Marcy Kaptur

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis) for yielding, and rise against this rule and the underlying bill. The bill is unconstitutional. It will stifle American job creation; cripple American innovation; it throws out 220 years of patent protections for individual inventors; and it violates the CutGo rules, increasing our deficit by over $1 billion. This bill should never have been brought to the floor. Not only is it chock full of special interest legislation for large banks and a handful of corporate interests, what we are voting on today makes a mockery of the openness that the Republican leadership promised in legislative procedures. The bill has gone through a lot of iterations, without sunlight, since it was first reported out of committee. The Congressional Budget Office's score on this latest version of the bill that just came out last night shows that it violates the CutGo rules. That's right. It increases the deficit every year between now and 2021. Just last week, we couldn't find enough money to provide hungry American children with food. But for some reason, the Republican leadership believes it's appropriate to add hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to the taxpayers and more regulations at the Patent Office. That's the non-partisan CBO's number, by the way. Meanwhile, the bill takes away patent and intellectual property rights of individual inventors. This is not the bill passed by the Senate. This is not the bill that passed out of the Judiciary Committee. As the details of what we are actually being asked to vote on leaks out, more people, including now those who actually work in the Patent Office, oppose the bill. Importantly, the bill removes the requirement that only first inventors may receive a patent and it creates the monopoly nightmare that the Founders of our Constitution intended to prevent. The first-to-file patent system will lead the Federal Government to create commercial monopolies and more regulations--exactly what Jefferson, Madison, and other Founders opposed. As opposed to securing to first inventors their property rights, the bill will merely secure unreserved rights to the first to file a patent. The first one to run over to the Patent Office might get the patent. That is not what is enshrined in our Constitution. The authentic, first inventor must not be stripped of their rights. The very first right in our Constitution, even before the Bill of Rights, is the right to your intellectual property. Vote ``no'' on the rule and the bill.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, if this bill is passed into law, it will violate the first right explicitly named in our Constitution, the intellectual property clause. This bill makes a total mockery of article 1, section 8, clause 8, which requires Congress to secure for inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discovery. Supporters of this bill say it is an attempt to modernize our patent system. What they really mean is that this bill Europeanizes our patent system by granting the rights to an invention to whoever wins the race to the Patent Office. The Supreme Court has been consistent on this issue throughout our history. First inventors have the exclusive constitutional right to their inventions. This right extends to every citizen, not just those with deep pockets and large legal teams. A politicized patent system will further entrench those very powerful interests with deep pockets and lots of lobbying offices over on K Street. Claiming to be an inventor is not the same thing as being that inventor, the person who actually made the discovery. A patent should be challenged in court, not in the U.S. Patent Office. Since the first Congress, which included 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, our nation has recognized that you are the owner of your own ideas and innovations. This bill throws that out the window and replaces it with a system that legalizes a rather clever form of intellectual property theft. I assure you of one thing: If this bill mistakenly passes, this debate will not be over. We will see it head straight to the courts with extended litigation for years to come, along with complete uncertainty to our markets, killing jobs and killing innovation. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 1249. I yield 3 minutes to the former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, our esteemed colleague from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner).

Ms. KAPTUR. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Garrett).

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to my remaining time, please.

Ms. KAPTUR. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry).

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I just wanted to ask the gentlelady if she would find the present time convenient to enter into the discussion regarding GIPSA, though we are on this amendment at this point.

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentlewoman. And while I will not offer an amendment to strip section 721, a legislative provision that prevents the U.S. Department of Agriculture from doing its job as instructed in the farm bill, relative to fair competition in meat products so consumers get fairly priced meats, I otherwise rise in strong opposition to the language that's in the bill. And when the authorizing committee wrote the farm bill, USDA was directed to use the existing packers and stockyards act to restore fairness to livestock and poultry contract markets. But instead of allowing the agency to do its job, Congress, in an uneven-handed way, has allowed itself to become captured by the consolidated meat industry. And while ranchers, farmers and producers are increasingly being squeezed out of the markets, and small, local slaughterhouses continue to close, large consolidated players manipulate the rules to favor their own business operations, and meat prices rise. Congress simply can't stand by silent. So on behalf of the millions of farmers, ranchers and producers that struggle every day to survive as they face the gargantuan task of competing against monopolistic entities, I oppose the base language in 721. And I would like to place two statements in the Record, a letter from the American Farm Bureau opposing section 721 and a letter from over 140 organizations supporting the pro-competition proposals made by the Department of Agriculture. American Farm Bureau Federation, Washington, DC, May 31, 2011. Hon. Marcy Kaptur, House of Representatives, House Office Building, Washington,

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman so very much for that kind effort. The current proposal will silence the nearly 60,000 comments on the rule because it will prevent USDA from reading the record. And, finally, it will undermine long overdue fairness in poultry and livestock contracts for millions of farmers, ranchers and producers. By allowing section 721 to remain in the bill, the House is standing with the few big meatpackers and against the many thousands and thousands of producers. To understand how illogical this committee's action is, I refer the House to the committee report where, on competition issues, the committee directed USDA to submit legal documents by June 10, 5 days ago, and before the House began consideration of this bill. On its face, the committee has directed the agency to comply with something before the House has even considered the bill. Is this proper? Furthermore, I would note that, ironically, if section 721 were to be implemented, the agency would not be able to comply with its own report language. If there ever was a time that the Appropriations Committee has overstepped its bounds, this is it. After the 2002 farm bill, this committee prevented USDA from implementing an important provision of law known as the Country of Origin labeling. It was the same consolidated meat packing industry crying from the rafters with claims of exaggerated economic costs which was behind the meat labeling COOL delay. We seem to have returned to the dark days, recycling the same talking points. It took us almost 8 years and, finally, consumers now have the legal right to see where their meat comes from, which is what the vast majority of the American people wanted. So on behalf of the millions of farmers, ranchers and independent producers, I pledge to continue this fight and to prevent a similar 8 years of delay and confusion on USDA competition rules in the meat industry. Let USDA do its job. I thank the gentleman and the gentlewoman so much for their consideration.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, in the Appropriations Committee, the majority accepted an amendment I offered to restore $1.3 million for the Rural Energy for America program. This amendment would place another $1 million back into the program and put the full House of Representatives on record in support of alternative energy in agriculture. While we continue to incentivize the agriculture of yesterday, we are blindly ignoring the cries of rural America as it attempts to transform itself to meet the growing energy needs of a new century. For the first time, the 2008 farm bill took a different tack. By investing over $1 billion in alternative energy, this House recognized that alternative energy is inextricably linked with the success of American agriculture. While two critical amendments were accepted during full committee consideration of the Agriculture Appropriations bill, limits on payments for rich farmers and cotton payouts for Brazil, the Rules Committee chose not to protect these provisions on the floor but instead to protect unprecedented cuts to the energy title of the farm bill that by the same logic should be subject to a point of order. Why has the House protected the Appropriations Committee's raid on the mandatory funds for the Rural Energy for America Program but derailed amendments accepted in the full committee? The answer is simple, defending a transformation in agriculture is less important than protecting the status quo. At a time when USDA has made important reforms to REAP and has finally begun to implement requirements of the 2008 farm bill, now is not the time to back down. 100 years from now, we will look back and realize that it was the energy title of the farm bill that inspired innovation in agricultural America, not subsidy programs that reward practices of yesterday. The Rural Energy for America Program recognizes the plea from American's rural small businesses and agricultural community and rewards innovation by investing in a future based on innovation. I commend Representatives Fortenberry and Walz for offering an amendment to restore funds for the REAP program and look forward to working with my colleagues as we continue to fight on for this program as the bill moves toward conference.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I move to strike the last word.

