Ray LaHood

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, I also support the gentleman's efforts to continue funding for the Section 511 Loan Guarantee Program. Currently, the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad provides much needed rail freight transportation service from Fort Madison, IA, across central Illinois and into Indiana. In Peoria and central Illinois it provides our shippers with important connections to Illinois Central, Burlington Northern/Santa Fe, CSX, Union Pacific, Conrail, and several regional rail carriers. Unfortunately the TP&W is in financial distress. It is my understanding that a successful New York operator of small railroads is attempting to purchase the TP&W. The railroad needs modern locomotive power and track rehabilitation. The buyer is having difficulty convincing private financial institutions to back the total project. It would be a tragedy for this railroad's distress caused a domino effect on its customers and other regional rail carriers in the area. A loan guarantee under the proposal being put forward by Congressman Filner and Chairwoman Molinari, of $11 million would allow an acquisition and rehabilitation of the TP&W.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. I thank the gentleman from Washington for bringing out those important points, and I wonder if the gentleman would just spend another minute or two talking about your task force and what you see your task force doing now that we are finishing with the ag appropriations bill, but we still have to mark up the authorization bill and authorize a number of programs, how you see your task force working, and then ultimately reporting to Speaker Gingrich and the House on what you have been doing.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, that is a significant contribution. Let me conclude by saying that we can reform farm programs to make them more accountable to taxpayers and program participants, but in doing so we must not take for granted the incredible success of American agriculture and the role prudent public policy has made to foster this success. In conclusion, I want to mention that I have developed, like I know both of you gentleman have, a new respect for the men and women who till the soil, who work hard every day in terms of the crops that they grow. Since being elected to Congress, I have had several opportunities, as I know you have to meet the men and women who till the soil, and I have concluded that they love their way of life, are deeply proud of the country and the benefits it has bestowed on each of them, and ask for no compliments for feeding the world each and every day, but want, for their children, the ability to pass along the heritage and the fruits that they have so richly worked for and who could ask for more than that. I know each of you, as I do, commend those men and women who till the soil every day, and work hard every day, and make America the great country that it is, and provide the food and fiber for all Americans and many, many citizens in this country and around the world. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Georgia's contribution, and I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from North Carolina for any concluding remarks.

Mr. LaHOOD. I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, there are many other examples, I know, and I think, as we get into the farm bill, I think what the farmers from your part of the country and my part of the country want is fairness. Many of the people in agriculture are for a balanced budget. They want it. They know that it will help them, and they know it will bring down interest rates, improve their ability to borrow the money to put their feed and seed into the ground, and so they are committed to that, but they want it to be fair and balanced. They want less regulation, they want less rules, they want less government intervention, and they want an export market. If we can deliver on that through our farm bill, I think we will have done a great deal as the 104th Congress moves ahead and really tries to improve the idea that agriculture is important; that people work hard at it. They want to make a fair wage. They don't need a lot of government involvement, and that is what I am hearing from the folks in my district. I am going to wrap up here.

Mr. LaHOOD. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of order and to address the House for 1 minute.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, I do not know if any of my colleagues were as thrilled as I was when I was driving around my district, I think on Monday, and had my radio on, and heard that one of our colleagues, a colleague from this House, was the one that had the courage and the guts to have two of our fellow Americans released by Saddam Hussein. It was not somebody from the administration; it was not somebody from the Senate. It was somebody from our House of Representatives. Mr. Speaker, I also want to say I have been waiting all week to bring a little civility to the House, and what better way to do it than to recognize the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Richardson]? We are in his debt for what he has done for two Americans and for all Americans. Mr. Speaker, we are in his debt, and now we are asking him to free us from this institution today. (Applause, the Members rising.)

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. I yield to the gentleman from New Mexico.

