the Marine Corps in the spring of 1941. He was sent to Guam in September 1941. He was one of 153 Marines assigned to defend Guam, a U.S. territory administered by the U.S. Navy in the Pacific. As a member of the Insular Patrol Unit, he fought in the brief defense of the island (December 8-9, 1941) and was captured by invading Japanese forces. On January 10, 1942, the American prisoners of the Guam garrison including five nurses and a civilian mother and child were shipped to prison camps in Japan aboard the MS Argentina Maru, what was Mitsui's OSK Line's fastest ship. Arriving in Japan on January 16, 1942, he was taken to Shikoku and imprisoned at the Zentsuji POW Camp (Zentsuji was originally built to house German prisoners of the Japanese in World War I). The camp was on an island about 400 miles west of Tokyo. He spent the rest of the war there as a slave stevedore for Nippon Express (still in operation) working 12-hour days at the Sakaide Rail Yards and the Port of Takamatsu. He was liberated September 27, 1945. After the war, he lived in Racine, Wisconsin where he owned an auto parts business. Retired in 1981, he volunteered at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee as well as doing veterans service work for the DAV, the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, and the Milwaukee Barb Wire, East Valley, and Prairieland Minnesota Chapters of AXPOW. With his first wife, Iva, he raised four daughters and three sons. He married Josephine Plourde in 2010. POW# Unknown

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, to open the government and go to conference on a budget so that we end this Republican government shutdown.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. I want to thank the gentlelady from Hawaii. I just have to say offhandedly that this is a wonderful, candid interchange, one that needs to be heard, witnessed, and participated in because the way the rules of the House are set up, there is very little exchange between the different parties here on the floor. The rules are very rigid, and it disallows debate and interchange of ideas and discussion, a discussion that is very, very needed in this country because through this discussion that we just had, as candid and as colorful and as interactive as it was, it was informative. And, hopefully, the information that was shared between the gentleman from Texas and the gentlewoman from Hawaii and the gentlewoman from Florida was helpful and would raise some questions in the minds of individuals watching and listening to us, and perhaps asking themselves, Is this all true? Hopefully, it will drive them to check it out and see if the information that was exchanged was valid and factual. I believe they will find it is.

Mr. HONDA. As our past Senator Inouye would have said, mahalo, sister. Mr. Speaker, I come here from California. My friend, Ms. Hanabusa, comes from the islands of Hawaii. All of us here in this body came here to do things that will make our country better, to help us build a more perfect Union. We have different ideas on how we would do that; but like in the medical field, we should observe one rule before all else: do no harm. We should not be causing unnecessary suffering, inflicting unnecessary pain on our country or on our economy and those who sent us here to try to improve their lives. Here we are on day 12 of the Republican government shutdown and less than a week from an unprecedented government default; and every day that the Republican majority does not allow a clean vote to reopen the government and give us a long-term certainty on the debt ceiling, they are violating that most important rule: do no harm. Critical child care, nutrition support, lifesaving research, small business capital, high-tech and groundbreaking research and development, home loans, affordable housing, veterans benefits, tax support, visas and passports are all negatively affected. And the list goes on and on to touch nearly every sector of the economy, with the cost to our economy compounding every day; $50 billion is the estimated cost to the economy over a month's time. As we get closer and closer to defaulting on our debt obligations, we are causing more and more undue harm to our economy. A failure to make payments on any part of our debt for any amount of time would cause severe disruptions in the global financial markets, downgrade the creditworthiness of the United States, and do long-term harm to the economy. If we defaulted, Social Security, Medicare, and veterans benefits could all be disrupted. Retirement accounts would be devastated, State and local governments might be forced to default, and their ripple effects would be felt all over the world. Mr. Speaker, time is running out, and the world is watching. There is nowhere for us to hide from our obligations. Let's start the process of ending this manufactured crisis and stop inflicting unnecessary harm to our economy and to our people. Let's lift this cloud from over our economy and have the vote that Americans have been waiting for. Let me just close, my friend, with this other personal observation. We know the phrase PTSD, and we know about its devastating effects on people. I suspect the kinds of things we are doing here--or not doing here--is causing or inflicting a massive PTSD upon our seniors, our families, and those who are trying to make ends meet. I appreciated you doing this Special Order for us.