Ed Markey

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, the Oil Spill Victims Redress Act that I am introducing today with the gentlewoman from Florida, Ms. Castor, would help protect those Gulf Coast residents who have seen their livelihoods destroyed by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This legislation would clarify that people who have suffered economic harm as a result of the BP spill can seek to pursue claims from all of the companies involved in the disaster in state court. The companies involved in the spill, including Halliburton and Cameron, have argued that the Oil Pollution Act preempts state law and, as a result, that all state law claims brought by the victims of the spill should be dismissed or removed to federal court. Some of these companies, such as Halliburton and Cameron, have even argued that they should be exempt from all suits because they are not responsible parties as defined under the OPA. To be clear, the underlying statute, the Oil Pollution Act, already clearly provides for claims brought in state court and was not intended to preempt state law. The Act clearly states that ``nothing in this Act . . . shall affect, or be construed or interpreted to affect or modify in any way the obligations or liabilities of any person under . . . State law, including common law.'' However, in light of the legal arguments proffered by the companies involved in this disaster, the legislation that we are introducing today would further clarify the ability of people to seek compensation in state court. We must ensure that we do not forget about the people of the Gulf who have had their lives destroyed by this disaster. We must ensure that all of the companies responsible for the worst oil spill in our nation's history are held accountable. And we must ensure that everyone who has suffered economic damages as a result of the BP oil spill is made whole.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Diesel Emission Reduction Act of 2010. This bill would reauthorize the extremely successful Diesel Emission Reduction Act, known as ``DERA'', enacted as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Since its creation the DERA program has provided Federal grants and loans to support more than 3,000 projects to retrofit diesel engines to reduce pollution. The emissions reductions achieved by DERA have resulted in over $600 million in public health benefits so far. The program has provided over $13 in health and economic benefits for every $1 spent on retrofits, and has created or sustained nearly 9,000 jobs since Fiscal Year 2008. The legislation now before us would reauthorize the DERA program through Fiscal Year 2016 and would make a number of important improvements. Notably it would allow EPA to establish a rebate program, alongside the existing grant and loan program. It would also allow private entities under contract with a non-profit or government to apply directly for funding, instead of limiting the program to government entities. These improvements will help this program to continue to clean our air and protect public health from diesel pollution. This is a bipartisan bill championed by Senators Carper and Voinovich and deserves our support. I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 655, I was unavoidably detained, but had I voted I would have voted ``yes''.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, Thank you, Chairman Waxman, Chairman Pallone, Representative Burgess, and Ranking Member Barton. I'd like to thank Senators Bayh and Collins for their leadership on this bill, the Senate companion to H.R. 4689 which I introduced with my friend and cochair of the Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, Representative Chris Smith from New Jersey. The poet Robert Browning once wrote, ``Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.'' Unfortunately, the ``Golden Years'' can be the worst years for Americans afflicted with Alzheimer's and their families. We've worked with the Senate to engage in a bipartisan, constructive process with stakeholders to reach legislative language and move this bill forward. After all, Alzheimer's is an equal-opportunity disease. My father was a milkman, my mother the valedictorian. My father always said it was an honor that my mother married him and that if Alzheimer's was determined by the strength of your brain, ``Your mother would be taking care of me instead.'' He took care of her in our living room in Malden, Massachusetts for 10 years as she suffered from Alzheimer's. I'm thinking of them both today. Alois Alzheimer first discovered the plaques and tangles in the brain that cause Alzheimer's in 1906--within the very same year that my mother was born. At the time, doctors believed that dementia in the elderly was a normal part of the aging process that was caused by the hardening of the arteries. However, Alzheimer's groundbreaking work was done on a patient who was only 51 years old. So Alzheimer reached the conclusion that the condition he had discovered was a kind of ``pre-senile dementia,'' and that the pattern of plaques and tangles he had identified was a rare condition that afflicted only the young. Years passed, my mother grew up, and researchers did little to study and learn about the plaques and tangles that were forming in her brain. It wasn't until the mid-1970s that it became clear that the most common form of dementia in