Carol Shea-Porter

Ms. SHEA-PORTER

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, for too long the American people have been the victims of theft and fraud by contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over the past few years, Congress has taken steps to rein these contractors in. One of these steps was to create a database to keep information on these contractors and their subcontractors. Unfortunately, Mr. Chair, they are not entering the information. My amendment would impose a penalty on those contractors that do not comply with the requirement to report this contract information. Their noncompliance prevents oversight agencies from conducting proper audits and investigations. Therefore, it prevents these agencies from uncovering waste and contract fraud. We cannot protect taxpayer dollars from theft if we can't follow the money. Just this week, a witness before the Commission on Wartime Contracting said that the contracting environment in our overseas operations was highly vulnerable to fraud. The GAO recently reported that Federal agencies face difficult challenges in tracking and overseeing contractor personnel and contracts. We have been using contractors in both wars for 9 years now. The scale of waste and contract fraud is enormous, and the criminal activity is diverse: fraud, bribery, kickbacks, extortion, embezzlement, theft of cash or equipment, etc cetera. But we have not given our Federal agencies all the tools they need to catch these bad actors. We often don't even know who we are doing business with. This amendment will penalize contractors who do not comply with the reporting requirements. Taxpayers are spending billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They deserve accountability. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and the underlying bill. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Chair, I want to thank Chairman Skelton for his continued work and leadership on this bill. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and the underlying bill, and I yield back the remainder of my time.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I want to thank Chairman Skelton and everyone who has worked on the IMPROVE Acquisition Act. This bill cleans up defense acquisitions spending, saving taxpayers an estimated $27 billion a year and expediting the process to get necessary equipment to our troops. Accountability in the contracting process is critical to protect taxpayer dollars. According to a Government Accountability Office report, 63,000 Federal contractors had total tax debts of $7.7 billion in 2007. These contractors profit through taxpayer dollars but refuse to pay their own taxes. That is why I am pleased that section 403 of this bill, based on my colleague Mr. Ellsworth's Contracting and Tax Accountability Act, requires contractors to disclose seriously delinquent tax debt. The bill also includes my amendment to hold the first-tier subcontractors accountable by adding a certification requirement to ensure they, too, do not have unpaid taxes. Those who have incurred a significant tax debt and have avoided paying it should not be eligible for defense contracts. There is no reason for the government to pay money through a contract to those who owe money to the government in taxes. Again, I would like to thank the chairman, ranking member, and Defense Acquisition Panel for their hard work on this bill.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First, I would like to thank Chairman Oberstar, Mr. Bishop, and Mr. LoBiondo for their work on this bill. I have the honor of representing the First Congressional District of New Hampshire, which is home to the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership. PREP, as it is known, has been a part of the National Estuaries Program since 1995. PREP works to protect two estuarine systems in New Hampshire, Great Bay/Little Bay and Hampton Harbor. The partnership has included the entire Great Bay watershed in their area of focus, which includes 42 communities in New Hampshire and 10 communities in Maine. The National Estuaries Program has been a significant source of funding and resources, assisting PREP in their valuable work. This reauthorization we are considering today will make the program stronger and allow for more estuaries to be included. Mr. Chairman, one of the threats facing our estuaries is sea level change. As the sea level rises, it pushes the water further inland, changing the makeup of our estuaries and wetlands. In some cases, the effect may be that the wetlands move further inland. However, in areas like the Northeast, where our land is highly developed, this may not be possible. There may be no place for the plants and animals that depend on the unique make-up of these estuaries to go. They may, literally, hit a roadblock, and those ecosystems would collapse. Mr. Chairman, the threat of that happening should worry us all. Estuaries are essential habitats. They support countless species of plants, animals, and sea life. They act as nursery grounds for oceanic species and are the pathways for many species of fish that migrate from the oceans into our rivers. In fact, estuaries provide habitat for 75 percent of the commercial fishing catch and up to 90 percent of the recreational fishing catch in this country. Estuaries and wetlands also act as buffers to the storms that batter our coasts. I volunteered in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and I can tell you firsthand the devastation that the storm caused. Many scientists have attributed the significant loss of coastal lands and salt marshes outside of New Orleans as a factor in the severity of the damage that the storm caused. Mr. Chairman, sea levels are changing. Whether you agree or disagree that global climate change is the cause, we should all be alarmed by the potential impact rising sea levels could have on these important habitats. It has been estimated that sea level rise could convert as much as 33 percent of the world's coastal wetlands to open water. That right would be a devastating loss for our coastal community. Mr. Chairman, this straightforward amendment would simply ensure that sea level change is taken into account when the comprehensive conservation and management plans are constructed. These estuaries are important parts of our coastal communities and their economies, and we need to help them survive. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and the underlying bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Yes, I will yield.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Chairman, again, I want to thank Chairman Oberstar, Mr. Bishop and Mr. LoBiondo for their work and leadership on this bill. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and the underlying bill, and I yield back the remainder of my time.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Tonight I vote for the middle class. I have heard the desperation of parents whose kids were kicked off their plan before they even had a job. This bill allows 30 percent of young Americans currently without coverage to stay on their parents' plans until age 26. I have listened as New Hampshire small business owners told me they were embarrassed they could no longer insure faithful employees. This bill is their remedy. I heard those who lost homes because they got sick or hurt, lost their insurance, and then could not pay medical bills. I listened as hospitals discussed the uninsured's costs to New Hampshire taxpayers. Here is the cure. For the late Donald Long of Raymond, who told me he paid $500 for prescriptions every 3 months because of the doughnut hole, thank you. I heard you and all seniors. I heard Sandra Gagnon of Manchester, who has a chronically ill daughter. Now, no more preexisting exclusions. For the families in New Hampshire and across America, I vote ``yes'' for you.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I thank the chairman for his legislation. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I'm proud to be an original cosponsor. Mr. Speaker, we have a solemn responsibility to provide our servicemembers with the care and the services that they are due. They risk their lives in service to our Nation, and it's imperative that we keep our promises to them. This is not a Democratic or Republican responsibility, and as an advocate for the members of our military and their families--and I might add, as a former military spouse myself--it's troubling for me that throughout the debate on health care reform that TRICARE would be included as one of the topics of the various misinformation campaigns. This bill will ensure that those members of our armed services can keep their TRICARE coverage. I'm proud to have stood in support of our servicemembers in the Armed Services Committee, preventing increases in TRICARE copays, for example. I'm pleased that the chairman, through this legislation, has given us all the opportunity to reaffirm not only the importance of TRICARE, but that, under our health reform legislation, these benefits will remain as they are.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Madam Speaker, I am outraged also. I am really outraged at the amount of money that the insurance industry has spent trying to defeat this bill that will help the American people. The companies claim they support health reform, just not this bill. But they have done nothing to reform. They could have taken this time to reform. They still deny coverage for preexisting conditions. They still charge exorbitant rates. They still fight antitrust legislation. They still cancel people's policies when they most need them. And they still limit the payments when people get sick. They have a secret code word. It's called ``start over.'' What they really mean is defeat it; we don't want it. The question has to be here, whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the insurance companies? Or are you on the side of the American public, the people, the small businesses who have to carry the burden of these fees? Whose side are you really on? I am on the side of middle class Americans, small businesses, and those who are healthy and those who are sick.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1089) recognizing the 150th anniversary of Augustana College, as amended.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on H. Res. 1089 into the Record.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare).

