Jerry Lewis

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the gentlelady yielding, and I rise in part to express my appreciation to both her and Mr. Berman for working so hard on behalf of human rights throughout the country. But, Mr. Speaker, I rise at this moment to express my grave concerns about the impact the Democratic health care plan will have upon businesses and jobs in this country, another human rights concern. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my grave concerns about impact that the Democrat health reform plan will have on businesses and jobs across this country. Despite the trillions the Federal Government has spent on shoring up our economy, today we learned that national unemployment rose over 10 percent--the highest since 1983. In the Inland Empire of California that I represent, unemployment remains over a staggering 14 percent. Instead of focusing on fixing the economy and creating more jobs--the House is taking up a $1.3 trillion government takeover of healthcare that includes $135 billion in new taxes on businesses. The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that this tax on jobs will reduce the hiring of new workers and President Obama's own advisor has suggested that 5.5 million jobs could be lost due to this bill's new taxes. As we approach the holiday season this House is threatening to deliver a big bah hum bug. No sensible business owner is going to hire more workers in the face of these new taxes. Mr. Speaker, we must work together in a bipartisan fashion to fix this economy and create more jobs--not pass massive spending increases, job-destroying taxes, and a government takeover of health care.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. I don't want to take a lot of time on the general debate, but I presume that the chairman is going to allow some time to discuss the question that has been raised regarding an exemption that affects ships among the Great Lakes, the Michigan boat question.

Mr. LEWIS of California. I just wanted to make sure we would have time during the general debate to discuss that. It won't take a lot of time, I am sure, but I didn't want to be left out.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. I appreciate my colleagues yielding me the time. Madam Speaker, I want to commend my good friends, Chairman Norm Dicks and Mike Simpson, for a rather fabulous job of working together on this bill. While I am concerned about the volume of dollar increases, there is no doubt that this bill represents much of the most positive work on behalf of our country, especially the work of the EPA, I might mention. I want to say to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks) that you have reason to be proud of this bill. My wife tells me that she has gotten an inkling from your wife, Susie, that she is very proud of the work you have done here as well, and she welcomes you back home one of these days. Anyway, moving right along, while I wish to suggest that the money allotted in this bill is more than adequate, I am very hopeful that in organizations like EPA that we will be able to not find ourselves just awash in funding and, thereby, begin to throw funding at programs. In the meantime, there is little doubt that there is plenty of work to be done. The Interior appropriations conference report is important, but it's only the fifth of 12 conference reports that we need to complete. We now find ourselves 29 days into the new fiscal year, and we have fewer than half of our bills done. Sadly, the most important appropriations bills, the defense bill and the military construction and Veterans Affairs bills, are being put on the shelf, being held for a time and a purpose that causes us all to wonder. There is no better illustration of the misplaced priorities of this Democrat majority leadership than that fact. This leadership chose to send to the President the legislative branch bill for its first bill of the year. Imagine that. While the troops are awaiting our assistance and serious recognition of the challenges they face, the legislative branch bill was first sent to the President's desk--to make sure we've got enough money, I guess, to make sure they keep the lights on while we're talking to the public today. And what kind of a signal does that send to those who are in harm's way at this moment, protecting our freedom? Mr. Speaker, what kind of signal are we sending, and what is our purpose for holding these bills on the shelf? The House passed the Defense appropriations bill. It contains critical funding for the men and women of our Armed Forces, including over 130,000 troops stationed in Iraq and over 60,000 troops currently in Afghanistan. The $128 billion provided for the U.S. warfighting efforts is essential to continue our mission overseas and to provide critical resources, as I have said. The defense bill is ready to go today, and it should be moving today. So Mr. Speaker, why the delay? The military construction-Veterans Affairs bill is also essential. We have all talked about our commitment to our veterans. This legislation contains much-needed funds for military construction, family housing, pension payments for disabled veterans, widows and children, and the veterans medical care and treatment programs across the country. While the Senate has had over 100 days to complete its work on this bill--that is the preliminary construction VA bill--this bill is still not in conference. Given the importance of each of these bills, why are they being delayed? Well, reports have indicated that the Democratic leadership may use these bills to carry controversial legislation that could--at least they seem to think--could not be passed as stand-alone measures. What in the world does increasing the national debt limitation or the District of Columbia voting rights bill have to do with our national defense or providing for our veterans? Mr. Speaker, the House has wasted weeks and months on trivial legislative matters, as I have suggested. The Congress is setting a dangerous precedent by holding up these major pieces of legislation rather than acting in an expeditious way. Let's move forward quickly today, pass this bill. I intend to vote against it because of the dollar amounts. But in the meantime, I will listen with care to this discussion.