Marcy Kaptur

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, as a Representative from Ohio, a State that borders Michigan, I rise to stand in solidarity with the workers of Michigan. Many Ohioans I represent actually drive to work in Michigan. And due to the high-handed actions of Michigan's Governor and its legislature, they actually railroaded legislation through Michigan, with no hearings, to take away the rights of Michigan workers to fund the collective bargaining process that results in living-wage worker contracts. The workers of Michigan are fighting to maintain their rights to a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. I support their rights and the rights of every American to organize and negotiate by contract for proper pay and benefits, regardless of which State they live in. The rights of labor by contract are critical to growing our middle class, as opposed to rights by happenstance that are always up for grabs, where workers have no rights and live in fear of the future. Michigan's Republican ideologues passed so-called ``right-to-work'' legislation. Well, let's be clear: the bill being pushed there by the far right should really be called the Right to Work for Less. And that is exactly what President Obama called it. To quote Bob King, the visionary president of the United Auto Workers of this country: Every right-to-work State has lower wages, lower benefits, less security for workers and more income inequality. And they have a shrinking middle class. The UAW is right: if you happen to live and work in a State that has a so-called right-to-work law on the books, you earn an average of $5,000 less a year than if you lived in a worker rights State. The bill signed last night in Michigan strips labor organizations of their right to collect dues to cover the cost of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. The Michigan law is pure politics. No, it is more than that. It is an old-school union-busting technique, pure and simple. And in Michigan and Ohio, we know a lot about union busting. As a daughter of auto workers, I know the history of the hired goons who bludgeoned auto workers back in the 1930s at River Rouge as workers began to stand up for their human rights as they labored in the dungeons of the automotive production facilities at the time. I actually would like to challenge the Governor of Michigan to come with me and let's work on the line for a month in one of those repetitive-motion jobs that make and characterize modern automotive production. They're not easy jobs. I would like him to install the windows on the right side of a vehicle as it moves down the line over and over and over and over and over and over again. Let's see how much fun he'll have. A year ago, we in Ohio witnessed a similar effort to eliminate unions. Right-wing legislators moved through legislation that would have ended collective bargaining as we know it in Ohio for public sector workers. We're talking about firefighters, police, and teachers. Well, the people of Ohio broadly rejected that union busting earlier this year. Citizens organized a ballot initiative to restore worker rights in Ohio, and they won. It was called Issue 2. The people of Ohio voted to overwhelmingly protect the rights of those who protect us and who teach our children. While worker rights were protected in Ohio, up north, what was done in Lansing, intends to extend far beyond the borders of just Michigan. It will impact workers who commute from my State of Ohio and Indiana. This is about more than just one State. In fact, this is a national issue, not a states' rights issue at all. The Michigan union-busting bill is a direct result of weak Federal legislation, and I'm talking about section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act, which weakens the rights of labor. Congress should overturn that part of the law and reaffirm its role in protecting the internationally recognized labor rights of every American citizen. That is why I have joined a number of my colleagues in introducing legislation, H.R. 2775, that would do just that. We should not have individual States competing against each other in a race to the bottom. Haven't we seen enough of that? We need to support and build back the American middle class by creating good jobs, good-paying jobs, and secure benefits through secure contracts. I stand attired in red today in solidarity with the workers of Michigan, and I am proud to do so.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank you very much, Congressman Tiberi, for spearheading this Special Order to honor those in our delegation who have served with us so honorably these many years. I was reflecting and listening to our colleagues that, with the departure of these wonderful, wonderful Americans who call Ohio their home, Ohio will lose over a half a century of seniority as they move on to other pursuits. On top of the seniority that was lost when Ralph Regula retired and Dave Hobson and Lou Stokes, we really have a rebuilding job to do in Ohio to gain footing here and to make sure that the needs of Ohio are met. So as these very able Ohioans leave, they take with them great knowledge and great dexterity in this institution, but we have to be conscious of our added responsibilities as they leave. I want to say to my two sisters, to Betty Sutton, who has been a true champion on the middle class during her 6 years of service here, without question her voice has been heard and will be heard again. She has dedicated her life to public service and the betterment of the lives of Ohioans and all Americans. And what makes her service particularly poignant, I think, she is a very highly educated woman, but she is very, very proud of her working-class roots, her blue-collar roots, and it is not surprising that she was a tireless advocate for working men and women in her service here. The Cash for Clunkers legislation that gave our economy a much-needed shot in the arm was championed by her. And at every turn, she fought for her convictions that everyone should have access to work, to health care, that we had to grow our economy and create jobs so the middle class could be strengthened and those who want to get into it would have that ladder of opportunity up. She always kept our Nation's servicemen and -women preeminent in her mind. I can tell you, I will miss her so very, very much. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt, who I'm glad is on the floor with us tonight, was first elected in 2005 and has been an absolutely totally dedicated Representative to her district, to our State, and to the country. I have admired her dedication and her ability to reach across the aisle. I have admired very much her work on new energy systems in all sectors, not picking any favorites necessarily, but trying to help America meet its chief strategic vulnerability, and that is our continued reliance on imported sources of energy. I know how hard she has fought for our troops, both here as a Member and back home, always recognizing their contributions to our country. And I will miss her. I will miss seeing her, I will miss working with her, and I obviously wish her, on behalf of our side of the delegation, the very best that life can offer and a very beautiful holiday season. I know we have not heard the last of Jean Schmidt. I know that she has much more to give. To my colleague, Dennis Kucinich from Cleveland, we certainly admire his passion and conviction on issues. One doesn't doubt where he stands when Dennis takes a position. He believes in it, and he believes in the people he represents, and they surely need voice. He has never lost focus on that during his tenure, and I know that all of us will be watching as he makes his way forward. I know that he will be active in the political realm as he so chooses. And we thank him for his great service to the State of Ohio as a Member of Congress, but before that, as well, in service to the State legislature and as mayor of Cleveland. He has had a very illustrious career and many, many accomplishments to show for that service. I want to say to Steve LaTourette a personal thank-you for the years that we've served together, but also for our work on the Appropriations Committee, the full committee, as well as the subcommittee that we share, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Our part of Ohio, in fact all of Ohio, which has more urban areas than any other State in the Union, needs the attention of this committee, and Steve completely dedicated himself to that so honorably. He's been a commonsense Congressman and an able partner on the many issues that we're able to work on together. We fought against bank bonuses after Wall Street collapsed. We worked together to save the auto industry to ensure that auto dealers got a fair deal, saving thousands of jobs, and to make sure, in the end, Ohio got her fair share. I will hope that his work in the future will allow him to be a champion for the greater Cleveland area and northeastern Ohio, but for our whole State because of his great acumen and his abilities to work with people of all persuasions. I know how Lake Erie and the entire Great Lakes system has benefited from his years of service, and we have to pick up that mantle and carry it forward for him. Finally, for Steve Austria, what a joy to work with Steve Austria, whether it was on Wright Pat, whether it was on the concerns of central Ohio, such a gentleman, so strong and steady, such a voice for his constituents over the last 4 years that he has served. I wish that he could have served longer. I have enjoyed the opportunities I've had to work with him, though not always on shared committees. I just want to thank Congressman Tiberi for bringing us together tonight to pay tribute to all of these great Ohioans--Betty Sutton, Jean Schmidt, Dennis Kucinich, Steve Austria, and Steve LaTourette--all of whom have made enormous contributions to our State, and I thank you for allowing me to add my words of appreciation to all of you.