Tim Ryan

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise today to speak about an issue that is important to our community in Northeast Ohio, specifically, the city of Warren and the city of Youngstown dealing with the auto task force and the bankruptcies that have been going on in the auto industry. The community that I come from has been adversely affected not just over the past few months or few years but really over the past 30 years. We've seen the loss of a tremendous amount of jobs. The home of Delphi, the original Delphi, the original Packard Electric, started many years ago by the Packard brothers; a General Motors plant in Lordstown; steel mills, all have been adversely affected over the past 30 years, but specifically over the past few months and few years, given the new problems in the auto industry. And every day that we wake up, and we read The Warren Tribune or The Youngstown Vindicator, we've been getting bad news about layoffs-- Severstal Steel goes idle, 1,000 jobs; General Motors plant takes off the third shift, takes off the second shift, few left on the first shift. Delphi went from 15,000 employees 20 or 30 years ago down to just a few today. A group that has also been adversely affected with maybe not as much attention as it should have been given are the Delphi salaried employees, who many have spent two-thirds of their careers working for Delphi, working under the General Motors umbrella; and helping with the engineering, the designing, the running of this company, have spent their lives, spent a lot of their time, missed a lot of baseball games, missed a lot of kids' events over the course of their careers, dedicating their lives to this company. They are now finding themselves in a very difficult position as we go through this restructuring to where many of them have taken a buyout and were promised a supplemental to get them to Social Security, and now through the restructuring they may not only lose their pensions, but they are also going to lose their supplemental. They are also losing their health care. And this is a group of people that contributed to this company, contributed to this country, for many, many years, and deserve to be heard. Our community that has suffered all of these blows can only stand so much. And here are another 15,000 salaried workers across the country, but probably about 1,000 in our community, that have done the right thing, have paid their taxes, paid their property taxes to fund the schools and the libraries, supported the communities, did the right thing, and now are being extremely hurt by the situation. So I, along with many others in the Ohio delegation, Senator Brown and others, Representative Boccieri and Representative Charlie Wilson, Marcia Fudge, a lot of others, have been spending time trying to raise awareness and push the auto task force to consider these 15,000 people across this great country who have contributed in such a significant way to the auto industry, and we want to make sure that the auto task force recognizes that as these decisions are being made, some already are made, that they are made fairly and equitably; that these people who have served the company as significantly as others get the same kind of recognition, the same kind of support, and they are not asked to bear the brunt of the whole burden. As the new GM tries to reinvent itself and get back up on its feet, it is important that they don't lose, and I think it is important for the auto task force to recognize this, Mr. Speaker, that they don't lose a core constituency of General Motors consumers. Former employees who have been loyal to the company, 15,000 of them, should not only be considered, but it is a basic tactic for marketing purposes. These are people who want to be loyal to General Motors, who want to be supportive of General Motors, and feel like they are being forced to bear a major brunt of this. Again, I rise today because I have lived and worked here, and these are people who have coached me growing up and been involved in all of our lives and are such a critical component to our community. Many times I have risen on this House floor to talk about the workers and the unions and how the Amwells and the Youngstown Steel Doors and the UAW workers and the steelworkers have been hurt, but workers are workers, and these people deserve to be heard just as much as anyone else.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I thank the gentlelady and want to congratulate her. I would like to make two quick points. One is, the gentleman from Arizona, when he was here, mentioned about manufacturing demand. It was the tax credit for SUVs that actually manufactured the demand that led to a lot of the issues we are dealing with now with the environment. And also, the gentleman was critical of the auto industry. I would like to remind him that it was the auto industry and the tax dollars that the Midwest sent out to build the West. All the water lines and sewer lines in congressional districts that were made out West were made by the taxpayers and the auto industry and the steel industry that sent their money out. So I just wanted to clear the record. I thank the gentlelady from Ohio. I get nervous anytime I see Ohio and Michigan working together, but in this particular instance, it's a good deal.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I would like to welcome Reverend Kenny Simon to the House to lead us in prayer today. He is Youngstown born and Youngstown educated. He is a graduate of East High School and Youngstown State University. He did his biblical and religious training in Wheaton, Illinois. He was ordained in 1993, and in 1995 he succeeded his father, Reverend Lonnie Simon, as pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Youngstown, Ohio. In addition to his pastorate, Reverend Kenny Simon is very much involved in our community. He is the president of the board of Eagle Heights Academy. He is the chairman of the Mayor's Human Relations Commission. He is a board member of Crime Stoppers of Youngstown, past president of the Mahoning Valley Association of Churches, past board member of the Western Reserve Port Authority, and a 2002 graduate of Leadership Mahoning Valley. Pastor Simon is the president of the Community Mobilization Coalition, a political organization that promotes voter registration and informs the urban community about the importance of voting and voting issues. Reverend Kenny Simon and his wife, Wendy Wainwright, have three children, Keisha, Kenny and David. And as most of us do, he stands on the shoulders of his father, who is now pastor emeritus of New Bethel Baptist Church where he has served since 1962, Reverend Lonnie Simon. He too has been involved in many community activities, including service on the Youngstown Board of Education from 1972 to 1975 and was in the first Leadership Youngstown class in 1985. In 1965, Reverend Lonnie Simon was one of the charter leaders of the March on Montgomery under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and participated in the Poor People's Campaign here in Washington, D.C. in 1969. Reverend Lonnie Simon and his wife of 58 years, Florence, have four children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Madam Speaker, it was an honor for us to be addressed by such a distinguished individual with such a distinguished family here at the House of Representatives.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, on Monday, May 18, 2009, I was unable to return to Washington, DC in time to cast my vote for rollcall votes No. 267-269. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall votes No. 267, H. Res. 300; No. 268, S. 386; and No. 269, H. Res. 442.