Christopher Shays

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 84) recognizing the 93d birthday of Ronald Reagan.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) for introducing this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons), and thank him for introducing this resolution. (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis).

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, so I yield back the balance of my time and ask for a positive vote on this very important resolution.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for explaining why that call was never made.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I do know. I was touched by the gentleman's comments. But I feel that the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), who yielded back time, may want to be yielded some time to talk about that no-call and explain what the heck happened, so I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) to explain how the Bulls won that game.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 274.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 274 honors John Stockton for a truly outstanding career and congratulates him on his retirement. This body generally spends very little time honoring basketball players, but today we honor a player who truly deserves extra commemoration. When he retired last summer from the National Basketball Association's Utah Jazz, John Stockton finished his career as the league's all time leader in both assists and steals. Astonishingly, he totaled 15,806 assists and 3,265 steals during his Hall of Fame-caliber career. He was a 10-time NBA All Star and a member of the first and second ``Dream Teams,'' the gold medal-winning 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic men's basketball teams. Stockton played 19 years for the Utah Jazz, which is also an all-time NBA record for most years played for one franchise. Even more remarkable than his longevity and loyalty, he helped lead the Jazz into the playoffs following every one of his 19 NBA seasons. Along with his record of most overall assists, 15,806, Stockton holds the record for most assists in a season, 1,164, and the highest assist average in a season, 14.5 per game. He is second all-time to Magic Johnson in assists per game during a career with 10.5. He once distributed 28 assists in one game. In a 48-minute ball game, that is nearly unthinkable. In comparison, the current NBA leader in assists averages under 10 per game. As I mentioned, Stockton is also the NBA's all-time leader in steals with 3,265. He recorded over 700 more steals during his NBA tenure than the second place player had, a gentleman by the name of Michael Jordan. Mr. Speaker, I urge this House to congratulate one of the NBA's most outstanding players ever, John Stockton, on the occasion of his retirement from the NBA, and I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson) for his work to honor John Stockton. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3724) to amend section 220 of the National Housing Act to make a technical correction to restore allowable increases in the maximum mortgage limits for FHA-insured mortgages for multifamily housing projects to cover increased costs of installing a solar energy system or residential energy conservation measures.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Oxley), the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Ney), and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), the ranking members, for agreeing to bring our bill to the floor so expeditiously. I also would like to thank my friend the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and my friend, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons) for joining me in introducing this legislation. Mr. Speaker, during the 107th Congress, we passed the FHA Downpayment Simplification Act, which streamlined the downpayment process and increased the base mortgage amount limits for FHA-insured loans. By increasing access to these loans, Congress helped make the dream of owning a home a reality for many first-time homebuyers. In passing this legislation, however, we made a seemingly inadvertent change to the law regarding what kind of residential projects qualify for increased loan payments. We restricted the projects that are eligible for increased loan limits to those which contain less than five units and take steps to improve energy efficiency. Before the FHA Downpayment Simplification Act, this provision read that increased loan limits could be granted to projects that contained less than 5 units or are taking steps to improve energy efficiency. The net effect is large projects that want to employ energy-efficient measures are not eliminated from receiving FHA mortgage insurance. The need for additional high-quality, affordable housing cannot be overstated. Our bill will correct the mistake and restore FHA mortgage insurance for large residential projects that are also energy efficient. This is win-win legislation that will help stimulate construction of more responsibly built, affordable housing units, create jobs, and encourage investment, and it obviously is also environmentally responsible. Again, I would like to thank my colleagues for bringing this bill to the floor so quickly, and I encourage its swift passage. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation, and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Mutual Funds Integrity and Fee Transparency Act. Mutual funds are based on trust. Every day, America's workers hand over their hard-earned money and trust mutual fund companies to invest their savings for them. That trust has been severely damaged in recent months, and I can only hope this harm is not irreparable because mutual funds have played an important role in democratizing our stock markets. This isn't Enron. It isn't WorldCom. But it's just as bad because there are 95 million mutual fund investors in America and they're being harmed. Mutual funds are one of the best ways for workers to plan for their retirements. It allows them to diversity their investments and access the capital markets without having to become experts in individual stocks. It allows them to build wealth in a way that was once reserved for the Rockefellers and Kennedys. These investors are being defrauded by insiders who trade, in the short term, their own fund shares and trade even after the markets close. For each dollar gained through these illegal activities, every other investor in these funds loses, a result that goes against the very nature of mutual funds. The Financial Services Committee acted quickly and reported out a good bill. The legislation before us today takes important steps in highlighting the growing cost of mutual fund fees and improving the accountability and integrity of mutual fund companies. In an equally important step, the bill increase the requirement of independent board members from one-half to two-thirds and strengthens independence qualifications. I hope this provision leads to more independent directors who will be better able to protect investors' interest against those of directors whose interests are tied to the success of their funds' advisers. I urge swift passage of this bill so that the Securities and Exchange Commission will have the tools it needs to right the mutual fund industry. In the meantime, I hope mutual fund companies heed this wake- up call and begin to rebuild the trust they have squandered.