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. I appreciate the gentleman yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise to ask the gentleman a question, if I might, and I very much appreciate his responding to this line of questioning. The gentleman knows that I worked with the EPA for literally decades, years ago, in writing that legislation which created the Air Quality Management District Act in southern California. They were extremely helpful as we did battle with the executives of our auto industry, as they thumbed their noses at us, as we tried to get them to improve the engines of our automobiles. The EPA was great to work with, so I am impressed by the increase in funding here for the EPA; but because of that, I can't help but ask a couple of questions.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Madam Speaker, I will continue this discussion, if you would not mind, with the chairman. I mentioned the EPA. I worked with the EPA for years, particularly in the field of air quality, and I am a great admirer of their work. Within this legislation there is a very interesting line. It involves the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. I note that there is a 692 percent increase in that funding within this bill. Now, frankly, the environment that involves the water of the Great Lakes deserves a lot of attention. I don't know just how much it really needs or can handle in a single year; but juxtaposed to that is a bit of language inserted in this bill, in the conference report, that was not in either bill that left the House or the Senate. That language specifically has an exemption for emissions coming from engines of ships doing business on the Great Lakes. Especially because of my interest in air quality and because of the work that I've done to try to improve the American auto industry, it strikes me as ironic that we are not willing to really put pressure on including changes in emission requirements for those ships on the Great Lakes. There needs to be an explanation of this, and I would very much appreciate our understanding why we should allow these huge sulfur emissions, et cetera, to continue as they are in the Great Lakes Region. That is the question I have. If the chairman would respond, I would appreciate it.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. I appreciate my chairman yielding. I must say I have worked with him many, many a year regarding EPA's work, particularly with the automobile circumstance. It took us years and years and years to get Detroit to even respond to this problem, the air quality problem in Southern California. It began to respond to improving engines once the Japanese produced a car that produced much better mileage. There has been almost a revolution in Southern California. We have been successful with that in no small part because you have helped us raise that pressure, and I would suggest there is a need for pressure now on those who are using these engines that spew sulfur endlessly and are polluting the air in the Great Lakes.

Mr. LEWIS of California. I very much appreciate the exchange with my colleague. I have a letter here from the American Lung Association that I would like to submit at this point in the Record, for it speaks to the very question you are asking here. October 7, 2009. Hon. Dianne Feinstein, Chair, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Feinstein: We are writing to express our strong opposition to any rider on the FY 2010 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill that will weaken, delay or limit the ability of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations that will reduce pollution from new marine compression-ignition engines at or above 30 liters per cylinder. Our organizations have long advocated for the cleanup of these vessels because of the enormous impact they have on air pollution. EPA has conducted an extensive public process on marine compression-ignition engines. This process includes a November, 2007 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and the 2009 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that was announced on July 1, 2009 with public hearings in New York and Long Beach, CA on August 4 and 6 respectively. The comment period closed on September 28, 2009. All stakeholders have had ample opportunity to participate in this rulemaking. The need for these rules is urgent. EPA's analysis estimates that the cleanup of these vessels will prevent up to 33,000 premature deaths each year by 2030. Any delay will postpone the health benefits. The impact of pollution from these sources is not limited to communities surrounding the ports but EPA's analysis shows that the impact is felt hundreds of miles inland. We commend EPA for working to address this problem through the pending regulations, but also through the International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL Annex VI). Chairman Feinstein, please oppose any rider that will weaken, delay or limit the ability of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations that will reduce pollution from new marine compression-ignition engines at or above 30 liters per cylinder. Sincerely, American Lung Association. Clean Air Watch. National Association of Clean Air Agencies. Natural Resources Defense Council. Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. We are in the process of negotiating an international agreement regarding these huge engines that we are worried about. If we find ourselves as those negotiations are coming to a conclusion with an exemption laid out in the law for American vessels, it would seem to me, and I would ask you, don't you think it could put pressure in a negative way on our ability to establish those standards on those international carriers that are under consideration at this very moment? I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Reclaiming my time for just a moment, I would read this first sentence from this letter addressed to Chairman Feinstein: ``We are writing to express our strong opposition to any rider in the Interior and Environment appropriations bill that with would weaken, delay or limit the ability of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations that will reduce pollution from new marine compression-ignition engines at or above 30 letter per cylinder. Our organizations have long advocated for the cleanup of these vessels because of the enormous impact they have on air pollution.'' They are specifically expressing concern about these engines and the potential loss of life that results from not being able to successfully complete major change for the world of vessels.

