Betty Sutton

Ms. SUTTON

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, House Resolution 275 provides for consideration of H. Con. Res. 99, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2008 under a structured rule. The rule provides for 4 hours of general debate, three to be controlled by the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on the Budget and one to be controlled by Representative Maloney of New York and Representative Saxton of New Jersey. The rule also makes in order three substitute amendments by Representative Scott of Virginia, Representative Woolsey and Representative Ryan of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, budgets, more than anything else this government produces, are a statement of what matters to us and what does not. They are moral documents. They tell us to what degree we care to look after the old and protect the young. They indicate our responsibilities to commitments both abroad and here at home. They give life to our greatest dreams as a Nation. They are the hope we leave for our children and become the legacy we bestow upon our people. And they can be examples of great courage, or an absolution of Congress's responsibility to set priorities consistent with strengthening our people and our communities. Madam Speaker, as it concerns the budget, it has been a long 6 years for this Nation. The budget has been out of balance fiscally, and it has been out of balance with the needs of the American people. Just 6 years ago, we were looking at a projected $5.6 trillion surplus. That has collapsed into a $9 trillion deficit. For every American in this country, there is $29,000 worth of debt. And to add insult to injury, most of the debt we have taken on in recent years will be sent to investors in foreign countries. It goes far beyond having been drunk at the wheel. Our predecessors in the majority not only crashed the car into a ditch, they accelerated after landing there, allowing mud to cave in on top of it. That was the fiscal situation Democrats found when we arrived here a few months ago in the majority. Since President Bush took office in 2001, my home State of Ohio alone has lost over 200,000 manufacturing jobs; and 3 million have been lost nationwide. Job growth overall has slowed to a significantly slower pace in recent years than under the Clinton administration, at a rate even below the level necessary to keep pace with population growth. Sadly, our families have even less purchasing power today than they did in January of 2001. And the debt has continued to pile up, with no accountability, no fiscal responsibility, no effort to place priorities in the right places, to curb wasteful spending, to do what needs to be done to make sure that the programs consistent with the values of this Nation, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, SCHIP and Community Block Grants continue to be able to survive. In short, the policies enacted in recent years will have devastating effects on our future competitiveness and standard of living if we continue down the same destructive road. But it is a new day, and we have a new path to follow, one that says that it is more important to take care of our wounded veterans than it is to take care of oil companies, one that says that kids cannot grow up to thrive and give back to this great Nation if they do not have the health care when they are young, one that says that a measure of a Nation can be taken in small things like heating assistance for the elderly and nutrition programs in local schools and special assistance for those with disabilities. Indeed, it is in the small print of the Federal budget that we find our worth as a government, which is why I am proud, both as a member of the Budget Committee, and as a Member of Congress, to support this Democratic budget. It is the first time in a very long time that Congress has before it a budget that is fiscally responsible and in line with the needs of the American people. This budget makes critical investments in education, health care, our veterans, our communities and our economy while at the same time adhering to PAYGO principles and returning our budget to balance by 2012. The reckless economic policies of the last 6 years have been immensely damaging to our economy's long-term global competitiveness and particularly to our workers. The Democratic budget will strengthen middle-class families by providing funding for job training programs, health care, and education, particularly in math and science. These are all essential investments in our workforce that will lay a solid foundation for a growing economy and improve our competitiveness. The Democratic budget rejects the President's draconian cuts to programs that provide health care to the poor, to our children, and our seniors. Nine million of the neediest children in this country and 242,000 in the State of Ohio lack health insurance coverage, and the funding levels in the President's budget put as many as 1 million of these children at risk to fall off the SCHIP program by 2012. In contrast, the Democratic budget provides for a $50 billion increase to SCHIP, allowing us to reach millions more children than we reach right now, making our children's health care needs a Federal Government priority. The Democratic budget also rejects the $300 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts proposed by the administration. Access to health care should be a right, not a privilege, in this Nation and it does not serve any of us to roll back the clock on the health care initiatives that have served us so well up until now. The Democratic budget is also about investing in our communities. It provides for increased funding for Community Development Block Grants, the Social Service Block Grants, and it saves Community Services Block Grants which was zeroed out in the President's budget. I have personally spoken with a number of the community officials in my own district that would have been affected by the proposed cuts in block grant programs and I will tell you that at the local level, these programs are lifelines for our neighborhoods and towns. They address needs in affordable housing, education and nutrition. They promote financial literacy and assist with child care needs and special services to children with disabilities. And in our cities, the CDBG funds help provide affordable housing and services to our most vulnerable populations. In short, we should not be trying to do away with programs that work. The Democratic budget also makes education a priority, from early childhood to lifelong learning. To that end, our budget provides $3 billion over the current services level for education, training and social services. These increases are an investment in our future and will be vital to our global competitiveness. We have increased funding for those just beginning their education, like the 38,000 children in Head Start in Ohio, and we have taken steps to make college education more affordable through Pell Grants and a higher education reserve fund. We have included funds to train more math and science teachers. Finally, the Democratic budget reflects a major shift in priorities by providing for a $5.4 billion increase in the Veterans Affairs budget which is an 18.1 percent increase over 2007 levels and the largest increase in history. Recently it has become clear that the needs of our brave men and women who have served our country so honorably have not been met. We have heard heartbreaking stories of wounded veterans who must wait up to 6 months for disability determinations and about VA facilities that are in disrepair. The more than 1 million veterans in Ohio and the more than 24 million nationwide deserve nothing less than our full support. Anything less is simply unacceptable. A budget reflects the soul of a nation. It can give life to our most honorable pursuits and provide proof of the best of our intentions. It is the Rosetta Stone which those who look upon us from the present and from the future can decipher our worth and our courage. It is with those thoughts in mind that I am proud to present this budget for consideration by the House. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), a distinguished member of the Rules and Budget Committees.