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And I would be remiss if I didn't talk a little bit about what we are doing locally here in the last minute between Congressman Boccieri's district in Canton and my district in Akron to Youngstown and also Cleveland, all the way over to Congressman Altmire's district over in the Pittsburgh area, creating a technology belt in which all of the health care and green energy and the legacy manufacturing that we have in this area can help stimulate this mega- region from Cleveland to Akron, Canton, through Youngstown, Warren, over into Pittsburgh, to try to plug into all of this because if areas like ours aren't benefiting from these investments, then really it's all for naught. It's the heartland of our country. So with that I want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania. I want to thank the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I think coming from our area--and you can go to Wisconsin, you can go to Indiana, you can go to Pennsylvania--you can go all throughout the industrial Midwest and you read statistics that say, Hey, for every manufacturing job, there are five spinoff jobs, and for every service job, there's two spinoff jobs. So if you go to get a massage, you have the masseuse and then you have somebody that's going to wash your feet and put a warm towel around your neck or clean the towels. If you have a manufacturing job where you're working in a car plant, you have the suppliers of that and the people around the one manufacturing job that support it. I read this a lot in economics classes and everything else, but it hit me a few months ago when we lost a third and then a second shift at a General Motors plant in Lordstown, because they said that the second shift was going to go, and then about a couple of days later the local seat manufacturer--the second shift was maybe 800 or 900 people. A couple days later, the seat manufacturer laid off a couple hundred. Then, a couple days later, the logistics company that did all the logistics for coming in and out of the General Motors plant laid off another hundred people. Just the spinoff. So when we say we need to make things in the United States, it's important to recognize the ripple effect. Ross Perot said in the early campaign in the early nineties, You can't run an economy on back rubs. You just can't do it. That's something that I think we're staring right in the eye. If you look at the history of the world with the Dutch and the Spaniards and the Brits, when 20 to 25 percent of their GDP became finance, that was the beginning of the end for those countries. Because, like you said when you first started, all you start doing is moving money around. You're not making anything. You're not adding value to a product. And you start these Ponzi schemes like we just ended up having here in the United States. So I think it's important that we do focus on this manufacturing policy. I yield back.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity, and it's always a pleasure to follow my good friend from northeast Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), who is not only a good advocate, I think, for his congressional district but also a very good friend and a fellow Lebron James fan. So we want to congratulate the Cavaliers, and I want to thank Mr. LaTourette. Madam Speaker, we are representing the 30-Something Group here tonight, a group that was started several years ago by then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi when the Democrats were in the minority, and we were talking about issues that were facing the men and women of this country in their thirties and began to frame some of the Republican agenda at that point as it affected the 30-somethings and also used it as an opportunity to talk about the young people in this country, how the decisions that were being made by then--the then Bush administration would not only have a short-term effect on the young people of our country but also have long-term consequences. And unfortunately today, Madam Speaker, we are dealing with many of those consequences that were laid at the plate of now President Obama, laid at the plate of the now Democratic Congress and, quite frankly, laid at the plate of the American people. So as we speak here tonight, and I will be joined later by Congressman Boccieri and Congressman Altmire, we're going to discuss where we are today in our country and in our congressional districts and also some of the approaches that we need to make over the course of the next several months and over the course of the next several years. I represent a district, Madam Speaker, that is just south of Mr. LaTourette's district. I represent Akron, Youngstown, Warren, Niles, and the Mahoning Valley. And over the course of the last several months and over the course of the last year, for example, in Trumbull County, our unemployment rate has doubled. And this has not been just a short- term problem; this has been a 30-year problem that our communities have been dealing with. And if you look and you see what has happened in communities like ours where companies, longtime companies in this country like Delphi, like General Motors, steel mills like WCI are near closure. We have Delphi retirees who are both salaried and union who are now joining together to figure out what they're going to do with their families, what they're going to do with their kids, their house payment, their mortgages, their college tuition that they have to pay, their daughters' weddings that they have to pay for, over the course of the next several weeks, months, and years. So, Madam Speaker, we need a strong agenda here in Congress and a strong agenda coming from the President as to what exactly we are going to be able to do. Madam Speaker, the President has approached this, I think, in a very comprehensive way, and the Congress and Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid have approached this in a very comprehensive way. We are trying to address this on all fronts. We are dealing with a credit crisis. We are dealing with a manufacturing crisis. We are dealing with a foreclosure crisis. We are dealing with home equity problems. We are dealing with lost wages. We are dealing with all of these issues all at the same time. So, Madam Speaker, we see the President of the United States has taken a comprehensive approach, and I think it's been a good one. Now, on the backs of 8 years of the Bush administration, some people say, you know, we shouldn't go back and we shouldn't talk about the past, that we should just move on. But we are getting criticized on our side of the aisle for the decisions that we have made based on the problems that were left for us to deal with, and the criticism is coming from the same group of people who put us in the exact same position that we are in and then criticize the solutions that we are presenting because those solutions in some way may be different than the philosophies that got us to where we are. So tonight, Madam Speaker, we are going to talk about some of those solutions. Now, recently in Congress we have done a couple of different things. We have passed the supplemental appropriations bill to deal with some of the defense concerns. But I think more importantly one of the things that we have done, one of the first things that President Obama pushed for over the course of the first few days in office and between the time he got elected to the time he got sworn in, is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. So, Madam Speaker, although the supplemental is not passed and signed into law, it is on its way and it does reflect, I think, the priorities of not only this administration but the priorities of the Congress. So let's look at how things are different. Over the 8 years of the Bush administration, we saw the wealthiest in our country get tax cuts. We saw the wealthiest in our country, the top 1 percent, gain all of the income. And it's interesting if you look, and I think it goes back to 1990, and it may be 1980, but I think it was 1990, since 1990 where 80 percent of the income growth went to the top 10 percent of the people in this country. And since 2000, 90 percent of all income growth went to the top 10 percent of the people in this country. And that means that the middle class has been squeezed. So they are not getting the income growth, their energy costs are going up, gas was $4 a gallon, health care costs were going up by 15 percent. The Congress and the President both, both controlled by the Republican Party, had a very laissez faire attitude, not only for the economy, but for everything, that the government had no role, and it should be parsed off and given to the highest bidder. And that's what happened in the war in Iraq, that's what happened with health care. And I think it's important for us to remember as we are dealing in