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. For decades, America's trade policy has been broken. When Congress granted permanent normal trade relations to China, those of us in Congress who opposed the deal were promised that U.S. businesses would be treated fairly in China. Well, that didn't happen. Instead, we see cases of corruption and outright theft with little or no justice for U.S. companies. In our Ohio district, one of our local manufacturing companies, Heidtman Steel, was the victim of corrupt business practices in China. Heidtman supplies steel to the U.S. auto industry. Heidtman took a chance by trying to do business in China. Do you know what? They essentially were robbed by a Chinese company. After 8 years of trying to get justice, Heidtman is still owed $7 million. I've asked the Chinese Ambassador and their government for answers to this case, and our Federal trade establishment needs to be more forceful on issues of business fraud. America and the Congress should not stand idly by as American companies are fleeced and as the promises of a level playing field are broken. [From the Toledo Blade, Nov. 21, 2012] Heidtman Steel Products, Inc. Says Chinese Firm Owes It $7 M (By Ignazio Messina) A Toledo company that has supplied steel for the Detroit Three automakers and raw materials to steel mills says it was duped eight years ago by a Chinese business that claimed to have a great supply of coking coal for sale. After nearly a decade of legal wrangling overseas, Heidtman Steel Products Inc. is still owed nearly $5.9 million, plus 5 percent interest from the Chinese company. The interest brings the award to about $7 million. ``A simple business transaction. Well, it never shipped and they never returned the money,'' said Mark Ridenour, chief financial officer for Heidtman Steel. ``I think we got ripped off, to be perfectly honest. I think we got shanghaied.'' Toledo Mayor Mike Bell and about 20 local businessmen left for China on Nov. 13 and are to fly back today. The mayor has been urging Toledo businesses to explore doing business with Chinese investors and businessmen. The trip to China to seek investors is Mr. Bell's fourth. His spokesman, Jen Sorgenfrei, reached in China on Tuesday morning, declined to make the mayor available for comment about the problems Heidtman Steel had in China. In December, 2010, an arbitrator in Geneva agreed with Heidtman and ordered the Chinese company--Hebei Huiyuan Group Tangshan Import & Export Co. Ltd.--to repay $3.5 million plus other costs for 44,000 tons of coke it had promised to deliver but did not. Two years later, Heidtman is still without its money and never received the shipment. In 2004, when coke was difficult to obtain and the price of steel was sky-high, John Bates, Heidtman's chief executive officer, thought he had found a supply of coke to satisfy his customers. ``We became aware that there was maybe some coking coal available in China for export to the United States, so our CEO went over and met with some individuals,'' Mr. Ridenour said. ``We signed a contract [and] made a payment in order to obtain this coking coal, which we would then turn around and sell to a steel producer; in this case, it was SeverStal.'' The deal with Hebei was signed on Nov. 13, 2004, and the money was wired three days later. The coke was supposed to be waiting on a dock in China north of Beijing on Dec. 5, 2004. After Hebei failed to deliver the coke, Heidtman agreed to cover the difference between the contract price and the cost of buying 44,000 tons of coke on the dock from another seller to honor its commitment to SeverStal. In January, 2005, SeverStal demanded $1.68 million from Heidtman for the purchase price difference of that coke and extra shipping costs. The arbitrator awarded Heidtman $3.51 million as reimbursement and the $1.68 million it had to pay to SeverStal. Heidtman was also awarded $440,000 plus $185,876 in legal fees, hearing costs, and arbitration fees. Xu Jianguo, chairman and legal representative of Hebei, could not be reached for comment at his office in China. Mr. Xu and the company are listed on a variety of Chinese- language Web sites. One site calls him ``the city of Tangshan coke king'' and says that he has been chairman of the board of the Entrepreneurs Association of Hebei Province, Tangshan City Federation executive committee. Mr. Ridenour alleged Mr. Xu asked for an additional $10 million after the coke shipment didn't arrive at the docks. John Carey, a lawyer with Eastman & Smith Ltd. who is working for Heidtman, said the arbitration award has been ignored but there are legal options in China. ``We have a two-year window to do something with it in China,'' Mr. Carey said. ``We have had a Chinese lawyer in Beijing for about a year trying to help us. . . . We have been told by everybody and their aunt that you can go through the Chinese judicial process if you want to; it will take a really long time; it will be really expensive, and really there is no certainty for outcome.'' Derek Scissors, an expert on China and an Asian scholar at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said he was not surprised to hear about Heidtman's troubles with the Chinese company. He said American companies should first check out businesses in China before proceeding because recovering money in a legal dispute is very difficult. ``No certainty for an outcome is an understatement,'' Mr. Scissors said. ``The fundamental problem for the U.S. is that it wants to encourage private Chinese companies, but private does not mean ethical or well run. . . . It could be owned by thieves and all of these companies have the shelter that they are not going to be forced to pay unless they have other overseas exposure.'' Mr. Scissors said American companies in similar disputes will not get a judgment on any basis of law. ``There is no rule of law in China,'' he said. ``Decisions are made on a political basis and the top one is keeping people employed, so if the Chinese company says it would have to lay off workers to pay this order, then forget it, you are not going to get squat.'' Mr. Ridenour admits Heidtman should have used an international letter of credit rather than paying up front for the coke. ``This was our first foray into China and maybe our last,'' he said. ``It's a story about the perils of doing business in China without having your behind protected.'' Heidtman and its law firm have asked for help from U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio), U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the American Embassy in Beijing, and the International Chamber of Commerce. Miss Kaptur said she is trying to ``get justice'' for Heidtman by going through official channels. ``I am seeking a personal meeting with the ambassador from China to the United States and we have asked for that meeting and we are waiting for a reply,'' she said. ``We are operating with a country that does not have reciprocal trade practices. They do not have a rule of law and they do not abide by the normal practice of global trade.'' She said Heidtman's situation is a cautionary tale. ``This is indicative of many American companies doing business in China,'' Miss Kaptur said.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Congressman Garamendi, I want to say I'm just so privileged to join three such dedicated Members whose States have been wise enough to send them here to Washington. Obviously Congressman Garamendi from northern California and Congressman Tonko from the State of New York, the great State of New York, and Congressman Brian Higgins, also of the State of New York, a little bit upstate.

