Ed Markey

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. So with that, I again, highly recommend this piece of legislation to the Members. It is something that will give us the broadband overview that our country needs. We have been falling over the last 6 years in our international rankings. It is time for us to find out exactly where we are because it will help us to put together the policies that will make us No. 1 looking over our shoulders at No. 2 and 3 in the world.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3919) to provide for a comprehensive nationwide inventory of existing broadband service, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Space), who has spent a considerable amount of time working on this legislation.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise to suspend the rules and to pass the Broadband Census of America Act of 2007 because, Mr. Speaker, the overarching telecommunications policy goal of the United States is achieving ubiquitously available, competitive, high-speed, affordable broadband service to all Americans. Such broadband service capability is indispensable to various aspects of the United States economy, including public safety, education, entrepreneurial investment, innovation, job creation, health care delivery, and energy efficiency. The ability of the United States to promote and achieve a competitive high-speed broadband infrastructure will also be a key factor in determining our Nation's success in the fiercely competitive global economy. International competitors to the United States are achieving progress in broadband deployment and adoption. Many countries have broadband service capabilities superior to the United States in terms of choice, speed, and price. For the United States, offering broadband service capability at ever higher transmission speeds could spur new growth in investment in cutting-edge applications, services, and technologies that utilize higher bandwidth functionality. This bill represents an indispensable first step in developing an overarching blueprint for broadband policy in the United States. In brief, the Broadband Census of America Act tasked the Federal Communications Commission with collecting data from providers of broadband service capability throughout the country, and with developing a series of tiers for categorizing the speeds of such services. The data collected will be disclosed to the public in an annual report that will include: one, the actual number of residential and business subscribers within each five-digit ZIP code with a list of the broadband technologies present in each ZIP code: and, two, the actual number of residential and business subscribers, correlated to each broadband speed tier identified by the FCC on a statewide basis. This bill also encompasses a broadband mapping effort as well as community organization initiatives for unserved and underserved areas to increase knowledge of where, what type, and what speed of broadband service may be available. The bill requires the National Telecommunications Information Agency to develop a national broadband availability map which will include the availability of broadband service capability at the nine-digit ZIP code level, census track level, or functional equivalent. This is a very consumer-friendly mapping function and ``demand side'' identification initiative that consumer groups, the high-tech community and the telecommunications industry all support. This map will be interactive and searchable by consumers, and at the providers' discretion will also indicate the type of technology and speed of service offered in that area. The legislation also includes authorizations for grants to local planning entities and communities around the country. These grants are designed to increase broadband availability and usage in local communities through so-called ``demand side'' identification and other initiatives. To better gauge how the country is performing compared to international competitors, the bill also requires the FCC to conduct a comparison of the extent of broadband service capability abroad in 75 foreign communities with equivalent American communities. This legislation reflects several months of negotiations. And I want to thank Mr. Upton from Michigan for his patient attention to this legislation. No legislation in telecommunications has received the detailed attention that this legislation has on a bipartisan basis, and for that I want to thank Mr. Upton. I also want to thank the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Barton, for his work on this legislation. And of course on our side, Mr. Dingell and I worked with the minority towards achieving this legislation. And with the thanks of Mr. Dingell and myself, we once again want to point out how cooperative all of our working relationships were on this legislation. It also has the support of consumer groups, the Communications Workers of America, NARUC Connect Kentucky, Qwest, and organizations representing the high-tech industry, the cable industry, the telephone industry, and the wireless industry. I want to again thank Mr. Upton and Mr. Barton for their cooperation in working through the differences on this legislation, and to thank Mr. Dingell for his excellent work on this legislation. I urge Members of the House to support this bill. At this point, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I, as well, have no additional requests for speaking time. I would like to thank the staff who worked on this bill, Tim Powderly, Amy Levine, David Vogel, Neil Fried, Courtney Reinhard, thank you, Michael Beckerman, and I would like to thank Maureen Flood from my staff for her excellent work on this legislation. And to correct an oversight from the last piece of legislation, I would like to thank Colin Crowell, who has worked on both this bill and the last bill which just passed as well. I can't say enough about Colin and his work on all of these issues to bring them to a conclusion that is truly bipartisan and nonideological. General Leave I also ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3403, as amended, and H.R. 3919, as amended.