Ed Pastor

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Domingo ``Papo'' Rodriguez, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, a constituent and a friend. He has left us too soon, but well after establishing a rich and long legacy that will live on. Papo devoted over 35 years working with non-profit community based organizations. The last 19 years of his career he served as Vice President of Community Health & Human Services with Chicanos Por La Causa. He managed over 75 different funding contracts and sources that represented over 100 categorical programs and services with 30 facilities serving individuals in 25 cities throughout Arizona. He oversaw programs that impacted the community including the Early Childhood Development program for Migrant & Seasonal and Early Head Start Programs, Community Behavioral Health Services/Managed Care HIV/ AIDS, Youth Prevention and Intervention Programs, Pregnant & Parenting Teen Programs, Parenting Arizona, and Rural Social & Immigration Services. While his career was very demanding, Papo found time to devote himself to other causes and issues in service to his community. Domingo Rodriguez was instrumental in the establishment of a statewide Latino Policy Institute and served as a consultant to federal agencies on many of our communities' pressing issues. Moreover, he was actively recruited to and generously gave of his time to serve on boards and commissions where his input contributed to the creation of many policies and programs, again, to serve the community for which he greatly cared. Papo's passing is a loss for the State of Arizona. He will be missed by us all, but he will also be long remembered for his generous spirit and his commitment to service.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Rich Michalski and his long and well-respected career with the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAMAW.) Throughout Rich's career with IAMAW, he has dedicated over forty-five years to the machinists, a life-long relationship that began when he joined the union himself in 1968 and will culminate with his retirement as the General Vice President, a position he has held for the past seven years. I was first formally introduced to Rich in 1992 by Congressman Jerry Kleczka, who has always spoken highly of him and since this time, I too have grown to greatly respect and admire Rich and his steadfast commitment to IAMAW. Rich was first initiated into IAM Local Lodge 1916 at General Electric in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1968. He worked as a welder, steward, chairman of the bargaining committee, and president. From his initial beginnings with the union, Rich was always involved with IAMAW's political and legislative priorities. For twelve years he was the Democratic committeeman for his precinct and was elected a delegate to the 1980 and 1984 Democratic National Conventions. As IAM's Director of Legislative and Political Action Department, he partnered with AFL-CIO and its affiliates, and Members of Congress to promote legislative issues affecting our American laborers and their families. Thanks to Rich's most recent efforts as the General Vice President he has overseen and managed the IAM headquarters, and he has significantly contributed to actions countering the anti-union and anti-labor agenda. Throughout my years of knowing Rich, I have truly valued the supportive friendship and long professional association that I have shared with him. On many occasions, I have relied on his intelligence and political acumen, and he has proven to be a trusted voice who has taught me a great deal over the course of our friendship. Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating Rich on his retirement and long career as a committed advocate on behalf of our nation's workers, especially our machinists. It is with gratitude for these efforts that I join with Rich's family, friends, and colleagues in extending my well wishes for a much deserved retirement and happy and fulfilling future ahead.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 245, 246 and 247, due to weather delays in my travel, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 161--H.R. 258; 162--H.R. 1073; and 163--Approving the Journal, I was delayed by weather and my flight arrived late. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. PASTOR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I will tell my dear friend, Chairman Latham, that we agree on one thing, and this is the notion that this is not a good way to run a government. But I have to remind him and remind all my colleagues that about 1\1/2\ years ago we were in this House, in this Chamber, talking about the budget--the Budget Control Act, as I remember. So about 1\1/2\ years ago we had a vote. I did not support the legislation because I felt that sequestration was a bad idea; but the House passed the bill, the Senate passed the bill, and the President signed it. So, for me, it's very difficult to lay blame on any one party because this was done in a bipartisan manner. It is very difficult for me to lay blame on one Chamber because both Chambers passed the bill. And it's very difficult for me to blame the administration for signing it because this was an action taken in the House, the Senate, and signed by the President. I thought it was a bad idea, but the majority felt it was a better idea, and they went forward. Now, I have to tell you that Administrator Huerta was before our subcommittee this week. He detailed the cuts that he had to make based on the rules and regulations of the various laws that deal with sequestration. That is why 149 contract towers were recommended to be shut--but they remained open because of a lawsuit--and that is why we had to furlough the FAA air traffic controllers. In his testimony, Administrator Huerta reminded us that in February of this year a letter was sent by Secretary LaHood to the leadership, including me and Chairman Latham, that the sequestration was going to cause problems in the efficiency of the air traffic control system because there would be a furlough of air traffic controllers in order to meet the cuts that were required by sequestration. That was done in February. In March, when sequestration was invoked, the FAA had to then implement a plan to see what it had to do to meet the number of cuts it had to make, but not to take away the safety of our air traffic control system, knowing that its efficiency would be diminished. And so today, we are here bringing a fix to this situation. Furloughs have been taken; 10 percent of the employees are furloughed. And that has resulted, to the passengers' inconvenience, in delays or canceled flights. The problem is--and I agree with my chairman--that this solution is not a good solution because there