Ms. KAPTUR. Well, you know, there's the St. Lawrence Seaway that kind of connects it all as it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. But I wanted say, you know, many of us, all of us have come through very difficult campaigns in this political year of 2012. But what is wonderful about serving with the three of you is you keep the focus on jobs in this country, and the importance of making goods in America, and where wealth is really created, how we do that as a country, and what it takes to build a great country. I look at the St. Lawrence Seaway, and I think about Dwight Eisenhower, a great general, led our forces in Europe, and came home and decided that America needed to create the St. Lawrence Seaway so that we would unlock the potential of the Upper Great Lakes and the Lower Great Lakes. And you say to yourself, today, with some of the limited thinking that some exhibit--of course, no one in this Chamber would ever be accused of that, right?--but could we do the St. Lawrence Seaway again? I've had the great privilege of traveling out West--I think I've probably been in every State and almost every congressional district at one point in my career--and to look at the Hoover Dam. And as I admired the dam, I thought to myself, America has it in her to land a man on the moon and to create NASA, but here at home, our public works, do we have the vision? Do we have a vision big enough today, in the 21st century, to match what those who came before us gave to us that put this continent together? And as I travel, I see water systems in disrepair. In fact, in my hometown of Toledo, they're trying to find $45 million to put a roof on the water treatment plant, which really needs $500 million to fix. I go to the new parts of the Ninth District, in the city of Cleveland, and I look at the need for infrastructure repair and, in the same city, so many unemployed people who could be put to work fixing the heart and soul of Cleveland. Or Lorain, Ohio, the number of brownfields that are there where we're waiting to clear property so that we can clean it up, move the sewage treatment plant, move other assets that are there and create a much greater port on Lake Erie. And I say, do we have it in us? I know I have it in me to want to do this. But I look back at what our heritage really is, the interstate highway system itself, when, again, during the 1950s, if we think about what was done, there was a time when this country, if you moved from--well, you couldn't move from Ohio to California on roads that intersected. People think that just happened, but it didn't. It took real vision to do that. All the statistics show that when we invest in infrastructure, that is the most job-rich program that this country could ever promote. And to create efficiencies and intermodal connections--Congressman Tonko talked about fiber optics and about telecommunications and all of the new ways of connecting our country. I've had the privilege in my career of representing many rural areas that are short, not just on doctors, but on telecommunications capabilities. It isn't just in the heart of Ukraine where people can't communicate; it's in rural America as well. So I just came down here, I heard you speaking, and I thought, I identify with your cause. Thank you for talking about jobs inside the Congress of the United States. Thank you, Congressman Garamendi, Congressman Higgins, Congressman Tonko. Now you all come from what is regarded as the coast, right? But I'm from a coast too, the north coast along Lake Erie, and it's actually quite a long coast when you take a look at it, you unwind it in all the various lakes. So we're coastal America too, and I identify with your cause. And believe me, the people that sent me here identify with the cause of jobs and economic growth and infrastructure investment in our country to push us far beyond where perhaps Roosevelt and Eisenhower and Kennedy dreamed. Thank you so very much for this Special Order tonight.

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank you, Congressman Garamendi. I am really listening carefully to what Congressman Tonko and Congressman Higgins have been saying this evening and thinking about what's going on in Ohio, the northern band of Ohio, from Toledo through Cleveland, and the importance of manufacturing and thinking about how hard our businesses and our workers have to compete in a very unlevel global playing field. And I've seen this directly in the automotive industry, where to this day one of the reasons that our automotive industry had difficulty and why it required the Nation to not let it fail and to pay back what was borrowed was because we are in competition with state-managed economies. For example, I'm a member of the China Commission. And several economists testified before our committee a few years ago that what you really have in operation is market Leninism. I said, Describe to me what you're seeing. Because I've had companies in my district that have business deals in China that have lost billions of dollars. They have paid for goods that have never been received. Now, in a transparent legal system like our own, that could never happen. You have a court system. You have a way of getting your money back. But when you're dealing with a state-managed economy under a market Leninist approach, you have powerful political people pulling the strings that isn't truly a free market. And so whether you have a closed market in Japan that's still largely closed to automotive products or you have a state-managed economy as in China, then you ask our automotive producers or any company to compete in that kind of environment, you end up harming our domestic production. And one of the reasons we are so elated that our automotive industry is recovering, you see it all over our region, the power of industry to lift people into the middle class and beyond. You can see it everywhere: in suppliers, in restaurants, in theaters, and places where people are going. Even grocery stores, frankly, where people are able to buy more because of the recovery of this powerful, powerful industry. And I just want to end with one image, which is really hard to capture in words, but one of our companies in Cleveland has the only 50,000-ton press in the United States of America--Alcoa. It is seven stories in magnitude. I feel very privileged as a Representative to have been invited into the company to see this literally mammoth, magnificent machine be able to take parts and form them for industry as well as our defense systems. And it's seven stories high. Three layers on three stories at the bottom just dealing with the hydraulics. The engineering and the brain power it takes to manufacture high-end goods is incredible. We are so proud of that company and other companies that are able to make it in America, despite all of the unfair global playing fields on which they are asked to play. And we see the components going into the automotive industry, into our defense systems. And we thank the corporate leadership and the workers, those who work very, very hard jobs that help us build the strongest country in the world. So I just had to say that tonight because you get as excited as I do about actually making things and seeing this genius that takes ideas and engineers them into products that affect all of us and allows America to be the strongest Republic in the world. So I wanted to place that on the record. And thank you for giving me the time to do it.

Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you. I wanted to tie together Congressman Higgins' ideas on the Helmets to Hardhats, a program that I have supported, and commend him for his leadership on that, and also Congressman Tonko for the efforts that he's made in suggesting to us that we have to be visionary, and we have to promote new research, new research and development. One area we have not focused on during these discussions tonight as much as I would hope is housing. Every recovery America has had since World War II has been led by housing, and housing has been in the dumpster for several years now. And one of the ways we do that is think about ways in which programs like Helmets to Hardhats could identify sectors in communities that were depleted by the Wall Street crisis. And think about how to modernize the manner in which energy is provided to them, for example. So we're not just rebuilding to the past but building the future. In my home community, we have something called Advanced Energy Utility that the Port Authority has established where they can loan funds that are then paid back through the bond offerings they do. And right now it's in its early stages. But one could see where a neighborhood could be identified and new technologies in the building sector brought to bear to create the new neighborhoods of tomorrow. One company--Owens Corning--in our region has established a new manufacturing plant near Milan, Ohio, building a seven-layer roofing and the most incredible equipment. I defy any Member of Congress to build what they have built there and to bring off these big roles and be able to apply this roofing that I think is going to lead the industry. They could build four new factories depending on sales in the northern environments of the United States and Canada. And I see this and I think, all we have to do is put the parts together to build the residential neighborhoods of a 21st century America. So I am just proud to join my colleagues tonight. And thank you, Congressman Garamendi, for bringing us together, as you so often do, to keep the focus here in the Congress on jobs and economic growth, which is what the American people sent us here to do.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, on this week of Veterans Day, I rise to pay tribute to two noble Americans and a great organization, Honor Flight. Earl Morse of Ohio and Jeff Miller of North Carolina are two of the founding members of the Honor Flight Network. The Honor Flight Network philanthropy is dedicated to bringing World War II veterans to their memorial here in Washington, D.C., the National World War II Memorial. That memorial is now the most visited on our Nation's Mall with over 4 million visitors a year. Imagine if every World War II veteran who wanted to come could. These brave men and women served our country during World War II during the 20th century's most profound struggle of liberty over tyranny. Their sacrifices, with over 400,000 lost in those horrendous conflicts, ensured that our generation and those to follow could enjoy our freedoms in the 20th century, the 21st, and beyond. Earl Morse started the Honor Flight Network. He led the inaugural flights to the World War II memorial starting in 2005, not long after the memorial opened. Jeff Miller began to serve those from rural areas. Mr. Speaker, let me say that these two men's ennobling work has now allowed over 100,000 Americans of the World War II generation who fought to come and visit the memorial. Let me thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank those veterans and Honor Flight and these men for what they are doing for our Nation.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow I intend to bring to the floor the photos of two American families that have been instrumental in helping bring over 100,000 Americans who fought in World War II to our Nation's Capitol for Honor Flight. I had the great opportunity this week, during a special gathering on this Veterans Day week of the friends of the World War II Memorial Committee, to meet these phenomenal Americans. Earl Morse and Jeff Miller have devoted so much of their private lives to bringing great joy to Americans across this country. We should recognize them. We should thank them. We should remember. Those of us who have relatives that have fought in the military, those of us who appreciate those who have--on this Veterans Day week, let us give due credit to what brings us together as a people, our great sense of patriotism, our great sense of valor, and the appreciation we could give to those Americans who help to make the lives of others complete. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for giving me this moment to highlight what I will bring to the floor tomorrow. Thank you to Honor Flight. Thank you to the Morse and Miller families. Thank you to the Friends of the World War II Memorial, and thank you to all of our World War II veterans, their families, and descendants.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman. The appropriation bill would have resulted in 55,000 participants, predominantly seniors, being cut off vital nutrition assistance per month. So I'm pleased that this CR provides their necessary support. And while I regret that House Republicans leaders favor kicking the can down the road instead of addressing the important budgetary issues America faces, I urge my colleagues to adopt this resolution so we can prevent the Republicans from forcing another potential government shutdown.

