Walter Minnick

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. May I inquire as to how much time I have remaining?

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Chair, we all support the goal of stronger, more uniform consumer protection regulation, but you don't achieve that by splitting the responsibility between two regulators, in many cases thousands of miles apart, each with half the responsibility. And you compound that mistake by creating exemptions to the new regulation which create gaps and inconsistency. Every regulation has some impact on both the solvency of a financial institution and on its customers. To split the responsibility between two inherently feuding regulators will lead to conflict, inaction, failure, and frustration. My amendment is much superior. It creates a strong mandate for consumer protection in all of the existing regulators. Every regulator must have a division in charge of consumer protection reporting to a person with coequal responsibility for safety and soundness. The regulations themselves will be set by all of the major regulators, a council including regulators from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Federal Reserve to State Attorneys General. The staff for this council will be in the Treasury, and it will have rulemaking authority, but the existing regulators will have the responsibility for administration and enforcement. Before I yield, I would like to thank the gentleman from Illinois, Congressman Schock, and his legislative director, Mark Roman, for their leadership in forging a bipartisan coalition that yields this commonsense solution to this increasingly important problem. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Boren).

Mr. MINNICK. I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the brave men and women of our Nation's armed forces. As a U.S. Army veteran, I understand how important it is that we keep our promises and thank them for their commitment to freedom. I'm pleased to announce the introduction of the Rural Veterans Reimbursement Act. This bill enjoys bipartisan support and has been endorsed by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the American Legion. This legislation will allow rural veterans to receive reimbursement for their food and lodging any time they must travel to a VA medical facility to seek treatment for a service-connected injury. Many veterans living in backcountry Idaho and in other rural areas around the country must travel on narrow, winding roads for the better part of a day to reach the nearest Veterans Hospital or clinic. They deserve to be reimbursed for their travel expenses.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to lend my strong support to Senate bill 509. This bipartisan legislation will authorize the construction of a new outpatient clinic at the VA Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington. The Walla Walla VA hospital provides vital medical care to thousands of veterans from Idaho and a new state-of- the-art facility will allow the hospital to provide expanded services to the members of our armed forces. As more of our troops continue to return home from their deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is crucial that they receive the timely and effective care they deserve. And with Veterans Day just around the corner, this is an excellent opportunity to honor those who have sacrificed so much for our country. I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this important legislation. I thank Chairman Filner and Ranking Member Buyer for their strong leadership and continued commitment to improving the lives of veterans.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize and honor an extraordinary youth education program that serves boys and girls in Idaho. The Gem State Young Marines is celebrating its 50th anniversary and Red Ribbon Week on October 17, 2009. This program serves youths from the age of 8 through high school in the Treasure Valley. It encourages young people to find strength within themselves by learning life-changing skills. Important talents such as determination, discipline, strength and integrity are all taught through a variety of team building events and activities. The Young Marines focus on community service, specifically reducing drug use in teens and young adults. The group strives to instill the core values of honor, courage and commitment, adopted by the Marine Corps, to each of their members. Each young marine is required to complete a minimum of 50 hours of community service each year to qualify for the Young Marine Community Service Ribbon. The Young Marines focus on character building through a combination of self- discipline, teamwork and leadership, as well as promoting a healthy, drug free lifestyle. Helping people in their formative years reduce the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs deserves our sincere admiration and respect. It is important that we recognize the service of groups such as the Gem State Young Marines. The Gem State Young Marines should be extremely proud of all the work they have done for communities in Idaho. I applaud this group and their members for their efforts, their actions show that Americans of all ages can--and do--make a profound difference in communities across the country.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 783, I was caught in traffic returning from a lunch at I and 18th Street, NW. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize and honor the legacy of Jesse Donald Phelps, Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class, U.S. Army, an Idaho native who gave his life during the war in Vietnam. Nearly forty-four years after his helicopter crashed in the jungle near An Khe, his remains have been returned to his family. Officer Phelps was born in Boise on October 1, 1937 and spent his childhood in Nampa. He stayed in Idaho as an adult and married Dee Phelps in 1955, the year that he graduated from high school. In time, he and Dee had four children, and he enlisted in the National Guard before becoming an army pilot. On December 28, 1965, Officer Phelps was part of a four-person U.S. Army Huey helicopter crew charged with delivering munitions and supplies to a group of soldiers through the An Khe Pass, in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam. The routine mission was only meant to take 30 minutes, and 8-10 minutes after takeoff, the crew radioed their target company to say that the weather ``doesn't look bad.'' It was the last communication from the plane, which disappeared into the trees shortly thereafter. Search efforts were fruitless, and Officer Phelps and his crew were later pronounced ``Died While Missing/Body Not Recovered.'' Ten years after her wedding, Dee Phelps received a telegram informing her that her husband was gone. Thanks to more recent search efforts and DNA testing, Officer Phelps's wife, children, and grandchildren can be certain that the head of his family has returned home once more. I and the people of Idaho value his sacrifice and honor Officer Phelps's commitment to serving his country. We owe the strength of our nation to the steady courage of veterans like Officer Phelps.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman and ranking member for their leadership and for bringing this important issue to the floor. On May 16, I delivered the commencement address to the 2009 graduates of the University of Idaho. During my speech, I challenged each of those college graduates to take up the cause of Mr. Liu Xiaobo, an intellectual and literary critic who has spent much of his adult life imprisoned or under house arrest by the Chinese authorities because he had the courage to speak and write that China should allow its citizens freedom of speech and urge that it should allow those citizens to select their government by free and open elections. Today, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Liu's trial is set to begin any day on charges which could lead him to be sentenced for up to 15 years in prison. Mr. Liu has been held since officials took him into custody on December 8, 2008, a day before the release of Charter 08, a declaration he coauthored that calls for political reform, greater human rights, and an end to one- party rule in China. Mr. Liu Xiaobo was formally arrested on June 23, 2009, by the Beijing Public Security Bureau and charged with ``inciting subversion of state power.'' He has been held under criminal detention while Chinese authorities investigate his case. In the months after taking Mr. Liu into custody, officials kept Liu in residential surveillance under conditions that violated Chinese laws, including denying Mr. Liu access to counsel and keeping him at an undisclosed location beyond the legal time limit. I urge that the Chinese Government, as a much admired global power and important partner of my country on many issues important to the future of mankind, grant Mr. Liu a free and fair trial. It should be open to the public, including representatives of international news agencies, where the charges against him will be fairly decided by a judge free from political pressure and instructed to consider only the law and facts of the case. I further urge that Mr. Liu be allowed to be represented by qualified counsel of his own choosing, have the right to face and cross-examine his accusers, and present witnesses and evidence to prove his innocence. If he is allowed to do so, I anticipate he will be cleared of all charges, and then urge that he be immediately set free and allowed to resume his peaceful pursuit of civil rights and a fully democratic government. Mr. Liu's leadership has been an inspiration to me and to an untold number of people in China and around the world for his courage to stand up for civil liberties and to demand that his great and proud nation allow free elections at all levels of its government. His courage embodies the emerging global consensus that all people should be allowed to speak freely and have the right to demand that their country be governed by a true representative democracy. By passing this resolution, the House of Representatives will be sending a strong message that the American people do not condone suppression of freedom of thought or expression. I thank my colleagues and ask for their support.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Chair, no group better exemplifies the power of what a college education can accomplish in building on practical life experiences than that of our Nation's servicemen and -women. So many of my State's and our Nation's leaders grew into adulthood through the military and then, with the benefit of a quality college education, went on to serve their communities and countries in positions of significant leadership in all walks of life. It is critical that members of the Armed Forces who thirst for further formal education and show the extra initiative to earn college credit while in the service have the opportunity later to count those credits toward an advanced degree. I'm proud to say that my amendment to the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act will enhance that opportunity by allowing servicemen and women to transfer academic credits earned while serving in the Armed Forces between institutions of higher education so as to benefit not only themselves but their families and their country. My amendment has been endorsed by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Idaho Division of Veteran Services, and the Idaho American legion. I would like to thank Chairman Miller and members of the Education and Labor Committee for their hard work on this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support the Minnick amendment. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MINNICK. I thank the gentleman, and I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).

