Jan Schakowsky

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, today I rise to introduce H.R. 6653, the Consumer Energy Relief Act. This legislation will provide Americans short- and long-term relief from rising energy costs by implementing a comprehensive strategy to reduce America's oil dependence while also driving down the price of gasoline. In January 2001, when President Bush took office, the price of oil was $30 per barrel, and the average price for a gallon of gasoline was about $1.50. After 7\1/2\ years of energy policies spearheaded by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, two oil men in their own right, and their friends in the oil industry, oil companies in the United States are earning record profits, the cost per barrel of oil has spiked to $134 and Americans are spending at least $3.96 on a gallon of gasoline. Energy costs this high place a tremendous burden on the American people at a time when our economy is already on the verge of recession. The Consumer Relief Act takes important steps to reduce gas prices, eliminate our dependence on oil for fuel, and provide real relief to the American people by addressing the root causes of the spike in energy costs. First, it will impose tighter regulations on excessive speculation. While the speculation market is a necessary function of America's economy, the deregulation of the market under the Bush administration has allowed the oil and gas market to be manipulated. Experts have testified that excessive speculation may be responsible for inflating prices by as much as $20 to $60 more per barrel. By regulating the speculation market, this bill will restore stability to international commodity trading and protect the American people from exorbitant gas prices. Secondly, this bill will grant the Federal Trade Commission the authority to investigate and punish companies that artificially inflate the price of energy. The need for this provision is clear. An investigation of 1,000 gas stations in New Jersey resulted in tickets for 350 violations of gasoline price gouging-related offenses. Among the citations issued were: 62 violations for the pump not accurately metering, or measuring, fuel, 46 violations for per-gallon prices being different on each side of the pump, 37 violations for fuel grades (octane rating labels) not posted, 26 violations for inaccurate octane ratings, 19 violations for inaccurate total sale price calculation and 14 violations for multiple price changes in a 24-hour period. This investigation is indicative of what is occurring all over the country. Price gouging has become an epidemic. Lastly, H.R. 6653 addresses the causes of our Nation's energy crisis by infusing a major investment in the research and development of renewable energy as well as providing financial assistance for the purchase of energy efficient appliances and vehicles. This investment will provide immediate relief to Americans by helping reduce their energy costs in the short-term by providing financial assistance for the purchase of efficient appliances and vehicles, and in the long-term by reducing our Nation's dependence on foreign oil by injecting much needed capital for the development of alternative energy. The Consumer Energy Relief Act pays for this investment by establishing a windfall profits tax on oil companies who have benefited from President Bush's policies that protect the profit margins of oil companies over the tight budgets of hard-working Americans. Just today we learned that ExxonMobil is projected to earn a record $52 billion this year and that the five largest oil companies in the United States are expected $168 million. Madam Speaker, American families and businesses are reeling from record prices--the result of 7 years of missed opportunities and an energy policy this White House has literally allowed the oil industry to write. Their policy is working for only one group: the oil companies which are earning record profits while Americans are paying record prices. The failure to diversify our energy sources with bold investments in renewable energy and more efficient technology, leaves us dangerously dependent on foreign oil, and hurts our economy and American families. The Consumer Energy Relief Act sets the United States on a different course, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Student Voter Opportunity To Encourage Registration Act of 2008, along with my colleague Representative Steven LaTourette. The foundation of America's democracy lies in broad participation and civic engagement. From the Civil Rights Amendments, to women's suffrage, to the abolition of the poll tax and finally the ratification of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, this nation has embarked on a difficult but steady march toward becoming a more inclusive nation. I believe that the Student VOTER Act is a continuation of that progress, because it provides a pathway to participation for America's youth. The need for this bipartisan bill is clear. Despite a small rise in youth voting in the 2004 presidential election, young voters are far less likely to vote than older voters. In the 2004 presidential election, only 47 percent of 18-24 year old citizens voted, compared to 66 percent of citizens 25 and older. This marked the eighth straight presidential contest in which less than half of young Americans voted. While there are a number of factors that contribute to this trend, one is clearly the fact many college students are first-time voters and often are unfamiliar with how to register. In some states, including my own state of Illinois, first-time voters must register in person in order to cast an absentee ballot. For students who attend college outside of their home state or who do not have access to transportation, those requirements present a tremendous burden that is costly and difficult to overcome. The Student VOTER Act offers a straightforward solution: it requires colleges and universities that receive federal funds to register students. The Student VOTER Act does this by amending the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to designate colleges and universities that receive federal funds as voter registration agencies. This legislation will not present a substantial burden to our Nation's universities. In fact, many are already providing this service for students. For example, even before orientation begins, Brown University in Rhode Island provides its students with voter registration materials not only for Rhode Island, but also for each student's home state. Unfortunately, too many colleges and universities have failed to follow Brown's lead. I am introducing this legislation today to spur more universities to make registration widely available to America's youngest voters. I would also like to thank my friend Matthew Segal, the Executive Director of the Student Association for Voter Empowerment. This bill would not exist today were it not for his dedication to enhancing voter access for America's youth. I urge all of my colleagues to cosponsor this important legislation.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act. I am an original cosponsor of this bill because I believe it is time that we end gender discrimination in the workplace. The Paycheck Fairness Act addresses one of the most evident and detrimental aspects of gender discrimination: Wage disparity. As we know from the U.S. Census Bureau, women across the country earn, on average, only 77 cents for every dollar a man receives for the same work. That 23-cent difference can add up to between $400,000 and $2 million over a working lifetime. In Illinois, where the average working woman earns 75 cents for every dollar earned by a man, the wage gap and the cost to women are even larger. In today's economy, wage discrimination hits women particularly hard, whether they are the heads of households or the second or even third wage earner in a family. With higher food, energy, health care, transportation and housing costs, women are struggling to stretch every dollar in order to meet their family's needs. Wage discrimination unfairly shrinks those dollars, especially for women of color and self- employed women who suffer from a higher-than-average wage gap. It deprives women of dollars that they have earned but, because of the paycheck gap, do not get. While there are many economic arguments for H.R. 1338, there are other considerations as well. I urge my colleagues to consider the views of the American Psychological Association, which argues that