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank Ranking Member Dicks for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise, reluctantly, to support this 6-month fiscal 2013 continuing resolution. It is unfortunate we have before us a continuing resolution that only kicks the can down the road a bit, again, but does not represent the regular order to which our institution must return for sound governance of our Republic. House Republicans have left the House with no choice but to support this measure or we will face another government shutdown. I'm sure we will hear from our Republican colleagues that the Senate didn't pass any appropriation bills, and that's why we're here considering a temporary bill. The reality is that the unwillingness of the House Republicans to keep their word is why we have a short-term continuing resolution before us toward. The bipartisan agreement in the Budget Control Act provided for $2.2 trillion in balanced deficit reduction and included strict spending caps for future appropriations. But rather than keeping to the bipartisan agreement, the Republican leadership rammed through the House a radical Ryan budgetary agenda that seeks to burden the middle class and seniors with the entire burden of reducing our debt while giving millionaires and billionaires more tax cuts. That is totally irresponsible. House leadership wasted precious floor time with fiscal 13 appropriation bills that everyone knew were destined to languish. We should have spent our time debating comprehensive jobs legislation, a farm bill, and legislation to save the U.S. Postal Service. Nevertheless, under the circumstances of hyperpartisanship, I commend Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Dicks for crafting a clean continuing resolution that also addresses other important issues such as wildlife management, veterans benefits, Small Business Administration loan guarantees, and nutrition assistance. In particular, I want to commend the chairman and ranking member for providing sufficient funding for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program so food assistance is not taken away from low-income senior citizens across our country, whose calls at food banks have gone up 20 percent. The Commodity Supplemental Food Program is a vital weapon in our fight against the real hunger that millions of our fellow citizens confront daily. Ninety-seven percent of these individuals are low- income seniors. The program needed a slight increase to keep up with real food inflation, and rather than provide the resources to keep up with inflation, the House Republican FY 13 appropriation bill proposed to slash funding.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the problem of human trafficking. Every day all over our country, vulnerable women, and children and even men are stolen away from their communities and forced into work to line the pockets of criminals. Their stories and situations are different, but one common denominator remains: they are moved away, they are forced to work, their wages are stolen, and they are unable to leave. They are modern day slaves. Under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person to perform labor or a commercial sex act through force, fraud, or coercion. You can find human trafficking victims everywhere. They are working in restaurants; nail salons; as maids and nannies; on farms; in factories; in brothels, on the street, and as online escorts--they exist in any industry where one's work and freedom can be stolen from them. The Justice Department supports task forces dedicated to investigating human trafficking cases. Between 2008 and 2010, these task forces rescued 527 confirmed human trafficking victims. Some of the people rescued were sex trafficking victims, others were labor trafficking victims. But the statistics are telling. The majority of trafficking victims are women: women made up 98 percent of sex trafficking victims and 68 percent of labor trafficking victims. The traffickers were overwhelmingly (81 percent) male. Most of the victims were under the age of 25. With sex trafficking, most of the victims were U.S. citizens, while labor trafficking largely affected undocumented individuals. But this data just scratches the surface of the problem that is out there, within our own borders. Hundreds of thousands of trafficking victims are exploited every year in the United States. The Polaris Project estimates that there are 100,000 child sex trafficking victims in the U.S. alone each year. This figure came into clear focus in my hometown of Toledo, Ohio back in 2005, when a child prostitution ring in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was broken up. The sting involved 177 girls, 77 of whom were from Toledo. One was a ten year old girl. They had all been stolen away from their family, from their community, and forced into prostitution in a city over 400 miles away. That discovery led to the discovery of many other girls from Toledo who had fallen victim to sex trafficking. The problem is big, but progress is being made. One state representative from Toledo has worked tirelessly to address this issue at the state level. Representative Teresa Fedor recently saw her signature legislation signed into law. The legislation, Ohio's ``Safe Harbor'' law, ensures that children who have been trafficked are treated as victims and not charged with violations like solicitation. The law also increases the penalties faced by adult traffickers and helps victims access services to help return to society. Prior to the signing of this law, Representative Fedor passed a law to create a human trafficking charge that could be added to related crimes to increase the severity of the sentence. The good work that Representative Fedor has done will undoubtedly help victims of trafficking in Ohio. I would like to ask unanimous consent to include an article from the Toledo Blade detailing her work in this area. Human trafficking will remain a scourge on our society until we can assure that no human being is turned into a slave. I applaud the steps that have been taken so far, but also recognize that much more needs to be done. [From the toledoBlade.com, July 31, 2012] Fedor Found Voice in Human-Traffic Battle (By Jim Provance) Columbus.--``Without her, we wouldn't have a voice,'' a former human-trafficking victim recently said of Rep. Teresa Fedor. But one might also say that it was this victim and others like her who gave the Democratic lawmaker from Toledo her voice. The former elementary school teacher and former Air Force staff sergeant has without a doubt experienced political success. She'd been in the Ohio House only two years before Lucas County voters promoted her to the Senate in 2002. In 2010, when term limits forced her out of the chamber, they sent her back to the House. She faces no Republican opposition for re-election this year. But making legislative gains proved more elusive. An unscientific poll in the summer of 2007 by Columbus Monthly magazine of 100 lawmakers, lobbyists, and players in Gov. Ted Strickland's administration, and other Statehouse insiders ranked her among the least effective and politically savvy of state lawmakers. Her colleagues in the Senate Democratic Caucus, a very small club, dumped her as their elected leader in early 2008 after an internal coup. But just two weeks ago, many of those same Democratic