Patrick Meehan

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to speak. As we've been talking so much, I hear so much about a balanced approach. What we really need is a balanced budget. The concern right now, as I talk to the many phone callers who are calling in, is that America has taken the time to tighten their belts at home; and when you talk to business people, they've made the tough decisions, and they're looking to us now to make the tough decisions as well. And that's what I think this legislation has done, legislation which we can look at right now and we can put away the arguments from each side, the Republican side and the Democratic side. This is about America right now. The people who are calling in, who are watching, they are watching right now and greatly concerned because of the fact that they feel their economic security is at risk because we can't deal with the long-term implications of this budget and this debt. There is a plan, and the Republicans in this House have put together a plan. And I'm not going to get into the partisan rhetoric. Let us go around this plan. If we've got differences, let us resolve those differences effectively for the American people. Let us get to work in this House, get it to the Senate, pass it today so we can get the good work done that will allow America to get back to work with a sense of confidence in the future of our economy, get people back to work creating jobs.

Mr. MEEHAN. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, On behalf of myself and my colleagues in the Pennsylvania delegation (Mrs. Schwartz, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Brady, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Shuster, Mr. Holden, Mr. Marino, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Altmire, Mr. Gerlach, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Critz, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Dent, Mr. Platts), I would like the following statement submitted for the record. I rise today to honor Rear Admiral Kenneth J. Braithwaite, II. On June 3, 2011, at the United States Naval Academy, the U.S. Navy celebrated the retirement of a long standing flag officer, Rear Admiral Kenneth J. Braithwaite, II. Rear Admiral Braithwaite served his country for over 25 years. Prior to his retirement, the Navy's Vice Chief of Information served as the principal Navy Reserve liaison and advisor to the Chief of Information having responsibility for formulating strategic communications counsel to the leadership of the Department of the Navy. Concurrently, he served as the head of the Navy Reserve (NR) Public Affairs program and as an adjunct advisor to the Commander, Navy Reserve Force. A 1984 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Braithwaite was designated a naval aviator in April 1986. His first operational assignment was to Patrol Squadron 17, NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii. He flew anti-submarine missions tracking adversary submarines throughout the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. In April 1988, Braithwaite was selected for redesignation as a public affairs officer (PAO) with his initial tour aboard the aircraft carrier USS America (CV-66). He had additional duty as a PAO to Commander Carrier Group 2 and Commander, Striking Force 6th Fleet. He made both a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Force deployment to the North Atlantic operating above the Arctic Circle and a Mediterranean/Indian Ocean cruise where the battle group responded to tensions in the Persian Gulf. In 1990, he was assigned to the staff of the Commander, Naval Base Philadelphia as chief of Public Affairs. Braithwaite left active duty in 1993 and immediately resumed naval service in the reserve where he served with numerous commands from Boston to Norfolk. Additionally during this time he earned a master's degree in Government Administration in April 1995 with honors from the University of Pennsylvania. In October 2001, Braithwaite assumed command of NR Fleet Combat Camera Atlantic at Naval Air Station, Willow Grove, Pa. During this tour the command was tasked with providing support to the Joint Task Force (JTF) Commander, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In March 2003 Braithwaite deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom with a portion of his command in support of naval operations to capture the port of Umm Qasr. Following this tour he served as commanding officer of Navy Office of Information New York 102. Most recently Braithwaite served as Commander, Joint Public Affairs Support Element-Reserve (JPASE-R) from October of 2004 to October 2007. In this role he commanded a 50-person joint public affairs expeditionary unit that was forward deployed to support Joint Combatant Commanders in time of conflict. While in command and following the devastating earthquake in Pakistan in 2005, Braithwaite was deployed to Pakistan as part of the Joint Task Force for Disaster Assistance serving as the director of Strategic Communications working for both the JTF Commander and the U.S. Ambassador in Islamabad. His decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (with oak leaf cluster), Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal (5) with Combat ``V'', Navy Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon and numerous campaign and service medals. In his civilian career, Braithwaite is senior vice president, Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania where he leads the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council in Philadelphia. His commitment to the Navy and our Nation would not have been possible without the support and love of his family, especially his wife Melissa, his daughter, Grace and his son, Harrison. We commend and thank Rear Admiral Braithwaite for his relentless and selfless dedication to serving our country with honor and distinction.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the efforts of the students of Springfield High School, in Springfield, Pennsylvania, who raised a record sum of nearly $153,000 through their annual Dance-a- Thon to benefit pediatric cancer research. With over half of Springfield High's student body taking part in this extraordinary charitable drive, the Dance-a-Thon represents community service at its finest--citizens voluntarily giving of themselves to make a difference in the lives of their neighbors. Most of us have known the pain of losing a loved one to cancer, but the students at Springfield took action, joining together to help children who are fighting this disease. I am proud of these young men and women, and grateful for the example they have set for their peers and the students who will follow after them.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the Upper Merion School District of Pennsylvania for winning an Environmental Achievement Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Upper Merion was recognized for being a 2010 ENERGY STAR leader and for reducing its energy consumption by more than 30 percent, an achievement reached by only about a dozen of the Nation's 15,000 school districts. All six of Upper Merion's schools have earned the ENERGY STAR rating and several buildings have energy reductions near 50 percent. The district has also embarked on an aggressive recycling program that has resulted in about 50 percent of its solid waste being recycled instead of going to the landfill. I am proud to represent the citizens of Upper Merion in Congress, and their example of stewardship--of a community taking local initiative to reduce their environmental impact--is a model of bottom-up sustainability that municipalities across America should strive to emulate.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act, a bill that was introduced by a number of my colleagues in a bipartisan fashion just yesterday to deal with the issue of energy and our ability to make it available to Americans in an affordable and efficient capacity. What it will do is take dollars that we can use by investing in the ability to take the resources from the Outer Continental Shelf leases and put those $2 to $3 trillion worth of assets to work by dedicating them to rebuilding our infrastructure, focusing on our ability to find renewable and clean energy resources, and to put those dollars as well towards cleaning up our environment. It's a bipartisan effort that gives an ability to hold down the long- term costs of energy. It's a tremendous opportunity for us to get ahold of this. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and making this law.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 300, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Markey