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. I want to thank you, my friend, for this opportunity and this dialogue. It is a shame that we don't have the same dialogue across the aisle, but our rules prohibit us from being able to create that dialogue and debate in front of this country. As a result, we have this moment in time where we are able to share as members of the California delegation, but also as members of this Democratic Caucus. We are here today, on day 10, of the Republican government shutdown that has cost over $3 billion in lost economic activity so far. And because of the compounding nature of the economic effects, it is estimated that over a month's time, the economy will be drained of $50 billion. Almost 1 million people should be working today, and they are not. When our government is forced to shut down, it hurts our economy, closes essential services for low-income families, and disrupts the lives of real people in all of our districts, regardless of where we represent. Important government services that benefit all of us are suspended. In my district, I have heard from young people that were furloughed, the young employees of the NASA Ames facility. They are wondering how they are going to be able to make rent to stay in their homes or to make ends meet. The investigators that were working on finding the underlying causes of the Asiana crash and coming up with ways to make air travel safer, we sent home. I have also heard from those who are waiting to hear back on their Social Security benefits appeals. Because the appeals office is closed, they will not hear back on their cases until this shutdown is over, which means they have less means to make ends meet. There is no reason this should be happening. All of this pain is absolutely and completely unnecessary. We do have the bipartisan votes, however, to end this shutdown today if the Speaker would allow a clean vote. That might be the most frustrating part of all of this. Actually, it is the most frustrating part of all of this, that we have the votes here on both sides of the aisle if the Speaker allows us to vote. I am not sure what it is that he is afraid of, but if he let that go and let us vote and let the people vote, then we may be able to reflect the desires and the reflections of what people are feeling in this country. Speaker Boehner and the Republican majority in the House refuse to do their job, and I think they really do believe they are doing their job. I pray that they see and understand that there is real human suffering and economic suffering that comes as a direct result of these irresponsible political tactics, both on the government-wide shutdown and on the debt limit. For House Democrats, this is not a game. On the debt ceiling, the full faith and credit of the United States should never be in jeopardy. That is our position, and that is the position of economists and business leaders, and that should be the attitude of this Congress. Warren Buffett called the debt limit a nuclear bomb. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said: Economic damage associated with default or near default will be severe and have serious consequences for the recovery of the U.S. and global economy. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said: There is no debate that the seriousness of the U.S. not paying its debts is the most serious thing we have. The president of the American Bankers Association and former Republican Governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating, said a default would cost ``hundreds of billions of dollars,'' and even the slightest impact on interest rates ``would cascade throughout the economy.'' This government shutdown and the looming threat of an unprecedented government default are doing significant harm to our economy. The only ones that can't see that are Speaker Boehner and the Tea Party Republicans. House Democrats have started the process on forcing a vote on a clean CR to reopen the government and will soon do the same with a vote on the debt limit. Americans want a vote. A reasonable majority in Congress want this vote. Speaker Boehner can call this vote today. But since he won't, we will try to force a vote as soon as House rules allow. Let's not go 1 more day without a functioning government. Let's stop these games, reopen the government, start the process of ending this manufactured crisis, lift this cloud from over our economy, and have the vote that Americans have been waiting for. Let us vote, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. HONDA. That is true. Mr. Takano, as you know, I represent a majority of the area that is commonly called ``Silicon Valley.'' We were doing relatively well with the shutdown; however, government contracts, entrepreneurship are going to be affected, and that trickles down throughout the system, including what we call the ``supply chains,'' where other companies throughout this country, in other parts of the State are affected also. This is almost like an arithmetic kind of extension of this impact when--I guess Warren Buffett said it best, that it is a nuclear bomb, because it just continues to spread its impact throughout our country and our economy.

Mr. HONDA. It is a dampening effect. I think people are less likely to invest, even though there is a great faith in the kinds of activities we have in Silicon Valley. I think those who have the resources to make the investments, they are going to be looking at it twice before they can move forward. I think that they are very concerned about the government's behavior in terms of how we manufacture crisis around the debt limit, how we manufacture crisis about the CR or the budget. All we need is what we proposed a few months ago, and that is a good, balanced budget that would drive this country forward economically and logically. No family functions without a good budget. What we are doing is we have created a budgetary crisis that guarantees--they have already done it--closure of the government or the dysfunction of a family. When you do that, all hell breaks loose. This is what is happening to our elders, our children, our preschools. There is not a system that has not been affected. The military, our veterans, they are all being affected. So we have to really make sure that the public understands what it is that is happening.

