Darrell Issa

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, as we on a bipartisan basis support this resolution, I would yield to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry) such time as he may consume.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from the First Congressional District of Nebraska (Mr. Forten- berry).

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in bipartisan support of this resolution with my colleague from the District of Columbia in honoring the first responders and citizens who were lost and who dealt with this extreme storm in such a valiant way. All of us know the beauty of Mount St. Helens. All of us know the beauty of the region, but few of us outside the region can understand the strength of the storm that flooded whole communities, battered trees, roadways, and destroyed power for entire communities and left at least eight dead. In the aftermath, as the waters recede, we in Congress join with the people of Oregon and Washington in banding together to rebuild their community and their tattered region. But more importantly, we thank the first responders who, as appropriately people sought cover and safety, went out to deal with the effects of this storm at risk of life and limb. I yield back the balance of my time and urge support for this important resolution.

Mr. ISSA. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 254, which recognizes and celebrates the 100th anniversary of Oklahoma statehood. Mr. Speaker, Oklahoma is a State that takes energy production so seriously that it has oil wells on the grounds of the Governor's mansion. It is a State people were so anxious to move into that they jumped the gun in claiming homesteads and entered sooner. That is where the nickname comes from, the Sooner State. Mr. Speaker, at a time in which energy independence is talked about but not achieved, in which States like our own, California, are major energy producers but less than half of the oil that it consumes, Oklahoma continues to aggressively find the resources that lie beneath it and to make it available for us. Additionally, throughout its heartache, Oklahoma has given us Gene Autry. I won't skip over Brad Pitt. It has given us music. It has given us both country and a number of other great venues. But, most of all, it gave us J.C. Watts, the longest winning streak in history in college football, and they are proud of it. And, last but not least, it gave us Will Rogers. So as we look at Oklahoma, a State that takes oil seriously, that in fact was rushed into because it was such a great place, I also join with my colleagues in supporting this resolution recognizing that, after 100 years, Oklahoma is still a meaningful and important part of this great Nation. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I join with my colleague from the District of Columbia in supporting the naming of this post office after Lance Corporal Dennis Veater. He was a dedicated marine who enlisted in 2004 upon his high school graduation and entered the Marine Corps Reserve at age 17, following in the footsteps of his marine sergeant major father. Lance Corporal Veater wanted to serve his country, and he wanted to make a difference. On March 9, 2007, just 2 weeks before his scheduled return to the United States, Lance Corporal Veater was mortally injured while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq. He leaves behind his fiancee, whom he planned to marry upon his return, and his 14-month-old son, Dominick. Lance Corporal Veater did not die in vain. Today Anbar province is safer because of the work he and the other marines did there. I join with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in thinking it is very important to remember this man and the work he did for his family back home. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield for such time as he may consume to the gentleman who now seeks to fill the shoes left by the passing of our colleague and friend, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Bob Latta. (Mr. LATTA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleague in urging support for this bill. I traveled extensively with Paul Gillmor. He was a close friend of Henry Hyde and loved to be an advocate for a better understanding not just of the State of Ohio, but of our Nation abroad. It is very befitting that we do this and do it in a timely fashion. I move support for the bill. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge passage of S. 2174, to designate the U.S. Post Office at 175 South Monroe Street in Tiffin, Ohio, as the ``Paul E. Gillmor Post Office Building.'' Mr. Speaker, I doubt I've ever had an easier sell when it comes to convincing my colleagues to support legislation. As was noted repeatedly on this floor when Paul died on Sept. 5 at his home in Arlington, he was a man we all liked, even those of us on the other side of the political aisle. A small-town banker, a businessman, a Vietnam War vet, a former Judge Advocate General, a husband and father of five, he was known to all of us as a man who worked hard for and cared deeply about his constituents, who spent most of his life in service to his country and who, just 12 days before his death, was touring flood-ravaged areas of his beloved Ohio and trying to see how he could help. He was a moderate, an effective legislator and, most importantly and most memorably, a gentleman with all the best that word represents. I urge my colleagues to bestow this one last honor on our friend from the Buckeye State. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I served with Congressman Dan Miller. He, unlike most Members of Congress, came here, said he would stay for a period of time, as the Founding Fathers thought, and return to his life at home. He was elected from the 13th District of Florida in 1992, and after 10 years, five terms, retired in 2003. He did so not to seek higher office, not for any reason except that he felt that he came here for a period of time, served for the time he'd promised, and went back. He has, in fact, returned to his life and appropriately has resettled in southwest Florida at the University of South Florida. I look forward to seeing him up here again some day. I look forward to his continued process of participating here in helping those of us in Congress. It is unusual for a Member of Congress to come, stay for a period of time, and not return to lobbying, not seek higher office, but in fact to go back to being the citizen that he can be and to give to his community and to be available should we need him. Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleagues and the Government Reform Committee that unanimously voted this out in urging the passage of the Dan Miller Post Office.

