Mike Honda

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Thursday, May 2, 2013 as the National Day of Reason. The National Day of Reason celebrates the application of reason and the positive impact it has had on humanity. It is also an opportunity to reaffirm the Constitutional separation of religion and government. I have the privilege of representing Silicon Valley, where every day scientists and engineers employ the scientific method and apply reason to develop innovative technologies that help advance humanity. The application of reason, more than any other means, has proven to offer hope for human survival upon Earth, improving conditions within the universe, and cultivating intelligent, moral and ethical interactions among people and their environments. Our Founding Fathers based the Constitution of the United States, the basic document governing the affairs of people within the United States, upon philosophical principles that have their origins in the historical Age of Reason. It is important that on the National Day of Reason, we take time to remember and celebrate this history, including the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion and freedom from the imposition of religion by the state. Our nation's founders knew that the best way to protect religious freedom was to keep the government separate from religion. The National Day of Reason is also a time to continue the effort our Founding Fathers began to form a more perfect union. Every year, events such as food drives and blood drives are held on this day in which Americans help their fellow citizens and our nation as a whole. These community service events are just some of the many ways Americans will be working to help those in need on the Day of Reason and throughout the year. I encourage all citizens, residents and visitors to join in observing this day and focusing upon the employment of reason, critical thought, the scientific method, and free inquiry to the resolution of human problems and for the welfare of human kind.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for National Assistant Principals Week, April 8 through April 12, 2013. Assistant principals are vital school leaders responsible for establishing a positive learning environment and building strong school community relationships. The National Association of Secondary School Principals/Virco National Assistant Principal of the Year program began in 2004 to recognize outstanding middle and high school assistant principals who have demonstrated success in leadership, curriculum, and personalization. This week, 47 assistant principals from across the country will participate in professional development, networking, and advocacy to share best practices and discuss the issues facing school leaders today. As a former principal, I would like to recognize these distinguished school leaders for the pivotal role they play in their school communities. Assistant principals interact with all sectors of the school community, including support and instructional staff members, students, and parents. Assistant principals play a significant role in the instructional leadership of the school by conducting instructional supervision, mentoring teachers, encouraging collaboration, and ensuring the implementation of best practices. Assistant principals also monitor student-achievement goals and progress, facilitate and model data-driven decision making to inform instruction, and foster continual school improvement. Furthermore, assistant principals support the day-to-day logistical operations of facility management, attendance, transportation, and scheduling, as well as supervise extra- and co-curricular events. Lastly, assistant principals are entrusted with maintaining an inviting, safe, and orderly school environment that supports the growth and achievement of each and every student by nurturing positive peer relationships, recognizing student achievement, analyzing behavior patterns, providing interventions, and conducting discipline. I applaud the work of assistant principals and recognize their contributions to the success of students in schools in the United States. I encourage the people of the United States to observe National Assistant Principals Week with appropriate ceremonies and activities that promote awareness of the primacy of school leadership in ensuring that every child has access to a high-quality education.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. I want to thank my friend, Dr. Ami Bera, for allowing me to speak for a few minutes. Mr. Speaker, we are here today to dispel the oft repeated notion that Medicare is somehow the problem in the current fiscal crisis. Republicans have, in budget after budget, attempted to voucherize the program and end the Medicare guarantee as we know it. They would break the promise we made to our Nation's seniors decades ago, one in which we told hardworking middle class Americans that if they paid in through their wages and trusted in their government that they would be taken care of. Medicare is the most efficient health plan in our country. It has a 2 percent overhead. Let me repeat that. It has a 2 percent overhead. More efficient than any private plan. The problem isn't Medicare. The problem is the rising cost of health care and what it is we have to do to get that under control. It's a cost that has gone up exponentially in our country compared to the rest of the world. Republicans want to do nothing about the real problem of rising costs. Rather than tackle the hard issue, they want to shift the costs on to seniors, people like my mom. She's 96 right now, and she depends on that important program. Six years ago, she had to be checked up for a heart condition. She had had an aneurysm below her diaphragm and it was part of the arterial system. They said that it would be difficult to solve and that they would have to provide a stent because of her age, as she was 70 at that time. Well, a few years later, that aneurysm grew a little larger, and it became pretty critical that, if nothing was done, she would die. The doctors looked at her again at the advanced age of 90 and concluded that we could do this with her--she walked around acting like she was 70--and would have a 9 out of 10 chance of survival. If she did not do anything, the chance of survival would have been a lot less. My mom thought about it, she pondered about it, and she said, I'm 90. I've lived a good life. Let's take this 9 out of 10 chance. And she put her faith not only in the hands of the doctors and the system, but also in the hands of her God. After a few hours of operation, she came out, and it was successful. But none of this could have been possible without Medicare. We would not have been able to afford it, and neither could she have afforded it. She grew up as a child of a businessman during prewar United States, and in her adult life as my mom, she worked as a domestic, so she had no pension plan. She had no other plans that would help her in her old age, except Medicare. So, time and time again, when Congress was looking for an easy way out in dealing with these issues, leaving folks like my mom holding the bag, this whole issue is personal. And I'm sure that this is a story that could be shared by almost every family in this country in one way or another when we think about Medicare. So, having the middle class Americans and people like my mom holding the bag is absolutely unacceptable. It is wrong and it is quite cowardly. One of the major reasons why our health care costs keep going up is because we have not changed the way patients and doctors see each other. We must be innovative and creative in tackling the traditional costs of health care. As a Representative covering Silicon Valley, I have helped lead the way in this by promoting innovative technologies, such as telemedicine, personal health connected devices, and other tools. I will be reintroducing the Health Care Innovation and Marketplace Technologies Act later this year to continue this effort. Let's hope that folks on the other side will understand its importance. Most importantly, however, I will continue to stand with my friends here in the Chamber tonight to protect Medicare and the Medicare guarantee. We can fix our Nation's fiscal House by being innovative, rather than using the same old ideology. We can improve our Nation's standing by being courageous and standing by our Nation's seniors.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the millions of Americans affected by sleep disorders and insufficient sleep and in observance of National Sleep Awareness Week, which occurred last week from March 3rd through 10th. Sleep disorders affect every age group from infants to the elderly and are often an indicator of, or a precursor to other major diseases and disorders, in addition to being a public health and safety issue. According to the Institute of Medicine's report entitled ``Sleep Disorder and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem'' (2006), 50-70 million Americans chronically suffer from sleep or circadian disorders, while 15% of the population suffers from sleep- disordered breathing, including obstructive sleep apnea. Chronic sleep disorders include insomnia, REM sleep behavior disorder, narcolepsy and other forms of hypersomnia, and circadian disruptions. These disorders negatively affect sleep duration, increasing risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, depression, and substance abuse. Sleep disorders and sleep deprivation cost $150 billion annually in lost productivity and $48 billion in medical costs related to motor vehicle accidents involving drowsy drivers. Sleep apnea results in excessive daytime somnolence, poor performance, increased frequency of road traffic accidents, and arterial hypertension. Prior to diagnosis, patients with sleep apnea often incur higher costs in their overall health care. If left untreated, obstructive sleep apnea has significant negative impacts on health, including early mortality. Furthermore, as our troops return home from Afghanistan and Iraq, there will be great need for continuing research concerning the link between sleep apnea and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A study including 725 active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces found that 85% of them had a sleep disorder. The most common was obstructive sleep apnea (51%), followed by insomnia (25%). Through increased federal commitment we can provide the best care to improve the health of those brave Americans who have served in uniform. New treatment options, enhanced patient care, and future cures will increase the quality of life and productivity of the workforce. Research funding can also spur local economies through discovery of new technologies that can lead to the creation of new jobs. Federal investment in sleep research at the National Institutes of Health National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, are vital to supporting discoveries in the area of sleep disorders and job creation. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting sustained and meaningful improvements in the health and healthcare of the millions of Americans whose health is compromised because of sleep disorders. By increasing awareness of the need for increased research funding, we will be able to continue to examine the links between sleep and health in an effort to improve the health of the population and lower overall healthcare costs.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Nanotechnology Advancement and New Opportunities (NANO) Act. The NANO Act is a comprehensive bill to promote the development and responsible stewardship of nanotechnology in the United States. The legislation draws upon the findings of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology, which I convened. The Task Force included nanotechnology experts with backgrounds in established industry, startup companies, consulting groups, non-profits, academia, government, medical research, and venture capital from around my home State of California, which is a leader in the field of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology has the potential to create entirely new industries and radically transform the basis of competition in other fields, and I am proud of my work with former Science Committee Chairman Sherry Boehlert on the Nanotechnology Research and Development Act of 2003 to foster research in this area. But one of the things I have heard from experts in the field is that while the United States is a leader in nanotechnology research, our foreign competitors are focusing more resources and effort on the commercialization of those research results than we are. In its report Thinking Big About Thinking Small, which can be found on my website, the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology made a series of recommendations for ways that the nation can promote the development and commercialization of nanotechnology. The NANO Act includes a number of these recommendations. In addition, the bill addresses concerns that have been raised about whether the Federal Government is doing enough to address potential health and safety risks associated with nanotechnology. The NANO Act requires the development of a nanotechnology research strategy that establishes research priorities for the Federal Government and industry that will ensure the development and responsible stewardship of nanotechnology. This strategy will help to resolve the uncertainty that is one of the major obstacles to the commercialization of nanotechnology--uncertainty about what the risks might be and uncertainty about how the Federal Government might regulate nanotechnology in the future. The NANO Act also includes a number of provisions to create partnerships, raise awareness, and implement strategic policies to resolve obstacles and promote nanotechnology. It will: create a public- private investment partnership to address the nanotechnology commercialization gap; establish a tax credit for investment in nanotechnology firms; authorize a grant program to support the establishment and development of nanotechnology incubators; establish a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for ``nano-CAD'' tools; establish grant programs for nanotechnology research to address specific challenges in the areas of energy, environment, homeland security, and health; establish a tax credit for nanotechnology education and training program expenses; establish a grant program to support the development of curriculum materials for interdisciplinary nanotechnology courses at higher education institutions; direct NSF to establish a program to encourage manufacturing companies to enter into partnerships with occupational training centers for the development of training to support nanotechnology manufacturing; and call for the development of a strategy for increasing interaction on nanotechnology interests between DOE national labs and the informal science education community. I look forward to working with Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith and Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson on this bill and their committee's other efforts to reauthorize the Nation's nanotechnology research and development program.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, rise today with a heavy heart to honor and to remember Senator Dan Inouye. On December 17, 2012, the State of Hawaii, our Nation, the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and all champions of social justice and change lost our polaris, our guiding light, our guiding star--Senator Daniel K. Inouye. I'm deeply saddened by the passing of my dear friend who has been a hero to us all, his ohana. From his service on the battlefields of World War II--we mentioned a Medal of Honor--to the Senate floor, in serving the Aloha State in Congress since it achieved statehood in 1959 and rising to become the highest ranking Asian Pacific Islander in our Nation's history, his impact on our lives and our community is immeasurable and unparalleled. The Senator has had a deep sense and reflected a deep sense of dignity in spite of any kinds of situations that may surround him, a quiet calm of strength even in the battlefields to the Halls of Congress. We know that during the time of Watergate, he was slighted and insulted through a racial slur, but he did not exchange one for another. He just reflected his quiet strength and dignity by not responding at all. The rest of the country did for him. And as he went through the Watergate process, he showed that he could serve and deal with justice with an even hand. And with that, he showed that this country can deal with all kinds of problems that it faces. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Inouye worked across the aisle to ensure that the needs of the people of Hawaii and the sovereign rights of native Hawaiians and other indigenous people, as our friend, Don Young, had mentioned, as well as the AA-PI communities, were priorities of this government. During the seventies and eighties, Senator Inouye played a critical role in making sure that this country understood its behavior towards the Japanese Americans on the mainland and in Hawaii. There was an effort to secure an apology, a recognition of the wrongdoings, and also move forward with the idea of reparations, but it didn't seem as if they were making much progress. He wisely said to leadership of this movement, Perhaps we need to do a study and a commission to educate and inform the rest of the Members of this body to understand what it is that we are fighting for. And so came about the World War II Commission on Internment. And through the commission study and their gathering information across this country and listening to testimony, from people who were aged to the people who were younger, securing information validating the position of those who were seeking an apology from this government came the conclusion and the final decision to move forward with the bill, my bill, 442, to rescind Executive Orders 9022 and 9044, and also to make sure that this country understood the reasons for the incarceration and internment of Japanese Americans in this country during 1942. The conclusion of that commission reflected the wisdom of Senator Inouye. The conclusion of the commission said the reason why internment happened to Americans of Japanese descent was because of war hysteria, racial prejudice, and the failure--the failure--of political leadership. And to that, it's been always a reminder for me when I listened to him and I watched him work that he would never, ever allow the lack of failure of political leadership in this country to ever fall--not on his watch. Since 1959 when I graduated from high school, I reflected back now, today, of how young he was then and how he stood his ground and guided Alaska and this country through his life and his dedication to public service. So, Senator Inouye proved to be a very devoted husband and a father. I extend my sincerest condolences to the entire Inouye family. Senator Inouye's passing may mark an end of an era, I would say, but I would declare and say that his work will continue to impact this country in terms of a continuous attention to ohana and to the rights of all people, including aboriginal folks. He once stated in his fight to protect the Filipino World War II veterans, he said about them, he said that heroes should never be forgotten or ignored. And he always continued to make sure that those who serve this country were not to be forgotten or ignored. So, we, as a grateful Nation, will never, ever forget the Senator from Hawaii, a war hero, a servant through his military service, and a servant through his service in the Halls of Congress. So I say to him ``Aloha, mahalo.''