older people was caused by the same plaques and tangles that Alzheimer had identified decades earlier. Unfortunately, the search for the cure had begun too late for my mother who was diagnosed in 1981--75 years after Alzheimer had discovered the disease that lead to her death. Alzheimer's patients are the mothers and fathers, and sisters and brothers who we recognize even if they don't recognize us; who we remember even if they don't remember us, and who we continue to love and cherish even as their condition worsens. A few stats: 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer's; it is the 7th leading cause of death; $172 billion is spent annually for Alzheimer's. Our challenge is to ensure that we increase not only the lifespan, but also the health span of Americans, so that the 30 bonus years of life we gained in the 20th century--and hopefully will continue to gain in the 21st--are truly better years of life. The Alzheimer's community has been waiting for help, and trying to maintain hope. Today the House can take action to help and give hope to Alzheimer's families. The bill we are considering today will help coordinate Alzheimer's research, care, and services across all Federal agencies. The United States is one of the only developed nations without a national plan to combat Alzheimer's. For too long, we've been unarmed against this disease. Through this plan, will be developed: An assessment of all Alzheimer- related Federal efforts; recommendations; annual updates; and a strong advisory committee. This bill will: Help coordinate the health care and treatment of citizens with Alzheimer's; it will accelerate the development of treatments that would prevent, halt or reverse the course of Alzheimer's by coordinating existing government resources; and it will ensure the inclusion of ethnic and racial populations at higher risk for Alzheimer's and reduce health disparities among people with Alzheimer's. Thank yous: The Alzheimer's Association--Harry Johns, Rob Egge, Mary Richards, Katie Maslow, Matthew Baumgart; Maria Shriver for all of her great work; The Alzheimer's Foundation of America--Eric Hall, Sue Peschin; Cure Alzheimer's Fund--Tim Armour, Dr. Rudy Tanzi; The National Institute on Aging--Dr. Richard Hodes, Tamara Jones; Keep Memory Alive--Maureen Peckman, George and Trish Vradenburg, Patience O'Connor, Meryl Comer, Jillian Oberfield, Mark Bayer, Kate Bazinsky, Josh Lumbley, Amit Mistry, and Binta Beard from my office; Tim Lynagh from Representative Chris Smith's office; Emily Gibbons, Sarah Despres from the Energy and Commerce Committee Majority Staff; Ryan Long and Clay Alspach from Mr. Barton's staff; J.P. Paluskiewicz from Dr. Burgess's Office; Sarah Kyle and Kevin Kaiser from Senator Bayh's Office. Thank you to the many hard-working advocates for this disease, and those who are caretakers, bearing many burdens day in and day out. I once again thank my colleagues for their support--Waxman, Pallone, Burgess, and Barton.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I thank the chair very much, and I thank him for his great work. The poet Robert Browning once wrote, ``Grow old with me. The best is yet to be.'' Unfortunately, the golden years can be the worst years for Americans afflicted with Alzheimer's and their families. We have worked with the Senate to put together a bipartisan bill that has just passed here in the United States House of Representatives that I have worked on over the last 2 years that will put together an Alzheimer's plan, a battle plan for our country. And why is it important? I will tell you very simply: 4 million Americans have Alzheimer's today. There are going to be 12 million to 15 million baby boomers with Alzheimer's. They will have a spouse who also has the disease or some other family member. Somebody in the family has to take care of that person. So by the time all the baby boomers have retired, there will be about 25 million to 30 million Americans whose lives will revolve around Alzheimer's. We have to find a cure for it. We have to find a way of giving more help to these heroes, these families. My father was a milkman. My mother was a valedictorian. My mother got Alzheimer's. My father kept her in the living room. For 13 years, we kept her in our living room. My father always said that it was an honor that my mother had married him, the milkman. He also said that if the strength of your brain determined who got Alzheimer's, he said that he would have it and my mother would be taking care of him. But this is an equal opportunity disease. It's an epidemic. If we do not find the cure, if we do not find the cure, the budget problems for our country will be so explosive that it will be impossible to ever balance the Federal budget. We are now spending a fortune on it, and unless we cure it, we will never be able to deal with the catastrophic consequences personally, for those families, and for our country, in general. I thank the gentleman for allowing me this personal privilege, because I was pulled away as the bill was being considered.