Ms. KAPTUR. Rugged individualism. Oh, am I glad the gentleman brought that up. Rugged individualism produces a heartless bill like this. Now, if you look back to why we're in the dumpster economically, go back to the 1990s. Read Alan Greenspan, a great advocate of rugged individualism, and Ayn Rand; right? Just drive them into the ground. Make all of his friends rich. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley--it's an interesting group of characters up there that took America to the cleaners. They took and outsourced our jobs. Now they took our home equity. And now, it's getting so bad we even have a bill that's going to take food away from about 350,000 women and children. Now, whose fault is that? Here's a little note from somebody in my district. She says--she signed up this plate at the food bank, the local food bank. She said: Without help from the food bank, I would be on the streets. I struggle every day to make ends meet so my kids have a place to lay their heads at night. I have a job, but with two kids, it's still very hard. I have a lot of trouble paying rent and bills. I just wish there were more help to parents like myself. That's from the rural part of my district. From the urban part of my district, a plate is signed at the food bank: My income is spent on bills, which leaves very little money for me to purchase food for myself and my two daughters. Now, you know, the majority of people in this House are Christian. And I'm not pushing that, though I am one of them. But the first Beatitude says, ``Feed the hungry.'' It doesn't say ``rugged individualism.'' I'm as individualistic as anybody else in this Chamber, but I'll tell you what. There's a heartlessness that goes with people who take everything for themselves and turn their back on the rest of the American people. So when Big Oil makes record profits and pays no taxes, there's something really wrong. There's something really wrong with the country, and the American people know it. They didn't clean house here last November because they thought you were better; they just wanted a change. And they'll vote for it again if their lives don't get better. And their lives won't get better unless we fix what Alan Greenspan and Goldman Sachs and Bank of America and the whole rest of those buzzards up there did to this country. And they're taking bonuses. In fact, they're making so much money they take Members of Congress out. You know the average amount of a meal? $193, $193 a plate. These folks, a couple of bucks in a day they spend on food. So I stand with the American people, not those wealthy interests who took the Nation to the cleaners. You know, those hedge funds? They pay at a 15 percent tax rate. Mrs. Lummis talked about businesses in her district. They pay at a 35 percent rate. Why don't we hold those accountable up on Wall Street for what they did? Let them pay their fair share of taxes. We couldn't even take one penny of their bonuses, not a penny. This was the most gutless institution. And I'll tell you what. The real straw that broke the camel's back was 1998 when Glass-Steagall was thrown out, an act that had separated banking and commerce. And you know the name on that bill? There wasn't a single Democratic name. It was Gramm-Leach-Bliley, all Republicans, and they shoved it through this House. I didn't vote for it. And then Wall Street, oh, my gosh. You talk about rugged individualism. They hurt the Republic. They hurt our country, and they have not been held accountable. George Bush's Chief of Staff, Mr. Bolton, he came from Goldman Sachs. He was there. He was there in the fall of 2008 when the Treasury was just opened up to them. Isn't that an interesting coincidence? Very interesting when you look back and see what really happened. I refuse to have the people of my district or any district pay for what they did. I've got people who are lined up in our food banks because of unemployment, and I know who caused it. And I don't have enough power to hold them accountable, but I hope God does, because what they've done is unforgivable. Their rugged individualism is unpatriotic. It is un-Christian, and it hurt this country.

Ms. KAPTUR. I rise to associate myself with the fine efforts of Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and Ranking Member Sam Farr to point out the anemic funding that is contained in the base bill for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Republican bill reduces below the President's request by 44 percent the necessary funding for staff for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and provides significantly fewer resources for the agency to do the job America expects. Now, why is this important? The CFTC is supposed to regulate betting, B-E-T-T-I-N-G, because really what's going on is all the American people know is a very sophisticated type of gambling that when the bettors lose, rather than absorbing their losses, they come to the American people, but they're very powerful and they create new mechanisms. They create mechanisms. They don't call it betting, but they have a term, ``collateralized debt obligations.'' That gives it a kind of luster. And from that, they might drive a credit default swap. But in the end, as the book by Joe Nocera, ``All the Devils Are Here,'' recounts what we really have is a Wall Street and a Chicago futures market that has run amok, where market manipulation, speculation, and outright fraud led our country into the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. Make no mistake about it: These folks are very powerful, and one of the most important trades involved in this very sophisticated gambling is oil. This particular chart shows the profits being made by the major oil companies and compares the profits in the first quarter of last year to this year. If you look at ExxonMobil, over $10 billion more profits this year than last year. And the list goes on. Whether it's Conoco at $2 billion, whether it's BP at $7.2 billion, these folks are not hurting. President Obama said, back in April, that part of the oil problem and the gas price problem is speculation. He's absolutely right. Even Goldman Sachs, one of the big beneficiaries of the betting, admits that a huge portion of the increase in the gas price is due to betting. And of all people, the chief executive officer of Exxon admitted in testimony in the other body recently that $60 to $70 per barrel of oil, whether it's $60, $70, $80, $90, $100, is actually due to speculation. So even those involved in it are admitting they're crying for help. So let's give it to them. Let's give them the help they want and desperately need. This Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been charged with shining a bright light into the dark recesses that Wall Street and the futures markets would love us to ignore. In fact, I think the currency markets actually got themselves exempted, so there's huge sections of trades that are going on in our world today that aren't even the subject, even if we were to have the staffing we need over at the CFTC, that would not be affected by it. But I ask myself: Could it perhaps be the intent and consequence of this restrictive funding proposal at the CFTC to prevent robust regulation of this market? If we look at what happened with mortgage- backed securities and all the derivatives that flowed from that, we know absolutely for certain that the lack of regulation is the reason for our demise. We must make sure that the CFTC is able to take on speculation in the markets, and there's no more nontransparent market than this one in oil. So when the American people go to the pump and they cuss, they have to think about this little agency called the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that back in 2000 tried to get the right to regulate derivatives, and they were denied that right by a vote right here in the Congress, and most Members had no idea what they were voting on because it was included in an omnibus appropriations bill. Isn't that interesting? Legislating on an appropriation bill, and nobody found it. Well, they must have a lot of power in order to do that. So if we look at a few years ago when these derivative markets were worth about $13 trillion--now nobody I represent, including myself, can even imagine $13 trillion. But that derivative market grew from the mid-nineties to the present where it was about $40 trillion, and we had 475 employees over at the CFTC trying to figure out what was going on in all these markets. Well, today that market is over $600 trillion in notional value and 15 times more than before, and there's not sufficient staff in order to regulate these markets. It's pretty obvious where we need support in order to rein in these abuses.