wage discrepancies create economic disadvantages that ``affect the psychological and physical health of women and their families.'' As the APA says, ``The link between depression and low-income women can be attributed to increased stress caused by living in poverty, as well as minimal social support. Additionally, low-income pregnant women receive less prenatal care, and are more likely to deliver low-birth weight babies.'' We should pass H.R. 1338 to ensure that women are fairly paid for their work, not economically disadvantaged because of their gender. We should pass H.R. 1338 because it will help families deal with the current economic crisis. We should pass H.R. 1338 because it will have positive health impacts for women and families. It is the right thing to do, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Finally, I am delighted the conference report contains a provision to immediately adopt the set of existing voluntary toy standards as a mandatory standard on an interim basis. Then the CPSC, working with consumer groups, will assess those standards, beginning with the toys that present the greatest hazards, and develop not only the best possible mandatory standards, but require pre-testing to those standards. At last, all toys will be tested before they arrive on toy store shelves. Madam Speaker, the conference report we will adopt today will finally bring the CPSC into the 21st century, and will, I hope, transform it into the world's foremost consumer protection agency. It was an honor to be working on this bill.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, as a conferee on this bill, I proudly rise to support the conference report to H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. When we began this process of reforming the Consumer Product Safety Commission over a year ago, I set out one goal, to ensure that the toys and products I buy for my grandchildren are safe. I am pleased to say that the conference report we are considering today fulfills that goal for all of America's children. H.R. 4040 is legislation that every Member of Congress can be proud to support. It is a product of bipartisan negotiation and compromise. I, too, want to thank our esteemed chairman, John Dingell, for shepherding us through this process, as well as ranking member Joe Barton, my fellow conferees, and all of the staff and consumer advocates that worked so hard on this bill. I also want to thank our Senate counterparts. Chairing the conference was Senator Inouye, and the key author of the Senate companion bill was Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas. They both deserve the gratitude of the House, especially if they pass this bill this week. I am especially thrilled, however, to welcome back to Washington my friend and chairman of the Consumer Protection Subcommittee and chief sponsor of this bill, Congressman Bobby Rush. You have been deeply missed, and I'm so happy to have you back on this momentous occasion which you have made more momentous. With this conference report, Congress is breathing new needed life into the CPSC. For the first time, we are virtually banning lead in children's products as well as the harmful phthalates that can cause hormonal damage. We're improving the CPSC's enforcement authority and maintaining the authority of State attorneys general to ensure that the products sold in their States comply with the law. And we are providing consumers with a publicly searchable incident database that will allow them to report hazards to one another. There are three provisions I am particularly proud to have authored in this conference report. The first is language directing the CPSC to devise mandatory safety standards for infant and toddler durable products. Those are the things that are in every nursery: cribs, high chairs, playpens, strollers, bassinets. It also requires pre-market testing of those products to ensure that they meet those standards. Bottom line, we will no longer be using our children as test dummies. The government will be ensuring their safety. Second, I'm gratified that the conference report includes the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act in its entirety. I crafted this legislation in honor of Danny Keysar who was strangled to death when he was 16 months old at his licensed daycare facility when the portable crib he was sleeping in collapsed. The crib that killed Danny had been recalled 5 years earlier, but the daycare center didn't know that. To improve the product recall system, manufacturers of children's products will be required to attach a postage-paid recall registration card to each product that can be mailed in to notify the purchaser when a product is recalled for safety reasons. This provision is a tribute to the work of Danny's parents, Linda Ginzel and Boaz Keysar, who created the organization Kids in Danger 3 weeks after Danny's death in order to prevent other children and families from suffering the same tragedy.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, today I pay tribute to Wanda Wilson, CRNA, PhD, MSN, of the University of Cincinnati and president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, located in my congressional district. Ms. Wilson will soon complete her year as the 2007-2008 national president of the AANA, the professional organization representing more than 39,000 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, CRNAs, and student nurse anesthetists in the United States. She has provided strong leadership in advocating for the practice of nurse anesthesia and the patients who CRNAs serve every day. Founded in 1931, the AANA celebrates its 77th anniversary as the professional association representing CRNAs, advanced practice nurses who administer approximately 30 million anesthetics in the U.S. every year. CRNAs practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered: traditional hospital surgical suites and obstetrical delivery rooms; critical access hospitals; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, and pain management specialists; and U.S. military, Public Health Service, and Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities. CRNAs provide anesthesia for all types of surgical cases and, in some states, are the sole anesthesia providers in the vast majority of rural hospitals, affording these medical facilities obstetrical, surgical and trauma stabilization services. A resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, Ms. Wilson earned her doctorate in nursing science and physiology, a master's degree in nursing, a bachelor's degree in nursing and a bachelor's degree in science from the University of Cincinnati. She also received her nurse anesthesia diploma from Cincinnati General Hospital and her nursing diploma from Holzer Medical Center in Gallipolis, Ohio. A longtime member of the AANA, Ms. Wilson has held numerous leadership positions and served as regional director, treasurer, vice-president, and president-elect before becoming the national president of the AANA in 2007. In addition, Ms. Wilson has served terms as president and president-elect and as a member of the board of directors for the Ohio State Association of Nurse Anesthetists. She is also the program director at the University of Cincinnati's College of Nursing, Nurse Anesthesia Major, which has been ranked one of the top nurse anesthesia educational programs nationally by U.S. News and World Report. Adding to her professional accomplishments, Ms. Wilson has been recognized for speaking on anesthesia-related topics over the years. She has taken her experience and knowledge from the workplace and her AANA leadership role to lecture on political and academic anesthesia- related topics for different professional groups. During her AANA presidency, Ms. Wilson has advocated for CRNAs and patients before the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and other Federal agencies. In addition, Ms. Wilson worked to bring the AANA's perspective to the national debate on how to improve veterans health care, ensuring that AANA was represented in Congressional hearings to testify about the contributions of CRNAs in the Veterans Affairs health system and the dedication with which CRNAs provide safe anesthesia care to members of the U.S. Armed Forces at home and abroad. Finally, Ms. Wilson has been an invaluable advocate in advancing reform and equity in Medicare anesthesia reimbursement in educational settings so that seniors and persons with disabilities will have access to safe anesthesia care. Legislation recently enacted by Congress to reverse Medicare payment cuts also reformed Medicare anesthesia payment teaching rules for CRNAs and anesthesiologists, a longstanding policy objective of the AANA. Madam Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me today in recognizing the outgoing president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Ms. Wanda Wilson, CRNA, PhD, MSN, for her notable career and outstanding achievements.