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, before I yield to my next speaker, I want to point out that the Democratic budget does not raise a single penny of taxes, period. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Oregon, a distinguished member of the Budget Committee (Mr. Blumenauer).

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, before I yield, I would just like to remind the public that those on the other side of the aisle who are here today preaching about fiscal responsibility are the same people who, when they were in charge for 6 years, took a projected $5.6 trillion surplus and collapsed it into a $9 trillion deficit. Madam Speaker, with that, I would yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 275 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, before I yield, I would just like to respond. Again, our budget resolution does not contain a single penny of tax increases, period. And I will tell you what does not wash to the distinguished gentleman who just spoke. What doesn't wash is that we are getting this lesson in fiscal responsibility from the party that took a projected $5.6 trillion surplus and collapsed it into a $9 trillion deficit. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin). (Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. SUTTON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SUTTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. In a document released March 28, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities stated: ``Some are claiming that the budget plan adopted last week by the House Budget Committee, which the full House is expected to vote on this week, would constitute `the largest tax increase in history.' This claim is incorrect. The House plan does not include a tax increase.'' That is what the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities stated. Mr. Speaker, last November the American people made it clear they are ready for a government that will be fiscally responsible. This Nation spoke loud and clear when it put a new party in power in Congress, asking for responsibility and a new direction in our fiscal priorities. Education, health care, the care of our children and our seniors and our veterans, these are issues that Americans are concerned about. Our budget restores common sense to our national spending and sanity to our national priorities. It restores the President's attempt to cut children's health care programs and Community Block Grants, and it puts forth the single largest increase in veterans spending in our Nation's history, and not a moment too soon. It funds math and science programs for our kids, and programs like Head Start and Pell Grants that provide access to education that so many of our children need. And this budget concerns itself with the need to create jobs and build a bright economic future. It restores funding for job training programs. Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to be accountable to American taxpayers once again. It is time for Congress to be accountable to our children's future once again. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