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and celebrate the coaching career of Mr. Bill Tighe. Coach Tighe is the oldest active high school head football coach in the country at age 86. He will conclude his 52nd year as a head coach when his Lexington High School squad meets their rival Burlington High School on Thanksgiving morning. Coach Tighe was a standout three-sport athlete at Ashland High School, and upon graduation he served in the United States Air Force for three years as a P-38 crew chief during World War II. After completing his service to our nation, he attended Boston University where he starred for the Terrier football and baseball teams. Known as a selfless teammate with a tireless work ethic, Bill Tighe, the incredible athlete was destined to be Bill Tighe, the legendary coach. Madam Speaker, Bill began his remarkable career at Wakefield High School in 1949 as an assistant football coach and was elevated to head coach in 1957. During his 52 years as head football coach at Wakefield High School, Malden High School and Lexington High School, Bill won 9 league championships and amassed an overall record of 268 wins, 232 losses and 13 ties. Bill's commitment to excellence is well known throughout Massachusetts and New England, and he has been inducted into the Wakefield High School, Malden High School, Lexington High School, Boston University, Massachusetts Football Coaches and National Federation of Interscholastic Coaches Association Halls of Fame. Bill Tighe's success on the football field is surpassed only by the enormous impact he has had on his players' lives off the football field. Coach Tighe taught all the young athletes under his tutelage the importance of sacrifice, discipline and commitment. Coach Tighe also stressed the importance of academic achievement and the value of a strong education. He is credited with helping thousands of young scholar athletes continue their education in college. Madam Speaker, on Thanksgiving morning Bill Tighe will be surrounded by family, friends, professional colleagues and former student athletes in order to celebrate his legendary coaching career. I join them in thanking Coach Tighe for the amazing contributions he has made to the Towns of Wakefield and Lexington, the City of Malden, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States of America.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and celebrate Mr. Roman Totenberg's 100th birthday. Mr. Totenberg is a world-class violinist and a beloved educator. January 1, 2011, will mark the 100th birthday of this gifted musician, whose talents on stage and in the classroom have enriched the lives of many people. Mr. Totenberg was born in Lodz, Poland. He says he ``accidentally'' started playing the violin when he was a little boy because a neighbor who babysat him played the instrument. By the age of six, he was playing consistently and has practiced the violin everyday since. By the age of 11, Mr. Totenberg was playing professionally. He debuted as a soloist for the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Since his debut at such a young age, Mr. Totenberg was considered a prodigy. In 1931 he was awarded the Mendelssohn prize, a distinguished international award given to promising young musicians. He played with the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic and countless other world-class orchestras. Madam Speaker, as a young man at the age of 24, Mr. Totenberg performed at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was married to the late Melanie Totenberg for over fifty years. Together they had one daughter, Nina Totenberg. Nina is a respected and well-known journalist. Mr. Totenberg joined Boston University as a Professor in the string department in 1961 and remains a professor there to this day. He was the head of Boston University's string department from 1965-1978. From 1978-1985 he was director of The Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, for all that he has accomplished and all that he has contributed, I would like to honor the 100th birthday of Mr. Roman Totenberg.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, many years ago, I had the good fortune to meet Joey O'Donnell. Joey was the son of my close friend from Malden, Massachusetts, Joe O'Donnell. Joey was a brave and resilient child despite suffering from Cystic Fibrosis, CF, a cruel disorder that robs the body of the ability to breathe normally and leads to other debilitating health problems. As a result, CF typically cuts lives tragically short. In 1986, Joey passed away when he was only 12-years-old. Because of Joey and the tireless work of his father Joe and mother Kathy, who encouraged me to intensify Government efforts to combat CF, I decided to found the Bi-Partisan Cystic Fibrosis Caucus in Congress. Our goal has been to raise awareness and build momentum towards a cure for CF, ALS, Parkinson's, Huntington's and other rare disorders. I was pleased to partner with my colleague, Representative Cliff Stearns (R-FL), in passing the Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act and sending it to the White House to be signed into law. This bill will open up participation in clinical trials for diseases like CF to low- income and other patients. The bill excludes from the income caps set for the Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid programs the compensation that these patients receive for their participation in clinical trials for rare diseases The legislation will ensure that this modest compensation will not affect eligibility for these programs. Patients will no longer have to choose between their health benefits and the promise of a clinical trial. If we want to increase the chances of finding cures to diseases like Cystic Fibrosis, we also need