Joseph Pitts

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, tonight, Representative Gabrielle Giffords' office is organizing a Special Order to recognize Border Patrol agents who were killed in the line of duty last year. I want to thank her and her staff for working to acknowledge these dedicated servants who died serving our Nation. While I won't be able to speak tonight, I wanted to take a moment to honor Agent Michael Gallagher, who grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. On September 2 of last year, Agent Gallagher was on patrol near Casa Grande, Arizona. A drunk driver ran a stop sign, colliding into the patrol car and ejecting Michael from the vehicle. He served in the Border Patrol for 2 years, and also served our Nation in Iraq, risking his life to protect our freedom. He is dearly missed by his wife and his two sons. Even though he moved away, I understand that he remained a dedicated Pennsylvania sports fan. We cannot thank him and his family enough for his service. We can only honor him for dedicating his life to keeping Americans safe here at home and abroad.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this important resolution to renew sanctions against the brutal military dictators in Burma. The plight facing the people of Burma remains terrible. The ruling party in Burma continues to use the rule of law and government apparatus to deprive minority groups of their human rights and their lives, and it does so with impunity. The regime's human rights violations continue to be horrific. The regime in Burma is responsible for committing virtually every human rights violation imaginable. The atrocities perpetrated by the regime range from the use of rape as a weapon of terror, the recruitment of child soldiers, ethnic cleansing, forced labor, political detention, and the list goes on. I have received firsthand reports in my office which detail the dictatorship's use of ethnic minorities as human landmine sweepers. Over 1 million refugees and 500,000 internally displaced peoples have been forced to flee their homes, and 750,000 of the country's inhabitants remain stateless. Indicative of the times, the regime has now turned to the censorship of the Internet, as well as that of individual e-mail accounts and social networking sites, to block the dissemination of evidence related to the atrocities. The Burmese Government must realize that such attempts to hide its record of abuse, as well as its dishonest elections and mock constitutional reforms, cannot cover up the junta's war against its own people. Such a record only demonstrates the regime's illegitimacy. I call on the administration to renew its efforts in fulfilling the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, particularly the provision which requires our government to craft a multilateral sanctions regime against Burma. By renewing these sanctions, Congress is making our Nation's concern for human rights paramount in our foreign relations interests. The administration should do the same. The people of Burma must know that we stand with them.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the House passed the cut, cap, and balance plan to control government spending and raise the debt limit. Now we need the Senate to act and put their plan on the table. While it was good to hear yesterday that at least six Senators have reached agreement on a plan to control our debt, what we really need is the other Chamber to bring a plan to the floor and pass it out of the Senate. We have passed a clear plan, one that can be scored by the CBO, a plan that calls for a long-term solution to keep Congress responsible, the balanced budget amendment. It is clear that we need to act on the debt ceiling soon. Our credit rating is certainly at risk. However, we cannot forget that what is truly at risk is the long-term solvency of our Nation. If we continue on the current path, we will end up being controlled by our creditors, just like Greece, Portugal, and Ireland. Our very independence is at stake here. By acting responsibly now, we avoid greater pain later. Kicking the can down the road is only kicking our Nation's future.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, would you invest in a company if there were a 40 percent chance that you would lose all of your money? That doesn't sound like much of an investment. Most people would call that gambling. But that is exactly what the Federal Government is about to do in setting up the new ObamaCare health care co-ops. The Department of HHS will loan more than $4 billion in the coming years as an attempt to set up at least one co-op in each State. They project that 40 percent of the loans given out to plan the co-ops will go into default. 35 percent of the loans to keep the co-ops solvent are also projected to go into default. This could add up to billions of dollars lost. We raised taxes by more than $1 trillion so that we could burn it away on projects with an extremely high rate of failure. When we take money away from the private sector and then burn it away on government projects, the result is going to be lost jobs and a struggling economy. We need jobs, not more failed government programs.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, briefly, here are some examples of why the $1 trillion in government stimulus spending bill failed to hold down unemployment or reinvigorate our economy: Over the past few years, the EPA has spent more than $27 million on grants to foreign countries. This includes funds for Breathe Easy, Jakarta, an Indonesian campaign to improve air quality. Now, President Obama may have some affection for a city he lived in as a child, but is that any reason to send them Federal stimulus dollars? There have been 65 grants handed out since the stimulus bill was signed; six of these grants went to Russia and ten grants went to China. We already owe China interest on our debt. Why on Earth are we giving them grants to keep their own country clean? The Energy and Commerce Committee has launched an investigation into this spending. We need to know how much has been spent and if the EPA has further plans to send money overseas. Our growing debt is hurting job growth. This is just another sad case of Federal spending wasted on projects that do nothing for the American economy.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be withdrawn as a cosponsor of H.R. 1380, the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2011.