these difficult economic times, as tensions are being wiped out, as 401(k)s are being halved, that it was the Republican Party who stood on this floor and wanted to privatize Social Security. The only thing that many people have left is Social Security. And can you imagine if our friends on the other side had the opportunity to take the Social Security system and put it into the stock market, where this country would be. Imagine where our retirees would be, imagine where our grandparents would be, imagine where our parents would be, and imagine where this country would be if we had to bail out the Social Security system in this country. And so when we are receiving criticism for what we are trying to do, I think it's important for the American people to remember the big picture and to remember how we got here and to remember that there are two different governing philosophies in this country. And one of the philosophies, as sad as it is to say, Madam Speaker, got us to the position we are in. And we are going to move on, and we are going to talk about our response to this. But it is critical for everyone to recognize and everyone to know that the Republican, conservative, extreme right-wing agenda was implemented in the United States of America. From the year 2000 to the year 2006, they controlled every branch of government: the House, the Senate, the White House, the Supreme Court. Many of the State legislatures, like the ones that Congressman Boccieri and I come from in Ohio, all were controlled by Republicans. So they implemented their agenda. They implemented Chicago-style economics. They implemented the shock doctrine. They implemented supply-side economics. And, today, because of a lack of regulation, because Wall Street was run like the wild, wild west, because there were no cops on the beat, here we are today, billions of dollars in debt, borrowing the money from China, a middle class getting squeezed, energy costs going up, increased reliance on the Middle East for our energy, health care costs going up, insurance companies hiring more people and knocking more people off the rolls, any kind of income growth in our country going to the top 10 percent of our people, where everybody else is left behind, school funding problems all over the country, mental health issues, soldiers coming back with PTSD not getting the proper treatment. Walter Reed was falling apart, and on and on and on. So the issues that President Obama is dealing with today and the Democratic Congress were issues that were laid on this table left for us to try to deal with. And so President Obama came with a plan, a stimulus plan, because there was a $3 trillion hole, gap in our economy. And all the economists were telling us that we had to somehow fill this hole or we would have a continual slide for our country. And so President Obama, his economists, John McCain's economists, on both sides of the aisle, we are in agreement that we needed to do something. We needed a stimulus package. And the stimulus package was going to be something different that Washington hadn't seen for a long, long time. This stimulus package was going to go to the middle class. It was going to go for those programs that were going to lift people up, where the middle class would be able to spend money and fill this hole. We were going to invest in education. We were going to invest in energy research. We were going to fund NIH, National Institutes of Health, so that we could increase cancer research. And now all over the country we have Relay for Lives, all over the country, my congressional district, and I am sure yours, where thousands and thousands and thousands of people are walking for a day, at night and through the night for 24 hours straight to raise money for cancer research. It was President Obama's stimulus package that increased funding for cancer research, because it was a national priority. And we can talk about a lot of the different investments in the research and into energy research, weatherization, tax cuts for 95 percent of the American people. But I just want to talk for a second about the investments that he made in education. Because there is no greater investment we could make in this country than to invest in the young people in our country and to make sure that they get the kind of education that they need, that they deserve, because they are the next leaders that will be in this body. They are the next teachers. They are the next astronauts, the next scientists that are going to keep America strong in the future. And so the difference in priorities from the last administration to President Obama can be summed up, and there are a lot of different examples, but I think they could be summed up in this, a $2,500 opportunity tax credit to go to college, where the same parents that we had, growing up, middle class, northeast Ohio, Italian, were working hard to send their kids to school, and that was the number one priority. And President Obama recognizes that and makes sure that that tax credit was in this stimulus bill. And he made sure that there was an increase in the Pell Grant so that people could get grant money to go to school and then stood up at that podium and challenged the American people, all of us, to go one more year to school and contribute, that it was in the national interest for that to happen. This is a much different approach than President Bush saying after 9/11 the greatest thing you can do for this country is to go shopping. That is a tremendous difference in leadership styles, and, I think, approaches. And I think the focus on education, as we will continue to talk about it through the next hour, I think is something that is very critical. I think this is the first time we have shared the floor together. Congressman Boccieri and I started our careers together, I want to say a long time ago, but it wasn't that long ago. So I yield to my friend.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Well, we need it I think from the perspective of investing in research and development, but I want to go back to the point you were making about the defense industrial base that we have. Right outside your district and in my district is Goodyear. Goodyear is the last American tire manufacturer in the United States, and there's a huge movement within the city of Akron, within Summit County, State of Ohio, Federal officials to keep Goodyear's headquarters in Akron. One of the problems is--and Goodyear is actually doing fairly well now--trying to get Goodyear, the only American tire manufacturer, to be a supplier of military tires. I mean, it's like you've got to beg people at the Pentagon to have Goodyear supply. It's hard to get them as a second source sometimes, to back up Michelin, who is a French company. Now I was against the war. I thought it was one of the worst geopolitical decisions in the history of our country, and we are going to pay for it for many, many years to come. But when our country goes to war, you'd better be able to supply our own military. And we are getting dangerously close to losing our defense industrial base in this country. It's tires. And we have the same issue with RTI, a titanium company in our region, both in your district and in mine. There used to be 10 titanium companies in the United States. Now there's two, and one of them is in Niles in Weathersfield Township and one of them is in Canton I think. And the problem is, there's an amendment called the Berry amendment, which says the military has to buy their specialty metals from American companies. But there's a waiver, and there's this process that always gets waived. So the RTIs of the world have to struggle to get military spending to go to their companies. So it went from 10 titanium companies to two. We're getting dangerously close to not being able to supply our own military because the titanium comes from Russia, our tires are coming from France. This is getting dangerous here. We've got to be very, very careful with that. And I think part of it is the investment, what we did in the stimulus package with transportation, infrastructure, research to rebuild the country in many, many ways. But if we don't have that defense industrial base, it's going to put us in a real predicament to try to supply our own military. I yield back to my friend.