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1167) expressing the support of the House of Representatives for the goals and ideals of Professional Social Work Month and World Social Work Day.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 1167 into the Record.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the goals and ideals of Professional Social Work Month and World Social Work Day. There are more than 600,000 people in the United States who devote their lives to social work and to the improvement of the society in which we live by obtaining social work degrees. Social workers dedicate their time, energy, and career to assisting individuals, families, and communities through complicated social issues and complex choices. As many of you know, social workers have been instrumental in instigating important social movements in the United States and abroad. Francis Perkins, who championed the minimum wage laws and reduced the work week for women to 48 hours, and Harry Hopkins, who relocated to New Orleans in order to work for the American Red Cross as director of civilian relief, are two examples of social workers who saw a need to change conditions for a community and set out to work in the community to help meet that need. Social workers use their tools and skills in schools, courtrooms, clinics, nursing homes, and the military, just to name a few. However, the need for social work is expected to grow twice as fast as other occupations, especially within the health care sector as our aging demographics require more services. Professional Social Work Month and World Social Work Day, which is March 16, 2010, build awareness of professional social workers and their commitment to people. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution honoring those who choose social work as a profession to better society. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1184) congratulating the 2009-2010 University of Maryland Men's Basketball Team, Greivis Vasquez, and Coach Gary Williams on an outstanding season.

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 1184 into the Record.