Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I wish to formally congratulate M. Krishnan and M. Murali for earning the title of Best Businesspersons of the Year and for their receipt of the Fetna Award of Excellence for 2006. This recognition is the culmination of the contributions that these two brothers have made in the Indian and larger communities. The two businessmen established Sri Krishna Sweets as the premier purveyor of finest sweets in India. While maintaining uncompromising principles and ethical values, they have applied the highest standards of excellence in areas ranging from purchase to fresh delivery of products to creating a new generation of satisfied customers all of the time. Outside of the business world, they have been well known in their local community for the initiation of community service projects in India, most notably among them being posting of life guards in Chennai beaches, restoration of water bodies, preservation and promotion of art and culture and addressing environmental issues. As an advocate for environmental consciousness and a big admirer of Indian art and culture, I applaud their commitment. Their corporate social responsibility is worthy of emulation by Indian and American companies. Sri Krishna Sweets began as a single store in 1948 and it has become the leading retailer of specialty sweets in India with over 54 branches across the country. As Sri Krishna Sweets plans to expand its enterprise to the United States, the company will foster a stronger relationship and bring about a better understanding and cooperation between the U.S. and India. I look forward to seeing Sri Krishna Sweets outlets opening in the US. Again, I commend Krishana and Murali for their notable efforts.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I support the goal of ending suffering and death by cancer by the year 2015 as set forth in this resolution. It is certainly a commendable goal; and, of course, I support the resolution. But what is Congress doing to set up programs and strategic plans to make that goal a reality? For example, the National Cancer Institute has focused the fight against cancer on eight strategic objectives, including: First, understanding the causes and mechanisms of cancer; second, accelerating the progress in cancer prevention; third, improving early detection and diagnosis; fourth, developing effective and efficient treatment; fifth, understanding the factors that influence cancer outcomes; sixth, improving the quality of cancer care; seventh, improving the quality of life for cancer patients, survivors and their families; and, eighth, overcoming cancer health disparities. That is the National Cancer Institute. That is what they are focusing on. Congress, on the other hand, is doing little to help this fight. A resolution I would say is mere talk and does not actually take action to fight cancer. I think Congress has choices right now, and instead of passing this resolution, we should, for example, increase funding for NIH's cancer research, fund real stem cell research supported by the scientific community, fund the Department of Defense's breast cancer research program, and probably most important, expand health coverage to the 46 million Americans that do not have it today. Three times as many people have lost health insurance as jobs since the Bush administration has come to power. Without health coverage, early detection and treatment are almost impossible. There are many cancers that can be cured today, such as cervical, breast and prostate cancer, but without health insurance, access to early detection or follow-up treatment it is almost impossible for the many hard-working people across this country. This year alone, Madam Speaker, cancer will claim the lives of 570,000 Americans, that is 1,500 per day, almost half of those that gave their lives on September 11. In addition, 1.3 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2005 alone. Again, the goal of this resolution is good. I support it, but we should be on the floor today supporting legislative action, not a resolution to help everyone suffering from or touched by cancer. As much as I support this resolution, I think that a lot more needs to be done that is not being addressed today by this Republican majority. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Stark). (Mr. STARK asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would just say that, again, while the Democrats support this resolution, we are very concerned over the fact that it is essentially commemorative in nature and it does not do anything in terms of funding or addressing any of the problems that have been outlined by the National Cancer Institute in order to move forward and eliminate cancer by the year 2015. So while we think it is a good resolution and we do support it, we need to point out that the Republican majority is essentially doing nothing to implement a strategy that would actually lead us to the eradication of cancer. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise to support House Resolution 526, which supports the observation of the Year of Polio Awareness. I do want to thank the sponsor of the legislation, my colleague from New Jersey Representative Steve Rothman, for not only sponsoring this bill, but also for all of his efforts to increase awareness of polio. He will be speaking just a few minutes later. Polio, as you know, is a viral illness that destroys nerve cells. As a result, muscles become paralyzed, and these muscles can atrophy and die. Polio is most common in infants and young children; however, complications occur most often in older persons and often post-polio. Those complications have the often disabling symptoms of overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness and pain, sleep disorders and more. It occurs in 75 percent of paralytic and 40 percent of nonparalytic polio survivors about 35 years after the polio virus attacks. Although polio has plagued humans since ancient times, its extensive outbreak occurred in the first half of the 1900s