Randy Kuhl

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4700) to provide for the conditional conveyance of any interest retained by the United States in St. Joseph Memorial Hall in St. Joseph, Michigan.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4700.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 4700 was introduced by Representative Upton from Michigan on February 1, 2006. This bill conveys an interest retained by the United States of America in the St. Joseph Memorial Hall in St. Joseph, Michigan. St. Joseph, Michigan, is in the process of redeveloping an area of the downtown to create a recreational and educational and cultural district. This development will link downtown St. Joseph with the beautiful lakefront district, creating a more inviting environment for residents, for businesses and for tourists. The project is intended to make St. Joseph a more attractive place to live and work and to play, while also improving the local economy. H.R. 4700 is necessary to allow for the incorporation of St. Joseph Memorial Hall into those redevelopment plans. Memorial Hall's use is limited by deed restriction, placed on the property by the Federal Government more than 60 years ago. While similar deed restrictions in the city have been lifted, the restriction on Memorial Hall remains, making it impossible for the redevelopment of the neighborhood to continue. Limitations on this tiny parcel of land located in the center of the redevelopment will significantly jeopardize the city's plans if not lifted. H.R. 4700 is a sensible, simple solution that will allow the City of St. Joseph to proceed with redevelopment. I support this measure, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would say at this point that the sponsor of the bill, Mr. Upton of Michigan, had intended to be here to speak on the bill but was at the last minute taken away to a leadership meeting that is very, very important to the long term of this country and certainly to the world. I would like to say that, as a result thereof, obviously he is not here to speak on this bill. As we look at items like this, what we see from a general overall standpoint is that oftentime there are deed restrictions and limitations put on communities years ago that are no longer of any real interest or any real need in this particular area. So what we see from time to time as part of the evolution of our process of managing is, in fact, that what we have to do is to modify those provisions; and this is the perfect case. Now, there are many cities and communities, counties, villages across the country who are trying to revitalize themselves in ways which will be beneficial for the creation of jobs for the community and the people who reside there. This is one of those components. This is one of those actions. A small little city in a small little State called Michigan, a small part of the large country and the larger part of the world is obviously trying to revitalize their activities and was prevented from doing such immediately by a restriction placed by this big, bad at times, government on them. So we are attempting to remove that, and hopefully this bill will do that. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 359 authorizes the use of the Capitol Grounds for the District of Columbia Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run to be held on June 9, 2006. The Special Olympics is an international organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children and adults with disabilities through athletics. The Torch Run has historically been the largest and most successful Special Olympics fundraiser. Last year, for instance, the Torch Run raised over $20 million globally and over $70,000 locally. These funds make it possible for athletes with disabilities to compete in the annual Special Olympics Summer Games. The United States Capitol Police will host opening ceremonies for the Torch Run, which will take place on the West Terrace of the Capitol. Over 2,000 law enforcement representatives are expected from more than 60 local and Federal law enforcement agencies, and they will participate in this annual event in support of the Special Olympics. Congress has traditionally supported this worthy cause by authorizing the use of the Capitol Grounds. I encourage my colleagues to join the law enforcement community in supporting the Special Olympics and join me in supporting this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 8, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the gentleman from Florida's legislation, H. Con. Res. 196. This bill recognizes airline pilots who have courageously volunteered to participate in the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. Following the tragic events of 9/11 in my home State of New York, the Federal Flight Deck Officer program was created by Congress as a part of the Homeland Security Act to select, train, equip, and supervise volunteer pilots to defend the flight decks of passenger aircraft against acts of criminal violence and air piracy. These volunteers have dedicated their time and money to the extensive flight deck officer program. They are selected for training only after meeting very strict qualification standards. The training is specific to protecting the flight deck. Upon completion, the pilots are deputized as Federal officers. They have jurisdiction specific to the flight deck and contribute to aviation security throughout the U.S. on a daily basis. Federal flight deck officers provide a critical, and I repeat, critical layer of defense for the safe operation of aircraft traffic. In recent polls conducted by the Airline Pilots Association, the public overwhelmingly supports the arming of pilots on commercial and cargo flights. These men and women deserve much praise for their willingness to provide the flying public with secure skies. I thank each of these heroes for their tremendous courage and dedication, as they are protecting our country and preventing terrorists from threatening Americans' ability to carry out and carry on their daily lives. Mr. Speaker, once again, I strongly support this bill, and I urge its immediate passage to honor those who are willing to protect our citizens with their own lives.