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3403, introduced by Representative Bart Gordon, is designed to ensure that a consumer calling 911 in an emergency from an Internet phone, using so-called ``Voice over Internet Protocol,'' or VoIP service, can do so with a degree of confidence matching that of traditional phone service and wireless service. The bill seeks to achieve this goal through two key provisions: The first provision extends liability protections to VoIP service providers. The Federal Communications Commission lacks authority to grant liability protection to VoIP service providers, and, therefore, Congress must take action to achieve this policy objective. This is similar to action this subcommittee took in 1999 when such liability protection was accorded to wireless providers. The second key provision in the bill establishes the right of VoIP providers to access the parts of the 911 infrastructure they need in order to complete 911 calls for consumers. This is an important provision because while the FCC has acted to require VoIP providers to meet enhanced 911 service obligations, the commission did not order that such VoIP providers had a legal right to the components of the 911 infrastructure they would need to fulfill their E-911 obligations under the commission's own rules. I want to commend Representative Gordon for his excellent work and leadership on this bill. We have endeavored, over the last several months, to work on a bipartisan basis through several issues, and the bill we bring to the House floor this afternoon reflects the results of these discussions. It is an excellent step forward. I also want to salute Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Shimkus and Mr. Pickering for their work on this legislation and, as always, to commend the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Dingell; the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Barton; and my good friend, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) for their excellent efforts as well. At this point, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I would, once again, like to commend the bill to the Members. I also want to thank the staff, Mark Seifert, Amy Levine, David Vogel, Courtney Reinhard, and Dana Lichtenberg on the Democrat and Republican staffs for their excellent work on this legislation.

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3403) to promote and enhance public safety by facilitating the rapid deployment of IP-enabled 911 and E-911 services, encouraging the nation's transition to a national IP-enabled emergency network and improve 911 and E-911 access to those with disabilities, as amended.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker: The Red Sox we proudly honor today For another championship and remarkable play That's two in four years, all of Beantown ``hurrays!'' It's not the curse, but clutch play, for these kings of Fenway We hail the team's defense, top-notch in the field And a mighty potent offense that refuses to yield From top to bottom, the Sox have shown Why in baseball's history books they will forever be known The club led by Henry, Werner, and Lucchino And don't forget the dream team--Epstein and Tito! But it's the players who win each big game And they all belong in baseball's Hall of Fame Josh Beckett, a baseball legend-in-the-making He won 4 playoff games, leaving foes with heads shaking And then there was Schilling, Dice-K, and Lester With unhittable splitters, the batters they pestered. Papelbon is the closer night after night 4 saves in the playoffs--to ``the Nation's'' delight Youkilis at 1st , Mike Lowell the series MVP, Rookies Pedroia, Okijima and Ellsbury With Manny & Ortiz, everyone agrees the Sox are the best, from sea to shining sea And Jason Varitek we cannot forget From all in the clubhouse, he commands respect After 96 wins, the playoffs in full swing The Angels came calling, but the Sox clipped their wings Down 3-1 to the Tribe, the Sox won it in seven Two pennants in 4 years, we were in baseball heaven! Then the Sox faced the tough Colorado team Sweeping in just 4, completing the ``possible dream''! Now the games are all played, the champagne popped and poured Fire up those duck boats--let's all climb aboard! Another great season, fans and experts agree The Sox are the newest baseball dynasty.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1483, the ``Celebrating America's Heritage Act,'' which would, in part, designate the Freedom's Way National Heritage Area in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The Freedom's Way National Heritage Area would recognize the important historical contributions made by communities throughout New England to the historic events of the American Revolution. This new heritage area would include the communities of Arlington, Lexington, Lincoln, Malden, Medford, and Wobum in my district along with 39 other communities throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire that played a role in the birth of our Nation. H.R. 1483 would allow for cooperation between the communities in the heritage area and the National Park Service to conserve these special places and develop increased recreational and educational opportunities for these tremendous resources. I am proud to support the creation of this important new National Heritage Area, which will help preserve the unique history of New England. Sometimes we forget that the small towns and cities where we were born and live are also the birthplace of this great Nation. The Freedom's Way National Heritage Area designation will ensure that future generations will be able to visit, tour and learn about the communities in New England that shaped our young Nation. This heritage area designation will allow for the commemoration of the important role that these New England communities played in shaping our Nation and I urge passage of the bill.