Mr. HONDA. Yes. I just want to close by thanking you for this opportunity. The gentleman and I are both educators. And educators know one thing: how to ask a question and come to a logical conclusion. And the logical conclusion right now is that we should have never gotten to this point. We should have never gotten to a point where we shut down this government. We should have done the right thing to make sure that the full faith and credit of our country, like our reputation, is honored. So we need to get back to that point.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Taiwan's National Day--a day more commonly referred to as Double Ten Day as it falls on October 10. Double 10 Day is a joyous and important day for the Taiwanese people, and I am proud to join in the celebration of this anniversary. The United States and Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China, have long enjoyed a mutual and beneficial friendship--one forged by our political, economic, cultural, and strategic ties. This strong alliance is predicated in part on shared values. In fact, Taiwan has nurtured a stable democracy and vibrant economy that encourages the entrepreneurial spirit. In the past year, the U.S.-Taiwan relationship has been further strengthened through Taiwan's inclusion in the U.S. visa-waiver program and the resumption of trade talks between our two countries, as part of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. Taiwan has become an economic engine in Asia and it continues to play a critical role in the global supply chain for technology products. In 2012, Taiwan imported over $6 billion in goods from California and it is currently our country's 7th largest export market in the world. I have had the pleasure of meeting President Ma and Ambassador King Pu- Tsung, and believe their strong visionary leadership will continue to fortify the bridge between our two countries. As the Representative of California's 17th district and as the Chair Emeritus of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I know firsthand the invaluable impact of the more than 13,000 people of Taiwanese descent residing in the heart of Silicon Valley, and the more than 180,000 Taiwanese-Americans living in the San Francisco Bay Area. In fact, Santa Clara Valley is home to the 2nd largest Taiwanese- American population in the U.S., after San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. Tens of thousands of people annually visit the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sunnyvale. Again, Mr. Speaker, I extend my congratulations and best wishes to the people of Taiwan--and to the Taiwanese-Americans in my district and across this country--on the occasion of the 102nd anniversary of the Republic of China (Taiwan) on their National Day this October 10.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. I thank my friend for leading this group, and also providing the rest of the country the understanding and the idea that there's work being done here. There are creative minds in Congress that are looking at the issue of manufacturing and creating jobs. I dare say that the word ``manufacturing'' probably, for many people in this country, conjures up the old-fashioned traditional kinds of work. But today we've heard nothing but the upgraded, the high tech, the kind of manufacturing that requires many, many other States to cooperate with each other in order for something to happen. So the American manufacturing renaissance is really essential for a full and sustainable economic recovery. National Manufacturing Day is an opportunity to highlight manufacturing's importance and outsized contributions to America's economy. Manufacturing can generate 70 percent of exports in both advanced and emerging manufacturing, and up to 90 percent of business research and development spending. Just in my home State of California, there are over 40,000 manufacturers that account for over 1.2 million jobs and $230 billion of output. Small supplying contractor manufacturers like Cal Weld, in Fremont, California, which I was going to visit, but I think that our calendar is going to delay that visit. Cal Weld, in Fremont, California, plays a key role in the worldwide supply chain system. The term ``supply chain'' is a concept that's not well understood nor well-discussed. But a supply chain is necessary for any manufacturer to be able to produce their products. These manufacturing jobs are high-paying, and they are job multipliers, a term that's been used previously. High-paying and they are job multipliers. Each manufacturing job creates 47 additional non- manufacturing jobs in other industries like customer service, transportation and other service-oriented sectors. Manufacturing outputs are almost 12 percent of our gross state product in California and account for 87 percent of our exports. So manufacturing has and continues to be the platform for building a solid middle class all across this country, the United States and abroad. For these reasons and others, I remind my colleagues today that we have plenty of work to do to provide appropriate funding for innovation, appropriate funding for research and development to rebuild and educate a skilled manufacturing workforce, and to provide targeted tax incentives to protect and re-shore the manufacturing supply chain. The term ``re-shore'': bringing back the manufacturing supply chain that has been decimated for over the 30-year period of outsourcing. We can and must rebuild manufacturing capacity and leadership in the United States. For those reasons, I'm very proud to be part of this caucus, the Manufacturing Caucus. And we shall work together to knit together all our ideas and our bills to make sure that we have a network of supply chains and manufacturers that will provide all the jobs that we need to build a stronger middle class.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I along with Representative Swalwell, rise today to honor Ms. Jean Ficklin of Newark, California, a highly distinguished community member who, along with her husband Herman and four children, has been a resident of Newark for fifty years. Ms. Ficklin's excellence in education and promotion of African American culture and history is why she will be honored at the South County NAACP's 35th Annual Community Awards Gala in Hayward. Ms. Ficklin set the stage for future instructors of color by being the first African American instructor in the school district. She spent thirty-three years educating and inspiring our youth as a teacher, ending her career in 1987 at Newark Unified School District. Since her retirement, Ms. Ficklin has remained an active member in the community. She founded the Afro-American Cultural & Historical Society, Inc., an organization whose mission is to bring cross-cultural understanding of the African American community through the collection and preservation of art, artifacts, recorded media, and the sponsorship and coordination of awareness events. The organization's reach is vast and covers Newark and the Tri-City area, including Fremont, Union City, and Hayward. Ms. Ficklin also holds memberships in the NAACP and Alpha Delta Kappa International Sorority for Women Educators, among a variety of other groups. The City of Newark, the California State Senate and Assembly, the County of Alameda, and so many more have previously recognized Ms. Ficklin for her excellence as an educator and cultural historian. Please join us in honoring the extraordinary accomplishments of Ms. Jean Ficklin and her outstanding dedication to improving our society and fostering cultural understanding. May her love of education and her endless compassion continue to flow throughout our community.