Marcy Kaptur

Ms. KAPTUR

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.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank our distinguished ranking member, Mr. Dicks, for yielding me this time. Madam Speaker, in our tender economy, where job creation should be our top priority, this flawed legislation moves us backwards. It gives no confidence to the markets that anyone here in the majority knows what they are doing. It is just more fits and starts and stops. This bill is partial, it is short term, and it is a selective bill that leaves the vast majority of budget choices off the table. It is irresponsible. It selects only some of our valiant fighting forces--some would say ``uses'' them--and extends paychecks for only some through the end of September. But it leaves out the majority of Americans who expect good government out of this Congress to ensure economic growth and a continued recovery on the job front. The American people are sick and tired of political antics. Let me point out this bill is so flawed it leaves out the veterans who come home and can't get work and are lined up with their families at food banks across this country. This bill does nothing about reemploying them, nor assuring their sustenance as employment and food commodity programs are left off the table. This resolution leaves out decisions regarding food supplies to those pantries so essential to holding life together for our unemployed veterans as well as for millions of other Americans facing hard times. And what about those vets lined up to exercise their GI benefits at local community colleges? This resolution turns its back on 2011 educational funding at community colleges that are an essential reentry portal for returning veterans. So this bill is partial, selective and lopsided. What about those vets with disabilities who are lined up across our country to get adjudication? This resolution turns its back on them and those adjudication judges that also get paychecks, some as contracted employees, from the government of the United States to do their job of serving veterans. Let me urge the majority to do what the American people sent us here to do, and that is to govern, to govern for all, to not leave anyone out, to not leave any veterans out, to not leave the vast majority of Americans out. I ask my colleagues to defeat this flawed resolution. Let us govern responsibly by addressing the entire budget, not just a slice of it; and let's turn the focus here to creating jobs which is what the American people really want.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the memory today of the victims of the April 10, 2010, plane crash in Smolensk, Russia, that 1 year ago killed much of the Nation of Poland's national leadership. Last year, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed resolutions to express America's unwavering support for the people and Government of Poland, and to offer our heartfelt sympathies for the families and loved ones of those who perished. April 10 has long been a day of memory for the Polish people and those of Polish descent, because on that day 71 years ago the Soviets carried out a horrific act against the Polish people. I am talking about the Katyn Forest massacre. Last year, Polish President Lech Kaczynski was leading a Polish delegation to Russia for the 70th commemoration of that massacre. This was to be an historic event because it was also to be the first time that a Russian leader was to attend the commemoration. The truth of the Katyn Forest massacre was hidden and lied about for decades. And today, the entire world knows that in 1940 the Soviet secret police were ordered by Joseph Stalin to systematically round up and murder all of Poland's officers, intellectuals, national leaders, teachers, university presidents. As many as 22,000 people were killed in that heinous crime. For decades, the Soviets tried to cover up their guilt by blaming this atrocity on the Nazis. There is plenty of blame for them too, but the truth of Katyn was never told. I am proud that this country and this House have long demanded that the truth about the Katyn massacre be exposed. In 1951, it was this House of Representatives that established a select committee to conduct and investigate the facts, evidence, and circumstances of the Katyn Forest massacre. One year later, the committee unanimously concluded that the Soviets had been responsible. Unconscionably, the Soviets continued to deny their actions until President Mikhail Gorbachev made a statement on April 13, 1990. We knew that the 70th commemoration of this atrocity was to be historic. But the world was further shocked that this tragic day was to witness yet another obliteration of the leaders of the Polish Nation. Last April 10, the Polish President's airliner, a Russian Tupelov TU- 154M that had been recently overhauled in Russia, crashed as it was landing near Smolensk. Everyone on board, all 96 people, were killed, including Poland's President, its first lady, the deputy foreign minister, the deputy defense minister, the director of national intelligence, dozens of members of Parliament, the chiefs of staff of the Army and Navy, along with the president of the Polish bank. Also on board the plane was Anna Walentynowicz, the former dock worker whose firing in 1980 sparked Poland's heroic Solidarity strike that ultimately overthrew the Communist Government of Poland. Ryszard Kaczorowski, who served as Poland's final President in exile before the country's return to democracy, was killed, as well as Wojciech Seweryn, a Chicago artist whose father was killed in Katyn. I want to honor their memory today and the memory of all those who were killed at Katyn. And I want to express our support for the Polish people and the Polish Government as it seeks full answers surrounding the plane crash, particularly access to the black boxes that were taken by Russia, and the government's other physical materials held related to this tragedy. Poland is a strong U.S. ally. Polish leaders like Thaddeus Kosciuszko helped fight for our country's freedom when our Republic was founded over 200 years ago. And America stood with Poland's Solidarity movement as it fought against the oppression of the Communists. In the face of these dual tragedies, at Smolensk April 10, 2010, and Katyn in 1940, America stands with the liberty-loving people of Poland.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize a milestone on the long road of service of the East Toledo Family Center in my District. At this Sunday's annual Renaissance Gala, our community will pay tribute to this achievement. The East Toledo Family Center is an incredible community-building resource. Every year, its dedicated staff and volunteers touch the lives of thousands of citizens of all ages-- for recreation, health care, meals, community activities, holiday gatherings and family support. Every neighborhood should be so fortunate as to have such a welcoming, caring, and effective community center. The East Toledo Family Center surely is the heart of East Toledo. Nearly 110 years ago, according to the Center's historical records, on Sunday, August 4th, 1901, Rev. H.W. Hoover held a tent meeting on factory grounds owned by D.J. Nysewander in East Toledo. A list survives of those who contributed towards the ``interest on loan, sidewalks, hymn books, lights and piano tuning'' for this first Industrial Heights Mission Contributors included such well known East side names as Metzger, Rideout, Tracy, and Hirzel. The Mission lasted for several days and was enlarged into ``settlement work'' to help the many new immigrants in the area become adjusted to life in America. A Baptist minister from Ontario, Canada, Rev. Hoover was just past the age of 40 when he began his mission work in Toledo's East Side. His efforts resulted in the formation of the Neighborhood House, where he spent the remaining years of his life until his passing at the age of 72. By the summer of 1902, property was obtained on Vinal Street, and adjoining lots were soon added through the generosity of East Toledoans Alexander Black, George Metzger, Isaac Gerson, and Mr. Nysewander. The Center records its early years as the land on Vinal Street near East Broadway, which was originally a neglected dump, was quickly improved. Dirt from the streets was used as fill, grass was sown, East Side florists provided flowers, the Monroe Nurseries gave shrubs and the old