Bill Pascrell

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. At the end of the day, the United States is the most open, accessible, and dynamic market in the world. We hold our trading partners, hopefully, to the same standard. We must tackle our trade deficit head-on so that United States businesses and families can continue to prosper in the years to come. I urge passage of this legislation. I eagerly await the report of the commission.

Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, I want to agree with the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Davis), but there's a catch here. In the last 6 months, we have gained 136,000 manufacturing jobs, private jobs. It's one of the few pluses that we can refer to. So there is hope for the future in terms of manufacturing if we do the right thing. I rise in support of H.R. 1875, the End the Trade Deficit Act, and I want to thank my friend from Oregon for introducing this important legislation. All through the years, Mr. DeFazio continues to speak out over the din and over the years for the American consumer and for fair trade policies. I salute you. The United States has run a persistent trade deficit with the world since 1978, including structural deficits with several major trading partners year after year. This includes a $220 billion trade deficit with China alone. In 2001, just think of it, 9 years ago, China was granted admission to the World Trade Organization, that number was $84 billion. It's increased in 9 years by $136 billion. One study by the Economic Policy Institute estimates that the dramatic increase in our trade deficit with China alone has cost this country 2.4 million jobs. The American people, the middle class, know that our trade policy has not worked for them. They see it in their everyday lives. My hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, I still live there. We close factories. We reopen them south of the border or overseas. Why haven't we stopped the hemorrhaging of jobs to places offshore?

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, as the gentlewoman from California is not here yet, who is the primary sponsor of this legislation, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 275. I want to commend both Mr. Polis and Mr. Petri for their very succinct words. I know firsthand the benefits that our children receive from a robust arts education program, whether it is music, theater, visual arts, photography, poetry, or dance. This is not simply an outlet. This is part and parcel of the essential features of what a good education is all about. Unfortunately, the current state of the economy has now put these classes and the further enrichment of our students at risk, and I would ask us to address this issue. What is the first to be cut? Go right across the Nation. Arts, libraries and sports--the things our kids love best. Arts are not just sought to get away from things. Arts are part of their lives. They enrich them. They contribute to one's total being when one has an appreciation of the arts. I taught an arts course, History through the Arts. They were mostly students who could care less about American history; so I had to find a way to get to them. I taught the course by going through all of those fine arts I just talked about. I asked them to learn about our Nation through different periods of time through the artwork, the poetry and the music of that individual time, not unlike what we would do when studying the Renaissance. This is particularly evident in New Jersey. The city of my district, West Orange, has announced its intentions to cut its music and arts departments in addition to laying off almost 90 staff members in order to reduce its budget. It is forced to do that. Yet we take no action. Last year, in the stimulus package, we saved a lot of jobs, necessary jobs. This year, we are reluctant to do that. We are frightened. The word ``deficit'' is in all capital letters. Yet for 8 years we saw this accumulate and accumulate and said nothing. In my town of Paterson, where I grew up and still live, 50 music teachers and 38 art teachers got their pink slips. John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson performed just its second spring musical in 30 years in April. Talk about austerity. Due to the cuts, it could be another 30 years. I'm not exaggerating. These are the numbers. You can't make this stuff up. Before this crisis a 2007 study found out more than 75,000 students in New Jersey have been attending school every day with no arts education. If we want to encourage arts in education, then we can't talk out of both sides of our mouths. So it is nice to recognize the arts in a week, a month, a year. That's fine. That's great. If we were to fire all the arts teachers, what would that be like? It looks like the Senate has decided to strip the $10 billion that this House voted for to keep our teachers in their classrooms. I don't know what is happening at the other end of the building. By failing to provide our children with opportunities to supplement their classes, we are robbing them of a complete education. We must consider the arts, which enrich our lives, the lives of our youth, which spark a life-long love and passion for creativity, not as a secondary priority in our educational system but as an essential pillar of its foundation. So I urge the support of H. Con. Res. 275, which expresses the support for the designation of this week beginning on the second Sunday of September, and I urge the Senate to keep up with the House on some issues at least.