Mr. LEWIS of California. I appreciate the gentleman yielding. I would like to just respond briefly by reading from a communique that came from a person that has been very actively involved in the air quality of the region for years and working specifically with the EPA addressing some of the health questions that somewhat were addressed by my chairman, Mr. Obey. ``The stakes for human health are enormous, huge, colossal. Weakening the domestic standards will have their own adverse effect, but it is crucial to recognize that doing so could also imperil International Maritime Organization's final consideration of the entire U.S. Emission Control Area application, which was favorably received by the IMO's Marine Environmental Protection Committee in June. The IMO is slated to make a final decision in March. Our nation will weaken the basis for its request that the IMO enable the most protective emissions standards under international law for foreign-flagged ships if we are including domestic vessels.'' So weakening standards for our vessels is going to threaten this effort internationally. ``As you know, the stakes for human health are profound--up to 14,000 premature deaths annually are to be prevented by 2020.'' It is very important that America speak with a strong and unified voice here. I think that the timing of this exemption itself is most unfortunate.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Madam Speaker, there are still at least three very different versions of a massive health care package being discussed in the House of Representatives. There is no firm agreement on whether we will have a ``public option'' or what form it might take. And yet we are being told that this plan MUST be passed before Thanksgiving. Rushing this package to a vote is a huge mistake. It is dangerous to the futures of all of our constituents. This year our federal deficit has surpassed $1.4 trillion. And yet, the Democrat majority wants to expand government in this healthcare bill, adding hundreds of billions more to our deficit. The work on this bill is being done out of sight of every member except the select few chosen by the majority leadership. Americans deserve transparency in this process, not Chicago-style strong arm tactics. That is why I have introduced a resolution calling for the final language, of the healthcare package to be available for 30 days before it comes to the floor for a vote.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my friends, Chairman Norman Dicks and Mike Simpson, for nearing the completion of their work on the Interior appropriations report as we speak. I look forward to discussing their work in greater detail over the next couple of days. With regard to the motion to instruct, I would like to remind Members how important it is to you if this vote happens to reflect your constituency concerns--those constituents who have farms, ranches, livestock, et cetera in their districts. Without your support, the EPA will place an extraordinary and expensive burden on your constituents by regulating the emissions from cow, pig and chicken manure. Now, I do know how intently my chairman, over the years, has opposed any kind of minor exemption in a process like this, but the language that we are considering, which was presented by Mr. Latham in the committee, was adopted with bipartisan support by the full committee, and it passed the House with overwhelming support. As Mr. Simpson pointed out, no one even tried to remove this during the House proceedings. However, today, as we discuss this commonsense motion to instruct, I can't help but wonder about the greater plan to finish our appropriations work. I remind Members that the clock is ticking. We are now 1 month into the 2010 fiscal year, and we still have a great deal of work to do if we plan to complete our appropriations business this year. By my account, the House and Senate have now sent to the President 4 of the 12 appropriations conference reports. Presuming it gets there soon, the Interior conference report will be the fifth. That means that there are 7 spending bills left to complete before the end of the year. For weeks and months now, the House has had very little substantive work to do. Week after week, the legislative calendar is fashioned to appear that the House is busy with the Nation's business, but Members and those portions of the public who watch carefully know better. Members on both sides of the aisle are frustrated with the House leadership for loading up the calendar with suspension bills, which are relatively insignificant, as the rest of our spending bills languish. For example, the Defense spending bill has now cleared both the House and the Senate, and there aren't any obstacles to prevent this conference report from moving forward. I care a great deal about our public lands and environment, but moving the Interior bill before the Defense bill makes no sense. In fact, it borders on the irresponsible. Rather than moving the Defense bill, one of the most important spending bills, that bill is lying on the shelf while our men and women are defending our freedom in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. It is unfortunate that Democrat leaders have prevented the Defense bill from moving forward while we have troops deployed overseas. Even more disconcerting is the fact that Democrat leaders are talking about using the troop funding bill as a mechanism for increasing the debt limit to the tune of over $13 trillion. There is no way, certainly, that that can be a reflection of our desire to honor the commitment of our military that is fighting overseas. In addition, the Transportation-Housing spending bill cleared the House and Senate months ago, and that conference agreement should also be completed in short order. Instead, many of the best and brightest staffers on the Hill are left sitting on their hands, with nothing to do, while they await direction on how this year's work will be wrapped up. The way we are proceeding, one would presume we are headed for yet another massive take-it-or-leave-it omnibus package. It is my understanding that the Interior bill will also carry the next continuing resolution, which could last until the week of Christmas or maybe even until the end of the year. For all of the bluster about passing appropriations bills by the August break, albeit by changing the rules to avoid tough amendment votes, the majority has very little to show for it now. So far, the only bill completed on time is that which contains the budget for the Congress, itself. We certainly wouldn't want to have our being unemployed while the people out there are struggling to pay their bills and their taxes and while the men and women who are fighting for us overseas are left languishing, awaiting this Defense appropriations bill.