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Thank you, my friend. I want to add my thanks to you for convening this group and being joined by my good friends from Texas, the gentleman from San Antonio and the gentlelady from Houston. The comments I want to make to the Speaker are two things. One, I want to share with the people of this country some information that maybe many people don't know about who you are, my friend. We have something in common. We spent 2 years in Peace Corps--you in Ethiopia and I in El Salvador. From those experiences, we understand the kinds of impact that we could have as individuals from this country. Through the program of Peace Corps that President Kennedy had put together, we've been able to accrue a lifelong journey and experience that allows us to reflect rather deeply and profoundly the impacts that government can have, both positive and negative. I do know, from my observation of your history in California, that being the first commissioner of insurance in the State of California was significant. That experience has to have some import and some insights into what's going on today in terms of the Affordable Care Act and President Obama's efforts in trying to make sure that this country allows each and every person coverage as individuals in this country and the benefit that it brings about. The fact that you were the first commissioner of insurance also allowed you the interesting insight of the impact of the health insurance companies and how they manage to impact the cost of health care. I think being the commissioner of insurance in California also has to give you a sense of pride when October 1 is the day that we had kicked off the State exchange to cover California. That has to give you a sense of accomplishment, but also a sense of dismay that there are folks here who would use the political process to deny people the coverage that they need in order to have a good health program. I just wanted to share those thoughts not only with you, but with the folks who are viewing us in this country so that they know that we're standing here not because we want to take up time and space, but we want to utilize the experience that we have accrued over time for the benefit of this country. That was the third mandate of Peace Corps, to come home and utilize all that we understand and invest it in this country. I just wanted to share that with you and with the rest of this country. Now, all day the beltway discussion has been centered on who has the leverage and who is paying the political cost of a government shutdown. What about the human costs, and what about our workers and their families? What about our economy? They cannot afford this. Today there are over 800,000 people that should be working that aren't, and there are people all over this country that rely on the work that these people do. As long as the majority wages this ideological war, the National Institutes of Health will not be able to accept new patients for lifesaving research. Our veterans will have to go without their disability and pension checks. American families will have their home loans stalled. Family businesses won't have access to the capital they need to grow, and pregnant women and young children will be prevented from receiving critical nutrition support. I urge my Republican colleagues to think about the families in their districts that don't have a vote on this floor. They expect much more from us and deserve a better outcome. Let's remember that at this very moment, the common denominator is that there is enough agreement in this body on a funding level to end this shutdown right now. Let's do that. Let's bring up the Senate continuing resolution, a clean one. Let's put people back to work and do what we were sent here to do: keep government working for the American people and fulfill our constitutional obligation. Thank you for this opportunity.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues from California, the Honorable Anna G. Eshoo and the Honorable Zoe Lofgren to express our most sincere congratulations to Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, who is retiring after a 30-year career with the Santa Clara county government. Dr. Fenstersheib is a Board Certified Pediatrician who trained in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and at the Milwaukee Children's Hospital in Wisconsin, and was in private practice in Greensboro, North Carolina. He received his Masters in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley and became Board Certified in Public Health and Preventative Medicine. Throughout his career in medicine and public health, Dr. Fenstersheib has shown an ardent commitment to underserved communities. He has worked with the Well Baby Clinics in San Francisco's Mission District; La Clinica, a migrant workers' clinic in Watsonville; and with Luchesa Migrant Workers Camp in Gilroy. Dr. Fenstersheib began his career with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department in 1984 as both the Medical Director of the immunization program and as a pediatric clinician for the Department's Refugee Health Program. In 1994, he became the Health Officer for Santa Clara County and held that position until his retirement. Dr. Fenstersheib founded the first HIV Early Intervention Clinical Program in California in 1987. This program became the model for the State of California and led to the establishment and funding of more than two dozen similar clinics in California. Additionally, Dr. Fenstersheib was at the forefront of combating the AIDS epidemic and served as a clinician caring for HIV infected persons for more than 27 years. Drs. Fenstersheib and Robert Frascino co-chaired the annual community education seminar on HIV in Santa Clara County for 11 years. Through these seminars, they provided healthcare professionals and patients with current information on HIV. Community involvement and engagement were hallmarks of Dr. Fenstersheib's career, as evidenced by the numerous boards and leadership positions he served on in Santa Clara County. These positions included: President of the California Conference of Local Health Officers, President of the Health Officers Association of California, Executive Member of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, Vice President of the Santa Clara County Medical Association, and Senior Fellow of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Leadership Forum. For his dedication, Dr. Fenstersheib was the recipient of several esteemed honors and awards, including: Santa Clara County Medical Association's Outstanding Contribution in Community Service award and Special Recognition by the California Department of Health Office of AIDS. Furthermore, Dr. Fenstersheib's instrumental leadership helped to pioneer the creation of two vital Santa Clara County programs. He was a founding member of the Santa Clara County Health Services Planning Council. He also served as the first chair of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center's Department of Community Health and Preventative Medicine. Dr. Fenstersheib has been an outspoken voice for the public's health and the face of public health in Santa Clara County. He has been one of the most respected voices on issues of pediatric obesity, tobacco control, HIV, tuberculosis, childhood immunizations, and chronic disease prevention. It is in thanks for and in admiration of Dr. Fenstersheib that we read this Congressional Record today. We hope his legacy of public service will serve as an inspiration to others to support and serve their communities.