Ms. SUTTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Ms. SUTTON

Ms. SUTTON. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time for her leadership on this rule and in the Armed Services Committee. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and in strong support of H.R. 1538, the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act. It is an outrage that our brave men and women, who have served our Nation so honorably, have returned home, as recent press accounts have revealed, and faced problems getting the care they so rightly deserve. As I said before, our troops must have, and we must provide, that which they need for any mission upon which they are sent. They must have and we must provide that which they need when they return home. My home State of Ohio has 6,347 brave soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. If they are injured in any way, they must have the care they need when they return home. The roughly 60,000 veterans in my congressional district and over 1 million veterans in Ohio and all of our veterans across this Nation deserve better support and assistance than many of them have received. The legislation before us arose out of a lack of oversight and transparency that should have been in place, but was neglected by the administration and past Congresses. This bipartisan bill ensures that our wounded soldiers and their families can feel secure in the knowledge that they will now be properly cared for and treated with the respect and dignity that they have earned and most certainly deserve. This bill will ensure that all of our veterans get the care and assistance they need and improves the overall veterans health care system to make it easier for them to access and use. Lastly, this bill puts in place strong oversight and inspection requirements to ensure that the events of Walter Reed and other facilities around this Nation never, ever happen again. Let's pass this rule and pass this very important bill.

Ms. SUTTON

Ms. SUTTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from the Rules Committee for yielding time on this very, very important issue. Today is a great day, and I rise in support of the rule and the underlying resolution in this matter to improve our security on our rail and busway systems throughout this country. When I was running for this office, this was a very, very important and significant issue to many people who I represent throughout Northeast Ohio. We have many passengers and others who utilize these services who, unfortunately, despite evidence of vulnerability and potential attack, have been exposed to the ongoing danger of our failure to secure these systems. I also am proud to see that in this bill we have protections for whistleblowers that will improve the likelihood of secure and safe transit systems within our country.

Ms. SUTTON

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida, and I thank her for her leadership on this rule and to get this bill to the floor so we can begin the big task of restoring accountability and oversight in our Federal contracting system. I rise in support of the rule today and in support of H.R. 1362. I strongly believe we must restore the American people's faith in our government, and that is what this bill is about. This bill will help stop the abuses of the Federal contracting system, a system that has deservedly come under fire recently, and sadly, whether it is in Iraq, Walter Reed, or many other places. H.R. 1362 will increase transparency and accountability to help bring back the integrity to a system that has lost so much of the public's trust, and it is no wonder that we have lost so much of the public's trust when we have government auditors testifying that an estimated $10 billion in reconstruction spending has been wasted as a result of overcharging, poor tracking, and mismanagement by U.S. contractors. But this is not only an issue about waste, abuse and fraud, it is about getting the job done right and ensuring we have the proper people in place to help those who need Federal Government services. Recent hearings brought to light an Army memorandum showing that the decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed was causing an exodus of ``highly skilled and experienced personnel.'' And as a result, the ``patient care mission are at a risk of mission failure,'' the memorandum continued. So not only do we need to end the waste and ensure taxpayer dollars are being used wisely, we need greater oversight and accountability on the contracting decisions that are being made in the first place. And we need to tell these contractors that if they are going to get a contract with the Federal Government, they must play by the rules and they must fulfill their responsibilities in an effective and efficient manner. Passing H.R. 1362 and the other bills that have been on the House floor this week are important steps in our effort to restore the faith in government that has been lost by the American people. I understand that additional legislation regarding contractor oversight and accountability is in the pipeline, and I look forward to working with this new Congress and chairmen of the committees of jurisdiction on this most important issue.

Ms. SUTTON

Ms. SUTTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota, and I thank him for his service on the Judiciary Committee. I think it is with heartfelt appreciation, not only on behalf of myself, but on behalf of the people that I represent, that I am grateful that you sit on the Judiciary Committee, where you are going to provide the oversight and the accountability on the issues that you brought forward here tonight. You are right, that there is nothing more important than restoring the trust of the people we represent in this government. And it is not the end in and of itself, but it is essential, to both the substance and the spirit of what we do. The corruption has hurt the American people in so many ways. So this oversight and accountability is sorely needed, long overdue. With that, I would like to recognize another distinguished gentleman from the State of Minnesota who we are honored to have join us this evening, a new Member of Congress, somebody who came here to change the direction of this country, to take us in a new and positive, honest direction, Mr. Tim Walz. What do you think about all this?