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If you look at the difference between the past philosophy that got us here where if you cut taxes for the top 1 percent and hope they maybe invest into whatever it is that they invest in, and it hopefully will trickle down to the middle class, cut research funding, fail to invest into higher education, fail to invest into research, fail to invest into health care research, health care technology, you get what we've got. And you end up where we are. But if you look at the dramatic change in the stimulus package--and we can go through the whole thing. For example, increases in NIH and all the different energy research, weatherization to try to create markets for all these new alternative energy projects, $7.2 billion to increase broadband access in usage to unserved and underserved areas of the Nation, which will better position us for economic growth so that all of our kids, not just the ones that happen to be in a nice school district where there's a good property tax base, and they have good schools and good jobs, but all our kids can have access to the Internet, and all communities could access broadband, and all hospitals could be plugged into this. If you look at the billion dollars for prevention and wellness programs, $10 billion to conduct biomedical research for cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, stem cells, to improve NIH facilities, if you have a family member who has cancer, Alzheimer's, MS, Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS--they're on the Hill today--this President and this Congress are backing you up. We're saying, this is a priority. Your family members being sick and the government not putting in the proper resources to do the investment is wrong. President Obama came in and said, We're going to put science back on the table, and 70 to 80 percent of the American people agree. And that creates jobs at the Cleveland Clinic, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, in the Stark County hospitals, Summit County hospitals, hospitals in Youngstown, all of the information technology to make sure that our doctors and nurses and health care technicians aren't making mistakes so that people who go to the hospital don't get hurt because of miscommunications. This President and this Congress are saying, We've got your back. We're going to make these investments. You can't have a strong country and just wish and hope it may happen. There are very strategic investments that were made in the stimulus package. And I love some of these people saying, Yeah, but it's one- time money. Well, how about no-time money? No-time money means a bunch of teachers get laid off. That's what no-time money means. And in our State, some of the Republicans are telling Governor Strickland, you know, this is one-time money. What are you going to do next year? Well, we've got to deal with this year. And we are plugging holes, and we are making sure we are not laying people off, at least as many as we can, prevent as many layoffs as we can. And we have infrastructure money that President Obama made sure was included in here, $2 billion in grant funding for the manufacturing of advanced batteries. We are now ceding the battery industry to China. President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, the Democratic caucuses, probably 70 percent of the American people thinks that is probably a pretty bad idea. So we can sit here and say, Oh, my God, the Chinese are taking-- we are going to have all these new cars, plug-ins, and the battery is going to be made in China. And we will be sitting here, Congressman, 10, 20 years from now, how are they going to let that happen? We are saying put money into helping companies and universities research this stuff so we can make it in Youngstown, Ohio, we can make it in Canton, Ohio. That is the goal here. And we cannot wish this to happen, and there are difficult decisions that need to be made. Leadership is lonely, and you've got to make some difficult decisions. But I love the fact that President Obama is coming up and saying, This is what we have got to do. The American people elected me, and this is what I talked about, and this is what we are doing. And in 4 years, I will run again on that record. But let's not sit around and hope good things may happen and our friends on the other side vote against everything. They borrowed more money from China. President Bush and the Republican Congress, Madam Speaker, borrowed more money from China and from foreign interests than all the other Presidents and Congresses before them combined. They lay this on the table, and we have got to borrow some money to make sure that the economy doesn't completely collapse, and all of a sudden we are the bad guys. These investments that we are making are critical: Head Start, Early Start, child care development, block grants, supplemental nutrition assistance programs so that our kids can eat, community health centers so that people who can't access health care now can go and get some preventive care before they end up in the emergency room costing everybody billions of dollars. So these are very strategic investments. These aren't things that we just picked out of the air to throw money at to just say we are doing something. We are going to look back on this time, and we are going to thank President Obama. And we are going to thank the Democratic Congress for making these investments because they will pay great, great dividends for thousands in the long run.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If you look at what all these investments are, infrastructure and science, $120 billion. Now I think you hit the nail on the head. We are at $1 trillion that we have spent in Iraq. One trillion. Now, I don't know about how anyone else feels, and I don't think I'm actually going out on a limb here to say we have a lot of projects in our communities that could use a little bit of that money. Sewer overflow. My goodness gracious, these cities that are dealing with combined sewer overflow issues is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Sewer lines, septic tanks that need to be cleaned up and sewer lines put in, water lines, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, health care for our citizens, these are basic investments that our country needs to be making. And this stimulus package is a step in that direction. And when you look at it, I mentioned the broadband, if you look at $27.5 billion for highway construction, $16.5 billion to modernize Federal and public infrastructure to save energy costs in the long run, $19 billion for clean water, flood control, environmental restoration investments, $17.7 billion for transit and rail to reduce traffic congestion and gas consumption, these are all programs and investments to help reduce our dependency on foreign oil so we are not in this morass that we get involved in and all these little political situations that we get in because we have to pull oil out of some of these countries to run our country. Thirty billion dollars to transform the Nation's energy transmission distribution and production systems so we can have a smart grid. Those are good investments. Five billion dollars to weatherize modest income homes. These are investments that we need to make. Lower health care costs, education, helping workers. Twenty billion dollars to increase the food stamp benefit by over 13 percent. Look at what the Democrats have done even when we got in and had to fight to get a couple of these things done. We raised the minimum wage for the first time since 1997 when Democrats got in and basically had to jam it down the White House's throat in order to get it signed into law. The largest increase in veterans' spending in the 77-year history of the VA, and we had a lot of people running around this town in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, who is more patriotic? And it was all red, white and blue when the lights were on and cutting the veterans' health care budget and benefits in the back room. And when we got in, the largest increase in the 77-year history of the VA. And you see it again with our budget this year. You saw it in the 2009 budget that President Obama signed. You are going to see