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, protecting our environment and promoting energy independence are two of the most important jobs I have as a Member of Congress. Unfortunately, the conference report before us today represents a real missed opportunity to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, promote energy efficiency and conservation, and improve our air, land and water quality. For decades, our country has lacked a national energy policy. While I did not agree with the Administration's energy plan, I was grateful President Bush put forward a comprehensive proposal. The President's energy plan was superior to the severely flawed bill before us today. We had a chance to devise a forward-looking energy policy that would have increased fuel efficiency, made polluters, including MTBE producers, pay for harming our environment, and advanced a renewable portfolio standard. Instead what we have is quite a bad bill. Instead of creating a balanced energy policy that provides incentives to make renewable energy more affordable and widely available, we are making fiscally irresponsible and environmentally-reckless decisions for the benefit of a few profitable industries that don't need this kind of help from taxpayers. I fail to understand why the major thrust of the bill's tax provisions involve further subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, rather than providing incentives for conservation and renewable sources of energy. These are enormously profitable industries operating in a time of record energy prices. Clearly, these profits demonstrate the market has already provided the fossil fuel industries with sufficient incentive to increase production. I strongly oppose a provision in the bill that allows for the permanent activation of the Cross Sound Cable. In doing so, the bill subverts the regulatory process and ignores sound environmental policy regarding the depth at which the Cable should be buried. In addition to its environmental shortsightedness, I also oppose provisions in this bill related to the transmission of electricity. For instance, the Energy Policy Act allows the Federal Electric Regulatory Commission [FERC] to preempt state siting authority when it is determined that a high-voltage power line is of ``national significance.'' The fact is FERC arbitrarily gets to make that determination. I look forward to the day when we will have an opportunity to vote for a fiscally-prudent, environmentally-responsible national energy policy. Today is not that day.

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis).

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, on November 4, 2003, I was in Connecticut participating in our local elections and, therefore, missed two recorded votes. I take my voting responsibility very seriously and would like the Congressional Record to reflect that, had I been present, I would have voted yes on recorded vote 602 and yes on recorded vote 603.

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3379) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3210 East 10th Street in Bloomington, Indiana, as the ``Francis X. McCloskey Post Office Building.''

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the bill under consideration.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 3379 designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3210 East 10th Street, Bloomington, Indiana, as the Francis X. McCloskey Post Office Building. Congressman Frank McCloskey, a six- term Representative from Indiana, sadly passed away at age 64 on Sunday, November 2, 2003. Mr. Speaker, I want to join with the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hill) in offering the deepest sympathies to the family of Frank McCloskey and to say to the Chair and to the other Members of this House, Frank was an extraordinarily caring individual, tremendously hardworking, a gentle man and a very effective Member of Congress. Mr. Speaker, he was a devoted Member of this body, with whom many of us served, and we are all saddened to hear the news that he had passed away on Sunday and are grateful for the opportunity to remember him here today. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 3379. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I join with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) in thanking the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hill) for introducing this resolution and thanking our colleagues for coming to the floor of the House and reminding us of what Mr. McCloskey has done, just some of what he has done, and to again urge passage of this resolution.