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I just want to thank my colleague, Congressman Cardenas, for bringing everyone together to support immigration reform and in recognition of Constitution Day, Citizenship Day, and Constitution Week. From Angel Island to Ellis Island, from our northern to southern borders, from the fertile earth of Steinbeck country, to innovation's epicenter of Silicon Valley, immigration issues and immigrants have touched every corner and facet of our Nation. As the Representative of California's 17th District, I have witnessed how this immigrant spirit is the entrepreneur's spirit. In fact, 40 percent of the largest U.S. companies have been founded by immigrants or their children. In Silicon Valley, between 1995 and 2005, more than half of all the major technology and engineering firms were founded by an immigrant. People come to our shores with different dreams, aspirations, and needs. We must support stronger provisions for those guest workers who toil the earth and harvest food for our dinner tables. We must support students who come to this country seeking top education and then allow them to kindle their entrepreneurial spark into our economy. We must support high-skilled immigrants, as well as their families, who will strengthen our talented workforce. We must never turn our backs on our married children and siblings just because they are above a certain age.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I along with Representatives Smith of Washington, rise today to honor the life of Kip Tolcuda, and pay tribute to his leadership, service, and dedication to the citizens of the State of Washington. Kip was a Seattle native and a graduate of the University of Washington. Following completion of his graduate studies in social work in 1969, Kip entered public service as a social worker with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services and gained a reputation for being a strong advocate for children and individuals with disabilities. He was later named to the Washington Council for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. The second son of parents who were incarcerated at the Minidoka Relocation Center, Kip possessed an unwavering sense of justice and equality. A prominent figure within the Asian American community, he served as the president of Seattle's chapter of Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)--an organization which is the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization. In 1998, Kip went on to found the Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation, a non- profit organization that focuses on social justice, community empowerment, and public service. Beginning in 1994, Kip served as a Representative for Washington's State 37th Legislative District. During his four terms in the Washington State Legislature, he enjoyed many legislative successes. He introduced his first Day of Remembrance resolution in 1997, which has since become an annual tradition in the Legislature. He served as the co-prime sponsor, along with Representative Mike Wensmen of House Bill 1572, which created the Washington Civil Liberties Public Education fund in 2000. Kip also secured passage of the Special Needs Adoption bill, which helped adoption of special-needs children. He was a strong advocate who helped to pass the Homeless Children's Lawsuit legislation, which provided services for over 60,000 homeless families with children. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that we recognize the life of Kip Tokuda--a true trailblazer. We ask our colleagues to join us in honoring a long career of selfless and inspired service to his community, the State of Washington, and our nation.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Miss California 2013, Crystal Lee, who will be competing in the prestigious Miss America pageant this September. A lifelong Bay Area resident, Crystal competed as Miss Silicon Valley against 60 other outstanding young women at the Miss California Pageant earlier this year. Through five phases of competition, including interview, physical fitness in swimsuit, evening wear, on-stage question and talent, Crystal rose to the top. During preliminary competition nights, she even took top honors for her evening gown presentation and her ballet en pointe performance of ``The Dying Swan.'' The latter should come as no surprise, since Crystal is an accomplished dancer who has been perfecting her technique for the last 13 years. Winning the title of Miss California earned Crystal more than $14,000 in scholarships. Over her four years of competing in the Miss America program, including in 2008 when she was Miss California's Outstanding Teen, Crystal has earned more than $30,000 in scholarships. These awards were well spent, as Crystal graduated this past June from the venerable Stanford University. Proving that our Miss California has both beauty and brains, Crystal worked as a research assistant in the psychology, biology, virtual reality and drama departments and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology and a Master's Degree in Communications. Crystal will put her Stanford education and Silicon Valley roots to good use through her Miss California platform Girls in S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). She's been a steadfast advocate for women to study and choose careers in STEM after she experienced firsthand a gender imbalance in her own classes and multiple internships at male-dominated technology start-ups. She's worked hand-in-hand with the Girl Scouts of America to help young girls understand engineering principles and earn their technology badges. With perseverance, hard work and a little luck, Crystal will be able to continue her STEM platform at the national level as Miss America. California is fortunate to have such a strong and successful young woman representing us. This year's Miss America pageant will take on special meaning when it returns to its birthplace in Atlantic City after seven years away and no doubt it will be a memorable experience for all the young women participating. However, there is one I'll be cheering for most. To Miss California 2013, Crystal Lee, I wish nothing but the best of luck in her pursuit of the Miss America crown.