Carolyn McCarthy

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. I yield to the gentlewoman from California.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. I thank Congresswoman Richardson for her assistance and again congratulate her on her leadership. At this time, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate Temple Israel of Lawrence, New York, on its 100th anniversary. Temple Israel is the oldest temple on Long Island. It was founded in 1908 as Temple Israel of Far Rockaway. The congregation moved to its current location in 1930. A new school center was created in 1948 to better accommodate the educational needs of the congregation and then again in 1966 with new social facilities. Temple Israel continues to thrive to this day, as the religious and nursery schools have unusually large enrollments. The Temple reaches beyond just the ``Five Towns'' and extends around the world. Temple Israel participates in a number of interfaith and cross-cultural programs. There are exchange programs, such as an American Jewish and Italian Catholic exchange program with the Vatican, which help bring about greater understanding and compromise among the participants. I applaud these efforts of the congregation because I, too, am a strong believer in bringing people with different backgrounds together to find common ground. I participated in the Women's Democracy Fund to help bring women together in Northern Ireland to contribute to the peace process. The program has more recently moved to bringing Israeli and Palestinian women together as an effort to also help bring about peace in that region. The Temple Israel congregation is ably led by Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum and Cantor Galina Paliy. Rabbi Rosenbaum is the spiritual and education leader of Temple Israel. He is well known on Long Island and throughout the American rabbinate. He works across the international arena in building bridges of understanding and compromise between the American Jewish community and Jewish communities and foreign governments around the world and between Jews and other religions. Rabbi Rosenbaum also worked with first responders and victim's families at Ground Zero following the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I am glad to hear that Rabbi Rosenbaum will be joining me in Washington, DC, later this month in welcoming Pope Benedict XVI on his first papal visit to the United States. Temple Israel of Lawrence is part of a rich Jewish history in the United States. In 2003, Congress passed H. Con. Res. 106, which recognizes and honors America's Jewish community on the occasion of its 350th anniversary. The first known Jews arrived from Brazil in 1654. They established the first Jewish community in New York City. Jews have contributed in so many ways to American society, including civic, social, economic, military, and cultural life. I am glad to see that Temple Israel Lawrence has played a large role in that extensive Jewish American history. Once again, I wish to extend my sincerest congratulations and warm wishes to Temple Israel of Lawrence on its 100th anniversary and look forward to another successful 100 years.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the good works of the students of the Ulysses Byis Elementary School in Roosevelt, Long Island, in my district. On Tuesday, March 18, I visited the students at the school to honor their hard work in raising awareness and funds for humanitarian efforts helping those suffering from the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. The students worked to help achieve and support the mission of the U.N. Millennium Development goals in bringing aid and awareness to health, education, poverty, and sustainable living needs in Africa. Under the guidance of educators Ms. Hazelton, Ms. Warfield, and Principal Lillian Coggins-Watson, the students got involved with the national network of O Ambassador's clubs, a part of Oprah's ``Angel Network,'' with the goal of working to find solutions to global challenges through active learning, idea sharing, and taking action. The students worked diligently and raised $1,100 in just 2 days to benefit relief agencies in the East African Nation of Sudan. These students made an extraordinary effort to help a problem that is very far away from them, and their work and contributions need to be acknowledged. Considering the volume of money Congress manages every single day, $1,100 might sound like a small amount, but the effort by the children of Ulysses Byis Elementary School was massive, considering that many of the families in the Roosevelt School District face harsh economic challenges of their own. The fact that these students worked as hard as they did to raise the money that will help save the lives of people thousands of miles away speaks not only of their extraordinary character, but what a terrific job the teachers and parents in the Roosevelt School District are doing in instilling in the children the qualities that make our citizens and Nation great. The students have not stopped in their efforts to raise money and attention to the difficulties facing the people of Darfur. In fact, since I visited the school just 2 weeks ago, the students have raised over $600 more and have the goal of reaching $5,000 by the end of the school year. They plan to sell scratch-off tickets, hold a walk-a-thon, and continue to collect the pocket change that students bring with them to school. These children will not let any obstacle prevent them from achieving their goal to help the Sudanese people. Some of the money raised by the students will go towards the purchase of mosquito bed nets, which have been shown to dramatically lessen the spread of malaria. The seemingly simple technology of insecticide treated bed