Mark Pocan

Mr. POCAN

Mr. POCAN. I'd like to thank the gentleman from California for those remarks. You've heard a little bit from the west coast. You heard a little bit from the heartland. Now we can hear a little bit from the east coast, the State of Pennsylvania, and another colleague of mine, another member of our freshman class that we have of 49, and now soon to be 50 freshman Democrats in this House of the 113th Congress. Representative Matt Cartwright is a lawyer by trade. He represents consumers and making sure they get their fair share in this country. Mr. Cartwright also is a member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where he is the ranking Democrat on a committee to make sure that economic development is a priority for the people of this country. It is my honor to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. POCAN. Thank you, Mr. Cartwright, for continuing your fight for families in Pennsylvania and across the country. When I listen to Mr. Cartwright and I listen to Mr. Takano and I listen to speakers throughout the day from the Democratic side of the aisle, I can't help but feel that there is an overwhelming--when you look at sequestration, you're really looking at what's happening right now in Europe, and it's called austerity. We know that right now, by doing these massive cuts in Europe like we're now trying to pattern right here in the United States, we know what the net effect is. Right now in England, they are facing a triple-dip recession--not just a double dip, a triple-dip recession. We look at where they are in unemployment; their unemployment is rising. We look at where their deficit is; it isn't going away. All they've done is taken away the very tools that stimulate our economy. When you take away the jobs that Mr. Cartwright and Mr. Takano talked about, that means real people don't have money to spend and build the economy. When you take away the loan guarantees as this sequester will do, real small businesses don't have capital so they can grow and hire more workers. When you have the very effects that we are seeing done right now in Europe happen here, well, what effect do you think we're going to have? I can guarantee it's not going to be fixing that $4 million TV station at the IRS that we heard about. Instead, it's going to have a real impact on every single family throughout the country that's not in the top 1 percent. So at this point, I want to share a few statistics from the heartland, and then I've been joined by another colleague from Florida. We are literally going across the country and showing what these impacts have. But let me share some statistics from my State. We know from a George Mason University study that over 2 million people in this country could lose their jobs because of the sequester. That's 36,000 jobs in Wisconsin, a State that, unfortunately, thanks to our Governor, we have not bounced back like other States in our region. It's those failed economic policies that we've had in Wisconsin by our Governor that have already held back our economic growth, and now we're going to jeopardize 36,000 more jobs in my home State. Wisconsin is going to lose millions of dollars--$19 million for education just for disadvantaged students and for special ed. That's going to affect tens of thousands of students in our State. Head Start funding, while we know the impacts that are going to happen nationwide that Mr. Cartwright talked about, it's going to have hundreds of kids who are not going to have that funding in my State of Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin-Madison--which is one of the most important public universities in this country, it is a world-class institution for research, for stem cell research, for all sorts of biotech and high-tech innovations, one of the best graduate programs in almost every program in the entire country, and yet we know they're going to see about $36 million lost that would go into research and development and financial aid and other programs that will affect real people and real jobs in my State. I have had doctors come and medical schools come to us in the State of Wisconsin and say they are going to lose the ability, because of the sequester, to have people in residence programs. I think it was 900 or 1,000 people won't have positions. And one of the best ways we keep doctors in Wisconsin, in the rural parts of Wisconsin where it's tough sometimes to keep those doctors, is by having residency programs. That will be cut because of the sequester. Nine hundred thousand fewer patients will be served as a result of $120 million in cuts to community health centers that are vital in those rural communities in Wisconsin. In my district, in Dane County alone, we have an agricultural economy that's greater than 15 States in this country--that's just one county in my district--and yet we're going to see those programs hurt and cut, as well as programs like Meals on Wheels. Four million meals may not happen in Wisconsin because of those cuts. Finally, one of the areas that I think we hear lip service to from people on the other side of the aisle--and you see real action from people on this side of the aisle--is what are we doing for small businesses, not the big businesses, not those who outsource jobs overseas, not those who domicile in other countries so they don't have to pay taxes. I'm talking about the small businesses like mine that I deal with on a daily basis. For 25 years I've had a small business. It's the people who pay their taxes and who hire the workers who are the real economic engines for our community. Well, thanks to the sequester, we could see up to $900 million less in loan guarantees to help stimulate the economy. So what sequester is is nothing more than an austerity policy that's going to provide so many cuts and damages to the economy that we will see, according to what we've been told by the experts, could cut our economic growth in half in the next year. And we can't afford to have a double-dip recession, much less a triple-dip recession, like we're seeing right now in Europe. With that, I would like to yield to yet another great freshman colleague of mine. This is a woman from southern Florida. Like myself, we've spent time in our legislatures. She is an expert in many areas, and she was a legislative leader in the State of Florida. I could think of no one better to tell us about the potential cuts in her State than Ms. Frankel from south Florida.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, can I inquire how much time remains?