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise to mark the passing of my friend Randall Forsberg, but it is with pride, admiration, and thankfulness that I remember her enormous contributions to the cause of nuclear disarmament. Randy Forsberg was the mother of the Nuclear Freeze movement. When she was a doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980, she put forward a simple and inspired proposal: to end the ``testing, production, and deployment'' of all nuclear weapons everywhere. With her ``Call to Halt the Nuclear Arms Race,'' and her tireless advocacy for a nuclear weapons freeze, Randy galvanized a national grassroots campaign to end the threat of nuclear weapons. I was proud to introduce the very first nuclear freeze resolution in the Congress, and to work for its successful passage on the House floor in the spring of 1983. That vote shocked many within the dusty confines of the foreign policy establishment, who simply could not comprehend that ordinary citizens understood the unique and intolerable threat of nuclear weapons and that the American public would demand a fundamentally different course be set. Randy was at the center of the Nuclear Freeze throughout the country, and was a guiding light to many who believed in the necessity of the Nuclear Freeze. While the Freeze did not pass in the Senate, the activism that this movement created led the Congress to pass other legislation to cut in half the proposed size of the MX missile force, ban anti-satellite weapons testing in space, cut funding for Star Wars missile defenses, and to propose a moratorium on underground nuclear weapons testing. Those Congressional initiatives, in turn, led the Reagan Administration--which came to office opposed to arms control--to sign the START and INF treaties with the Soviet Union. In order to advance a nuclear weapons freeze, Randy founded the Institute for Defense & Disarmament Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1980. Since that time, IDDS has been an important part of the arms control community in the United States and abroad. Through its numerous publications, including its World Arms Database, IDDS has provided vital information and analysis to both policy makers and the public at large. Randy Forsberg passed away last Friday night, ending a long battle with endometrial cancer during which she had shown incredible bravery and dignity. My thoughts and prayers are with her daughter, Katarina Lilly, her mother, Genie Watson, and her sister, Celia Seupel. With Randy Forsberg's death, the world has lost an eloquent and inspired advocate for nuclear disarmament. But the cause to which she devoted her life endures, and her example serves to inspire others who share her dream of a world without nuclear weapons.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the ``Broadband Census of America Act of 2007.'' The legislation introduced today reflects the version of the bill as approved by the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet less than two weeks ago. The bill will continue to undergo refinement in the Energy and Commerce Committee and my ongoing goal is to work toward a bipartisan, consensus bill. The objectives of this bill are two-fold. First, to gain a better assessment of how America is doing in broadband service deployment and adoption, the bill will obtain information on the types and speed of broadband service subscribers utilize and the extent of such adoption for the residential and business market in areas at the 5-digit zip code level. Second, the bill will seek to develop a national, interactive map of broadband service availability for use by consumers. This map will help to identify areas of the country where service does not exist and also assist consumers in ascertaining which broadband service providers are available in their neighborhood. I believe at this point there is growing consensus--if not unanimity--around the fact that current data collection methods used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are inadequate and highly flawed. Currently, the FCC counts a single broadband subscriber in a 5- digit zip code as indicating the entire zip code has broadband availability, even if the sole subscriber is a business and not a residential consumer. This can lead to highly inaccurate and overly generous notions of actual broadband availability and use, particularly in rural areas where zip codes are quite large. In addition, under almost any set of measurements, the United States lags other nations not only in availability and speed but also in the value. The 50 Megabit per second service in Japan, for instance, is available to Japanese consumers for roughly $30. Here in the U.S., consumers typically pay $20 for about 1 Megabit of service and $30 to 40 for roughly 4 Megabits of service. This legislation will task the FCC with identifying tiers of increasing data transmission speeds, for both upstream and downstream attributes. These tiers will describe existing broadband service capability deployed in the Nation and are designed to the extent possible to correspond to a service's ability to support qualitatively different applications and services. Identifying such tiers and the services which apply to them will enable policymakers to gauge the broadband service speeds that are being subscribed to by residential consumers and by small and large businesses and will also allow for trends to be seen in such adoption over a period of time. The lack of such information today leaves policymakers largely in the dark about the nature and