before the vaccination created by Jonas Salk became widely available in 1955. And I would say, Madam Speaker, that I certainly am old enough to remember when there were many people who were struck by polio. And in the 1950s, when I was growing up, the fact that there was a vaccine available was just seen as an amazing thing. It was very much on the minds of all of us as we were growing up in the 1950s and the 1960s. Sadly, despite having a vaccine against polio, this disease has not been eradicated from the world, and outbreaks continue to occur in the U.S. and other countries. As a matter of fact, it seems we are headed in the wrong direction. The World Health Organization announced last year that they would not meet their intended goal of eliminating new cases of polio worldwide by the end of 2005, since many cases remained. The hope is that this resolution and the new resurgence of focus on polio will promote increased vaccination and education and treatment of post-polio complications. Even today, Madam Speaker, 10 percent of American children under the age 3 do not receive their polio vaccine. This percentage is lower in poor cities. Given new cases being reported in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Niger, Ethiopia and Yemen, an outbreak in the U.S. would not be surprising. And last year four cases of the polio virus were reported in Minnesota. The eradication of new polio cases is achievable, but only if we reeducate the public about the dangers, effects and availability or a vaccine and treatment. This resolution asks all appropriate Federal agencies to take action to educate the people of the U.S. about the polio vaccine, and to educate polio survivors and medical professionals about the existence of post-polio complications and available treatments. Therefore, I support this resolution recognizing a Year of Polio Awareness beginning on November 1 Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, once again, we support this resolution and thank the sponsor, my colleague from New Jersey, for introducing it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague Steve Rothman, who, again, has taken a lead on this and so many other health care issues.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I support House Resolution 982, sponsored by my colleague Congresswoman Capps from California. Madam Speaker, peripheral arterial disease is a serious ailment that affects millions of Americans. This resolution will help to draw attention to this problem by recognizing September 18 through 22 as Peripheral Arterial Disease Awareness Week, and it is my hope that this recognition, along with educational efforts on the part of the research and medical communities, will help make this a problem we can overcome. There are more than 8 million people in the U.S., one in 20 adults, that have peripheral arterial disease. This is a vascular disease that results in the narrowing of arteries and decreased blood flow to the limbs. It could lead to leg pain disability and even amputation. And, sadly, the disease often goes unrecognized because the symptoms include common symptoms of old age, such as fatigue, heaviness, pain and cramping in the leg muscles when walking. In addition, Madam Speaker, this disease increases the risk of heart attack and stroke in people, making it six times more likely they will die within 10 years when compared with those who do not have peripheral arterial disease. Those at most risk for peripheral arterial disease are people over the age of 50, those who smoke, have diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, or have a history of heart disease or stroke. In addition, African Americans have a greater risk of getting peripheral arterial disease. Because of the serious consequences of this disease that affects both women and men and can strike adults of any age, it is important for Congress to support public awareness activities on peripheral arterial disease. Recognizing September 18-22 of this year as National Peripheral Arterial Disease Awareness Week will help bring this deadly disease out of the shadows. And, Madam Speaker, as a part of this week of recognition, we need to encourage outreach activities to educate people about peripheral arterial disease. The public must understand that it is a serious public health issue; and given our awareness of these high-risk populations, education and early intervention could greatly benefit and decrease the incidents of peripheral arterial disease and improve the quality of life. Once again, I would indicate our support of this resolution.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, after more than 3 violent years, the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan is getting worse. As Jan Egeland, Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs at the U.N., has said, the coming weeks could see ``a man-made catastrophe of an unprecedented scale.'' At the end of this month, African Union forces are set to leave Darfur. Currently the only peacekeeping forces in Darfur, the departure of these troops will only embolden the Sudanese Government and the allied Janjaweed militias to continue to murder and displace Sudanese citizens. As my colleagues know, the crisis in Darfur began in February 2003 when two rebel groups emerged to challenge the National Islamic Front government in Darfur. Since then, over 400,000 people have died, and nearly 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes. Sadly, it took the United States until July 2004 to recognize that these events in Darfur constituted genocide, and we cannot continue this type of inaction. Far too many times we have seen the horrible consequences of ignoring genocide or failing to get involved quickly. Madam Speaker, I was pleased to hear that President Bush has finally appointed Andrew Natsios as the special envoy to Sudan. I joined 88 of my colleagues in cosponsoring a resolution calling for the President to appoint such an envoy to demonstrate the United States' commitment to resolving the crisis. This special envoy to