Ms. SUTTON. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to be here today with some of the other Members who were newly elected just a few months ago. And, boy, it was a few months ago, but we have been making strides. And we are here to report to the American people the steps that we have taken to increase the oversight and accountability of this government. I am sure that, like many of my colleagues who were elected, one of the reasons I am here, I came to Congress to clean up the culture of corruption that had so flourished under the Republican leadership in previous Congresses. And to that end, on the very first day that I was here, it was my honor to proudly cast a vote to end an era of corruption in this Capitol and to begin to change the way this Congress is doing business. To make it such that this Congress begins to enact policies that benefit the American people rather than just the special interests and the privileged few. We took aim at the corruption and the abuses because it was a necessary prerequisite to creating policies that benefit all Americans. And people were tired. People were tired back in Ohio. I have the privilege to represent people who are the salt of the Earth. But we saw both at the State level and the Federal level scandal after scandal. Scandals of public officials being bought off by special interests, public officials abusing power, and Republican leadership and officials neglecting to provide oversight. Democrats, in the very first hours of this new Congress, they severed the links between those who would buy influence on Capitol Hill and those who would, unfortunately, willingly sell it and create and facilitate this culture of corruption that the American people have had to suffer under. We acted to clean up that corruption that eroded the public trust and resulted in far too many policies, as I said, that just benefited the few at the expense of the many. We have begun and we have continued to restore oversight and accountability since that first day in our government through hearings and greater transparency, through initiatives that we have enacted and we continue to enact. And this strong congressional oversight in the 110th Congress has dramatically reversed years of neglect of the constitutional role of the Congress in providing oversight of Federal activities. The American people have had enough. They have suffered enough from the lack of oversight. And I am so happy to be here with my new colleagues in this role to clean it up. Just to name a couple of things, and then I am going to pass it off to some of my freshmen colleagues, but if we just go through a list and you can pick up on any of these subjects because, sadly, there are so many areas where the past Congress had been delinquent, and we have already had to move to act. The war in Iraq, between the House and the Senate since we took the leadership in this body, since we became the majority under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, there have been more than 97 oversight hearings that have looked into the conduct of the Iraq War. And certainly that was something that the American people made loud and clear, when they elected this new majority, that they desired. And, sadly, in the wake of revelations of inadequate care and conditions for wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, both the House and the Senate have launched investigations and hearings into those matters. We are also looking at the political ramifications of actions taken with U.S. attorneys and the linkage of improper phone calls from Republican Members of Congress and senior staff that forced resignations of those U.S. attorneys. The Hurricane Katrina response, we heard a lot right after the hurricane, after we saw the tragedy, not just the natural tragedy, but the tragedy in the lack of response of this government; and we heard a lot about how we were going to take that seriously from the last Congress. And now, because they didn't do that, we have been called upon and we have answered and House committees are looking into the housing and health care crisis that persists after that bungled response to the gulf coast disaster. And we are also looking at and addressing the many aspects of the climate crisis and our dependence on nonrenewable fuels from foreign sources. Investigations, hearings, initiatives that are long overdue. And, of course, there are many, many upcoming hearings. And at this point what I would like to do is, I would like to yield to my friend from Minnesota, Representative Ellison, to hear what you think about some of these things that we have been doing in this new Congress.

Ms. SUTTON. I thank the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota, and I thank you for your leadership, and for that example of how public policy can work for the people, that it doesn't have to be the way that it has been. You point out an important point. In the first 100 hours, when we took steps to clean up some of the unfortunate practices that have happened in the past and to change some of the resulting policies or the failure to enact some good policies, when we actually brought those measures to the floor under this new Democratic leadership, we did enjoy broad bipartisan support for many of those measures. This is not just a Democratic agenda, this is about the people's agenda. That is what this House is about. I am glad, with the leadership we have, we are now getting the people's agenda on this floor so that people from both parties have the chance to deliver the kind of public policy that will help the people they are sent here to serve. At this point, I would like to yield to a new Member in this Congress, a tremendous leader, a woman who has shown unwavering dedication and commitment to the people she was sent here to serve, Representative Shea-Porter from the State of New Hampshire.

Ms. SUTTON. I thank the gentleman. These issues that we have begun to talk about here, and we have begun to take action on, is part of our ongoing effort to restore accountability and trust in Washington. They are part of the mandate of the last election. Together, we will build on this work throughout the 110th Congress, and as I wrap up here, I would just like to thank those people, those people that I have the honor to represent from the 13th District of Ohio from Lorain to Elyira to Akron to Barberton, I thank you for the privilege of serving you, and we shall be unyielding in our commitment to deliver on promises

Ms. SUTTON. I thank the gentleman. At this time I would like to yield to my friend from Wisconsin (Mr. Kagen).

