George Miller

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, does that mean that we will not be taking up sequestration between now and Friday so that we can get rid of the sequestration with a balanced plan?

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I read with interest Majority Leader Cantor's speech last week on the majority's latest relaunch of the House GOP's attempt to identify with the middle class. Leader Cantor said that the House will pursue an agenda of health, happiness, and prosperity for more Americans and their families. He went on to identify a very important problem for millions of Americans: how to balance work and family. Unfortunately, that was the end of the relaunch. Because to address this problem, the majority leader proposed an old scheme that actually takes away workers' rights to overtime pay in exchange for employer- controlled comp time. This scheme has been bouncing around the Big Business wish list for decades. It's a twofer for Big Business: workers get less predictable schedules, and they earn less pay. Leader Cantor's prescription for what ails working families is to administer more poison. It's to give a working parent less control over her life and less money in her pocket. This plan does not give workers flexibility. This plan is about giving corporations another way to pay workers less. That's how you help working families? I don't think so. If the Republican majority party wants to seriously talk about healthy, prosperous, and happy American families, then they should help to create real opportunities to help families to be healthy, prosperous, and happy. Here's one serious way to help working families: give workers real flexibility on the job and the ability to take advantage of paid time off. Last week was the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Back in 1993, this law was a big step forward for America. It guarantees workers job-protected leave when they need time off for family or health reasons, for a newborn child, to take care of a sick child or spouse. It's been used more than 100 million times over the last 20 years. Workers got to take off time to care for a newborn or sick spouse or to get an operation without fear of losing their job. With the Family and Medical Leave Act, our country made it a priority to give workers the ability to balance the demands of work and family. It made the healthy development of babies, healthy families, and healthy workplaces a priority. It was a remarkable accomplishment at the time, but it was intended to be a first step, not the last. Today, only half of all workers can take advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act. The rest are ineligible because of their part-time status or who their employer is. Half of all workers don't have job protections to take time off to welcome a new baby to the family. They can't take time off to help an elderly parent without fear of losing their job. Here's another serious idea to help working families: Extend the family and medical leave protection to all workers. And furthermore, let's guarantee paid leave under the law. The Federal Family and Medical Leave Act only guarantees unpaid job-protected leave. Too many families simply cannot afford to miss a day or two of work. That's why Congress should finally deliver on the paid leave that our Nation's workers deserve. I recently heard from Matari Jones from San Antonio, Texas. While she said that the family and medical leave was a godsend when her children were born, taking unpaid time off to care for her newborns to heal from a complicated delivery was a significant financial struggle. Unfortunately, Matari was not alone. A working woman--or any worker, for that matter--shouldn't have to choose between family members they love or the paycheck they need. California, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Washington State, and New Jersey have taken steps for paid family and medical leave and sick leave. The policy is good for families, and it is good for business. The least-paid workers in our society are also least likely to be able to afford a day off when they are sick. Many of those workers are behind the lunch counter or taking care of our older family members. If Leader Cantor and this House are truly serious about helping working families, then let's deliver on the full promise of workplace leave policies that properly value our Nation's families. Extend family and medical leave benefits to all workers, and look for ways to guarantee workers' access to paid family and medical leave and to sick leave. There are other steps Congress should take to ensure that workers can share the prosperity that they're helping to create. Let's make sure that women are paid based upon their worth by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act. Let's raise the minimum wage that will boost the economy by putting money into the pockets of millions of working people. So I would say to my friend from Virginia, the majority leader, if he is serious about helping working families, then join with us and let's enact policies that put these families first in both the workplace and in their homes.