to increase participation in these trials. The Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act gives low-income individuals a higher probability to help advance medical science, and helps save lives in the process, hopefully including their own. The bill we passed yesterday and the law that President Obama will enact with his signature is really ``Joey O'Donnell's Law''. He inspired it, and his name will forever be associated with it. Joey died before his time, but his impact will be timeless. I salute my friend Joe O'Donnell and his wife Kathy and send my best wishes to the entire O'Donnell family. I also want to recognize my friend Bob Coughlin, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, for his tireless work to help find cures to CF and other rare disorders. This new law will offer hope to families around the country and bring us closer to the day when we consign these devastating diseases to the history books.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, so with the request that this body in unison vote ``aye'' on this historic legislation, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I rise in support of this legislation to make corrections to the bill that the House just passed. The corrections are technical in nature, and once this bill passes, the House will send to the President landmark legislation to update our country's accessibility laws for the Internet age. Again, I thank the minority for their cooperation on this historic legislation. It does show what good can be done when this institution works as it should. I thank my colleagues for their support. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials in the Record.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3828) to make technical corrections in the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 and the amendments made by that Act.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3304) to increase the access of persons with disabilities to modern communications, and for other purposes.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by commending subcommittee Chairman Boucher for his incredible work on this issue. I also commend Chairman Waxman, who dedicated a lot of time to making sure that this piece of legislation would come to fruition here this evening. I would also like to thank Chairman Stearns--Ranking Member Stearns on the minority side--along with Mr. Barton, who is the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Burgess, and all of the minority members. If you were to look up in the dictionary the words ``bipartisan effort,'' this bill's number would be next to that effort. On July 26, the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the House passed, by an overwhelming bipartisan margin of 348-23, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act that I'd introduced last year to update the ADA for the digital era. On August 5 the Senate passed the companion bill by unanimous consent, and then on September 22 the Senate unanimously passed the bill to make technical corrections to its companion bill. We are now taking up both of these bills, and we'll send them, after passage, to the President to be signed into law. If you're an individual who's blind, deaf, or both, navigating an intersection can be a challenge, but navigating the Internet can sometimes be even more difficult; and that's because laws to ensure equal treatment for Americans with disabilities have focused primarily on things like wheelchair access rather than Web access. That is about to change. At this historic moment, I'd like to think that Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan are looking down on us here tonight and smiling. This picture was taken in 1888 in Brewster, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. Whether it is a braille reader or a broadband connection, access to technology is not a political issue--it's a participation issue. Each of us should be able to participate in the world to the fullest extent possible, and the latest communications and video devices and services can enrich and ennoble how Americans experience and enjoy their lives. Coming out of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Telecommunications Subcommittee over the last two decades have been a whole series of legislative initiatives aimed at broadening access for Americans who are disabled to technologies that can help them do things that most of us take for granted. In 1990, we made sure that Americans who are deaf could make telephone calls. Around the same time, 1990, we mandated that television shows be closed captioned for the deaf so that they can enjoy the same entertainment and other programming as many Americans. Many deaf and hard-of-hearing people say that closed captioning is the single modern accessibility technology that has changed their lives the most. And in 1996, in the Telecommunications Act, we inserted language which required accessibility of all telephone equipment, including telephones, telephone calls, call waiting, speed dialing, caller ID, and related services. Twenty years ago, the ADA mandated physical ramps into buildings. Today, individuals with disabilities need online ramps to the Internet so that they can get to the Web from wherever they happen to be. From the time of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan through the Americans with Disabilities Act to closed