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman. I thank you for yielding. We may not agree on everything, but I think if we agree on some of the history that brought us to this point, maybe we can do something right for the Republic, and certainly for those people who are lined up across this country as victims of the abuse that came from that rugged individualism for which there has been no justice. There has been no justice to this date. What a sad thing for us to say institutionally. If we look at this bill, nearly half of the babies born in our country rely on WIC, the Women, Infants and Children food program. They are in every district in this country. And I can guarantee you, for all the big shots that cleaned up at the expense of the American people, they've never even been to a WIC site. They've never seen sat with moms. They've never sat with families trying to figure out how they're going to make it from the beginning of the month to the end of the month on the few pennies that they have to live on. So I think that the sad fact of this bill is that, rather than Big Oil paying their fair share of taxes, rather than us taking those bonuses from those who truly don't deserve them because of what they did to the Republic, for all the tax breaks that are going to companies that are locating jobs overseas and taking our livelihoods away from us, the answer isn't to take food away from those people that are paying the price. So I want to thank my colleagues, and particularly Mr. Kingston for not objecting, to Mr. Farr for the great job you've done in trying to bring some justice to this bill, and to say, in closing, that there are many people who talk about life. Without decent nutrition, the children who will be affected, the hundreds of thousands of children who will be affected in this bill, their brains won't grow as fast. They won't have the kind of nutrients that produce strong bodies and strong minds for the future. This is the time to stand up in defense for those who are defenseless. And particularly with this economy, the last place to cut is food. Every Christian in here knows that's true. We need to do better as this bill moves forward. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the bill on final vote, and I thank my colleagues for yielding me additional time. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. I want to thank the ranking member from California (Mr. Farr) for his hard work and Mr. Kingston, the chairman from Georgia, for bringing this bill before us today. And I am really sorry I can't support it. At a time of such instability in the American economy, this committee bill simply further destabilizes one of the most productive sectors of the American economy, agriculture, further, it hurts all Americans who depend on the Department of Agriculture for nutritional support during these hard times that we are experiencing. This legislation has some of the most destructive sections in it that eliminate, for all practical purposes, the Rural Energy for America Program, that was supposed to take America into a new energy future. It takes the cops off the beat at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to hold Wall Street accountable and clamp down on speculation. We all know that hasn't been happening. The drastic decrease in the nutrition and commodity supplemental food programs hurt people across this country and with decreases in the WIC program, children will be harmed. They can't speak for themselves here. As well, there is a dangerous directive included in the bill that would further erode the minimal competition in the meat industry in which real competition hardly exists at all. We must defend our farmers and ranchers to be treated on an equal par with the big packers and processors through the grain inspection, packer, and stockyards agency. Later in the consideration of the bill, I'll be dealing with that in a different way. But let me just say a word about the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The level of funding provided in this bill is inadequate. We all know it's inadequate because of the mess we face in the derivatives market today. The small agency called the Commodity Futures Trading Commission provides a critical bulwark against the gouging of the American people in the type of manipulation, speculation, and outright fraud that led our country into the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. With gas prices now rising above $4 a gallon and food prices just skyrocketing, who's really the watchdog in charge of implementing market reforms to protect the consumer by regulating the market to prevent excessive speculation in all fields? I'd hate to think that this bill is being purposefully underfunded to prevent robust regulation of speculation and allow these massive interests on Wall Street--and in the Chicago futures market--to continue doing what they have been doing, and that is gouging the pocketbooks of the American people, whether it's gas prices or food prices or mortgage speculation. Just to give you an idea, this proposal would not fund the agency to implement reforms contained in the Dodd-Frank bill in a futures market that's grown from $13 trillion back in the mid 1990s to over $600 trillion notional value today. The bill's funding level basically takes the cops off the beat. It takes the watchdogs away. And one might say, the bill gives a green light for Wall Street to harm America again.

Ms. KAPTUR. In sum, this bill falls far short of what America needs. I mentioned the nutrition programs, and their serious underfunding affecting seniors, children and women across our Nation. I want to thank the chairman for accepting an amendment to restore just $1.3 million to the Rural Energy for America Program, as America struggles to regain our energy independence. But we are a very long way from restoring our liberty. Rural America simply has to be a full partner in this effort. This bill does not do that. GIPSA needs to be strengthened not weakened and the CFTC must be allowed to severely regulate the future markets and clamp down on speculation to prevent another meltdown. And though we disagree on this bill and its funding levels, I congratulate both the new chair and ranking members on their hard work over the last several months to prepare this bill, though imperfect, and bring it to the floor.

Ms. KAPTUR. I move to strike the last word, Mr. Chairman.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to place in the Record the Memorial Day address offered by a rising star in our district in Ohio. Ashley Szatala, a student at Sandusky St. Mary's High School, presented her remarks during the Memorial Day 2011 opening ceremony in Sandusky. The following is Ashley's Memorial Day 2011 speech and the ceremony program. Over the last few weeks, hundreds of volunteers have placed flags at the graves of our Nation's soldiers. Many local communities lined their streets with flags in honor of Memorial Day. Hundreds of you this morning gathered at the roadside waving a small American Flag as parade participants passed by. The flag goes wherever our leaders go. It has gone before soldiers in battles and is draped atop the casket of fallen heroes. For over 200 years the American flag has been the symbol of our Nation's strength and our unity. The Stars and Stripes--as we affectionately refer to it--stands for the ideals we hold true--liberty, equality, and freedom. Its history tells the story of perseverance by our Nation's veterans as they fought in defense of our liberty. The most poignant moment in our Nation's history was made on January 1, 1776. Before laying siege against the British army, General of the Continental Army, George Washington, commanded that the Grand Union Flag be raised. Since that historic raising of our Nation's flag it has been a constant companion to our troops in times of war and peace. On June 14, 1777, the U.S. Congress proposed the ``Flag Act,'' which introduced the American Flag as a prominent symbol of our nation. The original flag was decorated with 13 red and white stripes, and adorned with 13 stars amidst a blue background at the top left corner of our flag. The number 13 represented the 13 original colonies. After a series of changes from 1777-1960 to the original design, the final look of the American flag consisted of 13 alternating red and white stripes, and 50 white stars surrounded by a blue background. The 50 stars represented the 50 United States. Since its inception, the American flag inspired Francis Scott Key to compose our Nation's anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. Like many other American citizens of the day, Key worried that the American flag would not be flying over Fort McHenry during a battle in the war of 1812. Overcome with joy to see the flag of new America, he wrote the song that we hold dear to our hearts today. Since then, the American Flag has