Jack Quinn

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from Washington Ms. Dunn for her work on this vital legislation. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2185. I applaud the efforts of Chairman Thomas and Majority Whip Blunt for making good on their commitment to address this issue and ensure that unemployed Americans will be able to get through the Memorial Day holiday without having to worry about their benefits expiring on May 31. H.R. 2185 would extend the Federal unemployment compensation program through the end of this year--relieving Congress of having to continue to revisit this issue while the economy begins to rebound. This extension will provide relief for about 2.5 million unemployed workers. It allows for 13 weeks of federally funded benefits--as well as an additional 13 weeks for residents of high unemployment States. This relief will be a tremendous boost to Americans still actively seeking employment. Again, I thank my colleagues for their hard work on this issue.

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Washington for yielding time to me. I also want to thank the gentlewoman for her work on this unemployment extension. Many times I find myself at odds with the Republican Party, my party, when it comes to unemployment benefits for the working families across this country. But tonight we are not trying to fool any of the people any of the time. Tonight we are being very straightforward. Tonight what we are trying to do is to make sure that the working men and women and families of this country understand that the Republican Party understands their needs. I am happy to support this bill tonight, as I think most Members on both sides of the aisle will. I want to thank our leadership of the Republican Party for taking this up and allowing many of us who feel that we need to have a voice for working families in the country make that voice heard. I want to make certain that our Members understand that it is an opportunity for us to help working families. I am proud to say that we are going to do that very straightforwardly in a very clean bill, unattached to anything else, up or down, yes or no.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the achievements of my constituent, Ryan Mrowka, of Dunkirk, New York. Ryan graduated valedictorian from Dunkirk High School in 1999. He earned an Army ROTC scholarship to Boston College and will graduate Magna Cum Laude this Monday, May 19, 2003. Beyond his academic success, Ryan deserves recognition for his capable leadership and commitment to public service. He complemented his opportunities at Boston College with a generous spirit of involvement in campus ministry. His numerous activities included retreat planning and volunteer teaching at a local juvenile detention center. He also organized and led student trips to build homes in Appalachia and to help an orphanage in Honduras. As an ROTC student, Ryan served as Cadet Battalion Commander; qualified as a basic parachutist at Airborne School; placed in the top tier of the ``Ranger Challenge'' military skills competition; and interned in the Pentagon to research the Army Transformation Plan. He completed the four-year education and training program in the top 20 percent of all U.S. Cadets, earning the prestigious ``ROTC Distinguished Military Student'' recognition and the ``Boston College President's Award for Outstanding Cadet''. This Sunday, May 18, 2003, Ryan will be commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps. At only 22 years old, he will answer the courageous call to active duty this September 2003 as an officer in the U.S. Army. Fittingly enough, Ryan plans to follow his four-year commitment to the Army with a career teaching social studies. He was recently inducted into the Phi Lambda Theta International Honor Society, the professional association in education, and the Golden Key National Collegiate Honor Society. Not only has he demonstrated the scholastic aptitude necessary to become an exceptional educator, but the natural potential to truly connect with, and inspire, young minds. Mr. Speaker, college graduates like Ryan Mrowka epitomize the character and integrity of the people of Western New York. I commend him for his commitment to serve those less fortunate; willingness to protect our freedom; and dedication to educate future generations.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance Act is a compassionate piece of legislation that deserves to be enacted into law. It has been crafted with the families of rail accident victims in mind. Members may recall that several years ago after some egregious airplane crashes, the families of the victims of those crashes were poorly treated by the carriers, in some cases the media, and sometimes lawyers. Congress responded in 1996 asking the National Transportation Safety Board to take on an additional role. At that time we enacted an aviation law that placed the NTSB and a suitable private charitable organization in charge of coordinating the efforts to protect the privacy of crash victims' families and to ensure that they receive the most current information possible from the carrier. The NTSB has a well-deserved reputation for thoroughness and impartiality in its investigations and in its accident reports. The board's careful work and thoughtful recommendations have contributed significantly to the safety of the traveling public on our highways, our railroads and airways. By all accounts the NTSB has been equally successful in this new task of helping families cope with the devastating loss of a loved one. Based on this success, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the ranking member, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown), Subcommittee on Railroads ranking member, and myself have introduced H.R. 874, a bill to ensure the same compassionate treatment for families of railroad accident victims. This bill essentially mirrors the aviation law, mandating that the NTSB serve a similar role and including the recommended updates. The bill also includes one feature suggested by the NTSB itself. That new feature is a one-year task force composed of the DOT, the NTSB, charitable organizations and family members of passenger rail accident victims. This task force, when put in place, will examine and report back to the Congress on how to improve the information flow after an accident has happened and how to make family assistance work better in the future. Our point here, Mr. Speaker, is that after the incident happens we want to continue communication to make certain we do an even better job should a tragic accident occur in the future. Although versions of this bill passed overwhelmingly in the House during the last Congress, the Senate has yet to act. Thankfully the Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance Act is back on the suspension calendar today in our session. I strongly support H.R. 874 and urge its approval by the whole House this afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would only like to mention and thank the ranking member, my partner on the Subcommittee on Railroads, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown), for her great work. As usual, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and our subcommittee comes up with great bipartisan legislation and this morning is another example of that.