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart but with great admiration that I rise today to remember and to thank my departing California Democratic colleagues whose service will be concluded at the end of the 112th Congress. Pete Stark, the outgoing dean of our delegation, is well-known for speaking his mind and for standing up for what he believes in while giving a voice to the concerns of many who often feel as though they have none. He has helped millions of Americans keep their health insurance coverage after leaving their jobs. He ensured that people who visit emergency rooms receive help regardless of their ability to pay, and he promoted innovations in health information technology and the Affordable Care Act. He enacted legislation to increase the number of computers in our schools. He has been a champion on broad environmental issues, such as battling ozone depletion and carbon emissions, and he has been a committed proponent of peace. I am honored to be inheriting portions of Pete's district in Newark and Fremont, and hope to continue his legacy of service to those communities. A brief word on his son, ``Fish,'' who wrote and had published an op- ed piece which indicated to the constituents the true side, the real side, of Pete Stark, his father. Howard Berman is widely known as a leader on Foreign Affairs. What will stand out in my mind, however, is his help, while chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, in moving through the committee and the House H. Res. 121. It was a resolution calling upon Japan to apologize and to acknowledge the tragedy endured at the hands of its Imperial Army during World War II by over 200,000 women in Asia who were forced into sexual slavery. Howard shares my commitment to achieving justice for those who have suffered atrocities in the past. His leadership will be missed. I also want to thank him for his leadership on the issue of Pat Tillman, a soldier who, it was said, lost his life in a firefight when, in fact, he was killed through fratricide. I appreciate that. Lynn Woolsey came to Congress with a compelling story about how, with a helping hand from her government, she was able to raise three children by herself and have a successful career serving the people of Marin and Sonoma counties. She has been a tireless voice for family- friendly policies, for protecting the coastline of northern California, and for bringing our troops home and ending the misguided wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lynn was a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and I call her the mom of the Progressive Caucus. With her passionate voice on progressive issues, she will be missed. Her leadership will be missed, and there will be a great vacuum for us to fill in the future. Bob Filner played a central role in the years-long odyssey to secure a measure of justice for Filipino veterans who fought alongside U.S. troops in World War II but were denied benefits they earned through their service. After the war, the United States Congress broke the promise it had made to these veterans. For decades to follow, they struggled to secure fair treatment similar to that afforded to the men who fought alongside them. As chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Bob Filner was in the middle of this fight. I wish him well as he moves on to a new phase of his service to the people of San Diego. Jose Baca, or Joe Baca, has been a friend of mine for a long time, since school boards and other elected offices, but especially since we served together in the California State Assembly to the Halls of Congress. Joe was chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus while I was chairman of CAPAC, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and we stood together to fight against harmful English-only and anti- immigrant legislation and amendments. We also share a commitment to protecting the rights of Native Americans, particularly tribal sovereignty. Joe has been a good friend, and I'll miss seeing him regularly on the House floor, but perhaps in a couple of years, we may see him again. I will also miss Laura Richardson, whom I have had the pleasure of working with as a member of CAPAC on anti-bullying issues and in the fight to ensure that LGBT families are recognized in our immigration laws. Dennis Cardoza, our friend who had the dubious honor of taking over my office in 503 Cannon when he first got here as I moved to slightly larger accommodations. He was a strong voice on behalf of his Central Valley constituents. We also are bidding farewell to a large number of our California Republican colleagues who have served for many years--Brian Bilbray, Mary Bono Mack, David Dreier, Elton Gallegly, Wally Herger, Jerry Lewis, and Dan Lungren. While we all certainly haven't agreed on many policy issues over the years, I know that they were as committed to their constituents as I am. And I thank all of them, my California colleagues who will be leaving at the end of the 112th Congress, for their service and I wish them well.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the outstanding career of a dedicated public servant from the Congressional Research Service, Dennis Roth. Mr. Roth is retiring in January after 42 years of public service. Mr. Roth came to the Congressional Research Service in 1976 as a labor economist, working in what was the the CRS Economics Division. Mr. Roth rose steadily through the ranks, becoming one of that division's first section heads. During this time, Mr. Roth worked closely with Members of both houses of Congress and their staff, providing valuable research and analysis for one of the era's landmark pieces of legislation, the Humphries-Hawkins Full Employment Act. Among its provisions, the Act set national goals for full employment and mandated that the Federal Reserve establish policies that not only controlled inflation, but also encouraged long-term economic growth and price stability; a mandate that guides the Federal Reserve to this day as it navigates the troubled economic environment in which we currently find ourselves. In the 1980's, while maintaining his workload as a labor economist at CRS, Mr. Roth became active in the Congressional Research Employees Association (CREA). In 1986, Mr. Roth ran for President of the Association, but lost on his first try. He ran again in 1987, and this time he won. The employees at CRS demonstrated their confidence in his stewardship by returning him to office each year since. For 25 years, Mr. Roth has been a tireless advocate for the rights, goals, and aspirations of all employees at the Congressional Research Service. In his spare time, he has also been active in the Federal Caucus of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (the IFPTE), with which CREA is affiliated, and which represents a broad segment of the federal workforce. In 1990, Mr. Roth was elected IFPTE Eastern Federal Area Vice President, a position in which he served until July of 1997. He was also elected as Executive Vice President of IFPTE in 1994 and served until July 1997. Mr. Roth grew up outside Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Antioch College in 1968. He immediately joined the Peace Corps, serving in Catanduanes in the Philippine Republic where he taught math and worked in the areas of economic and agricultural development. In fact, Mr. Roth met his wife-to-be Daisy while he was a Peace Corps volunteer. The two wed and, at the end of his Peace Corps tour, they returned to the States, where Mr. Roth attended the University of California, Berkley and completed the academic requirements for a Ph.D. in Economics. Before coming to CRS, Mr. Roth also served in the Department of Labor, working as an economist for the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Evaluation, and Research. Mr. and Mrs. Roth have two grown children, Jessica and Benjamin. As Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, I take great pride in all of the outstanding people who choose to work for this august body and help us do our jobs better. On behalf of my colleagues, I congratulate Mr. Roth on his many years of exceptional service to this Congress, to the people of the United States, and the employees of the Congressional Research Service; and as a fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, I thank him for his service to the people of Catanduanes Island. He epitomizes the highest ideals of public service. We wish him all the best.