Todd Platts

Mr. PLATTS

Mr. PLATTS. Madam Chairman, I'd like to reserve the balance of my time at this point.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I will continue to reserve my time.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I want to again just thank my subcommittee chairman, Chairwoman McCarthy, for her leadership on this important legislation, as well as the full committee Chair, Mr. Miller, and the ranking member, Mr. McKeon. As a number of speakers have talked about their own experience and the gentleman from Connecticut, through his work in the Peace Corps, these opportunities to participate in the programs that are funded and authorized under the National Community and Service Act impact not just those who receive the benefit of the work done, but those who actually participate. And with a family member who has participated in AmeriCorps, I have seen that impact on that individual and how they were a stronger person and better prepared for the rest of their adult years because of having been part of AmeriCorps. So, again, I urge a ``yes'' vote for this legislation and look forward to it moving forward through the House and working with the Senate to get it to the President's desk.

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

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition to the amendment although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. PLATTS. I want to commend the ranking member for offering this manager's amendment which makes several very important changes to the GIVE Act. Most importantly, this amendment includes the language that would allow the Corporation for National and Community Service to support individuals who fill national service positions in small organizations that do not receive AmeriCorps grants. This language was originally proposed by Mr. Souder in committee, and the manager's amendment reflects the bipartisan approach and the bipartisan compromise that was reached to infuse more individual control and local flexibility into the national service programs. Also, I would like to reference that this amendment injects fair competition into the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program by requiring all programs to be competitively reevaluated by fiscal year 2013. For too long, these programs have continued to receive funding without any effort to determine if those programs are successfully making a difference in their communities, and this amendment will ensure that this is no longer the case. So, I urge a ``yes'' vote in support of the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I'd just like to associate myself with the remarks earlier from the gentleman from Connecticut, who spoke in favor of this amendment during his previous statement, and again to ask all Members to support this amendment when it is put before us for a vote. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition to the amendment although I am not opposed to it.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of the amendment and commend the maker of the amendment for helping to want to bring more competition to the process of the grants being awarded and more cooperation between the national and the State organizations. I'm aware that the National Governors Association has indicated its support for this amendment and the end result will be a stronger program, a program that is really more about less administrative costs and more dollars flowing to the programs that are going to make a difference in our communities, whether it be national or State. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment and would associate myself with the maker of the amendment's statements regarding the importance of helping those who are facing challenges because of the housing crisis. This amendment recognizes that communities that are particularly hard hit by this crisis may be in need of special national service efforts. I thus support the amendment and encourage a yes vote. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I do rise in support of this amendment. This amendment is similar to a study and pilot program dealing with veterans that was authorized through an amendment that passed in the committee. While I hope that as this bill moves forward we do not end up with studies and pilot programs for so many different areas that we lose our focus on the bill's priorities, I do believe that it is appropriate activity for the corporation to undertake this effort. In general, unemployment remains extremely low by historical standards, despite concerns about the economy. However, for those communities such as the maker of the amendment referenced in her home State of Ohio that are experiencing unusually high job losses, it would be wise to explore ways to target national service efforts towards addressing those concerns. Therefore, I support the amendment, and encourage a yes vote. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just want to again emphasize that the GIVE Act specifically includes ``energy conservation and stewardship as specified allowable uses of grant funds in programs already in place.'' So I would encourage a ``no'' vote. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Chairman, while I certainly understand the focus and intent of this amendment, I rise in opposition and worry that this amendment will create more bureaucracy and administrative costs rather than focus on getting dollars out to the participants in the programs. The focus of the GIVE Act is on streamlining our national service programs to make them more effective, efficient, and accountable. To do that, we have refocused a number of programs and added priorities to others to ensure that national service funds are being spent on initiatives that meet the most pressing needs. We have accomplished that by working within the existing program structures rather than piling new programs on top of existing programs with similar purposes. I share the gentleman's concerns in the area of energy conservation. I believe a better approach to this issue would have been to work within existing structures. In fact, this bill already does that by addressing energy usage and conservation in a number of areas. Learn and Service, a new Summer of Service program, includes a focus on energy conservation. And in the innovative program section of that program, energy conservation is specifically included as a type of program eligible for funding. Under the National Civilian Community Corps, energy conservation was specifically added as a new purpose for that program. And under the programs of national significance authority within the Senior Corps, energy conservation and environmental stewardship were added as types of programs eligible for funding. Obviously, infrastructure issues are found throughout the bill because we recognize that this is a priority in many locations. But establishing a new corps that will siphon away already scarce resources will only undermine the efforts of the amendment's sponsors to bring greater focus to these types of programs. I understand this amendment authorizes $10 million for fiscal year 2009. Well, not within this specific act, but the Public Land Corps within the Department of the Interior already exists and is funded by the Federal Government at the amount of $2.5 million this year and it is authorized for $12 million. This program, the Public Land Corps, engages disadvantaged youth ages 16-24 in protecting public lands and the environment, including global warming and emissions reduction. So my opposition is not to the focus of the effort, but I believe we are being duplicative and are going to waste hours on administrative costs in creating a new program rather than investing these dollars in existing programs that will better focus on energy conservation. So I would encourage a ``no'' vote, and ask Members to vote ``no.'' Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PLATTS