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to repeat and enhance the calls made by our colleagues today to put a stop to these disastrous spending cuts known as sequestration. It's been interesting. For the last 45 minutes I've listened to people from the other side of the aisle talk very passionately about their concerns on government spending, on debt, on government waste. And yet, almost not a single one of those issues is covered by what we have before us in the next 48 hours, which is sequestration. Sequestration is a thoughtless approach that makes irresponsible, indiscriminate cuts down virtually every single budget line. If you think there is waste with a $4 million TV station in the IRS, as one speaker said, sequestration won't stop that. If you think we have too much debt, sequestration won't stop that. If you think we have too much fraud, abuse, and waste, sequestration won't stop that. But what sequestration will do is have a real impact on the middle class families, not just in Wisconsin, where I come from, but across the country, and that's why so many of the people in the Progressive Caucus and Democrats have such a strong concern about what this country is facing, because of this House, this Chamber's inability to act in the next 48 hours. You will hear from a number of people from different parts of the country this afternoon who are going to talk about the very real impact of sequestration on their States and on their districts, and the very impact that I think the middle class is feeling that doesn't really relate to what we heard for the last 45 minutes, but relates to the very issues that people care about--education, health care and so many other areas. It's funny, last week I got a chance to be back home in my district, and as I talked to the people of south central Wisconsin, it's not at all what you hear talked about here in Washington, D.C. It's almost as if it was a different country, not just the District of Columbia, but a completely different country when we talk about sequestration. And what people care about is, how do they make sure they've got a job? How do they make sure they've got enough money to pay for the food on their table, to support their children, to provide opportunities for their families? But instead what we see is quite different with the sequestration cuts that are going to happen. There's a real impact on the middle class, and it's pending and it's looming because we can't get the people in this room to sit down and get our jobs done. I heard multiple stories over the last week, and just in the last 45 minutes, about how sequestration came about. I can tell you, people in Beloit and people in Barneveld and people in Baraboo and small communities across Wisconsin don't care about the finger-pointing of how it happened. They don't care that in 1985 this idea started, and it's been a bad idea. It was such a bad idea that it was agreed to last year because they thought absolutely no one would go for this idea, and now we have people arguing, don't worry; we'll fix it a month from now. I can tell you, in Wisconsin, we're a little different. When our check oil comes on in Wisconsin, we check our oil, and if we have to we put oil in the engine. Here in Washington, D.C., we just keep running it until the car stops and the engine breaks down, and then we all decide that we're going to somehow fix the engine, which is a much more costly process. But I guess that Wisconsin common sense doesn't happen in Washington, D.C., and it's clearly not happening in this House as we deal with sequestration. I have a couple of colleagues here who are going to share some stories, and then I'm going to come back and share some more stories from my area, some of the very cuts you're going to see in Wisconsin and nationwide. I'm going to share some real stories from people who, not just from my district but across the country, are talking about the impact on their lives. I want to share a little bit about my experience. I spent 6 years on a budget-writing committee in the Wisconsin Legislature, and I chaired that committee. And we did things in a very different way and in a very bipartisan way, something that is a foreign concept to Washington, D.C. First I would like to recognize one of my colleagues from the west coast. Representative Mark Takano is a fellow freshman. He represents the Riverside area of California. A teacher by profession for over 20 years, also a community college board member, so he's had a lot of experience and is recognized in our caucus as one of our foremost experts on education. But he knows the real-life impact that this is going to have on California and on his district. I would like to yield some of my time, Mr. Speaker, to the gentleman from California.