dump was transformed. The Ohio Neighborhood Institute, commonly called the Neighborhood House, was incorporated and the property at 1019 and 1027 Vinal Street developed rapidly. M.J. Riggs, superintendent of the American Bridge Company in East Toledo, helped purchase playground equipment along with paint, fencing, and ornamental gates and posts. A depression in 1908 led to what some families called the ``slim winter.'' When no assistance was available to help the many families who were out of work, Mrs. Hoover and East Side businessmen stepped in to provide food and aid through the Neighborhood House. During the years of World War I there was a need for classes in English for both children and adults as more and more immigrants came to work in the factories of America. Before Oakdale School opened, school classes were held at the Neighborhood House for small children of various grades. By 1916 the Neighborhood House had a large playground. It featured a merry-go-round, basket swing, May pole and an enormous sand box. A ``Sunshine House'' donated by Dorothy Kimball was used to help children learn how to keep house. Tea parties were held to teach the children ``proper manners'' when entertaining and of course there were sports of all kinds, including boxing matches. Attendance records from 1916 show just how important the work of the Neighborhood House was to the community. The Vinal Street playground was used by five thousand children that year and almost thirty-five hundred people attended American Citizenship classes. Over two thousand people came to other lectures while a ``School of Conduct'' attracted nearly twenty-seven hundred people. A satellite ministry of the Neighborhood House, the Ironville Neighborhood Settlement, called Lincoln Place, had seventy-eight hundred participants during 1916. For the year, 28,766 people were involved in all the activities of this important East Side ministry. The importance of the Neighborhood House to the community is apparent by the number of companies and individuals who contributed to its support. A list of hundreds of donors includes the names of some of Toledo's most prominent citizens. Here can be found the names Ernest Tiedtke, Thomas DeVilbiss, Edward Ford, General Sherwood, Mr. Walbridge, Mr. Detwiler and Mr. LaSalle, along with such East Side names as Winchester, Hoeflinger, Eggleston, Gardner and Tucker. Edward Drummond Libbey was also an important early benefactor. By 1927 there were three buildings on the Vinal Street property. During the dark days of the Great Depression the bad times began to take their toll on the working class families of East Toledo and the Neighborhood House lost its founder when the Rev. Hoover passed away in early 1932. An article by Isabel Toppin of the East Side Sun family records that ``now many are losing the houses they tried hard to maintain.'' she continues ``the streams of little wagons and push carts headed for the city's dole measures the depression into which we have fallen.'' It would be during these times that the Neighborhood House would be needed all the more. Ms. Toppin goes on to say ``In the midst of the general unhappiness, the Neighborhood House has striven to relieve the drab hopelessness of the situation.'' During these hard times the Neighborhood House was often a last resort for people. Volunteers would bring in clothing, a baker would send surplus stock and mothers, as it was recorded, would ``accomplish wonders with a yard of goods and a button. The Neighborhood House became a clearing house for the needs of the community and the human spirit would not be extinguished by these hard times. By the 1940's as the economic times began to improve and the Neighborhood House continued to provide a place for people of all ages in the community to grow and become better citizens and better Americans. The Neighborhood House kept growing following the post-World War II boom years until a new building was needed in the early 1970's. The Center stood as a bulwark through neighborhood changes in the 1980s and 1990s and adapted to the changing needs of East Side residents. Now as the 21st century progresses and it is into its twelfth decade of service, The East Toledo Family Center serves more people and provides more services than at any other time in its long history. Tradition has been maintained even as services develop and grow so that efforts continue to be directed toward providing educational, economic, social and recreational opportunities for working class families and children. Through more than a century of careful stewardship, the leaders of the East Toledo Family Center have carried forth the vision of Rev. Hoover and the founding members. It remains a beacon of light, shining on into a new century of service.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, let me ask Congress, where are you? America's trade policy is operating as if we were still in the last century instead of the 21st. Time and again, this Congress keeps failing to grasp reality and learn from past failures. Instead, Congress keeps doing more of the same failed approach. Now, this administration has pledged to soon submit another so-called free trade agreement, this time with Korea. There are even some in Congress who are demanding the President attach no-win agreements to Panama and Colombia at the same time. All of these agreements fail to put America in a position to win economically by creating jobs here in our country. I want to remind my colleagues that these agreements are nothing more than expansions of the same failed trade policies established by NAFTA. Think about China too. Ever since those two agreements were signed, we have never had a single balanced trade agreement with those countries. These same approaches racked up another half-trillion-dollar trade deficit last year alone and all the lost jobs across our country that were outsourced as a result. I can assure you that our trade deficits are not getting any better as a result. Year after year, the numbers tell the same story: More job loss resulting from unbalanced trade agreements. America needs reciprocity and balance and equal access to foreign markets, not surrender. Haven't the working people of America paid a high enough price yet with the diminishment of their livelihoods, loss of home values, uprooting of their families, outsourcing of their jobs, collapsed school systems, and constant worry about a more secure future? This is a fight about who is taking away those economic opportunities drop by drop here at home and how we stop the hemorrhage. More extremist free trade agreements have given us the kind of world we inherited after NAFTA. They told us it would create millions of jobs. Instead, we have seen the manufacturing sector decimated with over 8 million lost jobs. Estimates on the number of jobs lost directly just due to NAFTA with Mexico and Canada are in the millions. Over a third of all manufacturing jobs in the United States have disappeared and been outsourced since its passage. Our trade deficit with Mexico last year alone was over $66 billion in the red. That means hundreds of thousands of pink slips in our country. And for what? The Mexican people live in greater misery, while their wealthy have become even wealthier since NAFTA's passage. This is not a recipe for continental stability. When Most Favored Nation status for China was rammed through here at the end of the 1990s, proponents said it would create jobs across our country. Since then, America has amassed a $2 trillion cumulative trade deficit with China--trillion--and hundreds of thousands more pink slips in our country, including in the so-called green energy sector, and more loss of production here as China demands businesses set up shop there to do business at all and then gives vast tax holidays. And there is liberty there? No, there is Communism. America and Congress, where are you? Next up, free trade extremists want us to pass more of the same, more of the same failed approach, by adding Korea. In the first month of this year alone, America already had racked up a $1 billion trade deficit with South Korea, and that market restricts our goods already. There is no real reciprocity. We will be lucky if we can sell 75,000 cars there under this proposed agreement. That is not going to happen, because it is not guaranteed in the agreement, yet Korea already sells nearly half a million cars here. How is this fair? How