nets has proven to be remarkably effective and can save thousands of lives a year by minimizing one of the region's most deadly diseases. As has been mentioned many times here on the House floor, the situation in Darfur is dire, and financial aid is crucial in helping to manage the humanitarian crisis that is being faced there every day. While we are still working to find ways to help eliminate the violence and brutality of genocide that has become synonymous with Darfur, we need to take a lesson from the students and work to help them manage the health and well-being of the country's population. Each year, thousands of Sudanese will fall victim to disease and famine. What makes these deaths even more tragic is that so many could have been prevented by the use of the kind of bed netting that the money raised by the students will go towards purchasing. Additionally, this week we will vote on H.R. 5510, the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hide United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. The bill will provide much-needed funds that will be useful in advancing the causes that the children are working toward. This bill will help impact one of the most important issues of our time, helping to stem the spread of deadly and potentially preventable diseases. It is absolutely vital that the United States Government and Members of this Congress continue to decry the outrageous horrors of genocide and Darfur. And we must continue to find ways, as the children have, to help the Sudanese people survive. I would like to extend my congratulations and deepest gratitude to the students of the Ulysses Byis Elementary School, and their teachers, principals and parents for their tremendous efforts and their spirit of giving and generosity. I would also like to thank and recognize the efforts of Oprah Winfrey for offering the tools and inspiration for the children at the Ulysses Byis School and students throughout the Nation through her Angel Network and O Ambassadors program to take action and to do the hard work necessary to help those less fortunate. Finally, I would just like to tell the students of the Ulysses Byis School to keep up their good work. Don't quit. I know that you will reach and exceed your goals. The people of Darfur need your help, and we are all behind you. I thank the students for the work they have done.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Speaker, Whereas 5 million teeth are knocked out each year during sports activities; Whereas an athlete participating in contact sports has a 10% chance of sustaining a significant oral-facial injury each season; Whereas studies indicate that approximately one third of all dental injuries and approximately 19% of head and face injuries are sports-related; Whereas an athlete is 60 times more likely to sustain damage to the teeth when not wearing a protective mouth guard; Whereas emerging evidence supports that youth athletes wearing full facial protection during baseball, softball, hockey, and lacrosse can significantly reduce their risk of oral-facial trauma; Whereas the Task Force on Community Preventive Services found that there is insufficient evidence--due to a lack of available research data--to support intervention programs to encourage the use of helmets, facemasks, and mouth guards to reduce oral-facial trauma in contact sports; Whereas the Task Force on Community Preventive Services has recommended additional research on the effectiveness of intervention programs to encourage the use of helmets, facemasks, and mouth guards; Resolved, That the House of Representatives-- (1) designates April 2008 as `National Facial Protection Month'; (2) declares it is critical-- (a) to raise awareness about the importance of using proper dental and facial protection during sporting activities; (b) to conduct additional research to study the effectiveness of intervention programs to encourage use of helmets, facemasks, and mouth guards; (3) calls on sports health care professionals, parents, and coaches-- (a) to educate athletes about the importance of protective equipment and encourage the use of all protective devices to ensure the athlete's safety; (b) to recommend using protective equipment that meets the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) and that the equipment is clearly identified as being in compliance; (c) to observe National Facial Protection Month with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank my chairman, George Miller, for the great work that he has done. This is a great day for national service. It's been 15 years since we have reauthorized our national service laws. As chairwoman of the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee, I am pleased to speak in support of H.R. 5563, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, the GIVE Act. Unfortunately, this legislation hit a procedural hurdle last week, but I am glad the House will today have a chance once again to pass this important piece of legislation. The bill before us today incorporates the amendments that were accepted on the floor last week, including my manager's amendment, and amendments offered by Representative McKeon, Matsui and Shays, Inslee, Sarbanes, McDermott, three amendments from Representative English and two amendments from Representative Sutton. It also includes the language from the Republican motion to recommit. The administration and the service community support the GIVE Act. I would like to thank Chairman Miller again for his continued support and work on this reauthorization. I would also like to extend my thanks to the ranking member of our committee, Mr. McKeon, for his hard work. And finally, I would like to thank the ranking member of my subcommittee, Mr. Platts, for his work on the reauthorization. I would