Mr. MINNICK. I thank the gentleman from Kentucky, and I appreciate the bipartisan support for this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Speaker, I rise this morning to welcome to this august Chamber the Reverend Tri Robinson, the founder and leader of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, one of the largest and most rapidly growing churches in my home town of Boise, Idaho. Tri leads a Christian fellowship, proud of its natural, Bible-based worship, devotion to prayer, and generous service to all in need. Tri and his parishioners feed the hungry, house the homeless, engage and educate our youth, and work hard to protect the places we love in the West. He is an educator, author, and Idaho cowboy who has become a pioneer of environmental stewardship for the evangelical churches all over America. As his Representative in Congress, I welcome Tri Robinson to this House, and I thank him for his moving spiritual guidance.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Speaker, today Congress will consider a law requiring us to do what every other American taxpayer must do with its family finances, something very simple and very basic, pay for what we spend. Ten years ago, thinking somehow it didn't need outside fiscal discipline, Congress abandoned this commonsense approach, wasted our budget surpluses, and went on a spending frenzy, doubling our national debt. Now we face the largest budget deficit in our Nation's history. Our government cannot continue to borrow and spend, create ever- higher levels of debt, and pass along the costs of paying for it to our children and grandchildren. We are now relying on trillions of dollars of money borrowed from China and Middle Eastern oil states to pay our bills. This can't continue. It's time we grow up, act like responsible adults and return to fiscal sanity. With this measure, any new spending we pass must be deficit-neutral. This is the long overdue essential first step towards a return to fiscal responsibility that will assure our creditors and demonstrate to the American public that we deserve to govern. I salute my Blue Dog colleagues for their persistence on bringing this critical issue to a vote. I urge my colleagues to support this simple, commonsense bill.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask our nation to honor the ultimate sacrifice made by Idahoan and American hero Herbert A. Littleton. I offer today H.R. 2162, a bill to rename Littleton's hometown post office in his honor. Private First Class Littleton, or ``Herbie'', as he was known by his fellow soldiers, was killed in Korea on April 22, 1951, when he hurled himself without hesitation on a deadly grenade, absorbing its full impact and thereby saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. Littleton's actions enabled them to carry out their vital mission and repel an enemy attack. For that act, Littleton was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman. It is my hope that my colleagues will support today H.R. 2162 and the efforts of my constituents to remember Private First Class Herbert A. Littleton and all those heroes who serve our nation in uniform.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate and honor a young student from my district who has achieved national recognition for exemplary volunteer service in his community. Darrien Gish of Nampa has just been named one of the top honorees in Idaho by the 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, an annual honor conferred on the most impressive student volunteers in each State and the District of Columbia. Mr. Gish is being recognized for his work with the Canine Companions for Independence. He is devoting fourteen months of his own time to train and care for the puppy Delphia. He also earned his own money to fund Delphia's health care. Mr. Gish spends time every day working with Delphi on basic skills so that eventually she can assist people with disabilities perform everyday tasks like turning on lights and opening doors. In light of numerous statistics indicating that Americans today are less involved in their communities, it's vital that we encourage and support the kind of selfless contributions this young citizen has made. People of all ages need to think more about how we, as individual citizens, can work together at the local level to ensure the health and vitality of our towns and neighborhoods. Young volunteers life Mr. Gish are inspiring examples to all of us and are among our brightest hopes for tomorrow. Mr. Gish should be extremely proud to have been singled out from the thousands of dedicated volunteers who participated in this year's program. I heartily applaud him for his initiative in seeking to make his community a better place to live, and for the positive impact he has had on the lives of others. He has demonstrated a level of commitment and accomplishment that is truly extraordinary in today's world, and deserves our sincere admiration and respect. His actions show that young Americans can--and do--play important roles in our communities and that America's community spirit continue to hold tremendous promise for the future.