journeyed to foreign lands during the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars. It has stood as a beacon of light as our brave men and women fought against oppression and tyranny. Today, the American Flag is one of the most revered and respected symbols in America. However, it is not just a piece of cloth, but a symbol of liberty and freedom. In fact, its colors of red, white, and blue have rich symbolism. A review of that rich symbolism will help you understand why it is only fitting that an American flag stands beside each grave of our fallen heroes. The color red stands for the hardiness and valor. Our servicemen and women are hardy. They are strong in the face of danger. Their collective strength is not measured by how much muscle they have, but by how strong and resilient their heart is. They demonstrate valor as they defend liberty, justice, and freedom against the enemy. They demonstrate personal bravery and courage far beyond what the rest of us will ever be called upon to exhibit. White in the American flag refers to purity. Our great country remains pure in its ideals. Those ideals of liberty, justice, equality, and freedom have held strong through the years and never wavered. Our veterans and active servicemen and women have rallied around these ideals and have fought and sacrificed everything for the sake of these ideals. These ideals continue to be gifted to every American citizen. Their sacrifice gave us all these gifts so today we owe them our sincere gratitude for such. Last, the color blue symbolizes vigilance, perseverance, and justice. Vigilance is an enduring quality of our military men and women, and our veterans. Throughout the world, they have remained vigilant in their service of protecting the liberty and freedom of American citizens. Perseverance means one never gives up. How true of our service men and women. Despite the terrible conditions of war, they never gave up on the ideals for which they were fighting for. They fought to keep America free and safe for generations of American citizens. Without their vigilance and perseverance, America would not be the great country it is today. Each day, school children recite the words, ``With liberty and justice for all,'' when they say the Pledge of Allegiance. What this means is that America upholds the ideals of pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. Anything that threatens these ideals is perceived as a threat to justice. It's not us, the average citizen, who eliminates the threat, but our country's service men, women, and veterans who stand up and fight for justice for all. So hold high the flag and its colors. Her story is one of freedom. Through the years, our military has rallied around her and fought and sacrificed so much. They have fought to keep us free. The flag unites us all under her majestic colors. So, as we are gathered here today, take a look around you. The flowers that decorate the grave sites will one day wither and die. The engraving on the headstones will eventually fade. The sound of Taps will linger silently through these trees. But the one thing that will forever remain, year after year, is the American flag, waving valiantly over the graves of our fallen heroes. Thank you. Memorial Day, May 30, 2011, 9:00 A.M., Ohio Veterans Home the ohio veterans home and the sandusky memorial day association Memorial Day Ceremony--Ohio Veterans Home Mistress of Ceremonies: Linda L. Johnston, OVH Volunteer Coordinator Invocation: Rev. Paul Birmingham, OVH Chaplain Star Spangled Banner: Combined Bands Presentation of Grand Marshals: Steve Matune, OVH Deputy Superintendent General Order #11: Matthew Burr, Civil War Union Soldier re-enactor Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: Jaz Bluhm, Howard N. Kautz (WWII Paratroop, 17th Air Division) Family Scholarship Award Recipient Placing of Tributes: Veterans Organizations Armed Forces Medley: Combined Bands Student Speaker: Ashley Szatala, St. Mary's Central Catholic High School America the Beautiful: Combined Bands Benediction: Fr. Edward M. Czech, OVH Catholic Chaplain Salute to the Dead: OVH Rifle Squad, Commanded by Arthur Weisz Taps: Christa Widman & Victoria Downey, St. Mary's Central Catholic High School Combined Bands under the direction of Brian Panetta, St. Mary's Central Catholic High School Memorial Day Parade Participants Ohio State Highway Patrol; Erie County Sheriff; AMVETS Riders; OVH Police Department; St. Mary's Central Catholic Band; AMVETS Post 17 Color Guard; Grand Marshal Eugene Fitzthum; Grand Marshal Paul Mettert; Grand Marshal Fred Ferdindansen; Grand Marshal Jack Ferdindansen; Grand Marshal Ruth Singler; Grand Marshal Linda Johnston; AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary; Sons of AMVETS; OVH Road Soldiers Cycling Club; OVH Senior King & Queen; Erie County Veterans Service Office; Boy Scouts of America; Local 744 Carpenters Union; Erie County Relay for Life; Salvation Army; United States Border Patrol; Marines Forever; Disabled American Veterans Chapter 16; Catholic War Veterans Post 1905; Sandusky Transit System; United Indians of Ohio; Don Likes 1955 Truck; St. Stephens UCC & Kiddie College; Firelands Habitat for Humanity; Kids Care Clubs of the Volunteer Center; DAR Martha Pitkin Chapter; Erie Metro Parks; Girl Scouts of NE Ohio; Erie County Jr. Fair Royalty; Tom's Cruz Limousine Service; Erie Co. Firefighters Assn.; Perkins Fire Dept.; Perkins Police Department; Perkins High School Band; Veterans of Foreign Wars; VFW Auxiliary; Dads of VFW; VFW Youth Baseball League; Lake Shore Corvettes; Knights of Columbus; Firelands Patriots; Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Erie-Seneca Counties; Double S Industries; YMCA Twirling Amp'd; Sandusky Fire Dept.; Sandusky Police Department; Sandusky High School Band; American Legion Color Guard; American Legion Riders; King Baer Productions 1929 truck; Elks Lodge 285; in memory of Bernie Wilson 1978 F150; Calvery Baptist Church Kidettes Baton Corps; Friends of Pipe Creek Watershed; Volunteers of America; Freedom Institute; John Snoble 1957 Pontiac; Randy's Balloons; Kandi-Land Stables. Thousands of men and women have died so you can attend this event as a free person in a free land. As our American Flag passes in review, or is presented, our veterans ask you to please honor those veterans who have given their lives by showing respect for the flag in the following manner: Cover your heart with your right hand. If you are wearing a hat or cap, with your right hand, place it at your left shoulder with your right hand covering your heart. A Special Thank you to the Exchange Club of Sandusky for their years of support and dedication. Each year they distribute the American Flags to parade viewers.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, in 2008, gas prices that rose above $4 a gallon triggered the Wall Street meltdown and housing crisis that continue to plague our country. We're in the same boat today again with gas prices going over $4 a gallon, so be prepared. I rise today to talk about that housing crisis that is devaluing our housing stock across our country and destroying neighborhoods and communities across the Nation. Last week, the New York Times ran a piece I wish to place in the Record highlighting one more twist in this crisis. According to their front page expose, the big banks and mortgage companies have profited even more from the foreclosure crisis by amassing giant ``real estate empires'' that span across our country. So not only do six banks now control two-thirds of the banking system of this country, they've also become real estate magnates, too. When is too much too much? The impact on communities has been devastating. The numbers are simply shocking. In my community alone, over 6,700 more homes are in some type of foreclosure filings. While thousands of America's families are being thrown out on the street, the big Wall Street banks have nearly doubled the number of houses they've taken through foreclosure since the crisis began 5 years ago. That represents nearly 900,000 homes. That's 900,000 more families whose American Dream ended in foreclosure. Sadly, this doesn't include those who are barely hanging on. Approximately one in four mortgaged homes are still underwater, where families owe more than the home is worth. After taking billions of dollars from our taxpayers, we might expect that the Wall Street banks would want to help people stay in their homes and help more vacant properties be taken off the market. Well, that's not what I'm hearing from local realtors. I spoke with a group of them over a week ago. They keep running up against a brick wall any time they even try to do a workout with one of these banks. They continue to have difficulty accessing credit for qualified, willing buyers. More and more, I hear how it's only