captioning for television programming and ability of the deaf to make telephone calls, and now to the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act on the floor tonight, we've made important progress. We've moved from braille to broadcast, from broadband to the BlackBerry. Annie Sullivan used special language she spelled in Helen Keller's palm. In the 21st century, we've moved from tracing letters of the alphabet on a palm to navigating a Palm Pilot, and we must ensure that all of these devices are accessible to the deaf and the blind in our society. That's what this legislation does here this evening. Annie Sullivan was an incredibly dedicated and determined teacher. Now, technology needs to be the teacher, the constant companion providing instruction and access to the world and opportunities that otherwise would be out of reach. Helen Keller did learn to speak--and Helen Keller is still speaking to us tonight--about how all of us should make the most of our abilities and participate in society to the fullest, but we need the technologies to make that possible being made accessible to each American. The bill we are considering tonight significantly increases accessibility for Americans with disabilities to the indispensable telecommunications and video technology tools of the 21st century by making getting on the Web easier through improved user interfaces for smartphones; enabling Americans who are blind to enjoy TV more fully through audible descriptions of the on-air action; making cable TV program guides and selection menus accessible to people with vision loss; providing Americans who are deaf the ability to watch new TV programs online with the captions included; mandating that remote controls have a button or similar mechanism to easily access the closed captioning on broadcast and pay TV; requiring that telecom equipment used to make calls over the Internet is compatible with hearing aids; and for low-income Americans who are deaf and blind, providing a share of the total $10 million per year of funding to purchase accessible Internet access and telecom services so these individuals can more fully participate in our society. I thank my colleagues for their support for this landmark legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 3304.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I yield myself such time as I may consume. This bill has been several years in the making. It's going to have a transformative effect on the lives of the deaf and the blind in our country, and ultimately in the world, because the technologies we develop here will help all of the deaf and blind be able to use information in this wireless world that all information is now migrating to. I want to thank Roger Sherman, Tim Powderly, Sarah Fisher, Amy Levine on the Democratic side. Neil Fried and Will Carty on the Republican side for their great work. To Colin Crowell on my staff for many years, who helped to conceptualize what it is that we are doing today. And especially to Mark Bayer on my staff, who has worked tirelessly over the last year and a half to bring this bill to fruition. Looking down I think and smiling right now on this legislation are Karen Peltz Strauss, Rosaline Crawford, Jenifer Simpson, Eric Bridges, Mark Richert, Larry Goldberg, Steve Rothstein from the Perkins School, and Mike Festa at the Carroll Center. Incredible advocates, and the conscience of this issue, why we're here. I thank all who worked on this legislation. I urge an ``aye'' vote. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Listen to that again: Nearly 50 percent of the CF population receives public benefits, including SSI and Medicaid. While the average clinical trial compensation amount for a cystic fibrosis drug is $700, an individual with cystic fibrosis often has medical expenses totaling nearly $80,000 per year. Clinical research is critical to our progress towards curing rare diseases such as cystic fibrosis, especially at a time of tremendous opportunity and hope in medical research. The bipartisan Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act will encourage patients suffering from rare diseases to participate in promising clinical research that may lead to cures, better treatment, and ultimately, saved lives, without having to worry that they could lose SSI benefits. Our bill has been endorsed by more than 120 organizations, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the National Health Council, and Research!America. Research is medicine's field of dreams from which we harvest the findings that give hope to millions of Americans that the disease that runs through their family's history may finally be cured. That is what this bill is all about, ensuring clinical trials are conducted that give families hope. Again, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida and the leaders of the Ways and Means Committee for all of the work that you have done in making this a possibility. I urge an ``aye'' vote.