Mr. POCAN

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following letter. Barbara Wright, Workers Rights Center, 10th Anniversary Celebration My name is Barbara J. Wright, and I am a resident of Madison, Wisconsin. I have been married twice in my life, both times to husbands who were born in other countries. I have two children from my first marriage. Cesar Gabriel Moran, 39, is a firmware engineer in St. Paul Minnesota and Nickolas James Moran is a jazz musician here in Madison. On July 27th, 1972, I married Cesar Edmundo Moran in Magdalena del Mar, Lima Peru. I was 19 years old and he was 18. We were married for 25 years. He had been studying in Platteville, Wisconsin at the University of Platteville. When we left the country to travel to Peru (we hitch-hiked there!), he lost his student visa. After we married in Peru, I returned to the US and filed for him to get a permanent resident visa (a green card). He had to stay in Peru until it arrived. I sent the form to the INS along with $25 dollars, both of our birth certificates, our marriage license, and a letter from the police to say we had committed no crimes. In a month he was able to pick up his permission to travel and his green card at the American Embassy in Lima and return to the US, so we could both go to college. My marriage to Cesar ended in 1998 although it was a few years till we were legally divorced. In 2004, I married Youssef Amraoui, from Morocco. We were married in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 6th, 2004. This time getting Youssef permanent residence status took more than 5 years. Between the legal fees to file all of the petitions and to pay the immigration lawyer, Irene Wren at Wren and Gateways Law Group, it cost almost $12,000. Luckily, Youssef had filed for a waiver by himself with no lawyer, so that he did not have to leave the country while he waited for his case to be determined. Imagine getting married and having your new husband have to go back to his country and wait five years to see each other again. Because the INS was now under the wing of Homeland Security, there were many additional steps which meant additional delays. When I asked Irene why things were taking so long she said that there was a huge backlog of cases, between 4 and 6 years of cases. She said Homeland Security insisted that each case be reviewed by the FBI and since it was not a criminal case, it gathered dust in someone's inbox for a long time. One time, Homeland Security called and demanded that Youssef come to Milwaukee alone to be ``interviewed''. We were waiting for a formal interview in Milwaukee that is now a part of the process, but this was not it. The man who called tried to intimidate me when I said that Youssef was not coming alone. I said that either I or the immigration attorney would go with him (I was petrified of his being taken into custody or forcibly removed or never hearing from him again). This man tried to convince me that Youssef could be a ``sleeper agent'', and they needed to interview him. Because I owned a restaurant and could not leave, I sent the attorney with him. Youssef said they kept him in a room that had shackles but did not shackle him. Irene said this was a scare tactic because Moroccans and other Muslims were all suspects because of the attack on 9/11. They just wanted to see if he would come or he would run. That was a horrible day. It seemed like every time we would reach the end of the process there would be more forms to fill out, more fees to pay, and more of an indefinite wait. At one point in the process, the fees were doubled. We paid the majority of our discretionary income to this process. Youssef's parents were old, and he lived in fear that they would die before he was able to go and see them. You have to have permission to leave the country once the papers are filed. If you leave without permission, you cannot come back. I know many people here who are undocumented. The press has been talking a lot about a ``path to citizenship''. I think very few of the people saying this have any idea what is really involved. Because of the high fees of immigration attorneys, the many steps of the process and the time involved, many will have a hard time coming up with the money for this process.