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 874) to establish a program, coordinated by the National Transportation Safety Board, of assistance to families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the following bills: H.R. 874, H.R. 866, H. Con. Res. 53 and H. Con. Res. 96.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Chairman, I want to join the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reynolds) in sending condolences to our neighbor and friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton), on his loss. Over the past few years, all of the members of the western New York delegation, along with local leaders and members of the community and others, in an effort to see a resolution in the dispute between New York State and the Department of Energy, have all worked cooperatively together. The responsibility for long-term stewardship of this site and the transportation and removal of solidified waste must be established immediately. This amendment does just that. The West Valley Demonstration Project was a creation of the Federal Government to deal with over 600,000 gallons of highly radioactive waste generated as a result of the nuclear fuel reprocessing effort, over two-thirds of which came from the Federal nuclear weapons facilities. This amendment directs the Secretary of Energy to provide to Congress a plan to take over responsibility of this site. The Department of Energy and the State of New York have held talks for almost 4 years on this very issue, and these talks, as we have mentioned, have produced no results. Congress laid out the instructions in the 1980 West Valley Demonstration Project Act, and it is appropriate that we clarify today that the responsibility for the final phase of this project lies with the U.S. Department of Energy. The western New York delegation has worked long and hard on this issue with the help of the West Valley Citizens Task Force, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, local leaders, and the community at large. It is time for Congress to act and to move on this extraordinary undertaking and make it one step closer to completion.

