George Miller

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I just want my colleagues to fully understand. This is a bill that is designed for environmental education. I understand the gentleman doesn't like the bill. He voted against it in committee, one of the few Republicans that did. He doesn't like it. They are disappointed because we passed comprehensive energy reform and they have lost their energy debate. But most importantly this: under this amendment, a school could not get money for environmental education. The Governors Association could not get money for environmental education, universities could not get money for environmental education, so who the hell would get the money for environmental education because under this amendment the very organizations that are supposed to be developing the program are prohibited because they hire lobbyists. Yes, the Governors have a lobbyist; universities have a lobbyist; school districts have lobbyists for the State or what have you. They are immediately excluded. So here we are again. The gentleman from Maryland has presented a comprehensive bill, a well-thought-out bill that has incredible support across the board by educational organizations and nonprofits and others who want to engage and step up the environmental education in this country. This amendment would absolutely prohibit these organizations from participating. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 3406) to restore the intent and protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on S. 3406 into the Record.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of final passage of S. 3406, the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008. Since 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act has provided protection from discrimination for millions of productive, hardworking Americans so that they may fully participate in our Nation's schools, communities and workplace. Among other rights, the law guaranteed that workers with disabilities would be judged on their merits and not on an employer's prejudice. But since the ADA's enactment, several Supreme Court rulings have dramatically reduced the number of individuals with disabilities who are protected from discrimination under the law. Workers like Carey McClure, an electrician with muscular dystrophy who testified before our committee in January, have not been hired or passed over for promotion by an employer regarding them as too disabled to do the job. Yet when these workers seek justice for this discrimination, the courts rule that they are not disabled enough to be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is a terrible catch-22 that Congress will change with the passage of this bill today. S. 3406, like H.R. 3195 passed in June, remedies this catch-22 situation in several ways by reversing flawed court decisions to restore the original congressional intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Workers with disabilities who have been discriminated against will no longer be denied their civil rights as a result of these erroneous court decisions. To do this, S. 3406 reestablishes the scope of protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act to be generous and inclusive. The bill restores the proper focus on whether discrimination occurred rather than on whether or not an individual's impairment qualifies as a disability. S. 3406 ensures that individuals who reduce the impact of their impairments through means such as hearing aids, medications, or learned behavioral modifications will be considered in their unmitigated state. For people with epilepsy, diabetes and other conditions who have successfully managed their disability, this means the end of the catch- 22 situation that Carey McClure and so many others have encountered when attempting to seek justice. For our returning war veterans with disabilities, S. 3406 will ensure that the transition to civilian life will not include another battle here at home, a battle against discrimination on the basis of disability. And students with physical and mental impairments will have access to the accommodations and modifications they need to successfully pursue an education. Much of the language contained in S. 3406 is identical to the House- passed H.R. 3195. This includes provisions concerning mitigating measures, episodic conditions, major life activities, treatment of claims under the ``regarded as'' prong, regulatory authority for the definition of disability, and the conforming amendments to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. We expect the courts and agencies to apply this less demanding standard when interpreting ``substantially limits.'' S. 3406 directs the courts and the agencies to interpret the term consistent with the findings and purposes of the ADA Amendments Act. We intend that the ADA Amendments Act will reduce the depth of analysis related to the severity of the limitation of the impairment and return the focus to where it should be: the question of whether or not discrimination, based upon the disability, actually occurred. This legislation has broad support: Democrats and Republicans; employers, civil rights groups, and advocates for individuals with disabilities. I'm pleased that we were able to work together to get to this point. In particular, I'd like to thank the members of the Employer and Disability Alliance, including the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Epilepsy Foundation, the American Association of People with Disabilities, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Society for Human Resource Management for all of their hard work and long hours of negotiations with each other and with our staff. Of course, much credit is due to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner for their leadership and tenacity in the House; and Senator Harkin, Senator Kennedy, Senator Hatch for their skill in moving this legislation through the Senate with unanimous support. It is time to restore the original intent of the ADA and ensure that the tens of millions of Americans with disabilities who want to work, attend school, and fully participate in our communities will have the chance to do so. I look forward to the passage of this legislation and encourage my colleagues to support it. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), a member of the Judiciary Committee, which also had jurisdiction over this legislation and was very helpful in its passage.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I will yield you 30 seconds. If I might, I just want to recognize the tenacity of Mr. Sensenbrenner in pushing for this legislation, and I wanted to do it while he was in the well and also to recognize the contribution of your wife, Cheryl, who has talked to all of us about this and has been so determined that this bill pass in this Congress. I think without that energy, I'm not sure we would have gotten here today. But certainly what you and Mr. Hoyer have done in the House has been absolutely outstanding, and I want you to know how much I appreciate Cheryl's involvement, also.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Stark) for the purposes of engaging in a colloquy.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Yes, I would. As chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, I agree that both H.R. 3195 and S. 3406 reject the holding that academic success is inconsistent with the finding that an individual is substantially limited in such major life activities. As such, we reject the findings in Price v. National Board of Medical Examiners, Gonzalez v. National Board of Medical Examiners, and Wong v. Regents of University of California.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Yes, I would. As we stated in the committee report on H.R. 3195, the committee supports the finding in Bartlett. Our report explains that ``an individual with an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity should not be penalized when seeking protection under the ADA simply because he or she managed their own adaptive strategies or received informal or undocumented accommodations that have the effect of lessening the deleterious impacts of their disability.''