extent of broadband service deployment and adoption in urban, suburban, and rural areas of the country. The state of knowledge around the status of broadband services in the United States directly affects the ability of policymakers to make sound decisions. For instance, the Federal government can do a much better job in reforming multi-billion dollar grant and subsidy programs-- whether at the Rural Utilities Service or at the FCC--if we have better data on where we truly need to target government assistance. Similarly, States can focus limited State resources for economic assistance, computer adoption, and broadband promotion if ample and accurate data is available indicating where such resources should be deployed. This is precisely what has happened in Kentucky. ConnectKentucky has been a wildly successful effort and has demonstrated the palpable benefits to mapping broadband for various public policy benefits. The risks of not developing national data will undermine our goal of achieving a national plan for universal, affordable broadband. This, in turn, adversely affects consumers and communities across the Nation. The benefits of higher speeds, lower prices, and more choices for broadband services include greater economic opportunity, job creation, worker productivity, access to health care and educational resources, promotion of innovation, and global competitiveness. Madam Speaker, I look forward to working with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, Ranking Member Joe Barton, Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee Ranking Member Fred Upton, as well as my other House colleagues on this bill as the process continues.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, on behalf of the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation, it is my great pleasure and privilege to introduce the newest Member of the 110th Congress, the gentlelady from the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts, Niki Tsongas. Niki Tsongas is the eldest of four sisters who grew up in a military family bouncing between air bases all across the United States, Europe, and Japan. In 1967, while her father was stationed at the Pentagon, she met her future husband, our late distinguished House colleague, Paul Tsongas, while he was working just across the street as an intern in the office of then Fifth District Congressman Brad Morse. Niki was Paul's soul mate and his strongest supporter when he ran successfully to join us here in the House of Representatives in January of 1975 and for the Senate in 1978. She was at Paul's side when he ran for the Presidency in 1992 and when he fought so valiantly against the cancer that finally claimed him in 1997. Over the years, Niki Tsongas has been a social worker, a community leader in Lowell, a lawyer, and an educator. As a community leader, she has had a passion for social and environmental justice, which she brings with her as she arrives in Congress. And through it all, she was an amazing mother to three daughters, Ashley, Katina and Molly. Lowell and the Merrimack Valley has a strong industrial past, and nobody will better represent the roll-up-your-sleeves, hard work persona of this area like Niki Tsongas. In January, our delegation was proud to cast our votes for the first female Speaker of the House. Today, I am proud to introduce the first female Member of the Massachusetts congressional delegation in 25 years. I give you the distinguished gentlelady from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentlewoman from Massachusetts, the Honorable Niki S. Tsongas, be permitted to take the oath of office today. Her certificate of election has not arrived, but there is no contest and no question has been raised with regard to her election.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of H.R. 3087. H.R. 3087 requires the Secretary of Defense to report to the Congress within 60 days, and every 90 days thereafter, ``on the status of planning for the redeployment of the Armed Forces from Iraq.'' This bill specifies that the Pentagon is to describe a range of different possible scenarios for withdrawal, and create multiple timelines for completion of withdrawal. These reports will be valuable to the Congress as it carries out its oversight responsibilities and considers future legislation regarding Iraq. While it is necessary to require the Department of Defense to draft plans for withdrawal for Iraq, it is not sufficient. President Bush must finally implement these withdrawal plans so that our brave men and women can return home to their families having served honorably under extremely difficult conditions. It is clear that President Bush is content to allow the next President to clean up his mess in Iraq, and that is a travesty. The bill that we are considering today will at least make that job slightly easier for the next President, as the Pentagon will have already drawn up detailed plans for our withdrawal from Iraq. As we know only too well today, responsible planning and foresight was one of the earliest casualties of President Bush's war in Iraq. If the Congress must force such planning to be done, so be it. Mr. Speaker, while I support H.R. 3087 and encourage all members to vote for its passage today, it is tragic that due to opposition from Republican leaders in the Congress and veto threats by the President, we have not yet been able to make further progress on withdrawing our troops from Iraq. There was no connection between the 9/11 attacks and Saddam Hussein and no nuclear weapons in the sands of Iraq, yet the President seems to have no intention of bringing this mistaken and ill- conceived war to an end. It is a war that has made the United States less secure, yet the President refuses to even begin thinking about a new strategy. It is long past time for the United States to hand over security in Iraq to the Iraqis, and I hope that this bill will move us closer to that goal.