our local banks and our credit unions that are making any effort to make this troubled housing market function. Wall Street walked away with billions in bailout money, and then walked away from the housing mess they created. But they want even more. All the while they are sitting on top of huge profits and taking enormous tax breaks. The six largest banks in the country, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, together paid an approximate tax rate of only 11 percent of their pretax U.S. earnings in 2009 and 2010, less than half of what other businesses pay. I wish someone in this place could explain why this is allowed to go on. We need to understand that this foreclosure crisis is far from over. In the first quarter of this year alone, approximately 215,000 more properties were in foreclosure across our country, and another 700,000 properties were either in foreclosure filings, received default notice, bank repossession or scheduled auction. As these banks continue to agglomerate these properties that are becoming vacant, neighborhoods across our country are being devalued and continue to disintegrate. Every Member here knows what I'm talking about. There are some signs that our economy is slowly improving. But, boy, we aren't out of the woods yet. Moody's is predicting that housing prices across our Nation will continue to fall by as much as 5 percent by this year's end--I should say 5 percent more. We cannot sit on our hands and hope the situation gets better. Revival of the housing sector and the jobs it creates has always played a crucial and leading role in any economic recovery. We need to work to help struggling families stay in their homes, protect neighborhoods from being riddled with vacant structures and get our economy moving again by arresting the continuing decline in our vital housing assets built up over decades coast to coast. Importantly, revitalizing and reoccupying the troubled housing stock would put millions of Americans to work. And isn't it over time to do exactly that? [From the New York Times, May 22, 2011] As Lenders Hold Homes in Foreclosure, Sales Are Hurt (By Eric Dash) El Mirage, AZ.--The nation's biggest banks and mortgage lenders have steadily amassed real estate empires, acquiring a glut of foreclosed homes that threatens to deepen the housing slump and create a further drag on the economic recovery. All told, they own more than 872,000 homes as a result of the groundswell in foreclosures, almost twice as many as when the financial crisis began in 2007, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate data provider. In addition, they are in the process of foreclosing on an additional one million homes and are poised to take possession of several million more in the years ahead. Five years after the housing market started teetering, economists now worry that the rise in lender-owned homes could create another vicious circle, in which the growing inventory of distressed property further depresses home values and leads to even more distressed sales. With the spring home-selling season under way, real estate prices have been declining across the country in recent months. ``It remains a heavy weight on the banking system,'' said Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody's Analytics. ``Housing prices are falling, and they are going to fall some more.'' Over all, economists project that it would take about three years for lenders to sell their backlog of foreclosed homes. As a result, home values nationally could fall 5 percent by the end of 2011, according to Moody's, and rise only modestly over the following year. Regions that were hardest hit by the housing collapse and recession could take even longer to recover--dealing yet another blow to a still-struggling economy. Although sales have picked up a bit in the last few weeks, banks and other lenders remain overwhelmed by the wave of foreclosures. In Atlanta, lenders are repossessing eight homes for each distressed home they sell, according to March data from RealtyTrac. In Minneapolis, they are bringing in at least six foreclosed homes for each they sell, and in once- hot markets like Chicago and Miami, the ratio still hovers close to two to one. Before the housing implosion, the inflow and outflow figures were typically one-to-one. The reasons for the backlog include inadequate staffs and delays imposed by the lenders because of investigations into foreclosure practices. The pileup could lead to $40 billion in additional losses for banks and other lenders as they sell houses at steep discounts over the next two years, according to Trepp, a real estate research firm. ``These shops are under siege; it's just a tsunami of stuff coming in,'' said Taj Bindra, who oversaw Washington Mutual's servicing unit from 2004 to 2006 and now advises financial institutions on risk management. ``Lenders have a strong incentive to clear out inventory in a controlled and timely manner, but if you had problems on the front end of the foreclosure process, it should be no surprise you are having problems on the back end.'' A drive through the sprawling subdivisions outside Phoenix shows the ravages of the real estate collapse. Here in this working-class neighborhood of El Mirage, northwest of Phoenix, rows of small stucco homes sprouted up during the boom. Now block after block is pockmarked by properties with overgrown shrubs, weeds and foreclosure notices tacked to the doors. About 116 lender-owned homes are on the market or under contract in El Mirage, according to local real estate listings. But that's just a small fraction of what is to come. An additional 491 houses are either sitting in the lenders' inventory or are in the foreclosure process. On average, homes in El Mirage sell for $65,300, down 75 percent from the height of the boom in July 2006, according to the Cromford Report, a Phoenix-area real estate data provider. Real estate agents and market analysts say those ultra-cheap prices have recently started attracting first-time buyers as well as investors looking for several properties at once. Lenders have also been more willing to let distressed borrowers sidestep foreclosure by selling homes for a loss. That has accelerated the pace of sales in the area and even caused prices to slowly rise in the last two months, but realty agents worry about all the distressed homes that are coming down the pike. ``My biggest fear right now is that the supply has been artificially restricted,'' said Jayson Meyerovitz, a local broker. ``They can't just sit there forever. If so many houses hit the market, what is going to happen then?'' The major lenders say they are not deliberately holding back any foreclosed homes. They say that a long sales process can stigmatize a property and ratchet up maintenance and other costs. But they also do not want to unload properties in a fire sale. ``If we are out there undercutting prices, we are contributing to the downward spiral in market values,'' said Eric Will, who oversees distressed home sales for Freddie Mac. ``We want to make sure we are helping stabilize communities.'' The biggest reason for the backlog is that it takes longer to sell foreclosed homes, currently an average of 176 days-- and that's after the 400 days it takes for lenders to foreclose. After drawing government scrutiny over improper foreclosures practices last fall, many big lenders have slowed their operations in order to check the paperwork, and in two dozen or so states they halted them for months. Conscious of their image, many lenders have recently started telling real estate agents to be more lenient to renters who happen to live in a foreclosed home and give them extra time to move out before changing the locks. ``Wells Fargo has sent me back knocking on doors two or three times, offering to give renters money if they cooperate with us,'' said Claude A. Worrell, a longtime real estate agent from Minneapolis who specializes in selling bank-owned property. ``It's a lot different than it used to be.'' Realty agents and buyers say the lenders are simply overwhelmed. Just as lenders were ill-prepared to handle the flood of foreclosures, they do not have the staff and infrastructure to manage and sell this much property. Most of the major lenders outsourced almost every part of the process, be it sales or repairs. Some agents complain that lender-owned home listings are routinely out of date, that properties are overpriced by as much as 10 percent, and that lenders take days or longer to accept an offer. The silver lining for home lenders, however, is that the number of new foreclosures and recent borrowers falling behind on their payments by three months or longer is shrinking. ``If they are able to manage through the next 12 to 18 months,'' said Mr. Zandi, the Moody's Analytics economist, ``they will be in really good shape.''