also like to thank again the staff on both sides of the aisle for their work on this important piece of legislation. National service has a distinguished and strong history in our Nation. The benefits of service cannot be duplicated. Evidence shows that service and volunteering lowers school dropouts and crime rates, lowers costs associated with the aging population, and improves the health among the elderly. Volunteering is a cost effective way of working to solve the challenges facing our Nation. That is why the passage of the GIVE Act is necessary. One of the most effective volunteer organizations in this Nation is AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps volunteers offer a range of services focused on low-income and disadvantaged communities. Our legislation recognizes their invaluable work and increases the number of participants to 100,000. The GIVE Act also encourages programs to recruit underrepresented populations to serve, including scientists and engineers, young people in and/or aging out of foster care, children at risk for delinquency, and other disadvantaged young people. I truly believe that expanding national service, particularly to disadvantaged youth, is an effective way to combat things like gangs and violence, and the evidence bears that out. If we are serious about reducing gang violence in this Nation, we must take the first step and offer our children an alternative. This legislation creates the Summer of Service program which gives middle school and high school students an opportunity to become engaged in a positive way within their community. Through the Summer of Service program, our Nation's young people will have a chance to serve with others of their own age while improving their community. Research shows that if students are engaged in service at an early age, they will continue to serve throughout their lifetime. We are strengthening the mission of the first responder volunteer program, the National Civilian Community Corps, by requiring more intense disaster and emergency relief training during down periods in order to be better prepared for the future. We are all aware of what our Nation faced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and the NCCC was there to respond and continues to recover today. The GIVE Act will help our Nation become better prepared for future disasters by training and preparing more emergency volunteers. The GIVE Act creates cooperation and an Office of Outreach in recruitment. This new office, among other duties, will establish a reserve corps made of those who have gone through the program and are alumni. The reserve corps alumni will be called upon during emergencies and disasters or other times of national needs. We heard people asking over and over again during our hearings why aren't we using our former members. The new outreach office will work to connect the over-500,000 former volunteers who can be a resource for the recruitment. The GIVE Act lowers the age of participation in the national senior service to 55 years of age. By lowering the age, we are encouraging retiring Americans to participate in national service and giving older Americans the opportunity to lead us into the future. Our Nation's retiring and retired adults are a rich resource that no one can duplicate, nor should they be overlooked. Every American, old and young, has skills that can improve the day-to-day functions of our society. The GIVE Act encourages individuals to get involved, creates a deeper commitment to service, and makes our Nation more like what it should be. I, again, want to thank Chairman Miller for his deep commitment to national service and Ranking Member McKeon and Congressman Platts for their work with us on this bipartisan activity. I do urge all of my colleagues to support this much-needed legislation.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This is a great day for national service. It has been 15 years since we reauthorized our national service laws. As chairwoman of the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee, I am pleased to speak in support of H.R. 2857, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, the GIVE Act. I am also pleased to say that the administration and the service community support the GIVE Act. I would like to thank Chairman Miller for his continued strong support and work on this reauthorization. I would also like to extend my thanks to the ranking member of our committee, Mr. McKeon, for his hard work. Finally, I would like to thank my good friend and ranking member of the subcommittee, Mr. Platts, for his work on this reauthorization. Later I will speak on my manager's amendment, which is also a bipartisan effort. National service has a distinguished and strong history in our Nation. The benefits of service cannot be disputed. Evidence shows that service and volunteering lowers school dropout and crime rates, lowers costs associated with the aging population, and improves health among the elderly. Volunteering is a cost-effective way of working to solve the challenges facing our Nation today. That is why the passage of the GIVE Act is necessary. One of the most effective volunteer organizations in this Nation is AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps volunteers offer a range of services focused on low-income and disadvantaged communities. Our legislation recognizes their invaluable work and increases the number of participants to 100,000. The GIVE Act also encourages programs to recruit underrepresented populations to serve, including scientists and engineers, young people in our aging-out foster care, children at risk of delinquency, and other disadvantaged young people. I truly believe that expanding national service, particularly to disadvantaged youth, is an effective