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the 60th anniversary of the July 27, 1953 signing of the Armistice Agreement that temporarily halted the active combat of the Korean War. Today, the Korean War still continues in the form of threats, military exercises, periodic flare- ups, sanctions, and the build-up of armaments on both sides. Earlier this year, military tensions on the Korean peninsula dangerously escalated. The preamble to the 1953 Armistice Agreement, which was signed by the United States, North Korea, and China, states that its ultimate purpose was to stop ``the Korean conflict, with its great toil of suffering and bloodshed on both sides, and . . . [to] insure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peace settlement is achieved.'' Intended only as a temporary measure, the Armistice Agreement was meant to be replaced with a permanent peace accord. Sixty years later, however, the United States spends billions of dollars per year to maintain its military presence in South Korea, one of the top ten global economies. At a time when many Americans struggle to pay their bills, vital U.S. dollars are directed into further militarizing the Korean peninsula. Moreover, the Korean peninsula remains tragically divided and millions of Korean and Korean American families remain separated from their loved ones. Korean Americans who were direct witness to the war's devastation are now reaching their seventies and eighties. It is high time to recognize the human costs of ongoing war and to offer genuine hope to Korean Americans who yearn for a long overdue end to this war. We must honor them and all those who fought in the war, including our own Korean War veterans, by replacing hostilities with genuine peace within their lifetimes. Mr. Speaker, it is my sincere hope that this somber milestone can serve as a call to action for us in Congress to do our part to de- escalate tensions and to work towards the establishment of a permanent and stable peace regime on the Korean peninsula. Peace negotiations between the United States, South Korea, North Korea, and all relevant parties are the only way forward.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my disappointment in the Rules Committee for not making my amendment to H.R. 1960, the National Defense Authorization Act or Fiscal Year 2014, in order. House Republicans have once again failed to live up their promises of openness and transparency by denying me the opportunity to offer this important amendment to protect the privacy of students and parents with regard to military recruiters. I sought to offer this amendment in support of parents and students within my own Silicon Valley district and from across the country. The privacy of high school students across our nation is compromised by a provision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind, which requires school districts to provide the personal, private information of students to military recruiters at the risk of losing scarce federal education dollars, unless parents opt out in writing. Parents in my district complained to me that, in some instances, their children were persistently contacted at home by military recruiters. These parents wanted to know how the military got their children's personal, confidential information, including home phone numbers and addresses. They wanted to know why they were getting calls during dinner, especially when they had already gotten off of telemarketing lists. My amendment sought to change this to an ``opt in'' requirement, under which parents would need to provide written permission in order for schools to be allowed share student information with recruiters. The decision to join the military is a solemn one. Ideally, this decision should be made in consultation with people who love and care for the child--not with a government official, however well- intentioned, whose very job is to recruit for the military. This cannot be guaranteed if recruiters are able to contact students without explicit parental approval, as those parents may not realize their students are receiving such calls. Other federal privacy statutes explicitly recognize individual privacy rights, particularly those of minors. The Children's Online Privacy Act prohibits commercial websites or online services from releasing personally identifiable information of minors. Federal agencies are prohibited from divulging personal information without written consent. Yet under current law it is acceptable to force schools to provide military recruiters with personal information of their students. This violates the trust between schools and students. Our nation has the best-trained and most powerful armed forces in the world, and maintaining our military superiority depends on effective recruiting. This country also has a proud history of personal rights and privacy protection. I believe we can sustain one while preserving the other. We must protect the children and students who represent the future of our country. This includes protecting their privacy.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern about the proposal in the President's budget request, which is included in this bill, to shift the responsibility for exit lane staffing from TSA to airport operators across this country. Since November 2001, TSA has assumed responsibility for staffing exit lanes under the authority of Aviation and Transportation Security Act. Citing budget constraints, in the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Request, TSA has sought to shift the responsibility and costs for exit lane staffing to airport operators. This move raises a number of concerns ably described by the Committee in the report accompanying this bill. Particularly troubling is TSA's intention to continue to collect money for performing this function through the Aviation Security Infrastructure Fee while passing the buck along to airports. Like many of my colleagues, I have heard from my local airport-- Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport--about the devastating impact this unfunded mandate would have on airport operators. Mineta airport is already paying $200,000 per year to staff one exit lane because TSA decided it was not ``co-located'' with the checkpoint screening area, and it cannot absorb the additional costs for more exit lane staffing--over the last few years, the airport has already reduced staff by more than 50 percent due to budget constraints. At the end my statement is the text of a letter I received from the City of San Jose, CA's director of aviation on behalf of Mineta San Jose Airport outlining these concerns in greater detail. Chairman Carter and Ranking Member Price, I know that you were faced with a challenging task, working within the allocation given and trying to fill holes left by the budget request. And I know from the language you included in the report that you regret being unable to fill this hole in the budget. I thank you for including language in the report directing TSA to work with airport operators to assess the impact of this change and consider delaying or at least phasing in this shift of responsibility until TSA can certify effective technology solutions that would reduce the cost for airport operators. I