Mr. POCAN

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following by Maddie Greene: Something Inside (By Maddie Greene) Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Presents Our Lives--Our Stories--Our Celebration: The 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade On a sunny, slightly chilly weekend in May of 2000 I was preparing for final exams. Despite the stress of impending tests, it was a beautiful spring. I woke up early Saturday morning with severe stomach pain. This was a type of pain with which I was entirely unfamiliar. It came in waves, dull but intense. It would recede for a time then return so strong I could barely stand. Pressing my fingers against my lower belly, I determined that the lowest right-hand region was swollen, hot, and hard to the touch. So did I jump out of bed and call the hospital? Oh, heavens, no. Now, a blister--that's a tragedy worth swooning over. A swollen stomach? Eh, I'll ignore that. That evening, I went to study with a friend. We made jokes about appendix trouble. I laughed--then rushed home and read up on appendicitis. My symptoms weren't quite right. With so much else to worry about, my attitude was this: ``It will get worse, or it will get better. I'll adjust to either option as needed.'' It got better. I went on about my week as usual. However, by happy chance, I had a routine annual gynecologist appointment scheduled for that Thursday at Planned Parenthood. That appointment was going to change my life. Thursday morning, May 11, 2000, I took a final exam. A few hours later I was at my appointment at the old Mifflin Street Planned Parenthood a few blocks from my dorm. I mentioned the pain of the previous weekend, expecting little to come of it. The R.N. conducting my examination was named Elizabeth. She was lovely. One element of my routine checkup involved Elizabeth pressing her fingertips into my lower belly. A few painful presses into the exam, her lips tightened. Then she smiled and said in a bright, cheerful voice, ``Well, you're pregnant.'' I'm pretty sure I gave a witty and decimating retort, probably something like ``No, I'm not.'' She gauged me at about three months pregnant based on the firm swelling. Mind you, the math didn't work out. I couldn't be pregnant. But when a nurse thinks you're having a baby, you entertain the notion. I took a pregnancy test. Sitting in that exam room awaiting the results of my test constituted the longest five minutes of my life up to that point. When Elizabeth came back she was frowning again. ``Well, you're not pregnant,'' she informed me, and I punched the air triumphantly. She let me have my little celebration but she didn't smile with me. Instead, she said pointedly ``But if you're not pregnant, then I don't know what that thing is inside you.'' This disturbed me greatly. Elizabeth sent me home to relax. ``Take the day off work,'' she said. ``Think about your next step.'' She promised to be in touch. I went back to my dorm and called my parents in tears. ``Mom? Dad? I'm not pregnant! . . . But something's wrong.'' They came to Madison and took me out to lunch. When I got back there was a message on the answering machine from Elizabeth asking what I'd decided. Well, I hadn't decided anything yet. That evening she called again and finally revealed the depth of her concern. She said, ``Maddie, I didn't want to scare you too badly earlier. You needed time to cope. But I want to stress to you the: importance of contacting someone NOW. Please find a doctor and have that checked out.'' So I did. And it was cancer. Just after my final exams I started treatment for a volleyball-sized malignant tumor that used to be my right ovary. As a college student I was covered under my family's health insurance. But I was at school far from home--and I wanted some agency over my health and my life. For a busy student struggling through full-time coursework and a part-time job, Planned Parenthood was the best option for monitoring my reproductive health privately and affordably. Without Elizabeth, without the convenience and affordability of that Planned Parenthood on Mifflin St, maybe I'd be dead. Who knows? I know that they wouldn't have caught my cancer until I could no longer avoid the symptoms. Maybe until that fast-growing malignancy had done what it was trying to do. Planned Parenthood didn't just do what I asked, they did what I needed. They identified that I was very sick and they gently, kindly, but insistently urged me toward seeking specialized care. Today I'm healthy, cancer-free, and grateful that Planned Parenthood was available to me and that its kind, smart R.N. Elizabeth caught my cancer.