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 361, a resolution I introduced commemorating Irena Sendler, a woman whose bravery saved the lives of thousands of children during the Holocaust, and remembering her legacy of courage, selflessness and hope. I want to thank Chairman Berman for his leadership in bringing this to the floor, and also Senator Obama for offering similar legislation in the Senate. Irena Sendler lived her life by the standards of humanity that she learned from her parents. She once stated, ``I was taught that if you see a person drowning, you must jump into the water to save them, whether you can swim or not.'' Sendler was a 29-year-old Catholic employed by the City of Warsaw when the German invasion of Poland ushered in one of the darkest chapters in human history. Disguised as an infection-control nurse, she was able to enter the Warsaw Jewish ghetto to distribute supplies. In 1942, Sendler joined the newly formed underground organization Zegota, working to assist thousands of Jews who had survived mass deportations and were living in hiding. Utilizing her contacts with orphanages, Sendler organized the rescue of Jewish children, smuggling some out in boxes and suitcases, leading others through secret passages and sewers. Children were hidden in Roman Catholic orphanages and convents, as well as private homes, under false identities. Sendler buried a jar with the true name of every child in a friend's garden in hopes of reuniting the children with their families after the war. After she was arrested in October of 1943, Sendler refused to provide the list of names or the identity of her collaborators, even when she was tortured and sentenced to death. She was spared execution only because underground activists managed to bribe officials. After her release, Sendler was forced into hiding but she continued to work to rescue Jewish children. It is estimated that she rescued over 2,500 children. She passed away in May of 2008 at the age of 98. I introduced this resolution with the hope that her legacy will inspire people to fight for human rights. Her heroic story reminds us that the actions of one person can make a real difference in this world. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, pay tribute to Irena Sendler, and remind all of us to stand up against oppression and fight for those without a voice.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 361, a resolution I introduced commemorating Irena Sendler, a woman whose bravery saved the lives of thousands of children during the Holocaust, and remembering her legacy of courage, selflessness, and hope. I would like to thank the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Congressman Berman, for his leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor today. I would also like to thank Senator Obama for offering similar legislation in the Senate. Irena Sendler lived her life by the standards of compassion and humanity that she learned from her parents. She once stated, ``I was taught that if you see a person drowning, you must jump into the water to save them, whether you can swim or not.'' Sendler was a 29-year-old Polish Catholic, employed by the city of Warsaw as a social worker, when the German invasion of Poland ushered in one of the darkest chapters in human history. Jews were rounded up and crowded into the Warsaw ghetto, where poor hygiene and a lack of food and medical supplies led to the outbreak of disease. Sendler managed to pass herself off as an infection-control nurse, enabling her to enter the ghetto and distribute supplies, and she began to smuggle Jews out of the ghetto and into hiding. In 1942, the underground organization Council for the Aid of Jews, known as Zegota, was established following the deportation of 280,000 Jews from Warsaw to Treblinka. Sendler joined the organization, working to assist thousands of Jews who had survived the deportations and were living in hiding. Working with Zegota, Sendler utilized her contacts with orphanages to rescue Jewish children. Young children were smuggled out in boxes and suitcases; older children were led through secret passages and sewers. Many of the children were sent to Roman Catholic orphanages and convents, while others were hidden in private homes. All were given false identities and non-Jewish names. Sendler buried a jar with the true names of every child in a friend's garden, in hopes of reuniting the children with their families after the war. A mother herself, Sendler later recalled that the most difficult part of her work was to convince parents to give their children into her care. They would ask her if she could guarantee their survival, and she would respond that she could not, but she could guarantee that they would likely die if they stayed. Irena Sendler was arrested by the Nazis in October 1943. She managed to hide critical information, including the addresses of the hidden children, before her capture. Although she endured torture and was sentenced to death, she refused to provide the location of the lists of names or the identity of her collaborators. She was spared execution only because other underground activists managed to bribe officials. After her release, Sendler was forced to go into hiding, but she nevertheless continued to work to rescue Jewish children. Although the exact number of children she saved is unknown, it is widely estimated to be over 2,500. After the war, she unearthed the hidden lists and worked to reunite the children with their families. A large majority of the children had no surviving family members, and many were adopted by Polish families, while others were sent to Israel. Irena Sendler's remarkable story garnered little attention after the war. She was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Israel's Yad Vashem on October 19, 1965, but her story was not widely known until 1999, when four high school students in Kansas wrote a play, Life in a Jar, based on her life. The play has since been performed across the United States, Canada, and Europe. In 2003, she was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest civilian decoration, and in 2007 she was honored by the Polish parliament, which unanimously approved a resolution honoring her for organizing the rescue of Jewish children. She was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Irena Sendler passed away in May 2008 at the age of 98. Even though her actions saved countless innocent children from a horrific death, she said that she always regretted being unable to do more. In speaking about those non-Jews, like Irena Sendler, who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, Elie Weisel stated, ``In those times there was darkness everywhere. In heaven and on earth, all the gates of compassion seemed to have been closed. The killer killed and the Jews died and the outside world adopted an attitude either of complicity or of indifference. Only a few had the courage to care. These few men and women were vulnerable, afraid, helpless--what made them different from their fellow citizens? . . . Why were there so few?'' I introduced this resolution with the hope that Irena Sendler's legacy would help inspire people to fight for human rights and social justice. Her heroic story reminds us that the actions of one person can make a real difference in this world. As the Talmud teaches, ``whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.'' There is no higher act of selflessness than to protect people who cannot defend themselves. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, to pay tribute to Irena Sendler and to remind all of us to stand up against oppression and fight for those without a voice.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 1266. I have a strong relationship with the Croatian-American community in my district, and I strongly support it.