Carolyn Maloney

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, next week retired New York Giants cocaptain and Super Bowl champion George Martin will walk the 1,000th mile of his 3,000-mile trek across America to raise funding and awareness for sick Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers, the heroes of 9/11. His walk from New York to California, called A Journey for 9/11, began just after the sixth anniversary of that tragic day. This week his walk continues through Tennessee as he approaches his 100th mile. George is an inspiration and a true all-star. And as he walks, this Congress is responding to the need, providing $109 million for treatment in this budget. But we need to pass the 9/11 Health Act to help all those suffering from 9/11 injuries. It is the least a grateful nation can do.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I thank the gentleman for his extraordinary leadership and for yielding. I would like to respond to some of the comments of my good friend on the other side of the aisle and to remind my colleagues that New York, and he mentioned it several times in his statement, was attacked not as a city, and our State was not attacked as a State. This was a national attack against our country, at our Pentagon, a symbol of our military strength, and New York, one of the symbols of our economic strength. And after that attack, this body was united and determined, and I thank all of my colleagues for your aid and support. But the most important act by this body to get New York moving again and our other economic centers was voting for TRIA, the anti-terrorism risk insurance plan. My good friend stated that construction can go forward without it. After 9/11 you could not even build a hot dog stand. Nothing moved until we got the anti-terrorism risk insurance in place. I am told by the businesses in New York and other large cities in our country that they cannot get insurance now. They get insurance up to the date that TRIA expires, and they are not given insurance unless there is agreement or a condition that TRIA will continue. He argued that TRIA was not homeland security. I will say very strongly that part of our homeland security is our economic security, and a very important part of our economic security is having a Federal support system for terrorism risk insurance. The TRIA bill was a top priority of the Financial Services Committee. It was one of the first bills reported out, and I thank Chairman Frank for his continued support for a long-term TRIA, including a reset provision to increase the availability of terrorism insurance for areas that have been targets of terror acts like my city of New York. The reset language in this bill, though, treats equally everyone across this country. We are including in this bill absolutely everything that was in the Senate-passed bill. The only change is we come from the 15 years down to the 7 years of the Senate. But the other key provisions that were dropped, we are putting back in, such as the lower trigger level so that more insurers can be part of this program. This is very important. Group life insurance. Life insurance for fairness for travelers, and the very important reset mechanism for the anti-terrorism risk insurance. We need this bill and we need it promptly to avoid interruptions in coverage and the disruptions that that will cause in our economy. I would say that TRIA has created jobs and helped America's economy grow despite the continuing terrorist threat. I thank the chairman and this body on both sides for supporting it. I appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of this bill. I would like to thank Chairman Frank for his continued strong support for a long term renewal of TRIA including the reset provisions to increase the availability of terrorism insurance for areas that have been targets of terror attacks like my city of New York. I appreciate the chairman's insistence on having the House debate and vote on a bill that includes four key provisions from the original House-passed bill. Most important of these, in my view, is the reset provision. To encourage companies to write insurance in an area that has been a target of terrorism, after a significant terrorist attack, that is, an attack causing over $1 billion in damages, the bill would lower both the deductible and the trigger for terrorism insurance policies in the targeted area, to rebuild market capacity and then gradually increase private sector obligations over time. This reset mechanism applies equally for everyone across the country. For example, the lower deductible would apply to all the insurers that were affected by the significant terrorist attack, regardless of where the attack occurred. Also, the bill lowers the ``trigger'' level--the size of an attack at which the Federal Government would provide aid to insurers--back to the $50 million in the original House bill. The TRIA extension enacted in 2005 set the limit at $50 million in 2006 and $100 million in 2007. The Senate bill provides a trigger of $100 million. A lower trigger will allow more insurers to participate in the program and thereby increase the availability of terrorism insurance, and will also address a serious concern of the small insurers who fear they will be driven out of business by terrorist attacks that cause less than $100 million in insured losses that would not trigger the protection provided by TRIA. The bill includes the provision from the House bill putting group life insurance in TRIA. TRIA should cover not only buildings but also the people who work in them. Group life carriers face insolvency if a terrorist event affects a large group of people. It is important to the economic security of America's workers and their families that group life carriers remain solvent and capable of paying claims after a terrorist attack. Finally, like the original House bill, the bill prohibits life insurance companies from denying or reducing coverage to an individual based on their foreign travel. It is critical that these provisions be included in the bill we send back to the Senate. We need to send a strong message that these provision are important, and that this body will not be cowed by the White House's foolish threat to veto this legislation. I could not more strongly disagree with the White House when they insist the program should be short term and temporary. That will exacerbate market disarray and harm our economy--exactly what the terrorists want. The administration's continued opposition to this bill is another example of the stubborn wrongheadedness for which this White House has become renowned. On a bipartisan basis, business leaders, law enforcement, and the American people strongly support a long term TRIA bill that protects our economy and our security. Recognizing the significant benefits that TRIA has for our entire economy, the US Chamber of Commerce said, and I quote: The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act has promoted long-term availability of terrorism risk insurance for catastrophic terror events and has provided a standard of stability for financial markets and recovery after such an attack. [TRIA] has created jobs and helped America's economy grow despite the continuing terrorist threats against the United States. . . . It is essential that Congress not allow this vital law to expire. There are few issues so important to our Nation's economy as a stable long term federal support system for terrorism risk insurance. We need a new TRIA bill and we need it promptly, to avoid interruptions in coverage and the disruptions that will cause. We all fervently hope there will be no more terrorist attacks on our soil. But we must recognize that insuring against that dreadful contingency is a fundamental part of making our country safer. It is a part of homeland security that we cannot afford to ignore. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, which will provide relief to over 100,000 of my constituents. This week, the House will once again restate our commitment to fiscal responsibility and pass legislation to provide millions of middle-class families with tax cuts to grow our economy without increasing the national debt. The AMT Relief Act contains must-pass provisions that will provide $50 billion in immediate tax relief for working families by preventing 23 million middle class families from paying higher taxes this April. Without this legislation, these 23 million families will be subjected to the alternative minimum tax, including almost 111,000 of my constituents. When the AMT was enacted, it was meant to ensure the wealthiest among us paid their fair share of a tax that was never designed to hit the pocketbooks of middle-class families. While this is only a temporary fix, I want to be clear that I hope we can move forward in the near future to provide a long-term solution to this problem. I am proud that Chairman Rangel and Speaker Pelosi have brought this fix to the floor today while still adhering to the pay-as-you-go promise this Democratic controlled Congress has promised the American people. Their leadership have truly brought our country in a new direction. On the other hand, President Bush has threatened to veto and Senate Republicans voted against the earlier House-passed AMT bill because it adhered to our pay-as-you-go promise. The stubborn fiscal irresponsibility of President Bush and Senate Republicans has delayed getting middle-class tax relief approved in a timely fashion and resulted in the Senate passing AMT relief legislation that is not paid for--passing debt instead of prosperity onto our children and grandchildren. We are trying every possible alternative to adhere to pay-as-you-go budget rules--reversing the years of failed Republican policies that have mortgaged our grandchildren's future with additional foreign-owned debt--giving the Senate one more chance to do the right thing. While fixing the AMT is of outmost importance, we cannot afford to mortgage our children's and grandchildren's future to pay for this tax relief. Our country is currently burdened with over $9 trillion of national debt, with each American's share at nearly $30,000. We simply cannot afford to keep adding to this. Mr. Speaker, the Democrats in Congress are providing common sense tax relief for middle-class American families, and we are doing it in a fiscally responsible way. I urge this bill's adoption.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, this bill, the ``Financial Consumer Hotline Act of 2007,'' would establish a single, toll-free telephone number consumers can call if they have a question for or problem with their bank and want to speak to the bank's federal or state regulator. A number of different governing bodies currently regulate banks, which can make it difficult for consumers to figure out who they should contact with concerns and complaints. The bill would also establish a corresponding informational website.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to a very special occasion that will take place in New York's 14th Congressional District this week. Eight New York City high schools, including the Life Sciences Secondary School and Company High School for Theatre Art, will participate in a musical and cultural exchange event at New York City's world-renowned Carnegie Hall on December 5, 2007. Carnegie Hall's cultural exchange program will bring together a select group of eight classrooms in New York City and an equal number in Istanbul, Turkey. Students in both countries have worked in their respective classrooms for the past ten weeks to learn about each other's nation and culture. On Wednesday, students and teachers will meet face to face via teleconferencing technology to share a real-time cultural exchange using music as the common language. American and Turkish teachers and students in the program will continue to communicate with one another on a dedicated internet space for the duration of the school year. Carnegie Hall has developed this unique exchange program in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, and I am pleased that this public-private partnership will produce a meaningful, enriching and lasting experience for students in New York City and Istanbul. Music is a universal language through which improved understanding among our Nation's respective citizenry can be found. I commend Carnegie Hall, the U.S. Department of State, and the private sector sponsors of this program. Most importantly, I congratulate the young men and women participating in this program and add my encouragement for their continued pursuit of improved cultural understanding through music and the arts.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, that I believe it is fair to describe as historic. As cochair of the Human Trafficking Caucus and as an original cosponsor, I am pleased that this bill will provide strong, new, innovative, flexible tools to combat modern- day slavery, whether labor exploiters, diplomats who abuse their servants, or brutal pimps. I want to commend the extra offered leadership of Chairman Lantos and Chairman Conyers, as well as Lamar Smith and Randy Forbes, and their staffs, for bringing this important bill to the floor. I truly do believe that books will be written about this effort, a major one, to end this terrible abuse of human people. I ask my colleagues to look at this picture. I want them to see that the lives of trafficking victims are pure horror. If you look at the first line, each girl looks different, but after one or two years, they all look the same, shells of people. In the end, they have been abused, psychologically captured, broken and devastated at the hands of their pimps. The fight against human trafficking has brought together Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, religious leaders and secular leaders. I will place in the Record a list of the very large bipartisan coalition that was sent to the Department of Justice and our colleagues and signed by many advocates, including Gloria Steinem, Jessica Neuwirth, Kim Gandy, Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis, Ron Sider, Walter Fauntroy and Beverly LaHaye, among many others. The bipartisan bill before us is historic and will dramatically strengthen our capability to fight human trafficking. Mr. Speaker, I became interested in this when Big Apple Oriental Tours in my district was advertising sex tours, sex trafficking. Come to the Philippines, come here, come there, and we will give you a young girl, many young girls. We could not close them down. With this Congress in a bipartisan way, we have strengthened the laws to crack down on this terrible human abuse. This bill before us gives law enforcement even greater tools to go after the predators. Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, New York, NY, October 5, 2007. Hon. Peter Keisler, Acting Attorney General of the United States, Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Acting Attorney General: Founded in 1988, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women is the first international non-governmental organization to challenge the trafficking of women and girls as an acute form of gender discrimination and a severe violation of human rights. The one hundred representative signers of this letter include leaders of organizations and communities that range across the country's religious, ideological and political spectrums. What unites us is our collective outrage at human trafficking and our commitment to end it. More than six months ago, Congresswoman Maloney and Congressmen Wolf and Scott wrote to former Attorney General Gonzales to express their concerns with the Department's anti-trafficking policies and strategies. They did so in the context of his public statements that the initiative against domestic trafficking was a matter of high priority to the Department. We share these views and applaud these statements. The multibillion dollar ``industry'' operated within the United States by criminal traffickers enslaves and devastates hundreds of thousands of girls and women in a manner eerily reminiscent of the 19th Century African slave trade. We write because of the Department's apparent rejection of the views expressed in the Maloney-Scott-Wolf letter and because of our serious concerns about the Department's anti- trafficking activities. First, we fail to understand why the Department has called on States to enact a model statute that effectively requires proof of fraud, force or coercion for the conviction of sex traffickers, instead of encouraging State and local prosecutors to strengthen and enforce existing statutes under which traffickers can be convicted on proof that they have ``merely'' engaged in sex trafficking. Our concern about the Department's model law is made particularly grave by its seriously misguided definition of prostitution as a form of ``labor or services.'' The effect of conceptualizing prostitution as a form of ``work'' not only conflicts with public statements that former Attorney Generals Ashcroft and Gonzales and other administration officials have made, it also effectively converts the pimps, brothel owners and others who profit from the prostitution ``industry'' into presumptively legal employers. The Department's ``labor or services'' definition is thus in clear conflict with repeated statements of the President, with his National Security Policy Directive 22 and with almost all State and local laws on the subject. What the Department's trafficking policy as embodied in the model law dangerously ignores is the acute difficulty of gaining testimonial evidence of fraud, force or coercion from terrified and brutalized victims of trafficking, and the potential danger that such a requirement poses to victims' safety. It is well documented that many victims enslaved by traffickers suffer from traumatic bonding and related conditions that make it impossible for them to give the testimony essential to the prosecution of fraud, force or coercion cases. In fact, we