are other agencies that have to make their cuts and are in a crisis themselves. So, hopefully, when we come back from our district work period, there won't be another agency, another crisis that we have to start shifting money from one account to save another account. Mr. Speaker, the solution is a comprehensive removal of the sequestration. That will only come about, in my belief and in my opinion, if the House, with its budget, and the Senate, with its budget, will conference and work out the details that it needs to work out to have a comprehensive solution, not just to our budget, but also to sequestration. That needs to be done in order that we're not dealing with issue by issue, crisis by crisis. So I agree with my chairman that this is not a good way to run a government, but this morning I ask my colleagues to support this legislation. I reserve the balance of my time. Last Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration began to impose the furloughs that were required as a result of sequestration. The FAA has had to cut a total of $637 million from its annual budget; $485 million of that amount had to be cut from its operations account. However, the deep cuts required by sequestration still forced the FAA to shut down nearly 150 contract towers and furlough each of the agency's employees for one day a pay period for the remainder of the fiscal year. That meant that every affected employee would lose as much as 11 days of pay. The FAA operates seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. It should have surprised no one that removing 10 percent of the workforce on any given day was going to have serious impacts on our air traffic control system. Without a complete workforce on hand, the FAA had to take measures to slow down the efficiency of the air traffic control system in order to ensure that safety of the system was not ever compromised. Since last Sunday when the furloughs began, there have been nearly 3,500 delayed flights due to staffing reductions. As a result, thousands of passengers have been inconvenienced by long delays or cancelled flights. As my colleagues will recall, Secretary La Hood warned us of these impacts back in February. The bill before us provides additional flexibility to the Federal Aviation Administration to help avoid the furloughs required by sequestration. Specifically, it takes carryover discretionary funds from the airport grant program and allows those funds to be used for FAA operations. This bill is drafted as a one-time fix for one year. It does not eliminate a penny of the $637 million in cuts that the FAA has to make because of sequestration. It simply shifts where the cuts will be taken. At a time when we need to maintain our infrastructure, we should not make a practice of reducing capital programs to address operational shortfalls. The bill before us does nothing to address the sequestration cuts that the FAA will have to make in Fiscal Year 2014 and beyond. We need to find a comprehensive solution to sequestration. The American people deserve better.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, before I yield time, I would like to remind my colleague that this bill passed the House, the Senate, and was signed by the President. That was what brought us sequestration. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to our Democratic leader from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the ranking member of the authorizing committee, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, before I yield time to my friend, I have to remind my colleague that I voted against that bill, and the bill passed because there was a majority of Republicans who supported it. So we just can't blame one House or one Senate or the President, because all of us share the blame in one way or the other.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from California (Ms. Waters).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have remaining?

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I will ask my chairman, do you want to even out the time? I will reserve my time if you like.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I thank the gentleman. I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I rise to ask my colleagues to support this bill. It is a one-time fix in a crisis we are having today with our air traffic system. But I join my colleagues, as well as probably my chairman, in asking the House leadership, both the Republican leadership and the Democratic leadership, to please work on a comprehensive solution to the sequester in order that we can bring regular order and get the type of government that the American people deserve. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember the 21st Anniversary of the Khojaly Tragedy, which occurred in this small town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on February 25-26, 1992. In the early 1990s, Azerbaijan was involved in a brutal conflict with its neighbor to the West, Armenia, and the repercussions from atrocities committed during that time still impact diplomatic and economic relations today. The Khojaly Tragedy is perhaps the worst single incident that occurred during this time, resulting in hundreds of lives lost, families devastated, and the town destroyed. Since a cease-fire was negotiated in 1994, these two nations have been locked in a dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, located within Azerbaijan but occupied by Armenian forces. The Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, of which the United States is a co-chair, was created to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to this conflict, yet work remains in reaching this goal. In December 2012, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Mammadyarov addressed this situation as follows: ``As a result, our relations with Armenia are practically nonexistent. There is also a distinct lack of economic cooperation and trade between our two countries. Azerbaijan wants peace so that we can continue to grow our economy, develop our energy resources and advance our relations with Europe and our neighbors. But Armenia also has a stake in peace with Azerbaijan. The country is isolated in the region largely because of this conflict. It is excluded from all regional infrastructure and energy projects, such as the oil and gas pipelines passing from the Caspian Sea to Turkey and Europe via Georgia, as well as a new railroad line between Azerbaijan and Turkey through Georgia, to be inaugurated this year. When we can agree on lasting peace, Armenia could become a stakeholder in these regional projects.'' A peaceful resolution of this conflict would benefit not only Azerbaijan and Armenia, but would ensure security and economic growth for the South Caucasus region.