Louise Slaughter

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield the gentlelady an additional 10 seconds.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Hawaii (Ms. Hanabusa).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, may I inquire if my colleague has other requests for time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Well, that sort of leaves me uninformed. But I want to introduce the previous question before I do my closing. And I'm hoping you are prepared to close. Is that correct?

Ms. SLAUGHTER. No, I'll reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. That was the question I had asked you. I am prepared to. Mr. Connolly is my last speaker.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Not until I find out if we're prepared to close.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield myself 30 seconds. Congress should not be standing around while this is going on. Congress should also not be standing around while college loan rates are doubling and we have so many people out of work. I'm delighted to yield 2 minutes to my friend, the gentlewoman from New York, Carolyn Maloney.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, if we can defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule that would allow the House to hold a vote on the Student Loan Relief Act. If Congress doesn't act next month, the undergraduate students across this country will see a doubling of their student loan interest rates. To discuss our proposal, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, on July 1, young women in college face a doubling of Federal student loan interest rates; but instead of legislating the rights of our daughters and granddaughters to access safe and legal reproductive care, we should be ensuring that the cost of college doesn't skyrocket at the end of the month. When it comes to the most personal and important decisions a woman will ever make, we deserve the privacy and freedom to make the decision that's right for us. No matter how many women the majority trots out to advance their agenda, their attempt to take away our reproductive rights will not stand. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the Record along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' to defeat the previous question and urge a ``no'' vote on the rule. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote numbers 214, 215, and 216. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote number 214 and ``yes'' on rollcall vote numbers 215 and 216.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the bicentennial celebration for the Western New York town of Gates, New York, which is appropriately known as ``a community for all people.'' Incorporated on April 1, 1813, the Town of Gates, New York was named in honor of American Revolutionary General Horatio Gates. The Town was one of the very first in Monroe County, New York, when in the year 1821 the New York State Legislature approved creating a new county named after the 5th President of the United States. Today the Town of Gates, New York is comprised of over 28,400 residents and remains the geographic center of Monroe County. It is also the proud home and nationwide headquarters of Wegmans' Food Markets. As well, the Town hosts the Greater Rochester International Airport, Rochester Tech Park and other essential businesses which positively impact the economic vitality of Monroe County, the Greater Rochester area and the State of New York. A most notable former resident of the Town of Gates is the revered leader of the American Women's Suffragist movement, the incomparable Miss Susan B. Anthony. History records that in the year 1845, she and her family first resided in the Town of Gates upon their arrival in the Rochester area and that their Gates farmhouse actually became a meeting place for anti-slavery activists, including Frederick Douglass. Among notable living Americans who were born, raised and educated in Gates, New York is famed rock vocalist and songwriter, Lou Gramm, who is recognized around the world for his monumental contributions to the American and global music industries. Today it is my esteemed honor and great privilege to recognize in front of this august body, the Town of Gates, New York and its government and residents, as we joyfully commemorate the 200th anniversary of its establishment. It is from small towns like Gates where the American Dream was defined. Whether it is a parade through the town square on Memorial Day, the crack of the bat at local ball fields, or the crackle and boom of fireworks on the Fourth of July, towns like Gates imbue our nation with the richness of American life that we hold dear. So I rise today to commemorate all that Gates, New York has contributed to American life, to congratulate the people of Gates on achieving such a milestone, and to wish this special New York town the fortune and providence to celebrate 200 years more.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote Nos. 186 and 187. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall vote Nos. 186 and 187.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, just today, The New York Times reported that we are simultaneously facing a shortage of effective antibiotics and the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Already antibiotic- resistant disease claims 70,000 American lives each year. According to today's story, Dr. Janet Woodcock, the director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration, has warned ``it is bad now, and the infectious disease docs are frantic, but what is worse is the thought of where we will be 5 to 10 years from now.'' They are even desperate enough to ask GlaxoKleinSmith, which is working on some new antibiotics, to allow the use of them untested--the FDA is considering this--and to try, in perhaps what will turn out to be a vain attempt, to save people who are dying from infections that we can no longer cure. GlaxoKleinSmith has said the new antibiotics they are working on they will not license for livestock feed. Eighty percent of the antibiotics produced in the United