Mr. POCAN

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following by Holly Scheuren: It was 4 years ago and it still feels like it was yesterday. Our daughter Maia was 2 years old and we were halfway through our second pregnancy, I could feel our baby moving. I had my ``20 week ultrasound'' when I was actually 21 weeks pregnant. We were so excited. At the ultrasound, the technician told us that we're having a baby boy! I thought ``A boy? I know nothing about raising a boy!'' The technician joked with us that he must have his legs tucked up under him. Then she just got really quiet, finished the ultrasound and led us into the waiting room. We called our moms to tell them that we are having a BOY! They were equally excited. Minutes later, we were called back. The nurse practitioner was VERY serious. I asked if there was something wrong. And she said ``Well, yes. Your baby's limbs are measuring in the 5th percentile and you need to have another ultrasound with another doctor.'' My mind was blank . . . what do you mean, his limbs are in the 5th percentile? Is that dwarfism?'' I asked. She said the physician would answer my questions. She said don't go on-line looking for answers, but of course that's what I did. I could not be seen for 3 days. In those 3 days I researched what is meant when a fetus has short limbs . . . it must be some form of dwarfism. I read how it may be associated with Down's syndrome. I was preparing to have a baby with Down's syndrome or dwarfism. I started researching support groups in Madison. I started thinking about how we would eventually have to remodel our kitchen to accommodate a person with dwarfism. I was crying and wondering what kind of life my boy would have. Would it be better to have Dwarfism or Down's syndrome? . . . When I called my Dad and told him that the baby probably has dwarfism. In his best job to comfort me, he said ``well, them are nice people, too.'' (that actually made me laugh). I knew that both my family and I were ready for this. We had no idea. The 3 days until my ultrasound were torture. The day of, I was dizzy with anticipation. I tried to crack jokes but soon, the room was filled only with clicks on the computer. At one point, they turned the screen to show me my baby! They got a shot of my baby giving the ``I love you'' in sign language! He was telling me he loves me. They printed a picture of my baby. He looked peaceful. He looked normal. After a long wait, the genetic counselor came in and wrote 2 long words on a piece of paper and turned it towards us and slowly read out loud ``Thanatoporic dysplasia''. ``What's that??? I interrupted. She said it is a rare form of dwarfism. ``Oh, so our baby will be a dwarf.'' The air was so thick. Pointing at the first word she said ``thanatophoric'' means ``imminent death''. WHAT?? What do you mean??? My head was screaming, even though the room was completely silent. She explained our baby's long bones were short. His skull is strawberry shaped. His jaw is deformed. His brain has a lot of fluid in it. If he was born, he would not be able to breathe because his lungs could not expand in his tiny rib cage. I pleaded ``maybe his bone growth will catch up with the rest of his body!! Maybe he will just be very small!'' She said that the baby would not survive much past birth. I felt like I couldn't breathe. The doctor came back into the room. I showed her the ultrasound picture ``But he looks normal and peaceful!'' They then told us that we have two options. We can choose to terminate the pregnancy, or carry the baby to term, and the delivery staff would be ready with ventilators and pain management until the baby died. My regular doctor happened to be on call that day; she came into the room and hugged me. She said she also looked at the ultrasound, and the baby was not going to live. We were devastated. What would we do?? Part of me wanted to give birth to him, just so I could hold him. But I knew that the image of seeing him suffer would haunt me for the rest of my life. We decided we would end the pregnancy. When the genetic counselor returned I told her we decided to terminate, and wanted it done at a hospital. She said that the hospital refers all abortion procedures to the Planned Parenthood's health center where abortions are still available. I did NOT want to go to a clinic and walk through protesters on one of the worst days of my life. The genetic counselor confirmed no hospital would perform this abortion, and she would schedule an appointment for me at Planned Parenthood. We went to Olin park and just sat in the car, crying. Calling our parents, calling my boss. All this time, I could feel the baby alive moving inside of me. My son. Alive and inside of me. Our counselor called with more bad news. To comply with Wisconsin's 24 hour waiting period law, I would be too far along to have the procedure at Planned Parenthood. She said there is a clinic in Chicago who could see me in a few days. If they assessed that the baby was too big, then I would have to go to Kansas. She said the abortion in Chicago is a 3 day process, so I would need to get a hotel. Over this time they would slowly dilate my cervix with bamboo reeds and would do the procedure Friday morning and it would cost $1500 cash. Now I am calling my Dad to ask for money. Word of this spread fast at work and someone took up a collection that raised $200. My Dad gave us $1000 and we came up with the rest. Our moms bought the hotel room and came with us, along with our 2 year old daughter Maia. The clinic was in an unfamiliar neighborhood and there were tons of protesters with signs about killing babies. I expected this, but I didn't expect them to SHOUT at me. JESUS!! They have NO CLUE why I am having an abortion. They don't know what I am going through. I wanted to scream SHUT