believe that the Department's policy will cause predatory traffickers to increase their acts of violence and psychological abuse in order to ensure that the persons they abuse will not serve as prosecution witnesses. Requiring proof of force, fraud, and coercion has not only had a detrimental effect on the prosecution of cases of domestic trafficking. Such proof requirements have been cited by anti-trafficking leaders in other countries as obstacles to holding traffickers accountable for their systematic acts of violence against girls and women. If trafficking victims are afraid to testify against their traffickers in the U.S., as they are, they are more afraid to do so in foreign countries with even more violent traffickers and often less protective legal systems. The approach of the Department's model law appears to be replicated in the Department's prosecution policies and strategies. We are gravely concerned by the Department's failure to more fully utilize D.C. Criminal Code Sec. 22- 2707, which makes sex trafficking per se a felony offense. In enforcing the D.C. Criminal Code, the Department functions much like State and local prosecutors, so that vigorous utilization of Section 22-2707 would send a powerful leadership message to those prosecutors, one that would help ameliorate the negative effects of the Department's model State law. In the same vein, we are troubled by the Department's failure to more fully utilize 18 U.S. Code Sec. 2422(a), a statute recently amended by Congress that requires no proof of fraud, force or coercion and that would be of particular value in jurisdictions where major cities in different States border each other. There are a number of additional aspects of the Department's anti-trafficking policies and strategies that trouble us, and about which we ask your views: The Department has given domestic traffickers effective immunity from criminal tax laws, when otherwise legal business owners are prosecuted for such acts as failing to provide W-2 forms. Congresswoman Maloney has recently introduced legislation that would ensure that traffickers are prosecuted for violating criminal tax laws, a leadership act that builds on Senator Grassley's leadership in the 109th Congress. The Grassley bill was unanimously endorsed by the Senate Finance Committee. Will the Department support this initiative? In the face of persuasive research conducted by Equality Now, the Department has failed to utilize existing criminal statutes to prosecute so-called ``sex tourism'' operators. Do you agree? The Department prioritizes the prosecution of traffickers of girls and women brought into the United States from foreign countries. Are American citizens who have been subjected to trafficking any less worthy of the Department's protection? The Department, through its grants under the Violence Against Women Act and like programs, often denies support to applicants who operate programs for trafficking survivors. Clearly, victims of domestic trafficking, routinely subjected to rape and battery, are as much in need of and as much entitled to assistance and services as victims of other forms of gender-based violence. Do you share this view, and do you believe that victims of domestic trafficking are underserved? The Department has failed to pursue funds for the grant programs and the survey of the unlawful domestic commercial sex industry that were authorized by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005. Is it not important for the Department, and the country, to know as much about the predatory world of trafficking as is known about the country's gambling and drug operations? There is an apparent lack of coordination within the Department of its anti-trafficking activities. We believe it essential, as called for in the Maloney-Scott-Wolf letter, for there to be a single, accountable office headed by an experienced criminal prosecutor to whom Congress and the American public can look for results in the conduct of the Department's anti-trafficking activities. Do you share this view? The Departmental leadership on the trafficking issue has been vested in the Civil Rights Division even though the Division's sole jurisdiction is the prosecution of traffickers who have committed provable acts of fraud, force, or coercion against adult victims. While we celebrate the highly professional and committed prosecutors who have brought such cases, we are deeply concerned that the anti- trafficking strategy adopted by the Department will shield traffickers from prosecution while encouraging them to intensify their acts of violence and psychological abuse. Do you believe this concern legitimate? Attached is a report prepared by Professor Donna Hughes of the March 13 Human Trafficking Training session conducted by the head of the Civil Rights Division's Anti- Trafficking Unit--a session broadcast to United States Attorneys throughout the country. The Hughes report demonstrates the Department's seeming disinterest in enforcing per se statutes against trafficking. The report also shows that the Department's anti- trafficking initiative is directed against provable physical violence rather than trafficking per se. We are dismayed by the comments of Department officials described in the Hughes report that leaders of the country's trafficking survivor community are ``not . . . ready'' to engage in education, awareness and service initiatives on behalf of trafficked women. Is this your perception, or the Department's, of the groundbreaking and courageous work of such survivor-led groups as GEMS, Dignity House, Veronica's Voice, SAGE, and Breaking Free? Congress, the administration, and a broad and fully engaged anti-trafficking coalition now in place can in our view make history, and do so this year, in ending the reign of terror and enslavement long practiced by traffickers operating within this country. Additionally, effective prosecution of domestic traffickers, and committed Federal government support for their victims, will strengthen the capacity of the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Office to deal with countries that are complicit or indifferent to mass trafficking within their borders. Such action would save millions of trafficked and at risk girls and women throughout the world. The Department has significantly increased the number of its trafficking prosecutions and the resources it has committed to anti-trafficking activities. Yet in spite of this, there has been no decline in the incidence of domestic trafficking or in the number of girls and women abused and destroyed by domestic traffickers during the five year period in which the Department has conducted its costly antitrafficking initiative. Moreover and critically, the model law promoted by the Department has produced few if any State prosecutions or convictions--an outcome that we are certain will continue for the reasons set forth in this letter. Until the Department begins prosecuting and calling for the prosecution of traffickers on a per se basis, and ends its effective call for limiting such prosecutions to cases where fraud, force or coercion can be proven, domestic and international trafficking will continue to flourish and grow. Human trafficking can and must be ended within our borders. But it is only through strong and strategic measures that we will do so. Accordingly, we respectfully request a meeting to discuss the matters set forth in this letter. Respectfully, Dorchen Leidholdt, President, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. Norma Ramos, Co-Executive Director, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. Winnie Bartel, Board Member, National Association of Evangelicals. Michelle Battle, Chief Operating Officer, The National Congress of Black Women, Inc. Gary Bauer, President, American Values. Dr. David Black, President, Eastern University. Twiss Butler, Board Member, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. Tony Campolo, Professor Emeritus, Eastern University. Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D., Co-Founder, National Women's Health Network. Hon. David N. Cicilline, Mayor, Providence, Rhode Island. Richard Cizik, VP, Government Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals. Michael Cromartie, Ethics and Public Policy Center Catherine J. Douglass, Executive Director, inMotion, Inc.. Janice Shaw Crouse, Director, Beverly LaHaye Institute, Concerned Women for America. Barrett Duke, PhD, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention. Geri B. Elias, LCSW, National Outreach Manager, Jewish Women International. Bonnie Erbe, Scripps Howard Columnist. Bonaventure N. Ezekwenna, Publisher, Africans in America. Melissa Farley, PhD Director, Prostitution Research & Education. Rev. Walter Fauntroy, Former DC Delegate to Congress, Pastor, New Bethel Church. Georgette Forney, President, Anglicans for Life. Commissioner Israel Gaither, National Commander, The Salvation Army USA. Commissioner Eva Gaither, National President of Women's Ministries, The Salvation Army USA. Kim A. Gandy, President, National Organization for Women. Todd Gitlin, Professor of Journalism and Sociology, Columbia University. Victor Goode, Former Executive Director, National Association for Black Lawyers. Rabbi David Greenstein, The Academy for Jewish Religion, Riverdale, NY. Joseph K. Grieboski, President, Institute on Religion and Public Policy. Agnes Gund, Art Historian, Activist. Dr. David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Studies, Mercer University. Mimi Haddad, PhD, President, Christians for Biblical Equality. Rev. Dr. James V. Heidinger, II, President Good News Movement. Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld Coalition of Jewish Concerns--Amcha. Michael Horowitz, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute. Bishop Clyde M. Hughes, International Pentecostal Church of Christ. Donna M. Hughes, Carlson Chair Professor, Women's Studies Program, University of Rhode Island. Sandra Hunnicutt, Executive Director, Captive Daughters. Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth, Episcopal Church. Richard Israel, Former Attorney General, Rhode Island. Kristin Komamicki, Editor, PRISM Magazine, Evangelicals for Social Justice. James M. Kushiner, Executive Director, The Fellowship of St. James. Mrs. Beverly LaHaye, Founder, Chair, Concerned Women for America. Nancy Lewis, UN Representative, International Immigrants Foundation. Sister LeeAnn Mackeprang, Good Shepherd, Contemplative Sisters. Catharine A. MacKinnon, Elizabeth A. Long, Professor, University of Michigan Law School. Frederica Mathewes-Green, Speaker, Author. Faith McDonnell, Director, Religious Liberty Program, Institute on Religion and Democracy. Alyssa Milano, Actress, Human Rights Activist. John R. Miller, Research Professor in International Studies, George Washington University. Ronna J. Miller, Director, MHGS Conferences. Richard J. Mouw, President, Fuller Seminary. Patricia Murphy, North American Coordinating Center, School Sisters of Notre Dame. Jessica Neuwirth, President, Equality Now. Susan O'Malley, Business and Professional Women International. Katherine R. Parisi, CSJP, PhD, Justice & Peace Coordinator, Congregation of the Sisters, St. Joseph of Peace. Kathryn Cameron Porter, Founder, President, Leadership Council for Human Rights. Margaret Purvis, Founder, President, Faces of Children, Midland, TX. Dana Raphael, PhD, Director, Human Lactation Center. Judith A. Reisman, PhD, President, Institute for Media Education. Shirley Rodriguez Remeneski, President, 100 Hispanic Women, Inc. Eva H. Richter, International Federation of Business and Professional Women. Elizabeth D. Rios, Founder, Board President, Center for Emerging Female Leadership. Rev. David Runnion-Bareford, Executive Director, Biblical Witness Fellowship, United Church of Christ. Austin Ruse, President, Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute. Diana E.H. Russell, PhD, Emerita Professor of Sociology, Mills College. Denise Scotto, International Federation of Women in Legal Careers (FIFCJ). Nadia Shmigel, World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations. L. Faye Short, President, RENEW Women's Network. Ron Sider, President, Evangelicals for Social Action. Lucianne Siers, Director, Partnership for Global Justice. Deborah Sigmund, Founder, Innocence at Risk. Carol Smolenski, Executive Director, ECPAT-USA. Gloria Steinem, Co-Founder, Ms. Magazine. Cheryl Thomas, Director, Women's Human Rights Program, Advocates for Human Rights. Jim Wallis, President, CEO, Sojourners/Call to Renewal. Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond, M.D., Co-Founder, My Sister's Keeper, Co-Pastor, Bethel AME Church. Wendy Wright, President, Concerned Women for America. Service Providers Anne Bissell, Executive Director, Voices for Justice. Vednita Carter, Executive Director, Breaking Free. Rita Chaikin, Anti-Trafficking Project Coordinator, Isha L'Isha--Haifa Feminist Center, Haifa, Israel. Kristy Childs, Executive Director, Founder VERONICA'S Voice. Katherine Chon, Executive Director, Co-Founder, Polaris Project. Rachel Durchslag, Executive Director, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation. Laurel W. Eisner, Executive Director, Sanctuary for Families, New York, NY. Juliette Engel, Founding Director, MiraMed Institute, Moscow, Russia. Sid Ford, Founder, Director, YANA (You are Never Alone), Baltimore, MD. Leah Gruenptere Gold, Director, Machon Toda'a Awareness Center, Israel. Patricia Green, Founder, RAHAB INTERNATIONAL, World Outreach International, Berlin, Germany. Norma Hotaling, Founder, Director, SAGE, San Francisco, CA. Phyllis Kilbourn, Director, Crisis Care Training International, Rainbows of Hope. Chong N. Kim, Founder, MASIE (Minorities & Survivor Improving Empowerment), USA. Donna Robin Lippman, Director, Incest and Rape Recovery Center, New York. Rachel Lloyd, Executive Director, Founder, GEMS, New York City. Kathleen Mitchell, Founder, Catholic Charities DIGNITY Services. Beatrice Okezie, Founding Board Member, Chairperson of Board of Directors, Africans in America, Inc. Moira Olson, Adults Saving Kids, Minneapolis, MN. Artika Roller, PRIDE, Minneapolis, MN. Donna Sabella, M.Ed, MSN, RN, Director, Phoenix Project, Philadelphia, PA. Ed Shurna, Executive Director, Coalition for the Homeless, Chicago, IL. Shaleen Horrocks Silva, Executive Director, The Paul & Lisa Program, Inc.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield the remainder of my time to my colleague who has personal experience with prepayment penalty abuses.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes. This amendment, which I am offering with my good friend and colleague from New Jersey, Albio Sires, addresses prepayment penalties and prime loans. This is a well-balanced amendment that has gained the support both of consumer groups and industry. Prepayment penalties are designed to deter borrowers from refinancing, or just paying off their loans. This seems unfair; why should anyone be penalized for paying off their loans? Why should borrowers not be able to take advantage of a better offer if it becomes available? Isn't that how the free market system is supposed to work? The underlying bill prohibits prepayment penalties on subprime loans and requires that prepayment penalties on prime loans expire 3 months before a loan resets. But I think we need to offer all borrowers, including prime borrowers, an alternative to loans with prepayment penalties. At the most, prepayment penalties should last 3 years, the time needed for lenders to recover their investment. Mortgage lenders argue that prepayment penalties enable them to offer loans at lower interest rates because they are assured of income for a period of time. Our amendment just requires them to offer prime borrowers an informed choice. If a lender offers a borrower a loan with a prepayment penalty, they also have to offer that borrower a loan with no prepayment penalty. Also, our amendment would limit the period of prepayment penalties to 3 years and limit the amount of the penalty to 3 percent of the outstanding balance in the first year, 2 percent in the second, and 1 percent in the third. This standard has already been adopted in many States and is often referred to as the ``California standard.'' It represents what reputable lenders consider best practices. Prepayment penalties beyond 3 years are simply unjustified by any market need. This is a balanced amendment that gives lenders adequate security and the option to offer prime loans with prepayment penalties, but also gives prime borrowers a choice to avoid prepayment penalties if they so wish. It is a sensible and necessary step to improved disclosure and improved choice. I urge my colleagues to support it. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4156, the ``Orderly and Responsible Iraq Redeployment Appropriations Act,'' and I want to commend Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leadership for bringing this bill to the Floor today. The American people want a new direction in Iraq. By every measure, this war has cost Americans far too much--whether it's lives lost, dollars spent, or our reputation tarnished around the world. H.R. 4156 would provide critical funding for the troops while also requiring that troops begin to redeploy from Iraq within 30 days of enactment with a goal of completion by December 15, 2008. The legislation would ensure that troops are not deployed to Iraq unless they have been fully trained and equipped. H.R. 4156 also would extend to all U.S. Government agencies and personnel the current prohibitions contained in the Army Field Manual against torture. Just this week the Joint Economic Committee, of which I am a vice chair, released a study to examine the broader impact of the war on the American economy. So far the full economic costs of the Iraq war are about double the immense Federal budget costs that have been reported to the American people. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Federal spending on the war could reach $2.4 trillion by 2017. Our JEC report finds that when you add in the ``hidden costs'' of the war, the total economic costs will rise by over $1 trillion to $3.5 trillion. The report reveals how we are all paying for this war one way or another--whether it's higher prices at the pump, lost business investment, rising interest payments on the debt, or fixing all the broken bodies and our stretched military. The President has asked Congress for an additional $200 billion for Iraq, bringing the total request to $607 billion in direct expenditures since the start of the war. This is well over 10 times more than the $50 to $60 billion cost estimated by the Administration prior to the start of the war, with no end in sight from this President. This legislation sends the President an important message: start bringing our troops home, now. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, last night House Democrats voted to send the President a smaller war-funding package with a clear message, send our troops home now. We know this rapid redeployment will save countless American lives. The Joint Economic Committee estimates that a sharp downturn in U.S. forces in Iraq, like the plan we are advancing, would also lower the war's economic costs by about $2 trillion over the next 10 years. The cost of this war has simply been too great and the human toll too high. We have already lost more people than this country lost on 9/11, 162 from my home State of New York. In so many ways, we can no longer afford to stay in Iraq. Democrats in Congress are committed to bringing our troops home soon; repairing our military; caring for our veterans; and charting a new, more responsible, course, a more secure course in Iraq.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I thank my colleague from the Empire State, the Great State of New York, for yielding to me, and for his leadership on the Rules Committee and in so many other areas in our Congress. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule for H.R. 3915, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act. I would like to thank the Rules Committee Chairwoman, Louise Slaughter, for crafting this rule, and I would like to thank her for making in order 18 amendments, and one amendment that I will offer later on reforms for prepayment penalties on subprime loans. I congratulate Chairman Frank for his stewardship on this difficult legislation, and I thank my colleagues, Congressman Watt and Congressman Miller from the Great State of North Carolina, which passed antipredatory lending in their State legislature that has been referenced many times in committee meetings and hearings. I also thank the staff on the Democratic and Republican side that have worked very, very hard, our individual staffs and staffs of the committee, on facing this difficult challenge. Mr. Speaker, I believe that this legislation has been done in a fair, open, and bipartisan process. During the committee markup last week, we entertained numerous amendments and consistently worked with the ranking member and the other Republicans on the committee. The result of all the chairman's hard work on this bill was demonstrated when this bill passed the committee on a bipartisan vote of 45-19. The bill we are considering today is carefully crafted legislation that was developed after our committee carefully considered the testimony and advice of many experts and witnesses. I know the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, which I chair, held a series of hearings looking into what can and should be done. I am happy to see a number of suggestions recommended by witnesses reflected in this legislation. This was no easy task. As each and every one of us knows, the mortgage market is incredibly complex and any new proposal to clamp down on abusive practices must be done in a way that does not disrupt what is working correctly. I am proud to say that I believe this legislation has struck that delicate balance. The rule protects this legislation from amendments that may disrupt that balance, yet fairly allows for amendments that could enhance this legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this fair rule and for the underlying legislation. Any legislation on this issue must strike a very careful balance that provides enhanced consumer protections without unnecessarily limiting the availability of loans to creditworthy borrowers. This bill contains a number of provisions that strengthen underwriting standards and provide additional protections for consumers while not unduly constraining sound lending and the secondary market. These include setting a clear standard that mortgages should be made based on a borrower's ability to repay, which is absolute common sense; setting up a system for licensing nationally; setting professional standards for mortgage brokers and an appropriate system of registration for loan officers; and setting a reasonable limits on assignee liability to ensure that investors will want to provide liquidity for housing finance. This bill, I think, is a very strong one. It adds accountability and transparency to the system. It builds investor confidence in the system; and without that confidence, we will continue to face a growing market crisis. We heard in our hearings from 2 to 5 million people, depending on the economists who were testifying, may lose their homes. That is more than lost their homes during the Great Depression. So the committee focused in two areas: first, on helping people stay in their homes with various measures that we passed, and this legislation going forward will prevent the types of abuses and really the turmoil in the market that was not in place because there were not oversight transparency and safeguards. I congratulate Chairman Frank on a very difficult balancing act, and I believe the legislation before us will not only help individuals stay in their homes, prevent abuses in the future, but will help the liquidity, stability, and creditworthiness of our entire economy. I no longer call it a subprime crisis; it's a credit crisis. We need to address it. This is tremendously important. We must pass this bill, and I urge all my colleagues to join me in voting for it.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I thank Chairman Frank and my colleagues, Congressmen Watt and Miller, from the great State of North Carolina, who passed legislation in the State legislature first and helped build a strong bipartisan bill in our committee that passed with a strong vote of 45-19. The economic crisis we are facing is no longer just a subprime crisis, but a credit crisis. Subprime losses are mounting and the economic pain is being felt in communities across this country, as the ripple of foreclosures spreads to neighborhoods and local economies. Economists estimate that between 2 million and 5 million families could lose their homes by the end of 2008, more than the number of families that lost their homes during the Great Depression. Democrats are working hard to help families stay in their homes and prevent another crisis like this from happening in the future. I submit for the Record a list of legislative actions and other actions that Democrats in Congress have passed to help families stay in their homes. With this bill, we take the first step towards reforms for the future. The bill would bring mortgage brokers who are currently regulated on a state-by-state basis under a nationwide licensing registry, establish minimum standards for home loans, and expand certain limits on high- cost mortgages. It also would prohibit brokers from steering consumers to mortgages they are unlikely to be able to repay. It changes the incentives for all market participants. The bill would also establish some legal liability for securitizers, but it also provides some liability protection to those companies if they meet certain due diligence requirements in reviewing the loans they are packaging. Any legislation on this issue must strike a very delicate balance that provides consumer protections without unnecessarily limiting the availability of loans to creditworthy borrowers. I congratulate the chairman for coming forward with a well-balanced bill on a very difficult subject that is incredibly important. I urge my colleagues, we must pass this bill. Tackling the problem of subprime mortgage reform is like slaying the many-headed Hydra of Greek mythology--unless you go about it the right way, for each head you chop off, two more vicious ones will grow in its place. I congratulate Chairman Frank for producing an ambitious and comprehensive bill that deals with many key aspects of this difficult issue. It is a comprehensive and sweeping reform of the mortgage industry that would require all actors in the mortgage market to operate with the kind of accountability and regard for the consumer's best interest that the best mortgage lenders have always observed. In this respect, the bill tracks the comments of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said in testimony before the JEC that limited and clearly defined assignee liability could prove beneficial. To do this, the bill preempts State laws in the section dealing with securitizers, reflecting the concern that differing State laws would interfere with oversight of a national market. But it leaves States free to regulate in other areas where States have traditionally led the way in consumer protection for their citizens. This is a well-balanced bill and I urge my colleagues to support it. Democrats in Congress Are Working to Help Families Stay in Their Homes We need to act quickly to stem the tide of foreclosures that could ruin families, communities, and the economy. The House has passed legislation to enable the FHA to serve more subprime borrowers at affordable rates and terms, attract borrowers who have turned to predatory loans in recent years, and offer refinancing to homeowners struggling to meet their mortgage payments. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are providing much needed liquidity in the prime market right now. We passed a GSE reform bill in the House, but we should also raise the cap on these entities portfolio limits, at least temporarily, and direct all of those funds to help borrowers who are stuck in risky adjustable rate mortgages refinance to safer mortgages. To make servicers more able to engage in workouts with strapped borrowers, we pushed FASB to clarify what its Standard 140 allows for modification of a loan when default is reasonably foreseeable, not just after default. Congress should eliminate the cruel anomaly under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code which allows judges to modify mortgages on a borrower's vacation home or investment property, but not the home they actually live in. This allows families to stay in their home while new loan terms are worked out. I think we should also eliminate the tax on debt forgiveness, sparing families the double-whammy of paying taxes on the lost value of their homes. Democrats in Congress Are Working to Prevent Another Crisis Our regulatory system is in serious need of renovation to catch up to the financial innovation that has surpassed our ability to protect consumers and hold institutions accountable.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, by every measure the war in Iraq has cost Americans far too much, whether it's lives lost, dollars spent, or our reputation tarnished around the world. House Democrats plan to send the President a smaller war funding bill than the one he requested but one with a bigger message: Start bringing our troops home now. Without a change in course, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Federal spending on the war could reach $2.4 trillion by 2017. A new report from the Joint Economic Committee finds that when you add in the ``hidden costs'' of the war, such as higher oil prices, interest payments, and helping to take care of our wounded veterans, the total economic costs will rise by over $1 trillion to $3.5 trillion. It's time for a new direction in Iraq.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3996, the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007. The Temporary Tax Relief Act will provide immediate tax relief for working families by preventing 23 million middle class families from paying higher taxes this April. Without this legislation, these 23 million families will be subjected to the alternative minimum tax, including almost 111,000 of my constituents. When the AMT was enacted, it was meant to ensure the wealthiest among us paid their fair share of a tax that was never designed to hit the pocketbooks of middle-class families. While this is only a temporary fix, I want to be clear that I hope we can move forward in the near future to provide a long-term solution to this problem. I am proud that Chairman Rangel has brought this fix to the floor today while still adhering to the pay-as-you-go promise this Democratic controlled Congress has promised the American people. While fixing the AMT is of outmost importance, we cannot afford to mortgage our children's and grandchildren's future to pay for this tax relief. Our country is currently burdened with over $9 trillion of national debt, each American's share at nearly $30,000. We simply cannot afford to keep adding to this. In addition to the AMT fix, this bill would increase the eligibility for the refundable child tax credit, it extends research and development tax credits to promote innovative and high-paying jobs, and we are providing tax relief to millions of homeowners suffering from the current subprime mortgage crisis. One concern that I do have with this legislation is the potential that the change to the taxation of ``carried interest'' may have the unintended consequence of capturing certain real estate partnerships. We should not treat capital gains in real estate partnerships as ordinary income. These partnerships invest their own capital and should continue to be taxed at the capital gains rate. I have joined a group of my colleagues asking for report language to clarify this issue and I hope that this concern will be addressed before final implementation of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, the Democrats in Congress are providing common sense tax relief for middle class American families and we are doing it in a fiscally responsible way. I urge this bill's adoption.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this conference report, which keeps our commitments to our veterans and invests in critical domestic priorities to strengthen our Nation. By putting the needs of the American people first, we are moving in a new direction to make overdue investments in education, health care, and jobs. We're doing this in a bipartisan way: both pieces of the bill originally passed the House with strong bipartisan support. I would like to thank Chairman Obey again for working with Representative Weldon to secure an important provision that Representative Weldon put forward in today's LHHS conference report that will ban the use of funds from being used to administer a mercury- containing flu vaccine to children under the age of three. This provision implements the policy advocated by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Public Health Service, and vaccine manufacturers. Providing our children with safe vaccines is long overdue. In addition to making vaccines safer, helping families pay for college, funding job training and providing for groundbreaking medical research, this bill helps the heroes of 9/11 who have become sick because of their work at Ground Zero. These are police officers, fire fighters, cleanup workers and others who risked their lives in the hours after the planes hit and risked their health in the weeks and months that followed, laboring in the toxic dust and fumes. For the first time, funding for 9/11 health needs is being included in regular spending. The $52.5 million included in the conference report will go a long way in providing medical monitoring and treatment for everyone exposed to the toxins of Ground Zero. I have to emphasize again the ``everyone.'' I have always said that it shouldn't matter what hat you were wearing after 9/11, because everyone was exposed to the same toxins. Provisions in the bill recognize that reality; for the first time residents, area workers and school children who were exposed to the deadly toxins will move toward having the same high quality care that responders have. We've been fighting for residents for a long time, and this is a giant first step in taking care of them. I want to sincerely thank Chairman Obey and his outstanding subcommittee staff for their hard work. It is critical that the Federal Government step up to the plate and fulfill its responsibility to all the victims of the attacks of September 11. New Yorkers know it, people from everywhere else in the Nation know it, and this spending measure shows that Congress knows it, as well. The President should sign this bill to keep our commitment to our veterans and invest in crucial domestic priorities, so that we can show all Americans we're serious about putting the people's priorities first and ensuring that the heroes and heroines of 9/11 get the care they need and deserve. It is the least we can do as a grateful Nation.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, on November 5, 2007, due to transportation delays I was unable to cast my floor vote on rollcall votes 1034, 1035, and 1036. Had I been present for the votes, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 1034, 1035, and 1036.