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate and honor a young student from my district who has achieved national recognition for exemplary volunteer service in her community. Karissa Tatom, 17, of Meridian, a senior at Cole Valley Christian Schools, has been named one of the top honorees in Idaho by the 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, an annual honor conferred on the most impressive student volunteers in each state and the District of Columbia. Ms. Karissa Tatom is being recognized as a Distinguished Finalist by the program's judges, and will receive a bronze medal. Ms. Tatom learned how to knit so she could make hats and scarves for the ``Mad Hatter'' organization, which provides hats to women and children who have suffered hair loss due to chemotherapy. In light of numerous statistics indicating that Americans today are less involved in their communities, it's vital that we encourage and support the kind of selfless contributions this young citizen has made. People of all ages need to think more about how we, as individual citizens, can work together at the local level to ensure the health and vitality of our towns and neighborhoods. Young volunteers like Ms. Karissa Tatom are inspiring examples to all of us and are among our brightest hopes for tomorrow. Ms. Tatom should be extremely proud to have been singled out from the thousands dedicated volunteers who participated in this year's program. I heartily applaud her for her initiative in seeking to make her community a better place to live, and for the positive impact she has had on the lives of others. She has demonstrated a level of commitment and accomplishment that is truly extraordinary in today's world, and deserves our sincere admiration and respect. Her actions show that young Americans can--and do--play important roles in our communities and that America's community spirit continues to hold tremendous promise for the future.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Chairman, I ask that my colleagues support this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, H.R. 627 requires a creditor to provide a consumer at least 45 days' notice before increasing the consumer's credit card rate. However, in this bill the higher interest rate taking effect on day 45 applies only to the extent that the consumer's balance is more than it was at the end of 14 days after receiving the notice. However, determining the protected balance as of day 14 may still provide enough time for consumers to incur higher overall debt than may be appropriate for them by inflating the balance that will be protected from the rate increase and, in the process, allow consumers to game the system at the expense of creditors. This amendment would provide that the amount of the balance protected from the higher interest rate be set at the 7-day mark, instead of at 14 days. This change would still give consumers the full 45 days to shop for an alternative source of credit for a better deal, but it would reduce their ability to inappropriately inflate their balances to avoid the application of the higher rate in the event that they do not transfer their balances to another card by that time. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Chair, Idaho and the other Western states continue to deal with difficult water issues brought on by years of drought. We're tired of fighting over water, and we're ready for smart solutions to keep our cities strong, our drinking water clean and our crops healthy. Today, the House will consider H.R. 1145, National Water Research and Development Initiative Act. This bill, sponsored by my colleague Bart Gordon, coordinates research efforts on water and provides a clear path forward to ensure adequate water supplies for years to come. My amendment will help our Nation better manage water by highlighting the usefulness of our nation's water research facilities and the need for these facilities to have what they need for groundbreaking research to help states like mine, where water issues are of great concern to every citizen. Our nation depends on robust water research to help find better ways to manage shortages and severe droughts so that Idaho farmers, businesses and growing cities will have a dependable, clean water supply and so our energy backbone, the West's many power-producing dams, are able to function at optimum capacity. Research facilities compile data, coordinate with agencies, and provide the public with comprehensive information that will help us confront water issues as they arise. I urge my colleagues to support the manager's amendment to this bill that includes the Minnick of Idaho amendment.

Mr. MINNICK

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Chairman, I rise today with an amendment to H.R. 1404, the Federal Land Assistance Management and Enhancement Act.

Mr. MINNICK. Mr. Chairman, our Nation's forests are in a state of crisis. In Idaho and throughout the West, the bark beetle is wreaking havoc on our healthy forests and increasing the risk and intensity of wildfires. The FLAME Act addresses the escalating costs of wildfires by creating a government fund for devastating emergency wildfires. My amendment addresses the growing problem that the bark beetle has on our forests. This beetle is killing millions of trees out West, and the dead and dying trees they leave in their wake create the kind of fuel that can feed major wildfires and threaten our communities. My amendment directs the allocation of funding in this Act to account for forest areas, not only in Idaho, but throughout the country, that have been greatly damaged by the infestation of invasive insects. Those areas have high potential to burn quickly, and must be managed in an effective way for the benefit and protection of local communities.