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I am a strong supporter and cosponsor of H.R. 1108, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for it today. I also want to commend and thank Congressman Waxman for introducing this important legislation that will significantly improve public health by strengthening the regulation of tobacco products. There are over 44 million smokers in the United States and over 435,000 tobacco-related deaths each year. In Illinois alone, 24.3 percent of adults and 29.2 percent of youths smoke tobacco. Each year in Illinois, more than 16,000 people die from smoking-related illnesses, including 2,900 adults and children who die of second-hand smoke. In addition, $3.2 billion is spent in direct medical expenditures related to smoking in Illinois. The tobacco industry spends $17 million a day to promote their products. Their targets are often teens, women and minorities. The average age when an individual becomes a daily smoker is 14.5 years. Every day, more than 4000 kids try their first cigarette and about half become addicted to tobacco. Nicotine and other tobacco products have become a pediatric disease. H.R. 1108 would help prevent these potentially deadly products from getting into the hands of children and youth. This legislation would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to regulate the manufacture, distribution and sale of tobacco products, authorities needed to safeguard the public health and our children. In addition, H.R. 1108 would lessen the cost of smoking- related medical illnesses and prevent adolescents and teens from smoking at a young age. The fact that the tobacco industry is now advertising a new generation of products with unproven claims that they are less harmful makes the need for FDA oversight even more urgent. I am very proud that the State of Illinois has already taken measures to curb the effects of smoking on the public. I also appreciate the efforts that the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians have taken to educate the public and Congress about the dangers of smoking. Already, the Academy's ``Tar Wars'' campaign has had clear and successful results. I see it in the drawing of Alexandra Slane, an elementary school grader from Peoria, who won the Illinois Tar Wars annual poster contest. Her drawing of a human-shaped light bulb is captioned with a warning to America, ``Be Bright Don't Light!'' Let us all be bright--let us pass H.R. 1108 and act to improve the Nation's health.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the July 20, 1974 Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus. The island has been effectively partitioned since that time, and Turkey currently maintains a force of at least 30,000 troops in the unilaterally declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This is roughly equivalent to the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, where we are actively pursuing a war. The Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus has had a tremendous impact on the lives of the Greek Cypriots. My district includes part of Chicago, home to the largest Greek population in the United States, and I have spoken to countless people who relay stories of occupation including the destruction and desecration of churches, restrictions on Greek Cypriots in the Turkish region. Recently Turkey's image was further injured after the European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of human rights violations on Cyprus. I am very encouraged by news reports stating that Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, both of whom have publicly committed to working toward reconciliation, will meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of restarting direct peace talks. I hope that these talks will pave the way toward true reconciliation for the people of Cyprus.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I am happy to support this legislation.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman, as you know, bringing accountability and transparency to contracting has been a priority of mine, and I have worked to ensure that companies that we award contracts to are held responsible for any abuses. I believe we must make certain that the intelligence community is not using U.S. taxpayer dollars to enter into or renew contracts with companies that may be engaging in serious abuses of law and violence toward civilians and whose actions go unpunished. Around the world our country is contracting with private companies that employ individuals who do not wear the badge of the United States but whose behavior has, on numerous occasions, severely damaged the credibility and security of our military and harmed our relationship with other governments. Perhaps the most egregious example came on September 16, 2007, when private security contractors employed by Blackwater Worldwide killed 17 civilians and wounded many more in downtown Baghdad. No one has been held accountable for this. At a minimum, we need a more transparent process to hold private contractors accountable and more information in order to understand their impact on our Intelligence Community, our armed forces and our larger objectives. I thank the chairman for including language prohibiting the use of contractors for interrogation, as well as a provision requiring a comprehensive report on the use of contractors in the intelligence community. If I may ask the chairman in a brief colloquy if the chairman will work with me to include additional language in the conference report calling for a report that examines the extent of criminal activity among intelligence community contractors and assesses the effects of hiring contracting companies that are responsible for serious legal violations.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Yes.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. I thank the gentleman so much for giving me the time to speak on this important bill. The digital television transition is now 223 days away and many of our constituents are simply not prepared. I'm especially concerned about our most vulnerable population, our seniors. Eight million older Americans are in risk of losing their television reception on February 17, 2009. I've been pleased to work with a number of groups that work directly with seniors, including the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the AARP, and the National Council on Aging, to ensure that older Americans are not left in the dark. In May, Representative G.K. Butterfield joined me and 21 of our colleagues in sending a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration regarding this imminent problem, and I'm pleased that the bill before us today would take some of the necessary steps to ensuring that seniors are prepared. Seniors could suffer real consequences if their TVs do not operate past February 17, 2009, including isolation from society, anxiety, or mental and physical decline. Imagine your parents or grandparents going to turn on the television on February 18 and finding nothing on the screen. Also, we have to remember that there are hundreds and thousands of homebound seniors who are unable to go and buy a converter box. Many seniors face considerable physical challenges associated with the transition, and without people to help come in their homes and install these boxes, they're just going to be out of luck. And those seniors that have gotten the converter box may face real technological barriers. Most people have problems setting the clock on their VCRs. I have zeros blinking myself occasionally. Think about the challenge of looking at a converter box and trying to figure out what to do next. That's why I rise in support of this bill. This legislation will free up funds not being used by the NTIA in the distribution of coupons so they can be used for consumer education and technical assistance. It further directs NTIA to partner with, provide grants to, and contract with nonprofit organizations and public interest groups to provide for educational and technical assistance to seniors, rural residents, and others who may face difficulties with the digital transition. Despite these efforts, there are sure to be people who we don't reach and who wake up on February 18 with no signal. I look forward to working with my colleagues to establish any future funding needed to ensure that these individuals receive needed assistance. Again, we're 223 days away from the digital television transition. I urge all of my colleagues to work to ensure that our constituents are aware of and prepared for the coming transition. I want to thank the leadership for bringing this crucial bill to the floor quickly.