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Chairman, as many of you know, I have risen many times to speak here on the floor about the need to support and expand the LIHEAP program. LIHEAP is a bipartisan issue, and always has been. I am never surprised to see how my colleagues from both sides of the aisle jump at the opportunity to work together to protect and enhance LIHEAP funding. Last year, LIHEAP served 4.4 million households. However, since the year 2000, 2.66 million people have become unemployed, many of whom will seek assistance until they can find new jobs. The economic downturn has left more households dependent upon energy assistance to ensure that their heating power remains connected. LIHEAP funding allows for these economically strained people to focus on essential items. In a time when state officials are forced to slash their budgets the responsibility falls to us to ensure that no family goes without heat when the winter hits. Many of you have joined me over the past few years calling for increases in funding for the important program. This amendment provides some direction and opportunity to find that funding. We must take advantage of opportunities such as this one to identify sources of funding for the LIHEAP programs.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by not only commending the Orangemen of Syracuse on their terrific win this past week, but also to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) who is probably, beyond all people, more proud of his city of Syracuse and the university for not only what they do on the athletic field, but also academically, than any other person around. My district is probably as close to Syracuse as the district of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) in the Bronx, but that does not make us any less proud of what Syracuse accomplished on their basketball team when they beat Kansas Monday night. They played the entire tournament showing the youth and their opponents, as they played them, that the notion that seniors win championships is incorrect. Led by super-freshmen Carmelo Anthony, Jerry McNamara and others, they allowed Syracuse and Coach Boeheim, after 27 years, his shining moment as a national champion in the NCAA. I have had to listen in my office to two Syracuse grads, Mike Tetuan and Katy Carter, all year long about how often they are going to win; and I thought that this win by Syracuse would put all of that to rest, and I would not have to hear the comparisons of that other super- college power in Upstate New York, Siena College. However, on the opposite side, what this win has done is not quieted them down; that is all I hear from these two staffers now, that their young team will be back again and again. We hope that they are back because, down the road, we are hoping that this win and this kind of enthusiasm moves down the Thruway to Buffalo for our NFL Bills this coming season, and we can bring the NFL championship back to our great city. Syracuse, the Salt City, like Buffalo, which I represent, are sometimes known for two things: snow and snow. Some people ask, Why would young men and women go to Syracuse to play basketball? And as Steve Thompson, a former Syracuse basketball player liked to say, ``It never snows in the Carrier Dome.'' For many years, I have said that Coach Boeheim is probably the best recruiter in the United States to get great players to Syracuse, New York, inside that dome on a Saturday afternoon, where I have been many times, sometimes with the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), where Coach Boeheim has 30,000 people on a Saturday and takes down those Big East opponents, people outside the conference, and comes home a winner. The answer why people would want to go to Syracuse to play basketball is more simple than ever now, because Syracuse is the 2003 National Champion, headed by the longest-tenured coach in the NCAA, Jim Boeheim, and supported by alumni and fans everywhere, including Buffalo and western New York. We believe what Jim believes in, that Syracuse is where basketball ended this year, and it is where it will start next year. I am proud to add the voice of all of our friends and neighbors in western New York to the voice of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) as a proud New Yorker, and say congratulations to the team, the staff and university, and most importantly, to Coach Boeheim for a job well done.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the gentleman from West Virginia, Mr. Rahall, I would like to describe legislation we recently introduced, H.R. 906, the ``Surface Transportation Safety Act of 2003.'' Each year more than 42,000 people are killed and over three million people are injured on our nation's highways. Not only is the loss of human life tragic, but the $230 billion annual cost to our economy is staggering. Our bill expedites the use of proven solutions to reduce the likelihood of crashes, injuries, and fatalities on our roads and bridges. H.R. 906 accomplishes these goals without requiring additional federal funding. It is designed to utilize funds already set aside for the Section 130 Rail-Highway Grade Crossing Program and the Section 152 Hazard Elimination Program. Since their inception, these programs have allocated money to the States to reduce accidents. This legislation is designed to reallocate precious tax dollars within the current programs to make them more effective. The bill clarifies and expands project eligibility and provides funding for improved State data collection, analysis and reporting. In 1996, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation issued a report to Congress stating that the Section 130 Rail-Highway Grade Crossing Program prevented over 8,500 fatalities and close to 39,000 injuries since 1974. This report also stated that as a result of the Section 130 program, fatal accident rates have been reduced by 87 percent. Our legislation makes two major changes to existing law that will enhance the effectiveness of this program. It changes the funding for protective devices at rail-highway grade crossings to a fixed $150 million per year and it provides for the maintenance of protective devices at grade crossings. H.R. 906 also makes several improvements to the Section 152 Hazard Elimination Program. First, it clarifies that these programmatic funds are to be used to produce real safety benefits by requiring that projects reduce the likelihood of crashes resulting from road departures, intersections, pedestrians, bicycles, older drivers, and construction work zones. In addition, our legislation makes fluorescent yellow-green signs in school zones, pedestrian walkways and bicycle paths eligible for funding as a safety improvement. Also added to the eligible funding list are police assistance for traffic and speed management in construction work zones and the installation of barriers between construction work zones and traffic lanes for the safety of motorists and workers. Mr. Speaker, roadway construction, maintenance and repair are readily apparent on our highways and in our neighborhoods. Construction work zone crashes killed 1,079 people in 2001. This is a 20 percent increase since 1995, not to mention the thousands of injuries that occur each year. These deaths and injuries will continue to escalate if we do not address this problem now. In this regard, H.R. 906 directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring workers whose duties place them on or in close proximity to a Federal-aid highway to wear high visibility garments. To judge the effectiveness of these two safety programs, our bill requires a new biennial report to Congress without creating an unfunded mandate. States can use these funds to fulfill all data compilation, analysis, and reporting requirements. Finally, this bill maintains the flexibility States currently have to transfer funds from the two safety set-aside programs to the Interstate Maintenance, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality, National Highway System, Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation and Recreational Trails programs. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor and support this important safety legislation.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, as the 107th Congress comes to a close, I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to a dear friend of mine. For the past two years, Congressman Bob Clement and I have had the privilege of working together as Chairman and Ranking Member of the Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads. I affectionately describe Bob as my partner on the Subcommittee because we have worked so well together and approached every situation in a bipartisan way. Our relationship embodies the true spirit of bipartisanship, the type of open and honest discussions that other committee heads should envy. This level of cooperation is a direct result of Bob's admirable character and collegial personality. Always the gentleman, Bob has been a pleasure to work with and his presence will be sorely missed on the Subcommittee next year. He has been a champion of a national passenger rail system and was instrumental in securing the passage of legislation to increase the pensions and benefits of retired railroad workers and their widows. His commitment to providing the necessary resources for mass transit is second to none and his overall passion for improving our country's transportation systems is irreplaceable. I congratulate Bob on a distinguished career in the U.S. House of Representatives and I wish him and his family the best in their future endeavors.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I object.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from western New York yielding me the time, and for a minute, I am going to read off the script, because what I want to say comes from here, not from the paper. I am a former educator before I came to Congress, without any political experience, much like the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton); and a lot of people teach things in a lot of different ways. A person teaches in the classroom, they teach through books, they teach through lecture, but they also teach through example. I have only been here for five terms, but I want Ben to know that, from a perspective of a newer Member, he was teaching, he was helping, he was advising, and he probably did not even know it, for people like me, for some of the younger men and women who were here. We look around and our staff will say, they will us to get some dear colleagues signed. Our staff will tell us to go out and call some people to get some support of a bill on either side of the aisle. We are next-door neighbors in the Rayburn building, and the example my staff always tell me is go do it the way Ben Gilman does it. For someone to have served that length of time here and to still approach the job that way, with the vim and the vigor and the vitality of a freshman, says a lot for you and the way you approach your work in this Chamber, and it does not go unnoticed. It has not gone unnoticed. I speak for many not only in our delegation but in the House on both sides of the aisle. That is a real teacher. That is a real friend for all of us here. All I want to say is that, on behalf of the people in western New York, as you have touched people all across your district and the State, the country, the world, for that matter, on behalf of the New Yorkers in western New York State, I want to say thanks to you and to your wife for the job you have done for all of us, not only as constituents but the way we have learned as Members to do the job the right way.