is it reciprocal? How does it hold a promise of balance, not deficit? Then there is the potential for another trade agreement with Panama. The GAO has identified Panama as a major haven for tax avoidance. In fact, Panama is one of the most popular destinations for multinational firms to create subsidiaries, many of which exist only to help them avoid paying their fair share of taxes here in our country. Why further empty out our country? Why do we do this? Finally, there is Colombia; Colombia, the most dangerous country in the world if you care about labor rights. Since the 1990s, over 2,000 trade unionists have been assassinated in Colombia, and in the vast majority of cases there has been no justice for the victims and their families. How can America reward this? Why should Americans lose more of their jobs for this? When America's trade agreements have failed so vastly and cost us millions of jobs, and we haven't had balanced trade accounts in over a quarter century and our standard of living is headed down, we simply can't afford any more of these losing trade agreements. We ought to go back and renegotiate the ones that aren't working for us now. It is time for a new trade model for our country that benefits our workers and our communities for a change. America simply can't afford another NAFTA that is called Korea.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, a little over a week ago, the executive branch launched U.S. military force against yet another Middle Eastern country. This time it is oil-rich Libya. U.S. naval and air forces attacked Libyan military installations across that country, wiping out air defenses, intelligence systems, tanks, and also apparently is now targeting that nation's ground forces. Under what policy is the executive branch operating without a vote of Congress in expending millions of defense dollars and State dollars on offensive action taken inside a nation that did nothing provocative toward the United States. In fact, last year, Libya was even a recipient of U.S. foreign aid. The President's justification for this action was that it was not an act of war but, rather, a humanitarian mission to prevent a catastrophe that would have resulted from Libya's military forces under the command of Libyan President Muammar Qadhafi from taking the civilian center of Benghazi. Our President says he did not act alone, as French, British, Canadian, and other Western NATO members participated in these attacks. The President informed Congress that future operations will be handled by NATO. Well, who exactly decided all of this? Not Congress. If this is not an act of war, as F-16s fly over and bomb and U.S. naval forces shell, what is it? The President has further said he authorized this military action to enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973; yet on that resolution, many nations who normally are U.S. allies abstained from the vote, such as India, Brazil, and Germany. The President said he sought the permission of the Arab League before taking action. But in fact it was 3 days into the bombing when the press reported the Arab League said it had ``no objection'' to the bombing. So where in these operations have been the Arab League's planes and soldiers? And I might ask, where is the African Union's engagement? Why are they silent? It appears the administration consulted key allies from oil-dependent Europe, like the French, who dropped the first bombs, and the British. But the President didn't bother to ask Congress. We live in very strange and dangerous times. The administration says it made a couple of phone calls to Members of Congress serving in the leadership. Well, who exactly were they? And then the administration set up an after-the- fact briefing for Members of Congress in the Capitol Visitor Center. None of these gestures meet the spirit or letter of the law under our Constitution relating to military engagement abroad. Yes, protest movements seem to be springing up across Africa and the Middle East, and we witness some Libyan rebels--though we really don't know exactly who they are or who is funding them--take to the streets to demand reform and an end to the Qadhafi government's grip on power. But we also see troops very loyal to the Qadhafi regime who are fighting to maintain that regime. So why is America taking a military role in an internal civil conflict without a vote of Congress on behalf of the American people whose sons and daughters are engaged in these operations? Should we not be clear and vote on whom it is we are supporting, for how long, and through what legal means? I and the entire world watched with horror the news reports of Qadhafi's troops attacking civilians, including shutting off food, water, and fuel, shelling cities and towns, and targeting innocent people for killing. Those responsible for these crimes must face justice for what they have done. But please tell me, where across that region do we not have dictators in charge of nations? Is America to intervene everywhere there is an uprising? Libya is certainly not the only African country facing a humanitarian crisis. We have all but ignored the situation in Cote d'Ivoire which has already displaced approximately 500,000 people, with triple the population of Libya. The crisis in Cote d'Ivoire would dwarf the violence in Libya. Would the President's logic extend there? Or what about the Congo? Or Sudan? Is it America's new 21st century Monroe Doctrine to now intervene militarily under the guise of humanitarian aid wherever a President chooses? The crisis in Libya was several weeks old when the President chose to take action. Surely there was time to seek congressional approval. I am highly concerned that this military intervention took the familiar pattern of launching attacks just when Congress left town to go back to our districts for a week, thus silencing our voices in Congress even more as this floor was shut down. How premeditated and how irresponsible I believe the current course of events to be. I have sent an official letter to the Obama administration asking under what U.S. legal authority U.S. forces have been engaging in Libya. As a member of the Defense Subcommittee, I fully expect a matter of this nature would have been brought up before us. It never was. Moreover, what have the operations cost to date? And from which accounts are funds being taken? The Department of Defense claims it cannot create a civil works employment program to employ our returning U.S. Iraqi and Afghani veterans when they come home here, yet it finds money for this excursion. Mr. Speaker, there should have been a vote on the use of force outside our borders, not a notice after the fact. Anyone who is following the news has seen the reports of protest and unrest in multiple nations. Mr. Speaker, on the operations in Libya, there should have been a vote here. Does this Administration, like the last one, believe that it has the authority to take military action wherever it chooses in the Middle East? Could the President's same rationale extend to Yemen? Or Lebanon? What about Syria? How would the Administration respond to a similar situation in Iran? Or Pakistan? The list goes on. The simultaneous commitment of U.S. military force in multiple countries is a serious matter. And the Administration needs to be rebuked for its failure to appropriately engage Congress. Not only is Congress a co-equal branch. Congress and Congress alone has the Constitutional authority to commit the Republic in such matters. F-16's, Harpoon missiles, Apache helicopters, are all weapons of war not humanitarian assistance. And who exactly are the rebels we are favoring in this Libya incursion, and where is their funding and weapons coming from? Which interests do they represent? Mr. Speaker, on the operations in Libya, there should have been a vote here.