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Jacqueline Douglas upon her induction into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame. This is a terrific and well-deserved honor for a mainstay of the California sport fishing community Jacky, known affectionately as ``Wacky Jacky,'' is a San Francisco native and the only female fishing charter boat skipper in the Bay Area. She is a legendary voice within San Francisco's sport fishing community, respected by fisherman of both Golden Gate and Pacific Coast Salmon fisheries, and one of the Bay Area's most passionate voices for protecting salmon and their habitat. She is a fervent fighter for conservation and water issues, as well as a tremendous advocate for salmon, wildlife, and the California coast. Jacky has also been a great help to the members of the Bay Area congressional delegation in our efforts to achieve a water policy in California that will sustain all of our state's interests, including the important fisheries that yield so many jobs for people up and down the west coast. Wacky Jacky was confirmed by a record 40 of 41 votes from peers, the highest vote tally of any member to gain entry into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame. She was nominated due to the fact that she has inspired thousands of Californians to take part in the great outdoors and conservation. She was also previously inducted at the International Sportsmen's Exposition at Sacramento's Cal Expo and honored by the Bay Institute for her dedicated advocacy. And in further recognition of her many accomplishments, Jacky was also inducted into her high school's Abraham Lincoln High School Wall of Fame in May 2002. With 29 years of fishing experience, she is still taking people from all over the world fishing out the Golden Gate. At 84, she is a hero among her fellow fishing captains, and is one of the most popular party boat captains in America. She was the first and remains the only woman to own and skipper her own commercial boat in the San Francisco Bay Area. Douglas passed her Coast Guard examination in 1972, purchased her first party boat and has mastered boating, safety and fishing ever since. She started fishing on San Francisco area boats in 1955, and became a deckhand in 1970, after which she skippered a private boat and fished commercially for several years. She became the skipper of the Wacky Jacky in 1973, unheard of for a woman at the time. Jacky is well known for taking good care of her customers, and says the most important thing is, ``to have my customers leave with a smile on their face.'' In the meantime, Jacky, continually improves her sailing skills, has now earned her master mariner's license which permits her to skipper boats up to 100 tons. Over her career, she has taken an estimated 150,000 people out to fish. Her unique position on the bay has made Jacky a part of what makes San Francisco such an incredible place. She has inspired numerous newspaper articles as well as television spots on CNN and National Geographic. During her career, Jacky has won a number of awards, including honors from the Commonwealth Club and the Golden Gate Fisherman's Association. Her work with newspapers, radio show hosts and TV broadcasts has made it easier for Californians to connect to the world of the outdoors. She was married to George Douglas and has four daughters. I invite our colleagues to join me in congratulating Jacqueline Douglas, a woman beloved by all that meet her, for her lifelong efforts in fishing and conservation and her dedication to educating others about the outdoors.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, at the end of the day when we vote today, we will simply be voting to kick the can down the road--which every Member of this House has told their constituents they no longer wanted to do--but we will kick the can down the road on the question of the debt limit of the United States and whether or not the full faith and credit of the United States will stand behind the bills that we owe the rest of the world, the businesses and our companies, individuals, people's retirement plans. That's all this bill does. Under some sort of camouflage about withholding pay, what have you, they kick the can down the road. You know, Americans are starting to realize that the economy is starting to recover after the devastation of the housing scandals, of the Wall Street scandals. Small businesses are starting to hire; spending over Christmas was reasonably good; the stock market is at a 5-year high; the housing market is coming back; builders are in fact building new homes because of the demand in housing. All of a sudden, enter the Congress of the United States and it says that we're going to put the full faith and credit of the United States of America on a 90-day leash. We're going to take the greatest economy in the greatest country with the greatest responsibility in the world and we're going to put them on a 90-day leash. How does a great country respond on a 90-day leash? We know how it responded last time the world saw this happen. We got downgraded in the credit rating. That drove up the borrowing cost of the United States. That drove up the borrowing cost of corporations. That drove up the borrowing cost of counties and cities--the counties and the cities that we represent. And we're told again that should we falter on the credit debt of the United States, that we can expect a downgrade and we can expect a further downgrade in cities and counties all over the country, and somehow we're supposed to believe that this is a good plan.