Carolyn Maloney

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, today I am reintroducing the Cancer Screening Coverage Act (CASCA). This legislation will increase the number of Americans who are covered for breast, cervical, prostate, and colorectal cancer screening. According to the American Cancer Society, this year, more than 560,000 Americans are expected to die of cancer--this is more than 1,500 people a day. The number alone is unsettling, but even worse, is the fact that we have screening tools that can help identify cancers in its early stages and begin treatment sooner. Cancer screening allows for the detection of cancer in its earliest form, when the cost of treatment is the least. The survival rate among cancer patients is heavily dependent on improvements in treatment and the early diagnosis of cancer. Many advances have been made, but the key to survival is early detection. It is estimated that the rate of survival would increase from 80 percent to 95 percent if all Americans participated in regular cancer screenings. This bill will go a long way toward getting Americans screened. Cancer is the second leading cause of death among Americans and accounts for 1 out of every 4 deaths in the United States. The American Cancer Society anticipates about 1,479,350 new cancer cases were diagnosed in 2009. In an effort to ensure that people are screened and that these screenings are covered by health insurance, I am reintroducing the Cancer Screening Coverage Act (CASCA). My bill will increase the access to cancer screening exams for patients of private insurance and the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan. The National Institutes of Health estimates overall costs of cancer in 2008 at $228.1 billion and lack of health insurance prevents many Americans from receiving optimal care. My bill requires coverage of mammograms, clinical breast examinations, Pap tests and pelvic examinations, colorectal cancer screening procedures and prostate cancer screening. By increasing access to cancer screening and early detection, we can make certain that Americans are able to receive the proper medical treatment and reduce the number of deaths caused by cancer.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to strongly condemn the recent arson attacks on Jan. 5 and 16 targeting the historic Jewish synagogue in the port-city of Hania on the island of Crete. The Etz-Hayyim Synagogue holds a library of religious books and functions as a museum and memorial in the ancient harbor city of Chania. Etz-Hayyim dates back to the Middle Ages and serves as one of the last Jewish monuments on the island of Crete, in addition to serving as a house of worship. I applaud the Greek authorities' quick action and recent arrests of the suspected perpetrators of the attacks and urge the individuals responsible be swiftly brought to justice. The State Department has praised the Greek government for condemning the attacks and taking a strong stand against anti-Semitism and racism. I join them in their praise and congratulate the Greek government for its swift and decisive reaction. These are only the most recent in a series of anti-Semitic incidents to surface in Greece from Veria to Ioannina and to Volos in the recent past. In fact, this type of virulent anti-Semitism continues to rise worldwide and must be met with equal defiance and determination to defeat those who would perform these despicable acts. We must not let this type of anti-Semitism percolate as the world has seen the evil that stems from this type of hatred and bigotry. I stand firmly with Greece and the Jewish community of Hania, and Jewish communities around the world, and implore the international community to voice their outrage against this intolerance. I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, it is my great pleasure to pay tribute to the Federation of Italian American Organizations of Queens for its tremendous contributions to the civic, social and cultural life of our nation's greatest city. This month the Federation is installing its slate of 2010 officers at a ceremony presided over by State Senator George Onorato at the Istria Sport Club in Astoria. The Federation of Italian American Organization of Queens was founded in 1971 to represent and unify the diverse Italian American community in Queens. Currently the Federation is comprised of thirty-four member groups, which each serve the community in a unique and substantial manner. By providing an umbrella organization for these dozens of institutions, the Federation has enhanced the ability of all its member organizations to accomplish their goals and advance their interests. The Federation not only offers assistance to its member organizations, it directly offers a variety of services to individuals of all nationalities. It assists senior citizens with health, housing and insurance issues. Youths are served through the Federation's Drug Awareness Run and Soccer programs. It helps meet the wider community's diverse needs through the Federation's voter registration drives, as well as by offering classes in Defensive Driving and English as a Second Language. I am pleased to join you in honoring the men and women the Federation of Italian American Organizations of Queens is installing as its new officers. I congratulate the Federation's President Joseph DiPietro, First Vice President Joseph Gaeta, Second Vice President Caterina Curatoio, Third Vice President Jerry Iannece, Treasurer Gino Macari, Assistant Treasurer Angelo Capone, Public Relations officer Maria Fosco, Recording Secretary Vincenza Russo, Assistant Recording Secretary Sandro Iannese, Correspondence Secretary John Ciafone, Parliamentarian Carlo Bucich, Historian Joseph Chiarappa, and Sergeant at Arms Anthony Barrata. Under their leadership, this important organization will surely continue to be a valuable resource to the community. Madam Speaker, I ask that my distinguished colleagues join me in saluting the great work of the Federation of Italian American Organizations of Queens, and in recognizing the extraordinary men and women of the Federation and their contributions to the quality of life in New York City.