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the life of heroic Sandusky, Ohio police officer Andrew Dunn. This past Friday, March 25, Officer Dunn, age 30, Badge #2083, was laid to rest in his hometown. His beloved wife Julie and young children Caleb, 2, and infant Conner, his parents, friends and neighbors were joined by thousands of citizens of all ages, hundreds of police officers from near and far, and the Sandusky police force to honor his last call. Citizens who gathered formed a vanguard for America as their hearts united in deep gratitude as well as deep mourning. No words would capture the solemnity of the occasion nor the weight of loss all who knew Officer Dunn carry. Praised as a loving husband, father, son, and friend, officer Dunn represented the very finest of citizens in our nation. He laid down his life for us, said those who spoke at the service, negotiating the thin blue line of freedom. His comrades offered tributes and prayed in one voice the Policeman's Prayer: Lord I ask you for courage Courage to face and conquer my own fears Courage to take me where others will not go I ask for strength Strength of body to protect others And strength of spirit to lead others I ask for dedication Dedication to my job to do it well Dedication to my family to love them well Dedication to my community to serve it well and keep it safe Give me Lord, concern for others who trust me And compassion for those who need me And Lord through it all, Be beside me In honored memory of Andrew S. Dunn, March 11, 1981--March 19, 2011. Rest in Peace, good and faithful public servant.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, March is a month when Ukrainians worldwide pay tribute to Taras Shevchenko, whose monument here in Washington, D.C. bears testament to his prescient writings, prophetic visions for human dignity, and aspirations for the worth of each individual. It is with deepest respect for his life after purchase out of serfdom, and that of his friend Ira Aldridge, purchased out of slavery; that the very idea of liberty took flame out of the repressive conditions Of their forbears. Their lives deserve recognition and revelation, decade after decade, so the world remembers and honors those whose paths cleared the way for our own. [From the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation Update, Mar. 8, 2011] Honoring a Friendship Bonded in Defense of Human Rights From St. Petersburg, Russia to Washington, DC (By Robert A. McConnell) While February is Black History Month, a month when attention is given specifically to the contribution of Afro- Americans to our country, our society, and culture, March is the month that Ukrainians worldwide honor Taras Shevchenko. For Ukrainian-Americans, both months are a time of reflection on a very special and unique friendship between one of Ukraine's greatest historical figures, Taras Shevchenko, and a famously talented black American, Ira Aldridge. Although both men died in the 1860s, one in Russia and the other in Poland, and though both are little known to the general public in America, both of their images are present in the capital city of the United States. A mere two and a half miles apart here in Washington DC stand monuments to Taras Shevchenko and to Ira Aldridge. The first was born a Ukrainian serf who was purchased out of bondage in order for his immense talents to blossom; the second was born a Negro in New York who, because of the color of his skin, had to leave his country to find the full glory of his God-given talent. At the corner of 22nd and P streets in Northwest Washington stands the figure of Taras Shevchenko, a monument to the man, his writing, his profound commentaries on human dignity, pleas of help for the plight of the downtrodden and his aspirations for his country, struggling under tsarist repression. Engraved in the granite is his hope for Ukraine: ``When shall we get our Washington, to promulgate his new and righteous law?'' On the other side of the city stands The Ira Aldridge Theatre on the Howard University campus, constructed in memory of a great thespian talent and as a symbol of challenges overcome, paths revealed for other talents to follow. Portraits of both men hang in that theater, portraits painted by Taras Shevchenko and donated to Howard University in 1967 from the archives of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the United States. Born a serf in Ukraine, Shevchenko was destined for a lifetime of servitude. Yet when his owner left Ukraine for St. Petersburg, Russia, he took the young Shevchenko along. In St. Petersburg, Shevchenko's artistic talents were revealed. In 1838, the city's artistic circles succeeded in raising 2,500 rubles to purchase Shevchenko's freedom. Once free, he became a student at the Imperial Academy of Arts and his artwork and poetic writing flourished. His poems glorified Ukraine and demanded freedom and justice for all oppressed nations and classes of people. Shevchenko returned to Ukraine in 1845 to find great injustices. His poems criticized the tsarist regime and chided the aristocracy's oppression of the peasants. For these expressions, he was arrested and deported from Ukraine to exile in a remote part of Asian Russia, incarcerated in a military penal facility and, by the decree of the Tsar, denied writing and drawing materials. Despite the Tsar's orders and the incarcerations terrible cost to his health, Shevchenko secretly composed some of his most powerful works while imprisoned and in political exile. Moreover, at the same time, Shevchenko's Ukrainian and Russian friends, including Count and Countess Fyodor Tolstoy, worked to secure his freedom again. Finally, ten years after his arrest, Shevchenko was released. Forbidden to return to Ukraine, he returned to St. Petersburg, where he soon met the American Ira Aldridge. Although Aldridge had been born in New York, as his immense talents became apparent, he found his opportunities limited due to the significant discrimination against blacks. He chose to emigrate to England in 1824 and began acting in small London theatres. Receiving notice and praise, he was soon performing in England's finest theatres and began to tour outside London. By 1852, Aldridge, the first black to act in white roles in Shakespeare's plays, left for his first European tour. Receiving acclaim everywhere he traveled, he returned to London a theatric hero. In 1858, Aldridge accepted an invitation from the Russian Imperial Theatre to perform in St. Petersburg. Shevchenko attended the opening performance and the two men were introduced. There are numerous letters and notes commenting upon their meeting and friendship. One of Tolstoy's daughters, Katherine, served as an early translator between Aldridge and Shevchenko and wrote about the experience and their friendship. Shevchenko attended Aldridge's performances. Aldridge visited Shevchenko's studio and posed for the artist. They visited one another often and spent time in the same social circles, one that included many artists, performers, intellectuals. Their friendship was unique since they had in common not only the creativity of their personalities and their love of the arts, but their shared experiences of social oppression and their dreams of a better future for their people. Though free, famous, with powerful friends, living in the world of Russian aristocracy, neither seemed able to forget his past, the plight of his people. Those who wrote about their friendship noted that they often sang together. Aldridge greatly appreciated the sorrowful and melodic Ukrainian songs that captured the unfortunate plight of the people of Ukraine. Shevchenko, in turn, loved the songs of the Negro South, no doubt to great extent for the same reasons. When Aldridge returned to England, he took with him a portrait of Shevchenko by a Russian artist. Aldridge returned to Russia several years later but by then Shevchenko had passed away. Between 1861 and 1866, Aldridge made several tours of the tsarist empire including three trips to Ukraine, to Shevchenko's homeland, trips that had been denied to the great poet, artist, and patriot. Ira Aldridge never returned to the United States, however, he did live to know of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War. Both of these men, historic giants in their artistic fields and in their messages about the struggles of mankind for dignity and the perseverance of individuals, died on foreign soil far from their homelands. Aldridge's body remains in Poland. Eventually, Shevchenko's body was returned to Ukraine from Russia. Their unique friendship remains a story for the ages; it is fitting that among the monuments to their lives and contributions there are the two in Washington, DC, just two and a half miles apart. A friendship that brought them together thousands of miles from here, eventually finds them in the capital of Aldridge's native land, respected and honored, with Shevchenko's question still unanswered: when will Ukraine get its ``new and righteous law?''