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 3304.

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2967) to designate the Federal building located at 333 Mt. Elliott Street in Detroit, Michigan, as the ``Rosa Parks Federal Building''.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2967.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2967, introduced by Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, designates the Federal building located at 33 Mt. Elliott Street, Detroit, Michigan, as the ``Rosa Parks Federal Building.'' Rosa Parks, who passed away on Monday, is most well known for her simple, yet heroic act of defiance. Fifty years ago she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks was arrested, lost her job, and received numerous death threats for her actions. This simple act inspired further acts of civil disobedience and earned her the title of ``mother of the civil rights movement.'' Rosa Parks' dedication to fight for social and economic justice continued well beyond that monumental day in 1955. As a Secretary for the NAACP, she helped organize civil rights cases. She worked in the antiapartheid movement, and established the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development in her adopted hometown of Detroit, Michigan. She spent the remainder of her life fighting against all forms of discrimination. In 1999, Rosa Parks was named one of the 20 most influential and iconic figures of the 20th century by Time Magazine. She also received numerous awards for her contributions to the civil rights movement, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and also the Congressional Gold Medal. While Rosa Parks has already received significant recognition for her life's work, I believe that this is a fitting honor to a woman whose actions helped change our society for the better. I support this legislation, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) for her comments and the comments of all of our colleagues tonight on both sides of the aisle. I continue to support this bill, as I know everybody in this Chamber does. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I offer a concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 276) requesting the President to return to the House of Representatives the enrollment of H.R. 3765 so that the Clerk of the House may reenroll the bill in accordance with the action of the two Houses, and ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the sesquicentennial of one of the greatest educational institutions in my district of upstate New York, Elmira College. Elmira College turned 150 years old on October 2, just a couple of days ago this year. Elmira College was the first college for women with a course of study and degree requirements equal to those of the Nation's finest colleges. On October 23, 1853, the Regents of the University of the State of New York granted a charter to the college, and the cornerstone of the building that would later come to be known as Cowles Hall was laid in June of 1854. In October of 1855, Elmira College opened its doors to its first students, and the great, historical Cowles Hall still stands as a monument to women's college education in Elmira and the United States. Elmira College is sometimes known as ``the mother of women's colleges.'' The official college colors, purple and gold, were taken from the colors adorning the banners of the women's suffrage movement and from the college flower, the iris, which is also the name of the college yearbook published each year since 1896. Its location in Elmira, the commercial and cultural center of the Finger Lakes region, was through the efforts of Simeon Benjamin, the college's earliest benefactor, often referred to as ``The Founder.'' Benjamin was instrumental in the selection of the college's first president, Dr. Augustus Cowles, after whom the college's original building was subsequently named. Another of the college's founding trustees was Jervis Langdon, whose daughter Olivia, an alumna of the college, later married Samuel Clemens, to most of us also recognized as Mark Twain. To this day, Elmira college has been closely associated with Mark Twain, who wrote many of his best known novels in Elmira, in a structure, the Mark Twain Study, which was relocated to the Elmira College campus in 1952. Elmira college became coeducational in all of its programs in 1969 and quickly achieved an even gender balance. Entering its 15th decade, Elmira College continues its commitment to provide a sound liberal arts education while strengthening its professional programs. Its standards of academic excellence resulted in the award of a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1940. College traditions are cherished. The Sibyl, one of the oldest student-literary magazines in the country, has been published continuously since 1876. Mountain Day, faculty and administration ``Patron Saints,'' the Midnight Breakfast, and the Holiday Banquet are among the many traditional activities which enrich college life. While academics are a priority at Elmira College, school spirit emanates from its students through athletics. Elmira College offers 26 varsity and junior varsity teams and intramural sports as well. Elmira College strives for excellence both in the classroom and on the field by embracing the student athlete. Fifty-six percent of the students maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better. National rankings and post-season tournament play have also been annual traditions for the Soaring Eagles. Most recently, the women's ice hockey team has made four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including winning the National Title and sporting an undefeated season in its inaugural season. On the one hand, Elmira College is securely rooted in the local community by a tradition of excellence, ``town-gown'' relations and reciprocal sharing of resources. A good example of this is the public lectures presented by the internationally known Mark Twain scholars who are bought to Elmira by the college's Center for Mark Twain Studies. Another example is the college's community service program, which has been commended by the President of the United States. At the same time, the college expands its worldwide view with opportunities such as its various innovative projects offered in an intensive 6-week spring term made possible by the distinctive academic calendar. While proud of its history and traditions, Elmira College looks ahead to the future.