senators and their more plentiful Republican counterparts gave Ms. Fedor a standing ovation after the chamber unanimously passed House Bill 262, the so-called ``Safe Harbor'' bill. Gov. John Kasich is to sign it into law Wednesday at Second Chance, a Toledo social service program offering help to trafficking victims and prostitutes. ``There's no higher calling than fighting for those who can't fight for themselves,'' said Sen. Mark Wagoner (R., Ottawa Hills), the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman who helped to work through last-minute changes to get the bill over the finish line. ``Teresa is to be commended for taking up this issue, for the energy she put behind it, and for the commitment to see it through,'' he said. The bill seeks to push the reset button for government, law enforcement, judges, and others to look at those forced or coerced into selling themselves, especially minors, as victims rather than as criminals. Initially struggling to get bipartisan support, Ms. Fedor reached out to a man who, at least through much of 2011, was considered by Democrats to be the enemy--Mr. Kasich. When the Republican governor signed on, Ms. Fedor was in disbelief. ``This was different for her,'' Mr. Kasich recalled. ``She asked me, `Are you really serious that you're going to help me?' '' The highly contentious fight over Senate Bill 5, which ended last November when voters rejected the Republican- passed restrictions on public employee unions, was still fresh in lawmakers' minds. ``I know I'm dancing on the edge of a knife here, but this issue's more important than the politics of this place,'' said Ms. Fedor. No political backlash came. The trafficking issue has brought Mr. Kasich, the father of 12-year-old twin daughters, close to tears multiple times. ``I knew about human trafficking worldwide, but I was certainly not aware of the situation in this state. . . .'' he said. ``It doesn't just touch me because I have daughters. That's part of it, but it's anybody's children.'' In addition to signing the bill into law, Mr. Kasich's own interagency task force on trafficking will release its recommendations on how the state can better respond to the problem on Wednesday. ``Instead of prosecuting these people, we're beginning to recognize these people are victims,'' Mr. Kasich said. ``Secondly, those people who knowingly engage with these traffickers and abuse them, the book is going to be thrown at them. We had this bust [near Bowling Green] that's had a significant amount of attention, so the word is out: You're going to jail and for a long time. ``And the women who are out there, the people who have been trafficked, they can come forward, and we will not prosecute you,'' he said. ``We will treat you and help you get your life back.'' Incremental gains The gains have been incremental. In 2008, Ms. Fedor persuaded her colleagues to amend a separate bill to create a human trafficking specification that, when attached to a related crime such as compelling prostitution, could increase the severity of the sentence. Ms. Fedor said she knew the specification would not be used, but saw it as the first step to getting human trafficking recognized in Ohio law. More important, she said, was a provision authorizing then Attorney General Richard Cordray, a Democrat, to create a commission to quantify modern-day slavery in Ohio. The statistics that emerged from the commission were a kick in the stomach. They suggested that as many as 2,879 youths born in Ohio are at risk for sex trafficking and that 1,078 have been trafficked over the course of a year. In terms of raw numbers of arrests, investigations, and rescues of children involved in the sex trade, the commission suggested that Toledo ranked fourth in the nation behind Miami, Portland, Ore., and Las Vegas. When adjusted for population, Toledo climbed to No. 1. ``We feel that the models were reasonable and conservatively estimated, but I also think the estimate woke some people up,'' said Celia Williamson, professor of criminal justice and social work at the University of Toledo and leader of the commission subcommittee that presented the numbers. But even when armed with those numbers, she was surprised at the success Ms. Fedor had. ``I was astonished that she was able to pass such a comprehensive Safe Harbor law,'' Ms. Williamson said. ``It's more than we could have realistically dreamed.'' The numbers were somewhat skewed by a 2005 federal child prostitution sting in Harrisburg, Pa., involving 177 females. Seventy-seven of them, including a 10-year-old, were from the Toledo area. A 2006 series by The Blade trained a spotlight on Toledo's role as a major recruiting hub for children in the sex trade. ``It made no sense to me that pimps weren't getting arrested, that johns weren't getting arrested,'' Ms. Fedor said. ``They were all misdemeanors. The whole focus was on the prostitutes. In other words, it was always the woman's fault. . . . And then, when I saw that it was reaching down to our children, I thought, `Enough is enough.'?'' Rugged determination Judge Tim Grendell of Geauga County Common Pleas Court was a Republican state senator in 2010 when he teamed with then Sen. Fedor for the next step, creation of Ohio's first stand- alone, second-degree felony of ``trafficking in persons.'' Mr. Grendell's northeast Ohio district was dealing with its own problem of Asian massage parlors investigated for trafficking. ``She brought a rugged determination and dedication to the issue that, I think, was critical in passage of that legislation a year and a half ago and this legislation,'' he said. ``In my personal opinion, [the latest bill] certainly would not have passed in this advanced state without her efforts.'' But he also said that without Mr. Kasich's intervention, a bill as strong as the one that ultimately just passed probably still would have been several years off. ``She's been a huge force,'' said Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican who resurrected the trafficking commission begun under his predecessor. ``She has a real passion for this and persistence,'' he said. ``I've found in government that you have to have those two, and she has them on this issue.'' Theresa Flores, of Columbus, a former trafficking victim and now a member of Mr. DeWine's commission, detailed her story in the 2007 book The Sacred Bath: An American Teen's Story of Modern Day Slavery: As a teenager in an affluent Detroit suburb, she was blackmailed and trafficked at night, even if she did return to her own bed under her unsuspecting parents' roof before the sun rose. ``[Ms. Fedor] really is empowering victims and survivors to find their voices,'' she said. ``She's helping them to realize that what happened to them wasn't necessarily their fault. Somebody did this to us, and we need to go after them.'' Although happy with the bill that reached Mr. Kasich's desk, Ms. Fedor is already plotting her next move, battling what she perceives to be a misunderstanding among her colleagues over whether a trafficking victim can consent to prostitution--even if she is over 16, the legal age of consent. ``Age of consent should never apply,'' she said. ``These victims are not consenting. They're enslaved. They can't get out. They're being forced to have sex with 20 or 30 men a night--beaten, drugged, raped, kidnapped. They go from city to city. There's no consent involved at all.''