hope that as we move this bill to the Senate and into conference, we will have a more favorable allocation to work with that will allow us to reject this ill-conceived proposal and protect already strapped airports from an unfunded mandate to perform duties that they have never had the responsibility for and which TSA is receiving fees to carry out. May 30, 2013. Hon. Mike Honda, Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Congressman Honda: I am writing to express my strong concern over the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) plan to shift responsibility--without funding--for monitoring passenger exit lanes onto airport operators. While all levels of government face tough budget decisions in the current economic environment, we need your help to prevent TSA from shifting this unfunded mandate onto our airport. TSA should also explain to the Congressional appropriators why shifting its security function to airports and airlines is not an abdication of its Federal responsibility under current law. It is unconscionable that a Federal agency that is responsible for national security make a unilateral decision to shift a security responsibility and the associated costs to airport operators, particularly as there currently exists no regulation or other requirement which specifically assigns the responsibility for monitoring sterile area exit lanes to airport operators. Notably, this regulatory option does not ``take into account benefits and costs, both quantitative and qualitative,'' as stipulated by Presidential Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review. Congress, through the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), delegated the responsibility for passenger and baggage screening to the TSA following the tragic events of September 11. It was decided by Congress that aviation security was a matter of national security and should be provided by the federal government. Through the Aviation Security Infrastructure Fee (ASIF), based on the airlines' calendar year 2000 costs for passenger and property screening, TSA collects money from airlines to offset the cost of monitoring exit lanes. In fact, TSA provided to air carriers for use in determining their ASIF fee amount, ``Calendar Year 2000 Costs for Passenger and Property Screening'' (Appendix A to 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 1511), which specifically includes, at line item ``2'', the air carrier's costs for ``Exit Lane Monitors''. The TSA, with no Congressional review or legislation, has decided to impose the responsibility for exit lane monitoring on airports. Although the agency proposes to do this through an amendment to airports' Airport Security Programs, which the TSA unilaterally controls, industry will be afforded the opportunity to submit comments. However, TSA is neither required to consider those comments nor make any changes based on industry input. It is time to take a close look at ATSA to see if its provisions are still appropriate or need some modifications or enhancements. This review should be done in a very thoughtful and deliberate way by the appropriate Congressional Committees, not by an agency that can make unilateral and arbitrary decisions. At minimum, TSA needs to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking and seek legislative changes to promulgate a requirement for airport operators to assume responsibility for monitoring exit lanes. The cost implications of exit lane monitoring are significant for all airports, and in many cases, these costs will be passed on to airlines. Based on reports from some airport operators, the cost would range from approximately $160,000 per year for a smaller airport to as much as $2.5 million for a larger airport to monitor exit lanes in accordance with the way the TSA performs the function today. At Mineta San Jose the cost to take on the exit lane responsibility is now estimated at $180,000 to $200,000 a year. The Airport cannot absorb these costs through further reductions in staff and services. (Through the Great Recession of the past 4-5 years, the Airport has gone from a staff of 400 in 2008 to just 187 staff members today.) Accordingly, this additional cost would have to be passed on to the airlines through the Airport's rates and charges structure and ultimately be paid by passengers, who are already paying a fee to the airlines as part of their ticket, for security-related costs. We ask that your office take action to put a stop to this unfunded mandate and require TSA to explain why shifting a security function and the associated costs to airports and airlines is not an abdication of its Federal responsibility under current legislation. Members of my staff will be in touch with your office shortly to arrange for an opportunity to discuss this issue with you or your staff in more detail. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Sincerely, William F. Sherry, A.A.E., Director of Aviation.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the 4th anniversary of the end of the tragic civil war in Sri Lanka that has cost many lives and destroyed many futures. As Sri Lanka and its people slowly begin to return to normalcy, there is still much that the government of Sri Lanka must do to achieve true peace. While the war has ended, the conflict between its people still goes on. In particular, I am troubled that not enough progress is being made towards true political reconciliation. The deaths of thousands of civilians, on both sides, during the war must be investigated and addressed to truly begin the process of healing. In addition, it is important to recognize that the Tamils must be integrated and become full and valued citizens of the country for true reconciliation to occur; this includes preventing forced displacement and the uprooting of families and communities from their homes. The US- sponsored resolution that passed the United Nations Human Rights Council this March that urged the Sri Lankan government to credibly and independently investigate the allegations of international human rights violations is a good first step. I urge the government of Sri Lanka to work with the international community and the United Nations to adopt an international mechanism towards reconciliation for all people.