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing bipartisan legislation along with my friend and colleague from Pennsylvania, Representative Charlie Dent: the Tanning Bed Cancer Control Act. In July 2009, the World Health Organization moved tanning beds into their highest cancer risk category, ``carcinogenic to humans.'' This new classification places tanning beds alongside tobacco smoke, asbestos, and uranium as known cancer-causing agents. This science clearly tells us that regulatory safeguards must be put in place to protect the more than 1 million people who tan in tanning salons across the country each day. One American dies of melanoma almost every hour. We can no longer ignore the startling health effects of indoor tanning. This bill empowers the FDA to examine two sides of tanning bed regulation. First, it requires a study be conducted to determine whether or not tanning beds are appropriately classified in accordance with the risks of their use. Right now, tanning beds are classified in the lowest risk category, class I. Other examples of class I devices are Band Aids and tongue depressors, devices that pose no risk to consumers at all. The bill also addresses performance standards-- factors such as the strength of the UV rays emitted and the recommended amount of time a consumer should remain in the bed. These standards have not been amended since 1985. Finally, the legislation calls on the FDA to carry out its own findings published in a 2008 Report to Congress and edit the warning label requirements to clearly and more effectively inform consumers of the health risks associated with tanning bed use. This legislation does not seek to tell the FDA what to do; rather, it empowers the FDA to use its own authority to ensure that tanning bed regulations reflect science. There is no longer any mystery to this issue: tanning beds emit UV rays. UV rays cause cancer. It's very simple and deceptively dangerous. We cannot afford to stand by and watch people suffer as a result of misinformation and poor regulation.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, the Joint Economic Committee, which I chair, has just released a report entitled ``Understanding the Economy, State by State.'' The report provides quick and easy access to the major economic indicators for all 50 States in the areas of jobs, unemployment, personal earnings, and housing. It paints a by-the- numbers picture of the current economic reality in each of our 50 States. Every picture tells a story that is at once both informative and sobering. The report captures the enormity of the economic damage caused by the Great Recession that began in December of 2007, while making clear that the United States economy has improved and begun to grow since the Bush administration left office. And this shows that the last month the Bush administration was in office this country lost over 750,000 jobs. Nationally, there has been a substantial decrease in the rate of job losses. The economy started losing jobs in January of 2008, increasing at a rapid rate throughout the year. The average quarterly job loss has now declined from a staggering 691,000 jobs lost per month in the first quarter of 2009 to 69,000 jobs in the most recent quarter, yet even that number is unacceptable. And as you delve into the report, it provides a more localized and precise picture for each State. A chart like this is available for all 50 States. This chart, for example, is for my home State of New York. It shows at a glance the monthly change in private payrolls from January of 2008 to December of 2009. You can see that the unemployment rate in New York was 9 percent in December of 2009. That's up 4.4 percentage points from December of 2007. It has been a bumpy road, but you can see clearly that the trend is now in the right direction. A scatter chart is also included in the report, and for New York State it reveals at a glance that the unemployment rate is below the national rate, and that total job losses have been smaller than U.S. averages. The economies of the States vary enormously. New York's economy depends heavily on information technology and financial services. Some States that are more dependent on construction and manufacturing have been hit much harder by job losses. An economic overview and outlook accompanies each State chart. The one for New York provides an estimate from the President's Council of Economic Advisers that employment in New York was boosted by a total of 141,000 jobs through the fourth quarter of 2009 by the investments we made through the Recovery Act. It also shows that real per capita personal income in New York was 43,000 in the third quarter of 2009, down from 45,000 in the third quarter of 2007. There