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise this evening on behalf of the people of the State of Ohio to offer our great heartfelt support to our brothers and sisters in the nation of Japan. Every person in the world really is bound with compassion and with hope that we can find a way to help heal the great damage that is occurring there and has occurred. I know that we have over 12 naval vessels that have moved across the Pacific to offer assistance, and nations around the world will try to help the people of Japan. My message this evening is one of hope to the Japanese people, so many that I have met in my own career, certainly their national leaders in the Diet, in their executives, so many educational leaders, and just the people of Japan who have been so kind to us on our visits there. I hope they know that Japanese Americans living in our country, certainly in Ohio's Ninth District, are bound with them in an attitude of rebuilding and healing. As the State of Ohio's name mean ``hello,'' we offer tonight a very special hello to the valiant people of Japan.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to reiterate some statistics that I entered into the record earlier today as we try to balance the Federal budget. Let's look at who has the money. If you look at the big banks from Wall Street that took us down this dangerous road, six banks--among them Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo--made last year $51.5 billion in profits. That's with a ``B,'' billion. Today, the majority passed a few billion dollars in cuts, and they took it out of the hides of ordinary Americans who are paying the price of this recession. But imagine if you worked for a Wall Street bank and only had to pay an effective tax rate of 11.5 percent or 11 percent when most businesses in America have to pay 35 percent. They are getting a really good deal. We didn't nick their bonuses a penny, and the top executives walked home with $26 million. If you really want to ask yourself the question how to balance the budget, why don't we look at where the money really is, and none of that is on the table. And while you're paying those high gas prices, take a look at Exxon. They have the largest profits in American history: $9 billion last year in one quarter. Paid no taxes. American people, wake up.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank my dear colleague for his great leadership and for yielding me this time. Let me just say that I urge my colleagues to vote no on this continuing resolution. It cuts money for jobs to people that give social services to our senior citizens at a time when gas prices are going up and food prices are going up; it cuts jobs to clean up our brownfield sites across this country, and if you don't know what those are, you are lucky; it cuts jobs that affect our public broadcasting, the only decent broadcasting left in this country with the garbage that's on the airwaves today; and it cuts jobs dealing with construction and repair of our Save America's Treasures Program, some of the oldest buildings in America that our children and grandchildren have a right to enjoy, as we have. So people say, where are you going to get the money? Let me tell you where the money is, and what is not on the table in trying to balance the Federal budget. How about the profits of the Wall Street ``Big Six'': Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup. They scooped up just last year $51 billion in profits; $51 billion at the expense of the American people hit hard in this great recession that we're enduring. Wall Street titans are happy as clams. Their top executives alone took $26 million in compensation, not counting all their stock options. We didn't touch a penny of their bonuses. Oh, we can't do that! Wall Street banks are paying at an effective 11 percent tax rate when businesses in my district have to pay at 35 percent. What's fair about that? We could have $13 billion, $14 billion, $15 billion, $16 billion if Wall Street just paid at the same rate as other honest businesses do--just for last year. And oil prices? The American people are being gouged all across this country. But Exxon made $9 billion in the third quarter of last year-- the largest profit of a company in U.S. history. Guess how much they paid in taxes? A big goose egg. Zero. Zero. And British Petroleum, $5 billion in one quarter. How much did oil companies pay in taxes? Where's that on the deficit cutting table? So, we say to the American people, you can't balance a trillion- dollar deficit on 14 percent of the budget. All you do is hurt people. Wall Street and Big Oil have already hurt the American people. Let's pay the bills by expecting those who have much and give nothing to pay their fair share.That's how you seriously balance the budget-- everything has to be on the table.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, the proposed South Korea trade deal is the largest NAFTA-style trade agreement proposed in 15 years. Some people in Washington, including President Obama, support this agreement. Congress should not. Most importantly, this ``NAFTA''-Korea deal will result in more job loss across countless communities in our country. The U.S. International Trade Commission studied this agreement and determined that it will be a net job loser for our country, just like the NAFTA deal was, just like the China deal was, just like all the failed nonreciprocal trade deals our Nation has negotiated over the last 25 years. Yes, a handful of companies will come out ahead, and they have a lot of power in Washington, but, as a whole, our country loses. We have heard a lot about deficits lately. This deal with the Koreans will only put us deeper in the hole. Why would Congress do this again to the American people and to the American economy? Last year, the United States ran up another half-trillion-dollar trade deficit with the world, and this past quarter, one of the largest in history. Both American and Korean estimates predict that this deal will only add to our deficit. These NAFTA-type trade deals translate into net job loss. Even the President doesn't claim that the deal will create new jobs. That is because it won't. In fact, it will cost jobs. America needs trade reciprocity. We need balance, at a minimum, where our exports balance our imports and more hopefully exceed our imports. We need to make goods in America again, not outsource more jobs. It is obvious to everyone we have a job crisis in America. Across our economy, the real rate of unemployment and underemployment is over 17 percent. This agreement, again, will negatively impact employment. In my district alone, the agreement threatens thousands of jobs. Why would America do this again to our people? More outsourcing, more job loss. My district is at the center of the automotive sector, and our companies supply manufacturers from Alabama to Detroit to New Jersey to California. This deal is bad for the entire U.S. automotive sector, yes, the entire automotive sector. In December, the administration negotiated with the Korean government a supplemental agreement on the automotive sector, and this side deal was supposed to ensure fairness for our auto companies. But it simply leaves too many unresolved concerns still on the table. And it doesn't provide reciprocity. There is no threshold measure that if we take half a million Korean cars, which we already do, and they only take 6,000 of ours, which is what is going on right now, that they have any requirement at all to actually increase imports. We ought to fix what is wrong with the existing system, rather than trade away more of our economic substance. There is also a strange logic that we somehow level the playing field by allowing the South Korean government to subject our cars to additional regulations within 4 year. And importantly, there is no threshold measure that we actually are balancing the huge trade deficit we already have with that nation. There's another loophole. The cars don't really have to be made in South Korea. Nearly two-thirds of the actual content can come from, guess where? Communist China and other countries that are relentlessly engaged in predatory and illegal trading practices is not a prescription for liberty. The automotive sector isn't the only industry that is at risk. Multiple sectors will be impacted, including textiles, electronics, and metal products. And that's just in manufacturing. Beef producers better pay attention because they're going to lose under this deal as well. I look forward to the day when this President, or any President, submits a trade agreement that will actually create new employment opportunities across our country. We surely need the jobs. Yes, trade can help fuel economic growth, but we need agreements that yield reciprocity and put America on a level trade playing field. NAFTA- styled Korean free trade agreements simply don't meet that test. This deal is over 400 pages long--and that's without the annexes to the agreement. The American people should read it. And so should Congress. America needs jobs here at home, not more job outsourcing. And surely not more trade deficits. We need reciprocity, and it would be the first time in a quarter century. That should be our target, not more job loss in America.