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, this week the world convened at the United Nations to combat climate change, but President Bush stayed away. While the rest of the world knows that carbon dioxide threatens the planet, this administration can't even decide if it endangers the planet. President Bush's response is not action, but talk. Instead of stopping the pollution, he starts a filibuster. President Bush has decided to host a conversation to discuss his aspiration for procrastination on global warming until he leaves office. It is time for America to save the planet from another 50 years of red, white and blue CO2. It is time for America to use its technological genius to launch a new future of clean power, new jobs, and lower cost. We have no choice. The ice is melting. The coral is dying. The forests are burning, and 30 percent of all species are in danger of extinction. President Bush, it is time to stop the empty rhetoric and to start saving the planet.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this compromise legislation which will provide healthcare for 10 million low-income American children. This bill will give 4 million currently uninsured children a healthy start in life. Yet in a confirmation of the White House's pitiless priorities, President Bush is threatening to veto this bill if we spend any more than $5 billion dollars over 5 years to help poor American children get health care. This year alone, the President requested 40 times that amount--$200 billion dollars--for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet he has threatened to veto SCHIP on the basis that it spends too much money on American children. The President constantly chooses Corporations over Children, spending billions on tax cuts for millionaires and subsidies for his friends in big oil without batting an eyelash. But when it comes to giving our country's poor children health care, he can't find the heart to come up with the money. Today's debate is a major moment in the history of health care, and a veto will place the President firmly on the wrong side of history. By vetoing this bill, President Bush will expose himself as a Compassionless Conservative. By vetoing SCHIP, the President will dash hopes of millions of working families who dreamed that they would be able to provide health care for their sick children. I urge you to stand with those working families and help their children get the health care they need. Vote yes on this critical legislation.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. First of all, I want to commend you, Mr. Chairman, and Chairman Dingell, your staffs, Mr. Waxman, Ranking Member Barton and Mr. Deal, all the Members on the Republican side for the product that is here, all of the staff which has worked on it for so long. My own staff, Kate Bazinsky, who is sitting right here, just was married 2 months ago, this has definitely affected those first 2 months of marriage, the incredible negotiations that have taken place to reach this point, along with Mark Bayer who was working on the privacy parts of this legislation with your staffs. I congratulate everyone. I am pleased that the final bill before us today retains the core drug safety and clinical trial provisions from the bill that Congressman Waxman and I introduced in March, which will improve transparency at the FDA and make drugs safer. Although I had hoped the sunset would be removed from the pediatric rule and less exclusivity given to blockbuster products under the pediatric incentive program, this bill is a historic achievement which will make drugs and medical devices safer for consumers around the world. The past several years have been marked by drug scandal after drug scandal, Vioxx, Ketek, Paxil and Avandia. These drugs have harmed families across the country and come to symbolize the urgent need for reform at the FDA. Taking drugs should not be a game of RX roulette, and yet the FDA's current system is broken, and thousands of American families have been harmed by drugs with dangerous side effects. Today, the House is responding to those failures. The bill is a victory for consumers and for patients. The bill will empower the FDA with important new authorities to mandate label changes and require postmarket studies. However, these new FDA authorities do not change the responsibility of companies to maintain drug labels and warn the public about risk. For the first time ever, the FDA will have the power to impose civil monetary penalties on companies that fail to conduct required postmarket studies. It will also establish a new postmarket risk identification and analysis system to identify harmful side effects without compromising patient privacy. Since 2004, I have been fighting for a mandatory clinical trial registry and results database which will ensure that the public has accurate and complete information about drugs and devices. This bill will create that mandatory clinical trials database. I am also extremely pleased that the FDA package includes language from the Markey-Rogers pediatric devices bill which is a major step forward for getting better and better devices for kids. Mr. Speaker, again, I thank the chairman from New Jersey for all his great work.