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I wish to add my voice to our colleagues paying tribute to law enforcement officers around our country. Dozens and dozens and dozens have died in the line of duty. And to them, to their families, and to their colleagues, we are eternally grateful. I also want to say that the most important way we can pay tribute to them and to their courage and patriotism is to make sure that they have the backup that they need, that we have enough officers on the street. In far too many communities across this country, the economy has forced cutbacks where they're going out alone, where there isn't the kind of equipment that they need in order to perform their duties. To pay them the tribute that they deserve, we should let no officer out on the streets without proper equipment, without proper attendance with those in order to save lives in the future. I think it's unconscionable that certain accounts are being cut here that may put their lives more at risk. That's the reason that the numbers are going up around the country. We've suffered this in Ohio. We know other States are suffering it. And I say to the American people, pay attention to what happens here because it can save lives. God bless our law enforcement officers.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, jobs need to be America's number one priority. When people go back to work, it seems fairly obvious that we'll not only balance family budgets, but we'll be able to balance America's budget. They're tied together. But for some reason, too many officials here in Washington, both elected officials and those who lobby, simply haven't gotten that message. At the end of last month, The Washington Post ran an excellent piece, asking, ``What is it about the word 'jobs' that our Nation's leaders fail to understand?'' ``How has the most painful economic crisis in decades somehow escaped their notice?'' and ``Why do they ignore the issues that Americans care most desperately about?'' Very good questions. I tried to answer them myself, as I have fought the resistance to try to help reemploy those who seek work across our country. I would have to say that, in some ways, some here in this city are privileged. They've really led very privileged lives. They've been insulated, insulated from living in a family that gets a pink slip, insulated from being in a family that knows what it's like to live on an unemployment check and wonder if you will ever be able to get regular checks again, insulated from families that desperately worry when their unemployment checks expire and there is no job. A lot of people here inherited their wealth, and they truly are insulated, but for the rare few. Others had their educations paid for. They didn't work for them. It's unbelievable. There are a lot of people here just like that. Some of them always had enough to eat. They really never had to scrimp and choose whether they'd have milk, whether they'd have water, whether they'd split a cabbage in order to get their family through the weekend. So there really is a lot of distinction between what people have had to endure in their own lives. And frankly, there are a lot of people in this capital city that make a whole lot of money. I'm going to talk about some of them in a second. But recent polls tell us what the majority of Americans are thinking about. And according to two recent polls, four out of 10 Americans believe our country is heading in the wrong direction. I agree with them. And as gas prices rise and have climbed to record levels, 71 percent of our citizens are experiencing financial hardship. More cars are along the roads in Ohio where people just simply run out of gas. Or you see them at the pump, and they only put in $20, and they hope that maybe a week from now, the price won't be as bad. I want to dedicate my time this evening to talking about jobs, about America being held hostage to what the gentleman ahead of me was talking about, Big Oil, and policy changes we need to make to get our economy running strongly here at home. And I want to just point out a couple of measures of our predicament so that people are thinking about different aspects of what we face so that we can really fix it. Now, this first chart up here shows that for the last quarter century or more, America has not had balanced trade accounts. What does that have to do with the budget deficit? When you are in the red and you are importing more than you are exporting, you are having to actually borrow money to pay the difference. Somebody else is making the money off of us. We have not had balanced trade accounts since the 1970s. Every single year, more and more of America's wealth has been outsourced to someplace else. Every American knows that. You see the jobs that have disappeared from your own community. I use the Maytag Washer Company in Newton, Iowa. I'm not from Iowa. I'm from Ohio, but I still have my old Maytags, great product. Those jobs ended up in Mexico after they were actually outsourced because of a big buyout that happened in that company. And that's happened in company after company after company. That's what's happened to all of our manufacturing jobs. But this chart here shows the U.S. trade deficit, every single year. In 2010, last year, we had $500 billion more in imports into our country than exports going out. This is a serious part of the problem. Now, those trade deficits result from agreements America has signed that were supposed to result in exactly the opposite, job creation in our country. Probably the best known is NAFTA. In 1993, this Congress passed an agreement called NAFTA, and the people who voted for it said, Oh, it's going to create all these jobs in the United States, and we won't have to worry. Relations with Mexico will be terrific. Well, guess what? Ever since NAFTA passed, there hasn't been a single year when we have had even a trade balance with Mexico. No. Every year, our deficit with Mexico--more imports coming in here from Mexico than exports going out--has gotten worse. And what about in Mexico? In Mexico, over 35,000 citizens of that country were shot last year related to the illegal drug trade. We are receiving the reciprocal of that across our border as people flee just to try to have a better way of life. Because you see, the farmers in that country, the small holders, were thrown off their land as a result of NAFTA. Two million people desperate to earn a living. We said that would happen. People didn't care. They simply didn't care. And so we lost that vote on the margin of about 12 votes. But what we said would happen in '93 has happened, and we've had over $1 trillion of trade deficit with Mexico. The balance of trade with South Korea. Knowing the terrible trade record that this country has had with every country we've signed one of these free trade agreements with, what is the administration proposing and the majority here proposing? They want to bring up more, more NAFTA-like agreements. They want to bring us Korea. They want to bring us Colombia. I don't know what else they're going to throw in. But you know what? We've already got a trade deficit with Korea. We take hundreds of thousands of their cars. They take a few, a few thousand from us. And the agreement that the last administration and this administration has reached with Korea won't bring us trade balance with Korea. There is no requirement that it's a tit for tat, a reciprocal agreement, or it's one car there for one car here. So we are going to lose more jobs if that agreement moves through here. This is a pattern that Americans need to understand. And if you look at that overall trade deficit that's been going on and getting worse and worse every year, what is the top category of that deficit? The top category is imported oil. I agree with some of my colleagues who have pinpointed the problem, but we can't continue to hold ourselves hostage inside our own Nation on the spear of petroleum. We have to support additional exploration; and we are doing that on our own continent with the Alberta oil sands project, for example, in Canada, the largest construction project on our entire continent. But we also have to diversify. We have to be smart. Prior generations were smart. We need to be smarter. Today, The Washington Post just published an article on the latest trade numbers. They tell us a lot about our economy. There was some good news. We sold more exports and services. And why wouldn't that happen? The value of the dollar has dropped as we've hemorrhaged jobs here in this country. But a funny thing happened--the trade deficit grew again. More imported oil. High-priced oil keeps pushing us further and further in the red. That $500 billion trade deficit from last year that I referenced, according to the Manufacturing Policy Project, represents a loss of 7 million American jobs. In other words, this hole that's been accumulated over the years, 7 million manufacturing and other jobs lost across our country. That means jobs outsourced someplace else, and then they're imported here. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot over and over and over again. We can no longer afford to add hundreds of billions of dollars annually to our trade deficit. We need a different trade model that results in trade balances at a minimum and hopefully trade surpluses because you simply can't balance our Federal budget or family budgets when our trade accounts are so costly and so out of whack and so many jobs have been moved offshore. We hear that the majority wants to bring up more NAFTA-like trade agreements, and one of the countries they're talking about is Colombia. They're talking about Korea; they're talking about Colombia. What Colombia is really about is oil, more imported petroleum, when you really get into the weeds and you look at what that agreement is about. And the question for America really is, If this is the history of imported consumption of petroleum, is that really the future that we want for this generation and the next and the following? The red lines here represent the growing share of petroleum consumption in our country that's represented by imports. It's increased steadily over the last quarter century. That is not a path for American liberty nor American economic success. We need a trade policy that is results oriented, that results in balance and energy independence here at home. We need to grow our exports, yes, and create jobs here in our country by moving our Nation toward energy independence here at home. And we need for somebody in the executive branch to stand up and fight for reciprocal trade agreements. I said that to President Obama. What's wrong with a trade surplus? What's wrong with a trade balance? Why do we keep going in the red? Why would anyone accept that as a solution for America? The unemployment rate rose this past month, I contend, because of rising gas prices. It was not good news for an economy that has been struggling to recover. And if we look back again at the last quarter century, and this chart looks a little complicated, but what it shows-- the red line is oil prices--is that every time oil prices peak, what follows? Higher unemployment. It's a very predictable pattern. It happened in the 1970s twice. Here we go, high oil prices with the Arab oil embargo back in the '70s. What happened? Rising unemployment. If you go back to the late 1980s, early 1990s, same thing. Higher oil prices, higher unemployment. And certainly, now, with the greatest recession since the Great Depression, an enormous rise in 2008 when the stock market crashed. What preceded it was an increase in oil prices to over $4 a gallon. And what happened? The crash. Yes, it's a housing crisis. Yes, it's an unemployment crisis. But what triggered it? Gas prices over $4 a gallon. The American people, once they understand what's happened, will fix it. America really is a hostage in her own land as a result of imported petroleum. Just as America is starting to re-grow her economy now, Big Oil wants to steer our country back toward recession. Now, look at this chart. In the first quarter of 2011, just one of the companies, ExxonMobil took in $10.7 billion--that's a B--in profits in one quarter. That's a 69 percent increase over last year. Occidental, that's the group that wants to drill more in Colombia, and they need a free trade agreement to do that and bring it in here. Their profits are up $1.6 billion, 46 percent increase. Conoco Philips, $2.1 billion. Their profits are up 43 percent in one quarter, and most of these profits are being pocketed tax-free. While working Americans earning less than $20,000 paid 15 percent of their income in taxes, Chevron, which made $6.2 billion in one quarter--their profits went up 36 percent--they only paid 4.6 percent in taxes on their total of $32 billion in profits last year. Now, I heard my colleague earlier talking about, oh, gosh, we should really feel sorry for them because, my gosh, they're making all this money, but they need more tax preferences because they won't invest. What are they doing with all this money? These are the largest profits in American history. Oil companies aren't paying what they owe in taxes. I'll tell you one thing they are doing with their money. They're handing out handsome campaign contributions. The Koch brothers of Texas, who made a whole lot of money in that industry, generously donated more than $2 million last year and recently bankrolled Governor Walker in Wisconsin and the anti-worker movement that they're pushing in that State. Overall, the big oil and gas industry donated $27 million last year to political campaigns and, get ready, spent $146 million on lobbyists. That's over, gosh--for each Member of Congress it's like they've assigned one or two people to each one of us. No wonder Congress voted against closing $53 billion in tax loopholes to Big Oil. That's a 300 percent return on their investment, more than they can make searching for new sources of energy. In 2010, the biggest oil company, ExxonMobil, paid only 2.3 percent of its profits to the United States. That's scandalous when businesses in my district are paying at a 35 percent corporate profit rate. And you know what? They don't ask me for all those special privileges. The businesses working hard in my region, gosh, I can think of bakeries and of factories and of machine tool companies. They don't ask for special privileges. They want to help America. They want to do their fair share. But this group, they're wired in here. The year before, ExxonMobil received an $838 million tax refund. Meanwhile, those in the majority would take away unemployment benefits for working Americans. And I can tell you what: you can go across this country in the food lines in community after community, and you know who's lined up? So many of our veterans who have come home to no work. I say take some of this, create a civil works program, let our returning veterans lead it and improve communities across this country. Let them take unemployed Americans and move around this Nation, fixing up roads, fixing up bridges, painting up what needs to be done, reforesting, doing what Franklin Roosevelt knew how to do a century ago. Of course, you know, looking at these numbers is British Petroleum. British Petroleum, over the last 5 years, instead of paying taxes, actually took over $48 billion in tax breaks. And in the first quarter of this year they've already made $7.2 billion more, a 16 percent increase over what they earned last year. That's despite the terrible oil spill down in Louisiana and along the gulf. So it's clear who the winners are. Since January, crude output has actually risen slightly. And although demand has remained steady, prices have climbed by 23 percent. Meanwhile, oil stock prices have risen. Just at Chevron, the stocks have risen 14 percent. Tax loopholes, corporate welfare, government subsidies, does this really sound like a free market to Americans who are listening tonight? I urge my colleagues to reject more giveaways for oil companies who are raking in money by holding the American people hostage. It's time to hold them accountable. They ought to pay their fair share. Other businesses do. Americans do. Let's cut the billions of dollars in corporate welfare and focus on getting hardworking Americans back to work. We need to create jobs in this country and close those trade deficits. We need to stop outsourcing our jobs through these so-called free trade agreements that really aren't free, and we need to move to balanced trade accounts. We need to reform the NAFTA trade model and not pass the same kind of deal for Korea or Colombia. We need reciprocal trade, not trade deficits. Our country, for too long, has been held hostage to these agreements. And we need energy independence to help restore our own liberty. Wouldn't it be great if we could put all Americans to work that need a job and helping to create these new sources of energy? And I know full well it is within the capability of American people to do this. But we shouldn't put all our eggs in the basket of Big Oil. We ought to give them some competition on price. We ought to look at hydrogen- generation facilities across this country. We have the capability to do that. We need to move into biofuels. Through the Department of Agriculture, working with our renewable energy community, we are fully capable of unlocking the power of the carbohydrate molecule in this century just as we did the hydrocarbon molecule in the last. We need to bring our natural gas resources forward. We really need to crack the clean coal riddle and find a way to use our huge reserve of clean coal. We need to keep investing, yes, in solar and in wind power and in geothermal. We are just bringing up these technologies around the country and creating thousands and thousands of jobs. I represent one of the three solar platforms on the continent, and for the last four decades those who have worked in the glass industry and the silicone industry have been transforming and creating companies like First Solar, which was the hottest stock on Wall Street a couple years ago, companies that are involved in green energy production. Is it perfect yet? No. But neither was Edison's light bulb when he invented it in Milan, Ohio, where he did so much of his work, a community that I represent, and we are about to put his statue over in Statuary Hall. So America has to think about a full set of energy sources and not be so dependent on just one that, for whatever reason, lack of competition probably, but also abuse of power has just come to play too important a role in our economy and in our people. It hurts our people too many times over and over and over again. Fifty percent of what we could actually save in energy comes through more judicious consumption. We have tried to provide incentives for Americans to insulate their homes, to put in new kinds of windows. There are new building materials coming on the market, new types of insulation, building your home in a manner that uses less energy in the way that it is sited on the spot, using the full energy of the sun where you can. We are much smarter about the way we are building than we were 30 or even 20 years ago, and those improvements need to continue. Imagine an America where every roof was a solar producer where there is enough sunshine to make a difference. Imagine an America where we captured the power of the wind and properly stored it and moved it to grid. Imagine an America where what you put in your tank, if you even put something in your tank to fuel it, that it is grown and renewable in this country. Imagine an America where you could have plug-in hybrids that move around this country and our gas stations become a different type of fueling station. That is all possible. We are working through the U.S. Department