Mr. LaHOOD. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. LaHOOD. I would also like to acknowledge my friend, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Durbin], the ranking member, who fully supports this effort and has lent his support to it. I thank him. I know the residents of Springfield, both the 20th and the 18th districts, appreciate our mutual efforts.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I would like to engage the distinguished chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee in a colloquy. Mr. Chairman, it is my understanding that the bill, H.R. 1976, provides funding for the treatment and reduction of atrazine in three lakes in Illinois. Mr. Chairman, knowing of your commitment and the commitment of the distinguished ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Durbin], to the environment and your concern for human safety, I want to let you know that Lake Springfield, which is in my district and also in the district of the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Durbin], is experiencing the same problems as the other three Illinois lakes. Lake Springfield is the drinking water source for the city of Springfield, the capital city of Illinois. Lake Springfield has experienced the floodwaters and constant rain that fell throughout the Midwest this year. Consequently, this forced the city to spend an additional $200,000 for water treatment. For instance, the atrazine levels in Lake Springfield reached a high of 25 parts per million during the high water levels in the spring. Mr. Chairman, I have some articles that I am including in the Record detailing the severity of the problem in Lake Springfield. The atrazine level in Springfield was a subject of a comical parody of the top 10 good things about having atrazine in our water, to name a few, makes Lipton iced tea more brisk, restaurants will now ask, ``Atrazine or no atrazine?'' And finally, smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector or, now I get an atrazine detector. Mr. Chairman, I commend you and the committee for proactively assisting central Illinois in dealing with this problem. I would ask, with the chairman's indulgence, to include Lake Springfield to share equally in any final conference report that appropriates funds to reduce atrazine in the State of Illinois.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I want to compliment the gentleman from New York, Congressman Jim Walsh, as being a man for all seasons. He not only leads the bailout of Washington, DC, now he leads the bailout for those of us in the ag community. I also want to speak on behalf of the Terry Joneses of the world. Terry Jones and his wife own a meat locker in Jacksonville, IL. I had the occasion to visit Terry and his wife recently about this issue of Government regulation or Government overregulation. What they told me was that, if these regulations had been put into effect, they would be out of business, as I think would many small business people who are in the meat locker business, who care a great deal about their customers and in no way would want to see harm come to them. I do not intend to take the 5 minutes, but I want to express on behalf of all the small meat locker business men and women, not only across Illinois but across the country, that a good compromise has been worked out, and their considerations will be considered. I compliment the gentleman from New York [Mr. Walsh], the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Durbin], and certainly the Secretary of Agriculture. Common sense is being used and will be used, and I think all consideration will be given now so that small business people's concerns will be taken into account.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, today is a very, very sad day for America, but it is an even sadder day for American families who are waiting word on loved ones that have been designated as MIA's or POW's in Vietnam. The policy of normalizing relations with Vietnam, which will be announced today by the President of the United States, is a slap in the face at those families who are waiting word on their loved ones. This is not a correct policy, this is a wrong policy, and until the Government of Vietnam comes forward and accounts for all of those who have been missing in action or designated as POW's, we should not normalize relations with Vietnam. We should not do it for economic reasons. That is the worst reason to do it. What we should be saying to them is ``give us a full accounting.'' We owe it to the people who have lost their loved ones. Mr. Speaker, I hope that all Americans will speak out against this.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, would the Speaker not assume that a member of the Committee on Rules would know the rules of the House when he speaks on the House floor?

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, I have a further parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. LaHOOD. Would the Speaker please advise Members that they are not allowed to wear pins or buttons when they are speaking on the House floor.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, is it against the House rules for Members to wear buttons while speaking on the floor?