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Madam Speaker, at the end of the bill, Mr. Rogers of Kentucky will be presenting a motion to recommit that addresses the issue of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This motion to recommit is very much designed to implement that which was the motion to instruct that so successfully passed the other day. It passed the House by a vote of 258-163, and I presume that the vote will reflect that pattern when we go to the motion to recommit. But first let me thank the gentleman for the time. Mr. Chairman, in many ways, this conference report represents both the best and the worst of this Chamber's storied history. On the one hand, this conference report typifies the type of work that can result from strong bipartisanship. We are most certainly at our best when our very capable Members work together in the professional manner that we've seen with Chairman Price and Ranking Member Rogers. So I congratulate the two of them for producing what is essentially a very well-balanced piece of legislation that will undoubtedly improve the safety and security of this great Nation. However, this conference report also represents some of the worst in terms of partisan maneuvering. The language contained in section 552 pertaining to Guantanamo Bay detainees is a result of a last-minute mystery insert by the majority of language that was not in either the House or the Senate bill. With this language, Chairman Obey and the Democratic leadership are trying to establish Congress' de facto position on Gitmo detainees. And that position, in my view, is regrettably weak as well as flawed. To permit enemy combatants to come to the United States for the purpose of prosecution is a misguided and is potentially a very dangerous decision. Terrorists should not be treated like common criminals in the Federal court. These detainees are enemies of the State, and should be treated as such by being held and brought to justice right where they are: in a very well-established judicial facility at Guantanamo. Both the House and the Senate have cast clear, bipartisan votes over the last 2 weeks that made it very clear where Members and the American people are on this issue. They do not want these terrorists brought to the United States for any reason. It is regrettable that the Democrat leadership's flawed position on Guantanamo Bay detainees casts a shadow over what is otherwise a bipartisan, well-crafted conference report that will provide key resources for our security. I appreciate the very, very good work of Chairman Price and Ranking Member Rogers on this measure, but take considerable exception to Democrat leadership's insertion on Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. I very much appreciate my colleague's yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation because it will greatly benefit the thousands of veterans in my district and the greater Inland Empire. With the passage of this bill, the Jerry Pettis Veterans Medical Center will begin the process of establishing a new health care center. This new 271,000-square-foot facility will directly benefit veterans of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties by increasing access to care, expanding services, and reducing wait times. I would like to thank the staff of the Jerry Pettis VA Hospital for their very hard work and the fine service they're providing to veterans in our region.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, the United States Supreme Court will soon hear arguments in the case of Salazar v. Buono, which may determine the future of memorials all across the country that honor those who fought and died for our Nation. The center of this case is a memorial in my district known as the Mojave Desert Cross, which has stood proudly for over 75 years. It was erected by veterans of World War I and maintained by generations of veterans since 1934. It was attacked 10 years ago by the ACLU, which convinced a judge to declare the memorial to World War I veterans unconstitutional. Clearly, they want to erase anything from public property that might be seen as religious in some way. The monument was not established by government or maintained by the government, but it now stands in the Mojave National Preserve. It is a tribute to those who protected America and freedom, not a promotion of religion. If the critics of this memorial are successful, it could open the door to attacks on memorials and historic sites in all of our national parks, including Arlington National Cemetery and Gettysburg National Military Park. I am proud to say that the Congress has understood the value of these materials and has voted overwhelmingly on numerous occasions to preserve the Mojave Desert Cross in honor of those who have defended our Nation. The will of Congress is to keep the cross in tribute to all veterans--and I sincerely hope the Justices will see the wisdom of that intent.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Madam Speaker, I would like to express my greatest appreciation to the chairman of the subcommittee and the ranking member for the job they have done on this bill, which will be perfected by this motion to instruct. Clearly, the work that involves our dealing with these detainees at Guantanamo Bay is very important work. We have been waiting for a long time now for a complete report from the administration giving us an indication as to how they would implement this campaign promise. We find ourselves in a circumstance today where it is apparent that a pretty sizable number of detainees are in plan for release somewhere, perhaps not the continental United States, but foreign countries and otherwise. It is almost impossible to discuss, in this environment, the most serious concern about these detainees, for much of the information involved is highly classified information. But, needless to say, this is a group of very dangerous people, and a lot of circumstances have changed since the bill has come out of committee and we finally have it here on the floor for consideration by the conference. Perfecting this package as we go forward by passing this motion to instruct would bring us very close to being in mesh with what is being proposed in the other body. It would appear that the leadership of our committee in the other body feels pretty strongly that we should not be spending funds that would allow these detainees to come to the United States. This motion to instruct, I believe, will cause our conference to be a much more comfortable conference when we go there. I would urge the Members strongly to support Mr. Rogers' motion to instruct.