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Medical Device Safety Act of 2008, which has been introduced today by my colleagues Representatives Frank Pallone and Henry Waxman. I am proud to be original cosponsor of this legislation, which will restore consumer protections that were eliminated in the Supreme Court's recent Riegel v. Medtronic decision. The Riegel v. Medtronic decision ignored congressional intent and disregarded 30 years of experience under the 1976 Medical Device amendments, during which FDA regulation and State tort law worked together to protect consumers from dangerous devices. The Riegel decision gives total immunity to device manufacturers who fail to adequately warn consumers about device risks. It is now the responsibility of Congress to correct the Court's dangerous mistake. Patients who are injured by medical devices often suffer permanent, debilitating injuries or even death. They need the ability to hold the negligent medical device manufacturer accountable for their injuries. If not, private health insurance companies and Medicare or Medicaid would be left footing the bill to pay for those injuries; and, ultimately, the taxpayer pays for the medical device manufacturer's mistake. This narrow piece of legislation is necessary to address the Riegel decision and to ensure that it is not then applied to afford total immunity to medical device manufacturers throughout the country. It also will make certain that patients injured by medical devices can have their claims heard by a judge and jury and will prevent courts from summarily dismissing claims without ever hearing the facts. Finally, it restores congressional intent by explicitly stating that actions for damages under State law are preserved. I urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring and enacting the Medical Device Safety Act so that we can restore long-standing consumer protections.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4044, the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Act of 2008, a bill I am proud to have authored. Since September 11, 2008, more than 460,000 Reservists and members of the National Guard have been called to active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. These courageous men and women have selflessly left their families and their jobs to fight for our country on the battlefield, often with little or no notice and no time to prepare for the financial challenges that their deployments will present. In April 2005, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Act made it harder for individuals to discharge their debts in bankruptcy. That legislation requires debtors who file for bankruptcy to submit to a means test that assesses their eligibility for bankruptcy protection. H.R. 4044 would exempt members of the National Guard and Reserves facing bankruptcy as a result of their service from that means test. When the changes to bankruptcy law were made, Congress understood the importance of exempting disabled veterans whose debts were incurred while they were on active duty from means testing. However, the men and women of the National Guard and Reserves were left out; their sacrifice was disregarded. That is why I introduced this legislation with my friend and colleague Congressman Dana Rohrabacher. Those heroes returning from active service in the Guard and Reserves deserve the same flexibility. H.R. 4044 allows members of the National Guard and Reservists to file for Chapter 7 without the added paperwork burden and obstacles of the means test. The bill would apply to our citizen soldiers who have served in the armed forces for more than 90 days since 9/11 and would grant them an exemption from the test for up to a year and a half after they return home. It also requires a Government Accountability Office report which will help us quantify the hardships our veterans face when they return home by tracking how many apply for bankruptcy protection. Many members of the Guard and Reserves leave for the war thinking they will only be deployed for 6 to 12 months and end up getting their tours involuntarily extended. One quarter of those soldiers have been deployed more than once. There is almost no way that they can anticipate or prepare for that extension of their service financially. According to the National Guard, forty percent of Reservists and members of the National Guard lose money when they leave their civilian jobs for active duty. This is especially true for servicemembers who own and operate small businesses who put their businesses on hold while they serve thousands of miles away. Now Reservists and National Guardsmen and women are coming home to a weak economy and record unemployment levels. Eighteen percent of recently separated servicemembers are currently unemployed. They are disproportionately feeling the pinch of record gas prices, housing foreclosures, and food costs. We have all heard from constituent servicemembers who have returned home to find their families in financial disarray. Many reservists took a pay cut from their regular jobs to serve overseas; others find that when they are discharged, if they can find work, they are returning home to lower salaries--in many instances, lower than their combat pay. Twenty five percent of servicemembers retuning from Iraq or Afghanistan earn less than $25,000 a year. Some veterans are driven to homelessness--the VA estimates that there are 1,500 homeless veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The means test has a particularly adverse impact on servicemembers. Most servicemembers receive higher compensation in the form of combat pay and have fewer expenses while serving abroad, but upon leaving service they face lower incomes and higher expenses. Because the means test factors in a person's income and expenses for the six-month period preceding the bankruptcy filing, a veteran's income is artificially inflated and expenses are inaccurately low. As a result, veterans risk having their chapter 7 case dismissed and being forced to file under the stricter chapter 13. The men and women of the National Guard and Reserves have risked their lives to protect us. If servicemembers, through no fault of their own, end up in bankruptcy, they deserve protection from Congress. This bill brings us one step closer to providing them with financial relief when they come home from their service. I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to Chairman Conyers and Subcommittee Chairwoman Linda Sanchez for their commitment to and work on this bill and to the minority Committee Members for working with us to find a compromise and get this bill on the floor today. And again, I thank my colleague Congressman Rohrabacher, whose passion and persistence on this issue have made him a wonderful ally.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his leadership. I also want to thank Energy and Commerce Chair John Dingell and the Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone, as well as Chairmen Rangel and Stark of the Ways and Means Committee for their continued leadership. Last year, we passed the CHAMP bill to prevent a 10.6 percent cut in payments to Medicare providers and to make critical improvements, and today we are trying again. This bill would prevent physician payment cuts in 2008 and provide an increase in 2009. And, something of particular concern to me, it would address the cuts to mental health providers that have already taken place. While we need to do more, we have to act now. And there are many, many reasons to support the passage of this bill. It provides mental health parity. It expands access to low-income assistance for seniors and people with disability struggling to pay their health care costs. It extends the moratorium on physical therapy caps. It eliminates cuts to oxygen treatment and wheelchairs. It postpones competitive bidding for durable medical equipment. On the diabetes front, it includes a 2- year reauthorization of the special diabetes program, prompt pay requirements for pharmacies, and on and on. If you think it is more important to continue excess payments to private Medicare Advantage plans, plans that are getting 13 percent more than Medicare, you should vote no. In 2008, this meant that Medicare Advantage plans saw a 6 percent increase, while physicians are scheduled for a 10.6 percent cut. Next year, Medicare Advantage plans will see between a 5 and 7 percent increase, while physicians are scheduled for a 5 percent cut. But if you think it is more important to prevent Medicare cuts to physicians and providers and to help senior citizens and persons with disabilities, then you will vote yes. I hope that all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will make the right choice. I hope you will side with Medicare physicians and their patients and pass H.R. 6331.