of Defense, and I will just sort of end with this, because I believe that the Department of Defense knows better than any aspect of our society what we are paying as an oil hostage. Our soldiers are deployed all over the world and very close to oil reserves. I think they are worth more than that. I think their genius can be used inside the boundaries of this country to make us energy independent again. Our energy dependence is our chief strategic vulnerability. Go to the Marine Corps Web site. I salute the Marines. They are taking the lead inside the Department of Defense in trying to create new solutions, not just on their own bases, but as their troops move around the world. I salute the Navy. Some of the incredible inventions that they are coming up with to move power from one point to another with not a loss of one kilowatt, are unbelievable, some of the superconducting work that is being done inside Navy today. I congratulate the Air Force for trying new biofuels and helping to push America forward in terms of its ability to power itself internally. And I salute the U.S. Army. Your work on solar tents, your work in trying to capture the power of the Earth, to power the systems that you are involved with today is something that is absolutely technologically amazing. You inspire us all. And there is a way for America not to be so dependent on those who would extract from us but in fact use our genius to restore our liberty and independence again. Imagine how many jobs we could create in this country if we could bring our military back home and could spend the trillions of dollars that have been spent in oil-producing foreign lands here, at home. Literally, we could rebuild the transmission grid of this country from one end to the other. We could bring up the genius of patent holders who, as we are here this evening, have ideas that can be brought to market and put that money to work for the American people. They deserve it. God bless America. God bless the future of this country.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, with gas prices skyrocketing to over $4 and $5 a gallon, threatening our fragile economic recovery, let me retrace the history of U.S. economic recessions and unemployment since the 1970s and their relation to global oil markets and oil prices. Both in 1973, during the Nixon administration, and then during 1978, during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, America's economy was subjected to serious harm by global oil kingdoms on whom our Nation already had become too dependent. When gas prices eventually doubled, with the unemployment that followed, President Carter described that major oil price squeeze as the ``moral equivalent of war.'' This chart very vividly shows, how rising unemployment, which is the blue line, follows every major oil price increase since the 1970s. Yes, every spike of gas price increase creates a path to high unemployment that follows. That certainly was true back in 2008, when in fact the oil prices spiked over $4 dollars per gallon and unemployment shot up, triggering our current recession as well. President Carter lost his reelection to Ronald Reagan, who won on a campaign of blaming Carter for a ``misery index.'' Back in those days the misery index was explained as the sum of unemployment and inflation rates but that sum actually was due to gas price sticker shock. When gas prices rise above $4 a gallon, that very fact triggers major unemployment here at home. How many times does our American economy have to be hit over the head with a baseball bat before we recognize our conundrum? We should be working full steam ahead to become energy independent here at home rather than coveting our neighbor's goods. If we look at the continuing use of petroleum inside our economy-- other than the recession we're now in, where we've had a little bit of a dip in imports due to decreased demand--all the way going back to the 1970s, every year, we've consumed more imported petroleum. The red lines show how much more is imported each year. Rather, why don't we invest those trillions and trillions of dollars we are spending in the Middle East and around the world to import that oil right here in our own country? We literally could rebuild energy production capacity, and much more, from one end of our country to the other and create millions of jobs doing it. America's chief strategic vulnerability is our dependence on imported energy. How many more Americans have to die to keep those oil lanes open? It is no coincidence we have sent our soldiers to fight where the greatest global oil deposits are located. My oath is to protect our Nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. America's petrol dependence is an enemy on both fronts: foreign and domestic. It is no secret that there are some big business interests, including many global oil companies, oil speculators, and financiers trading in those petrodollars, that are making a killing, in many ways, off of America's dependency. In 2008, rising oil prices tripwired the Great Recession we are currently enduring. And we know recent price hikes threaten our recovery just as our Nation and our people are struggling to get back on their feet. Look at the profits that the major oil companies are ringing in from gas prices at over $4 a gallon. Just in the last quarter, Exxon raked in $10.7 billion, BP brought in $7.2 billion, Chevron earned over $6 billion, and the list goes on and on--in one quarter. One quarter. These huge profits at the expense of our people and nation. The American people suffer great hardship every time this petroleum addiction rears its ugly head, and it has done so every decade, consistently. The situation keeps getting worse, if anyone is paying attention. In effect, our American Republic becomes a gasoline hostage and a sticker cash cow anytime the global oil markets need an infusion of oil cash or raise prices due to supply aberrations. We simply can't leave America and our people this vulnerable. And we can't keep killing our soldiers to keep those oil lanes open. The biggest force in the world is inertia. People don't want to change, or don't know how to change our predicament, or don't want to change this losing strategy for our Nation. It's no secret that some interests are making a whole lot of money off the present equation: ``I win, you lose.'' Mr. Speaker, if these economic interests aren't tamed and aren't enemies of our Republic, I don't know what is. Bill Greider wrote a book, it's time to ``Come Home, America.'' Let's do that by restoring energy independence here at home and, indeed, our very liberty.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Now, Madam Speaker, here ends the slow, sad, and silly fiscal year 2011 appropriations process. It ends on a day when unemployment claims are going up, not down, when gas prices are rising and when food prices are dramatically on the rise. I say to my colleagues that it is mathematically impossible to balance a $1.5 trillion deficit by only cutting from the 12 percent of total federal discretionary spending and with no tax-breaks' spending on the table. For the largest accounts, Defense and Homeland Security, they're not even included in the reductions. Yet job-creating accounts like Transportation and Housing are cut by 18 percent, one-fifth. How does this make sense when 40 percent of America's building trades' workers are out work, and when housing is in the doldrums? Agriculture's food programs for the unemployed, seniors, children, and the needy are cut by 13 percent when Wall Street is walking away with billions. If we are going to be serious in this Congress about balancing the Federal budget, then we need to put everything on the table, all programs, all revenue accounts, entitlement programs, mandatory programs, farm subsidies, and outdated direct federal subsidies to the West. We must address tax expenditure spending and nonpayment of taxes by some of the most well-endowed corporations and individuals in our country. Corporate profits are at all-time highs; yet they're not hiring. Shareholders benefit but not workers. The chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Rogers, and the ranking member, Mr. Dicks, have tried to do everything they can to get us to this point. They are to be highly commended for holding an open process and for working with both sides of the aisle. It is now time for the other chairmen of this institution to look at their accounts as well as tax spending under their jurisdictions and make the necessary cuts to bring our accounts into balance. I have been part of a Congress that in the past has balanced budgets year after year; but back in the '90s, what we did was we focused on jobs and job creation, and we used the budget and appropriations bills to aid in the creation of jobs and in the revenue they generate.

Ms. KAPTUR. For the sake of this institution and our Republic, I hope a final vote on this CR can end the slow, sad, and silly process we have endured. I will not be able to support the bill because it really is a bill that will cost jobs, not create jobs; but at least we will end the budget whiplash we've been through, and have subjected the American public to, in our country for the last several months. The American people want to work. This Congress needs to act to that end. A focus on jobs is what is lacking in this legislation before us today. The bill cuts vital transportation projects, like the elimination of High Speed Rail ($2.9 Billion in funding cut), that will cost America new jobs, not create them. Cutting back on food to children and needy families by half a billion dollars ($504 million cut) will not save money--it will result in less healthy citizens, more illnesses and higher medical costs as diabetes, poor health, and hypertension rise. Meanwhile Lloyd Blankfien, the head of Wall Street GS just scooped another $25 million from stock options.