is also useful information on housing for each State, and it too varies enormously. For instance, the median price for single family homes in New York was $290,000 in 2008, compared to $250,000 nationwide. And in New York in November, housing starts increased by 52 percent over October to a total of 18,000 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. You can review the report online at www.jec.senate.gov. The majority staff will continue to update the data throughout the year in order to track the progress our economy will be making month by month. But from this first edition, it is abundantly clear why this Congress is so focused on job growth. Americans are demanding, and rightly so, that we must do all we can to grow the economy and help create new private sector jobs. The hard facts and real-life consequences of the economic policies of the prior administration don't make for a very pretty picture right now. Mr. Speaker, stay tuned. The American spirit of innovation is on the way and individual resilience are ready and raring to go.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, as we consider new job initiatives to create more jobs for unemployed Americans, the Joint Economic Committee will be producing a series of charts over the next few weeks to help us better understand the economic missteps that led and contributed to this great recession. This chart goes back to 1992, the year that President Clinton was elected. It shows that during his time there was very robust job creation in the private sector, and then during the Bush years it fell dramatically. This dark line is the job creation, going up during the Clinton years, falling dramatically under the Bush administration. It also shows that Democrats have been considerably more effective at creating private-sector jobs. Economic reality was actually even worse than this chart shows. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has pointed out, job creation during the Bush administration was fueled by a bubble that inflated housing prices and spurred consumption and hiring, and when that bubble burst, the bottom fell out. We owe it to the millions of unemployed who fell victim to the failed economic policies of the past to invest in Democratic job creation policies that have actually put people back to work in the private sector.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, on January 19, 2010, I missed rollcall votes Nos. 6, 7, and 8. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes No. 6, congratulating the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine for its 150 years of commitment to advancing science and improving health, No. 7, congratulating the Penn State women's volleyball team on winning the 2009 NCAA Division I national championship, and No. 8, commending the University of Virginia men's soccer team for winning the 2009 Division I NCAA National Championship.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, this is a map from a new report by the Government Accountability Office that I requested in my role as Chair of the Joint Economic Committee. The report provides a detailed understanding of the state of the housing market at the end of June 2009, and it provides a sobering picture of the housing crisis this administration, President Obama, inherited. By the end of last June, 1.7 million of the nonprime mortgages that originated from 2000-2007 had completed the foreclosure process. This map shows the estimated percentage of seriously delinquent nonprime loans by congressional district. It also serves as a map of the economic damage and social pain caused by lending practices of the past decade that were unsound by any measure. Last year, this House passed financial regulatory reform to protect both consumers and our economy from the damaging effects of predatory lending. This sobering map is a reminder of why this legislation needs to pass into law.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4462 which would allow Americans to deduct the charitable contributions they make to the Haitian relief efforts in January and February of 2010 on their 2009 tax returns. I commend Chairman Rangel for bringing this bill forward and I urge my colleagues to support it. The toll of human suffering in Haiti is unimaginable, with up to an estimated 200,000 people who have lost their lives and nearly 3 million people affected by the earthquake. Haiti is the poorest, least developed country in the Western Hemisphere which, even before the quake, suffered from political instability, hurricanes, and food shortages. Even so, the loss of life and destruction from this disaster has left the country in a state of collapse not seen in Haiti in over two centuries. The images of death and devastation coming from Haiti are driving Americans to donate their time, money, and supplies--it is truly America at its best. All donations, large and small, are helping to provide crucial necessities for this relief effort. Millions of dollars are pouring into non-profit organizations that are making sure that money and supplies go directly where they need to go, to the people of Haiti. The bill we pass today will help encourage even more donations. We know that the effort to rebuild Haiti and care for those who have been injured will continue for some time to come. The people of Haiti need our help and I am pleased that we are doing all that we can to promote the generosity Americans have shown since the devastating earthquake shook Haiti last week. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4462.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay special tribute to Julian Wager, the legndary civic activist and community leader in the communities of western Queens, who passed away this month. Aptly honored as the ``Honorary Mayor of Long Island City'' for his extraordinary character and dedication to the neighborhoods of the city he loved, Julie Wager was a uniquely beloved figure who provided lifelong service to others. Over the course of six decades, Mr. Wager sought tirelessly to expand and improve professional, financial and networking opportunities for businesses and residents in the Borough of Queens. He provided both entrepreneurial and philanthropic services to the people of his beloved community of Astoria. His family's business, Genius Shop, has been an integral part of the fabric of the vibrant Astoria community for more than half a century. Among his many notable contributions to the resilient Astoria neighborhood, Julie Wager helped ensure the commercial vibrance of Steinway Street for future generations. Mr. Wager was once memorably quoted as saying, ``We work together within the communities, and we appreciate the values of the residents and the merchants. These are the people that support the myriad of charities that exist out there, not the trendy franchised stores who just take the bucks and get out.'' True to those precepts, Julie Wager was one of the foremost reasons why the business and commercial communities of western Queens remain a thriving hub of commercial activity while also serving as livable communities for tens of thousands of New Yorkers. Among his extensive contributions to the civic and commercial life of western Queens, Julie Wager served as president of the Steinway Street Merchants Association for more than a quarter century. In 1979, he founded the Central Astoria Local Development Coalition and has served as its president for more than two decades. In 1991, he established the Steinway Street Business Improvement District, serving as its president and executive vice president. Having suffered a serious spinal injury in 2000 that left him a paraplegic, Julie Wager remained undaunted in his valiant perseverance and undeterred from his determination to volunteer his energies on behalf of others. He served as vice president of the Walter Kaner Foundation; former chairperson of A Way Out; and as a member of Queens Community Board 1 for more than three decades. He was also an enterprising and dedicated advertising director for the Queens Gazette, an institutional pillar of the communities he knew and loved so well. He leaves six daughters and nine grandchildren. Like them, the residents and communities of western Queens know that we shall not see the likes of Julie Wager again, and we are all the poorer for it. Madam Speaker, I salute the life and work of Mr. Julian Wager and I ask that my distinguished colleagues in this House join me in recognizing his extraordinary service and contributions to the civic and business life of our nation's greatest city.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the achievements of my good friend John Hobbs, a remarkable man who distinguished himself in his personal and professional endeavors. A respected, highly successful pioneer in the investment management industry, John Hobbs was also a selfless civic activist and philanthropist who was dedicated to education and to the pursuit of justice and civil rights. He bequeathes a legacy of professional excellence and compassion for others. John Hobbs demonstrated a lifelong dedication to education and youth development. He attended Wesleyan University and earned an A.B. and M.B.A. degrees from Harvard University. He served on the Harvard Graduate School of Education's and the Harvard Business School's Dean's Advisory Boards and co-chaired--along with his late wife of 46 years, Elisabeth Atwater Hobbs--the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Capital Campaign. As the Campaign Steering Committee's Co-Chairs in the 1990s, John and Liz helped raise $111 million, the largest sum ever raised by a school of education. They endowed the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Chair of Cognition and Education held by Prof. Howard Gardner. They also helped many students cover education costs through the Hobbs Fellowship. John had been Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Common Cents in NYC, on the Governing Board of the Graduate Faculty of the New School University and on the Board of the Foundation for Child Development. He was also a dedicated patriot who served in the United States Air Force Reserve. As an investment manager, John Hobbs was a co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Jennison Associates, one of Wall Street's first independent institutional investment management firms. At the time, institutional investment portfolios were managed primarily by large bank investment departments, insurance companies, and investment counselors. John and his colleagues built Jennison with the belief that in-house fundamental research and specialized investment teams would generate superior long- term investment returns. Now a subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Jennison manages more than $90 billion in assets for major institutions, mutual funds, and private individuals. Many of its existing