Jared Polis

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. I yield an additional minute to the gentleman from Washington.

Mr. POLIS. I yield one additional minute to the gentleman.

Mr. POLIS. Not at this point, no.

Mr. POLIS. Yes.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Murtha and Ranking Member Young for their and their staff's hard work on bringing this bill to the floor, as well as for offering an amendment to strike the funding for continued procurement of F-22 aircraft. I particularly would like to thank President Obama and Secretary Gates for their leadership on this important issue, for targeting the elimination of unnecessary weapons systems and aircraft. It is not in the American people's best interests to pay Lockheed Martin $369 million of taxpayer money to add dozens of aircraft when we already have a fully functioning fleet of 187 F-22s currently operated by the Armed Forces. This victory is an important first step in eliminating cold war-era weapons systems and questioning the relevance of aircraft and security systems that are an inadequate defense against the 21st-century national security threats we face and an important step in moving towards balancing the budget and fiscal responsibility. I also strongly support provisions in the legislation that prohibit the establishment of permanent bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, require the Secretary of Defense to provide goals and a timeline for withdrawing our troops from Iraq, and restate the United States commitment to prohibiting torture of detainees currently held in U.S. custody. This is just the beginning of President Obama's efforts to bring our troops home safely, and I look forward to the time when stop-loss and troop surges are a thing of the past. Although I strongly support withdrawing our troops from both Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as possible, until we do so I believe it is crucial to provide support to our servicemen and servicewomen in harm's way and those returning home to their families. This legislation also provides $29.9 billion to guarantee that our troops have the best medical care made available to them. Included in the Defense appropriation is over $2 billion for funding of medical research and developing treatment for diseases, including breast cancer research, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and spinal cord injuries, research for applications that have much wider applications outside of defense. The Defense appropriation also funds important technology research, providing funding for research that keeps the United States on the cusp of innovation for important civilian applications. Funding for this legislation will advance lithium ion battery technology, energy storage that is a linchpin of making renewable energy like wind and solar viable and cost-effective. Installing photovoltaic panels on military installations saves our military money and ensures that no matter where in the world our troops stand in harm's way, they can quickly access the infrastructure of the modern world. This technology also has the effect of reducing costs for Americans to use these technologies in their homes by driving scale. This legislation also funds a robust, small business innovation program. Small businesses receive capital to develop technologies to keep our country safe, while providing high-wage employment and bolstering local economies. These innovations also have direct civilian applications. Many of the technologies we enjoy in our daily lives, like global positioning systems to microwave ovens, we often take for granted; but they have been developed and researched as part of a DOD effort. Mr. Speaker, this bill provides critical funding for our national defense, as well as funding for civilian activities. Among these activities are those in support of small business and workforce development. In Colorado, many small businesses rely on the SBIR program of the Department of Defense, such as TechX, which provides critical software innovations to the Department of Defense while providing high-paying jobs to my constituents. This bill also provides funds for programs such as the Center for Space Entrepreneurship, a program that is a collaboration between the educational institutions, the Colorado Office of Economic Development, and the leadership efforts of our Lieutenant Governor, Barbara O'Brien. This program incubates aerospace industry's small businesses. It also helps individuals transition into careers in this industry. Among their most important work is the outreach they do in schools to ensure that the next generation has an interest in and the skills to ensure that our Nation remains a world leader in space industry. The satellites and spacecraft developed and manufactured by Colorado's thriving aerospace industry are not only of tremendous economic benefit to our State, which is one of several reasons we have an unemployment rate below the national average; but also this equipment keeps our Nation safe, and many of the satellites provide civilian applications, such as the DISH television, GPS service for our cars, and reception for our cellular phones. While H.R. 3326 provides top-of-the-line equipment and technologies for our troops, these dollars would be hollow without the bravery, dedication, and skill of the men and women who serve us every day in our Armed Forces. Their service wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the support, dedication and sacrifice of military families that receive support from this bill. Mr. Speaker, in a moment I will be offering an amendment to the rule. I want to briefly explain the amendment. This amendment will add to the rule a technical provision that's included as boilerplate language in virtually all of our rules for both appropriating and authorizing legislation but was inadvertently dropped from this rule. This language simply protects amendments from a division of the question. I urge all Members to vote ``yes'' on the amendment, the rule and the previous question. Amendment Offered by Mr. Polis