Ms. SUTTON. I thank the distinguished gentleman and both of you, the gentleman from Minnesota as well, who point out so eloquently the responsibility that we have when we put forth a budget. I am honored as a freshman Member of this Congress to have the honor to serve on the Budget Committee, and while I am grateful to be there because we have the chance to realign the budget that came to us from the administration, I must say that when it came over, when it failed to provide the resources that we need for veterans health care and asked our veterans to pay more for their health care, it was a great disappointment. But the reality is, because we are in a fiscal mess, because of years of irresponsibility, failure to provide oversight and accountability, even though we have limited resources because of that, I know that this class and this Congress is committed to realigning the money that we do have to ensure that we do, Mr. Speaker, that we do provide our troops what they need when we send them into any mission on our behalf and that they have what they need after they return. Our commitment to ensuring oversight and accountability is going to be an ongoing mission because it is an ongoing responsibility. It is, in fact, the very essence of what our congressional duty is, to be that check, to ensure that which we enact and that which is done from the administration comports with the needs of the American people, and we will do so in an honest and open way. We have heard about some of the steps that we have already taken, the first step, to restore trust, openness and accountability in Washington. This week, we are going to take additional actions, and in fact, we have already taken some here on this floor today. In this week, we have scheduled consideration or acted already on whistleblower reform. We are going to deal with that issue. We are strengthening the protection for Federal whistleblowers to prevent retaliation against those who report wrongdoing, waste, fraud and abuse. This is so essential to making sure that the safeguards that we need will result in the kind of a government and the policies and the contracting and the work of the people will be of such a caliber that we can be proud, and more importantly, the American people can be proud. We are also providing for more timely disclosure of government documents, another good measure not only of good government but of accountability, that will pay huge dividends and allow us to ensure that we are acting wisely and responsibly. We are also nullifying a 2001 presidential executive order and restoring public access to presidential records. The public has a right to know the public's business. This is another measure to ensure that. As we talk about the need to fund veterans health care, how can we fail to mention at the same time we fail to meet that need, we have seen gross excesses of lack of oversight and accountability and money, literally being lost in Iraq due to a failure of proper oversight of those we contract with. Limits on how long Federal no-bid contracts can last will be enacted this week by this new Congress. We will minimize the use of no-bid contracts and direct agencies to justify any such contracts if they are awarded. These are all important measures that we will take this week in order to continue to fulfill our commitment to the American people to take this country into a new direction, one that will work for them and one that has their interests at heart. As we come to the conclusion of our hour, I would just like to give my colleagues another opportunity to report what they would like to report in these closing moments to the American people. I yield to my good friend from Minnesota (Mr. Walz).

Ms. SUTTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman, and we thank you for your service both in the Congress and in our military. At this point, I yield to another distinguished colleague who has joined us on the floor who is a fantastic new Member of the Congress, who has shown great leadership on many issues, Dr. Steve Kagen, a representative from Wisconsin.