it again now. You saw it in the supplemental, which we can go over some of the investments that were made. But this is a commitment to our Nation's veterans who served this country so well. Again, an investment in our people. You serve our country, you will be rewarded. Four years of free education if you served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Benefits have increased. We reduced and got rid of a lot of the fees and assessments that were put on by the other side. These are steps. Have we done enough? Not even close. I'm not here to say, and I don't think anyone else is, to say that we have been in for however long, 110, 112, 114 days, whatever, and things are great now. They are not. And before you came in, I stated the economic distress of the 17th Congressional District, but these are steps in the right direction. These are steps that are lifting up people that need help. This is not a handout, but a little bit of help along the way to where they can get themselves back on their feet and this economy can get moving again, and then these green jobs, the investments in science, investments in infrastructure, rail and all of these things we are talking about, Rolls Royce, which they are doing in your district which is phenomenal, these are the kinds of things that will grow. But they take some seed corn. They take a little water, a little fertilizer, and the government now, I think, is responsible for doing a lot of that. So we are making these investments. We will continue to make these investments, and we will continue to, I think, strategically invest the taxpayers' money prudently, judiciously invest the money.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I think the other point there with the stimulus is because credit locked up, that clearly shut down, and still is, we are still getting calls in our office that people still can't get loans. So the TARP money and all of this other help that we have given to the banks has not yet kicked in. If there was not even the stimulus package, imagine what the economy would be doing, if there wasn't a little bit of money in everybody's paycheck. I ran into an operating engineer the other day who was finally getting himself back to work because of some road projects that were happening. All over Ohio, the Governor just made a tour around the State with different infrastructure projects that he was spreading around from the stimulus money. So we are filling this gap. There would be a complete shutdown. And, yes, we are taking some of this money and, yes, we are borrowing money to make investments now. But imagine the tax loss we would have in this country if we weren't making any investments. And who knows what the yield will be from the investments we are making into energy and the NIH for the Cancer Institute. I mean, what is the value in the long term of reducing the cost of cancer to our health care system, of Alzheimer's to our health care system? What benefits will stem cell research yield for our country in terms of health care? How many accidents will be prevented because of better communication with the investments into the health care information technology? These are things that you can't put a price on. And it is the old saying, some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. And you can't always pinpoint what piece of research yielded the best benefits because all of this research tends to build onto itself. And we are making these investments now, and we are going to find out in the long run that these were good decisions that we made, courageous decisions that the President has made. I yield to my friend.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise this evening in recognition of Ms. Jessica Lange of New York City, the guest of honor, as we celebrate the 90th Anniversary of The Butler Institute of American Art. Her work, 50 Photographs, is being celebrated by being on display here starting today through July 5th, 2009. Ms. Lange began her photography career in 1967 while attending the University of Minnesota. Shortly into her freshman year, she left the University to travel to New York and Paris to pursue her passion for photography. While in Paris and other countries, she documented her travels through her photography. In 1973, she returned to New York and began taking acting classes. Just two short years later, she flew to Hollywood to star in her first feature film, ``King Kong'', launching her award winning acting career. Ms. Lange has won two Oscars and been honored with countless other awards and nominations for her outstanding work. In 1982, she won her first Oscar, Best Supporting Actress, for her role in ``Tootise''. Her second Oscar, Best Actress in a Leading Role, was won in 1994 for her role in ``Blue Sky''. Her acting career has spanned over 30 years, but has yet to end, as she recently appeared alongside Drew Barrymore in ``Grey Gardens''. In addition to her acting career and photography, Ms. Lange has done volunteer humanitarian work around the world. She began working for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) as a goodwill ambassador in 2003. During that same year, she took her first mission trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo to raise awareness of the impact of HIV/ AIDS and immunization for women and children. Ms. Lange returned to her passion for photography in the early 90s when she received a Leica camera as a gift. Ever since then, she's been documenting her experiences around the world as an actress and volunteer. The collection of her photographs shown here at the Butler capture a range of diverse subject matter from her years of travel. Due to her artistic vision, we are able to be a part of a fifteen year trek from Romania to Ethiopia and back to her home state of Minnesota. I would like to commend Ms. Lange for her continued selfless volunteer work and her dedication to the arts.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, on Wednesday, April 22, 2009, I inadvertently voted ``aye'' on roll No. 198--Motion to Instruct conferees regarding S. Con. Res. 13. I had meant for my vote to be recorded as ``no.''

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to rise today. Madam Speaker, over the course of the last 30 years, pockets of our country have been facing some very difficult times. And I have the honor of representing an area in Northeast Ohio, from Akron over to Youngstown. This is an area that was built on steel and rubber and auto and manufacturing. And I want to make one comment, as I rise to talk a little bit about the auto industry, about my friend, the gentleman from Arizona, who was commenting about earmarks and investments that Members of Congress are constitutionally required to make and spend money on behalf of the people of this country. In areas like mine who, for 30 or 40 years, were booming, had the highest per capita income in the country when the steel mills were going, we were taking our tax dollars and we were sending that money to Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C. was sending that money to help build the West, to help build up States like Arizona, and to implement water projects and dam projects to take the Colorado River into the desert. These congressional districts in Arizona and New Mexico, they didn't just pop up. There was a significant Federal investment to say that we want to develop the West. And now, Members of Congress who are looking for the opportunity to rebuild their community, to take specific projects and specific money and invest it in Youngstown State University, Akron University for Polymers, Youngstown State for Defense Center of Excellence, Youngstown State for Metrology and Materials Science Development, these are investments that we need to make to rehabilitate some old industrial areas to get them on the cutting edge, and I think our obligation is to do that. But in our area, what has transpired just over the last few months has been significant. And I will give you one example. Earlier last year, in the summertime, General Motors at a local Lordstown plant said that they were going to put on a third shift. We had the governor in; there were state tax incentives, $350 million. And eventually, because of the credit crisis and globalization and 30 years of