Mr. PLATTS. Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize the achievements of Major General David H. Huntoon, Jr., currently serving as the 46th Commandant of the United States Army War College, located in my Congressional District at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Gen. Huntoon became the 46th Commandant of the Army War College in August 2003. His service in this post will come to a close in January, when he will be reassigned to Fort Myers. The resume of Gen. Huntoon is long and distinguished, fitting for the Commandant of an institution with a long and distinguished history. Gen. Huntoon was commissioned in 1973 from the Military Academy at West Point. He served thirteen years as an infantry officer; he served in the Directorate of Plans at Fort Bragg during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm and Operation Just Cause; and he has served as a National Security Fellow at the Hoover Institute, as an Executive Officer to the Chief of Staff of the Army, and as the Director of Strategy at the Pentagon. As the Commandant of the Army War College, Gen. Huntoon has been dedicated to training strategic leaders in the war against terrorism. He speaks of the need to restore the peace shattered on 9/11. He speaks with reverence of both family and the military family. and he has worked to bring the community of Carlisle into the folds of his daily command. It has been a privilege and an honor to get to know Gen. Huntoon and his family over the past few years. I want to thank him for his dedicated service to the mission of the United States Army War College and to the defense of our great Nation. I wish him and his family the best in their future endeavors.

Mr. PLATTS

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2517, the Protecting Our Children Comes First Act of 2007, which will amend the Missing Children's Assistance Act to authorize appropriations and for other purposes, and I want to commend both the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy), the chairwoman, for their leadership on this issue at the committee level and with the sponsorship of the legislation. And also on my side of the aisle, I commend the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) who will be speaking shortly for her leadership on this very important issue. Every year, thousands of children are abducted or go missing. In 1984, Congress recognized the need for greater coordination of local, State, and Federal efforts to recover these children, and established the Missing and Exploited Children's Program under the Missing Children's Assistance Act. This act addresses the needs of missing, abducted, and sexually exploited children. The program was created to coordinate and support various Federal missing children's programs through the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, OJJDP, and includes the authorization for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The National Center is a not-for-profit corporation mandated by Congress which works in partnership with the Department of Justice. The center is funded in part by Congress and in part by the private sector and serves as the national resource center and clearinghouse for information on missing and exploited children. The National Center carries out many of the objectives of the Missing Children's Assistance Act in collaboration with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The National Center provides assistance to families and law enforcement agencies in locating and recovering missing and exploited children, both nationally and internationally. While the National Center receives leads on abducted, runaway, and sexually exploited youth and disseminates this information to various investigative law enforcement units, the center itself does not conduct the investigation of these cases. The National Center's Federal funding supports specific operational functions mandated by Congress, including a national 24-hour toll-free hot line; a distribution system for missing child photos; a system of case management and technical assistance to law enforcement and families; training programs for Federal, State and local law enforcement; and programs designed to help stop the sexual exploitation of children. Today, more missing children come home safely than ever before; however, there is still important work to be done. Hundreds of children still do not make it home each year, and many more continue to be victimized by acts of violence. In fact, children are the most victimized segment of our society and crimes committed against children of all ages are the most underreported of any victim category. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has worked with law enforcement on more than 133,000 missing child cases, and has played a role in reuniting more than 115,000 children with their families. With a 96.2 percent recovery rate, up from 62 percent in 1990, the National Center has analyzed more than 500,000 reports of crimes against children on the Internet and referred them to law enforcement, resulting in hundreds of arrests and successful prosecutions. Today, law enforcement is responding more swiftly and effectively to reports of missing children. There is a national network in place, and parents are more alert, more aware, and talking to their children about their safety. With the changes made through this legislation, the Missing Children's Assistance Act and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will continue their important efforts focused on protecting our vulnerable missing children. Again, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson) for his sponsorship of this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PLATTS. I yield 4 minutes to the gentlelady from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert), who as has been referenced has been a true champion for protecting our Nation's children.

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite).

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers. I will just urge a ``yes'' vote and again commend the Members and staff who have worked diligently on bringing this legislation to the floor, and look forward to its passage. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PLATTS

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2371, a bill providing for technical changes to the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. This bill includes two necessary clarifications and corrections to ensure that this act, a series of financial aid changes made through this year's budget reconciliation process, is implemented as Congress intended. The bill before us today would make some, but not all, of the important technical amendments that are needed to ensure that the Department of Education is able to put this law into place in a manner consistent with congressional intent. The bill clarifies the untaxed income and benefit items that are to be included in the needs analysis formula for purposes of determining what a family can actually pay for their child's education. It also ensures that borrowers selecting the new income-based repayment plan will not face a penalty simply because they are married. Finally, the bill also provides technical amendments to the TEACH Grant program. There are several other important technical corrections in a bill that the House passed prior to the Thanksgiving Day recess. The changes clarified that members of the Armed Forces Reserves are eligible for student loan deferments when they return home after serving abroad. The House-passed bill also encouraged families to adopt older children by permitting any student that was in foster care through the age of 13 to be treated as an independent student, even if the child was adopted after the age of 13. Unfortunately, most of these changes will not be enacted because our colleagues on the other side of the Capitol eliminated them from the bill, despite the bipartisan support shown for these important reforms here in the House. These reforms are technical in nature, but their consequences will be far-reaching. Prior to the Thanksgiving Day recess, the Education and Labor Committee unanimously passed a bill to expand college access and affordability. Consistent with that goal, this package of technical corrections will improve our financial aid programs by clarifying the intent of the recently enacted College Cost Reduction and Access Act. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important measure. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PLATTS

Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 1090, I was inadvertently absent from the floor at the time the Head Start for School Readiness Act [H.R. 1429] was voted. Had I been present, I would have vote in favor of said Act.