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the centennial anniversary of Macedonia Baptist Church, located in Toledo, Ohio. The congregation will celebrate this milestone event on August 25, 2012. Since its founding in 1912, Macedonia Baptist Church has served its congregation and its community inspired by Christ's teachings as recorded in Matthew 25:40 that, ``Whatsoever you do to the least among you, that you do unto me.'' Its ``rich history of service began on Yondota Street on the East side of Toledo'' where the church originally stood and continues to the present day from its location in West Toledo. Through a century of service the church has been a neighborhood mainstay. In addition to worship services, Macedonia Baptist Church members teach fellowship and provide services to families in need. Motivated by their servants' hearts and strong pastoral leadership, the church carries forth a tradition of reaching out. All are welcome into the faith-filled, inspired congregation. We proudly commemorate this 100th anniversary while looking forward to Macedonia Baptist Church's future.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the so-called Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act. This bill is anything but disaster assistance agriculture. It is a bill by Republican leadership to provide cover for not bringing up a real farm bill. Farmers and ranchers do not need a temporary disaster bill--they need a farm bill that provides disaster assistance but so farmers and ranchers can make sound future business decisions. Republicans often say uncertainty about ``regulation'' is harming the economy. Yet here we are considering a temporary measure when American agriculture needs certainty. It is ironic we are here considering a temporary measure that creates uncertainty because about a year ago the United States' credit rating was downgraded. Why? Republicans created uncertainty in the financial markets during the debt ceiling debacle. By taking up temporary disaster aid and not a farm bill, Republicans must want to downgrade American agriculture. This bill kicks the can down the road, as Republicans have done far too often. The House should stay and do the people's work instead of running off on a recess. We won't stay though, because Republicans refuse to compromise with Democrats on paying the bills due and now the farm bill languishes. This refusal shows us that Republicans are not serious about a farm bill or deficit reduction, creating jobs and growing our economy. If Republicans were serious about deficit reduction, they would bring up one of two farm bills that are out there. While neither bill is perfect, the Senate farm bill would reduce the deficit by $23 billion and the House farm bill cut spending by $35 billion. If Republicans were serious about creating jobs and growing the economy, they would bring up a farm bill. Just one Title of the farm bill, the energy title, has the potential to generate $88.5 billion in economic activity and create nearly 700,000 jobs. Finally, I oppose this temporary disaster bill not only because it shows lack of leadership in passing a farm bill but because of its shortsightedness in slashing conservation programs. I represent Lake Erie, which is part of the Great Lakes region that is responsible for more than 1.5 million jobs and generates $62 billion in wages. Lake Erie is under assault by a massive bloom of algae that is turning the water into a bright green pea soup. The substance is enough to kill a pet dog, and makes people seriously ill. As the summer goes on, the stench will drive tens of thousands of tourists and local residents inside with closed windows. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Conservation Stewardship Program are two of the most effective programs in helping farmers and ranchers do their part to help reduce nutrient runoff fueling the algae bloom. Cutting these programs are penny wise and pound-foolish. I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill. Let's pass a real farm bill.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the sesquicentennial anniversary of Christ Episcopal Church, located in Huron, Ohio. The congregation comes together with the community in celebration of this milestone event on August 3, 2012. Organized in 1837, the church cornerstone was laid on May 23, 1938. The church building is in a beautiful setting overlooking Lake Erie and parkland. A steeple was completed in 1876, followed by the placement of a bell in 1881. That bell has called worshippers over the centuries through the present day. As its congregation grew and changed with the modern day, the church added classrooms, a kitchen, fellowship hall, choir room, offices, meeting rooms, library, a chapel and columbarium. In 1975 a new steeple was erected along with a modern impressionist stained glass window of the Living Christ behind the altar. Though modernized, the church has retained its original feel. As one of Ohio's oldest churches, Christ Church is on the National Register of Historic Places. Of note, in its 175 years the parish has been served by only nineteen rectors with long pastorates marking their service. Each brought a leadership distinct and dynamic. A truly faith-filled parish, the members of Christ Church have never locked its doors. Since its earliest days, the church is always open for prayer and meditation. The church and its members hold true to Christ's message explained in Matthew 18:20, ``Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.'' Faith and fellowship have guided the congregation nearly since our region's founding. We proudly commemorate this 175th anniversary while looking forward to Christ Church's future.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 100th anniversary of Plast, the Ukrainian Scouting Organization. Plast was founded in 1911 by Dr. Oleksandr Tysovsky, and it is based on the principles of scouting started by Lord Baden Powell in Great Britain. As a consequence of the country's absence of national independence through most of the 20th Century, Plast was forced to go underground when the occupying Soviet Union declared the organization illegal and banned its activities. However, following World War II, when many Ukrainians emigrated to various countries of the Free World, including the United States, the plastuny (members of Plast) among the emigres formed Plast organizations in the countries of their settlement. This included incorporating ``Plast, Inc.'' in 1950 in the state of Michigan. Additionally, after the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine in 1991, Plast was re-constituted in Ukraine with the help of plastuny from the United States and other Free World countries. Today, Plast is an international organization of Ukrainian youth which fosters personal development, leadership and teamwork, as well as a love of Ukrainian culture and history while also raising youth to be conscientious, responsible and valuable citizens of their communities at the local, national, and international level. The former President of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko, is an honorary plastun, and Liubomyr Cardinal Husar, a U.S. citizen and now Patriarch-emeritus of the Ukrainian Eastern Rite Catholic Church based in Ukraine, is one of many distinguished plastuns. Currently, Plast has 23 branches coast to coast in the United States, and Plast will be celebrating its Centennial with a Jamboree in Ukraine, August 10th to 24th, with the official opening of the Jamboree Celebration on August 19th in the city of L'viv. As such, we should recognize August 19, 2012 as the Centennial Day of Plast, commend the Ukrainian Scouting Organization for its tremendous contributions, and celebrate the Centennial of Plast.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 100th anniversary of Plast, the Ukrainian Scouting Organization. Plast was founded in 1911 by Dr. Oleksandr Tysovsky, and it is based on the principles of scouting started by Lord Baden Powell in Great Britain. As a consequence of the country's absence of national independence through most of the 20th Century, Plast was forced to go underground when the occupying Soviet Union declared the organization illegal and banned its activities. However, following World War II, when many Ukrainians emigrated to various countries of the Free World, including the United States, the plastuny among the emigres formed Plast organizations in the countries of their settlement. This included incorporating ``Plast, Inc.'' in 1950 in the state of Michigan. Additionally, after the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine in 1991, Plast was re-constituted in Ukraine with the help of plastuny from the United States and other Free-World countries. Today, Plast is an international organization of Ukrainian youth which fosters personal development, leadership and teamwork, as well as a love of Ukrainian culture and history while also raising youth to be conscientious, responsible and valuable citizens of their communities at the local, national and international level. Former President of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko, is an honorary plastun, and Liubomyr Cardinal Husar, a U.S. citizen and now Patriarch- emeritus of the Ukrainian Eastern Rite Catholic Church based in Ukraine is one of many distinguished plastuns. Currently, Plast has 23 branches coast to coast in the United States, and Plast will be celebrating its Centennial with a Jamboree in Ukraine August 10 to 24, with the official opening of the Jamboree Celebration on August 19th in the city of L'viv. As such, we should recognize August 19, 2012 as the Centennial Day of Plast, commend the Ukrainian Scouting Organization for its tremendous contributions, and celebrate the Centennial of Plast.