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of passage of H. Res. 106, the Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution. It is long past time for the United States to officially recognize the massacre of one and a half million Armenians early in the 20th century for what it undeniably was: genocide. Year, after year, after year, I've been proud to cosponsor the Armenian Genocide resolution. Last year, over 150 House members cosponsored this important legislation to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide. This year, the resolution has already received 226 cosponsorships, a majority of the Members of the House. This impressive number reflects the broad bipartisan support for an official recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Countries all around the world have adopted similar resolutions to ensure that the atrocities committed against the Armenian people are properly recognized as acts of Genocide. Canada, France, Switzerland, Greece, and Poland all have passed resolutions affirming the recognition of the Genocide. Properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide here in America is essential to ensure that all past genocides are never forgotten and all future atrocities are never permitted. The writer Milan Kundera once wrote that ``The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.'' There are those that would deny the Armenian Genocide, just as there are those that deny the reality of the Nazi Holocaust. In commemorating the Armenian Genocide as we will do with this Resolution, we collectively engage in that struggle of memory against forgetting. The dangers of forgetting are real--as Adolph Hitler plotted the Holocaust, he was emboldened by the failure of the international community to note the first genocide of the 20th century, writing in 1939 ``Who still talks nowadays of the extermination of the Armenians?'' But this resolution is not just intended as a remembrance of a dark past, but as a way of animating future policies with a commitment to prevent such things from ever happening again, as well as a step towards building a better future for the Armenian people and for all people. I commend Representative Schiff for introducing this critical resolution, and again commit myself to work for its timely adoption.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, since 1973, the Endangered Species Act, ESA, has been one of our Nation's most important environmental laws. For over 30 years, the ESA has been the primary safety net for our Nation's species that are facing extinction. And this cornerstone of our environmental policy has been a tremendous success. More than 99 percent of the species that have been listed as threatened or endangered have avoided extinction, including iconic animals such as the bald eagle, the gray wolf, and the whooping crane. Recent reports have surfaced of political interference with the science behind Endangered Species Act decisions within the administration. It is crucial that we not allow politics to trump science in making decisions that can affect whether a species recovers or disappears forever. The ESA requires that decisions as to whether a species is an endangered or threatened species must be made purely based on the science. In addition, while decisions on the designation of a critical habitat of a species can include economic considerations, they must also be based on science. The Transparent Reporting Under ESA Listing Act or, the TRUE Listing Act, that I am introducing today would help ensure that the science behind these decisions is never compromised by political interference. This legislation would require that concurrent with the publication of a determination as to whether a species is threatened or endangered or the designation of critical habitat, the Secretary of the Interior publish a summary statement of the scientific rationale behind the decision or revision. Furthermore, the summary statement would include the name and title of any executive branch employee or officer who was involved in the decision. Publishing this important information will help ensure that political appointees not just within the Department of Interior but within the entire executive branch are not permitted to silently and anonymously interfere with the science behind ESA decisions. However, this legislation shedding light on the Department of the Interior decisionmaking go hand in hand with additional whistleblower protections for government employees, such as those contained in H.R. 985, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007 that overwhelmingly passed the House in March of this year by a vote of 331- 94. As we look to expand the transparency of ESA decisions, we must also ensure that those employees at the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior who are acting in the best interests of the Nation are not subject to reprisal.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much. I rise in support of this rule. Mr. Speaker, this rule today lays the framework for a historic debate, a debate that will talk about the energy future of the United States of America, an agenda that has not been discussed out here on the House floor, although there has been a pent-up demand by the American people that we move to this new renewable energy agenda for the 21st century. Climate change has now become a problem, not only for the United States, but for the whole world. We must be the leader. In 1986, we imported 27 percent of our oil. Today, we import 61 percent of our oil. Today, we begin the effort to turn that around, to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of our country, to unleash a technological revolution that can capture the solar, capture the wind, capture the cellulosic future for our country; make our country more efficient, have the devices which we use to consume energy infinitely more efficient. That is the debate that we have been missing here in America, and today we begin that debate here on the House floor. This is what the American people want. This is what the world has been waiting for, a debate on the energy future of the United States; unleashing its technological genius, and as a result, making it possible for the rest of the world to gain access to these technologies. This is the day, and we have to be the leaders. This rule is now constructed in a way in which we can begin the debate. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the rule.