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. In fact, the Sunlight Foundation, which is no stranger to criticizing this Congress on earmarks, has called this bill ``transparency done right.'' I rest my case. Let's pass this legislation. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. PASCRELL. Here we go again on process. We want results. We need to look back at the record since 1995 on this legislation. The House has approved the MTB six times under suspension. Two of those votes, Mr. Speaker, two of the votes, voted on in the 104th Congress and the 107th Congress, were voiced. We didn't even have a roll call vote. So for you to come before this House and tell us that the world was turned upside down, you turned it upside down when you look at the 104th and the 107th Congress. And we know who the majority was in those Congresses. That's the record. Now, we know there is a very clear distinction between earmarks and the MTB provision which this bill enunciates. You know that an earmark provides for the authorization of a specific district or State, et cetera, et cetera. But a limited tariff benefit is defined as a provision modifying harmonized tariffs. We don't know what the word ``harmony'' means in this House. So I am in strong support of H.R. 4380. This bill will lower costs for American small businesses, allowing them to prosper and making their products more competitive both here and abroad. This is what we should all be about. This will create tens of thousands of United States jobs, increase United States production, and expand GDP by several billion dollars. In my district, two towns, Bloomfield and Paterson, will benefit from duty suspensions on certain products. This is significant not only for the people who work there but for the customers of these products.

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. During that period of time, which was a bellwether for what was going to happen--which was a distant early warning signal--why we couldn't understand where is this money going if everybody's making profits? And then we examined the record. Where was it going? It was going to corporate profits because nobody was watching. There was no oversight. These unemployed are suffering because of those profits in times where we were starting to tighten our belt and understand what was coming our way. The emergency unemployment compensation program began to phase out at the end of May, so this bill will retroactively restore those necessary benefits. This is dignity we're talking about. This is a man or woman looking at their families and saying, We are going to eat tomorrow; we are going to pay the electric bill; and we are going to pay the rent. I think this is important and critical. After two wars and after two massive tax cuts to help the rich--that you never paid for--you have the nerve to tell the unemployed people in this country that you must be wanting to be unemployed. ``I'm sorry, we cannot help you.'' But if you're part of corporate America and you stuck it to the Americans in the middle class of this country and the poor, ``That's all right. We'll find a way to bail you out.'' Let's make sense. Let's be fair.

Mr. PASCRELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak for the unemployed. I've had more calls in my office in the last 2 weeks from those who have run out of benefits. That's a fact of life. The last speaker who talked about the unemployed and that they are better off without us helping them, figure that out. The unemployed are better off when they can put food on the table for their families. The unemployed are better off when they can pay their rent. That's when the unemployed are better off. And that doesn't happen by osmosis. This legislation is incredibly important because millions of Americans woke up this morning and will not be able to pay their rent, will not be able to pay their electric bill, will not be able to do at the grocery store what needs to be done. For years, there were policies that placed the extraordinarily wealthy people of this country--the big banks, the well-connected-- above seniors, above the middle class, above the American people. Just today, at one of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's hearings, you should have watched it when these guys wiggled in their chairs in answering the questions of the Commission of how we got into this mess. Look, there's enough blame to go around on both sides. But you guys were in charge--not us. Remember, 8 million jobs, millions of people's retirements lost, because of the recklessness of Wall Street. And we can't dig down and help those people who are unemployed--the extent of the time of unemployment we haven't seen in so many years. But if you go back to 2005, when we were warned of the clouds that were heading towards us, you will remember in those 2 years before that, 2003 to 2005, the average salary and wage went down 1.5 percent.

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. I present an amendment to this legislation.

Mr. PASCRELL. I yield myself 2 minutes. The DISCLOSE Act is an important piece of legislation. I want to commend Mr. Van Hollen, Chairman Brady, and their staff. I also want to thank Mr. Perriello and Mr. Grayson for working with me on this important amendment. One of the most troubling aspects of the Citizens United decision was the opening of a loophole that could allow multinational corporations with significant foreign ownership to spend prolifically in American elections. Who in God's name would want to have foreign governments involved investing in our elections? The DISCLOSE Act, as written, attempts to limit the ability of foreign nationals to launder their cash through these domestic corporations by imposing limitations on foreign ownership, foreign membership on corporate boards, and executive power. This amendment would strengthen this provision in two important ways. My amendment lowers the allowable foreign ownership percentage from 20 percent to 5 percent when the foreign owner is a foreign government, foreign government official, or foreign government-controlled company like a sovereign wealth fund. I believe it is important to draw this distinction between the average foreign citizen and foreign governments who could seek to exploit this loophole to influence our elections based on the policies of their governments and not the citizens of our country. The second provision of my amendment would close a potential loophole that could allow a majority foreign-owned corporation to continue to make political expenditures so long as no single shareholder owns more than 20 percent of the company. My amendment would prohibit expenditures by corporations who have a majority of their shares owned by foreign nationals even if no single shareholder meets the 20 percent threshold. I believe this is an important amendment. These commonsense provisions will ensure strong protections for our elections from unprecedented foreign influence and spending. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 seconds to the majority leader, Mr. Hoyer.

Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. First of all, Mr. Chairman, the courts will apply section 102 of the DISCLOSE Act to labor unions as well as corporations. Unions will be required to certify that they are in compliance with the safeguards against foreign ownership and control. It is our duty, Mr. Chairman, to pass the strongest possible restrictions to keep foreign money out of our elections, and keep American elections decided by the American people. The DISCLOSE Act is a good first step towards empowering the American citizens in our elections. I urge the House to approve this amendment and to strengthen this important piece of legislation. And I want to commend Mr. Van Hollen and Mr. Brady. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boccieri).

Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Perriello).

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, I would like to call to your attention the deeds of a person I am proud to represent and prouder still to call a friend, Eli M. Burgos, who will be recognized tonight on the occasion of his retirement from a 36-year career of service to the city of Paterson, NJ. Eli M. Burgos was born in Puerto Rico in 1949 to Minister Gregorio Burgos and his wife Lucia. He has three sisters, Sara, Raquel and Irma, and one brother, Fred. In the early 1950s he moved to New York City and one year later to the city of Paterson. Eli attended Paterson Public School No. 3, No. 2, Central High School, and in 1967 graduated from John F. Kennedy High School. Soon after, Eli was called upon to serve in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam Conflict. After reporting to Fort Dix, he was sent to the U.S. Army Medical Training Center in San Antonio, Texas for training as a Medical Corpsman. He graduated with the highest cadre evaluation, and continued his medical training at Madigan General Hospital, Tacoma, Washington. He then was transferred overseas where he completed his active duty with the 42nd Medical Battalion, 8th Medical Company. During this time, Eli served under the command of Captain Jeffery Parks, son of the legendary ``Miss America Pageant'' MC, Bert Parks. Eli was honorably discharged as a Medical Corpsman Specialist IV, in 1971. Thereafter he served in the United States Army Reserves for four more years. Upon his discharge, Eli returned home and began a career in public service. Eli Burgos attended Rutgers University where he completed all of the requirements to become a certified public purchasing official and a qualified purchasing agent and also attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he received his certificate in public service administration. Prior to working for the city of Paterson, Eli was the co-founder and executive director for PRVANJ, a statewide service organization, funded by a Federal grant, to identify the needs of and provide services to returning Vietnam-era veterans. In 1974, Eli was hired by Mayor Pat Kramer as a planner for the Manpower Planning Council, later the City's Employment and Training Division, or C.E.T.A. Eli rose through the ranks and in 1981 was appointed by Mayor Frank Graves to become the agency's executive director. With the promotion, Eli became the first Hispanic American division director in Paterson's history. In 1984, Mayor Graves again promoted Eli to the Deputy Directorship of the City Department of Human Resources, and two years later to City Purchasing Agent, where he was responsible for the annual procurement of over 50 million dollars in goods and services. He held this position for 19 years. During my time as mayor, Eli served as a liaison to the growing Hispanic community. On October 21, 1998, Mayor Marty Barnes appointed Eli to the position of deputy mayor, while allowing him to continue directing the purchasing division. On July 1, 2002, Mayor Jose ``Joey'' Torres named Eli as the business administrator for the city of Paterson, a position of major authority and responsibility and one he will vacate upon his retirement at the end of the current mayor's term. Eli's volunteer work has been widely recognized and rewarded with over 250 awards, certificates and other honors and recognitions. He has been named ``Man of the Year'' on seven occasions and has been the Grand Marshall and Deputy Grand Marshall of various parades and festivals held in New Jersey. Eli has devoted over 25,000 hours of time as a volunteer to a multitude of programs and projects in the State, county and his beloved city of Paterson. Eli has worked with public education projects, local anti-poverty programs, daycare centers, senior citizen services, church-related projects, sports leagues, recreation activities, health and safety, political campaigns and many others that include fundraising for the American Red Cross and other non-profits to aid victims of natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. He has been elected president of many organizations and has been a founder or co-founder of others. He continues his work on the Board of Directors of the North Jersey Federal Credit Union. Eli is very proud of his service with other organizations such as Bamert Hospital, the New Jersey Supreme Court Ethics Committee Fee Arbitration Panel, the Board of Directors of the Local Initiative Support Corporation ``LISC,'' New Jersey Health Professions Education Advisory Council and many other community-related boards and institutions. Eli has written many articles for periodicals highlighting the struggles and accomplishments of the Puerto Rican and Latino Communities of Paterson and the State of New Jersey. He also worked for seven years as a part time photojournalist for Noticias Del Mundo, a leading daily newspaper in New Jersey and New York. Also active in politics, Eli ran for the Board of Education in 1989, his first attempt at elective office, and won by a wide margin. In 1991, he was selected as my running mate for election to the New Jersey Legislature, to represent the 35th District. Eli fell short of winning the election by the slimmest of margins. He never sought elected office again, instead continuing his administrative and managerial work to better the city of Paterson. Eli is presently serving his 5th term on the Democratic State Committee and previously served 11 years on the Passaic County Democratic Committee. He is a member of the city's Emergency Management Team, the New Jersey Municipal Managers Association, the New Jersey Purchasing Agents Association, and the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing. Throughout the years, another constant in Eli's life has been his family. His wife, Yolanda, recently retired as the principal of International High School in Paterson. All of their children, Louie, Janel, and Velanae, have obtained college degrees as has their daughter-in-law, Luciana, and son-in-law, Victor. Eli and Yolanda are proud grandparents to Destin Louis and Liana Rose. The job of a United States Congressman involves much that is rewarding, yet nothing compares to working with and recognizing the efforts of dedicated public servants like Eli. He will retire as the only person in Paterson's history to have served in the capacity of acting mayor, deputy mayor, department director and division director, responsibilities he has carried out in the most professional and ethical manner possible. He is humbled by the opportunity to have served this great historical city and to have made so many friends and acquaintances along the way, and I am proud to have been able to work with him. Madam Speaker, I ask that you join our colleagues, the residents of the city of Paterson, everyone associated with public service in our great city, Eli's family and friends, and me, in recognizing Eli M. Burgos' outstanding service to his community.