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Washington for yielding me this time. I want to acknowledge the work of our full committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Rogers, and obviously the wonderful work of our chairman, Bill Young, and of our subcommittee ranking member, Mr. Dicks. Their collegial work has made this bill possible, and it will benefit our entire Nation, our men and women in uniform, our Armed Forces, and all of those who are touched by this legislation. I would like to add my voice to those who wish to recognize the magnificent work that Congressman Dicks has done during his years of service to our country back from the time when he first worked for Senator Warren Magnuson. We would like to wish him, his wife, Suzie, and their beautiful family many healthy and productive years ahead. We thank him for his distinguished and honorable and intrepid service-- always dutiful, always enlightened. When he walks from these Halls officially, he takes great knowledge and should take great satisfaction with him for a job well done, indeed. I want to extend to Congressman Jerry Lewis, as well, deep appreciation from the people of our States and country for your incredible service. I would venture to say, when both of you gentlemen leave these Chambers, nearly a century of knowledge will walk with you. You have left America with her strongest defense globally, and you have been a part of crafting every single line of these bills. America thanks you and the free world thanks you. This bill has been written in a bipartisan way by our subcommittee, and I thank the members for working collaboratively together. It is a model for our committee and Congress on how to do the work necessary to meet the needs of the American people. The bill includes $125 million above the President's request for funding health research for traumatic brain injuries and posttraumatic stress, which are the signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our bill includes an additional $246 million for cancer research, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer. The bill also includes necessary funding for the Iron Dome. During the last decade of war, our National Guard and Reserve units have proven themselves as the strategic reserve force for our Nation. The Air Force, in submitting its FY13 budget, did not appear to appropriately appreciate the importance of the Guard and Reserve because they targeted those units for mission reductions and cancellations. Our subcommittee has fixed this oversight by providing the necessary funding to allow the Guard and Reserve to continue their missions, which they do extremely well and at considerably less cost than the Air Force does. Our bill fixes a continuing issue from the executive branch and maintains our Nation's industrial base by making sure we do not end the domestic production capability for tanks for the first time since World War II. The bill averts a plan to shut down the production line for 2 years. Shutting the lines would have cost the American taxpayers more money than producing tanks over the same time and would dismantle the critical, fragile supplier network. The legislation also continues the military's commitment to lead our Nation towards energy independence. The Pentagon, as the largest petroleum user in the world, must lead our Nation toward energy independence. No challenge could be more vital to our national security and economic security interests. High fuel costs are an enormous burden on America's families. It is also a severe and wasteful burden on our service branches, and it diverts funds from important readiness and modernization needs. Thank you, Mr. Dicks, for this time. Godspeed to you and to your family in the years ahead. Thank you, Congressman Lewis. To you and to your wife, Arlene, may you enjoy many wonderful years ahead. Thank you, Chairman Young, for being a chairman who brings this Congress together at the subcommittee level, and Chairman Rogers, at the full committee level. Thank you for working with all of our Members to meet the needs of our Nation and our Nation's defense.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. When six Wall Street megabanks control two-thirds of the wealth of our Nation, it's too much economic power in too few hands. And when undisclosed billionaires spend billions on political campaigns and they crush the voices of ordinary citizens, it's too much political power in too few hands. America must put an end to the influence of secret money on our elections. The DISCLOSE Act of 2012 would shine the light on the secret money in political campaigns. But the Republican leadership won't bring it up, even though Americans, three-quarters of our voters, think that campaign finance reform is a key issue for the election, and 69 percent of the public believes that super PACs should be illegal. Yet House Republican leaders refuse to bring up the DISCLOSE Act. It's long past due that we put power back in the hands of ordinary citizens. In fact, let's rechannel the billions being wasted on campaign overkill to help our seniors afford food and to balance the national budget.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to how campaign super PACs are contributing unlimited campaign spending, which shifts enormous political power to the superwealthy. Rule by the few plutocrats truly threatens our Republic and greatly harms representative government. Here is a great cartoon. It was in the Toledo Blade by Paul Kirk. It shows how the super PACs really have a stranglehold on the politics of this country. With the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court, they threw away decades of legal precedent governing campaign contributions. The result has been a growing stranglehold by the money barons on good government and our political process. The American people know it, and they know we're not doing anything about it. At a minimum, we should demand greater transparency of who is actually giving this money. No more hidden donors. I urge my colleagues to sign discharge petition 4010, which is here on the floor today, to move a bill for disclosure to the floor. What we really should do is pass a constitutional amendment to allow for campaign spending and contribution limits. I had that bill; and I've had that bill Congress, after Congress, after Congress. It's House Resolution 8. I encourage my colleagues to join me as cosponsors. Let's do what Canada and Britain have done, and that's to rein in the control of the many by the few money barons.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker the draft farm bill, unfortunately, contains serious damage to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the foundational food lifeline for millions of Americans. What a shame when unemployment levels remain too high, with the cost of living rising, with food prices going up that affect so many of our senior citizens, and millions of Americans who live at the edge. Surely this Congress can do better. Wall Street speculators and bankers got to keep all their bonuses, and the Republican majority can't seem to find their way to ask the richest to pay something to help our Republic close the gap. Millionaires and billionaires, couldn't they forego some of their ill- gotten treasure, especially the speculators who led this Republic to the edge? What do the Republicans do? Literally take food out of the mouths of children, seniors, the unemployed, the disabled--$16 billion worth. Citizens who live at the edge of poverty receive $1.50 per meal in benefits. The farm bill thus far takes food off the table of up to 3 million Americans and asks nothing of millionaires and billionaires. What a shame. I urge my colleagues to oppose the cuts to SNAP.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I want to thank you, Congressman Tonko, for your leadership on so many issues that relate to the well-being of the American people and our economy. Health care is one-sixth of the leg of the stool that holds up the Republic. It is a major industry. When you look at all of our medical hospitals, all of our schools, the nursing profession, dentistry, and you take it all together, it is a massive employer across our country. Congressman Garamendi, coming from California, your experience is so vast in terms of your leadership at the State level there, and now here as a Member of Congress. So I'm very proud to stand with colleagues from New York and California, coastal powerhouses, from the State of Ohio right in the middle of the country there. I wanted to add to your discussions this evening some real-life stories that illustrate what you've been talking about tonight. Here's a story from Toledo, Ohio, a real story of a couple that was forced to drop their health coverage after the wife got sick and their health insurance premiums jumped from $800 a month in 2007 to $1,200 a month in 2008. How many families across our country, when somebody gets sick, the premium goes up? This bill is wonderful because it doesn't allow that to happen. For this family, the cost in 2009 would have risen to $1,600 a month, with a $2,500 deductible. So what did the couple do? They dropped their insurance. They couldn't afford the insurance, even though the wife was sick. But because of the law that we passed, the wife received coverage through a high-risk insurance pool that was set up within our State following the passage of the law. They're paying $400 a month--less than they paid before, half of what they paid before--and they have a $1,500 deductible. Literally, the new insurance coverage saves them $15,000 a year, which for them was unaffordable. That's why they dropped their insurance. But just that family alone tells us how important this act is. And think of how many cases across this country have similarities to theirs. From Marblehead, Ohio, which is very central to the district that I'm privileged to represent, a small business owner, a woman, was diagnosed with lupus. She was turned down by multiple insurance companies because she had a preexisting condition. But because of this act and the high- risk insurance pool in Ohio, she was able to obtain a plan for $315 a month, with a $2,500 deductible--that was her choice. But she has obtained insurance, even though she has a preexisting condition. How many Americans have you said have preexisting conditions? This allows them to continue to pay, not be canceled. So they're contributing to the pool, the insurance pool; and they're able to take care of themselves. Finally, the third example I wish to place on the table is a senior citizen