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I thank the gentleman from Washington State so much, and I thank my friend from Florida (Mr. Stearns), my cosponsor of this legislation and my cochair of the Congressional Cystic Fibrosis Caucus, for his incredible work in helping to bring this moment into being. The Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act will enable more individuals with rare diseases to participate in clinical trials offering hope for cures to devastating diseases like cystic fibrosis. This bill is urgently needed. Current eligibility requirements for Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income shut out many disabled and low-income Americans from participation in potentially lifesaving clinical trials. That is because, in accordance with current ethical standards, many clinical trials offer modest compensation for patient participation, which can average around $500. Low-income patients with rare diseases face a serious barrier to taking part in drug trials, as the modest fee they receive for participation counts towards their eligibility for Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid and can push their income above the established caps. This forces patients to choose between receiving the essential benefits they need to live and the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial that could improve their condition and offer hope for a cure. This is a cruel choice that no one should have to make. The bill we are considering today addresses this situation by allowing Medicaid recipients and individuals who receive Supplemental Security Income to participate in clinical trials to provide compensation without the risk of losing their benefits, and by excluding up to $2,000 in compensation a patient receives from a clinical drug trial from his or her income calculation for Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid eligibility. Our bill applies to rare disorders, which are defined as diseases affecting less than 200,000 people in the United States. There are more than 6,000 rare disorders that, taken together, affect approximately 25 million Americans. Examples of rare diseases include ALS, Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease. The House version of this bill, which Mr. Stearns and I introduced more than a year ago, has 141 bipartisan cosponsors. The Senate version we are considering today, which included Medicaid eligibility in addition to SSI, passed the Senate by unanimous consent on August 5. The Congressional Budget Office has determined that the bill has no cost to the Federal Government. While there is no cost to the government, for millions of Americans the benefits could be enormous-- the chance to receive treatment that could dramatically improve their health. For scientific research, clinical drug trials are an essential part of the process for searching for treatments for diseases. When testing treatments for rare diseases in particular, researchers need patient participation from a significant percentage of patients with each disease in order to produce valid results. Consequently, researchers often struggle to recruit enough patients. Today, we are working to eliminate one of those barriers to participation by opening clinical trials for rare diseases to those on Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income. This could produce dramatic advancements towards a cure for rare disorders, including cystic fibrosis. There are approximately 30,000 people living in the United States with cystic fibrosis today. In the 1950s, children with CF usually didn't live past the age of kindergarten. Now, CF patients live productive lives with a median age of 37, thanks to advances in medical research just over the last 40 years. More than 30 potential therapies are in the CF drug development pipeline today, more than in the entire history of CF research, and many are being tested in clinical trials. In the next 2 to 3 years, we will need more than 7,000 CF patients to participate in clinical drug trials. Three thousand CF patients participated in drug trials last year. Nearly 50 percent of the CF population receives public benefits, including SSI and Medicaid.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the House was called back into session to take up and pass this critical jobs measure today. This bill will bolster working-class Americans, ensure that our teachers are protected from layoffs and reduce the deficit. However, I am very concerned that the Senate chose to take $1.5 billion out of the Renewable Energy Loan Guarantee Fund to help pay for this legislation. Congress already tapped this program once when it took $2 billion out of this program to extend the very successful ``Cash for Clunkers'' program that did so much to jump-start auto sales last year. While the House voted last December to restore that funding, the Senate failed to act. Now, with this bill, Congress will be taking another huge bite out of the program. That's $3.5 billion cut out of a $6 billion program. Through discussions with the Department of Energy, I understand that this fund will still have enough money to finance renewable energy projects through the first quarter of next year. But the funds that we are borrowing today must be replenished before then. The $1.5 billion in loan guarantee funds would pull an additional $15 billion of private investment off the sideline and put it into the economy at a time when we need that investment the most. It would continue to build on the 190,000 new jobs that this program and others from the Recovery Act have created in the clean energy sector. American consumers currently send half a billion dollars a day overseas to pay for foreign oil--money that goes to the Middle East, OPEC and countries that wish us harm. Instead, we should invest that money here at home, putting people to work building electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and smart grid technology. Make no mistake, we are in a global race with China for clean energy manufacturing jobs and technology. The country that leads the world in developing clean energy will lead the world in creating jobs. China just threw down the gauntlet with a $738 billion investment in renewable energy over the next ten years. We must respond to that challenge rather cutting our own investment. This bill is worthy of our support and I encourage my colleagues to vote ``Aye'' on the underlying bill. But let's make sure we work to replenish the renewable energy loan guarantee fund so that our young industry has a shot at winning the clean energy race with China. Vote ``aye.''