Sudan will ensure continuous high-level U.S. engagement in Darfur, and will work to deter a further escalation of violence and humanitarian disaster in the region. But there is much more, however, that the administration should do to work towards a lasting peace in Darfur. As the most prominent democracy in the world, the U.S. must step forward and take a leadership role in stopping this genocide. Resolving this conflict and ending the violence should be a high priority for this Congress and for the Bush administration. The United States must pressure Sudanese allies, particularly those in the Arab League, to ensure that the Sudanese Government agrees to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1706. This resolution calls for 22,500 U.N. troops and police officers to be sent into Darfur to bolster the peacekeeping mission. So far Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has rejected the U.S. Security Council Resolution 1706 and thus rejected calls for U.N. peacekeeping troops to enter Darfur. But if the African Union peacekeepers leave at the end of September, and al-Bashir is successful in keeping U.N. forces out of the region, the situation in Darfur will spiral into a worsening tragedy. The United States cannot in good conscience stand idly by as the horrors in Darfur approach 1 million deaths and 3 million displaced. Families are being destroyed, and people are being murdered. The U.S. and the U.N. have a moral obligation to stop this genocide so we can avoid the failures of Bosnia and Rwanda. Have we not learned anything from those mistakes? The U.S. must work with NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Darfur to ensure military offensives and bombings are brought to an end. The Sudanese Government is escalating an air war by turning Soviet-era Antonov planes into makeshift bombers and using helicopter gunships against mud and thatch huts inhabited by many Sudanese people. We cannot allow these killings to continue, and establishing a no-fly zone will take a step in the right direction to lessen the violence in Darfur. Madam Speaker, the Sudanese Government has improperly imprisoned American reporters and killed aid workers to try to eliminate any international presence in the country. This kind of aggression must come to an end. If the international troops are forced out of Sudan, the country will spiral further into a land of violence and brutality. Finally, the U.S. has a moral obligation to take all possible steps to end the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. We have seen over and over what can happen if the international community does not intercede when people are being systematically murdered and displaced from their homes. With the African Union forces planning to depart at the end of the month and the Sudanese Government rejecting U.N. peacekeeping forces, the time for full-scale international involvement is now.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this week Republicans have turned to their two favorite political tactics: Smear and fear. It is bad enough that President Bush chose to use a 9/11 anniversary speech on Monday night not to unite this Nation with facts but instead to once again divide us by using his bully pulpit to instill fear into Americans with misleading statements. Just 2 weeks ago the President said Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, but once again on Monday night he spent the majority of his speech in the Oval Office talking about Iraq. Why would the President talk about Iraq if he knows it had nothing to do with 9/11? Mr. Speaker, he is trying to blur the issue so Americans will continue to tolerate his failed stay-the-course strategy that a majority of Americans have already rejected. Democrats want a new direction for Iraq, with the responsible redeployment of U.S. troops beginning this year, in order to strongly position America to confront the global challenge of terrorism. Unlike the administration's current plan, our real security plan is a strategy for taking the fight to the terrorists to better protect Americans.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, although Pakistan has become a key U.S. ally in the war against terrorism, it is still known to be a staging ground for terrorism, and I have serious concerns that unless the Pakistani Government is able to crack down on their militant-infested borders, we will never be able to capture Osama bin Laden and his associates and bring them to justice. General Musharraf has been praised as an important ally in the war against terrorism, giving the impression that he and his government share the U.S. perception about terrorism being a shared threat. However, he is only willing to fight terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda to the extent of securing U.S. assistance and worldly praise. He is still unwilling to clamp down on jihadi groups within Pakistan's borders that may or may not be connected with al Qaeda but are still a part of the bigger problem. In addition, U.S. officials have been saying for some time that Osama bin Laden is believed to be in the Pakistan-Afghani border area. In fact, every senior al Qaeda leader who has been captured since September 11, 2001, has been run to the ground in Pakistan. Ironically, Pakistan is also where al Qaeda was founded by bin Laden in 1988. The premise that bin Laden is hiding out in Pakistan has great substance. There are thousands of U.S. and international troops inside neighboring Afghanistan, but none are able to go into Pakistan. That is because the government does not allow foreign troops on its territory. So bin Laden is safe from U.S. forces because they cannot actively pursue him, and yet Pakistan must make a concerted effort to find him either. Madam Speaker, to make things worse, Pakistan has signed a truce recently with militants in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, an area that is believed to be harboring bin Laden and other al Qaeda surviving leadership. It is also where the Taliban originally emerged. The agreement