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to oppose H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act. Among the casualties of the ``war on terror'' has been the guarantee of civil liberties and right to privacy of American citizens upon which our nation was founded. Time and again, throughout his Presidency, George Bush has shown absolute indifference to the Constitution and the principles upon which it stands. This disregard for the Constitution was never clearer than last summer when President Bush signed into law the Protect America Act, which I opposed then and continue to oppose to this day, a law that gave the President unprecedented authority to spy on Americans. As Congress began to consider new legislation, I had hoped that we could reach a compromise that strikes the right balance between protecting the rights of individual Americans and protecting our nation's security. Like all of my colleagues in Congress, I believe that our nation must aggressively pursue terrorist targets in the United States and abroad. However, I know the United States is capable of doing so within a framework that respects the Constitution of the United States. Many provisions within this bill are an improvement over the Protect America Act, especially the provision on exclusively, which affirms that the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is the exclusive means to conduct electronic surveillance of Americans for the purpose of foreign intelligence collection. However, I believe firmly that the bill before us today does not do enough to protect the privacy rights of individual Americans and therefore I cannot in good conscience vote for its passage. Here are some of the problems with the bill before us today: H.R. 6304 contains an ``exigent circumstances'' loophole that permits the Administration to conduct surveillance on Americans without getting a warrant for up to seven days every time ``intelligence important to the national security of the US may be lost or not timely acquired.'' The problem with language this open-ended is that an Administration, like the Bush Administration, can use this language as an invitation to repeatedly spy on Americans without a court order and in each case claim that circumstances demanded it. Secondly, while H.R. 6304 contains a general prohibition on ``reverse'' targeting, it lacks clear statuary directives about when the government should return to the FISA court and obtain a warrant. Reverse targeting refers to the possibility that the Government will try to subvert FISA by wiretapping someone overseas, when the real target is an American with whom that foreign person is communicating. As is the case with the exigent circumstances provision, this open- ended language leaves the law vulnerable to misuse by an Administration. Lastly, the retroactive immunity language in Title II virtually ensures the dismissal of all cases pending against the telecommunications companies that facilitated warrantless wiretapping over the last seven years. This violates the fundamental American principle that people are entitled to their day in court, and that the courts, not Congress, should decide whether people were injured by the illegal acts of others. It is unacceptable for Congress to protect private companies from lawsuits filed by people the may have harmed through illegal actions. Ultimately, I believe that the President has presented Congress with a false choice. Ever since September 11, the Bush Administration has put forward the idea that Congress must choose between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand. I disagree wholeheartedly with this premise. The Congress can and must take stronger steps to protect the civil liberties of ever American, to do anything less is simply contrary to everything for which this country has stood. I would like to close by reading a quote from Benjamin Franklin. Though delivered centuries ago, it remains salient to today's debate. He said ``Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither.'' I urge my colleagues to consider Benjamin Franklin's views as they vote today.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Thank you, Congresswoman Watson, for organizing this and allowing me to participate tonight. I also want to thank our colleague, Representative Conyers, for his long-time passionate leadership on universal health care. I don't know if he is going to get here tonight, but he certainly has been a steady and consistent voice for health care and health care reform. Thanks to his efforts and that of so many others, I believe we are on the brink of accomplishing this long-awaited goal, and that this time we will be successful in providing affordable, guaranteed health coverage for all Americans. When I first ran for office in 1990 for the State legislature, I proclaimed that as my goal in public service, that one day to be able to contribute to the victory of allowing all Americans to receive health coverage. I have always felt that this richest nation in the world, that it is a shame and really an embarrassment that Americans, unlike citizens and residents of every other industrialized nation in the world, that we don't make health care accessible to all of our citizens. It is unacceptable and in many ways un-American. It is not in the tradition of our country, which is to take care of each other. There are lots of people across the country who are ready to make this fight. Another one of the heroes I wanted to highlight tonight is my friend and until recently when he retired from active practice my physician, my personal physician, Dr. Quentin Young of Chicago. Quentin Young was the chairman of medicine at Cook County Hospital. He was the president of the American Public Health Association. He is a founder of Health and Medicine Policy Research Group in Chicago, and a co-founder of the Physicians For a National Health Program. And in each of his roles, expanding access to quality health care has been his top priority. He is one of the most articulate and passionate and consistent long-term spokespeople for single payer health care in our country, for providing affordable, comprehensive and quality health care for all. And as Dr. Young frequently says, ``We feel universal health care is no longer the best answer, it is the only answer. There was a time when there were alternatives that might have worked, but that day is passed.'' He goes on to say, ``I certainly think it is attainable. It has been attained in certain countries that aren't very different from us. I totally come down on the side of health care being a human right. It is very hard for me to see a coherent let alone a moral or decent argument against it because illness doesn't distribute itself according to the ability to care for yourself and be cared for. It strikes children. It strikes the poor. It strikes the most needy, and the most ill-protected disproportionately. That is the correlation.'' Cardinal Bernardin, also from Chicago, a hero on health care, said it best. He said, ``Health care is so important to human life and dignity that it is the responsibility of society to offer access to decent health care to every person.'' And I was pleased that he didn't say every citizen. He said every person. So the answer is that it should be considered a right guaranteed by society, which means it must be a responsibility of government. And as we enter this new round of discussions, more and more people and organizations have come to agree with Dr. Young and John Conyers' conclusions. New coalitions have formed, including small and big businesses, consumer and labor groups, providers and the faith community, and organizations representing people with disabilities and living with chronic diseases. The time has come for action. In 2002, the Institutes of Medicine estimated that 18,000 people a year died because they were uninsured. They were unable to afford preventive services, screenings that would have provided early warnings, prescription drugs or medical care. Today the Urban Institute estimates that annual death from uninsurance are up to 22,000 people every year. That is 432 people each week, 60 people each and every day who die because the United States of America