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the National Exchange Club as it celebrates a centennial of service. The National Exchange Club--a service organization with 700 clubs and over 22,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico--will begin celebrating its 100th anniversary March 27, 2011, with celebration events occurring throughout the year. To kick-off this milestone, the Exchange Clubs of the Toledo area will host a special ceremony on the date of the anniversary, Sunday, March 27, 2011, with dignitaries, members and guests at the National Headquarters located in the city of Toledo. A display of 100 American Flags on the front lawn will greet visitors who will be able to view a Freedom Shrine featuring a collection of 29 original historic documents chronicling our nation's journey to freedom, including the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and several Presidential addresses. Founded on March 27, 1911 in Detroit, Michigan by businessmen who wanted to ``exchange'' ideas, the Exchange Club moved its headquarters to Toledo, Ohio, in 1917. Through a century, its volunteer efforts have supported the needs of the country and of local communities, making it the country's oldest American service organization operating exclusively in the United States. With a focus on ``Americanism'' the Exchange Club promotes the grand ideal that our country plays a special role as a beacon of freedom, democracy, equality and inclusiveness. Living the ideal, the Exchange Club's national project is the Prevention of Child Abuse. Exchange also sponsors activities designed to benefit, award and develop our nation's youth, prevent crime, serve senior citizens and recognize military and public safety service providers. Even as it remembers a century in practicing the ideals of ``Americanism'' in voluntary service to all citizens--from those who are vulnerable to those who protect--The Exchange Club moves forward to bring its mission into the next century. We honor the efforts of the members of the Exchange Club for leadership, vision, and compassion. Onward!

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, almost one in four homeowners in our country is underwater, meaning they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, and all of this misery is due to Wall Street's rigging of our economy. But on Wall Street, they're popping champagne corks. The Nation's biggest banks--Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley--have been raking in huge profits, all at the expense of the American people. In fact, these institutions have doubled in size through predatory mergers since the fall of 2007, and these six banks now control two-thirds of the banking system in our country. They cleaned up with profits in 2010--$51.6 billion in profits, more profits than they made before the American people bailed them out. Main Street is underwater, yet Wall Street is going on a pleasure cruise. It doesn't take a mental giant to figure who got our money. According to a recent report, the economic crisis that Wall Street precipitated has now caused massive tax revenue shortfalls for the Federal Government and our State governments totaling nearly $300 billion. This is why people are at one another's throats in Wisconsin, in Ohio, and other places. Yes, ordinary Americans--teachers, police, firemen--are being pink-slipped, and the American people are being forced to accept cuts in government services while Wall Street keeps winning, and winning big. They know well how to win for themselves. This year, Bank of America is receiving an income tax refund of--are you ready for this, America?--$666 million for 2010. Now, that followed $3.5 billion in refunds that Bank of America reported in 2009. Bank of America's Federal income tax benefit this year is roughly two times the Obama administration's proposed cuts to the Community Development Block Grant program, which is a lifeline to communities such as I represent where unemployment is still over 9 percent. Six banks--Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley--together paid income tax at an approximate rate of 11 percent--oh, those poor companies--of their pretax U.S. tax earnings in 2009 and 2010. Had they paid 35 percent like every other honest business in this country, the Federal Government would have received an additional $13 billion in tax revenue. Do you know how much that is? That's enough to cover the salaries of 132,000 teachers whose jobs have been lost since 2008. Who do you think has caused all the layoffs? Wells Fargo reportedly received a $4 billion Federal income tax refund on $18 billion in pretax income in 2009 and only paid 7.5 percent of its pretax income of $19 billion in 2010. Its net Federal income tax benefit for 2009 and 2010 combined is $2.5 billion, which equals the Obama administration's cuts to the low-income energy assistance program that is vital in cold weather to senior citizens, particularly women over the age of 80 years in districts like I represent. So who took their money? Pretty clear to me. Banks use a variety of mechanisms to avoid corporate income taxes, including offshore tax shelters. Fifty percent of these six big banks have 1,871 foreign subsidiaries incorporated in jurisdictions we know as off-shore tax havens, like the Cayman Islands. The Bank of America operates 371 tax-sheltered subsidiaries, and 204 in the Cayman Islands alone. For Goldman Sachs, 75 percent of its foreign subsidiaries are incorporated in offshore tax havens. So who's paying their freight? You are--the American people. Closing tax loopholes for the financial sector, making them pay their fair share of taxes, and I would support imposing a financial speculation tax, could generate more than $150 billion in Federal tax revenue. And what could be more fair to those who cause such harm to the American people? Something is really out of kilter in America, and it's not the State budgets. It's the balance of power in our political system. Everywhere you go, Big Money and Wall Street win, and the American people pay. Mr. Speaker, I just say to the American people, think about who's hurt our Republic--and it's not the American working people.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, across the world we witness millions of ordinary people rising up in public assemblies, many at risk to their own lives speaking out for a better life for all. From Madison to Misurata, from Cairo to Columbus, courageous people are taking a stand for justice for the many, not just the few. Another giant rally is planned today in Columbus, Ohio, where Republican Governor John Kasich, the son of public workers, is systematically attacking the hard-earned collective bargaining rights of our State public workers, policemen, firefighters, teachers and other public sector workers. He even called an Ohio policeman an idiot and was forced to apologize. That is his priority, not job creation, not education, not economic development, but attacking workers. That is why thousands of people will converge on the State's capital again today to call him out on his extreme right-wing agenda. The public outcry started in Wisconsin, given its long history of progressivism. Americans have begun to rise up to prevent more harm being done to our way of life, more attacks on our jobs, more threats to the standard of living of our middle class, more cuts in wages and benefits of hardworking families. The movement is spreading, just as the democracy movement is spreading across Northern Africa and the Middle East. Just as we watch