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5486. That is exactly correct. We should stop looking away. Let's focus on what the subject really is. The gentleman just left the floor, but in the final months of the last administration, on average, we had a loss of 725,000 jobs. This is the first increase that we have had in the private sector in over 2 years. So you are the party of ``no.'' There are no two ways about it. Ever since we hit 750,000 in January of 2009, we have had an improvement every month, and now we are finally in the plus area. It took us 8 years to get into the mess. It is going to take us more than a year and a half to get out of it. This legislation is incredibly important because it will help this country's small businesses, both new and already existing, by making the Tax Code work for them. After years of misguided tax policies from the previous administration, which only helped extraordinarily wealthy individuals, the Ways and Means Committee is focusing its efforts on the real engine of the American economy: one-third tax cuts in the stimulus, one-third investment in the infrastructure, one-third investment in informational technology, energy jobs, and tax credits. That record is unparalleled. The tax cuts of this year and last year are the largest in the history of this country for any 2-year period because we help the middle class. That is what our party is all about. According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses have generated 64 percent of the new jobs over the past 15 years, and they must be at the forefront of the economic recovery today.

Mr. PASCRELL. How dare someone come before this body and talk about their alternative to the health bill. Their alternative to our health bill would have started the dismantling of Medicare. Read the language of their alternative. While our economy is growing stronger, unemployment is still too high, which is why we are directing aid to our small businesses. The bill assists already established small businesses by building on the Recovery Act's exclusion of 75 percent of business capital gains to now temporarily exclude 100 percent of capital gains from qualifying stocks, thereby encouraging investment in small businesses, which create jobs but which are encountering problems with restricted access to credit. The bill also helps people who want to start new businesses by quadrupling deductions and by increasing the cap for start-up expenses. This legislation is imperative in recovery. I ask that we all vote for it.

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, I want to state for the record that yesterday I missed the first four rollcall votes of the day. Unfortunately I missed these votes because I was detained in my district. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 306, on Agreeing to the Resolution--H Con. Res. 282--Providing for an adjournment or recess of the two Houses. I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 307, on Agreeing to the Resolution--H. Res. 1404--Providing for consideration of the bill H.R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 308 on Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree--H. Res. 1161--Honoring the Centennial Celebration of Women at Marquette University, the first Catholic university in the world to offer co-education as part of its regular undergraduate program. Lastly, had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 309, on Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree--H. Res. 1372-- Honoring the University of Georgia Graduate School on the occasion of its centennial.