Mr. QUINN

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3100. H.R. 3100 will allow Renewal Communities to amend their boundaries by adding census tracts meeting the program's criteria based on 2000 census data. The 40 Renewal Communities designated by HUD were required to use 1990 census data. The objective of the Community Renewal Tax Reform Act of 2000, CRTRA, is to stabilize and invigorate distressed communities by providing special targeted incentives directly to businesses. These incentives are designed to expand jobs and business investment by making it more beneficial to stay or relocate in areas that have been experiencing job/population loss. It would seem logical that those areas that have continued to deteriorate should be eligible to use the most current data available-- 2000 census--to expand their boundaries. It is important to note that no existing Renewal Community will be adversely affected. Only those communities that have increased poverty levels and continued to lose businesses and jobs would apply to HUD to amend their boundaries. The same qualifying criteria will apply to adding new census tracts. No Renewal Communities will be able to include more than 200,000 in population. All tracts must be contiguous. The economic expansion for most of the United States during the decade of the '90s was not experienced in Upstate New York. If NYC is taken out of the equation, New York ranks 49th out of the 50 States in job creation and business expansion during the '90s. The Buffalo/ Niagara Falls SMA lost more jobs and population than any city in the country during that time. The August median sales prices for homes sold in the Buffalo area last month was only $85,000, an indicator of the economic conditions. Finally, there should be no budget impact, as the parameters of the program will remain unchanged. Thank you Mr. Speaker for scheduling H.R. 3100 on the floor of the House of Representatives today. I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bipartisan, commonsense legislation.

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my neighbor, colleague and friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, let me just say for the record, to be quick here, I want to associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reynolds) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton). The four of us worked on this. This is a question today about fairness, about using current information. We know that Renewal Communities work. This legislation this evening makes it fair for everybody to become involved. I am pleased to associate myself with the hard work that has been done by the committee staff, as well as both the gentlemen from New York and our friend and colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reynolds).

Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. QUINN

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

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