Chellie Pingree

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, just in a quick answer to my good colleague from the Rules Committee, Mr. Diaz-Balart, I was proud to vote in favor of this stimulus bill and very happy to vote for things that are helping my district at this very moment around health care and jobs and road construction and things that are desperately needed in my State. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I wasn't here. Just to remind you, although I'm happy to be here to manage this bill, I was not here when many Members of the House voted on that particular bill. But I do want to say all of us in this Chamber had the opportunity to vote on the conditions on the TARP to make sure we dealt with things like executive compensation, and many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, in fact, most of them, refused to vote in favor of those conditions. So we have had those opportunities to do that over time. I do agree it should be further investigated exactly how things happened here. We are in one of the most tumultuous times in our economy than any of us have ever faced or previous generations have faced. But I personally voted in favor of those conditions of the TARP. And I do find it a little disingenuous to find many of my new colleagues, whom I am just getting to know, so anxious to talk about executive compensation, capping executive compensation, looking at this, when it was an issue that only probably weeks or months ago they wouldn't have gone near with a 10-foot pole. In fact, they wouldn't even have discussed this. They would have said leave business to itself, we're not going to get involved in this particular issue. This is an issue that has concerned me and my constituents back in my home State for a long time. I was proud to vote in favor of the conditions of the TARP. And I want to remind my colleagues again we are here today to allow this rule to come to the floor so that we can have full debate on all of the opportunities afforded to us in this bill and this will be with us in only moments as soon as we vote in favor of this rule. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Thank you very much for yielding. I want to remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that we are here at this moment to pass the rule to allow us to fix this situation.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1388 is an important call to service for the entire country. It will offer opportunities to people of all ages, races, and backgrounds to get involved in their communities and make lasting changes in the places they live. I strongly support this bill and want to commend the authors for their hard work in crafting this essential piece of legislation. Among the many important provisions of this bill, I was pleased to see the inclusion of the Clean Energy Corps. In my home State of Maine, we have some of the oldest housing stock in the Nation, and we are one of the most dependent on home heating oil. Clean energy innovation is essential to our economic growth and survival. I believe our rural State can become a leader in clean energy and in creating good-paying, sustainable jobs. Clean energy development is an important issue for both urban and rural communities, but rural communities often have to address their clean energy needs in different ways than big cities do. In addition, rural areas frequently have a wide array of natural resources at their disposal that enable them to effectively address their clean energy needs. This amendment will give service-based projects in small towns the flexibility to design clean energy solutions that are specific to their rural needs. I would like to share with you one short example of an innovative and groundbreaking project that was developed in my hometown, the island of North Haven. I live in a rural community on an island 12 miles off the coast of Maine. Because we have to get our electricity from the mainland over an undersea cable, electric rates are extremely high. Most recently, we paid 27 to 29 cents per kilowatt hour. So the people of my tiny town, where we have 350 year-round residents, have gotten together with a neighboring island and have put together a plan to construct a wind turbine that will provide our electricity, and may even allow us to send some back to the mainland. This is nearly a $10 million project. This project could not and would not happen without the volunteer efforts of dozens of people in our community who have donated thousands of hours to make this clean energy project a reality. It is crucial to encourage volunteerism and ingenuity in rural areas which are traditionally underserved by these types of service projects. This amendment extends additional opportunities for volunteerism into rural areas so we can continue to help and encourage our citizens of all ages to contribute to our clean energy future. I urge you to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee).

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Chairman, I just want to add my support to this measure and thank the Members of this body who have worked so hard to bring this here previously and have also seen the wisdom of adding this into the stimulus package. We have all been asked so many times how we're going to make sure this money is well spent, how we're going to make sure that our constituents get the value for which is in this. And I think this is the best protection that we have making sure that those people who have the information are there to tell us that. I want to tell one quick story. In 2004, Bunnatine Greenhouse, the highest-ranking civilian contracting officer at the Army Corps of Engineers, exposed a pattern of favoritism.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I can't finish my story, but I want you to know that she is one of the many workers that will be protected under this law, and I look forward to everyone's support.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 87 provides for consideration of S. 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. This measure is identical to the version of the bill that was passed by this House on January 9 of this year by a significant vote of 247-171. The bill is also virtually identical to the version adopted in the 110th Congress. It is well past time to get this legislation to the President for his signature. Today, we plan to do just that. After this bill is passed by the House later today, it will go directly to the White House and on President Obama's desk. First, I want to commend Chairman Miller for his leadership and his tireless efforts that have brought us so far. As my colleague, Chairwoman DeLauro, said during her eloquent remarks when this body first took up the bill 2 weeks ago, ``We are here today because Lilly Ledbetter got short-changed--short-changed by her employer, the perpetrator of consistent pay discrimination lasting years, and short- changed again by the Supreme Court.'' And so now we are here today to fight for the final passage of this essential legislation. As a mother of two daughters, a woman who has owned her own business myself much of my adult life, and as a newly elected Member of this body, I was proud to cast one of my first votes in favor of the Lilly Ledbetter Act, and I am proud that both Chambers have already made a strong commitment to protect workers against pay discrimination in the workplace. This important legislation is long overdue, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the underlying bill, S. 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to lead this bill today as a newly elected Member and a new member of the Rules Committee, and I appreciate working alongside my new colleague on the Rules Committee. And I'm sure we will have a busy afternoon together. We have heard several arguments and supportive thoughts from many of my distinguished colleagues from this side of the aisle. And I appreciate their thoughts and their very hard work that it has taken to bring this bill to the floor and the momentous occasion we will have today when we are able to take this vote. I have also heard several arguments from my esteemed colleague from Florida. And I just want to remind him that when this bill was debated during the last session of Congress in the Education and Labor Committee where there were ample opportunities to bring amendments, those people in opposition only brought two amendments. So this is not a bill where there is tremendous disagreement. And in fact, the fact that there were no speakers virtually in opposition to this bill shows us what an important piece of legislation we are dealing with today, and in fact only were the discussion around the process taken up today. And I feel that since we have already debated this bill in the House and the Senate when it was last here, we passed it by an overwhelming margin of 247-171. It was passed by a bipartisan vote in the Senate of 61-36. I am confident that this bill will receive very strong support today and want to say that I'm proud to be a Member of this body when this is happening. I do want to remind my colleagues that this legislation simply restores prior law. It is so important. And by passing it, we are making great strides in protecting workers by reversing the Supreme Court's Ledbetter decision as we have been eloquently described to today. We owe it to all American workers to strengthen, not weaken, nondiscrimination charges based on gender, race and religion. It has passed the House, and it has passed the Senate previously. Today we are here to send it on to President Obama for what will be his first signature of any bill. I urge my colleagues to support workers everywhere and vote ``yes'' on the underlying bill. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule. I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 87 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I thank my colleague on the Rules Committee for his kind welcome to a new Member. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a new Member, and my colleague on the Rules Committee, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis).

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey, a member of the Education and Labor Committee that did such great work on this bill, Mr. Andrews. (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. For the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz- Balart). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I also ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 87.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my colleague on the Rules Committee, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).