client relationships were established while he was Chief Executive Officer. He was instrumental in Jennison's expansion beyond equities into the institutional fixed income market. He was named Jennison's president and chief executive officer in 1976 and became chairman in 1994. In 1996, he took on added responsibilities as president of institutional asset management for the global money management group of Prudential. In 2000, he took the helm of Prudential's entire equity asset management business, including the active quantitative management firm Quantitative Management Associates. He served as Jennison's vice chairman from late 2002 until he retired in 2003. After the death of his wife, he returned to work and was most recently the vice chairman of Madison Asset Management Group, LLC, a global infrastructure investment specialist. In addition to his beloved wife who predeceased him, John Hobbs was the devoted father of Margaret M., George C. and Kate H. Hobbs; beloved brother of Eleanor Richardson of Niantic, Conn., and Margaret Sudbury of Winchester, MA. He is also survived by loving nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. Madam Speaker, in recognition of a lifetime of service to others, I request that my colleagues join me in paying tribute to the late John Hobbs, a great American who made immeasurable improvements to our civic life. John Hobbs' selfless and enduring dedication to others inspires us all.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, the Joint Economic Committee, which I chair, has just launched a nonpartisan outreach looking for new and creative ideas to accelerate job creation in our struggling economy. The JEC is looking for ideas that come from outside the bubble of the Beltway and that may be outside the box of conventional thinking. We are surveying executives at Fortune 100 companies as well as at leading small businesses across America looking for their ideas and innovations. The administration has already identified some of the things we must do to create jobs, including the passage of health care reform. Under the status quo, the soaring costs of medical care serves as a hidden tax on employers in the form of higher health care premiums. But we are committed to doing more, and we are eager to hear the best ideas from the sharpest minds in the country, looking for innovative new ways to create jobs and produce an economy that is stronger, fairer, and brighter.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I strongly believe that open spaces and community parks are a critical part of urban infrastructure. That's why today I am reintroducing the Revitalizing Cities Through Parks Enhancement (RECIPE) Act, that would establish a $10 million grant program for qualified, non-profit, community groups, allowing them to lease municipally owned vacant lots and transform these areas into parks. Parks and gardens created with the grants will not only provide safe places to gather, but will increase property values as well. The grants will be available from the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to groups who have met standards of financial security, and who have histories of serving their communities. To further ensure that these grants are used to make lasting positive changes, land improved and made into open community space under this legislation must be available for use as open space from the local government for at least seven years.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I would like to respond to my good friend on the other side of the aisle from the great State of North Carolina who pointed out that there are many jobless Americans. That's true, but let's put this in perspective. The last month that former President Bush was in office, this country lost over 750,000 jobs. Under President Barack Obama's leadership, we are trending in the right direction. This last month, we lost 11,000 jobs. The last 5 months of the Bush administration, they lost well over 600,000 jobs. And as Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz pointed out at a joint economic hearing last week, that job creation during the Bush administration was fueled by an artificial bubble. Inflated housing prices and a ballooning real estate market spurred consumption and hiring and put us in a very dangerous position where we find ourselves today. We owe it to the 15 million jobless Americans to invest in aggressive job creation policies which will be on the floor today in the Democratic jobs program.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, on December 14, 2009 I missed rollcall votes Nos. 969 and 970. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 969, recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of National Runaway Prevention Month and, No. 970, commending the Real Salt Lake Soccer Club for winning the 2009 Major League Soccer Cup.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, while one month with fewer job losses does not show success, it certainly shows that we are trending in the right direction. This blue is since President Obama took office; the red is the time under former President Bush. You see back in January of 2008 we started losing jobs. Here is when the Presidential candidate for the Republicans claimed that the fundamentals of our economy were sound. And in the last month that President Bush was in office, this country lost over 740,000 jobs. The blue shows the direction under the Obama administration where we are trending in the right direction. It's not success, but it certainly shows we are trending in the right direction from over 70,000 jobs to 11,000 jobs. It's a tragedy for any family that has lost a job, but it does show that one election has truly made a difference in our economy.