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Thank you very much, Mr. Aderholt. I want to congratulate both Ms. Wasserman Schultz and my colleague for a fabulous job on their bill working together. I know that the House realizes that I have serious reservations about some of the procedure involving this bill, but because of the fact that we discussed so much of that on the rule, I choose to submit the balance of my statement for the Record and revise and extend my remarks. Madam Speaker, the House finds itself in a peculiar place today. I'm probably not the only Member in this body surprised by the fact that the majority leadership is putting the budget for the Legislative Branch ahead of the budget for our homeland security, our veterans, and our national defense. Indeed, many Members on both sides of the aisle are scratching their heads over the fact that the Legislative Branch funding bill has been hijacked by adding to it a 4-week continuing resolution. The CR is necessary because of the absence of any approved spending bills for the fiscal year that begins less than a week from now. Attaching the CR to the Legislative Branch bill makes a mockery of the legislative process. It's not the CR that I object to but rather that it's being attached to legislation funding the internal operations of Congress rather than higher priority legislation that is ready to go. Members who are concerned about approving their staff's budget before approving budgets for our veterans, our troops, or the homeland are left with a dilemma of the leadership's making. House Members are faced with the Hobson's choice of either approving their own budget or shutting down the government. Nothing could be more cynical. To say the least, this is a most unusual precedent. The bipartisan staff of the Homeland Security subcommittee has been working day and night and weekends since August preparing its conference report. My understanding is that the Homeland Security conference report is ready to go. Any remaining issues can and should be resolved at an open conference involving Members and Senators. The whole point of convening a conference committee is to reconcile differences between the bodies. And yet, even as our law enforcement officials investigate a potential terrorist threat in New York City and Denver, the budget for protecting our homeland has been put on a shelf. How can this Congress possibly justify providing funds for its own use and give less priority to protecting our homeland? I don't get it. In this case, to put congressional staff salaries ahead of medical care for Veterans, ahead of funding for law enforcement and homeland security, ahead of funding for our troops--is a signal to me that this Congress has its priorities out of order. Lastly, it's astonishing to me that several commonsense amendments were defeated on straight party-line votes during yesterday's conference committee meeting. The distinction between the Republican and Democrat positions on these issues could not be clearer. House Republicans believe that the scandal-plagued organization known as ACORN should be denied funding through the next fiscal year because of recently disclosed efforts, caught on videotape, proposing the use of taxpayer dollars to support prostitution. Mr. Aderholt offered an amendment to deny ACORN funding for 1 year. Chairman Obey and his colleagues voted against the amendment. House Republicans believe that terrorists captured in the field should not be afforded the same rights as American citizens and therefore should not receive ``Miranda Rights.'' I joined with my colleagues to offer an amendment to deny terrorists these rights. Again, Chairman Obey and his colleagues voted against the amendment. House Republicans believe that TARP funds should not continue to be used to bail out banks and other financial institutions even after existing loans have been paid back to the government. Congressman Cole offered an amendment to stop TARP from becoming a permanent, reusable, $700 billion slush fund for private corporations. Again, Chairman Obey and his colleagues voted against the amendment. The priorities of this House majority leadership are clearly misplaced and out of the mainstream where most Americans work and live. I feel badly for Ms. Wasserman-Schultz and Mr. Aderholt, and their fine staff, for they have worked very well together this year. I want to commend both of them for their work and extend my sympathy for the shameful manner in which their conference report is being brought to the floor today.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Madam Speaker, I submit the following: Project name: Synchrotron-Based Scanning Research Requested amount: $6,000,000.00 Recipient: Loma Linda University Medical Center, 11175 Campus Drive, Loma Linda, CA 92354 Purpose: The Synchrotron-based Neuroscience and Proton Institute (NSPI) is pioneering new possibilities in medical technology and neuroscience for the service of patients with previously untreatable benign diseases. The potential of the NSPI is to expand efforts in the treatment of people with uncontrollable serious behavioral conditions, including military personnel and veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as persons who are currently incarcerated in prisons and who volunteer for this treatment. Eventually the treatment would be an available medical option to all persons seeking a non- invasive, non-drug alternative to behavioral disorders, both in the military and civilian populations. Project name: Center for Innovative Geospatial Technology- Requested amount: $7,000,000.00 Recipient: ESRI, 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373 Purpose: Geospatial support to the warfighter has proven its value on the battlefield. Successes to date, together with advances in GIS technology, create the demand and the opportunity to apply geospatial analysis to a much larger set of military intelligence issues, and to embed advanced geospatial analysis techniques in critical warfighter support systems. These tasks can also help to integrate the national intelligence, defense intelligence, and military operational communities, all of which are heavily invested in geospatial technology and applications. Building on widely used information systems will expedite the work, facilitate ready application to new problems, create a foundation for sharing, and in the process create opportunities for economies. For the taxpayer, this means more efficient use of intelligence assets and resources to support military and other government operations, and lower operating costs in the intelligence community due to better integration of intelligence information and better quality of information to a large number of intelligence users. Project name: Facility Security using Tactical Surveys Requested amount: $4,500,000.00 Recipient: TSG, 301 Vanderbilt Way, San Bernardino, California 92408 Purpose: The Tactical Survey System is an innovative computer-based, interactive tool that provides crisis personnel access to a vast database of reliable pre-incident information on a facility, thereby enhancing their ability to effectively respond to an emergency situation. The Tactical Survey System includes immersive imagery with embedded tactical intelligence including hazardous material types and locations, aerial photos, ingress and egress videos, key personnel, building construction information, utility shutoff locations with instructions, communications infrastructure, fire fighting assets, fire and