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. What this plan does is hold the jobs of America's families and working people all across this country hostage. It holds them hostage to the passage of this legislation, and it holds them hostage 90 days from now. This bill says if you don't vote for the Ryan budget--because we know the votes are on the other side of the aisle to pass the Ryan budget-- then we go back to putting the credit of the United States at risk. The last time the American people looked at the Ryan budget they rejected it overwhelmingly. Do you remember the election of November, just a couple of months ago? They rejected those cuts in Medicare, those cuts in Medicaid, and the tax cuts for the wealthy. Yet all of this is being put back on the table by holding the debt limit hostage, holding the credit hostage, and holding American jobs hostage. So if you don't vote for that budget, then they get to play with the debt limit again. They get to play with the debt limit again. We have got big lifts to make between now and then, folks. We have sequestration, we have tax reform, and we have a budget to write. Let's just get down to business and do it. Just do it. Don't play with the credit of this country. Don't play with people's pension plans. Don't play with the interest rates that corporations have to pay to borrow. Don't play with the interest rates that your local municipalities have to pay to borrow for projects in their districts. This has got to stop. If you really believe that America is a great country, if you really believe that we're an international power, then we ought to start acting like one, and the Congress of the United States ought to start acting like it. And 90-day extensions on the creditworthiness of the United States is not the picture you paint when you're an international power. It has to stop. It has to stop. We cannot continue to go through this and put all of this at risk and put this recovery that is, in fact, happening at risk because of the actions of the majority here in this House, once again, to fool with the credit.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Do you want to shut down the government? Have at it. I was here when it happened before. You'll find all your constituents up close and personal. You'll get to know them. That's a lot different. That's a lot different action. You want to go off with sequestration? You don't like the cuts that come up with its substitute? Fine. We voted for sequestration. You told the American people with your votes you were prepared to have sequestration if we didn't do the job. So you've got a lot of tough votes to make. Don't try to avoid them by holding the creditworthiness of the United States at risk. It has got to stop, and it should stop today on the floor of the House of Representatives. We should say to the world that we are prepared to have this country pay the bills. The deficits have been incurred by our actions. It has got to stop today with a ``no'' vote against this legislation.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the career of Doug Christopher who is retiring this month as Business Manager and Secretary-Treasurer of District Council 16 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) after 28 years of dedicated service to its members. Doug has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area and has made great contributions to the strength of our middle class and the Bay Area economy. He has many achievements to be proud of and deserves our commendation and public recognition for his service and his leadership in his union and in his community. Doug was elected as an Executive Board Member At-Large to the Glaziers Local 1621 in 1984. With his election to President in 1985, he established the union's Defense Fund. Doug Christopher served the members of Local 1621 from 1997 to 1999 in various capacities and provided expert advice and leadership in advancing and defending the rights of working men and women. Highly regarded in the labor community for his expertise and longstanding record of accomplishments, Doug was elected as Business Manager/Secretary-Treasurer for District Council 16 in 2007. It is appropriate at this time to commend Doug Christopher on his outstanding record of union and civic leadership and extend our sincere best wishes for a rewarding and gratifying retirement. America is strongest when its middle class and working men and women are strong, and Doug has every right to be proud of the work he has done to make our country strong.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the gentleman very much. I also want to thank you and the staff of the majority and the minority for helping to work out this solution. Thank you very much.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I rise to engage the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the gentleman from Kentucky, in a colloquy. As the chairman knows, Superstorm Sandy displaced thousands of children from their homes, leaving them homeless and struggling to regain stability in their lives. Many of these children were forced to move out of their school districts, while others could not return to their schools because of storm-related damage. These children face the prospect of educational disruption, compounding the upheaval and trauma they've already experienced. Fortunately, under the current law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, homeless students, including those displaced by disasters, are entitled to important educational protections and services, including transportation to stay in the same school. Public schools in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are working tirelessly to support uninterrupted education of displaced children through the McKinney-Vento program, yet these schools face significant unexpected costs associated with the increased number of homeless students. Congress has appropriated supplemental funds, to help defer the costs associated with these increases, from past disasters. Mr. Chairman, if I might, given that the bill before us today does not contain direct funding for McKinney-Vento, is it your understanding and intention that the Department of Health and Human Services and that the Department of Education work with the States of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to assist the school districts affected by Superstorm Sandy to access funds under the social services block grant to support the education of students displaced by the storm, including transportation, counseling, and supplies?