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speakers, I am pleased to join my colleagues Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Congressman Jerry Nadler in introducing bipartisan legislation that addresses a horrific period in world history: World War II and the deportation of millions of Jews and others to concentration camps. This bill would affect French railroad companies, which took more than 75,000 Jews from France to concentration camps during World War II, less than 3 percent of whom survived. Under current law, these foreign entities are immune from legal action. Specifically, the bill provides plaintiffs the right to seek damages against the French National Railway (Societe Nationale des Chemines Fers Francais--SNCF) in Federal Court for its transportation of French and other Jews to Auschwitz as well as its supply of personnel to facilitate the transportation and the assessed charges per person. The French Government claims immunity from legal action due to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, yet the FSIA was passed 30 years after the action causing the damages for which the plaintiffs seek. The bill allows the plaintiffs to sue regardless of the strictures of the FSIA. Nothing will ever make up for the unthinkable atrocities undertaken by Nazi Germany and its sympathizers during World War II, but every bit of justice is important. No perpetrator or accomplice of the Holocaust should ever go unpunished. This bill allows some measure of closure for those who have suffered for far too long.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1242) to amend the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to provide for additional monitoring and accountability of the Troubled Assets Relief Program, as amended.

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert additional material.

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of H.R. 1242, the TARP Accountability and Disclosure Act of 2009. This bill would require the Department of the Treasury to establish an electronic database for tracking all TARP funds. The bill would create a database available to the public on the Internet that will track in real time the spending of funds in the Federal Government's Troubled Asset Relief Program called TARP. If UPS can track millions of packages clear across the world on any continent at any time, we can certainly track where $700 billion in taxpayers' money has gone. In fact, we have a duty to do so. When TARP began, the Treasury Department never required the financial institutions it funded to explain what they did with the money. And over a year later, we still do not know. It is past time for us to have a system so that the American people can tell in real time, enhancing its value as a regulatory tool and also as a preventative oversight tool. Taxpayers have a right to know how their tax dollars are being used. I believe that in order to ensure transparency, we should require the use of the technological tools that are available today. Currently, TARP data are presented in filings in over 25 different agencies, including filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Web sites, Federal Reserve registration data, the FDIC data, over-the-counter trades, and Commodities Futures Trading Commission data. The data sources are not only housed in different agencies but are in incompatible systems and formats, making the material unusable. These agencies are unable to share the data with each other and to learn from it. The bill, which I have coauthored with Representative Peter King and 42 of my colleagues, requires all relevant TARP data, including regulatory filings and public records, to be collected by the Department of the Treasury and put in a consistent standardized format so that TARP funds will be transparent and traceable. This bill would also provide the ability to monitor inconsistencies that may indicate waste, fraud, and abuse at both the corporate and individual officer levels. By using tools that currently exist, individual filings and transactions can be pulled together to create a single view of an institution and provide better management and regulatory oversight. The basic data elements would include but not be limited to the following: the capture and standardization of every transaction the institution is involved with, wherever possible; news releases, press releases and other sources of public data; counterparty filings; securities transactions; UCC filings in certain cases; and transaction data, including mortgages, debt issuance, and fund participation. In the simplest terms, my bill allows the question to be answered, Where has the money gone? And this is a question that pundits and taxpayers ask every single day. Recently, Elizabeth Warren, who is one of the oversight regulators, stated in testimony that she has no idea where the TARP money is. This bill would change this. This would put safeguards in to ensure that proprietary information about financial services companies is not disclosed, and this bill does not put any additional burden on industry. It merely puts in a usable form information