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take my Special Order at this time.

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to encourage my senior colleagues in the upcoming conference on the highway bill to agree to a provision which will appear in the Senate highway bill to more cost effectively use funding under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program--the so-called CMAQ program. CMAQ is a program which has been used in the past to fund air quality improvements. It's a good program, but I think we can make it a lot better. Here's how. Congress asked the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences to examine the cost-effectiveness of the CMAQ program. The Council reported that CMAQ funding could be used more cost effectively in the future to reduce pollution caused by fine particulate matter. This pollution is the most serious threat to human health. It has also been found to be 10 to 20 times more damaging to human health than other pollutants, like ozone, that have been historically the focus of CMAQ. And, EPA has found that excessive amounts of fine particulate matter are causing air quality problems for over 100 million people throughout the country. The Senate amendment recognizes this reality and rebalances CMAQ toward the use of technologies which will reduce fine particulate matter. This change will focus CMAQ on the right issue. And, as importantly, it will result in a far more cost-effective use of limited government resources. The National Research Council found in its study commissioned by Congress that CMAQ is currently being used to fund projects that cost as much as $252,000 per ton of pollution reduction. In the future, CMAQ can be spent on diesel retrofit technologies, made in my district, which can reduce pollution for a maximum of $5,300 per ton--nearly a 50 times improvement in cost effectiveness. In fact, diesel retrofits, in many circumstances, are the most cost-effective way to use CMAQ funding. In light of these facts, I strongly urge my senior colleagues who will be involved in the upcoming conference on the highway bill to adopt the Senate amendment to use CMAQ to fund the installation of diesel retrofit devices on heavy duty diesel vehicles used on construction sites. This amendment was included in last year's Senate bill and, from what I understand, will very likely be included in Chairman Inhofe's bill for consideration in his Committee next week. And, significantly, the Administration strongly endorsed the amendment during the debate over the highway bill last year. Reduction of fine particulate matter emitted by heavy duty diesel vehicles has been a centerpiece of the President's environmental policy. He spoke about this during the Presidential debate. And, in his FY06 budget, he proposed the appropriation of $25 million to deploy diesel retrofit technology on a range of heavy duty vehicles from school buses to dump trucks. Mr. Chairman, I am very proud to promote the use of diesel retrofit technology because it was invented in my district by Corning Incorporated. As many of my colleagues know, Corning was founded by the great, great grandfather of our distinguished former colleague, Amo Houghton. Under the Houghton family leadership, Corning has been a technology leader. In fact, it will receive the Technology Medal of Honor next week by President Bush for its invention of the core element of a catalytic converter. Diesel retrofit technology was built on this core invention. In closing, Mr. Chairman, I strongly urge the leadership to accept the Senate amendment in conference, because it will lead to the most cost-effective use of CMAQ, because it will advance the use of technology to clean up the biggest threat in the environment to human health, and because it is a centerpiece of the President's environmental policy.