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues Mr. Stark, Mr. Carney, and Mr. Holt, to recognize the fine academic accomplishments of four of our constituents who were awarded gold medals at the International Biology Olympiad held in Singapore in July 2012. Nikhil Buduma of Bellarmine College Preparatory School in San Jose, CA; Jing ``Raymond'' Liu of Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, CA; Lei ``Jerry'' Ding of the Charter School of Wilmington, DE; and Kevin Ma of East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, NJ competed against secondary students from over 59 countries in this prestigious international competition. These talented students began their journey in the USA Biology Olympiad, which aims to enhance the life sciences education of nearly 10,000 students annually across the United States each year. The competition provides the motivation, curricular resources, and skills training to take them beyond their classroom experience and enhances their adaptability, inventiveness, creativity and collaboration in this content area. After being selected among the twenty finalists, they participated in a residential training program at Purdue University where they learned advanced biological concepts and exacting laboratory skills and earned the right to represent the United States at the International Biology Olympiad. We congratulate and salute these fine young students and commend their accomplishments in the biological sciences. We look forward to reading about their future contributions to our society and to the international community.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and thank Director Aaron Williams for his invaluable service to the Peace Corps and our nation. As the Director throughout the past three years, Mr. Williams undeniably impacted the Peace Corps legacy. It is important that we recognize the importance of his contributions and the unique role the Peace Corps has played in our national and global community throughout his tenure. Mr. Williams championed the ideals of the Peace Corps by bridging alliances with Minority Serving Institutions, enhancing the safety and security for the nine thousand volunteers serving abroad, and as President Obama noted, was essential in reforming and modernizing the agency. Sharing core American values with some of the world's most impoverished populations, his leadership these past three years reflects his service to the underrepresented and underprivileged. Despite a complex, changing global climate, Mr. Williams dedicated tireless efforts to ensure the safety of the Peace Corps volunteers. I was proud to work closely with the Director to pass the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act. This act expanded the Peace Corps' safety precautions by providing further protection for female volunteers who are particularly vulnerable while living in foreign countries. It also increased government accountability in responding to sexual assault through a Sexual Assault Advisory Council and protects the anonymity of volunteers who report sexual assault. Mr. Williams understood that a better Peace Corps is a bigger Peace Corps, and he therefore fought for the necessary increase in volunteers. He successfully expanded programs throughout Colombia, Indonesia, and Sierra Leone. And I was proud to work in the Appropriations Committee to help the agency obtain the largest funding in its history. Whether it was collaborative efforts with RCPV/W or promoting fundamental principles that make the Peace Corps and our country exceptional, Mr. Williams never wavered from his commitment to enhancing Peace Corps' outreach and capacity to serve diverse communities. Having served in the Peace Corps, I know firsthand the positive impacts that result from our Peace Corps programs and volunteers. Due to Mr. Williams' vision and leadership, the Peace Corps continues to lead the cause for peace, prosperity, and progress, and it has been strengthened for future generations. Again, I thank Mr. Williams. I am immensely grateful for his service, and most of all, his friendship.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on National POW/MIA Recognition Day to honor prisoners of war from America's greatest generation and thank the Government of Japan for recognizing the sacrifices these men have made for peace. On October 12, seven former members of the U.S. Army, Army Air Corps, Air Force, Marines, and Navy who fought in the Pacific Theater of World War II will travel to Tokyo as guests of the Japanese government. This will be the third U.S. POW delegation to Japan. These brave veterans all suffered as prisoners of war of Imperial Japan. The conditions in which they were held are unimaginable. For most, 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. At the POW camps in the Philippines, Japan and China, they suffered unmerciful abuse aggravated by the lack of food, medicine, clothing, and shelter. Each POW also became a slave laborer at the mines, factories, and docks of some of Japan's largest companies, including Mitsubishi, Nippon Express, Ube Industries, Rinko Corporation, and Fushiki Kairiku Unso. In September 2010, the Japanese government delivered to the first American POW delegation an official apology for the damage and suffering these men endured. Although the Japanese government had hosted POWs from U.S. wartime Allies, the 2010 trip was the first to Japan for American POWs. It was also the first official apology to any prisoners of war held by Japan. This historic apology and continued support for the trips by the Japanese government has improved our relations with Japan and, more importantly, had a positive effect on the former POWs. Japan's Foreign Minister, Koichiro Genba, said the trip promotes ``reconciliation of minds'' of U.S. POWs. Even more, James Colier, a delegate on the second trip to Japan in 2011, said, ``After meeting the kind people at JMC [Japan Metals & Chemicals' Takaoka Works] and after observing the beautiful surroundings of the city, I realized that I had been robbed of the opportunity of truly knowing this place for the past 66 years. Takaoka had always remained as a dark and depressing place in my mind. Yet this visit has finally afforded me the opportunity to appreciate its beauty.'' I know that the American POWs fought hard for this recognition. I appreciate the courage of the Japanese government for their historic and meaningful apology. I thank the POWs for their persistent pursuit of justice, and commend the U.S. State Department for helping them. Still missing, however, from this significant act of atonement are the apologies from the myriad Japanese companies that used and abused POWs for slave labor to maintain war production. It is time now for these companies to break their silence and to follow the successful example of their government by offering an apology and supporting programs for lasting remembrance and reconciliation. Furthermore, I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in making a small, but significant, gesture to show these men that Congress has not forgotten their experience and sacrifice by cosponsoring House Resolution 333. Significantly, this year marks the 70th Anniversary of the Defense of the Philippines, Bataan Death March and the Fall of Corregidor, and the third U.S. POW delegation to Japan includes three survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March, two who were captured at the surrender of Corregidor, one on Guam, and one shot down over Tokyo. One of the veterans believes that he was subject to medical experimentation. Their traveling companions include four wives, one daughter, one son, and one close friend. I wish these men and their companions a fulfilling trip to Japan, and I know that their journey will contribute to the historic peace and friendship between the peoples of the United States and our important ally Japan. It gives me great gratitude to tell the vivid stories of the third U.S. POW Delegation to Japan. Randall S. Edwards, 95, lives in Lakeland, Florida. Born in Wyoming, he grew up in Nebraska and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1935 after high school to see the world. He was sent to the Philippines in 1940 and assigned as a Radioman 1st Class to the submarine tender, the USS Canopus, which had been ordered to stay in Manila Bay after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. By 1942 Edwards was a POW at Cabanatuan 3 and shipped to Mukden, China (today's Shenyang) in October 1942 in Mitsubishi's Hellship Tottori Maru via Formosa and Korea to Manchukuo (Manchuria). Edwards was a slave laborer at MKK (Manshu Kosaku Kikai, which some researchers believe was owned by Mitsubishi and known as Manchuria Mitsubishi Machine Tool Company, Ltd.). He worked on multiple machines from grinders to lathes, carefully sabotaging each task. He believes that the multiple shots and blood tests that he received while at Mukden were part of human medical experiments conducted by the Imperial Army's 731st Biological Warfare Unit. After the war, Edwards remained in the Navy where he received over 40 medals during his service and retired in 1955 as a Warrant Officer. After the Navy, he received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida, Gainesville. Edwards went on to become a National Service officer for American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor and American Ex-Prisoners of War to help his fellow veterans with their