allows the militants to remain in the area as long as they promise to halt attacks. Now considering the recent size and strength of the Taliban insurgency and the increased violence in Afghanistan, this pledge is unlikely to be met. Deaths in the region have climbed over the past few months, and the area lacks any significant government authority. What's more, how can Pakistan ensure these militants will follow through on this agreement without any substantial pressure? The record is abominable, and there is nothing holding them to their word. Madam Speaker, the U.S. must proceed with caution with Pakistan. Even though it has helped capture some of the al Qaeda leadership, these efforts are nothing more than superficial attempts at camaraderie. The fact remains Pakistan cannot be wholly trusted as a legitimate supporter of U.S. goals and interests in South Asia until it proactively disarms all militias and dismantles the jihad infrastructure. They must also either actively seek out bin Laden and his associates or allow the U.S. forces to do so. They need to distinguish between simply assisting the U.S. war on terrorism and truly defending the world's freedom against terrorism.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, nothing could illustrate more that this Republican Congress is a do-nothing Congress than the fact that, on the first full day back, the only thing we are dealing with is the Horse Protection Act. The previous speaker on the Republican side talked about immigration reform. When I was back in my district, people wanted to know when this Congress was going to address immigration reform, when we were going to address port security and the rising number of people that have no health insurance. But we not dealing with those issues today, we are dealing with the Horse Protection Act. What about people protection? Osama bin Laden is still at large. The 9/11 Commission recommendations have not been implemented by this Congress. What about a people or American protection act? The previous speaker talked about immigration reform. This Republican Congress is not even addressing immigration reform. They have decided they are not going to deal with the issue between now and the end of this congressional session. It is a disgrace. This Republican Congress is doing nothing. It is the biggest do-nothing Congress that we have ever seen. We come here to talk about horse protection. We have been out for 6 weeks. The American people want more.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, as the Republicans prepare to leave on a 5- week vacation, this Congress is best described as the ``do-less-than- do-nothing Congress.'' Despite the fact that the minimum wage has not been increased in 9 years, House Republicans refuse to allow a clean vote on the minimum wage, which will prevent 6 million Americans from receiving a much needed pay raise. If Republicans were really interested in raising the minimum wage, they wouldn't attach it to bills they know will never be signed into law. And despite the fact that Republicans have been critical of border security, they continue to refuse to come to the negotiating table so that we can pass a comprehensive immigration and border security bill into law this year. And despite the fact that gas prices are once again at record highs, House Republicans have yet to pass a tough price gouging bill into law, and refuse to join us in repealing $20 billion in tax breaks and subsidies to their friends in Big Oil. Mr. Speaker, the American people have every reason to be disgusted with this House. It is time we take America in a new direction. The American people want a Congress that works for them.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to say, from personal experience in my home State of New Jersey over the last few months, I have visited a number of hospitals throughout the State and looked at their health IT, and I have also talked to a number of physicians. The reason that this legislation is not going to accomplish the goal of really expanding health IT, and I can tell just from my experiences with these hospitals, first of all, most of the doctors say that even for a small group practice, they probably have to invest about $50,000 or more into health IT. And given the reimbursement rates and what is happening right now, most physicians, particularly small group physicians in rural areas and in urban areas, are not able to make that kind of investment. So that is why we need a funding source. This bill has very little funding, minimal. And the substitute, which is based on the Senate bill, on a bipartisan basis, would provide the funding to make a meaningful difference so that we would have an increase in health IT. That is what this is all about. That is why we should reject this bill and adopt something like the Senate bill. In addition, with regard to the privacy provisions, when I visited the hospitals in New Jersey, it was very clear to me that when you start to move with a lot of these electronic and high-tech systems, there is going to be a real problem with privacy that may not exist now with traditional systems. Moving to an electronic system, you have to have additional privacy guarantees. And we feel, again, the Democratic substitute that was rejected by the Rules Committee had those privacy guarantees. I think they are going to be part of our motion to recommit. This is the time to address the privacy issue in the context of this bill, and I would ask that we reject the legislation.