Mr. KUHL of New York

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, we all realize and want to make sure that when our crops are harvested that they do not spoil before they actually get processed. The Transportation Reauthorization Act recognizes this potential problem and attempts to address it. H.R. 3 addresses this issue and has moved to try to resolve it. It would allow for an exemption for maximum driving and on-duty time for drivers of motor carriers transferring our food supplies at the time of planting or harvest for a 100-air mile radius to the distribution point or the source of commodities. In my district, a very large, rural district, it is larger than 6,000 square miles which is larger than the State of Connecticut, many of the processing centers for agricultural goods fall right outside the 100- mile radius, but fall within a 150-air mile radius, so my amendment does something very simple. It simply raises that 100-mile air radius to 150-air miles, which will take care of the problem of having grapes which are a very, very precious commodity in my area being able to be processed on time and in a way which will not be deleterious to the final product. I hope Members will support my amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I was kind of hopeful that the gentleman from Minnesota would be here because I know that he opposed the previous amendment I offered on the floor, and I thought that this was perhaps one of those amendments that he would join with me in supporting. This amendment would name part of Interstate I-86 in Upstate New York around the community called Corning, New York, which is currently known as the Corning Bypass, after my predecessor, the former gentleman from New York, Congressman Amo Houghton, who retired from Congress just this last year. The amendment is identical to H.R. 795, a bill I introduced along with 108 co-sponsors in this House to name that section of I-86 the Amo Houghton Bypass. Amo was elected, as many of you may know, to represent the 34th Congressional District way back in 1986, and was sworn in as a Member of the 100th class and then reelected to each succeeding Congress. Amo was known to just about everyone in this Chamber as a man of principle, statesmanship, patriotism, moderation, bipartisanship, and perhaps most notably civility. It will surprise no one that Amo was a Boy Scout as a child. He then started his lifelong career in the public service by volunteering as a Marine during World War II. Amo followed in the footsteps of many Houghtons by pursuing a bachelor's degree and MBA from Harvard University. After Harvard, Amo joined the family business, Corning Glassworks in Corning, New York, now known as Corning, Incorporated. Amo eventually rose to the head of the company as chairman and CEO, and under his leadership the company invented and invested in fiber optics technology, among other technological breakthroughs. Amo is fondly remembered in the city of Corning for his assistance in the community after the devastating flood of 1972 caused by Hurricane Agnes. Through Amo's help and leadership, the company stayed in Corning and helped rebuild the community to be what it is today. Amo has spent continuous time and energy in helping to bring people together to think about ways to improve the upstate economy and certainly the economy in this country and the world. One of Amo's first and most important projects after being elected to Congress in 1986 was fighting for the money to construct Route 17, the Corning Bypass, a project that alleviated massive safety problems in the city and also a tremendous amount of congestion. This project and Amo's other efforts to complete the twining of the roads in Chautauqua County to Pennsylvania paved the way to Route 17 being designated as Interstate 86 today. In Congress, Amo was a champion of tax, of trade, of health issues and served on the House Committee on Ways and Means. He was involved in numerous international issues and projects through his service on the House Committee on International Relations. He also served on the House Committee on the Budget. Amo deeply cared for his colleagues here in the House, and he sends his regards as I make this statement to you today, as having just talked with him a couple days ago. As evident certainly are his efforts to form the Bipartisan Retreat Committee, his service on Members and the Family Room Committee, and as co-chair of the Faith and Politics Institute with our colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis). Naming this bypass the Houghton Bypass is but a small tribute to a great man, but it will serve as a permanent honor to this Congressman, to Amo Houghton, and to his tireless service to the community and to the Nation. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. This is a right and fitting thing to do. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).