States of America is put every day in livestock feed. The major reason for the increase in the antibiotic-resistant bacteria is the routine overuse of antibiotics in the Nation's livestock. These are not sick livestock, Mr. Speaker. This is simply put in the feed because they grow faster and they are fatter and they can get to market a little quicker. This irresponsible practice has already been scientifically linked to the growth of superbugs. It's clear--and it has been clear for quite a while--that the Federal Government must act to end this dangerous practice. Yet, incomprehensibly, for more than 35 years the United States Food and Drug Administration has refused to follow its own advice and ban the routine use of antibiotics in agriculture, not just use it for sick animals. Instead, they have proposed voluntary guidance that naively asks industry to put public welfare before private profits--something the industry has repeatedly shown in 35 years they will not do. As if such dereliction of duty were not enough, the FDA is now panicked about the superbug threat that they helped to create; but instead of finally removing routine antibiotic use from livestock production, the FDA is thinking of waiving important drug-testing procedures, as I said, in order to rush new drugs to market. The testing procedures that are currently in place are in place for a reason. Waiving these requirements sets a dangerous precedent and is one that is only being considered because the FDA is panicked and has refused to challenge the special interests that have helped to create this superbug threat in the first place. As the only legislator in Congress with a background in microbiology, I can assure you we will never win the arms race against nature. As long as we allow the irresponsible use of antibiotics in our society, nature will always evolve to create stronger bacteria. As I said, with 80 percent of all of the antibiotics going to agricultural use, our answer has to start on the farm. We have to end the unnecessary use of antibiotics on healthy animals before it's too late. Indeed, it may almost be too late. At the very least today, the ADUFA legislation should include language to collect important data on antibiotics. That provision would at least allow us to finally learn the full scope of the problem that we confront. Even more importantly, I urge my colleagues to support my legislation, H.R. 1150, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, which would ban the routine use of eight important classes of antibiotics in livestock, but still allow a sick animal to be treated, and would help curb the growing threat of superbugs. We are literally standing today on the brink of a public health crisis as the food industrial complex fritters away one of the most important advances in medical history--the beginning of the use of antibiotics to cure human beings. Already, some strains of tuberculosis have evolved that are incurable, and others are coming. Some experts have said that if we don't do something soon--and it may already be too late--that strep throat could become a fatal illness. That's what they're worried about, what could happen here in 5 years. I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation today and to please join me in the fight to protect the antibiotics for human health. It is so important. I cannot vote for this bill, although I recognize that some work has gone into it. I have spent years on this, and the years are running out, and the time is short.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from North Carolina for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. On July 1, interest rates on federally subsidized Stafford student loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. At a time, as everybody said this morning, when job prospects for students remain few and far between, we must not--or should not--let student loan interest rates rise. That is why it's so disappointing that instead of helping the college students, the majority is doing ``go-nowhere'' legislation--because the Senate will not take this up--that would actually increase loan costs for the Nation's students. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, a student who borrows the maximum subsidized Stafford loans for each of the next 4 years would actually pay $1,056 more under the majority's plan than they would if Congress failed to act and interest rates doubled. That's a rather sobering idea. This is just the latest example of putting politics and special interests ahead of the American people. As we speak, the majority is preventing a budget from being finalized even though they have been calling for a budget for years. Currently, both the House and the Senate have passed the budget resolutions, which means the only step left--and everybody who knows how a bill is passed knows this--the only step left is to organize a conference committee to finalize the conference report; yet the majority of the House refuses to appoint conferees and begin the conference process. Now, why is the majority suddenly abandoning their quest to produce a budget? Is it because their desire for a budget is nothing more than to make political points? It is clear the majority is consistently choosing to put political interests before the welfare of the Nation, even if it means that the American people will and are suffering. This obstructionism must come to an end. I urge my colleagues, once again, to reject today's rule and the underlying legislation that will never go past the House so that we can get busy solving the American student loan debt crisis in a bipartisan way. Let's protect our Nation's students from a doubling of student loan interest rates and work together to craft a solution that will end the growing mountain of student debt and ensure college is more affordable for our Nation's students. Our Nation's future depends on it. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California, the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, (Mr. Miller). (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield the gentleman an additional 2 minutes.