bad trade agreements, the third shift was pulled. Then the second shift was pulled. And now we have a fraction of the workers that we used to have there. But the minute GM announced that they were going to lay off 900 workers, a couple days later the seat manufacturer laid off a few hundred; a couple days later the logistics company laid off a couple hundred workers; Delphi laid off. And on and on and on the ripple effect goes throughout the community, to the point where Trumbull County's unemployment rate last year, Madam Speaker, was 7 percent. It is to the point where Trumbull County's unemployment rate last year, Madam Speaker, was 7 percent. Today it is 14 percent. It doubled in a year. And the point of my rising here today is to say to anyone who will listen and to the powers that be in Washington, D.C., that we need a manufacturing policy in the United States of America. We can look at the Dutch, the Spanish and the Brits. When 20 to 25 percent of their gross domestic product became finance, where people are just shuffling money around, where it is a Ponzi scheme and Wall Street is making a lot of money, and wages don't ever go up, then eventually you get to where we are today. And that is a collapse of the financial system. We have a system now that is set up, Madam Speaker, that if an average family makes some mistakes, they are on their own. We cut them loose. But if the financial markets make a major mistake and do illegal and unethical acts, that they have the system so rigged that the whole thing collapses. And so everyone has to jump in to save it. And so as we move over the course of the next few weeks and next few months, we need to recognize that the auto industry has a multiplier effect of five jobs for every one job in the plant, and finance has two jobs for every job in the finance industry. And we can talk about companies like Wheatland Tube, who have closed factories down in northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania because of the tubing coming in from China. We could talk about auto. We could talk about Severstal Steel, who laid off 1,000 people. We could go on and on and on, Madam Speaker. So let me suggest that as we talk about financial reform and universal health care, that we also add a manufacturing policy to the United States plan for the future.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Dr. Ronald Anthony Parise. Dr. Parise led an admirable life of service to our country through his dedication to the space program and his exemplification of the ideals of good citizenship. Dr. Parise was a distinguished native of Warren, Ohio, a graduate of Western Reserve High School and a physics graduate of Youngstown State University in 1973. He developed one of his deepest, life-long interests at the age of eleven when he became licensed for Amateur Radio. Dr. Parise's love of radio guided his life of research and exploration from his academic work to his work in space. While at Youngstown State University, Dr. Parise's interest in astronomy and exploration flourished. He was a prominent member of the Astronomy Club at Youngstown State and a technician at the planetarium. After graduating from Youngstown State, Dr. Parise furthered his education by earning a Master's degree and a doctorate at the University of Florida. In 1984, Dr. Parise was selected by NASA to be a payload specialist. He made two remarkable trips into outer space, once in 1990 aboard the space shuttle Columbia mission ASTRO-1 and once in 1995 aboard the space shuttle Endeavor mission ASTRO-2. Dr. Parise logged an astonishing total of 614 hours in space and traveled 10.6 million miles. As payload specialist, Dr. Parise took his admiration of astronomy and his respect of radio to a new level. He used his passion for astronomy and radio to develop Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. This development used a simple ham radio to communicate from space to Earth. The creation of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station was essential because it allowed schools to speak with astronauts and learn about space exploration. Dr. Parise established the radio communication link that inspired countless students to study and seek careers in vitally important scientific fields. This radio connection brought about the interest and devotion to outer space that we see today. Dr. Parise also pioneered the operation of a telescope in space. He completed hundreds of observations regarding ultraviolet rays and x- rays in space. Dr. Parise's observations created a greater understanding of how celestial objects affect the birth of a star. These observations also expanded our knowledge of the complex life cycle of a star. As recognition for his accomplishments, NASA awarded Dr. Parise twice with its Space Flight Medal. However, Dr. Parise's love of science did not end after his last space flight. After leaving NASA, he continued to inspire students to pursue careers in science as a motivational speaker. He traveled to many different schools to spread his enthusiasm and knowledge of science. Dr. Parise led an impressive public life, but he also led an impressive family life. Ron Parise was known as a man who put his family and friends first and always valued the relationships in his life, especially his relationships with his wife and two children. After a long and courageous battle with cancer, Dr. Ronald Anthony Parise passed away at the age of fifty-seven on May 9, 2008. Dr. Ronald Anthony Parise touched countless lives through his contributions to his community, his nation, and the world of science, and for this he will never be forgotten.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Emily Campbell Brown, the extraordinary mother of our former colleague and now member of the other body, Senator Sherrod Brown. Mrs. Brown died at her home in Mansfield, Ohio, on Monday at the age of 88. She was born and raised in Mansfield, Georgia, and married Dr. Charles G. Brown of Mansfield, Ohio in 1946. She taught English at the High School and was a leader in the Mansfield YWCA. She and her husband were instrumental in the founding of the Mansfield chapter of Habitat for Humanity and the Ohio Hunger Task Force. She was always active in the Richland County Democratic Party. In 2007 the Richland County Democratic Party established the Emily Brown Young Democrat Award in her honor. Just last year she campaigned for important issues and candidates. She raised three sons, Robert, Charles, and our friend Sherrod, and was blessed with 6 grandchildren and a great grandson. Madam Speaker, our thoughts and prayers are with Senator Brown and all of his family in this difficult time as we remember his mother, a remarkable lady Emily Campbell Brown. Her progressive spirit and commitment to social justice lives on through her sons and her family. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that a column written by Connie Schultz the daughter-in-law of Emily Brown and the wife of Senator Brown that appeared in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer be printed in the Congressional Record at the conclusion of my remarks. [From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb. 4, 2009] Emily Campbell Brown, an accomplished lady who defined her own legacy (By Connie Schultz) It didn't take long for me to realize I'd met my match in the likes of Emily Campbell Brown. Six years ago, before I married her son, we were dressing for a black-tie event at her home. After I'd wriggled into a floor-length gown, she scooted up next to me. ``Cohhhhnie,'' she said in the Southern lilt that always coaxed another syllable out of my name. ``Would you like to borrow a necklace?'' Aw, how sweet. ``Thank you, Emily,'' I said, ``but I'm afraid that might draw attention to my chest.'' ``Hmmm,'' she said, glancing at my neckline. ``Isn't that what you're trying to do?'' I could hear her son chuckling in the next room. ``Emily,'' I said, kissing her powdered cheek. ``You and I are going to do just fine.'' Most of the obituaries for Emily, who died Monday at 88, identify her first and foremost as the mother of my husband, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. They mention that she also raised two other successful sons, and that she married a doctor. She was proud of the men in