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield myself 30 seconds to say I think the House addressed many of the concerns, Mr. Shimkus, yesterday in the legislation, the comprehensive energy legislation that we passed that deals with the issues of lowering costs to consumers and taxpayers and increasing the energy resources of the United States. I would also say if we don't pass this piece of legislation, they won't have any jobs to drive to because they continue to get discriminated against. With that, I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews), a member of the committee. (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland, the majority leader, Mr. Hoyer. And as he's taking the well, I just wanted to again acknowledge what all of our colleagues have acknowledged and so many people in the disabilities community have acknowledged and known for a long time, his champion of this act. And he has done it year after year after year. He has tended to it, he has watched after it, he has argued about it, and he has encouraged many of us to get involved in these amendments. And these are crucial amendments so that the original intent and the purpose and the opportunities provided by this act are realized. He and Mr. Sensenbrenner did a magnificent job of shepherding this. Many people don't know this who haven't been involved, but the negotiations around this legislation were sort of 24-7 for the last year, with a very diverse group of people, all of whom wanted to see the act amended and improved, and finally came together under the leadership of Mr. Hoyer. And that's why we're here today. And that's why the Senate and the House are going to pass this and we're going to have a ceremony with the President signing these amendments. Thank you very much.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I fully understand the deep disappointment on behalf of the Republican Members, not all, but those who did not vote for the legislation last night to create a comprehensive energy policy for the future of this Nation. They were intent upon killing it. They fell short. They fell short because it was a bipartisan bill. A number of their Members crossed the aisle to vote for the legislation because they recognize this was about taking us to a new energy future, a future that no longer continued year after year after year, as we have under Republican control, increased dependence upon international oil from nations that are hostile to us in so many ways, of nations who inflate our economy in so many ways. This legislation will make available billions of barrels of oil that is from the Minerals Management leasing, the administration of oil on the Outer Continental Shelf, more billions of barrels of oil in Alaska, in the National Petroleum Reserve that holds probably more oil than the OCS, that can be opened under legislation. And the royalties that are due this Nation will be put into a trust fund to create the research and the development of renewable and alternative energy resources that are so important if in fact we are going to break our dependence on foreign oil and on fossil fuels as a bedrock of the energy policy of this Nation. It is also going to stop the royalty holidays that oil companies who are making the largest record earnings in history are doing. With that, I would like to return to the matter at hand and to thank the ranking member from across the aisle, Mr. McKeon, for all his work. I want to thank again Mr. Hoyer and Mr. Sensenbrenner. I certainly want to thank the staffs of this committee, on our side Sharon Lewis who demonstrated great leadership on this issue, Jody Calemine, Brian Kennedy, Chris Brown, our intern Tom Webb; on their side Jim Paretti, Ed Gilroy and Ken Sarafin; and Mr. Hoyer's staff, Michelle Stockwell and Keith Aboshar; and on the Judiciary staff Heather Sawyer and David Lockman. And I failed to mention the Bazelon Center and the Human Resources Policy Association.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the Chair. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Rules Committee for bringing this resolution to the floor so we can debate on the energy bill and vote on the energy bill later today. And I rise in very strong support of this comprehensive, forward-looking bill that will provide relief at the pump, create good jobs in America and finally put our Nation on a path toward a clean, more independent and sustainable energy future. Surely that is something that all of us can support. America understands the problem: Our Nation is addicted to oil. Consumers are paying record prices to heat and cool their homes and drive their cars and their trucks. Global warming is a real, serious and growing problem. Meanwhile oil companies are making more money than ever before. That is why Democrats made energy a top priority when they took back the House and the Senate last year. We raised the fuel economy standards for the first time in 30 years, overcoming the objections of the auto industry, the oil industry, the Republicans in Congress and the White House. And we passed one bill after another to improve America's energy policy and its energy future, to expand wind, solar and other renewable energy sources, to increase the efficiency and conservation and our use of energy, to curb speculation in the oil markets so consumers would not be ripped off by the oil speculators, to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve so that small businesses, truckers and airlines would not be thrust into economic hardship and to recoup tens of billions of dollars from the oil companies that are unfairly taken from the taxpayers. All of these are thrusting America into the future with respect to its energy resources, its supply and its usage. But every bill was opposed by a majority of the Republicans in Congress and by President Bush. This is sort of the Goldilocks of the energy