way to combat things like youth gangs and violence, and the evidence bears it out. If we are serious about reducing gang violence, we must take the first step and offer children an alternative. This legislation creates a Summer of Service program which gives middle school and high school students an opportunity to become engaged in a positive way within their community. Through the Summer of Service program, our Nation's young people will have a chance to serve with others their own age while improving their community. Research shows that if students are engaged in service at an early age, they continue to serve throughout their life. We are strengthening the mission of the first responder volunteer program, the National Civil Community Corps by requiring more intense disaster and emergency relief training during down periods in order to be better prepared in a time of crisis. We are all aware of what our Nation faced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and the NCCC was there to respond, and continues to recover today. The GIVE Act will help our Nation become better prepared for future disasters by training and preparing more emergency volunteers. The GIVE Act creates in the corporation an office of outreach and recruitment. The new office will establish a reserve corps made up of those who have gone through the program and are alumni. The reserve corps alumni will be called on during emergencies, disasters, or other times of national need. We've heard people asking over and over again during our hearings, why aren't we using former volunteers? The new outreach office will work to connect over 500,000 former volunteers who can be resources for recruitment. The GIVE Act lowers the age of participation in the National Senior Service to 55 years old. By lowering the age, we are encouraging retiring Americans to participate in national service and giving older Americans the opportunity to lead us into the future. Our Nation's retiring and retired adults are a rich resource that cannot be overlooked. Every American, old and young, has skills that improve the day-to-day functions of our society. The GIVE Act encourages individuals to get involved, creates a deeper commitment to service, and makes our Nation more like what it should be. I want to again thank Chairman Miller for his deep commitment to national service, Ranking Member McKeon and Congressman Platts for their work with us on this bipartisan activity. And I urge my colleagues to support this much needed legislation. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Chairman, may I inquire how much time we have on both sides.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare), a member of the Education and Labor Committee.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) for yielding. We support this amendment. We look forward to the results of the commission as we continue to increase the number of Americans who participate in national service and work to overcome challenges in our Nation's communities.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to my colleague on the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Chairman, I'd like to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from New Hampshire (Ms. Shea-Porter), a member of the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein).

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), a former member of the Education Committee.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, with that, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, as we have been working through this bill, through our hearings and everything else, and listening to the volunteers that work in AmeriCorps and other aspects of volunteering, and also listening to our young people from communities that are underserved on how they want to serve and be part of it, before my colleague from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) talked about how we've done away with summer jobs. We see in our communities today more and more of our young people joining gangs and getting into trouble. We see that our juvenile justice system and our prisons are being overflowed, unfortunately, with young people. This is a program that can help them. You know, I look at our country and I marvel at how people volunteer and give their time to help other people that are in need. With the programs that we're putting forth and through the work of the subcommittee and through the work of my colleague Mr. Platts from Pennsylvania, we have put together a great bill. This is a bill that can help people to the future. This is a bill that incorporates our elderly and our young. So, it's something that I think we should all be proud of. And certainly I'm hoping that we're not going to have any controversies further down the line. And may I just say one thing: A number of speakers have gotten up and talked about the FISA bill. Let me say this to the American people: With the continuation that we have, this country is being protected. And we are trying to work it out with our colleagues from the other side and the administration. But let me make one thing very clear, the country is being protected. The intelligence committees can do what they need to do, and our intelligence community is getting information at that. With that, Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2857, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I rise to speak to the manager's amendment to H.R. 2857, Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, the GIVE Act. As chairwoman of the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee, I am pleased to offer a bipartisan manager's amendment to H.R. 2857. I am also pleased to say that the administration and the service community support the GIVE Act. I would like to