security alarm systems, and perimeter control systems. Completion of a survey at a federal installation allows precise advanced planning of emergency response, conduct of realistic exercises, and detailed training of individuals. Project name: Commercialization of Advanced Technology Requested amount: $2,500,000.00 Recipient: California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407-2393 Purpose: A collaborative partnership between California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) and San Diego State University, with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, other government, academic, and industry representatives, offers a proven process for accelerating technology to meet priority military and homeland defense requirements. Key focus is on commercializing technologies developed in government labs and/ or funded under the SBIR program, transitioning technologies from the commercial sector to meet government priorities. The need for advanced technological solutions for personnel protection, enhanced situational awareness, NBCR protection, and critical military operations is paramount. Project name: Integrated Information Technology Policy Analysis Research and Technology Commercialization and Management Network Requested amount: $4,000,000.00 Recipient: California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407-2393 Purpose: Integrated Information Technology Policy Analysis Research creates a more strategic, adaptive IT policy to advance the Army's Network Centric Operations vision for the future force, especially with regard to providing situational intelligence to soldiers on the battlefield. Technology Commercialization and Management Network accelerates DoD spiraling technologies acquisition strategy, lowers defense costs by accelerating government technologies, promotes higher educational institutions & small businesses technological innovation, increases commercial application of innovations derived from DoD R&D. Project name: Research to Treat Cancerous Brain Tumors using Neural Stem Cells Requested amount: $2,000,000.00 Recipient: Loma Linda University Medical Center, 11175 Campus Drive, Loma Linda, CA 92354 Purpose: Current cancer treatments do not work on a majority of brain tumors. New breakthrough research has led to the theory that cancerous brain tumors develop and are propagated by a small sub-population of rogue transformed neural stem cells that are highly resistant to existing cancer therapies due to their self-renewal capacity. With the proposed project, Loma Linda seeks to partner with the Department of Defense and a leading industry research company to achieve the following goals over the next four years: 1. Establish an in vitro brain tumor stem cell model sufficient for systematic screening of potential agents with anti-tumor activity; 2. Search for potential anti-tumor agents that block tumor-activating proteins or enhance tumor-suppressing proteins in the human neural stem cell model of brain tumor; 3. Create an animal model of human glioblastoma for efficacy testing of potential anti-tumor agents; 4. Create a drug form or route of administration of the anti-tumor agent that can be selectively delivered to the brain without exposing peripheral organs to potentially high toxic dose; 5. Demonstrate a proof-of-principle anti-tumor activity with the most promising test agent in the animal model. Project name: Norton AFB Infrastructure Improvements Requested amount: $6,000,000.00 Recipient: Inland Valley Development Agency (IVDA), 294 South Leland Norton Way, Suite #1, San Bernardino, CA 92408-0131 Purpose: The Office of Economic Adjustment in the Department of Defense is tasked to assist communities that are adversely impacted by Defense program changes, including base closures or realignments, base expansions, and contract or program cancellations. The San Bernardino International Airport, formerly Norton Air Force Base, is a 2,100-acre facility, wholly within the jurisdiction of the City of San Bernardino. Officially closed as a military base in March of 1994, the former Base has been operated by two joint powers authorities, the Inland Valley Development Agency (IVDA) which was formed in 1990, and the San Bernardino International Airport Authority (SBIAA) which was formed in 1992. The IVDA and the SBIAA are in the process of replacing and upgrading the infrastructure of the former Norton Air Force Base. These improvements include ongoing base structure repair and environmental remediation, water system improvements and base floodwater runoff mitigation. In addition to the federal funds requested, the IVDA and the SBIAA are committing their own significant financial resources to the various projects. Project name: Spintronics Memory Storage Technology Requested amount: $3,500,000.00 Recipient: University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 Purpose: This project aims to take advantage of recent advances in nanomaterials, nanodevices and spintronics to bring about revolutionary advances in magnetic storage technologies and to develop chip-scale packaging and thermal dissipation solutions for this new generation of devices. Current hard disk drives are now contending with the superparamagnetic limit, which limits the magnetic grain size for recording information. This effort will explore the use of multilevel recording techniques and examine the use of new nanomaterials for the development of highly efficient thermal interface materials in order to accommodate the high thermal dissipation required in compact devices. Project name: Carbon Nanotube Thin Film Near Infrared Detector Requested amount: $2,000,000.00 Recipient: Carbon Solutions, Inc., 1200 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507 Purpose: There is an urgent need for improved infrared (IR) detectors for use in thermal imaging, night vision and other military, homeland and border security applications. This project aims to build on the revolutionary discovery of the broad spectrum bolometric response of carbon nanotube thin films to develop a new generation of near infrared detectors. This breakthrough by California scientists offers the possibility of broadly available, room temperature, low cost imaging devices that could find widespread military applications. Project name: Magneto Inductive Remote Activation Munitions System (MI-RAMS) M156/M39 Kits and M40 Receivers Requested amount: $9,000,000.00 Recipient: Magneto Inductive USA, 115 North Del Rosa Drive, Suite A, San Bernardino, California 92408 Purpose: The purpose of the request is to ensure timely deployment of this cutting edge MI-RAMS technology to US warfighters, enabling them to gain significant tactical advantage in difficult urban, cave and tunnel environments where they are required to undertake demolition missions. Continued funding at the requested level will save lives by fielding this technology identified as critical to the safety of the Army Combat Engineers and Special Operations Forces as