Eleanor Norton

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to honor Carla Furstenberg Cohen, whose creative ideas and feisty energy were embodied in her legendary bookstore, Politics and Prose, here in the Nation's capital. With her partner, Barbara Meade, Carla Cohen, who died on October 11, 2010, built a small storefront with eclectic books into a major public literary salon that defined Washington as more than a gray government town. Her love of books could not be contained inside the book covers alone, however. Politics and Prose also became a combination discussion platform for authors--from Bill Clinton to Alice Walker--basement coffee shop with open mics for musicians, and a hangout for browsers turned off by the big box chain stores. No one who knew Carla, as I did at Antioch College, can be surprised that Carla Furstenberg, with her effervescent personality, had the power to create an institution. She did not leave all that energy at college, however. Of course, Carla, like the brightest young women of her generation, got a master's degree, was married for 52 years to David Cohen, and had two children. She worked in urban planning and housing and served as a staff member in the House of Representatives before joining the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. However, Carla found her true calling at Politics and Prose, ``a place where books are not commodities.'' The bookstore was a meeting place for those who wanted to do more than buy books. People who found it important to have a place to talk about books and about politics, art, and the issues and items of the day often found their way to Politics and Prose. Carla Cohen threw herself and her savings into Politics and Prose, mortgaging her house and borrowing from family and friends to open the store in 1984, when the mega bookstores were at their high point. The giant retailers responded by trying to copy what they could from the book lovers' intimate atmosphere of Politics and Prose. The bookstore continued to thrive. Despite the recession, its sales, at $7.5 million, were $3 million more than two years ago. Politics and Prose will survive its extraordinary creator. Though the bookstore was put up for sale shortly before Carla Cohen's death, co- owner Barbara Meade is conducting the sale by actually interviewing the six finalists, among more than 50 who made offers. The lessons should be clear enough. If bookstores want to survive at all in the age of electronic books, they had best study the model that Carla Furstenberg Cohen created. Madam Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in celebrating the amazing life of Carla Furstenberg Cohen of Politics and Prose, a legacy with life still to give.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. I thank my good friend from American Samoa, with whom I work so closely and so often. Mr. Speaker, I am particularly grateful this evening to Chairman Brady for working so closely with me on the bill for statues for the District of Columbia, a bill I have introduced for years but that did not move until Mr. Brady became chair. However, Ranking Member Dan Lungren deserves special thanks for today's bill. When he said he could not support my bill for two statues for the District, he didn't say ``no'' to everything. He introduced his own bill for one statue for the District and one for each of the territories. The bill before the House this evening is essentially that bill, the Lungren bill. Our original bill for two statues for the District of Columbia was introduced only to give some small recognition to the taxpayers of the District, who get little enough recognition for their taxpaying status. In the end, in the spirit of compromise represented by Mr. Lungren's bill, I decided that we should seek to move Mr. Lungren's bill at this time, and I thank him for his bill. We recognize that the statues for each State are mere symbols, but for us, they are symbols of American citizenship itself, as embedded in the recognition of their own outstanding citizens by each State. One need only go downstairs in this House to watch visitors from their own congressional districts as they view their statues to see the power of the patriotism and pride the statues inspire in their own constituents. The Lungren bill creates a dilemma for the District of Columbia, however. So great was the desire for the statues generated by my bill that when citizens were asked to indicate who they wanted to represent the city in statue for the United States Capitol, well, the citizens chose two great Americans, had their statues designed and actually built and placed in the District's city hall until such time as this bill, or my original bill, passed the House. And if this bill passes, for now, they will have to decide which one of two great men will represent the city. This will be difficult because it speaks volumes about who we are in the District, that the two men chosen were not only longtime distinguished District of Columbia residents but also are great Americans apart from their District identity. Frederick Douglass, born a slave, who became the greatest human rights leader of his time but also was U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia. And District of Columbia recorder of deeds. And, of course, resident of Southeast Washington, whose majestic home is now a National Park Service site with thousands of visitors who come each year. And Pierre L'Enfant, the great patriot of the American Revolutionary War, later appointed by George Washington to design the Nation's Capital. We have decided it is better to have to decide which one of two great residents of the District of Columbia will represent our city for now than to have no choice at all. I ask this House to support this bill. And again, I thank Mr. Lungren for his compromise in introducing it.