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, on January 1, 2013, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall No. 655. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.'' While I support freezing pay for members of Congress, that was achieved by passage of H.R. 8, and I do not believe that it is appropriate to freeze pay for Federal employees for another year, given the sacrifices that they have already made.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The care and concern for foster children has been a bit of a relay race for myself back in the late seventies and eighties, to Senator Russell Long, to former Congressman Tom Downey, former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, to Senator Landrieu, now Karen Bass from my State of California, and Congressman McDermott before her. We've tried to make sure that these young people, with a lot of chaos in their life, far beyond any of their own doing, have a chance to succeed. Clearly, the best chance to succeed is to see that they get a good education and an opportunity to participate in American society and in America's economy. This act, the Uninterrupted Scholars Act, goes a long way toward helping their advocates make sure that they get the best shot at the best education. So I want to thank all the supporters of this legislation, Congressman Roe and Congressman Kline, for their support and their willingness to bring it to the floor of the House so we can send it to the President of the United States. Just before I conclude my remarks, Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to recognize a cherished member of my staff who will be leaving the committee at the beginning of January. Ruth Friedman began her career with me as a fellow in my personal office more than a decade ago. Because of her hard work and dedication and unparalleled expertise, she rose to become my education policy director on the committee. Ruth holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is one of the foremost experts in early childhood policy. I can tell you that the children of this country benefited every day from her work on the Education Committee. Ruth has spent her career fighting for the most vulnerable children on issues like child welfare, juvenile justice, early learning, child care, child abuse prevention and treatment. She has worked on countless pieces of legislation successfully, including today's bill, and was instrumental is passing the 2007 Head Start Reauthorization Act. I want to thank Ruth for her extraordinary service to me, to the committee, to the Nation, and to the Nation's children. Her advice and counsel have been invaluable, and she will be sorely missed, but we know that she has great accomplishments ahead of her. Ruth, I want to wish you, Pete, and Dylan all of the best. Thank you so much for all of your service to our committee on both sides of the aisle, and certainly to this Nation's children. With that, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation, thank Congressman Roe for managing this bill on the floor, and I yield back the balance of my time

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I want to thank the gentleman from Washington for his leadership. I would like to yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bipartisan legislation to help foster children succeed in school. The Uninterrupted Scholars Act will make a real and immediate difference in the lives of foster children across this country. I want to thank Congresswoman Bass and Senator Landrieu for their support of this legislation, the Senate for sending this legislation back to the House, Chairman Roe for managing this on the floor, and Chairman Kline for agreeing to have this legislation come to the House today. In thanking Congresswoman Bass, I want to recognize her not only as the author of this legislation, but for her leadership both here in Washington and in the State legislature in our State of California when she served there on behalf of these young people to make sure that they would have a better opportunity at success. Foster children are some of the most at-risk students. As a group, they miss more school than their peers, are more likely to drop out, and take longer to finish when they do graduate. Throughout their young lives, they may change care placements multiple times. Each placement means adjusting to a new family and often a new community, new friends, and a new school. Each move can put their educational success in jeopardy. That's because the caseworkers who advocate for them as they move from one school to another often do so without critical information. Though current law rightly requires foster care caseworkers to include children's education records in their case plans, another Federal law limits the ability of caseworkers to access those records in a timely manner. Without access to a foster child's school records, caseworkers are limited in their ability to advocate for the child's educational needs, especially as they move from one school to another or from one family to another. Without these records, caseworkers don't have the necessary information to make important and informed decisions about placement, wraparound services, and credit transfers among schools. That means that those vulnerable children do not get the services that they need. This red tape creates unnecessary hurdles for educational successes for many foster children. And if there's one thing foster children don't need in life, it's additional hurdles to jump. They have plenty of hurdles confronting them every day as they try to succeed within the system. This legislation before us today makes narrow changes to FERPA to allow foster care caseworkers to do a better job on behalf of these young people. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. With that, I yield 5 minutes to Congresswoman Bass of California, one of the authors of this legislation, and again thank her for her advocacy on behalf of foster children and foster families.