Veterans Affairs claims. POW# 104 Robert W. Ehrhart, 89, lives in Carmichael, California. He grew up in Oakland, California and enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve during high school. His unit was activated November 6, 1940 and sent to the Philippines in April 1941. On January 1, 1942 they were assigned to the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines and joined the Battle of Corregidor until the surrender on May 6, 1942. Ehrhart was sent to the Cabanatuan POW Camp where he was on a burial detail, burying as many as forty men a day. He remembers that ``bodies were like skeletons and when you lifted them onto the window shutters, which were used for litters, their skin would peel back and stick to your hands.'' To bolster his morale and that of his fellow POWs, he started to draw cartoons, risking severe punishment if discovered. In September 1943, Ehrhart was transferred to Japan aboard the Hellship Taga Maru (aka Coral Maru). He was sent to Osaka 4-D Sakurajima where he was a slave laborer at Hitachi Zosen's Sakurajima Shipyard (today's Universal Shipping Corporation). He worked as a riveter helping build military ships and oil tankers. After the camp was bombed in May 1945, he was sent to Osaka 6-B, Akenobe, POW Camp where he was a slave laborer working at a copper mine for Mitsubishi Mining (today's Mitsubishi Materials Corporation). After the war, Ehrhant recuperated in military hospitals from vitamin deficiency, malnutrition, and various tropic diseases. He was discharged April 29 1946. He then studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. POW# 221 David G. Farquhar, Jr., 90, lives in Redlands, California where he has lived all his life. He joined the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942. He trained in Nebraska and was assigned as a Technical Sergeant to General Curtis LeMay's 20th Air Force, 24th Squadron, 313th Bomb Wing, 6th bomb group, Crew #2404. He was sent with the 6th Bomb Group to Tinian in the Northern Marianas in January 1945. On May 23, 1945, he was a turret gunner when his B-29 was shot down over Tokyo by flak and fighter planes. They were taken to the infamous horse stalls outside of the Kempeitai (military police of the Imperial Army) Headquarters in Tokyo near the Emperor's palace. They were not considered POWs but ``special prisoners'' who were war criminals. They were beaten, starved, tortured, and denied clothes, basic hygiene, and medical treatment. On August 15th, the day Japan surrendered, he was transferred to a cell at Tokyo Base Camp #1 Omori where he was liberated August 28, 1945. Omori was the first POW camp liberated. After a series of hospital stays, he was discharged in 1946 and returned to San Diego State College (today's San Diego State University) to earn a BA degree in Engineering. He then obtained an MA degree in Education from the University of Redlands. POW# Not Known to ``Special Prisoners'' Douglas Northam, 93, lives in Reno, Nevada. Born in Morris County, Texas, he grew up in nearby Naples, Texas. After graduating from high school in 1937, he enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corps and in 1940 in the U.S. Navy. He was transferred to China in February of 1941 and assigned to the USS Oahu (PR-6), a Yangtze River Patrol boat ported in Shanghai. Afterwards, Northam was assigned to an artillery group on Corregidor, which was forced to surrender on May 7th when Corregidor fell. As a POW of Japan, he was sent to Bilibid POW Camp in Manila and then moved to Cabanatuan 1 and 2. In November 1942, he was sent to Japan aboard Mitsubishi's Hellship the Nagata Maru. He worked for Nippon Express as a slave stevedore in the freight yards in and around the city of Osaka at Umeda Bunsho Camp (Osaka 2-D UMEDA). In March 1945, after his POW camp was firebombed, he was transferred to Osaka POW Camp 5-B TSURUGA where he was a slave stevedore again for Nippon Express and Tsuruga Transportation Company. After the war, Northam utilized the GI Bill to study geology at the University of California, Berkeley. POW# 117 John Leroy Mims, 90, lives in Aberdeen, North Carolina. Born in Ashburn, Georgia, he grew up in Florida and enlisted in the Army at age 16 in 1938, but was discharged a year later after it was discovered that he was underage. Still hungry and jobless, he re-enlisted February 15, 1941 and was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion of the famous 31st Infantry Regiment. In April 1941, he was sent to the Philippines aboard the USAT Republic and stationed at Cuartel de Espana in Manila. He fought in the Battle for Bataan and as a POW forced on the Bataan Death March. During the war, his Filipino fiancee Juanita worked as a secretary for a Japanese general and bravely aided the resistance by sending shortwave radio messages to Allied forces in the Pacific. As a POW, the Japanese repeatedly beat and tortured Mims. Although they were able to break his body, they could never come close to breaking his spirit. During his captivity, the Japanese broke his back, neck and both of his legs and shattered many of the bones in his face. The beatings briefly left him a paraplegic on two separate occasions and he still retains a limp. Of the 1,600 soldiers in the 31st Infantry Regiment who surrendered, less than half survived Japanese captivity. In September 1944, he was sent to Japan on board Mitsubishi's Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Hellship Sekiho Maru. Mims became a slave laborer mining coal for Ube Kosan's Sanyo Muen Kogyo Sho (Ube Industries' Sanyo Smokeless Coal Work, which is still known today as Ube Industries Ltd.) at Hiroshima #6B--Omine (Sanyo) POW Camp in Omine-machi, Yamaguchi Prefecture. After the war, Mims remained in the Army for the next 27 years, attaining the rank of Sergeant First Class and retiring in 1963. POW# 429 John Real, 90, lives in Ventura, California. A California native, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps after graduating from high school in 1940. He was sent to the Philippines in April 1941 and assigned to aerial reconnaissance at Clark Field with the 2nd Observation Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group, V Bomber Command, 20th Air Force. Real and his unit manned an observation tower on top of Mt. Mariveles, Bataan during Japan's invasion of the Philippines where he tracked Japanese ship movement around the Olongapo Navy Yard. He walked down the mountain to surrender on April 9, 1942 and was stripped of all his belongings before being forced on the Bataan Death March. At the start of the march, he and others were used as human shields by being forced to walk in front of seized American 155mm caliber field guns (Long Toms) that the Japanese were firing at Corregidor. He was a POW at both Camp O'Donnell and Cabanatuan 1. He avoided a certain death at O'Donnell by volunteering for a work detail on Bataan. In September 1943, he was sent to Moji, Japan aboard the Hellship Taga Maru (aka Coral Maru) via Formosa. At Tokyo 5-B POW Camp in Niigata, he was a slave laborer unloading coal ships for Niigata Kairiku Unso, now part of the Rinko Corporation. After the war, Real received a BA degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a MA degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. POW# 514 George R. Summers, 90, lives in Riverside, California. Born in the Philippines, he grew up in California where he joined the Marine Corps Reserve in February 1941. Activated in June 1941, his unit was sent to Guam in September 1941. Japan invaded the island on December 8, 1941, and he was taken prisoner by the 10th of December. Summers was on the first transport of Allied POWs to Japan, the Argentina Maru with 420 American POWs from Guam to Tadotsu on the north coast of Shikoku. After arriving in Japan on January 16, 1942, the POWs were transported to Zentsuji (Hiroshima Branch #1), a POW camp about eight kilometers from Tadotsu. He spent six months there clearing a mountainside to plant apple trees. He was then transferred to Tanagawa Osaka Area POW Command #4B Camp, where he helped to manually tear down a mountainside to build a breakwater for a primitive dry-dock and submarine base. This camp was noted for its severe malnutrition and extremely high death rate of POWs. Six months later, he was sent to Umeda Bunsho Camp in Osaka (Osaka 2-D UMEDA), Japan, where he worked for Nippon Express as a slave stevedore. He was transferred to a total of six POW camps due to American bombings. His last camp was the Nagoya 10-B Fushiki Camp, where he worked as a stevedore slave unloading soybeans from Korea for Fushiki Kairiku Unso until Japan's surrender. After his release, he was hospitalized for six months at the Long Beach Naval Hospital. In retirement, he has focused on real estate investment and his hobbies of collecting Koi fish and exotic birds. POW# 347