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. The gentleman put his finger right on it. There would be a completely different response if the spill were not 1,000 barrels or 5,000 barrels per day but, rather, 30,000 to 60,000 barrels per day. It delayed the response. Much more harm has been done to the people in the Gulf of Mexico. There was a greater delay in bringing in all of the skimmers, all of the new technologies to be able to deal with this spill. If a whistleblower knew that it was not 1,000, knew that it was not 5,000, they should not have to fear that they would lose their job if they wanted to protect the oceans of America and the workers in the Gulf of Mexico rather than being afraid that they would lose their own job and their own family's livelihood. That is why this legislation is so important.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I thank the gentleman. In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, we have heard that the workers aboard the rig had safety concerns. But in the end, they were powerless to stop the cascading string of bad decisions by BP that led to the disaster. They clearly feared for the loss of their jobs and of their livelihoods. Our legislation will protect these brave Paul Reveres in the oil industry who sound alarms in the future. I thank Chairman Miller for his historic work on this legislation. I thank all of the Members who are focusing on this issue, so that people who stand up to protect the safety of workers do not have to lose their jobs.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I thank the gentleman, and I thank George Miller for his decades of work in ensuring that whistleblower protections are built into the laws of our country in order to ensure that workers are not living in terror, that they stand up for safety. During the last 3 months, Congress has conducted a vigorous investigation into the causes and response of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. What we've found was that BP was woefully unprepared for this kind of a spill. From the beginning, BP has been making it up as they go along. BP said the rig could not sink. It did. They said they could handle an Exxon Valdez size spill every day. They couldn't. Early on in the disaster, BP was talking about using a junk shot where they shoot golf balls into the well. Well, when we heard that they were bringing in the best minds and that they were working on this problem, we thought they meant MIT, not the PGA. BP also talked in the first 3 weeks about deploying nylons and hair to soak up the oil. The American people expected a response on the par with the Apollo Project, not ``Project Runway.'' And from the start, BP has been more interested in protecting its own liability than preserving the livability of the Gulf of Mexico. BP started by saying this spill was 1,000 barrels a day. It wasn't. They knew it. They said it was 5,000 barrels per day; they knew that it was not. And by now, we know it was much, much larger, upwards of 60,000 barrels a day. Our investigation uncovered that no major oil company would have been able to respond to this type of spill any better than BP. In fact, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill response plans from Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell were 90 percent identical to BP's. They were such dead ringers for each other that they listed the phone number for the same long-deceased expert as the person to call. The response plans also included plans to evacuate walruses from the Gulf of Mexico, even though walruses haven't called the Gulf of Mexico home for 3 million years. It seems that the only spill response technology that the oil industry had invested in is a Xerox machine. No oil company took this responsibility seriously. The legislation that we will vote on today will ensure that there will be accountability, stronger regulations, and a requirement that before oil companies drill ultra-deep that they have the technology necessary to make it ultra-safe and can respond to a spill ultra-fast. We need whistleblowers to make sure that we never again see what has happened in the Gulf of Mexico, and that is the important piece of legislation that we are debating right now: whistleblower protection. In this legislation, we are putting into place state-of-the-art protections for oil and gas workers who are retaliated against because they report safety concerns or they report a failure on the part of their employer to have a good blowout response plan. We know from our investigation both into this disaster and another BP rig operating in the gulf, the