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, some may wonder why the nearly $1 trillion in government stimulus spending failed to hold down unemployment or reinvigorate our economy. Phillip Greenspun, owner and operator of a helicopter company in Boston, understands why government doesn't efficiently spend the public's money. In a June 16 blog post, he relates his maddening experiences with Federal bureaucracy. As the manager of his company, he must administer a random drug test to employees. As the only employee, he must surprise himself with a drug test. As the manager, he must take a course on giving drug tests. As the only employee, he must take a course on his rights regarding drug tests. Mr. Greenspun notes that all of these requirements and steps don't just cost him money, but cost the Federal Government since FAA employees must ensure all of these requirements are met. It's just a small illustration of how the government manages to make the simple complex and hurt both businesses and taxpayers. It's just another reason why we need a smaller, less expensive Federal Government so that our private sector can grow again.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, a few days ago from this very Chamber, we heard the Israeli Prime Minister make clear that Israel seeks a permanent peace settlement with recognition of a Palestinian state. He reiterated that Israel seeks peace with its neighbors. Unfortunately, some of its neighbors do not feel the same way. The charter of Hamas clearly states that peaceful solutions are contrary to their beliefs. As a party, they stand for the destruction of Israel, they glorify the murders of women and children, and even mourn the death of Osama bin Laden. Despite these positions, Hamas was recently welcomed back in to the Palestinian Government, and Egypt has opened the border to the Gaza Strip. By no means should U.S. taxpayer money go to support these murderers. We cannot support a Palestinian Government that has no intention to live peacefully with its free and democratic neighbor. We must stop sending hundreds of millions of dollars in annual aid until all parties in the Palestinian Government recognize that Israel has a right to exist.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, last week we celebrated Azerbaijan's Republic Day, which commemorates the 93rd anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence from the Russian Empire. Later this year, Azerbaijan will also celebrate the 20th anniversary of its freedom from the Soviet Union and the state of diplomatic relations with the United States. The U.S.-Azerbaijan partnership is based on shared values and common goals. Over the last 20 years. Azerbaijan has become a key strategic ally of the United States and has helped the United States achieve important security and economic objectives in a complex part of the world. Azerbaijan supports U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan, sending troops and civilian personnel to Afghanistan to serve alongside U.S. troops, as well as training civilian and security officers both in Azerbaijan and Afghanistan. Azerbaijan is also a key part of the Northern Distribution Network, which provides ground and naval transit for roughly 25 percent of the Coalition's supplies bound for Afghanistan. Azerbaijan also plays an important role in strengthening U.S. and European energy independence and is currently expanding its commercial and economic ties with the United States. Azerbaijan, which provides roughly a quarter of Israel's oil, is a secular Muslin country that maintains close friendly ties with Israel. Please join me in honoring Azerbaijan's 93rd Republic Day and celebrating a healthy U.S.-Azerbaijan relationship.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. I would like to thank the gentleman from Kentucky for his leadership on this issue. Section 5508 of PPACA authorizes the Secretary to award grants to teaching health centers to establish newly accredited or expanded primary care residency training programs. The new health care law, PPACA, provides a mandatory appropriation of $230 million for this purpose for the period from FY 2011 through FY 2015. You may recall that in the President's fiscal year 2012 budget, he eliminated funding for training at children's hospitals. Because of this, I and the ranking member of the Health Subcommittee, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) have introduced H.R. 1852, a bill to reauthorize the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program for an additional 5 years at the current funding levels. While the administration couldn't find money in its budget for training at children's hospitals, PPACA somehow was able to provide a direct mandatory appropriation of $230 million for other teaching health centers, with no further action, input, or approval required by Congress. And PPACA did this with a number of funds, mandatory appropriations. The bill before us today, H.R. 1216, simply converts PPACA's mandatory appropriations to an authorization, subject to the annual appropriations process, just like the Children's Hospital GME program, making it discretionary. Passage of the bill will also save $215 million over 5 years. I urge support of the bill.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, we only need to look at Massachusetts to see a preview of what is in store if we fail to repeal ObamaCare. Just a few years ago, it was predicted that the Massachusetts health reform would reduce emergency room care by getting patients in to see primary care physicians. But a new survey shows that only half of primary care physicians are able to accept new patients right now. It now takes 48 days to see an internist for a routine checkup. Premiums in Massachusetts remain among the highest in the Nation. Low reimbursements in the Commonwealth Care health plan mean that only about half of doctors accept the State-managed insurance. Far from solving Massachusetts' health care crisis, the health reform law has created problems of its own. The Massachusetts Medical Society finds that the environment for physicians continues to deteriorate, despite billions in government spending--just a sample of what awaits the Nation under ObamaCare.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. For the information of the Members, the Hyde amendment only applies to the Labor-H bill. It is offered every year as a rider. Similar language is offered to Indian Health, Federal Employee Health Benefits Act. We have done these amendments, or riders, to these bills every year for years. So when you speak about the Hyde amendment, we should speak about it accurately. I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Hartzler).