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of an important provision that is included in this Continuing Resolution. This provision will enable the collection of essential information that we have long sought to make determinations about whether teachers are equitably distributed among our high needs schools. It will also help us understand which teachers are working with underserved students. In many places, teachers-in-training are serving as teachers of record. While we know this, we do not know exactly where they are concentrated around the country or which subgroups of students they are primarily teaching. Data points are available for some locales, but not nationally. This provision will require the Department of Education to gather information about the extent to which students with high needs are being taught by teachers with the least amount of preparation, including students with disabilities, English language learners, low- income students and students in rural areas and report this information to Congress by December 31, 2013. It is my hope that this report will require States and LEAs to compile the data that districts are already required to have under the Parents' Right to Know Section of NCLB regarding the professional qualifications of all their teachers. I look forward to receiving this important report. The information presented will assist Congress, the public, parents and educators in making informed decisions about policy and practice.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues Representatives Chu, Hansen Clarke, Faleomavaega, Grijalva, Lungren, Richardson, Sablan, and Loretta Sanchez to pay tribute to the life of Bruce Jun Fan Lee. The 39th anniversary of Bruce's death is this week, on July 20th. Bruce had, and continues to have, an immeasurable impact on American and global popular culture through the important role he played in creating a bridge between cultures; championing values of self-respect, self-discipline, and tolerance in our Nation; and pioneering and cultivating the genres of martial arts, martial arts films, fitness, and philosophy in the United States and the world. Bruce was born on November 27, 1940, in San Francisco, CA. His family relocated to Hong Kong shortly thereafter, and he experienced firsthand the occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese during World War II, during the years of 1941-45, and the subsequent hostility and war that shook the continent. It was during his time in Hong Kong that Bruce sought out martial arts as a means to gain self-confidence and discipline, as well as to overcome repeated instances of taunting racism, and gang activity during his youth. In 1959, with only $100 to his name, Bruce boarded a steamship in the American Presidents Line and began his voyage back to San Francisco. Soon thereafter, with much dedication, Bruce threw himself into learning colloquial English in honor and love of America and its culture. He subsequently attended the University of Washington, where he studied philosophy, psychology, drama, and other subjects. While at college, Bruce began his legendary martial arts teaching career, initially as a means to pay for his education. Bruce's willingness to teach martial arts to non-Chinese individuals as a way to bridge the cultures angered many in the field, and he was forced to defend his freedom as well as others' rights to learn the arts. Bruce had a true desire and the fortitude needed to expand the reach of martial arts by breaking away from the exclusionary mentality that limited its reach. His ingenuity and creativity led him to Hollywood, where he became an authentic face for Chinese Americans and an inspiration to youth across the world. Simultaneously, he began to create his own martial expression, ultimately naming it Jeet Kune Do. To millions of people around the world, Bruce Lee remains more than a celebrity or a martial arts legend--he was a true catalyst for social change and civil rights. His memory, which is brought to life everyday by the work of his daughter Shannon Lee, who leads the Bruce Lee Foundation, remains a beacon of hope and opportunity for future generations in America. It is my distinct honor to have introduced H. Res. 654 in this Congress, in order to honor the life of Bruce Lee and the continuing contributions of the Bruce Lee Foundation to our nation. Mr. Speaker, we ask our colleagues to join us in paying tribute to the life of Bruce Jun Fan Lee, a cultural and American icon, as well as master teacher, whose legacy resonates throughout the world for posterity.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, next week marks the launch of the 19th International AIDS Conference. It brings together advocates and leaders from all over the world. The conference's presence in the United States for the first time in 20 years is a testament to the hard work that members of the HIV/AIDS community, including many in my district and my colleagues in Congress, like my dear friend, Barbara Lee, have done. In the 20 intervening years, we have for the first time in a generation seen infection rates go down within the United States and stabilize abroad. Despite these steps, however, it is clear that we are still losing the war in key minority communities. Rising infection rates in the African American, Latino, Asian, and gay and lesbian communities are a stark reminder that our work is not done. It is fitting that our Nation's Capital is hosting this critical event as it is in the epicenter of this rising problem. Washington, D.C., has a higher HIV/AIDS infection rate than most places in Africa, primarily in these minority communities. From legislative action to grassroots efforts, now is the time for more commitment to HIV/AIDS, not less; more advocacy, not less; more investment, not less; more research, not less.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. I, too, would like to add my thanks to the leadership, specifically to Chairman Lamar Smith. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 683, a resolution expressing the regret of the House of Representatives for the passage of laws that adversely affected the Chinese in the United States, including the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act. A century and a half ago, the Chinese were used as cheap labor to do the most dangerous work--laying the tracks of our transcontinental railway and building the California delta levees. They strengthened our Nation's infrastructure only to be persecuted when their labor was seen as competition and when the dirtiest work was done. In 1848, when gold fever spread across the Pacific Ocean, many thousands of young Chinese came in boats to Gold Mountain, to California. In 1861 to 1865, there was waged a Civil War in this country. There were over 50 Chinese Americans who battled each other in this Civil War, a battle which went unnoticed. In 1863, the construction of the transcontinental railway commenced. With the discovery of silver in Nevada in 1865, many of the white workers left the railroad to search for silver. To fill the labor shortage, Charles Crocker, one of the big four investors of the railroad and the man responsible for constructing the western portion of the railroad, began hiring Chinese immigrants. Crocker's famous justification was, They built the Great Wall of China, didn't they? For the promise of $25 to $30 a month, the new workers endured long hours and harsh winters in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. While working in the Sierras, Chinese workers were hung in baskets, which were 2,000 feet above raging rivers, in order to blast into the impenetrable granite mountain, making way for laying the tracks. Once they bored holes and stuffed them with dynamite, they had to be pulled back up before the fuse exploded, endangering the lives of everyone on both ends of the rope; and sometimes these poor souls in the baskets were not drawn up safely because there was no faith in the timing of the fuse--hence the origin of the phrase: you ain't got a Chinaman's chance. By 1867, 90 percent of the workers were Chinese; and by 1869, over 11,000 workers were Chinese. On the national historic site of the Golden Spike at Promontory, Utah, where on May 10, 1869, the final spike was driven, sits a plaque commemorating ``the attainment and achievement of the great political objective of binding together by iron bonds the extremities of the continental United States, a rail link from ocean to ocean.'' However, neither in Thomas Hill's famous painting nor in the historical photos of ``The Last Spike'' are the faces of the 11,000 Chinese workers visible. One wonders, where were these 11,000 workers? Perhaps they were given the day off on that day. Though absent in these visual, historical depictions, the Chinese left an undeniable and indelible mark on the history of California and in the larger story of binding this country from ocean to ocean. Upon the railroad completion, the Chinese settled in the California delta to help with the levee construction, thus advancing California's agricultural development.