again thank Chairman Miller for his continued support and work on this reauthorization. I would also like to extend my thanks to the ranking member of our committee, Mr. McKeon, for his work. Finally, I would like to thank the ranking member of my subcommittee, Mr. Platts, for his work on this reauthorization. I also would like to thank the staff who have worked many hours on the bill. For the majority, Deborah Koolbeck, Denise Forte, and Alexander Ceja, and for the minority, Brad Thomas and Susan Ross. This amendment increases the ability of the Corporation for National and Community Service to tap into the pool of potential volunteers, which gives us a better opportunity to meet challenges facing our Nation's communities today. Some of the changes in the manager's amendment include: the amendment improves the reach and capacity of the Summer of Service. This program is aimed to increase civil responsibility and community service among 5th-12th graders through summer service-learning programs. Getting younger kids involved in service is a good investment. Studies show that the earlier we get folks involved in the volunteer service the more likely they will stay in for their lifetime. We have improved the National Civilian Conservation Corps, or the NCCC. This valuable program has a focus on disaster preparation. NCCC and volunteers have helped during disasters like Katrina. Because of the disaster focus, there is a need for supervisors and training instructors with a background in law enforcement, rescue and emergency and disaster preparedness. The amendment allows retired law enforcement, fire and rescue personnel to be part of the management of the NCCC. My amendment makes the Retired Senior Volunteer Program a competitive grant program by 2013. I believe competition spurs innovation, and this will strengthen the program. Also included in this amendment are incentive grants for the Senior Corps program. These grants are designed to bolster the capacity of current exceptional Senior Corps programs. Given that the RSVP program is becoming a competitive process, it is expected that the RSVP programs which meet the eligibility requirements will be a majority of incentive grant applicants and recipients. Finally, I have also worked with Mr. Altmire, Mr. Sestak, and Mr. Souder and have included changes that they suggested in the manager's amendment. I want to thank them for their great ideas. Our national service laws were last authorized 15 years ago. We have worked with our colleagues across the aisle and with the service community to renew the spirit of service in our Nation through the GIVE Act. I hope you will join me and support my amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition, but I am not opposing the amendment.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. One of the themes of the GIVE Act is to increase opportunities for veterans to serve in national service programs and to increase the amount of national service programs responding to the needs of veterans. At committee, two amendments were adopted to address these issues. First, we directed the Corporation to reserve 3 percent of funds allotted to AmeriCorps for competitive grant programs that focus on veterans, particularly those that are recently returned from a deployment, and their families. The second amendment required the Corporation to conduct a study of how the national service laws would better serve veterans and increase veteran participation and service, and to create a pilot program based on that study. This amendment builds up on those efforts. Under current law, States and corporations are charged with establishing priorities to determining the types of programs to be assisted under the national service law. This amendment would require States and the Corporation to include priorities for veterans when establishing priorities for the distribution of assistance under these programs. Those priorities would be geared towards programs that recruit veterans into service opportunities, promote community-based efforts to meet the unique needs of military families while a family member is deployed, and promote community-based efforts to meet the unique service of military families when a member of the family returns from a deployment. In addition, this amendment encourages the corporation to report to Congress on its efforts to increase the number of veterans serving in AmeriCorps and other positions that are eligible for the educational award. Veterans, particularly those recently deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, deserve opportunities to reintegrate into their communities through service programs funded under the national service laws. This amendment will increase those opportunities. At a time when our servicemen and -women are sacrificing on behalf of our country around the world, we should be doing all we can to repay that sacrifice. This amendment will make it the explicit policy of the Federal Government to encourage national service programs to focus more on the unique needs of these heroes and their families and to encourage more veterans to take advantage of service opportunities under these laws. I certainly urge its passage, and I thank Mr. McKeon for offering this. It's a very good piece added to our legislation. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. I thank the gentlewoman from California, and I thank Mr. Shays. Mr. Chairman, we are in full support of this amendment. The GIVE Act seeks to improve national service and to do so in innovative, creative ways. And this amendment does just that. We are grateful to Ms. Matsui and Mr. Shays for bringing forth this amendment.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. I rise to claim time in opposition, but I am not opposing the amendment.