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Washington, Congressman McDermott, a strong supporter of this legislation and an advocate on behalf of foster children. (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, our hearts were broken over the senseless shooting deaths of 20 first grade children and their teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, and we wish that we could undue this unimaginable tragedy; but we know we can't do that. Instead, the House held a moment of silence. It is what the House does to show empathy, and it is a kind and sincere gesture, but it is not enough. Last week, the House held a moment of silence for two adults killed by a gunman in a Portland, Oregon, shopping mall. Earlier, the House held a moment of silence after the horrific mass killings in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater; and it held a moment of silence after our colleague Gabby Giffords and her staff and constituents were shot in Arizona. A moment of silence felt like an honorable thing to do; but, clearly, a moment of silence is not enough. Americans don't need another moment of silence from the United States Congress. They need us to pass legislation immediately to ban automatic weapons, semiautomatic weapons, high-capacity ammunition clips, and to expand access to quality mental health services. Congress needs to act now. A moment of silence is not enough. It can not substitute for action.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Next I would like to recognize Congressman Sam Farr.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the Leader. If I might inquire of the Chair of the time remaining.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues to pay special tribute to several members of the California Democratic delegation whose service in Congress is shortly coming to an end. These six members served this House and their constituents with distinction and dedication, and they deserve our admiration and gratitude for the hard work that they have done on behalf of California and our country: Representative Joe Baca, who was elected in 2002, served for 10 years from the 43rd Congressional District; Representative Howard Berman, who was elected in 1982, served for 30 years, most recently from the 28th District; Representative Bob Filner, sworn in this month as mayor of San Diego, was elected in 1992 and served for 20 years from the 51st District; Representative Laura Richardson was elected in 2007 and served for 5 years from the 37th District; Representative Pete Stark, the outgoing dean of our delegation, was elected in 1972, and served for more than 40 years from the 13th District; and Representative Lynn Woolsey, who was elected in 1992 and served for 20 years for the Sixth Congressional District. There is much that can be said about the distinguished careers of our departing colleagues, but I'd like to offer a few remarks about the work that I have personally joined them in during their time here in the Congress. Representative Howard Berman has served in the House for 30 years, and I am honored to name him among my closest friends in this body. During his service, he has worked on a wide variety of issues, but he was especially known as the champion of human rights and for standing up for the middle class, for the working class, and for the poor in our country. As the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee from 2007 to 2010, Mr. Berman made great progress on behalf of the less fortunate. He was a leader in securing the reauthorization of our global HIV/AIDS program to help provide access and preventative services and treatment for millions around the globe. He also authored legislation removing Nelson Mandela and other members of the African National Congress from the U.S. terrorism list, on which they had been unjustly placed for many years. Finally, he was a leader in raising concerns about human rights abuses by autocratic governments around the world. Particularly, he was a key leader in bringing additional disclosure to the trade in conflict minerals that has financed the ongoing violence in the Congo. Mr. Berman will be remembered as a strong friend of Israel. He was passionate about the need to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East, and through his work, he forged a broader coalition on behalf of Israel in the House of Representatives. Also, I want to recognize Mr. Berman's work on behalf of immigration and the treatment of those who have immigrated to this country and his work on behalf of migrant workers and farm workers all across the United States. For that effort, he received the first annual Farmworker Justice Award by the Farmworker Justice Fund in 2000. Like Mr. Berman, our dean, Congressman Pete Stark, has spent his entire distinguished career in Congress advocating on behalf of those whose voices were often drowned out in Washington by the influence of the moneyed interests. Over the last 40 years, Congressman Stark has been one of the foremost advocates in the effort to ensure that all Americans are able to access quality, affordable health insurance. I am honored to have been one of the three principal coauthors in the House of the historic Affordable Care Act, which will provide access to quality insurance for nearly every single American. I can personally attest to the critical and key role that Mr. Stark played in drafting that law and making sure that the law provides needed relief for working families. This was a crucial accomplishment, yet it was far from Mr. Stark's only accomplishment in the field of health care. As the former chair and ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee for many years, he was a leader on health care reform. He was the lead author of the original COBRA insurance bill, which ensured that workers faced with losing their jobs would not also immediately lose access to needed health insurance. Those of us who have gone through this recent downturn and recession in this country know from the testimony of our constituents how vital the access to COBRA health insurance is to the health security of their families and to the financial security of their families. He also pioneered the efforts to make modern IT systems available and acquired within the health care systems of this country that will help us improve the outcomes of health care and that will, hopefully, drive down the cost of health care, allowing for the provision of better care for patients. He, I think along with Sam Gibbons from Florida, pioneered the idea that there should be Medicare for all. He beat on that drum for a very