soon as possible. This project will also save taxpayer dollars by ensuring that the unique industrial base established in San Bernardino, California to manufacture this equipment remains active, preventing line closures and layoffs and be able to respond to the high demand from the warfighters for this important technology in 2011 and beyond. Project name: Cyber Threat Analytics Requested amount: $3,000,000.00 Recipient: MetaFlows, 22N 6th Street A, Redlands, CA 92373 Purpose: Cyber-TA is a research project to develop the next- generation of real-time national-scale Internet-threat analysis technologies, and conduct critical deployment evaluation and operational transition of new research concepts in large-scale network defense to protect critical DoD and IC networks. Cyber-TA has brought together many of the world's most established researchers across the fields of data privacy, cryptography, malware and intrusion detection research, as well as operational experts in Internet-scale sensor management, to develop leading edge solutions to the evolving threat of increasingly virulent and widespread self-propagating malicious software. Project name: Geospatial Intelligence Analysis Education (O&M) Requested amount: $1,000,000.00 Recipient: University of Redlands, 1200 E Colton Ave, Redlands, CA 92374 Purpose: This project supports continuing efforts to strategically enhance the human and scientific infrastructure of the Intelligence Community (IC), as well as other federal agencies which employ staff who should be using advanced Geospatial Analysis methods. The effort involves collaborating with the Intelligence and Federal Geospatial Communities in the design, development, and implementation of a graduate program, including research, short courses and basic studies in geographic information science (GIS). A key objective is to equip officers at federal agencies with advanced geospatial analysis skills. Project name: Integrated Propulsion Analysis and Spacecraft Engineering Tools (IPAT/ISET) Requested amount: $6,000,000.00 Recipient: Advatech Pacific Inc., 1849 N. Wabash Avenue, Redlands, CA 92374 Purpose: IPAT directly supports many of the Air Force's new major system acquisitions including Land-based Strategic Deterrent, Prompt Global Strike and Operationally Responsive Spacelift and is a key tool to support our nation's world leadership in space. The ISET radically improves AFRL's ability to quickly assess advanced spacecraft design concepts' strengths, weaknesses, costs, and viability in support of Air Force Space Command, Air Force Space & Missile Systems Center, and U.S. Strategic Command requirements. Project name: Advanced Technology Sensors and Payloads/Unattended SIGINT Node Requested amount: $6,000,000.00 Recipient: Trident Systems, 1615 Orange Tree Lane, Ste 104, Redlands, CA 92374 Purpose: This program is urgently required to address the growing complexity of ground operations associated with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-based surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. There are multiple types of small unmanned aerial vehicles operating in theater, each with its own unique command and control, payload management, and status monitoring interface systems. These UAVs generally carry only an EO/IR camera payload due to the size and weight of existing multiband radars. ATSP provides a common ground station, simplified integration environment for new sensor payload capabilities and unprecedented communications range plus agility around interference. This project provides critically-needed capabilities to extend the reach and operational flexibility of UAVs in theater. By developing and deploying this project, our Armed Forces will be equipped with technology enabling them to accelerate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, improve a vital communications link and increase overall safety and survivability. Information superiority has become a key factor in force protection and operational effectiveness. The use of commercial communications technology has enabled even unsophisticated adversaries to coordinate their efforts, narrowing the tactical advantage that US forces achieved in the previous decade and allowing new threats like IEDs. This use of commercial communications assets can be countered with signals intelligence & communications intelligence techniques, helping to restore the information superiority tactical advantage. This project will proved an affordable miniature wide band, SIGINT/COMINT payload for employment on small and mid-size UAV platforms and in ground sensors. Project name: Enhancing Commercial Joint Mapping Toolkit (CJMTK) Requested amount: $4,000,000.00 Recipient: ESRI, 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373 Purpose: Integrating ESRI's Network Analyst technology in the CJMTK baseline affords a rapid and very cost effective path for meeting urgent requirements of the U.S. Army, and affording the same capabilities to the other military services and the U.S. Coast Guard. Several DOD programs have explored independently adding Network Analyst capabilities to their systems, and have determined that the cost for each would range in the tens of millions of dollars. Providing Network Analyst capabilities through CJMTK, then, is extremely cost effective; will enable rapid, parallel adoption of these capabilities in multiple DOD systems; and will provide a common standard for analyzing movements across all of their systems, thereby supporting interoperability and joint/combined operations. For the taxpayer, this means that these Army systems will be more efficient. It also means better decisions can be made by government officials, and the annual cost of Army systems will be lower through the infusion of modern analytical software tools. Project name: Flow Path Analysis Tool (FPAT) Requested amount: $2,000,000.00 Recipient: Advatech Pacific, Inc., 1849 N. Wabash Avenue, Redlands, CA 92374 Purpose: The Flow Path Analysis Tool (FPAT) is the first tool to accurately model the complex physics of the gas flow through a hypersonic ramjet/scramjet engine. This tool will save many millions of dollars by evaluating feasibility, predicting performance, and eliminating non-viable or too costly design concepts for future Navy weapon systems--all without having to actually build them (or scale models of them) for testing. The Flow Path Analysis Tool effort is an ongoing, but under-funded, program at the Navy's High Speed Weapons Center at China Lake. Previous funding has demonstrated the viability of the approach and is providing the first increment of computational fluid dynamics modeling of the ramjet/scramjet air inlet. The FPAT project, when completed, will provide the Navy's High Speed Weapons Center at China Lake and other DoD organizations with computational fluid dynamics capabilities to analyze and predict performance characteristics of future weapon systems that use ramjet/scramjet hypersonic engine technology. FPAT will capture an