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, in New Hampshire this past weekend, President Clinton agreed with Speaker Gingrich that Medicare is in trouble. In his own words, he said, ``We cannot leave the system the way it is. There have to be some changes.'' Mr. Speaker, it is nice to see the President of the United States recognizes a problem that affects millions of senior citizens in our country. However, I can't help thinking how nice it would be now to actually see Democrats produce some solutions to these problems. Unfortunately, the Democrats around here have no ideas on how to fix the current Medicare crisis. Instead, they stand up day after day to whine and moan and complain about Republican actions on Medicare. It would be nice to see the Democrats divert some of their energy into helping us develop solutions to preserve and protect Medicare. Join the President, join the Republicans. Let's preserve and protect a very good Medicare system. Stop whining, stop complaining, get on the reform bandwagon.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 357.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to salute a group of outstanding young women who will be honored with the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. Gold Award by Kickapoo Council of Girl Scouts in Peoria, Illinois. All are being honored on May 7, 1995, for earning the highest achievement award in Girl Scouting. The Girl Scout Gold Award symbolizes outstanding accomplishments in the areas of leadership, community service, career planning, and personal development. The Girl Scout Gold Award can be earned by girls aged 14-17, or in grades 9-12. Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., an organization serving over 2.6 million girls, has awarded more than 20,000 Girl Scout Gold Awards to Senior Girl Scouts since the inception of the program in 1980. To receive the award, a Girl Scout must fulfill five requirements: earn four interest project patches, earn the Career Exploration Pin, earn the Senior Girl Scout Leadership Award, earn the Senior Girl Scout Challenge, and design and implement a Girl Scout Gold Award project. A plan for fulfilling the requirements of the award is created by the Senior Girl Scout and is carried out through close cooperation between the girl and an adult Girl Scout volunteer. The earning of the Girl Scout Gold Award is a major accomplishment, and I believe all of these girls should receive the public recognition due them for this significant service to their community and their country. Following are the honorees: Jodi King, Kelly Cox, Buffie Icenogle, Monica Knapp, Marcy Mattern, Jolene Zessin, Jennifer Isaacs, Stacey Utley, and Rachel Moreno.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. I thank the gentleman, and I appreciate very much the gentleman from California allowing us Illinoisans to do this. I want to announce to all Americans that Bob Michel is alive and well in Washington, DC. Actually there are people calling the cloakroom wondering if something has happened to him. He has not slipped on a banana. He is still around. For so long, 12 years, I worked for Bob Michel, and many of the things that I have learned about this institution and have been able to bring to this institution I learned from my friend, Bob Michel. I would not be here today as a Member of the House of Representatives if it were not for Bob Michel. Having worked for him for 12 years and been his chief of staff for the last 4\1/2\ of those years was a marvelous experience. So many times I said, while I campaigned, I am not going to fill Bob Michel's shoes. Nobody can do that. Nobody can fill the shoes of someone like Bob Michel. He is truly an extraordinary person. And another thing that I have said for so long is that he is the last of a dying breed around this House. I do not know that there will ever be another Bob Michel, somebody with so many years of experience, but somebody who was so revered on both sides of the aisle by all of the Republicans and all of the Democrats in a way that I do not know that we have around here anymore. I cannot think of a more fitting way to help remember him than this resolution that we are considering today. Back in our home community last weekend there were some news accounts on our television, and as the newscasters were saying, ``Peoria Congressman,'' I waited for them to say, ``Bob Michel,'' because we have said that for so long, even in our own community, so I know that many people miss him here, and many people miss him in Peoria and elsewhere in the 18th district, and it is truly an honor for me to say whenever I can that I took Bob Michel's place, but I will not replace him, because he is irreplaceable.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, where are the Democrats? We need you. We need you today. It takes 290 votes. Twenty-two States, many of the States that you all come from, have passed term limits. Why do you not get the message? Many of these people are Democrats in these 22 States. They need for you to come to the floor today and support the vast majority of Republicans that will vote for term limits. Do not snub your nose at your people. Come and join us. Help us put the 290 on the board and give the people of the country a chance, an opportunity to debate term limits so it will go out to every State legislature, so all the people will have a chance to debate it. Do not snub your nose at the voters. Give them a chance to have a say in this. Come and join us. Put the 290 on the board today. Join us.