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), the sponsor of this bill, such time as she may consume. (Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 6510 directs the Administrator of General Services to convey a parcel of real property in Houston, Texas, to the Military Museum of Texas. The Military Museum of Texas is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) based in Harris County, Texas, that was created to honor the contributions of the citizens of Texas to the armed services of the United States. The museum was founded in 1992 as a charitable organization and has an all-volunteer staff with an annual operating budget. The Military Museum of Texas' main activities include educating citizens on Texas' military history and preserving military memorabilia. The memorabilia include artillery field pieces, field equipment, et cetera, but primarily military vehicles for display that are shared with the public. Its income is derived directly from the sale of items to the general public, membership dues, event fees, and contributions of private individuals and corporations. The museum devotes a significant portion of its funds to its military vehicle restoration program, and these vehicles are often shared with the public on site and at local parades. The Military Museum of Texas estimates the value of its military vehicles and military memorabilia collection in its inventory at $10 million. The museum is currently housed in approximately 20,000 square feet owned by the General Services Administration. Originally, GSA leased the facility to the State of Texas starting in the early 1970s, before the museum took control of the facility in late 2004 under lease with the State of Texas for nominal rent plus utilities and minor repairs. Since its initial occupancy, the Military Museum has worked with a private consultant to put together a 5-year capital improvement plan for fiscal years 2010 through 2015, to improve the facility and address storm damage to make the museum more of a world-class museum. The General Services Administration declared the property excess on December 16, 2009, and the Military Museum of Texas has expressed an interest in purchasing the property at its full market value with a museum use restriction. The government interest in this property is protected because if the site is used for anything except for a museum during the next 30 years, the owners will be required to pay the market value of the parcel at the highest and best use. Given that the GSA has declared this property excess and the Military Museum of Texas is willing to purchase at market value, we find this transfer to be in the best interest of the government, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. First, I want to thank the ranking member, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart), with whom I have worked so well and so closely, to thank him for the collegiality he and I have had on the subcommittee. It is a model, it seems to me, that the Congress might want to follow. I must say, when my good friend tells me that he probably will be leaving the committee altogether, it is a sad note for me, given the way we have tried to reach agreement whenever there has been disagreement. And, frankly, on most matters he and I have found little upon which to disagree. I can only wish him well on the Appropriations Committee. That must be his preference. Therefore, I wish the best for him, and I certainly hope to have the opportunity to work with him again in connection with that committee or otherwise on this floor or in this Congress. I want to congratulate my good friend from Texas for her strong leadership on this bill and in wanting to make sure that this bill got on the floor before the end of the session and for her devotion to a bill that should be received, I'm sure, by all because of the recognition she so wisely understands all members of the Armed Forces are due.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6510) to direct the Administrator of General Services to convey a parcel of real property in Houston, Texas, to the Military Museum of Texas, and for other purposes.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6510.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. I thank the gentlelady from Minnesota for yielding. I come to the floor this evening because a colleague of iconic reputation is about to leave this House. Now, Jim Oberstar will do very well. I wish I could say the same for those of us he leaves behind. Jim carries with him much more than the institutional memory of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Sure, Jim has a legendary encyclopedic memory that he lends to the committee members every so often, but you cannot describe Jim's work with particular pieces of infrastructure that you may see here and there. You just can't do it. Jim's work is so long, so deep, and so influential that it will be almost impossible for it to ever be repeated in this House, for Jim has spent his entire career--and by that, we mean not only his career as a Member but as a staff member most influential with Members--with the T&I Committee or with Public Works or whatever you want to call it. We call it ``Jim's committee.'' Members often expect staff to specialize in the facts and to know more than they know. Nobody expects a committee chair to know more than the staff and the subcommittees put together. No. We sat in committee in wonder that one man could know and remember and integrate so much into the ongoing discussion. The effect on members of the T&I Committee was to make us feel we just had to work harder, not to meet Jim's standard--we're not crazy--but to at least know what the highest standard looked like. You might wonder why this Francophone, who majored in French and political science, became the most influential expert on Transportation and Infrastructure in the United States of America. I believe it has little to do with Jim's brilliant intellect. After all, Jim would have been an intellectual leader on any committee on which he chose to serve. I believe it has to do with his own roots that may have guided him to this committee--Jim, whose immigrant grandfather was a steelworker and whose father was an ironworker in the open iron pits of Minnesota. That Jim--that Jim--got to know, as few of us do, the plight of the American worker, his relationship to hard work and to building America, itself. So, you see, it's quite simple. It's in Jim's DNA. Jim brought an unrelenting dedication to hard work, the same dedication to hard work that his father put in in the iron mines, to the Congress of the United States. He is the only chairman I know who regularly attended subcommittee meetings and then proceeded to join in the discussions at any point they were going on and with what only he could have possibly added to the discussion--and brilliantly so. Now, some of us are trying to name the new transportation headquarters here in my district, in the District of Columbia, for Jim Oberstar. I can't imagine that that wouldn't happen. Yet I know Jim Oberstar, and I have a feeling that that's not what he really wants his legacy to be. I think Jim wants his legacy to be the transformational Transportation bill he fought mightily to bring to this floor and that he brilliantly crafted for the 21st century. Well, Jim, it may not have been in your time, but it must happen in ours. So this evening, Jim, I pledge to you to do all that I can to see to it that your prodigious work on that final brilliant transportation authorization bill shall not have been in vain. Farewell, friend. Have pity on us. Please, don't go far.