unprecedented amount of engine hypersonic flow data from the air inlet, through the engine, and out the exhaust. The cost benefits of physics-based tools that integrate modern design and analysis codes have been well documented. Project name: Rare Earth Mining Separation and Metal Production Requested amount: $3,000,000.00 Recipient: Molycorp, 67750 Bailey Road, Mountain Pass, CA 92366 Purpose: Rare earth metals and magnets are vital to a wide variety of Department of Defense applications. These metals and magnets are used in virtually all advanced military systems and clean energy technologies, yet currently, China controls nearly 100% of the world's rare earth metal production. This funding will speed the development of the critical manufacturing technologies necessary to revitalize U.S. domestic rare earth separation and metal production for DOD applications. To this end, the appropriated funds will be leveraged against more than $20 million in private capital to accelerate the engineering and scale of this work. Project name: National Eye Evaluation and Research Network Requested amount: $3,000,000.00 Recipient: Foundation Fighting Blindness, 11435 Cronhill Drive, Owings Mills, MD, 21117-2220 Purpose: NEER will directly benefit the warfighter by providing a readily available source to screen, enroll, and follow military patients and their families through clinical trials. Additionally, NEER will continue to interact with the newly formed DOD Vision Center of Excellence, which will eventually be housed at the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center. Many of the diseases to be studied are orphan diseases, impacting small populations. Consequently, they do not receive the attention of major government and private research and pharmaceutical organizations. Additionally, much of the research conducted on degenerative retinal diseases has a direct benefit to ongoing traumatic brain injury research to better understand the vision deficits associated with TBI. Project name: Inter Turbine Burner for Turbo Shaft Engines Requested amount: $3,000,000.00 Recipient: Advanced Projects Research, Incorporated, 2850 U Street, San Bernardino, CA 92408 Purpose: The Inter Turbine Burner is an engine alteration that adds a second combustor within a turbo shaft engine to increase power output and engine efficiency. This technology can be used as an upgrade to existing engines to provide greater power and performance in response to increased air or ground vehicle capability requirements and can be incorporated in new engine designs to provide both higher performance and greater fuel efficiency at lower engine speeds. This technology can be used on helicopters such as the UH-60 Blackhawk and military ground vehicles such as the M1 Abrams tank to increase fuel efficiency and peak power, which are critical in the Global War on Terror.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. LEWIS of California. I wish the gentleman would start over. I'm finding it difficult to understand your very rapid speech. Will you slow down a little bit?

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to point out the absurdity of the situation we find ourselves in today. In the majority's haste to slam legislation through the floor with almost no consideration at the committee level, with no time for consideration by the House membership in general, and with absolutely no ability for the Members of this body to amend bills on the floor, we are now seeing the effects of such shortsighted martial law tactics. Mr. Speaker, the Cash for Clunkers program was passed on the suspension calendar so no Members were able to offer amendments. The Senate had a comparable bill with some significant differences. The House and Senate bills should have gone to full and open conference so those differences could have been negotiated and a conference report then brought for a vote. Instead, the leadership of this body, without consultation or negotiation, stuck the House version of Cash for Clunkers on what was supposed to be a, quote, clean war supplemental, a bill only for the purpose of funding and supporting our troops and our efforts overseas in the war on terror. They had to do that because of the mess the majority created of the conferenced bill, and I use that term loosely, as most of the funding levels and programs were determined not in a conference but by the House leadership and by my chairman. But when it came to counting votes, the leadership and the chairman had to do some dancing and started loading up the war supplemental with extraneous and unrelated items, all of which needed to get more votes. Cash for Clunkers was one of those items. My colleagues in the Senate, Senator Feinstein, in particular, and Senator Collins, had some serious concerns with the House bill. Senator Feinstein tried to negotiate some changes to improve the program but was rebuffed, as I understand it, by my chairman. Basically they were told that it was his way or the highway. Here we are today--not one hearing on the Cash for Clunkers program in the Appropriations Committee, not one hearing on the needs of the program prior to receiving funds, not one hearing on how the first billion dollars has been spent, not one hearing on how much money the program will need to get through the fiscal year. Instead, we find ourselves on the suspension calendar for the second time in 3 days, bailing out another program, shoveling another $2 billion out the door this fiscal year after we've shoveled $14 billion out the door to bail out the highway programs and other related items. My colleagues are going to pat themselves on the back for finding an offset for this transfer; and for that I say two things: first, you should have been finding ways to offset spending all year; second, if there was an extra $2 billion in the stimulus program that was suitable for a different purpose, why did we spend the $2 billion in the first place? How many other billions of dollars are in the stimulus not being spent that we can return to our taxpayers? Now many of my colleagues will say, This is a great program, and it is necessary for the revitalization of the economy and the car industry. I'm not really going to argue with those goals. Those are good goals, and we are looking for solutions. However, are we sure this program is working like it's supposed to? I don't think so. How is it that we didn't hear of this funding problem until last night? And even then we were told there was roughly 24 hours before they were going to shut down the program. This program has only been up and running 1 week. If that is how the government is going to handle billion-dollar programs affecting all Americans, I ask, Whatever will we do if the administration takes control of our health care system? I quote one car dealer from New York: ``If they can't administer a program like this, I'd be a little concerned about my health insurance.'' I say, amen. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).