Mr. HONDA. The passage of anti-Chinese laws illustrates the xenophobic hysteria of this country's shameful chapter of exclusion. We cannot vilify entire groups of people--we learned that--because it is politically or economically expedient. The great thing about humanity is that we have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased that this resolution is on the floor today. Acknowledging and addressing these injustices throughout our Nation's history not only strengthens civil rights and civil justice, but doing so brings us closer to a more educated Nation and a more perfect union.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington, the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations, Mr. Dicks.

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am pleased we are considering the fiscal year 2013 Legislative Branch appropriations bill. Chairman Crenshaw has been collegial in the development of this bill, and I appreciate his willingness to accept our input throughout the process. The chairman's mark before us funds the legislative branch at $3.3 billion, a cut of 1 percent from fiscal year 2012, and this does not include Senate items. Even with a lower allocation, Chairman Crenshaw was able to level-fund and even increase several areas important to the operation of the legislative branch. The House, overall, is held flat at $1.225 billion. The Capitol Police will receive $360 million, a nearly 6 percent increase. The Congressional Budget Office is funded at $44.3 million, at $493,000 above the fiscal year 2012 level. And the Government Accountability Office is funded at $519.8 million--$8.5 million, or nearly 2 percent, above fiscal year 2012. While the levels are adequate for some agencies, the allocation required the subcommittee to propose no funding to continue the rehabilitation of the Capitol dome, this Nation's great symbol of democracy. This bill's lack of funding for this critical project is a direct result of the House Republicans' unilateral decision to cast aside the funding levels agreed to under the Budget Control Act. The majority's decision required the Appropriations Committee to absorb $19 billion in reductions across all of the bills. One issue that I continue to be concerned about is the House General Counsel's defense of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA. With the limited funding available for the House of Representatives, I think there are far more worthy uses of the precious taxpayers' resources than funding contracts for outside counsel to defend the highly controversial--and two U.S. district courts and a Federal appellate court have ruled unconstitutional--DOMA. I am concerned that the scarce resources available to the House will continue to be siphoned off in order to defend a law that continues to be found unconstitutional in the courts. I am privileged to represent Silicon Valley, the center of technological innovation in this country. Since I joined the subcommittee, I have tried to push the House and other agencies to explore technological solutions to issues such as transparency, evacuation management, and data storage. As you probably know, Federal agencies, including our own in the leg branch, can be slow to change and develop new technologies. This is mentioned in the report, which includes language on the issue of bulk- data downloads of legislative information, something I requested and secured language about in this bill in fiscal year 2009. This effort is now being championed by leadership on both sides of the aisle, as it is a way to increase transparency by allowing the public to easily download and analyze government data. There are some concerns about cost and the ability to authenticate the data that the language in the report tries to address. I think, however, that these are relatively simple matters to overcome, as data is already being compiled in a format that can be easily distributed, and technology support staff has indicated that only a simple procedure is needed to make the bulk data available. Furthermore, the GPO already employs an authentication standard for its own accessible bulk data through its FDSys, or the Federal Digital System, Web site that we could also utilize. The House majority recently announced that it will immediately create a task force, as described in this bill, to expedite a report and implementation of public access to bulk legislative data. While I believe the time to implement this is now, I expect to be included in these efforts as ranking member of the subcommittee and a longtime advocate since before 2009. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I want to reiterate my appreciation for the chairman's effort to work with my side of the aisle on issues where there was agreement. I am glad to see the congressional support Agencies, including the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and the Congressional Research Service, are adequately funded. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the hardworking professional staff that has helped to craft this bill and assisted the subcommittee in a bipartisan manner over the course of the year: Liz Dawson, Chuck Turner and Jenny Kesiah on the majority side, along with Michael Kirlin with Chairman Crenshaw's personal office, and Shalanda Young and Danny Cromer on our side of the aisle, along with Ken Takeda and Mark Nakamoto from my office. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. HONDA. I yield to my colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

Mr. HONDA. I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Broun of Georgia

Mr. HONDA. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Chairman, I also rise in opposition to the amendment which seeks to cut $1.2 million from the Architect of the Capitol's Botanic Garden. The hardest hit agency in this building is the Architect of the Capitol, which was cut by $52.5 million, or 11 percent, making it impossible to fund the Capitol dome restoration in this bill. However, the chairman found a small amount of funding to try to keep up with the maintenance of the Botanic Garden. Nevertheless, Members attack because they can get a good headline in the papers for cutting a garden. To that effect, the author of this amendment put out a press release after offering this same amendment last year. In that press release, Representative Gosar stated: The Botanic Garden has proven its ability to use tax dollars in a cost-effective and efficient way. If the Botanic Garden has indeed proven it's ability to use its tax dollars in a cost-effective manner, why is the gentleman targeting this agency? The public should know that after this amendment, we still won't finish the dome restoration. We still have to rehabilitate the Cannon House Office Building. The gentleman from Arizona wants to make sure the Botanic Garden is added to the scrap heap of buildings that we are unable to keep in working condition. Our constituents sent us here to do real work and look for real solutions to the deficit, not to make political points by attacking institutions like the Botanic Garden, which was established back in 1820. As a Member of Congress, we have a responsibility to ensure that our Nation's heritage is kept intact for future generations by both tackling unnecessary spending, but also by making investments in our future. With that, Mr. Chairman, I urge defeat of this amendment.