alone in the industrialized world does not guarantee affordable health care to our people. It is a horrendous statistic. But it is only a partial description of the catastrophes we face. Our health care system is becoming completely dysfunctional for patients and for those who care for them. Even being covered by insurance is no guarantee. The Commonwealth Fund has just released a new study that concludes between 2003 and 1997, the number of uninsured Americans grew by 60 percent. There are now 25 million insured people who could face financial catastrophe if they become sick or injured. Consider this: One in five Americans under the age of 65, many of them insured, live with medical debt. I say under 65 because many people are waiting for that birthday, can't wait to get there because then finally Medicare, a national health insurance for people over 65 and those with disabilities who qualify, do get health care. Medical bills are the leading cause of about half of all personal bankruptcies. High deductibles and co-pays, limits on payments, denials of needed care, all of these shift burdens to individuals and families who are already struggling. These numbers are staggering, and it's a national shame that while spending 50 percent more than any other country in the world on health care, we fall so dismally short in providing a health care guarantee. But it's also important to remember that behind each number is a person, our friends, our neighbors, our family, our colleagues, ourselves; people like the Wells family from Illinois, who accumulated over $175,000 in medical expenses while waiting for their employer's 6- month waiting period for coverage to expire. Or Susan, who can't afford the tests her doctor wants her to have to deal with her high blood pressure; or Constance, who moved back to Illinois to care for a family member and can't find a job that provides affordable benefits. I want to close by saying that winning the fight for guaranteed health care for all is not just the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do. Too many potential entrepreneurs are locked into jobs that provide health care, unable to leave and create new businesses that keep our economy strong and provide new jobs. Too many businesses that are providing coverage for their workers are competitively disadvantaged because their foreign competitors operate in countries with national health care. They too want us to get it together and adopt universal health care. So, again, I want to thank Congresswoman Watson and again, I want to thank Congressman Conyers for his leadership.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5669, the Poison Center Support, Enhancement, and Awareness Act of 2008, and I thank the bill's sponsor, Congressman Towns, for his leadership on this issue. I also want to thank Chairman Pallone and Chairman Dingell for working to bring this bill before us today. The poison control centers program has proven to be a very successful program for communities across the country, by providing a national toll-free number for poison emergencies, a national media campaign to promote the use of poison centers, and a poison prevention grant program. In my district alone, the Illinois Poison Center handled 7,021 cases last year. Statewide, 51 percent of the calls the Illinois Poison Center handled involved children under the age of 5. I just can't imagine what families would do without this tremendous resource. Surely, this legislation which will reauthorize this program through 2014 and increase its total authorization to $37.5 million annually will be money well spent. Not only do poison centers save lives, they save time and resources by cost avoidance for patients who are cared for in their homes as opposed to visiting a hospital and by reducing lengths of stay for patients who are cared for by a poison control center prior to arriving at a hospital. Again, I thank the bill's sponsor and our Chairmen for their work on this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to give H.R. 5669 their support.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. I'd like to thank Chairman Skelton for working with me on my amendment to prohibit private security contractors from performing inherently governmental functions in combat areas, and for offering his support. We've all heard about the violent incidents involving private security contractors injuring and killing civilians in Iraq and elsewhere. This is a systemic problem that exists because private employees are currently being tasked with extremely sensitive jobs like gathering intelligence and providing armed security. And it is a systematic problem that private contractors do not wear the badge of the United States, are clearly not part of the chain of command, are not subject to the same accountability that those who are employed with the badge of the United States, and that those contractors have often damaged the credibility of our military and harmed our relationship with the Iraqi government. We want to show the American people and the Iraqis, that there are inherently governmental functions that will only be performed by people in the U.S. military or our U.S. Government personnel. I urge support for this entire bill and for this amendment.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Look, law enforcement is using videotaping because it not only is a matter of protection for the person that is being interrogated, but for the interrogator, him or herself, as well. There are rules that guide interrogations. Having those tapes is a safeguard that we can have to make sure that the rules of interrogation set down by the Department of Defense will protect those people as well. If they need to be disguised in some way, I believe that the amendment would allow for that. This is to protect both the interrogator and the one who is being interrogated.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Thank you so much, Congresswoman Clarke, for convening us tonight for this Special Order dealing with our close friend and a great friend of the United States, and that's our neighbor Haiti. I first went to Haiti in January of 2003. And I went with the RFK Foundation, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation, and Ethel Kennedy was on that trip, to give an award to Partners in Health Clinic on the Central Plateau of Haiti. It's actually the one that was featured recently on ``60 Minutes'' where you saw Dr. David Walton, who actually comes from my district; Dr. Paul Farmer; Loune Viaud, who is the director of that clinic, serving people on the very poor Central Plateau of Haiti. And I have to tell you I think it was Representative Green who said his first trip he was thunderstruck. That's a good word for it. You get on the plane in Miami and you start reading the newspaper, and before you've even finished reading it, you're landing in the poorest country in our hemisphere. But let's be clear. This is a country with beautiful and brave and hard-working people. This is a country where some of our colleagues of a certain age may have even gone for their honeymoon. This is a tropical island in the Caribbean with so much potential and such beautiful people and such incredible poverty. I went again to Haiti in 2006 with Wyclef Jean, a son of Haiti and a musical artist who has created a foundation called Yele Haiti, who's hard at work right now in providing food for the people of Haiti. So we can talk about the crisis first. There is a horrible hunger crisis in Haiti. They started out poor. They started out malnourished when these food prices went up so high. And in fact, the average daily requirement for calories is about 2,100 calories per day. In Haiti it's 460 calories below that as the average. So you know some people are eating more than their 2,100 and lots of people are eating less. I implore parents who may be listening to us tonight to think about what kind of desperation it might take to feed your child to quench the hunger in their belly a mud cake, a mud cake, a cake literally made out of mud with a little flour in it, because you can't stand to leave that tiny stomach hungry. It's just more than one can even bear to think how one gets to that point. And so the high price of food and the hunger crisis has begun riots in Haiti. There have been some political ramifications, and the United States has to some important extent responded. We're sending money. We're sending food. And all of this is really, really important. But the other thing I found out