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) for her initiative in seeing a problem and seeing to it that we deal with this problem while we have got a hand on it. Actually, her bill is very timely. The census is about to come out for the past 10 years, on December 30, and I can tell you, Madam Speaker, as a member of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the census that the census has been controversial throughout my service in the Congress. Time and again we have seen these controversies before this committee. But the census should never be controversial. Neither should a bill that fixes much of what is wrong with the census in a systemic way, and handily passed the other body, which doesn't pass much these days. When it comes to the constitutionally required census, there really is only one way to act, and that is preventatively. I just want to say to the House that the handwriting is on the proverbial congressional wall. We were shocked that only a couple of years ago there was a serious and very expensive design change in the upcoming census so close to when the new census was coming into operation. Now, somebody should have seen this coming, certainly before our committee found it out and was left with no choice. Remember, this is the constitutionally required census. Thus, there was no choice but to accept the added cost. If my friends on the other side are interested in reducing costs, the way to begin is with this bill, which, it seems to me, ought to be a consensus bill right now. Crisis has been a part of every census in modern times, yet most of what Congress does, if you think about it, is not required; our appropriations bills, the defense bills, but the census is constitutionally required. It should not be buried. The census and those who are responsible for the census should not be buried in an agency bureaucracy. Direct reporting to the Secretary, not taking the Census Bureau from the jurisdiction of the Secretary, but direct reporting to the Secretary of Commerce and complete independence with a 5-year term, is what this bill is after. The bill also contains urgently needed management reforms. It should be a top priority of this Congress, as it faces a new census, to go home and be able to tell people, We have acted this time ahead of the next census to make that census less controversial than censuses since the past decennial census has been in the lifetime of all of us. The care that has gone into this bill before our subcommittee and committee should be enough to say to the Congress this afternoon, The time has come to fix the decennial census once and for all.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. But operations and maintenance represents 60 to 85 percent of the costs of a facility over its lifetime. Look what we're doing here today. We've saved the taxpayer money by investing in energy efficiency. Now we're going to save money for all of us, and especially the taxpayers, by investing in what it will take, curriculum and training, to keep these buildings at peak performance and thereby maximize our investment. I thank the gentleman for his hard work and for yielding.

Ms. NORTON. I thank the gentleman for yielding, but I need to thank him for much more, for not only sponsoring this bill, but for shepherding this bill. It was not always smooth sailing, but it was mostly smooth sailing because its underlying purpose is so clear and necessary. I appreciate that it has been a bipartisan bill both here and in the Senate. I certainly appreciate its bipartisan sponsorship by Representative Biggert and you, Mr. Carnahan. I know that this bill will be gratifying to Mr. Oberstar, who has presided over much of the building of the Federal inventory during his extraordinary service here in the House. May I thank my good friend, the ranking member, Mr. Diaz-Balart, with whom I've worked so closely and so well since I became chair, for his work not only on this bill but on the many bills and the many hearings we have held together. Madam Speaker, what we have to consider is that the Federal building inventory amounts to $43 billion of investment of the taxpayers of the United States over many decades. It is clearly irreplaceable. Some of it is familiar to us all--the buildings here in Washington, such as the Justice Department, or your own office building when you go home to invite in your constituents and to do your constituent service, the courthouses where you are. But there has been little investment in this inventory, even inventory close to home. We had a hearing in our subcommittee that showed scores of violations in the buildings of the Capitol complex, which I am pleased to say are now being quickly remedied, but some of them would have endangered the lives of the millions of people who visit the Capitol every year, not to mention the many thousands who live here. So this is a particularly gratifying piece of legislation. Every year, our committee approves hundreds of millions of dollars in projects of construction and repair and modernization, nothing, however, like what we have done recently. Because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Congress took the opportunity to invest in the updating of more than $5 billion in GSA inventory which had been untouched and was a growing backlog. And we didn't simply invest in it by saying fix the roofs. We said save the taxpayers money by upgrading to state-of-the- art energy systems so that we save the taxpayers more money than we are investing today and we begin to catch up on the backlog of many decades of disinvestment in our own priceless inventory. So we are upgrading these federally owned facilities with more energy-efficient and sustainable building components for the first time in memory. This investment will be important; but if we allow these buildings to deteriorate as so much of our inventory has, we will pour the investment right down the drain. That means that you now will have contractors, subcontractors, yes, and many employees who are being asked to maintain inventory that has entirely new components of the kind they have never had to operate and maintain before, because these are energy-efficient, new state-of-the-art materials. In order to maintain this extraordinary investment, this once-in-a- lifetime investment for the Congress, we will want a workforce that is trained and operating to keep this inventory at peak performance so that we don't see it deteriorate before our eyes as we have seen so much of the Federal inventory. We now know that design and construction costs, for example, represent only about 5 or 10 percent of the costs of a facility.