freedom rising in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and beyond, we watched the spectacle of America's Governors trying to dictate to citizens who earn, on average, $24,000 and aren't even eligible for Social Security, but receive about $900 a month in average public employee retirement benefits, that they should sacrifice even more to balance State budgets. No, they don't deserve to be made scapegoats for their States' budget problems, and they don't deserve to be put on the front lines of the battle to save workers' rights; but they are there, nonetheless, and they deserve our support. We are all Wisconsinites. We are all Buckeyes. We are all Hoosiers. We have to stand together united for America, for the good of many, not just the few. If John Kasich wants to look for scapegoats, perhaps he should draw upon his experience with Lehman Brothers. Maybe he should look into his Rolodex for some of his cronies from Wall Street who helped bankroll his campaign. Because the real culprits who have caused the real deep, economic harm to our Nation are watching gleefully on the sidelines as our friends and neighbors try to protect their livelihoods. Wall Street's greed caused the financial crisis. That greed triggered lower State and local revenues with the devaluation of housing and rampant foreclosures. Yet the Wall Street titans who stole our home equity, our annuities, our pension accounts remain scot free of any real attention or prosecution. I have a message to our Governors: blame Wall Street, not Main Street. When six megabanks control two-thirds of the banking system of our country, when corporate profits are at record highs, yet ordinary workers are being asked to empty their pockets to balance State budgets, something is really out of kilter in America. When GE and Exxon don't pay taxes and Wall Street executives walk away with huge bonuses while home foreclosures increase, what's seriously out of balance in America is the distribution of political power in this country. In Ohio, the brothers and sisters of the heroes of 9/11, our firefighters and police, are being asked to give away their rights as free American citizens at the bargaining table for wages and benefits. Our Governor wants to abolish middle class prevailing wages, same in Wisconsin. Any nation that loses labor rights loses democracy. What's at stake in our Nation is more than wages. What's at stake is liberty for all and opportunity for all. Governor Walker, it wasn't the firefighters in Madison that robbed Main Street and stole our home equity. You might ask your friends, the Koch brothers, about that. Governor Kasich, it wasn't the teachers in Ohio who financed the shipping of our jobs offshore through NAFTA. You voted for it, and your buddies on Wall Street rammed it through Congress. And, Governor Daniels, it wasn't your public sector workers that created the biggest financial bubble in U.S. history and then jumped ship when it burst, letting everyone else go down. That was created by the policies of George W. Bush, where you served as director of the OMB while the Federal budget deficit exploded. I salute America's workers who are fighting for the middle class and our way of life. The whole world is watching. After the American people win their battles in Madison, in Columbus, in Indianapolis, I hope they take the fight to Wall Street and get our money back. That's who has it.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent that my amendments 329, 330 and 331 be considered en bloc.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, only in Washington would they say that if you ask organizations to compete in the free market, it costs more money to the Federal Government. Only in Washington would that kind of bookkeeping exist. So I am troubled by the point of order, but I would just say that I thank the gentleman for expressing his point of view. This will not be the last time we hear about power marketing authorities and their inability to compete in the private marketplace this year.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I just want to begin with a map of Arizona, showing all of the colored areas of Arizona that are actually Federal property, over half of the State. My amendment deals with PILT and Federal payments to places like Arizona, which is on a continuing welfare system of government spending and has been for many, many decades. Let me now show you the State of Ohio, where there are proposals that the Community Development Block Grant funds in the base bill are being cut. This is Ohio. We don't have much Federal property. We hardly have anything at all related to federal government. Ohioans have to make it in the free market. And yet what's happening in the bill is that more money is going to pay out for PILT than for places like I represent in the Midwest, where unemployment is so high. The bill actually cuts Community Development Block Grant dollars for cities and towns across this country to the tune of $2.95 billion. And yet, the base bill continues these PILT payments, which are really welfare payments to the West. If this Congress is serious about cutting spending, we need to address some of the fundamental challenges contained in what I call megamarks. These aren't earmarks; these are big megamarks that benefit certain regions of the country at the expense of others. Just to give you a sense of this, these subsidies have existed for generations. It's time that the West stood on its own two feet. These subsidies cannot be afforded by the other parts of the country that don't have that kind of Federal largesse. If we're going to have sacrifice in this legislation, then it needs to be shared. We need to reduce the payments in lieu of taxes called PILT by 75 percent. That's just the administrative costs that we're reducing. What's good for the cities of Toledo and Detroit, Boise, Dallas, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, and Reno is really good for the Western subsidized communities as well. PILT is mandatory spending just like farm subsidies, and outside our annual appropriation bill's spending recommendations. My amendment targets the administration of those funds. Let me just put a couple figures on the record, and then I would like to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to my dear friend, the ranking member, Mr. Moran. For the PILT subsidy, the West has received over the last 10 years. Let's look at Arizona. Arizona has gotten an increase from $10.3 million in 1999 to $31.6 million in fiscal year 2009. Idaho has gone up three times, from $8.3 million to $26.4 million. Montana from $9.8 million to over $28 million. Nevada from $7.1 million to in excess of $23 million. New Mexico more than tripled from $11 million to over $37 million. And Texas has leapt from $1.3 million to $4.3 million. Utah from $9.7 million to over $33 million. And Wyoming, which has fewer people than the District of Columbia, which is going to lose funds under the Community Development Block Grant program, 10 years ago received $8 million annually, and now Wyoming will receive over $25 million. Come now. For empty property where the Federal resource is already located there and can serve as an economic engine? To begin with, you can pivot so much development off of that federal presence. You can do economic development off of tourism. You can use those lands to attract investors who like to drill on those lands, and improve those lands. You can attract economic development around what I would call Federal encampments. My goodness, it's really amazing what can be accomplished with some creativity and vision. You know how much my district gets for our thousands of acres of Federal wildlife refuges? Are you ready? $180. Yes. One hundred and eighty dollars compared to billions and billions and billions going out in these permanent PILT subsidies. And you know what? PILT doesn't even begin to account for what the West gets for oil and gas leasing subsidies, livestock grazing, timber harvesting. I think one of the reasons our Midwestern taxpayers are feeling the tax load so heavily is some other parts of the country are really being lifted up by the federal government, and they don't even appreciate what they have. For my colleagues, if you want to send the American people a message that you are serious about cutting spending, the place to begin is by cutting the administrative fees of PILT.