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Mr. PITTS. I yield 30 seconds to the gentlelady from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the bill before us today should be a no-brainer. Americans overwhelmingly reject the use of taxpayer funds for abortion. In several polls over the last few years, anywhere from 60 percent to 70 percent of the public oppose using taxpayer funds for abortion. H.R. 3 puts into statute the will of the American people. Since 1976, the Hyde amendment has been included in appropriations bills to ensure that Federal funds are not used to provide abortions. This policy provision has passed year in and year out with bipartisan support. H.R. 3 would just take that provision and put it into law. This may make sense to most Americans, but for some reason this idea receives great pushback in Washington. Health care reform also placed abortion funding at the center of its debate. In their haste to pass ObamaCare last Congress, the Democrat leadership in Washington neglected to include any adequate prohibition on abortion funding. The President did issue an executive order to support the intentions of Hyde. Unfortunately, the order merely reiterated the accounting gimmick in the health care bill. The President's own chief of staff at that time would later comment on how he thought up the idea for this executive order so that they could ``allow the Stupak amendment not to exist by law but by executive order.'' When the President signed that bill into law, he allowed a massive expansion in Federal funding for abortion. In a time of great Federal debt, the last thing the American people want is to have their taxpayer dollars used on the morally objectionable practice of abortion. According to a 2007 Guttmacher Institute report, if the Hyde amendment were removed from law, the number of abortions would likely increase by 25 percent. The study reveals what is common sense: an increase in funding for abortions will directly lead to an increase in the number of abortions. Many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have expressed their desire to reduce abortions. If that is truly their desire and not just a talking point, then they should have no problem at all voting in favor of this bill. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. forces on Sunday brought reassurance to many around the world that justice had finally been served. A man responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people of all races and religions had been located and eliminated. However, not everyone saw it the same way. Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas in Gaza, called bin Laden a sheikh and said, ``We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior.'' This comes the same week that Palestinian political parties Hamas and Fatah have reconciled and formed a unity government. How can the United States provide aid to a unity government if one of its most important leaders praises a mass murderer? How can Israel negotiate treaties with a government composed of a party that is actively seeking its destruction? There cannot be true peace as long as Hamas holds up Osama bin Laden and other terrorists as heroes. The Palestinian people must recognize that hatred and terrorism will never bring them true peace and true independence.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, where does our oil come from? Much of it comes from offshore drilling rigs scattered around the globe. From the North Sea to the South China Sea, there are thousands of rigs pumping oil that eventually finds its way to the American market. Exploration for oil and natural gas is growing in Egypt, Brazil, and dozens of other countries. But here in the United States, we are moving backwards. Leases and permits have been slow-walked and delayed--2011 was almost the first year since 1958 that the Federal Government did not hold an offshore lease sale. This week we are going to pass legislation to kick-start leases and increase production of American energy. The only reliable way to decrease gasoline prices is to increase domestic supply. If we don't act to expand access to American natural resources, we will see production fall this year. The American people want to get back to work, but high energy prices are holding back job growth. American jobs are on the line. That's why now is the time to boost American energy.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve a point of order on the motion to recommit.

Mr. PITTS. Madam Chair, at this point I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. PITTS. I will just mention to the gentlelady all of the wonderful programs that she mentioned are not mentioned in this section of the law. There is no guarantee that this money will be spent for any of that. H.R. 1217 repeals the Prevention and Public Health Fund and rescinds unobligated balances. The Jackson Lee amendment would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to post on the HHS public Web site a notice of the rescission of unobligated balances of the Prevention and Public Health Fund and the amount of the rescission. I support transparency in government. I actually wish there was more transparency in how HHS has already spent the money from this fund. The lack of transparency and accountability regarding this fund is a primary reason I support H.R. 1217. And if the author feels this would increase transparency, then I support the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Chairman, may I ask how much time is remaining.

Mr. PITTS. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.