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment to the rule at the desk.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the amendment and on the resolution.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 685 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to claim time in opposition to the point of order.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues know, we've been here before. This very same point of order has been raised against nearly every appropriations bill, and each time it's used to discuss something other than its intended purpose, which is supposed to be about unfunded mandates. Once again, it's about delaying consideration of this bill and, ultimately, stopping it altogether. I hope my colleagues will again vote ``yes'' so we can consider this legislation on its merits and fund the important defense needs of our Nation and not stop it on a procedural motion. Those who oppose the bill are welcomed to vote against this bill on final passage. We must consider this rule and we must pass this legislation today to continue to fund the defense and protection of our country. I have the right to close, but in the end, I will urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' to consider the rule. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would encourage my colleague from Arizona to stick around, assuming that this motion passes, for the discussion of the rule. He will find in the proposed rule there is the opportunity that we will be giving the House of Representatives as a whole to vote on a block of amendments that the gentleman has identified, as well as several individual ones that the gentleman has identified. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this motion to consider, so that we can debate and pass this important piece of legislation today. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from California, my colleague on the Rules Committee, Mr. Dreier. All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. General Leave

Mr. POLIS. I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 685.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. House Resolution 685 provides for consideration of H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010, under a structured rule. I'd like to thank Chairman Obey, Ranking Member Lewis, Chairman Murtha and Ranking Member Young for their tireless and bipartisan work on this important bill to fund the defense needs of our Nation. Their job is not easy. The needs of this country are endless, our security challenges are daunting. Threats to our security are numerous and always changing. And the resources that we can devote to these problems are precious and limited, as our Nation faces a severe recession. So each year we must prioritize, re-evaluate and invest in strategies that will keep our country and our people safe. We will invest in the equipment that will protect our troops and in programs that will care for the men and women who defend us, who serve our country so bravely and capably every day. H.R. 3326 fulfills these responsibilities by providing first-class equipment for our troops that are in harm's way, by increasing fiscal responsibility and oversight within the Department of Defense, and by investing in adequate health care and increased compensation for our soldiers and their families. To help protect our troops, the bill provides increased funding for the mine-resistant ambush protective vehicle fund and the procurement of new Humvees and new heavy and medium tactical vehicles to meet the needs of our military. The bill also invests in weapons systems that meet our current and future needs, instead of plunging money into weapons systems that do not meet timelines, budgets or realistic threats or are based on threats that are antiquated that we no longer face. We need to transform our military to make sure that we can keep the American people safe. We cannot fulfill our responsibilities to the troops, to taxpayers, or to the Nation if we can't meet our fiscal responsibilities. H.R. 3326 reduces advisory and assistant service contracts by saving $51 million while providing $5.11 billion for Department of Defense personnel to perform DOD functions. The bill also provides funding for the Inspector General to increase oversight over the acquisition and contracting process to ensure the taxpayers' funds are spent wisely. By reducing funds for wasteful weapons and bloated contracts, we can provide better care and a better quality of life for the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families. H.R. 3326 increases pay for all servicemembers by 3.4 percent, and fully funds the requested end-strength levels for active Reserve and selected Reserve personnel. The bill continues efforts to end the practice of stop-loss, so difficult for the families of our troops who are deployed overseas, and includes $8.33 million to pay servicemembers $500 for every month of involuntary service. The bill provides $29.9 billion for top-of-the-line medical care, including $500 million for traumatic brain injuries and psychological health and increased funding for the wounded, ill and injured warrior programs. We can make no greater investment than in the health and welfare of those who have sacrificed and given so much to protect our freedoms. It's also important to keep in mind that for every soldier who is dutifully serving on the battlefield, in Iraq or Afghanistan, sailing on a ship in the Pacific of the Atlantic or stationed on a military base in Germany, Japan or elsewhere, there is also a military family in our neighborhoods, in our districts, in our cities, and those families too are serving our country. To honor their commitment to this country, and to acknowledge their sacrifice, this year has been called the Year of the Military Family, and this bill adds substance to those words and that title. H.R. 3326 includes over $472 million for family advocacy programs and fully funds the Family Support and Yellow Ribbon programs. The bill also includes $20 million for the Army National Guard Family Assistance Centers and Reintegration programs. I strongly believe that this bill is a positive step forward in the way that Congress prioritizes our military spending and provides for the men and women who serve our Nation and their families. I support H.R. 3326 and House Resolution 685. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for this report. I look forward to reading it, to discussing it and, hopefully, to imposing some best practices for future processes. I would point out that there are, of course, distinctions in the type of work that we do here; between the critical, philosophical, democratic bases of our country and the discussion and debate around the Bill of Rights, and the work of the House that we need to conduct in a bipartisan way. The gentleman will recall that, yesterday, Ranking Member Young and Chairman Murtha appeared before our Rules Committee and discussed how there was a strong bipartisan consensus on the bill. In fact, I believe that Ranking Member Young indicated that the bill would look substantially the same regardless of which party were in the majority, which shows the dedication of both parties in our country to protect our people. I have to admit that, as somebody who was against the Iraq War and as somebody who is very skeptical of our ongoing operations of Afghanistan and, indeed, as to what our exit strategy is, it was actually disconcerting to me that the bill would look the same with regard to whichever party were in the majority. I would like to address some of the issues relating to the exit strategy in Afghanistan and where we see that going. I would like to yield 3 minutes to my colleague, the vice chairman of the Rules Committee, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. POLIS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about one of the most important reasons to pass Obama's health care plan, and that is the current discrimination that Americans with preexisting conditions face. Through no fault of their own, perhaps because of a genetic disability passed through by their parents or a childhood disease or a disease later in life, many Americans are uninsurable or only insurable at a very high rate. That is fundamentally unfair. America is a fair country. We should only have to be responsible for actions that we undertake. Most Americans who suffer from preexisting conditions suffer those because of no fault of their own. It is not fair to make them or their employers pay more simply because of a preexisting condition. This could be you. This could be your son or daughter. This could be any of us who suffer from preexisting conditions. What the Obama health care reform plan does is it pools the risk together and prevents discrimination against those who, through no fault of their own, have a preexisting health care condition and ensures that they, too, have access to adequate health care.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. I want to thank the chairman for his committee's work on this bill and, in particular, his attention to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. This bill provides the necessary resources to better serve seriously ill former nuclear energy workers, and we appreciate the committee's work to make that happen. We hope that this program will expand in the coming year and will serve more former nuclear energy workers in the process.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this rule and the underlying bill. I would like to thank Chairman Obey for his leadership in developing a bill that represents a major investment in our nation's human capital and strikes a responsible balance between funding critical priorities that will put the nation on a path toward growth and prosperity and making the necessary adjustments for controlling spending and promoting government efficiency. I would like to thank his committee staff for all of their hard work in achieving all this within reasonable spending constraints. As a strong proponent of adequate federal funding for education, I believe that this bill builds upon the historic investments Congress made in the Recovery Act and provides unprecedented support to help close the achievement gap plaguing our schools. The inclusion of several key investments will help America achieve educational excellence for all children and retain its global competitiveness and leadership. From funding for schools serving low-income children, special education, adult education, adolescent literacy, Head Start, and English Language Learners, to Pell Grants and other programs that help disadvantaged and first-generation college students to attend and graduate from college, this bill takes another bold step toward our shared goal of providing educational opportunity to each and every child. And as a longtime advocate of education reform and innovation, I am particularly pleased that this bill proposes more than quadrupling funding for the Teacher Incentive Fund, which will help reward effective teaching outcomes in high-need schools, and a significant increase of $40 million to support the start-up of additional new public charter schools. Also, for the first time, this legislation recognizes that the federal role in public charter schools needs