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support and thank Congressmembers Klein and Mahoney for their leadership. I have long held the belief that we need solutions to the growing crisis of availability and affordability of homeowner insurance. That is why I was the sponsor of the National Catastrophe Insurance Act in previous congresses, which would have established a Federal reinsurance plan following a disaster with more than $50 billion in insured losses. Right now we are seeing the consequences of not having these products available. In the wake of a series of devastating hurricanes, large swaths of our country are seeing insurance companies either leaving the market or premiums that are simply too high for homeowners to afford. The legislation before us focuses on stabilizing the catastrophic insurance market by expanding private insurance capacity to cover natural disasters and by helping States better manage risk. This legislation allows States to participate in the plan by allowing their State-sponsored insurance funds to voluntarily pool their catastrophic risk with one another. The private market, and not taxpayers, will take on the risk through the purchasing of catastrophic bonds and reinsurance contracts. Just as I support other efforts such as TRIA to provide certainty after catastrophic events, I believe it is prudent to put in place a system that insures risk. This allows affected communities and our economy as a whole to respond to each and every disaster in a clear and rational manner while protecting the residents, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the underlying bill and the Baldwin amendment. ENDA will offer real protections to tens of millions of Americans now. Right now, far too many workers go to work every day fearing that they could be fired on the spot, no questions asked, if their employer discovered their sexual orientation. This year, it is legal in 30 States to fire someone simply because he or she is gay, lesbian or bisexual. Hardworking, tax-paying Americans shouldn't be forced into the shadows, and they should not have to live with the constant, legitimate fear that they could lose their jobs. That is why I strongly support providing protection from discrimination to transgender Americans, and I will not rest until their right to live their lives free of fear, discrimination, and intolerance is the law of this land. Mr. Speaker, I know from my years on the city council where we worked to pass similar legislation and my years in the women's movement that we need to make history now and pass the underlying bill and protect people here in America now. No one should be discriminated against because of his or her sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. And this bill will also lay the groundwork to provide sorely needed protections in the future to countless more Americans who need and deserve them. This historic advance for civil rights has been more than three decades in the making--and it has not come easy. When Bella Abzug first introduced a sexual orientation civil rights bill in 1974, she was able to enlist only one cosponsor, Ed Koch, my predecessor in the district that I represent. It stood absolutely no chance of passage. We've come a long way since then, but our progress has been hard- fought and incremental. Most of our greatest legislative victories have only been achieved step by step. The measure before us today is by no means complete or definitive. The sad truth is that transgender Americans need and deserve protection from employment discrimination. All too often they bear the brunt of brutal bigotry, and are subject to unspeakable hatred and violence. That is why I strongly support providing protection from discrimination to transgender Americans. And I will not rest until their right to live their lives free of fear, discrimination and intolerance is the law of the land. In 1986, when I served on the New York City Council, we succeeded in passing legislation to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment and housing. That bill had come before the Council repeatedly since 1971. It took 15 years, but we finally managed to pass it. It was only later that the Council enacted specific protections for the transgender community. Many said the 19th Amendment didn't go far enough when that passed. While it gave women the right to vote, it didn't address a host of social inequities between men and women, many of which persist today. Decades after that Amendment was ratified, we passed the Equal Pay Act and title VII. And, while we still haven't passed the Equal Rights Amendment, I remain optimistic that our day will soon come. The New Direction Democratic Congress passed a hate crimes bill earlier this year that included important protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. And we hope to have another important victory here today. I'm confident these incremental successes will lay the foundation for additional protections for the entire LGBT community in the future. And so, while I deeply regret that transgender Americans are not protected by the legislation before us today, I nonetheless urge my distinguished colleagues to support it. I do so with the knowledge and the determination that we will be back to continue to press the fight for all Americans to live free from discrimination. I urge my colleagues to help make history today by supporting this landmark legislation and taking this important step towards ensuring that discrimination based on sexual orientation will not be tolerated in the United States of America. I would also like to thank Speaker Pelosi, Congressman Frank, and Congresswoman Baldwin for their leadership in this critical battle for civil rights.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Chairman, I rise in strong support of this bill, and I urge my colleagues to help make history today by taking this important step forward. Madam Chairman, I rise in strong support of this bill. I urge my colleagues to help make history today by taking this important step towards ensuring that discrimination based on sexual orientation will not be tolerated in the United States of America. In the year 2007, it is legal in 30 states to fire someone simply because he or she is gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Hardworking, tax-paying Americans shouldn't have to live with the constant, legitimate fear they could lose their jobs. No one should be discriminated against because of his or her sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. This bill will also lay the groundwork to provide sorely needed protections in the future to countless more Americans who need and deserve them. History has shown that progress in the struggle for civil rights has been hard fought and incremental. Most of our greatest legislative victories have only been achieved step by step. While the measure before us today is by no means complete or definitive, I believe that the passage of this measure today will lay the foundation to provide additional protections in the future for the entire LGBT community. So while I deeply regret that transgender Americans are not protected by this bill, I nonetheless urge my distinguished colleagues to support it. I do so with the knowledge and the determination that we will be back to continue to press the fight for all Americans to live free from discrimination.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the amendment offered today by my distinguished colleague, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. Transgender Americans need and deserve protection from employment discrimination. All too often they bear the brunt of brutal bigotry, and are subject to unspeakable hatred and violence inspired by fear and ignorance. That is why I strongly support this amendment to provide protection from job discrimination to transgender Americans. Congress took an important step earlier this year when we passed a hate crimes bill that included protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. It is unfortunate that there is not at this time the same degree of support in the House to pass this measure. Discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression should simply not be tolerated in the United States of America. And, while there may not be enough support for us to pass this amendment today, I pledge to work with my distinguished colleague from Wisconsin and other like-minded Members to educate and persuade this House of the need to enact protections from discrimination for transgender Americans. We will not rest until the right of every American, regardless of his or her gender identity or gender expression, to live free of fear, discrimination and intolerance is the law of the land. I urge my distinguished colleagues in this House to strike a blow for justice and tolerance by passing this amendment.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I congratulate the dean of our delegation for his leadership on this important agreement, and I rise in strong support. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement. This agreement represents a new direction for trade agreements. This agreement will provide greater market access for and remove tariffs on American goods with a country that already enjoys the export of a number of goods to the United States duty-free. Working off the historic agreement negotiated by Democrats in May of this year, this agreement has been negotiated to include critical labor and environmental provisions and will help ensure the economic and national security of the region. It was the lack of these environmental and labor standards that led me to vote against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Among the labor standards negotiated in this agreement are worker rights and protections for which we have fought these many years. As a result of the May 10 agreement negotiated by House Democrats, the labor chapter of the Peru FTA includes a fully enforceable commitment that countries adopt and enforce the five basic international labor standards. In addition, this agreement also includes commitments to enforce a sixth set of rights--those pertaining to acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work and occupational safety and health. This agreement includes critical new environmental provisions. It requires Peru to adopt, maintain, and enforce obligations under seven common multilateral environmental agreements; specify numerous concrete steps that Peru must take to curb illegal logging and impose a clear schedule for doing so; and it gives the United States an unprecedented set of enforcement tools to ensure that Peru meets its environmental commitments. These provisions are a far cry from the ``enforce your own laws'' of NAFTA and CAFTA. Beyond the labor and environmental standards negotiated in this agreement, I believe this agreement is a vital instrument towards economic and political security. Having a strong and stable ally in Latin America will allow aid to the United States in our continued battle against narcotic trafficking. Again, I support this agreement and I urge its passage.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Lenox Hill Hospital on the occasion of its 150th Anniversary. Lenox Hill Hospital is an accredited not-for-profit acute-care hospital and teaching affiliate of New York University Medical Center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Lenox Hill Hospital has become renowned for furthering medical research and establishing a tradition of excellence in patient care. It has earned a national reputation for outstanding medical care and treatment. Lenox Hill Hospital was established in 1857 as the German Dispensary and today provides specialty services and ground-breaking care for millions of patients each year. Approximately 45% of Lenox Hill Hospital's patients are from Manhattan. The remaining 55% come from Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Long Island, the Tri-State area and around the world. Lenox Hill Hospital is particularly well known for its excellence in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, orthopedics, sports medicine, maternal/child health and medical research. For the past 150 years, Lenox Hill Hospital has been a leading innovator in many fields of medicine, developing standards and practices that became models for other hospitals throughout the country. In 1897, the hospital installed one of the first X-ray machines in the United States. Ten years later, the hospital established the first physical therapy department in the country. In 1938, Lenox Hill was the first hospital to perform an angiocardiogram in the nation and in 1955 it became one of the first hospitals in New York City to open a cardiac catheterization laboratory. The first coronary angioplasty in the United States was performed at Lenox Hill in 1978. In 1994, Lenox Hill Hospital surgeons pioneered minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery. In 2003, the first FDA approved drug coated stent in the nation was implemented at Lenox Hill. In 2006, Lenox Hill opened a new radiology center featuring the only SPECT-CT in the Northeast, a machine which allows physicians to see inside the body in great detail and a new 64- slice CT scanner, one of the most highly advanced computerized imaging technologies available today. Lenox Hill is respected as a leading responder to health crises. When tuberculosis was becoming a growing public health threat, Lenox Hill Hospital was the first general hospital in the United States to open a tuberculosis division in 1908. In 1943, Lenox Hill Hospital sent its medical unit to England to maintain station hospitals for military personnel during World War II. In 1989, the hospital established the first Lyme Disease Center in New York City. In keeping with its tradition of providing an immediate and necessary response during times of crisis, on September 11th, when terrorists struck the World Trade Center, Lenox Hill assembled a disaster team that came to the aid of hundreds of New Yorkers. The hospital set up a free walk-in Crisis Counseling Center as well as a blood donor center. Lenox Hill Hospital, as it has done in the past, provided aid to people when it was needed the most and became a beacon of hope for so many on that horrific day. Madam Speaker, I rise to request that my colleagues join me in paying tribute to Lenox Hill Hospital and its legacy of medical innovation and excellence in patient care.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Orphans International Worldwide and to its dedicated Founder and President, James Luce. Orphans International Worldwide is an innovative interfaith, interracial, intergenerational and Internet-connected non- profit initiative that helps the world's disadvantaged orphaned and abandoned children meet critical needs. By realizing his dream of developing an extensive international network of affiliated organizations working to help the world's youngest and most vulnerable citizens to overcome extraordinarily difficult circumstances, Jim Luce has truly distinguished himself as an extraordinarily dedicated and effective humanitarian, activist, and philanthropist. With its North American offices headquartered in New York's Fourteenth Congressional District, Orphans International was founded in 1999 by the former investment banker Jim Luce in response to the global crises confronting children in disadvantaged circumstances, including the worldwide AIDS epidemic, natural disasters, low health standards and inadequate medical care, and devastating poverty. Assuming a carefully structured, sustainable approach, Orphans International has adopted as its vital mission the worthy goal of ``Raising Global Citizens.'' The organization helps address both the immediate needs of orphaned and abandoned children and the long-term development goals of improving disadvantaged communities in its project nations, whose list is expanding to include Indonesia, Guyana, Haiti, El Salvador, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Togo. In recognition of its effectiveness in serving disadvantaged youngsters around the globe, Orphans International Worldwide was recognized by the United Nations as an official Non-Governmental Organization in December 2006. Today, Jim Luce and Orphans International Worldwide continue not only to assure the survival of the disadvantaged and abandoned children they serve, but also to enable them to become contributing members of a global society by rendering service to their local communities. Orphans International often operates in troubled, regions grappling with the fallout from disasters caused by natural, economic, and political conditions. Through its programming, Orphans International instills in those whom it serves the values of leadership, conflict resolution, diversity and tolerance, and global citizenship, frequently bringing American students into a global partnership to help achieve these laudable goals. Madam Speaker, I rise to request that my distinguished colleagues join me in recognizing Orphans International Worldwide and its Founder and President Jim Luce for their tireless efforts to promote the well- being of orphaned and abandoned children and to help realize the innate worth, dignity and potential of all citizens of the world.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, today the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Sex trafficking has been called the slavery issue of the 21st century. And because girls and women are its victims, it is one of the great women's issues of our time. The lives of trafficking victims are pure horror. These photographs that are in the current issue of Prism magazine include mug shots or photographs of trafficked women arrested for prostitution over periods ranging from 1 to no more than 3 years. Better than words could ever convey, the photos display the destruction that takes place for hundreds of thousands of trafficked girls and women. Notice how when they were first arrested, they all look distinctly different. But in the end, they all look the same. You cannot tell the difference from one to the other. That is because they have been abused, psychologically battered, broken and devastated at the hands of their pimps. We need effective prosecution strategies against their traffickers. We need to protect the victims of the sex trade industry and punish the predators who exploit them.