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, these amendments eliminate as no longer necessary the Federal administrative subsidy for the Southeastern Power Administration, the Southwestern Power Administration and the Western Area Power Administration. These massive energy subsidies amount to what I call unauthorized megamarks. These energy subsidies, that began three decades ago to develop only the West and South, now cost the rest of America billions of dollars. In fact, the Northeast, Florida, the Midwest, the Great Lakes States are heavily subsidizing the power systems of the West and South. I have a map here that kind of shows the parts of America that have a Federal power umbrella and those that don't. And it's really shocking to look at what the utility rates are. In Idaho, with federal energy subsidies, it costs residential consumers $7.98 per kilowatt hour. But guess what, in Ohio, that has no subsidy, it costs those residential consumers $11.34. In Wyoming, with power subsidies, it costs $8.39. But in Connecticut, with no subsidy, it costs those citizens $19.35 a kilowatt hour. To achieve real budget savings, we must address megamark spending, not just district-targeted earmarks, but massive megamarks. These regional Federal power subsidies illustrate the problem. In fact, those subsidies, over only some regions, are privileges that the other regions of our country can't afford anymore. These regions have outlived their welcome in terms of subsidy. Those regions need to compete in the free market just like the rest of our regions do. No more free rides, because America can't afford it anymore. My part of America can't afford the largesse given to the energy power marketing authorities in the other regions. The Southeastern Power Administration has never been operationally self-sufficient. It has cost the taxpayers $545 million, over half a billion dollars, since created in 1950. Similarly, the Southwestern Power Administration has never been operationally self-sufficient, costing the taxpayers over $707 million since it was created in 1944. And WAPA, the Western Power Authority, has never been operationally self-sufficient. It has cost the taxpayers over $7 billion since being created in 1978. Twenty-seven years of continued appropriations to only some regions seems like plenty of time for those agencies to have business plans in place to yield self-sufficiency and compete in the real marketplace like the rest of us are expected to do. In my region of the Nation, we have no Federal power subsidy. Ohioans pay 11.3 cents per kilowatt hour, but Utah only pays 8.7 cents. Arkansas only pays 8.8 cents. But New York pays 18.6 cents. New York has no Federal power marketing subsidy. Citizens where I live tax themselves separately and locally through local tax levies for economic development. The Federal Government has never helped us on our power costs. Our energy is provided through investor-owned utilities, and we have no Federal cushion to depend on. That's the reason recession causes tremendous hardships in free market regions like our own. How are Federal power subsidies to just some regions fair to all our taxpayers? After three decades, it's time to let three unauthorized power marketing administrations stand on their own two feet and compete in the free market, just like our region does. Balance our budget, cut the subsidies, cut the Mega-marks, cut regional favoritism that benefits the few at the expense of the many. I ask to include in the Record a full State-by-State power cost analysis so all Americans can know who is being subsidized and who is eking it out and trying to compete in the real marketplace, the free marketplace. I ask Members here to support the Kaptur amendment to eliminate the Federal administrative subsidies for power marketing authorities. Now let me point out that some of our power marketing authorities are doing it right, paying their own way. Take Bonneville, they did it right. There's a way to do it right and a way to do it wrong, and we shouldn't reward inefficiency. We should allow these subsidized institutions to compete in the free market and not make the other parts of America that are burdened by high unemployment and high power costs, to be giving favored treatment to other parts of the country that are not carrying their own load forward. Again, take a look at the privileged parts of America and then ask yourself who's paying for it. It's pretty clear what's going on here. The Southeastern Power Marketing Administration was budgeted to be zero funded in the President's FY11 budget. The amendment would allow this 2010 funding to go to zero. But under the continuing resolution, they will continue to be funded at their 2010 levels in spite of being eliminated in the budget. There is a lot of bookkeeping going on here that doesn't treat all parts of America fairly. I ask my colleagues to do what we've had to do in our region, compete in the real marketplace. Support the Kaptur amendments.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Oh, it is my privilege. I wanted to reinforce what you were saying about education and the Workforce Investment Act. In the counties that I represent, whether it is the Source in Lucas County or One Shop Stopping in Ottawa County, every single county has workforce investment boards that try to connect to our community colleges and institutions beyond high school in order to help people transition into education, as well as those who fall out of the workforce and have to retool. I was shocked to hear today that on the other side of the aisle, they can't bring up a bill to extend trade adjustment assistance to workers who have been booted out of their jobs because their companies moved to Mexico or to Korea or to China and workers are thrown out of work. That program expires February 13, and they were not able to bring up a bill to extend that for the millions of people across our country who have lost their jobs in manufacturing because they moved abroad. I just think that that is simply unconscionable. I say to the gentleman that the important issue of linking our community colleges, our apprenticeship programs, our university programs, our GED programs to help people move into, and, frankly, many of our small business programs, to help people move into the private sector is something that is so vitally needed and cannot be done in this economy in areas of high unemployment without the Federal Government partnering with them.

Ms. KAPTUR. Will the gentleman be kind enough to yield?

Ms. KAPTUR. You know, there are some people that live in the past and there are others that are involved in inventing the future. And when you have the major trade deficit category ``imported petroleum,'' and you have marines and soldiers dying all over the world to protect that, pretty soon you begin to think, You know what? This picture has to change. Every time our country's gas prices go up over $4 a gallon, we go into deep, deep recession. We are trying to crawl out of one just now. And in 2007-2008, gas prices went over $4 a gallon. People forget that. The mortgage foreclosure crisis followed that. But the point was it happened to us again. How many times do our people have to suffer before we realize the source of the problem? And I had a great experience. I had to go back to the University of Wisconsin, my alma mater, and I gave a commencement address a few weeks ago. It was not a bad speech. It was a pretty good speech. But one of the lines I used was: And America just simply must grasp the future and restore our energy independence. That was the loudest applause I got in this massive audience. And I thought, The American people know it. They know it. We have to do it. We have to make it happen.

Ms. KAPTUR. Congressman Garamendi, I want to thank you for your leadership. You are such an addition to this Congress. The people of California certainly made the right decision in sending you here. And you know, this happens to be the week of the Super Bowl. And as we think about America as a super Nation, with made in America at the heart of our economic prowess, the big winner in the Super Bowl this year was actually the commercial by Chrysler Corporation for its innovative 2-minute spot featuring the Chrysler 200, to the soundtrack of Detroiter and rap artist Eminem. The commercial is really a celebration of the greatness of Detroit and the resilience of this incredible, incredible city.