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would cut the funding level of the Congressional Research Service by $878,000, returning it to the 2012 level. He said that he's not doing anything to harm it because it's the same level as last year, but everybody knows that every year the cost of living, the cost of doing services, increases. So a flat, across-the- board push ahead kind of a budget is really a decrease. It's subtle, but it's still a decrease. I just want to let the gentleman know that that's the fact. The other fact is the CRS is a research arm of the congressional Members. It's a research arm that we're able to use to do the kind of research that our folks really depend upon and is nonpartisan, is not biased in one way or another, and they are very professional in doing so. If we're expected to do the right kind of work for our constituency and then also for our country on issues, then we should be able to expect good work from our CRS. In fact, Chairman Crenshaw and his staff should be commended for recognizing the funding shortfall that CRS has incurred in recent years. As other congressional staff can attest, CRS is really essential to help Members to be able to perform the duties by this kind of a nonpartisan research and policy analysis. I believe this divided Congress should take more advantage of this unbiased resource and not reduce its capacity. Therefore, I oppose the amendment and urge my colleagues do so also. I yield back the balance of my time. [From the Washington Times, June 6, 2012] Congressional Staffers, Public Shortchanged by High Turnover, Low Pay (By Luke Rosiak) The most powerful nation on Earth is run largely by 24- year-olds. High turnover and lack of experience in congressional offices are leaving staffs increasingly without policy and institutional knowledge, a Washington Times analysis of a decade of House and Senate personnel records shows--leaving a vacuum that usually is filled by lobbyists. Most Senate staffers have worked in the Capitol for less than three years. For most, it is their first job ever. In House offices, one-third of staffers are in their first year, while only 1 in 3 has worked there for five years or more. Among the aides who work on powerful committees where the nation's legislation takes shape, resumes are a little longer: Half have four years of experience. When Americans wonder why Congress can't seem to get anything done, this could be a clue. It's also a sharp difference from the average government employee: Unlike many state and federal workers with comfortable salaries, pensions and seemingly endless tenures, those in the halls of power are more likely to be inexperienced and overworked. Low pay for high-stress jobs with less-than-stellar prospects for advancement takes a toll on institutional memory and expertise. While senators make $174,000, staff assistants and legislative correspondents--by far the most common positions in the Senate--have median pay of $30,000 and $35,000, respectively, significantly less than Senate janitors and a fairly low salary for college graduates in a city as expensive as Washington. Historical pay records were transcribed from book form by the website Legistorm. The size of committee and members' staffs have remained the same over the past decade, and salaries have often not risen with inflation--or at all. The average legislative counsel in the House made $56,000 last year, less than in 2007. While pay for parking-lot attendants in the House increased from $26,000 to $49,000 in the past decade, pay for staff assistants, who make up the bulk of the House's workforce, rose from $26,000 to $30,000. That puts them in the bottom fifth of the region's college- educated workforce. It means that young workers have proximity to enormous power while surviving on a meager budget--dual forces that come together to push congressional staffers through the ``revolving door'' to highly paid K Street lobbyists. In the revolving door, former congressional staff and members use their personal connections and insider knowledge to attempt to pull the levers of power on behalf of a paying client. A former congressional staffer is among the most valuable assets a company desiring legislative change can buy. But it also means that staffers are often forced to rely on lobbyists while they still work for Congress, sometimes for the purest of reasons: While lobbyists with decades of experience in energy policy or other arcane areas are common, such depth of experience is nearly nonexistent on Capitol Hill. Though 10 years of experience in a home-state office, which handles constituent services and other less stressful concerns, is not rare, a person with a decade of experience is few and far between in Washington. Without a foundation ``Who are congressional staff going to turn to?'' asked Daniel Schuman, a former Congressional Research Service (CRS) lawyer who now studies policy at the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation. ``The experienced staff aren't there. But lobbyists and think tanks are beating down the door: `Here's the legislation, here are the research materials and I've got the co-sponsors lined up.' '' As policy questions more frequently hinge on the nuances of technical matters, members of Congress are operating without the researchers and topical experts on which they have relied to cast informed votes. With the shuttering of the Office of Technology Assessment, a 200-member congressional support agency that closed in 1995 under House Speaker Newt Gingrich, members who are largely lawyers and rhetorical masters are asked to differentiate between competing proposals that only scientists might be able to evaluate effectively. The technology office researched and summarized scientific and technological matters, ranging from acid rain to wireless phones, for members who, with an average age of 64 in the Senate and 58 in the House, are legislating on matters such as the Internet, which most spent much of their lives without. Typical of its work products was a decades-ago warning on the effect of technology on copyright law, a question lawmakers contentiously grappled with this year. ``It helped us to . . . better oversee the science and technology programs within the federal establishment,'' said then-Rep. Amo Houghton, New York Republican, who served nine terms before retiring in 2005. The role of CRS, which provides research on topics beyond science and technology, has also been rolled back. Brian Darling, a former Senate staffer who is now senior fellow for government studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said he strongly supports smaller government, but sometimes symbolic cuts can backfire. ``Cutbacks at CRS to me don't make a lot of sense, with their institutional knowledge. They put out a great nonpartisan work product. When crafting the legislative branch appropriation bill, members of Congress are trying to show they want to cut spending, but there can be repercussions,'' he said. Though it seems paradoxical, a lack of knowledge and resources by congressional staffers can make for waste, Mr. Schuman said, citing an inability to conduct oversight, agency regulations that are left unchallenged, loopholes slipped into laws that are giveaways for special interests and poorly implemented programs. He pointed to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. ``The department is a mess because people didn't understand what would happen when you merge so many different agencies with different cultures,'' he said. ``It is bloated, inefficient and maladroit.'' A failure by Congress to ``understand the laws it passed'' and ``innovations in the private sector'' also led ultimately to a huge crunch and the massive bailouts with taxpayer money, he said. Up and out Consider the class of 2005. Of 186 Senate staff assistants who started that year, 82 percent had left by last year, 13 percent were still in the same position and the remaining 5 percent have moved up a notch. Of Senate legislative correspondents starting the same year, 83 percent have departed and the rest moved up. In the House, of 105 people who started as legislative assistants, four made chief of staff in six years. Seven out of 10 left, and almost all the rest got other promotions. As that group has come or gone, multiple other layers of congressional staff have been churned through. Among staffers who moved on from Congress in early 2010, three-quarters of departing staff assistants and legislative correspondents had two years or less under their belts. Even policy wonks in the most nonpolitical of positions, ``professional staff'' in the Senate committees where most legislative work gets done, last only five years on average, from the time they got their first job in Congress to the time they found a new employer. ``When people get married or have kids, around 35, you either jump up in pay by $50,000 or you get out of there because you can't make it anymore. Making that money for 10 years puts people behind for the rest of their lives in terms of retirement,'' Mr. Schuman said. Most college-educated workers in the D.C. area earn $81,000 or more, with an average salary of $93,850, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For college grads under 30, the median salary is $42,000. Some 300 staffers who started in 2005 or 2006 are already registered federal lobbyists, a Times review of records indicated. They are preparing detailed policy papers, and in some cases drafting proposed legislation, for their former colleagues, and they have the time and resources to do a more thorough job than those still there--though one that has a slant in favor of their new, more generous employer. ``Staff are incredibly vulnerable to this. They're trying to do a very complicated job with limited resources,'' Mr. Schuman said. As the federal government has grown dramatically over the decades, the Congress in charge of overseeing it has stayed the same or shrunk. A recent 10 percent reduction to congressional offices' budgets is the latest major reduction. ``When times are going bad, lawmakers say we have to cut Congress. But when things are going great, no one says it's time to hire more staff. You get the Congress you pay for,'' Mr. Schuman said. Mr. Darling acknowledged that salaries made it nearly impossible for Congress to have many workers with significant experience. But he likened the limitation to ``term limits'' for staff. He decried the deferred compensation system that inspires some Hill staffers to make next to nothing for a few years so they can cash in big as a lobbyist afterward, but praised the idealists who toiled there. ``There's a perception that government workers are underworked, and that's far from the case in Congress. In fact, they tend to burn out and leave for higher-paid positions,'' said Mr. Darling. Executive-branch bureaucrats could take a lesson from their grueling workload, he added. ``The way Congress runs is the way the federal government should run.''