debate, too much wind, not enough solar; too much solar, not enough energy; too much going after the speculators, not enough going after the oil companies; too much going after the oil companies, not enough for the energy industry. They could never get it right. And they could never support an energy bill. And they have never been able, in all the time they controlled this Congress, to move America into the future of energy, to move America into renewables, to move America into efficiency. They voted against it all. And they didn't propose it. And at the end of their decade in Congress, gas was $4 a gallon. They controlled the White House, and they controlled the Congress. At the end of their decade, gas was $4 a gallon. So what are we able to do here today? We're able to help consumers and the taxpayers by ending the subsidies to oil companies, subsidies that President Bush said were obsolete at $50 a barrel. Well they are certainly obsolete today at $100 a barrel or $90 a barrel or $140 a barrel. But the Republicans are going to hold to those subsidies. We are going to end the royalty holiday, a holiday for oil companies where they don't have to pay royalties. Where is the holiday for consumers? Where is the holiday for the person commuting to work? Where is the holiday for the person heating their home? Not from the Republicans. They fought tooth and nail. The President fought tooth and nail to hold on to those royalty holidays. And finally we are talking about creating jobs for Americans here at home in green industries and the renewable energies of the future, in the efficiencies of the future. That is what the American energy future looks like. And that is what this Congress is going to be able to vote on. And that is what the American people are going to get as a result, a bright, renewable, smart energy future.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the chairman for yielding and thank him for bringing this legislation to this floor. I'm honored to be a cosponsor of this legislation along with Mr. Rahall and Mr. Green. I rise in very strong support of this comprehensive, forward-looking bill that will provide relief at the pump, create good jobs here in America, and finally put our Nation on a path toward a clean and more independent energy future. Surely that is something that we could all support. Americans understand the problem. Our Nation is addicted to oil. Consumers are paying record prices to heat and cool their homes and to drive their cars and trucks. Global warming is real; it's serious and a growing problem. Meanwhile, oil companies are making more money than ever before. That's why Democrats made energy a top priority when we took back the House and Senate last year. We raised auto fuel economy standards for the first time in a generation, overcoming the objections of the auto and oil industries and the Republicans in Congress and the White House. And we passed one bill after another to improve America's energy policy to expand wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources, to increase the efficiency and conservation, to curb speculation and energy markets, and to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and to recoup tens of billions of dollars that oil companies have unfairly taken from the taxpayers as they've exploited the taxpayers' resources on our public lands. Every bill we passed was opposed by a majority of the Republicans in Congress and by President Bush. And at the end of all of their objections, gas rose to $4 a gallon. Think how different this debate would have been if in the previous decade when the Republicans controlled this House and the 8 years when they controlled the White House and the Congress if they had pushed forward on energy in those days. Think how different the automobile industry would have been today had they not caved in to the oil industry and the auto industries and moved those standards. But no, it took 30 years, and we did it in this Congress with the Democratic leadership. Think how different this discussion would be on renewables and alternatives if the Republicans had chosen that. But no. Every time they brought an energy bill to the floor, they looked to the past. They said that we could drill our way out of this problem, we're just another drop of oil away from the problem. And at the end of that decade, we ended up more dependent upon foreign oil than at any other time in our history. So that's why we're here today. We're here to help consumers, to drive down the price of energy, to expand the energy resources in this Nation that are available to all consumers all across the country, and to create good American jobs in the process of doing that and to put us on that path to energy independence and to greater diversity in our sources of energy. We are not going to succumb to the old interests that tell us we have to continue to give away the public's resources and not provide the royalties that the public is entitled to, that the public, with all due respect, in most every other nation in the world gets when they give their resources to be exploited. We're going to stop the days of the royalty holidays, royalty holidays for oil companies that are making record profits because of their record ingenuity and their skill and their talent. But the fact of the matter is there is no royalty holiday for the ratepayers, for the people paying at the pump, for people trying to heat and cool their homes. And that's why this legislation must pass because this legislation speaks to the future, to a sustainable and renewable energy policy for this country for the first time in over a decade.