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Madam Chair, on rollcall No. 92, the Kline Amendment No. 214, I was inadvertently detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word and to speak in opposition to the amendment that was just proposed by the gentleman from Illinois. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. MEEHAN. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on behalf of this very, very significant and important piece of military hardware, the V- 22 Osprey. Notwithstanding the discussion in which the GAO has made a report, the fact of the matter is this is an instrument which has proven itself in the theater of war. Those who have been the most significant advocates for this very, very important airplane have been those who have used it in the theater of war, the United States Marine Corps. This has been used successfully in 14 different deployments, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has proven itself time and time again; proven itself to have the flexibility to be able to accommodate the new challenge that the Marines are facing in these dramatically challenging circumstances; the functionality to be able to respond quickly to moving troops, not just to insert most effectively in a time fashion but to be also able to get there as quickly as possible, in real-world combat situations that are changing as we speak. Day and night raids. This is the instrument that the Air Force, Special Forces, and the Marines have identified as among the most important; the instrument that rushes to the front and medevacs the soldiers. I just visited Walter Reed just about a month ago, and the ability to get soldiers who are injured from the front lines back to the United States in time is remarkable. This is one of those instruments that allows them to do it. It's a technology which has been proven, not just in the battlefield but has also been proven by its performance. They have worked out the kinks. They have paid for it. This is the thing that the Marine Corps is asking for that's consistently within the boundaries of the existing defense budget. The soldiers on the front line are asking for the V-22 Osprey because it helps them do their job. We must stand in support of the soldiers who are doing the work defending our Nation most effectively. They are the ones who are proving that it works. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment No. 63 Offered by Mr. Gutierrez

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure to be here as a Congressman, but before I came here, I served as a prosecutor, both a Federal prosecutor and a State prosecutor, and I have actually been probably one of the few people who has actually been involved in investigations who have used the Patriot Act, used the Patriot Act against the proclaimed Imperial Wizard of the KKK in plotting to take handgrenades to blow up an abortion clinic. It helped us to be able to resolve a case and see a just sentence. But what is happening today by virtue of these provisions is the ability for us not to just use what was important then in 2003, but to appreciate the changing nature of technology and the need for law enforcement to be able to keep pace with that. This roving wiretap simply allows law enforcement to be able to track the individual rather than the phone. You have to appreciate that law enforcement is operating in real time. I have heard many references as well to the idea of the sort of lack of due process, and because we are dealing with the issue of a potential terrorist, we are looking at it differently from the context of the probable cause context, but we are going before the FISA court. Mr. Rogers explained specifically about the need to take this same information of probable cause before a court, and even if that phone is changed after the fact, we have to report back to the judge about what has been done with that phone. The protections have been built in with what Congress did. I was in the Justice Department when we came before you, and you fixed these provisions significantly. Lastly, I now chair a subcommittee of Homeland Security dealing with the issue of terrorism and the lone wolf provision. It was Janet Napolitano who talked about the changing nature of the threat and this being one of the most serious times since 9/11. Mr. Speaker, we must stand together and support those that are on the front line with these commonsense changes that have already been put into the bill. We are not going over new territory here. What we are doing is allowing those on the front line to use the tools before them to keep America safe. I urge support for this provision.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. I want to thank my friend for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise and join my colleagues--and in fact fellow citizens from across this Nation--in thought and prayer following the tragic assault on Gabby Giffords and 19 others in Tucson. I pray that in these critical hours Gabby Giffords will heal and begin the path to a fuller recovery. Just yesterday, I was privileged to join a large number of my freshmen colleagues as we went on a visit to the Walter Reed Army Hospital where we were humbled and inspired by the remarkable strength of severely injured military heroes who are fighting to recover from their wounds. I pray that Gabby Giffords will be provided with a similar resolve. I pray for those who lost their lives and the families of their loved ones who now struggle with grief. And I think particularly, having been a former prosecutor, of Judge John Roll, whose loss is being deeply felt by our colleagues in their public service from the judiciary. While this tragedy was not related to his duties per se, it is a reminder that our judges too often face threats that impinge on the independence that they must be accorded for our system of government and freedom and, just as importantly, justice, to prosper. Lastly, I want to express deep condolences to the family of Christina Taylor Green, whose grandfather, Dallas Green, is a member of the Philadelphia community. This tragic incident brought it home in a very personal way to the people of my region. Let us allow this horrible tragedy to inspire all Americans to become better instruments of peace.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Amendment 22, passed by Congress on March 21, 1947. Section 1: ``No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than 2 years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once.''