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes. Our Nation's health care system is arguably the most inefficient and costly system in the industrialized world. We spend approximately $1.7 billion annually on health care, and yet many of our citizens are in poorer health than the citizens of countries that spend far less. That is because our Nation's health care system is wrought with problems, including skyrocketing costs that make it difficult for Americans to afford the care that they need, inconsistent quality, and huge disparities in care and access. Clearly, the status quo is not working and something has to be done to fix these problems. Health care experts around the country agree that health information technology, or HIT, could provide a partial solution to our problems. Now, while estimates vary, the potential savings from HIT could reach between $81 billion and $170 billion annually by improving coordination of care, patient safety, disease management, and prevention efforts. Under the Republican bill we are debating today, however, none of these savings will be realized. That is because the bill will do nothing to move our Nation forward on health information technology. The CBO agrees with the Democrats, and I quote, ``CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4157 would not significantly affect either the rate at which the use of health technology will grow or how well that technology will be designed and implemented.'' So I don't want anybody to be fooled here today. Don't let the Republicans sell you this lemon. My friends on the other side of the aisle would have us believe that this bill is going to transform our health care system into a model of efficiency, and it is all a bunch of hype. Let me mention a few ways in which this bill is flawed. First of all, there is virtually no funding, and I stress that, virtually no funding to help providers, such as physicians or hospitals, to purchase this technology. The meager amount of funding authorized in this bill will barely make a dent in advancing the use of HIT. Instead of making grants or loans available to doctors to help them purchase equipment or train employees, Republicans have decided to roll back anti-kickback and self-referral protections so that doctors will have to rely on other types of providers for this technology. Make no mistake about it, this is going to open the door for fraud and abuse to run rampant and will eventually add to our health care costs. Secondly, this bill does nothing to improve protections for medical privacy. Electronic health information systems that make it easier to exchange medical information require new privacy protections to be implemented and strongly enforced. In spite of the privacy breaches we saw this year at the Veterans Administration, and also at CMS, Republicans don't seem to think there is a need to strengthen our Nation's privacy laws. But I have to tell you, Americans are not going to stand for this. They are not going to want their most personal information floating around cyberspace without any reasonable safeguards. There are a number of other problems with this bill, Mr. Chairman, but let me finally talk about the process in which this bill was developed. House Republicans have taken an opportunity for all of us to work together on an important issue and they have squandered it. The Senate was able to pass a bipartisan bill that would accomplish a lot more than the bill we are debating today. They authorize grants and loans, they don't roll back fraud and abuse protections, and they ensure interoperability. But they did this all on a bipartisan basis in the Senate. Democrats in the House tried to offer that bill as a substitute in the Rules Committee yesterday, but we were denied the substitute. And it is a shame that House Republicans couldn't follow the Senate's lead and work with Democrats to move our Nation forward on HIT and improve the health of all Americans. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill, because although we think that health information technology is very important, this bill will not accomplish the goal. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. PALLONE. I think, Mr. Chairman, we were told in advance that we would do Energy and Commerce first, so that is the way we would prefer to proceed.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green). (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to our ranking member of the full committee, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell). (Mr. DINGELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and in support of the bill. India has been a strong U.S. ally and should be viewed as a credible and worthy nation of our help and support. India is ready to accept all the responsibilities of the world's leading states with respect to advanced nuclear technology. India has no record of proliferating dual-use nuclear technology to other countries. It understands the danger of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and has agreed to key international nonproliferation requirements. India has committed to separate its military and peaceful programs and adhere to international nuclear and missile control restrictions. It is actively working with the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency to place all of its nuclear facilities under international safeguards. This nuclear agreement strengthens energy security for the U.S. and India and promotes the development of stable and efficient energy markets in India. Development and expansion of U.S.-India civil nuclear cooperation should over time lessen India's dependence on imported hydrocarbons, including those from Iran. Today, the world's two largest democracies have established a remarkable strategic partnership. A civil nuclear cooperation would be a great accomplishment. Its implementation is important for national security and for U.S.-India relations. I urge my colleagues to vote an ``aye'' on this bill. I want to commend the chairman and the ranking member for their hard work in constructing a bill that both the administration and the House could support. Their version will set the process by which Congress will in the future review and vote on the final framework agreement to implement the nuclear cooperation deal. Based on their shared values of diversity, democracy and prosperity, the United States and India have a natural connection. Recently, we fostered a transformed relationship that is central to the future success of the international community; and this important legislation would solidify this relationship.