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. Instead of using the same test, the military uses a simple questionnaire for postdeployment screenings--a written questionnaire. These assessments are not comparable. They do not detect changes to a soldier's brain. Just like in sports, the key to pre- and postinjury assessment is to use the same tool. When you have a baseline, you are better able to compare. As cochair of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, I recognize the need to help both our military and civilian populations in addressing brain injury. My amendment, which is endorsed by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which has bipartisan support, ensures our troops are given the proper cognitive screenings today and in the future. I ask my colleagues to support my amendment.

Mr. PASCRELL. I thank my friend from New Jersey for yielding. Mr. Chairman, 7 years into war, we are still not properly screening and treating our troops for traumatic brain injury, known as the signature injury of those wars. This is unacceptable. My amendment today builds on the requirements for the cognitive screening outline in the 2008 defense authorization bill, which most of us voted for, to identify soldiers for possible brain injury. My amendment ensures the same tool is used for pre-and post- deployment cognitive screenings. It requires the Department of Defense to complete comparative studies in order to find the best cognitive screening tool for our troops. The fiscal year 2008 defense authorization bill required predeployment and postdeployment screenings of soldiers' cognitive ability. It is right in the law. Congress passed it. The President at that time, President Bush, signed it. Two years later, the law has not been fulfilled. The Department of Defense has implemented predeployment screening using a computerized tool known as ANAM, the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics. The Army released a memo in November 2008, which just came to our attention 2 months ago. It states, ``Routine postdeployment ANAM testing is not authorized.'' We came upon this totally by accident. This is not what Congress passed in bipartisan support. As a result, less than 1 percent of the 550,000 members of the Armed Forces have been given postdeployment cognitive screenings. This is in violation of the intent of the 2008 defense authorization.

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2136, the Stephanie Tubbs Jones College Fire Prevention Act. This bill represents an opportunity to improve critical fire safety systems in college facilities across the country. The issue of campus fire safety became personal for me after a tragic fire swept through a dorm at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, in 2000. The blaze took the lives of three students and injured 58 more. Since that terrible day, thousands of fires have cut short the lives of 135 students throughout the country. The sad reality is that that many of those deaths could have been averted with proper fire safety equipment. The Stephanie Tubbs Jones College Fire Prevention Act will direct the Secretary of Education to provide grants to institutions of higher education toward the installation of sprinklers and other fire prevention systems in student housing and dorms. This essential funding can make the difference in fire emergencies between life and death. No college student should have to live in a building without appropriate fire safeguards. My home State of New Jersey has been at the forefront of this issue for many years now, mandating sprinkler systems be installed in all on- campus housing facilities at universities in the State. This legislation will enable institutions of higher education in other States to take similar steps to provide security and peace of mind to students and parents--that they will have these basic safety devices to protect them in the event of an emergency. This bill gives special attention to colleges and universities that need funding most, and gives priority to institutions that demonstrate the greatest financial need. This key provision will help ensure that fire safety technology is not off limits to schools because of financial constraints. I believe we owe it to those students to ensure that each and every college dorm is outfitted with the most comprehensive fire prevention technology available. The Stephanie Tubbs Jones College Fire Prevention Act will provide great assistance in achieving this goal. In considering this legislation, we should also remember its namesake--the late Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. I had the privilege of working closely with Stephanie on critical public safety legislation, and will always remember her as a staunch advocate of life-saving fire prevention. We are gaining ground in the battle to prevent these deadly college fires, but we must be mindful of the work that remains. The House has recognized September as Campus Fire Safety Month, which every year has helped to raise awareness of this critical issue. With the Stephanie Tubbs Jones College Fire Prevention Act, we have the opportunity to provide colleges with the funding they need to install lifesaving fire safety technology and come one step closer to extinguishing the threat of college fires once and for all. I strongly support H.R. 2136, and call on this body to soon pass my legislation, H.R. 4908, the Campus Fire Safety Education Act of 2010, which will help deliver a life saving campus fire safety education curriculum to our Nation's colleges. I will continue to work tirelessly to make our colleges and universities a safe environment for our Nation's students.

Mr. PASCRELL

Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Himes), a member of the Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. PASCRELL. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PASCRELL. May I inquire as to how much time we have remaining on both sides?

Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to Mr. Hall from New York.