her life, but to define Emily by her relationships is to diminish the giant force of a woman who made social justice the cornerstone of her life, and that of her family. One of the first e-mails Sherrod ever sent me was a story about his mother: She'd grown up and away from Georgia and its troubled ways, and insisted that her boys always call African-American adults ``Mr.'' or ``Mrs.'' None of this first-name business meant to telegraph who was, and who wasn't, worthy of full regard. Emily's accomplishments wove through issues of racial and economic justice. When it came to making a difference, she did not wait for the invitation. During the 2004 presidential race, she organized a voter-registration drive in a poorer section of Mansfield. There was the meticulously dressed, 84- year-old Emily, with a curve in her back and sensible shoes on her feet, dragging a card table out of the trunk of her car, day after day. She registered more than 1,000 voters that year. One recent morning, after weeks bedridden, Emily asked for a hand mirror and was devastated by the face looking back at her. ``I look so awful, Connie,'' she told me hours later. ``Just awful.'' I cupped her cheek with my hand. ``Emily, you were always a beautiful woman, and you're beautiful now. That spirit of yours is shining through.'' She scoffed, and I pushed. ``Emily, you know I say exactly what I mean.'' She rolled her eyes, acknowledging the occasional sparks that fired between us. ``Yes,'' she said, ``I know you do.'' ``If I say you look beautiful, it must be true.'' She managed a small laugh. ``Well, then, you're right. It has to be true.'' In the last weeks of Emily's life, her energy came in short but astonishing bursts, and whoever was at her side leaned in with a hunger. One evening, we talked about Harper Lee's novel, ``To Kill a Mockingbird.'' ``Oh, that was one of my favorite books,'' Emily said. ``I read it over and over.'' She was quiet for a moment. ``I always loved the boy. The boy, Jeremy. Remember that scene at the jail?'' His nickname was Jem, and his father, lawyer Atticus Finch, had planted himself next to the county jail to make sure a black man falsely accused of rape wasn't killed overnight by a gang of angry white men. Jem defied his father's orders and joined him. When Atticus insisted he go home, the boy refused. `` `No, suh,' `` Emily said slowly and softly, quoting Jem. `` `No, suh, I will not leave.' '' A week later, though, she did just that. A few hours after Emily died, I returned to work, as she would have wanted, and opened a large envelope from an anonymous reader. Inside, I found a profane poster plastered with my face next to one of the most pejorative words for my gender. I thought of our family's adage, that whenever we're challenged, we ask ourselves, ``What would Emily do?'' I turned to my keyboard, revved up the computer and heard Emily Campbell Brown's voice whisper in my ear: ``No, suh, I will not leave.'' And I started to write.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, Representative Betty Sutton and I offer the attached bill, on behalf of the now-retired Congressman Ralph Regula (R-OH). January 29th brings the birthday of President William McKinley, a native son of Niles, Ohio and a true patriot whose presidency was tragically ended by assassination. In order to preserve President McKinley's memory and continue to honor him, it is fitting to retain the name of North America's highest point, Mount McKinley. Reaching an astounding height of 20,320 feet, Mount McKinley honors this prominent figure who was not only a fallen President but also a Union veteran of the Civil War. Mount McKinley has borne the name of our 25th Commander- in-Chief for over 100 years. We must retain this national landmark's name in order to honor the monumental legacy of this great President and patriot.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Mr. Samuel E. Lanza of Warren, Ohio and Ms. Elva M. Pounders of Akron, Ohio. In recognition of their honorable service to our nation and selfless dedication to their communities, Mr. Lanza and Ms. Pounders have been inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame as members of the Class of 2008. The Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame was founded in 1992 in an effort to honor and to raise awareness of the outstanding military service and post-military accomplishments of Ohio veterans. Each year, an executive committee reviews scores of applications received from across the Nation and recommends 20 inductees to the Governor. These inductees represent each branch of the military and have served in armed conflicts spanning from World War II to Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. Since its inception, the OVHOF has inducted nearly 900 veterans who, like Mr. Lanza and Ms. Pounders, have demonstrated a lifelong devotion to country and to community. Mr. Samuel Lanza served in the United States Marine Corps in World War II and, after his discharge, continued his civil service by advocating and assisting his fellow veterans. He joined the Disabled American Veterans in 1948 and eventually served in every elected position at the DAV including State Commander. Mr. Lanza is a Life Member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Marine Corps League, and the American Legion. Additionally, Mr. Lanza participates as a member of the National Association for Uniformed Services and the past President of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. For more than 45 years, Mr. Lanza has taken an active role in Memorial Day parades and decorated the graves of deceased veterans. For more than 27 years, he has transported his fellow veterans to VA hospitals and other medical appointments. In 1997, Mr. Lanza was appointed to the Trumbull County Veterans Service Commission. Ms. Elva Pounders served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam Era. Upon her retirement from the Corps after 20 years of active duty which she achieved Marine first sergeant rank, Elva made a commitment to assisting the veterans of her community. Concerned with veterans' healthcare, Ms. Pounders worked part-time at a pharmacy and delivered medicine and supplies to shut-in veterans. She volunteered in VA clinics and medical facilities in Akron and Brecksville, and in 2006, the Brecksville VA Medical Center awarded Ms. Pounders the 500 Hour Award. Ms. Pounders is a Life Member of the Marine Corps League, American Legion, North Coast WAVES 21, and the Retired Enlisted Association and the Fleet Reserve Association. She is the vice chairwoman of the Governor's Advisory Committee on Women Veterans and she has served as a committee member with Summit County Stand Down for Homeless Veterans. Ms. Pounders serves as the Vice Chairperson for the Ohio Department of Veterans Services Advisory Committee on Women Veterans. In 2007, in acknowledgement of her exceptional commitment to local veterans, the Summit County Veterans Service Commission recognized Ms. Pounders as ``Summit County Veteran of the Year.'' I would like to commend Mr. Lanza and Ms. Pounders for their extraordinary service and commitment, both in the military and in their communities.