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in celebrating the graduates of the ``I Am . . . We Are'' community service program. The ``I Am . . . We Are'' community service program is run by Project Director Michael Williams and Tamara Jenkins through the offices of the TimeBanks, USA program initiated by Chris Gray and Edgar Cahn. The 40 graduates performed community service in the District of Columbia at the National Park Service, The Frederick Douglass House, The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, the Metropolitan Police Department and many other places, with the support of several D.C. Council members. Despite coming from underprivileged and impoverished neighborhoods, the teen graduates devoted their summer beautifying our many parks and assisting the National Park Service with sprucing up the Frederick Douglass House. The Honorable Lee F. Satterfield, Chief Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, offered these young people his inspirational and hearty congratulations as the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony. D.C. Council members Phil Mendelson and Michael Brown also praised the graduates at the ceremony. The awardees and honorees include Brenda Richardson, Community Liaison in the Office of D.C. Council member Marion Barry; Ivana Williams, who successfully secured the grant for this program; Nicole Straughter, of the Campbell Group, who is a third-year student at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) David A. Clarke School of Law; Jeanne Campbell, CEO of the Campbell Group; Katherine S. Broderick, Dean of the UDC law school; Madelyn Yates, of the National Park Service; Julie Kutruff, Director, Frederick Douglass House; and Sheila Lock, of WINN Development Corporation. Supporters and parents of the graduates also attended the ceremony to congratulate the students on their hard work in the District of Columbia. Madam Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in celebrating the graduates of ``I Am . . . We Are'' community service program as they look forward to welcoming another class of inspiring youth.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. I want to thank Chairman Lynch and Mr. Sarbanes for this important bill which takes telework from policy to practice. What progress we have made in telework we owe largely to members of this region, but especially to Mr. Wolf. The Telework Enhancement Act takes telework all the way from a piece of policy lying on paper to be picked up at will, or not picked up, to a real practice with savings in productivity flowing directly to the Federal Government. The bill converts telework from a passive to an affirmative policy of the Federal Government, along with all the productivity and savings that have been documented to occur. It essentially makes going to work by telework the functional equivalent of getting on the road or getting on a crowded Metro car. Although this bill will be implemented nationwide, the two snowstorms in this region should have shocked private and public entities alike into telework. Admittedly, though, those are exceptional circumstances--9/11, natural disasters, continuity of operations--all are important, but they are far from the only reasons for this bill. Government has spent billions of dollars in state-of-the-art technology. This technology is underutilized as long as telework itself is underutilized. Nothing is more inefficient for employees and the government alike than compelling an employee to fight some of the worst traffic congestion in the Nation to get to a Federal office. Nothing is more costly to the government than requiring every employee lockstep to come to a physical place and do the work that could be accomplished with increased productivity and output at home. Nothing is of greater benefit to the oil cartels and to the trade deficit than forcing people on the road. Nothing is more disruptive to two-parent and single-parent families alike than time spent from home, sometimes an hour or two each day in this region, which can now be converted to family life and more work accomplished right there at home. This bill had a bipartisan vote in committee because there was no addition to the deficit, because management, training limits on who can qualify, and emergency measures are all in place. Going to the office to do a job that can be done in less time, more output, greater savings to the government is so 20th century. This is not 1950. It's time our government came into the 21st century to have in place a set of alternatives that provide employees a better way to get the same job done.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5702) to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to reduce the waiting period for holding special elections to fill vacancies in the membership of the Council of the District of Columbia, as amended.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1529) commending Bob Sheppard for his long and respected career as the public-address announcer for the New York Yankees and the New York Giants.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5758) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2 Government Center in Fall River, Massachusetts, as the ``Sergeant Robert Barrett Post Office Building''.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1428) recognizing Brooklyn Botanic Garden on its 100th anniversary as the preeminent horticultural attraction in the borough of Brooklyn and its longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship and education for the City of New York.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5367) to amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to revise certain administrative authorities of the District of Columbia courts, and to authorize the District of Columbia Public Defender Service to provide professional liability insurance for officers and employees of the Service for claims relating to services furnished within the scope of employment with the Service, as amended.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6278) to amend the National Children's Island Act of 1995 to expand allowable uses for Kingman and Heritage Islands by the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.