in Haiti is that it's not just oh, poor, Haiti, we need to do more. The fact of the matter is, and I am embarrassed to say, is that the United States of America has had its heel on the neck of the country of Haiti and has actually been part of the problem that we are facing today. Over the past 7 years, the Bush administration has absolutely turned a blind eye and has, in fact, actively stopped the Inter-American Development Bank from releasing loans to Haiti for projects on water and health and education and rural roads, the kinds of things that would actually make Haiti self-sustainable. Through the U.S. Treasury, the Bush administration officials, and this is all about ideology and politics, have repeatedly held back vital loans for Haiti in an attempt to force political change in Haiti, actions in direct violation of the Inter-American Development Bank charter, IDB. In e-mails released in response to a Freedom of Information request, Treasury Department employees repeatedly discuss how to ``slow'' the release of loans to Haiti. In a Treasury Department e-mail in 2001, this employee stated that the loans would be released based on ``our assessment of progress on reaching a comprehensive political settlement.'' That is, a settlement to the liking of the United States of America. In another shocking e-mail, a Treasury lawyer reveals just how deliberately they were working to stop the loans from being released to Haiti, despite the great need. Bruce Juba, Special Counsel, wrote: ``While this is not a 'bullet-proof' way to stop IDB disbursements, it certainly will put a few more large rocks in the road.'' It is astounding and unacceptable that the entire time that the Bush administration has talked about helping poor Haiti, they have been working behind the scenes to put ``rocks in the road'' to Haiti's development. By 2002 the Bush administration's plan to block the loans to Haiti by slowing them down has succeeded. Haiti fell into arrears long enough to trigger an Inter-American Development Bank policy that prevents the bank from releasing the loans when arrears have accumulated for too long. Success. Instead of receiving the vital loans for public projects, loans that could have helped bring thousands out of poverty, reduced water-borne diseases, and aided in long-term development, the Bush administration successfully cut off Haiti's IDB funding in an effort to push Aristide out of power. The United States has been directly involved in Haiti's food crisis in another way. The U.S. has forced Haiti to open its market to our subsidized crops, decimating the ability of Haitian farmers to compete. Thirty years ago Haiti raised nearly all of the rice it needed. It was exporting sugar. But because of U.S. intervention, Haiti is now reliant on food imports for survival. The International Monetary Fund forced Haiti to open its market to U.S. rice first in 1986 as a condition for loans, making it impossible for Haitian farmers to compete with subsidized U.S. rice. Then in 1994, as a condition for U.S. assistance in returning to Haiti to resume his elected presidency, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced by the U.S., the IMF, and the World Bank to open up the markets in Haiti even more. So, look, if we want to do more than put a temporary Band-Aid on the developing food crisis in Haiti, we're going to have to do more than allocate money for emergency food relief. We're going to need to recognize how forcing poor countries to open their markets to our heavily subsidized crops cripples their ability to sustain themselves. As President Lula of Brazil said when he was visiting Haiti recently, ``Rich countries need to reduce farm subsidies and trade barriers to allow poor countries to generate income with food exports. Either the world solves the unfair trade system or every time there's unrest in Haiti, we adopt emergency measures and send a little bit of food to temporarily ease hunger.'' You talked about the level of unemployment in Haiti. Well, a number of these people are rural people who are at least sustaining themselves. Even if they weren't exporting food, the country was able to provide the rice and the beans that it needed to sustain itself. So we need to have a sane and rational policy when it comes to Haiti, a policy of friendship to this country in our hemisphere, not a policy that cripples Haiti's ability to actually flourish. We have a huge responsibility here for the hunger that's going on here now, and we should understand that and not just feel so good about our ourselves when we send food aid to Haiti, which, of course, we should do and we should do even more of. So I appreciate the opportunity to join you tonight, Congresswoman Clarke. I appreciate your leadership as a new Member of Congress. I so welcome your leadership on this issue and just want to offer my support in absolutely any way that I can so that we can be a good neighbor to Haiti and to the rest of the developing world. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to express my gratitude to Chairman Dingell for his support in bringing this resolution to the floor today. I want to also thank Congressman Roskam for his support and cosponsorship of this resolution. For me, the heart and soul behind the effort to establish a Brain Tumor Awareness Month has been the Lori Arquilla Andersen Foundation, which is in my home district in Illinois. Many of us have been touched by cancer, my family included. But when Linda Magiera lost her precious daughter, Lori, to brain cancer in 2005, she made sure to continue her daughter's passion for life and desire to help others by creating the Lori Arquilla Andersen Foundation in her name. Lori was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme stage 4 brain cancer, one of the most deadly, at the age of 33, just 3 months after her wedding. She passed away 22 months to the day after her first of five surgeries. I am told by those who knew her that Lori was always upbeat, positive, courageous, and smiling. The Lori Arquilla Andersen Foundation has exemplified that energy over the past years. They have made important strides in increasing awareness and raising funds for brain tumor research, but they are also responsible for bringing the issues that are important to the brain tumor community as well as this resolution to my attention. While the Andersen Foundation has managed to put a face on these issues for me, the larger brain tumor community has also done incredible work over the past decade. They have worked tirelessly to support people with brain tumors and their families, raise awareness of the disease and its effects, and to attain resolutions from governors, State legislators, city councils, and mayors in support of establishing a Brain Tumor Awareness Month in May. Today, we take one giant step forward in advancing their cause. And it won't be a moment too soon. Over 44,500 people in the United States are diagnosed with a primary brain tumor in the brain or spine each year; and among children, brain tumors are the second most common cancer and comprise approximately 25 percent of all pediatric cancers. Although less prevalent than other cancers such as lung, breast, or prostate cancer, brain tumors are in no way trivial for those who have them. Because they are located in the ``control center,'' the thought, memory, emotion, sensation, and movement, brain tumors have serious and at times devastating effects on the lives of patients and their families. Brain tumors can change an individual's personality, their ability to communicate, and their ability to walk or see. Unfortunately, with over 126 different kinds of primary brain tumors, the development of effective treatments is uncommonly complicated. The 5-year survival rate following the diagnosis of a primary malignant brain tumor is about 30 percent. However, the average survival rate for patients with glioblastomas is less than 5 percent, and most survive for only 6 to 12 months. We must continue to work towards finding a cure for this terrible disease. Strong support for ongoing research is the answer, and increased awareness is the first step in getting there. I'm so pleased to be making progress on this resolution today. And with the recent Race For Hope which was held on Sunday, March 4, here in Washington, DC, and raised $1.62 million for brain tumor research, it is certainly timely. Again, I want to thank Chairman Dingell and his staff for their hard work in bringing this resolution to the floor. I reserve the balance of my time.