that is already required by regulators. There is broad support for this bill from close to 40 groups from across the political field, including the Center for Democracy and Technology, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the NAACP, and the Heritage Foundation. I would like to place into the Record the list of supporters from respective organizations. Groups that have publicly endorsed the bill (or if a 501c(3) support the ``idea or policy goals'' of the legislation since they cannot directly support a specific bill): United States Chamber of Commerce; Center for Democracy and Technology; OMB Watch; Project On Government Oversight; Taxpayers for Common Sense; OpenTheGovernment.org; Institute for Policy Innovation; Competitive Enterprise Institute; NAACP; Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF). National Puerto Rican Coalition (NPRC); The Hispanic Federation; Information Technology Industry Council; Heritage Foundation; Americans for Tax Reform; Center for Fiscal Accountability; 60 Plus Association; Alabama Policy Institute; American Shareholders Association; Americans for Limited Government. Americans for Prosperity; Caesar Rodney Institute; Center for Individual Freedom; Center-Right Coalition of Florida; Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending & Taxes; Council for Citizens Against Government Waste; Grassroot Institute of Hawaii; Illinois Alliance for Growth; Illinois Policy Institute; Institute for Liberty. Maine Heritage Policy Center; Mississippi Center for Public Policy; National Taxpayers Union; Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Inc.; Pelican Institute for Public Policy; Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research; Rhode Island Tea Party; Small Business Hawaii; The Aarons Company; Kentucky Progress; Citizens' Voice for Property Owners. As we have seen from this time last year, the lack of transparency in terms of how the funds are spent makes this bill necessary. The American people, Members of Congress, and regulators are demanding transparency. It is time that we gave it to them. They are entitled to it. I would like to thank Members on the other side of the aisle, Mr. King and others, who have been supportive, and particularly Chairman Frank for his leadership and Steny Hoyer for his support. I urge my colleagues to support it. It's past time for us to have a system so that the American people can tell in real time how their tax dollars are being used. I would add that I also believe that it would build confidence in the system, hopefully a confidence that will be managed in an appropriate way. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I would just like to say that the program's effectiveness was testified in support of by economist Mark Zandi, who said, While TARP has not been a universal success, it has been instrumental to the stabilization of the financial system and bringing an end to the credit recession, but there are still serious criticisms of the program that should give us concern about its effectiveness, its cost, and how it can be improved. This bill that brings online transparency would move us in that right direction. I am strongly in support of it, as well as many of my colleagues. Having no further speakers, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, today, I am proud to introduce this important bipartisan legislation with my colleagues, Representatives Heller, Nadler, Kennedy, Capps, Waxman, Speier, McGovern, Israel, Grijalva, Richardson, Perriello, Engel, Delahunt, Costa, Watson, Hall (NY), Stark, Chu, Norton, Moore (KS), and Holt. The companion bill has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Franken, Grassley, Hatch, and Feinstein. I have been working on the issue of DNA technology since 2001 when I, along with former Representative Steve Horn, held a hearing in the Government Reform Committee where we heard from a courageous rape survivor, Debbie Smith. It was for Debbie, and the thousands of rape survivors like her, that I authored ``The Debbie Smith Act'' to provide Federal funding to process the unconscionable backlog of DNA evidence. This legislation passed as part of the Justice for All Act of 2004, authorizing the necessary funding to start processing the backlog through the creation of the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program. Since 2004, millions of dollars in funding have been appropriated under the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program. Despite the availability of funding and some progress made, the national backlog continues to persist. Recent media reports have documented that across the country, backlogs continue to rise and sexual assaults occur that might otherwise have been prevented were the kits processed in a timely manner. This bill addresses the continuing rape kit backlog and several other problems that work to deny justice to victims of sexual assault--including the denial of free rape kits to survivors of sexual assault, and the shortage of trained health professionals capable of administering rape kit exams. By creating incentives for jurisdictions to eliminate their rape kit backlogs, process their incoming rape kits in a timely manner, and publicly report their backlog numbers, this legislation would go a long way to ensuring that the purpose and intent of the Debbie Smith Act be fully realized. According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted somewhere in the United States. DNA evidence does not forget and it cannot be intimidated. By processing this evidence, we can prevent rapists from attacking more innocent victims and ensure that the survivors and their families receive justice.