long time, and it was the right drum to beat on. It wasn't achieved, but it did lead to the improvement of health care and to the passage of the Affordable Care Act. He has also been, obviously, a fearless campaigner on behalf of fairness in our Tax Code. It's unfortunate that he is retiring from the Congress. Since 1986, we've addressed this issue, and maybe there will finally be a chance to get something done in the next Congress, but he paved the way on so many of these issues. Finally, in my remarks at this moment, I would like to highlight the work of an outstanding Democrat on the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the Education and the Workforce Committee, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey. Congresswoman Woolsey is a friend of working families everywhere. She knows her struggles. Four decades ago, she was a single working mother who was supporting three children. She knows what it is like to worry about the economic security of families. Later, as a human resources manager, she saw how important employee benefits were to workers in good times and in bad--things that working families are still fighting for, like paid leave, paid sick leave, a secure retirement, and health care. Serving as chair and ranking member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, Lynn Woolsey was instrumental in helping to get the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed into law, and she successfully fought for new family leave protections for military families dealing with a military deployment or injury. Lynn Woolsey was a partner to ensure that coal miners are kept safe and healthy on the job. She even went underground in the coal mine with our late colleague Donald Payne in order to acquire firsthand knowledge of how the workplace works and the environment in which those miners go to work every day. In the classroom, Lynn Woolsey continued to fight for women and working families. She was a tough advocate, making sure that women were represented in the STEM field careers and that young women had access to the sciences and to technology and to math and to engineering. Lynn Woolsey worked to ensure that kids had access to an early education, to a well-rounded curriculum, and to services that met their social and emotional needs. American families have benefited from Lynn Woolsey's fierce advocacy. That's our advocate, Lynn. I will miss her contributions on the Education Committee in the years to come. She has also fought tirelessly to protect the environment, most especially the Marin and Sonoma Coast and the San Francisco Bay. Hopefully, the President will follow her lead and will designate further protections of our ocean and marine habitat in that area of our very precious coast. I, for one, am very grateful to these Members for the work that they have done for America's middle class and for those who struggle to join our middle class, for the work that they have done on behalf of their constituents and on behalf of the citizens of this country. They all came here to achieve success on behalf of their constituents and on behalf of this country, and they have succeeded. I want to thank them so very much for their service, for their sacrifice, for their ingenuity, for their innovation, and I would say, with regard to these three, for their spirited, tough, harsh, relentless pursuit of what they believed in terms of public policy. On my own behalf, on behalf of our delegation, and on behalf of the tens of millions of constituents that we represent in California, I want to thank Representatives Baca, Berman, Filner, Richardson, Stark, and Woolsey for their service and their dedication. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues to pay a special tribute to several members of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation whose service in Congress is shortly coming to an end. These six Members served this House and their constituents with distinction and dedication and they deserve our admiration and gratitude for the hard work that they have done on behalf of California and our country. Rep. Joe Baca, who was elected in 2002 and served for 10 years from the 43rd Congressional District; Rep. Howard Berman, who was elected in 1982 and served for 30 years, most recently from the 28th District; Rep. Bob Filner, sworn in this month as mayor of San Diego and who was elected in 1992, served for 20 years from the 51st District; Rep. Laura Richardson, who was elected in 2007 and served for five years from the 37th District; Rep. Pete Stark, the outgoing dean of our delegation, who was elected in 1972 and served for 40 years from the 13th District; and Rep. Lynn Woolsey, who was elected in 1992 and served for 20 years from the 6th Congressional District. There is much that could be said about the distinguished careers of these departing colleagues, but I would like to offer a few remarks about the work that I have personally joined them in doing. Mr. Berman has served in the House for 30 years and I am honored to name him among my closest friends in this body. During his service, he has worked on a wide variety of issues, but he is especially known as a champion for human rights and for standing up for the middle class, for the working class and for the poor in our country. As the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in 2007 through 2010, Mr. Berman made great progress on behalf of the less fortunate. He was a leader in securing reauthorization of our global HIV/AIDS program to help provide access to preventative services and treatment for millions around the globe. He also authored legislation removing Nelson Mandela and other members of the African National Congress from the U.S. terrorism list, on which they were unjustly placed on for many years. Finally, he has been a leader in raising concerns about human rights abuses by autocratic governments around the world. In particular, he was a key leader in bringing additional disclosure to the trade in conflict minerals that have financed ongoing violence in the Congo. Mr. Berman will be remembered as a strong friend of Israel who was passionate about the need to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East. His vast knowledge of and experience with world affairs has been an asset to Congress and the Administration and