Mr. ISSA. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge passage of H. Res. 816, congratulating the Colorado Rockies for winning the National League Championship and participating in the World Series. Mr. Speaker, to go to the World Series is to be special. To win it is a 50-50 chance. So I think it is appropriate when we look at a team that had won 21 of 22 games, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in the Division Series and the Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League Championship to claim their spot in the World Series that, in fact, we in Congress take a few moments before our colleagues, many of them arriving back from their districts, to add this to what we will celebrate for America tonight, because nothing is greater to celebrate for America than its pastime of baseball, particularly at a time when we are cleaning up baseball. So with that, there's no asterisk behind this resolution, and I urge its support. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of the naming of this post office the Dock M. Brown Post Office Building. Dock Brown was a dedicated public servant, a member of the community, and a shining example as a local leader. A veteran of the Korean war, Mr. Brown served his community as an educator and a politician. During a more than 30-year tenure as a teacher and principal at Halifax County, North Carolina, he also served on the community health board, chaired the county election board and served 19 years on the mental health board. Truly, this was a community leader and appropriate for naming of a post office in his hometown. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield such time as she may consume to the gentlelady, Mrs. Emerson, who, in her own right, is recognized as a leader in service to the hungry and unfortunate.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support and join with my colleagues in supporting and sponsoring the gentlelady from Missouri's bill, H.R. 4220, the Federal Food Donation Act of 2007. As Mrs. Emerson said so well, the effort to aid nonprofit organizations to serve the hungry will be advanced by this bill and its amendment to the Federal acquisition regulations and to encourage Federal agencies and contractors to donate excessive foods to food pantries, food shelters, and homes for the homeless. This bill also seeks to protect agencies and contractors from civil or criminal liabilities associated with these types of donations. It is sad but true in this country that often good deeds go punished as a result of the advent of those who would profit by suing over the good deeds of others. This bill tries to balance those two to encourage the good deeds of others and to shelter them from the type of adverse behavior that might cause people to throw away food rather than give it to the poor. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3179, the Local Preparedness Acquisition Act. Mr. Towns and the entire Committee on Oversight and Government Reform recognized that the GSA schedule is more than just a list of things that can be bought at a given price. It is, in fact, the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. GSA goes to great lengths to ensure that products are appropriate for purchase and that they are a good value. Leveraging that capability and the Federal money already spent to allow States and local governments to participate in this acquisition serves two good purposes. It increases the value of seeking a GSA schedule, and in fact, it saves money and overhead for State and local agencies. I join with my colleague from the District of Columbia and Mr. Towns in asking for the swift passage of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The automated external defibrillator is a critical part of saving lives here in America. In the first 10 minutes of an onset of symptoms, you have an incredibly short period of time, that 10 minutes, to make the difference between life and death. A typical response time, an optimum response time, for a 911 call is 5 minutes. The availability of these devices, once thought to be only in the crash kit on an emergency vehicle or in a hospital, is now spreading. At our airports, including our Nation's Capital airports, these devices are not just available but they are hung throughout the facility, making it possible, and, in fact, it has occurred, for people who have a heart symptom and pass out to be brought back to life in those 10 minutes, those precious 10 minutes. But in order to expand the use of this lifesaving apparatus, we need to have additional training. I join with the gentleman from Illinois in saying that the importance of this Automatic External Defibrillator Week is not that we can learn to say it without tying our tongue but, in fact, that we can deploy these devices and get people trained. In my own small condominium unit here in Washington, our neighbors have been trained; and it will undoubtedly in time save lives in our community. I join with the majority in urging that this bill not only become law this year but that we make this an annual event so as to spread the lifesaving capability of this device.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I join with my colleagues in supporting National Fire Fighter Appreciation Day. This year, particularly as a Californian, it is appropriate that this was authored by a Californian and that I have the opportunity to personally thank the men and women who saved lives and property in California just a month and a half ago. But, of course, firefighters do that every day throughout the country, not just in wildfires that consume hundreds of thousands of acres. Interestingly enough, firefighters also carry automatic external defibrillators and save lives every day. Firefighters are not just people who put out fires. They are people who train in the prevention of fire. They are people who train in emergency procedures that save lives. They are people who answer to so many calls in our community. The fact is on 9/11 we understood that firefighters go in the direction where anyone, anyone, should be running from and they do so with no regard for their own safety. They do so because that is what a firefighter's job is. Firefighters do not shy away from riots. They do not shy away from the worst inferno, and they do not shy away from earthquakes in my home State and other disasters. In fact, the term ``American hero'' is best attributed to the men and women who every day train to go into fires to find and retrieve people and, in fact, not to leave the site until all life has been preserved and all property, to the best of their ability, has also been maintained. Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleagues in recognizing the heroism not just in California 2 months ago but, in fact, throughout the country of our firefighters and urge support and passage of National Fire Fighter Appreciation Day. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I yield 10 minutes to the gentlelady from Michigan, Mrs. Candice Miller.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I join happily with the gentleman from Missouri and my own home State Senator, Senator Feinstein, in urging immediate passage of this renewal. This extension is not only critical, but it comes at a time when those of us on this House floor are still remembering the recent loss of Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis. Yes, in fact, today could be considered to be Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis' Breast Cancer Awareness Day because it's not just the statistic of 180,000 people, mostly women, getting breast cancer or 40,000 dying, it's a friend and a colleague who fought valiantly through not only this Congress but the previous Congress, and almost, but did not, win against this dreaded disease. Breast Cancer Awareness stamps are not about the $54 million raised, although that goes a long way towards adding to the research pool. It's about the countless millions of people who receive a stamp that sends a message that reminds them to get that available mammogram, to, in fact, do a self-test, to be aware of lumps, to be aware of the possibility of this terrible and invasive disease taking the life of their wife, their daughter, their mother. So, I join again in urging passage of this. And I might take a personal liberty that you don't often see on the House floor. My opponent in my last race and, God willing, my opponent in this race, Jeeni Criscenzo, is presently fighting cancer. I saw her yesterday in California dealing with the effects of chemo. Her detection was relatively early; she has a good chance. But it's things like this that the House does that sometimes gets criticized as not substantial legislation that hopefully will save women like my opponent and friend, Jeeni Criscenzo, from the kind of terrible tragedy that befell Jo Ann Davis and so many other women last year. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ISSA

Mr. ISSA. I yield back the balance of my time.