couple that faced a $3,000 to $4,000 bill, an extra prescription drug cost, after the husband developed a staph infection. How many families do we know have relatives that develop staph infections? That required them to spend a lot more money in 2009 and 2010 on prescription drugs. Thankfully, the husband's health has improved, and they've saved money thanks to the doughnut hole provisions you talked about that took effect in 2010. So they didn't have to pay that extra money for the prescription drugs necessary that you have to take when you get an infection. You have to take those for a very long time, and they're very expensive. The wife said of their situation: For seniors like Paul and me living on limited income through Social Security, these costs were not a joke. Because of the Affordable Care Act, no senior will ever have to go through what Paul and I spent that year doing. By the end of this decade, that doughnut hole will be completely closed at the rate of $500 a year; $500 a year to a senior citizen is a mountain of money--$50 is a lot of money because they're on limited incomes. Most people depend on Social Security to hold their lives together. So to get bills of $500 or $5,000, it's an impossibility. I challenge every American who's listening to my words tonight and every young person who has a conscience, go to the supermarket and look for some of the people who are staring at the vegetables, or raspberries, or fish, and they can't afford to buy it. Maybe you could slip them a couple bucks in the supermarket--nobody would even know about it. I've done that so many times. And they can buy something they want that they can't afford to buy. So when you're a senior citizen, limited income is a real fact of everyday life. So for all of the millions and millions of Americans, Congressman Tonko, that you talked about, this is being lived life by life, family by family in the State of Ohio. I'm very pleased to join both of you and to thank the President of the United States for having the guts to stick with his convictions, and our Speaker then, Nancy Pelosi, for fighting so hard for every vote in this House and really helping to lift all of America to a different plane for the future. The last thing I will say is, I come from a small business family. Our father was one of those people that had to sell his business because he got sick. He had to get health insurance for his family, so he went to work for an automotive company. And I remember how ill he became, and what a horrible choice that was for him back then. Half the uninsured in this country are small businesses. The law says if you have 50 or under, you don't have to provide insurance; but if you're interested, those exchanges will be there for you. And there will also be plans that your employees can buy into if they want to. Wow, do I wish that had existed in the 1950s when we were growing up as young children and our dad could have had that plan so he wouldn't have had to sell his business. What a difference that would have made in our family. And that story is repeated by the tens of millions across this country. Half of those who could potentially benefit are small business owners and their workers. Thank you for doing this Special Order tonight as we speak on behalf of the American people.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I'd like to thank Ranking Member Van Hollen. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to oppose the Republicans' destructive attempts to repeal the health care reform law, the 31st such attempt in this Congress. In Ohio already, the law has been making a difference for hundreds of thousands of people--middle class families--for over 2 years. Nearly 100,000 young adults in Ohio have been able to remain on their parents' health insurance plan. In the first 5 months of this year, over 700 seniors just in my home town of Toledo, Ohio, have collectively saved over a half a million dollars on prescription drug costs. Last year, 1.2 million Medicare beneficiaries in Ohio received free preventive care from their doctor, like mammograms and colonoscopies. Insurance companies are now paying out over $11 million in rebates to Ohio families because the insurance companies did not spend enough on paying for health care. And over 4 million Ohioans, including 1.5 million women and 1.1 million children, have seen their insurance companies drop the lifetime and annual limits on care they had previously imposed. The Republicans here in the House of Representatives are voting to take away all these benefits, and what is the Republican plan to replace it? Nothing. The Republican plan to replace it is nothing. Mr. Ranking Member, I thank you so much for yielding me time.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about what is nothing less than the largest transfer of the American people's wealth from Main Street to Wall Street. It is likely the largest transfer in American history due to the fallout from the financial crisis of 2008. Banks at the heart of the crisis all got larger as their CEOs made more money while average citizens saw their incomes stall, or drop, or be eliminated, and while communities across this country were hit hard by their losses. Recently, the Federal Reserve issued a startling report showing that the net worth of the average American family fell by as much as 40 percent in the last 3 years. But I can tell you the banks and speculators at the heart of this crisis that has hurt us all have all done better. It's really startling. The 2010 numbers set families, ordinary middle class families, back by nearly two decades. America's middle class was the hardest hit. Many families saw losses in their retirement savings, they saw their home worths go down, and so many millions lost jobs. The majority of the damage nationwide was caused by the collapse of the housing market because the largest form of savings that any family actually accumulates is in the ownership of a family's home. According to the Federal Reserve, the median value of Americans' stake in their homes fell by 42 percent--nearly half--between 2007 and 2010 to about $55,000. Those are shocking figures. While we have seen wages stagnate for the vast majority of Americans during the past three decades, the median income fell nearly 8 percent in 2010 to $45,800. Our citizens are meeting the crisis, in my opinion, with great resolve and dignity. But those who are largely responsible for their situations have averted any real responsibility and scrutiny. Let's just take a look. The Federal Reserve actually found that only, roughly, half of America's middle class remained on the same rung on the economic ladder. Most fell down. Yet, as the Federal Reserve's data show, not everyone lost in the recession. The median net worth of the wealthiest among us--the millionaires and billionaires who helped cause the crisis--actually rose. Moreover, the value of some of the very top has simply been obscene. I think you'd say it's un-American. Let's take a look at the top executives on Wall Street. How did they fare when most Americans lost decades worth of their hard-earned savings? Reportedly, the take for 2011 of the chief executive officer of J.P.Morgan, Jamie Dimon, was a whopping $23.1 million. That's just, you know, the take-home. It's not all the stock options and everything else. I wonder if he thinks that's enough? His salary went up 11 percent--11 percent more--even though J.P.Morgan recently admitted to trading losses of over $2 billion. How would you like that job? He got paid more while the institution lost money. Of course J.P.Morgan, still standing after it helped cause the crisis, got bigger after it became one of the Big Six. Mr. Dimon is not alone in taking home millions more while average American families lost much of their life savings. John Stumpf from Wells Fargo, well, he only earned $19.8 million for 1 year--$19.8 million. Lloyd Blankfein from Goldman Sachs took in $16.2 million. That's just the salary. His compensation reportedly rose by about 14.5 percent last year despite a sharp decline in profits and share price during that year. Isn't that interesting? Who among us could have that kind of position--you make more money when your institution loses money. This transfer of Americans' wealth has left most communities hollowed out with abandoned homes, abandoned commercial strips, high unemployment, soaring public debts, cars that have been confiscated sitting on the backlots of banks, and weakened infrastructure across this country. When you look at this picture, you can tell there is something really wrong here. In this body, we continue to debate how to get our fiscal house in order, but Republicans have been unwilling to negotiate. Last year, we saw how House Republicans gambled with our economy. They rejected plan after plan to raise the debt ceiling and to responsibly balance the budget by putting both spending cuts and revenues on the table. They were protecting their favored few and their like at any cost, including those who get special tax breaks and get millions even when their companies do poorly or fail. When and why are the interests of the privileged money barons put before everyone else? House Republicans refuse to provide tax relief for working families unless we give even more tax breaks to the super wealthy. We need to get our priorities straight. We need to get our fiscal house in order. We need a smart approach that puts revenues and spending cuts on the table, and we need to focus on job creation. We need to hold these Americans accountable for the damage they have done, and let them carry a hod and bear their fair share of the burden. So, for the sake of full disclosure, let's put their base earnings for last year on the record. Wall Street CEOs Taking Millions Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan, $23.1 Million. John Stumpf, Wells Fargo, $19.8 Million. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs, $16.2 Million. Vikram Pandit, Citigroup, $14.9 Million. James Gordon, Morgan Stanley, $13.0 Million. Brian Moynihan, Bank of America, $8.1 Million.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Yes. I would be interested in the gentleman's response.