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak about a very important provision in the Defense Appropriations Act for 2008, which yet again confronts President Bush over his inhumane and un-American torture policies. I want to thank Chairman Murtha for agreeing once again to include my language regarding torture in this bill. The provision, in Section 8104 of the bill, states that none of the funds in the Defense Appropriations bill may be used in contravention of the United Nations Convention Against Torture. This is a crucial provision because, as we all know, for years the President has been willing to ignore our obligations under international and domestic law to protect the basic human rights of detainees. This disregard for treaty and legal obligations also undermines our efforts in the war on terror, serving as a valuable recruiting tool for terrorists and putting our brave men and women in uniform at risk of similar mistreatment if captured by our enemies. I have inserted this provision into a number of funding bills over the past several years, and I will continue to do so until we can legislatively restrain this and every future President from intentionally misinterpreting our obligations to respect the fundamental human rights of all people. In the period of the Republican majority, I had to come to the floor and offer amendments to insert this funding restriction into the appropriations bills. Fortunately, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree that our obligations to treat individuals humanely are paramount, and my amendment repeatedly prevailed with near unanimity. I commend Mr. Murtha for including this language in the bill, which reflects his deep concern for our troops and his commitment to upholding our obligations to fundamental human rights. With his policies of extraordinary rendition, President Bush has shipped countless prisoners to countries such as Syria and Uzbekistan where they are brutally tortured--without ever having been afforded a lawyer, a trial, or any opportunity to challenge their transfer based on probability of abuse. By allowing senior officers and officials to implicitly encourage the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, President Bush not only allowed a situation to develop where Americans horribly abused detainees but also created one of the greatest public diplomacy disasters in American history. By establishing a network of black-site CIA prisons around the world, where prisoners are held in total secret and without access to international monitors such as the Red Cross, the President engages in the grossest hypocrisy and undermines the very international protections for prisoners that our own troops abroad count on as their last line of defense should they be captured. These policies must come to an immediate and permanent end. I look forward to passing my Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act to end extraordinary rendition once and for all, and it is essential that Congress reinstate habeas corpus. Until then, I am proud that the Congress will, with this funding restriction, once again bar any appropriations in violation of the Convention Against Torture.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Chairman, this is the energy vote of the decade. This is the most important vote of the day, because this vote is about the future. This vote will decide whether or not we are going to have 15 percent of our electricity by 2020 generated by wind, by solar, by biomass and by the other renewable electricity energy resources. Climate change, dependence upon imported oil, all of it is in this fossil fuel agenda. This gives us a chance to move to a new agenda, a new way of generating energy in our country: 15 percent by 2020. This is the challenge for our country. This is what the American people expect from us, not to be held hostage by OPEC, not to be polluting the atmosphere, not to be exacerbating climate change, but to be moving to a renewable future. This is the vote of the decade on the energy future of our country. This will send a signal to Europe, to China, to India, that we are serious about climate change, that we are serious about energy independence. Vote yes on the Udall-Platts amendment. Vote for the future and not for the past. Mr. Chairman, it is time for us to move on to the new agenda.

Mr. MARKEY

Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the children's Health and Medicare Protection Act. The United States has the highest gross domestic product in the world. We have the most advanced technology, the strongest research program, and for some, the best medicine in the world. But last year, 18,000 Americans died because they were uninsured and did not have access to health care. Many of them were children. Providing health care for poor children used to be a bipartisan issue. But today the Republicans say that they philosophically object to this bill claiming that it is a massive expansion of Government-run healthcare. But this bill does not change the structure of the program that the Republicans voted for in 1997. The only explanation is that they philosophically object to spending the $50 billion necessary to find and give healthcare to all 11 million poor, eligible children. What kind of philosophy is that? President Bush used to talk about compassionate conservatism, but this debate has exposed a Republican Party that is neither compassionate nor conservative. Instead, we are seeing some on the other side of the aisle choosing corporations over children. They demand that we continue Federal subsidies for their friends in the big, for-profit, insurance companies, while denying uninsured children the healthcare they need. If you kick these Republicans in the heart, you'll break your toe. I urge you to vote ``yes'' on this critical children's health bill.