Atlantis rig, that BP has cut corners on safety, even if it meant risking workers' lives and environmental calamity. For example, an employee working on the BP Atlantis rig warned in 2009 that BP was failing to meet its requirement to maintain accurate engineering drawings aboard the rig which would enable an effective response to an accident. The whistleblower was fired after making his disclosure. BP continues to deny this problem on the Atlantis rig exists, even though former Federal district court judge Stanley Sporkin who was hired by BP to serve as an independent ombudsman has confirmed that the whistleblower's allegations are true. And on the BP Deepwater Horizon, workers were also fearful of the extent of the problems aboard the Deepwater Horizon. Jason Anderson told his wife that he couldn't discuss his concerns because, quote, the walls are too thin. Mr. Anderson died in the April explosion. This bill will ensure that all workers who report safety or blowout response plan concerns who are then fired, demoted or otherwise retaliated against by their employers will be protected. These workers will be entitled to due process at the Department of Labor; and if the Department of Labor fails to act, they will be entitled to a jury trial. They will also be entitled to receive appropriate damages to ensure that they are made whole.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I thank Mr. Rahall for his great leadership working with Chairman Waxman and Chairman Stupak and I on the Energy and Commerce Committee to include new safety procedures. This bill takes lessons learned and will turn them into laws. That's what we need to do. Included in this bill is a provision which is going to collect $53 billion from the oil industry, where they are drilling in American waters without paying any royalties to the American people. And in this bill we reclaim those $53 billion from the oil companies, and we will reduce the Federal deficit by $53 billion. That's in this bill. And it is going to be the dues which the oil companies should be paying to the American people for using American waters. At $80 a barrel, for the American people to be subsidizing Big Oil to drill, it would be like subsidizing a fish to swim or a bird to fly, to subsidize the oil industry to drill for oil at $80 a barrel. You just don't have to do it. So with this bill we cut the deficit and we stop Big Oil from cutting corners on safety. This is BP's spill, but it is America's ocean. That's what this bill is all about. That's what this vote is on today. Are we going to reclaim the oceans of America so that they are not polluted, so that BP and the oil companies pay the royalties that they owe to our people and not avoid them, that we reduce the Federal deficit and we make sure that we never again see a day where the American people for 100 days have to watch oil flow into our oceans? Vote ``aye'' on this very important legislation.

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Health Outcomes, Planning and Education (HOPE) for Alzheimer's Act. I would like to thank my colleague and fellow co-chair of the bipartisan Alzheimer's Task Force, Mr. Chris Smith of New Jersey, for partnering with me on this important legislation. An estimated 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, and 1 in 10 individuals has a family member with the disease. Unless science finds a way to prevent or cure it, nearly 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer's disease by the year 2050. The HOPE Act aims to increase detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias and provide access, information, and support for newly diagnosed patients and their families. The bill would provide for Medicare coverage of comprehensive Alzheimer's disease and other dementia diagnoses and services in order to improve care and outcomes for Americans living with the disease. At present, most people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias have not been diagnosed. This only contributes to the difficulty surrounding this disease. Data from a recent study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine conducted from 2002 to 2003 show that only 19 percent of people age 65 with dementia had a diagnosis of the condition in their primary care medical record. In addition, ethnic and racial populations at higher risk for Alzheimer's are less likely than whites to have a diagnosis of the condition. Delays in diagnosis have various negative consequences for patients and their families. One such serious consequence is that if individuals do not receive treatments early, when available medications are more likely to be effective, then families have less opportunity to make legal, financial and care plans while the person living with Alzheimer's or dementia is still capable. While America works towards investing more in research for Alzheimer's to move towards a cure for this devastating disease, we must also help the many affected families to plan for the care of the patients. This bipartisan legislation is a good step in ensuring these important steps are taken. The Alzheimer's Association has endorsed our legislation, which will increase the likelihood that Alzheimer's will be diagnosed sooner and help individuals plan for the required care associated with Alzheimer's. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on this important issue throughout the legislative process.