the American people and I expect that we will continue to benefit from his experience in the years to come. Meanwhile, Mr. Berman has also been a leader on a number of issues through his long tenure on the Judiciary Committee. I would particularly like to call attention to his efforts to establish a more humane immigration system. He has fought to ensure that people who come to our country in search of a better life and to achieve the American Dream are treated with respect and are given the opportunity to use their talents to better themselves and their communities. For these efforts, he was appropriately awarded the First Annual Farmworker Justice Award by the Farmworker Justice Fund in 2000. Like Mr. Berman, our Dean, Mr. Stark has spent his entire distinguished career in Congress advocating on behalf of those whose voices are too often drowned out in Washington by the influence of the moneyed interests. Over the last 40 years, Mr. Stark has been one of the foremost advocates in the effort to ensure that all Americans are able to access quality, affordable health insurance. I am honored to have been one of the three principal co-authors in the House of the historic Affordable Care Act, which will provide access to quality insurance for nearly every single Americans. I can personally attest to the critical and key role that Mr. Stark played in drafting that law and making sure that the law provides needed relief for working families. That was a crucial accomplishment, yet it was far from Mr. Stark's only accomplishment in the health care field. As the former chair and ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee for many years, he has been a leader on health care reform. He was the lead author of the original COBRA insurance bill, which ensured that workers faced with losing their jobs would not also immediately lose access to needed health insurance. Additionally, his legislation to improve our health IT system was incorporated into the 2009 Recovery Act, which is already helping improve the cost and quality of health care in communities across the country. And he founded the idea of using Medicare as a model for national health insurance for all Americans, not just for seniors. He was ahead of his time when he first proposed this idea but he was right on track. Mr. Stark has also been a champion on the Ways and Means Committee for tax fairness. He was one of the leaders in shaping the bipartisan, landmark 1986 tax reform bill. Ever since, he has been a leader in keeping up the fight to see that that our tax code does not benefit Wall Street CEOs at the expense of working families. He will be the first to admit that he has not always won those fights, and any examination of the tax code that needs to be reformed is proof of that. But he always fought for average Americans and he deserves our appreciation for doing so. Finally, I want to highlight the work of the outstanding Senior Democrat on the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Ms. Woolsey. Congresswoman Woolsey is a friend of working families everywhere. She knows their struggles. Four decades ago, she was a single-working mother, supporting three children. She knows what it's like to worry about the economic security of families. Later as a human resource manager, she saw how important employee benefits were for workers in good times and bad. Things that working families are still fighting for, like paid leave, paid sick days, a secure retirement and health care. Serving as the chair and ranking member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, Rep. Woolsey was instrumental in helping to get the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed into law and successfully fought for new family leave protections for military families dealing with a military deployment or injury. Rep. Woolsey was a partner to ensure miners are kept safe and healthy on the job. She even went underground in a coal mine with our late- colleague Rep. Donald Payne to acquire first-hand knowledge of how that workplace works. In the classroom, Rep. Woolsey continued to fight for women and working families. She advocated for women to be represented in STEM careers. And, Rep. Woolsey worked to ensure kids had access to an early education, a well-rounded curriculum, and services that met their social and emotional needs. American families have benefited from Rep. Lynn Woolsey's fierce advocacy but I will miss her contributions on the Education and Workforce Committee in the years to come. She has also fought tirelessly to protect the environment, most especially the Marin and Sonoma coast and the San Francisco Bay. She worked to protect our oceans and marine habitat--and to support all of the jobs that are associated with a healthy ocean and thriving fisheries. And she has been a great partner in our efforts to ensure that California's rivers and the Bay-Delta are managed sustainably. I, for one, am grateful to these Members for the work they have done for America's middle class and for those who struggle to join it. The wealthy and powerful have always had a lot of friends in Washington. Apparently it is not hard to be on their side. But the middle class and the working class and the poor have not always been so lucky, not always ending up on the winning side of the ledger in Washington Policy fights. But they should know that these departing Members have always fought for what is right for our economy and for our country. On my own behalf, and on behalf of our delegation and the tens of millions of constituents we represent in California, I thank Reps. Baca, Berman, Filner, Richardson, Stark and Woolsey for their service and their dedication. It is my pleasure to recognize other members of our delegation who wish to speak this afternoon. Now I would like to recognize other members of our delegation for the purposes of receiving their remarks. Mr. Honda.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. If I might inquire of the Chair as to the time remaining.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Thank you, and I now recognize Congresswoman Lois Capps.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Thank you. Before I yield, I turned around and saw that Andrew and Fish and Hannah are here, so welcome the Stark kids. I yield now to Congresswoman Barbara Lee.