to move beyond the start-up phase to scaling up successful innovation by allowing the Secretary of Education to provide up to $30 million to organizations to replicate and expand outstanding charter school models. The need to build on and scale up educational innovation that gets the job done is greater than ever and this new flexibility is an important step in the right direction. I would like to thank Chairman Obey for incorporating this recommendation in the Manager's Amendment. However, given the large number of exceptional models with a proven track record of serving the needs of at-risk students and closing the achievement gap, this approach cannot meet our public charter school expansion and replication needs. That is why I will soon introduce the All Students Achieving through Reform (All-STAR) Act to create a new competitive grant program in the Department of Education to enable and encourage excellent public charter schools to expand and replicate. This bill will allow more students in underperforming schools to access educational opportunity and realize their full potential, while strengthening accountability and transparency. But in addition to education investments, which will pave the road for our nation's long-term future, this bill provides immediate relief to the American people who are experiencing the longest and deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression and tackles the challenges facing hard-working families, local communities and states across the country. With vital services being cut back and eliminated, this bill protects the most vulnerable among us, supports our health and social safety net, and gives hope to all those struggling for economic survival. Few things can be more disruptive and destabilizing than a job loss. Uncertainty and economic insecurity have a devastating effect on families and communities. This bill helps unemployed and underemployed workers by providing training and supportive services to dislocated workers, veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce, and older workers. It offers at-risk youth the opportunity to earn high school credentials and construction skills training while building affordable housing for homeless families, and prepares workers for careers in energy efficiency, renewable energy, health professions, and other high-demand and emerging industries. It also helps States process unemployment insurance claims, strengthens worker safety and health law enforcement, and ensures that approximately 7.5 million low-income households continue to receive the home energy assistance they need in a volatile energy market. As we move forward to enact meaningful health care reform, we must also continue to support the infrastructure that serves many of the uninsured and most vulnerable populations. This bill achieves this goal and lays the groundwork for the comprehensive reform we're working so hard to pass. Community health centers play an essential role in rural and urban areas by addressing unmet primary health care needs. Recognizing this, the funding in this bill will serve 17 million patients, of whom 40 percent are uninsured, in 7,500 service delivery sites. My district is home to several such community health centers, including Clinica Family Health Service. Clinica's mission is to provide high-quality health care services to low-income and other underserved people in South Boulder County, Broomfield County and West Adams County. Last year, Clinica provided 160,190 medical, dental, behavioral health and health education encounters to 34,257 Coloradans at its four clinics, which are located in Boulder, Lafayette, Thornton and unincorporated Adams County. Half of its patients had no health insurance. I would like to thank Chairman Obey for providing Clinica with funds that will be used to help cover the cost of technology upgrades and medical and dental equipment for a new clinic in Boulder and a dental clinic in West Adams County. The new facilities will allow Clinica to serve an additional 1,500 people with medical care and 3,500 people with dental care annually, while the information and communications technology upgrades will significantly improve clinical quality and efficiency. Finally, this bill also provides funding to the National Institutes of Health for biomedical research to improve health and reduce health care expenditures that will help doctors move away from today's costly and predominantly curative model to a presumptive model, allowing intervention before disease occurs. Further, it increases funding for public health programs administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and for mental health services, and substance abuse and treatment programs administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Mr. Speaker, by helping people train for jobs, protecting workers, meeting the needs of our nation's most vulnerable populations, laying the groundwork for comprehensive reform of health insurance, and providing historic levels of education funding, this bill represents a responsible, yet bold, step to a more prosperous, healthier, and stronger America. I urge passage of this rule and the underlying bill.