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chair, I regret that I am unable to be in Washington, DC, today to cast a vote in support of H.R. 527, The Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act. This bipartisan, commonsense plan will prevent a global helium shortage, protect jobs and the economy, and ensure a fairer return for taxpayers while we take the time to determine a long-term strategy to deal with our nation's helium needs. Representing Silicon Valley, I know firsthand how dependent high-tech manufacturing and scientific research labs are on helium. Helium is needed by hospitals for life-saving medical diagnostic tools like magnetic resonance imaging, and it is critical to our national defense. Unfortunately, the frenzy to slash the government that accompanied the Gingrich Republican revolution in 1996 led to legislation to sell and privatize the Federal Helium Reserve and caused the situation we face today--in October, the Reserve will no longer be able to sell the remaining 11 billion cubic feet of helium, which will create an immediate worldwide helium shortage and cut the domestic supply by nearly half. H.R. 527 will prevent this shortage and promote market-based reforms by implementing a three-phase system for operating the Federal Helium Reserve until the Reserve is emptied of helium. In addition, it will ensure that taxpayers get a fair return for this resource. While this bill is not the long-term strategy on helium that we need, it does prevent a short-term crisis and allow time for a transition to a new paradigm. Numerous industry groups and companies based in my Silicon Valley district have expressed their support for the bill, and I join them in expressing my support for H.R. 527. I would also like to express my support for the Collins/Scott Amendment, the Holt Amendment, and the Thornberry Amendment, and my opposition to the Dent/Higgins/Esty Amendment.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deepest sympathy to the family of Mr. Peter S. Carter. Peter was born on February 20th, 1943 in San Diego, California. At the age of 14, he and his family moved to the Santa Clara Valley where he graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory in 1961. Peter attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He became a photo editor, yearbook editor-in-chief and managing editor of the Georgetown Magazine. It was with his college press pass that Peter was able to capture historic events like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ``I Have a Dream Speech'' and the inauguration of President Lyndon Johnson. After graduating from Georgetown in 1966 he worked at American University. It was in 1963 that Peter married his first wife, Michelle Villere. Peter and Michelle had two sons, Scott and Shawn. She passed away in 1986. Peter married Dennise McNulty in December of 1987. Together, they celebrated life with a constant stream of family and friends. Peter's advertising agency was located in historic parts of San Jose near Japantown. He began his career shaping the message of the Mobile Home Dealers Association. He worked with a variety of partners and his clients included everything from local boutiques to large commercial developers. He did charity work for many local causes and organizations. Following a long career in public relations and advertising, Peter turned to photography. Peter was present at almost every town event with his trademark camera dangling from his neck. Peter's work was often featured in the local newspapers of the community. Whether it be a jazz festival, a special dinner, or the annual holiday parade, Peter was there to capture the event through the shutter of his camera. Beyond his own career Peter was a strong advocate of the arts. He was one of the most active members and supporters of The Museums of Los Gatos. Peter helped the museums grow into cultural staples of the community. Throughout the years he became active in many causes. Peter was a founding member of the Los Gatos Weekly, which went on to merge with the Los Gatos Weekly Times Observer to become the Los Gatos Weekly- Times. He was a longtime member of the San Jose Rotary Club and served on the board of directors for the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Foundation. Peter also served on the Los Gatos Music & Arts Committee for many years. On February 20th Peter turned 70. This milestone was celebrated with the Los Gatos Social Club, the same organization Peter founded in the 1990s. Through this club Peter became a champion of locally owned businesses throughout the community. The Los Gatos Social Club hosted their weekly dinners at various family owned restaurants and cafes. Peter was a special member of our community. For many years he has been a cherished friend. By example, he taught us to squeeze the most joy out of life as one possibly can and to do it with sublime purpose, a sense of humor, a fabulous wit and a dazzling smile. It is in thanks for, and in admiration of Peter that I stand in honor today. I hope his legacy of public service serves as an inspiration to the young people of generations to come. He will be missed greatly by the Silicon Valley community.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I am unable to be in Washington, DC today to cast a vote on H.R. 1765, The Reducing Flight Delays Act. When House Republicans refused to compromise on tax and spending issues and raising the statutory debt limit, the Budget Control Act of 2011 was enacted in order to avert a fiscal crisis. The BCA provided for automatic reductions to most federal discretionary spending, referred to as ``sequestration,'' if no agreement on deficit reduction could be reached. Policy analysts, economic experts and the American people agreed that the automatic spending cuts would be so damaging, and were such bad policy, that Congress would be compelled to act to avoid them. I did not believe that these cuts were the right course of action, and so I voted against the BCA. Unfortunately (but predictably), Congress was unable to reach agreement on a deficit reduction plan, and sequestration went into effect on March 1, 2013. As we are now experiencing, sequestration requires agencies to reduce non-defense discretionary spending by 5.3 percent in Fiscal Year 2013. It does not provide any guidance on how each agency should go about implementing these cuts, it simply reduces spending across the board, impacting all federal programs. On March 22, 2013, after carefully weighing competing national security interests, public safety concerns, impacts on interstate transportation, communication, banking and financial networks, and the status of the most critical diversionary airports, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it would close 149 Federal Contract Tower program towers by June 15, 2013. The FAA has also begun to implement a series of furloughs of all of its employees, including its 15,000 air traffic controllers, which has resulted in flight delays nationwide. As someone who flies across the Continental United States twice each week, I share the frustrations and concerns that many Americans have about the flight delays due to furloughs and the closure of these towers. The nation's air traffic control system is essential for public safety, business, and the regulation of national air traffic, and I support this legislative effort to ensure that it is able to function normally. But the measure the House is voting on today is just applying an inadequate Band-Aid to the gaping wound that sequestration has inflicted on our nation. The flight delays due to furloughs and closure of contract towers are some of the first highly visible impacts of sequestration, but they highlight the fact that the federal government performs many essential services that Americans depend on, and enacting indiscriminate cuts to federal funding undoubtedly has a negative impact on the government's ability to provide those services. I remain committed to working with my colleagues in Congress and across the government to protect Americans from the worst impacts of sequestration and to undo it altogether.