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speker, today I am proud to introduce bipartisan legislation, the Runaway Reporting Improvement Act of 2009, along with my friends and colleagues Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Conyers of Michigan, and Mr. Cardoza of California. One of the few things more terrible than learning that a child was missing would be learning that everything possible wasn't being done to find him or her. Shockingly, the New York Times recently reported that many runaway children are missing not only from their homes, but also from the very database meant to help law enforcement officers find them. If no one knows that a child is missing, that child is unlikely to be found. It is imperative that everyone--parents, communities, and especially law enforcement authorities--combine their resources and work together to find and protect missing children. The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database is designed to help make information sharing easier. Virtually every law enforcement officer in the United States can access the NCIC database, which means that they can more easily cooperate in investigating and resolving multi-jurisdictional cases. Every child reported to have run away is supposed to be listed in the NCIC database as a missing person. However, according to the New York Times' series ``Running in the Shadows,'' as many as 16 percent of reported runaways are never entered into the NCIC database. Madam Speaker, this is outrageous and unacceptable. Without an NCIC entry, law enforcement officers will not share information or resources, and are much less likely to find or protect a missing child. The Runaway Reporting Improvement Act of 2009 would help solve this problem and protect missing children by making two small but useful changes to the current law. First, the bill would require law enforcement agencies to certify that they comply with federal law by entering all missing children into the NCIC database. Second, it would require that law enforcement officers provide someone who reports their child missing with information about the services of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Runaway Switchboard, as well as 24-hour, toll-free contact information for those resources. NCMEC and NRS have a long and successful history of helping parents and law enforcement agencies work together to find and protect missing kids. Madam Speaker, we simply must do better by our children. The necessary resources are already in place. The Runaway Reporting Improvement Act of 2009, will help ensure that those existing resources are used to find and protect the children who need them most.

Mrs. MALONEY

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, also known as the Doc Fix. I am proud to represent thousands of doctors who both live and work in New York's 14th Congressional District. Each year, I am visited by hundreds of them and hear from hundreds more, who are concerned about their patient's access to care due to a scheduled annual cut to their Medicare payments. Under the current system, when Medicare utilization of physicians' services exceeds the Sustainable Growth Rate, SGR, target, physicians are unfairly penalized with steep cuts in their payment update. With this bill, we are averting a 21-percent cut in Medicare rates while saving patient access to care by working toward a permanent fix of the SGR. After all, a stable and predictable payment system for physician service delivery is critical to preserving patient-centered care and investing in health care for the 21st century. H.R. 3961 finally addresses the problem with the SGR formula that plagues Congress each year when we are forced to do a quick fix to prevent drastic cuts to doctor payments. This important legislation makes a critical first step toward physician payment reform by establishing distinct growth rates and spending targets. It establishes fairer growth targets to keep doctors' pay steady and erases the debt that was produced by the short-term patches that stopped cuts from going into effect over the past 7 years. At the same time, it holds physicians accountable for spending growth. H.R. 3961 promotes primary care that can keep Americans healthier longer by providing an extra growth allowance for primary care services to promote access to primary care practitioners in Medicare and throughout the health care system. H.R. 3961 encourages integrated care to ensure our doctors are communicating with one another. When doctors speak about our care, mistakes are avoided and quality improves. Finally, H.R. 3961 is fiscally responsible and is paid for. This bill will not increase total payments to physicians above what they are today and is paygo neutral. The old system is broken, and this bill fixes it. With the lack of predictability in Medicare payments, older doctors with older patients retire early and younger doctors are discouraged from entering specialties that treat predominately Medicare patients. Fixing the SGR is critical to preserving Medicare patients' access to care and passage of this bill is a crucial part of health care reform. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this important legislation.