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today along with my colleague, Congresswoman Ellen O. Tauscher, to commemorate and celebrate the life and accomplishments of life-long Contra Costa County resident and untiring social service advocate, Ms. Susan Prather. For over 30 years, Susan Prather successfully battled the establishment at all levels of government on behalf of our most vulnerable citizens--our homeless. Sadly, on July 29th, she lost her own battle with cancer, and we all lost a true treasure in our community. Susan's commitment to the needs of the homeless began in 1976, when she was working at a senior meals program and was confronted with the struggles of the homeless and poor of Contra Costa County. Using her own financial resources, she began by single-handedly providing what help she could. She held down multiple jobs to support herself during the day; after hours she traveled the streets of Richmond, Concord, and Berkeley helping the homeless one client at a time. Her commitment to her clients of all ages often took her to their encampments with city and county officials and even Members of Congress in tow. She is well known for the tremendous pressure she put on public officials to make the concerns of the poor and homeless a top priority and increase both funding and services nationwide. She wanted to make sure that those in positions of power could put a face to the problem of homelessness. In 1999, the City of Walnut Creek hired Susan to initiate the outreach program now known as Fresh Start. Under Susan's direction the program proved highly successful. When the funding ran out a short 2 years later, Susan transitioned Fresh Start into a private non-profit organization and it flourished under her leadership, In her role as Founder and Executive Director of Fresh Start, Susan provided her clients with clothing, meals, showers, counseling and other critical social services. She has helped countless residents find jobs and establish homes for themselves and their families. Over her years of service, Susan Prather has been recognized by a long list of government agencies and private organizations for her outstanding community work. In 1994, the California State Assembly recognized her efforts in a formal resolution. In 2002 she received the ``Women Working for Justice'' award from the Contra Costa County Commission for Women. In 2004, she was Honorably Mentioned at the Contra Costa County Humanitarian of the Year Awards Ceremony. Also in 2004, the Walnut Creek Journal named Ms. Prather one of the ``Six People Who Made Our Lives Better in 2003''. Susan certainly made life better for the countless poor and homeless residents of Contra Costa County and in doing so, she raised the quality of life for us all. To Susan's family and friends, we extend our heartfelt condolences. Your loss is shared not only by those who knew Susan personally, but also by all who have been touched by the work she has done. We will be forever grateful for the courage, compassion, integrity, and tenacity with which she sought to make our community a better place for everyone. Susan Prather will be deeply missed and in her memory, we must vow to continue the work she started.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to the California Conservation Corps' Backcountry Trails Program on the occasion of their 30th anniversary. The Backcountry Trails Program, created in 1979 by the CCC's current director, David Muraki, is a special program within the CCC and dedicated to preserving our remaining wilderness areas, making them safer and more accessible. Each spring, the Backcountry Trails Program assembles six widely diverse crews of men and women, hired from all around California and across the United States, who leave behind the conveniences and luxuries of modem life and venture into the mountains to spend five exhausting months doing some of the most challenging and ultimately rewarding work of their lives. The 17 members who comprise each of these crews learn through experience the skills of trail maintenance, construction, and the process of building healthy productive communities. It is extremely hard work and one of our best examples of truly beneficial public service. Over the past 30 years, the CCC has assembled 145 Backcountry Crews, whose combined efforts have repaired 8,560 miles of trail during 2 million hours of service. That's enough trail to stretch from Sacramento, California to the recent Beijing Olympics, or from Sacramento, California to Washington DC, returning to Sacramento, and then back to Washington DC. After this year's corps-members complete the program, they will bring the total number of Backcountry Trails Program graduates to 1,954. Many corps-members discover that a single season working trails in the Backcountry is not enough. Close to 600 Backcountry graduates have been hired by various Federal and State land management agencies to use the skills they've acquired in the program to continue efforts to repair wilderness trails. The CCC's Backcountry Trails Program has become the premier trails apprenticeship program in the Nation. The graduates have been hired by every major national park in America. In addition to clearing trails, the crews have built 121,440 square feet of walls and over 21.5 miles of raised causeway. They have installed nearly 10,000 water bars, 25,883 rock steps, and built over 4.3 miles of stone rip rap, carefully selecting and placing each rock into an exact fit in order to sustain the weight of mules and the ravages of time. In recognition of the CCC Backcountry Program's significance, the California State Commission has deemed this program an integral part of California's Ameri-Corps portfolio since 1995. Today, I am extremely proud to commend the California Conservation Corps' Backcountry Trails Program for their 30-year history of improving our wilderness and providing valuable training for so many of our young adults.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged concurrent resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) for a unanimous consent request. (Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.