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, Youngstown and Akron, and nearby cities like Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Detroit, suffered severe job and population losses over the past 25 to 30 years. This has led to the loss of thousands of housing units to abandonment and decay. The subprime mortgage crisis has only worsened the problem in these cities, ravaging entire neighborhoods in its wake, leaving thousands of vacant and abandoned houses that attract criminal activity and trash, and are safety hazards to the families who remain. The abandoned properties also lower the property values of those who remain, and frustrate neighborhood improvement efforts. Although the Housing and Economic Recovery Act we passed in July will provide some assistance to cities to demolish vacant and abandoned properties, a more comprehensive, regional, approach is needed to address this problem in the so-called ``shrinking cities'' and their metropolitan areas. Youngstown, under the leadership of Mayor Jay Williams, has already taken a big step in this direction by adopting the Youngstown 2010 Plan, which envisions Youngstown, which once had a population of 170,000, becoming a smaller, but more vibrant city of about 80,000, with revitalized neighborhoods, and abundant green open space that will be used for parks, urban agriculture, and future economic development. Some of its land might actually be reforested. Youngstown is also working with other local governments to develop a regional strategy to address vacant and abandoned properties, which are becoming more and more commonplace in suburban areas around Youngstown. We need to unleash the creative energies present in Youngstown, and other cities and metropolitan areas, by assisting them to develop and implement plans to eliminate the blighting influences of abandoned properties, gain some control of the vacant land in their residential areas, and reposition themselves for the challenges of the 21st century as vibrant, livable communities. To this end, Madam Speaker, I am working with my good friend, Congressman Brian Higgins of Buffalo, to develop legislation that would establish a new demonstration program within HUD, the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The program would be competitive. In order to successfully compete for assistance under it, a local government would need to partner with other jurisdictions within its metropolitan area. For example, a county government might be an ideal partner for its central city. The partners would need to develop a plan that takes into account their population losses, and sets forth strategies to make better use of land and other resources within their boundaries. Grants awarded under the program could be used for, among other things, demolition, removal of old, antiquated infrastructure, the creation of parks and open space, code enforcement improvements, the development of real property information systems, and the creation and expansion of urban and regional land banks, which are widely recognized to be a key tool in efforts to promote investment and revitalization efforts in areas with very weak real estate markets. Applicants would also have to submit detailed implementation plans, and would have to meet stringent accountability standards in carrying them out. I would also like to mention that Mr. Stephen Cerny, who is currently serving in my office as a Brookings Institution Legislative Fellow, has provided me with tremendous help on this issue. Steve is an attorney at HUD and a former planner in Cleveland, and I am very grateful for the extensive professional experience he provides on this issue. Finally, Madam Speaker, I look forward to working with you and the Committee to bring this program to fruition.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I thank the gentleman for the opportunity. I am proud to have joined as the lead Democratic cosponsor with the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) on the House version of this legislation. I would like to thank Mr. Sensenbrenner, Senator Brownback, and Senator Kennedy for their leadership in moving this bill. Last year, Congresswoman DeLauro and I introduced legislation called Reducing the Need for Abortions and Supporting Parents Act which contains a provision similar to what is in this bill before us now. What this bill does is make a commitment to new and expectant mothers whose child receives a diagnosis for Down syndrome or other prenatally or postnatally diagnosed conditions. Society will be there, and it tells them that society will be there to support you. We will bring every resource to bear to ensure that you are able to raise a beautiful baby. Never should a pregnant woman feel that her options are limited by a lack of public support for the types of social services that could help her, her family, and her baby. The sad reality, Madam Speaker, is that over 90 percent of pregnancies with a diagnosis of Down Syndrome are aborted. This should not and need not be the case. We have not done enough to help these women and their families. We must do more to get them the support they need, the support they deserve, and this bill is a crucial step in that direction. Lastly, I would like to thank Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader Boehner and my friends on the other side of the aisle for working together to get this common ground legislation passed.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I submit the following: Unless U Have Walked In Our Shoes (By Brock DeAngelo) My name is Brock, I am 13 years old. I will make a difference in a world that refuses to hear our voices. We deserve a voice. And that voice should be our own. We live in a nation that offers ``Freedom of Speech.'' Not only should we be heard but we should be offered respect. Please join me in a mission that is all about U. Contact me at unlessuwalked@aol.com. My name is Brock, Brock DeAngelo. For years I would have loved any last name but mine. Then one day I realized, it's not the name that makes a person; it's the person that makes the name. I then decided I will change the vicious cycle behind my last name. The mental and physical abuse, the evilness and malicious lies stop with me. I will show my brother and one day my children; that a man with great pride and integrity stands in front of the ``DeAngelo'' name. And it began with me, Brock! The courts cursed me with a Guardian ad Litem. I can honestly say she never listened to a word I said. She was too busy trying to twist my situation around to suit her views. It was a little hard for her to accomplish since everytime we met the stories on my behalf were always the same. Funny thing about ``the truth'', it's consistent. She was the first of many disappointments. Children's Services made me a promise that they never followed through with (no thanks to my ad Litem). In the end, the person that does not deserve a title to fatherhood, saved his own reputation. He agreed to leave me alone. Unfortunately not every one is as lucky. I am asking U to join me on my quest, to become a voice and to make what U have to say important. I have discussed this matter with my attorney, met with a Special Assistant to Tim Ryan and discussed this matter with Sandra Harwood, State Representative, 65th House District. My goal is for Congress to not only hear us but to act upon our intelligence. In order for U to be recognized, we must fight together. U are old enough to know right from wrong. The courts need to listen. U are the future. Children's Bill of Rights Declaration I Congress shall allow no law that endangers a child's physical, emotional or physiological well-being. Declaration II Congress shall encourage all states to provide standardized legal representation of children and their specific issues in legal domestic disputes, regardless of state jurisdiction or residence. Declaration III A child shall be guaranteed an equal voice in determining court-ordered visitations with parents or guardians as well as the continuation of those visits. Declaration IV No child shall be forced to endure ongoing physical, emotional, or verbal harm by a parent, guardian or other individual. Declaration V No child shall be forced to return to the care of a parent or legal guardian who has been convicted of certain civil crimes or any felony, unless they themselves desire it. Declaration VI Accusations by a child concerning ongoing parental misconduct shall be investigated within twenty-four hours and taken seriously until otherwise proven false. Declaration VII The child physical, emotional and physiological well-being shall be of the utmost concern when determining their possible court testimony against a parent, guardian or other adult. Declaration VIII A child shall have a voice in determining the need for restraining orders against a parent, guardian or other adult. Declaration IX Reports from doctors, physiologists, social workers and other professionals and paraprofessionals shall be given the highest priority when determining parental rights, visitations, and other issues concerning the emotional and physiological well-being of the child. Declaration X The rights of all other citizens shall be applied with equal conviction to all children.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. They had the opportunity to do it. They were in charge of everything.