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. I thank my colleague, Mr. Arcuri, for the time, and I rise today, Madam Speaker, in strong support of this rule and the underlying bill. Madam Speaker, right now, our Nation's transportation infrastructure continues to fight a losing battle with our growing needs, shrinking revenues and a dwindling highway trust fund. Meanwhile, our public housing assistance and community support programs feel the strain of additional demand, more and more families and individuals across our country who face layoffs, foreclosures and the economic waves that have rippled through nearly every sector of our economy in every State in our Nation. Madam Speaker, this bill will help to address the challenges of those who are particularly hard hit in a responsible and thorough manner, and I thank Subcommittee Chair Olver and Chairman Obey and their staffs for a job well done. This bill provides vitally needed funding for transit through investment in the Federal Transit Administration, including commuter rail systems and a focus on multi-modal transportation planning. This bill also reflects our growing understanding of where our transportation system needs to go in the future and how to get there. We understand that the sooner we address things like vehicle miles traveled, congestion, smart growth and complete streets, the sooner we will see the environmental, health and economic benefits that the status quo is currently lacking. Easing congestion is crucial for my district in Colorado. Even the smallest amount of congestion means major economic impacts as travelers and companies moving goods and people on Highway 70 and Highway 36 sit idle. These highways are two of the main arteries in my district that connect nearly every community and where investment in infrastructure has not kept pace with growth. Highway 70 is the lifeblood of our mountain communities in Colorado. This bill will help ease congestion in places like Eagle, a growing community in the mountains where, until a few years ago, rush hour was like a long lift line in Vail or too many rafts on the Colorado River. But now, this is a community that comes to a halt with rush-hour traffic that combines with regional airport traffic to yield real implications. We all know that our Nation's housing market has been at the center of our economic troubles and that our economic troubles have only fed a cycle of more layoffs and foreclosures. These programs in this bill administered by HUD allow nonprofit organizations such as Thistle Community Housing in my district to make housing affordable for all families. Through community development grants, Thistle leverages Federal dollars with private philanthropy and local funds to not only provide affordable rental housing, but also to make the dream of homeownership possible for my constituents even of modest needs. Make no mistake, however, this is not merely a housing subsidy program. It also promotes personal responsibility by requiring enrollment in financial literacy and job training programs. In our economic climate, these kinds of training programs are critical. To help our recovery, this bill extends the loan limits enacted in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through 2010 and provides for continuation of the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program. Madam Speaker, this bill is critical for our country because it is important for our economy, our environment, and it builds and repairs the physical infrastructure of our Nation. I urge swift passage of the rule and the bill.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, before I was elected to the House of Representatives, I was an entrepreneur. I started several technology companies. Entrepreneurs across this country are a constant source of creativity, of job creation, of unleashing their creative potential to create jobs and bring new products and services to the marketplace. There are people today, Mr. Speaker, that would love to be entrepreneurs but for the fact that they are wedded and trapped in jobs because of the nontransportability of their health care. Mr. Speaker, for them and their families, they have to keep their current jobs. They can't go off on their own. They can't start new companies. They might have great ideas that would unlock great value, and yet they are prohibited from doing so. One of the great benefits of the Obama health care plan is that we will allow people to pursue their potential, to create jobs, to go off on their own without taking that risk of losing health care for them and their families. By doing so, we can unleash the potential of the American people and entrepreneurs across the country to create value and create jobs.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Over the 4th of July weekend, I toured a detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, where I met dozens of law-abiding immigrants. There are more than 30,000 immigrants like them throughout the country who find themselves in detention. Some of these individuals include teenagers, torture survivors, and the elderly. Others are asylum seekers who asked for protection upon arrival in the United States due to persecution in their country of origin, only to find themselves locked up for months or years like criminals at taxpayer expense. For thousands of immigrants in similar circumstances throughout the country, even if the Department of Homeland Security ultimately rules in their favor, while they wait we are paying $132 a day to feed them, clothe them, house them. They want to be out working, paying taxes; but we insist that they avail themselves at our expense. While at the Aurora detention center, I met immigrants who were placed in detention following a minor traffic infraction or a car accident that wasn't their fault. Due to the complicated nature of our current immigration system, many of them are stuck in the nebulous gray area between being lawfully and unlawfully present as they await the decision of an immigration judge. But regardless of the final outcome, separating parents from their American children by placing them into detention at taxpayer expense goes against our most basic values as Americans. As Congress works toward comprehensive immigration reform, I urge my colleagues to deal with the detention issue as part of that.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. I yield to Mr. Pastor.