Ms. SUTTON. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from New Hampshire, and I appreciate your service, as do the people I represent, and your leadership. You bring up so many important points. The bad news is that so much has gone wrong in the past due to the failure of proper oversight and accountability. The good news is that, as you point out, we heard the call of the American people for more. We know what the expectations are, and we know what our responsibility is. And every day I am honored to come here with you to serve, and knowing that that is why we are here in the people's House, to help make those course corrections that will take this country in a new direction. It is so important to be here tonight to talk about that oversight and accountability because it is essential if we are to make those course corrections, whether it be one of the points you make about the growing income and inequality, which is at record levels. We are losing the middle class. There are many, many things that we can do and we have already done, and we have talked about some of them today in the opening hours of Congress when we increased the minimum wage, when we made college education more accessible and more affordable, when we expanded research and development into alternative fuels which will provide us not only with a way to deal with an environmental imperative, but also as a security issue we have to address that, and our dependence on foreign oil. Also, it provides us with opportunity for jobs today and tomorrow for the people out there because one of the other ways that Congress can show its oversight and accountability commitment, and I expect that we will because we heard a lot about this on the campaign trail from the American people, is on the issue of trade because we are losing jobs and our trade policies are not working for the American people and American businesses in the way that they should. So I am confident that one of the things that we are going to do is exercise our constitutional responsibility to deal with trade and make sure whatever trade model we have--and we are for trade, and I hope to get to the day in the early days of this coming Congress, or later on in this Congress, that we can vote for a trade policy that will truly lift up American workers as well as workers abroad, and that we will be able to vote for a trade policy that has environmental standards that benefit America and this world. There are so many options that we can do. There are so many things that we can do. We can have a trade policy with enforceability to stop the unfair manipulation and unfair trade practices. These are all matters of accountability and oversight, and this Congress I know is committed to producing that. Now I want to again yield to my good friend, the gentleman from Minnesota, because another point that the distinguished gentlewoman from New Hampshire brought up was the issue of our veterans and what we are doing and not doing to serve our veterans who have served us so nobly. So I yield to Representative Walz who has some charts that he is going to share with the American people.

Ms. SUTTON

Ms. SUTTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman for those kind remarks and for yielding. I thank you also not just for your leadership on behalf of the Members here, but I thank you for your leadership on this issue for the people that I represent, the good and fine folks of Northeast Ohio, from Lorraine to Akron to Barberton. This is so meaningful and so important, what we are doing here tonight and what we need to do, this Congress, to ensure that they have a better chance in this world. It is crystal clear, not just from the discussion tonight but from what we see when we go home to our districts and we look across America, that our trade policies are not benefiting America's workers and America's businesses as they should. And there is a lot of angst and anger out there. People are really concerned. The trade policies don't work for the average folks, but they also don't work, and I have to emphasize this, for American businesses as they should. Working families in my congressional district in the State of Ohio and our Nation continue to face mounting job losses and a tumultuous economy. We have heard the numbers before, but they bear repeating. Since 2000, we have lost 3 million manufacturing jobs nationally. And, unfortunately, 200,000 of those jobs have been from my home State of Ohio. Now, it is clear that Congress needs to act. When things aren't working, we should change direction. And that is why I am so proud of these new Members whom we have had the opportunity to hear from today and the leadership that they are exhibiting to take this Congress and this country into a direction that will work for the American people. We can't stand idly by and watch our jobs go overseas and our families suffer at home and our trade deficits soar. I want to point out that I, like so many of the others who have spoken before, feel it is very important to say I am not opposed to trade. You know, sometimes when we start having discussions like this, people try to pit you into one category or another. They like to say you are either for trade or you are a protectionist. Well, this is not a question about protectionism versus trade. This is a question about the rules of trade, and this is a question about what rules we think should be in a new trade model that will allow for trade to be engaged in fully and fairly by this country but require that others play by the same rules. Trade can benefit American businesses and workers, and it can be a tool to help developing countries that are looking to access our markets. I hold out hope, and I hope it bears out, that I will have the opportunity in this Congress to vote for a trade agreement that lifts up our working families at home and abroad; a trade agreement that protects our environment at home and abroad; and a trade agreement that has strong and enforceable provisions, ensuring that all partners are playing by the same rules. Now, we have heard some discussion about fast track already this evening. And my colleague Representative Braley and Congressman Michaud, you have identified this as such a critical issue coming up very quickly, set to expire in June. And I can tell you that, on behalf of those I represent in Northeast Ohio, I, for one, will not be supporting its renewal. Fast track has been a raw deal for many American workers and businesses. Fast track takes away the accountability and oversight that Congress has been given under the Constitution to deal with trade. And, frankly, it has left us in a position with misguided and downright shameful trade policies that we have today. If we had not had fast track, Congress could have been in a place to play a significant role in shaping the trade agreements while it still might have made a difference. The problem with fast track is, by the time it gets here, all we get to do is say whether we are going to vote ``yes'' or ``no'' for what is a bad trade deal. We need to move in a new direction on trade. It is a moral imperative, and our fight begins with ending fast track. But there are other concerns that we have talked about on the trade horizon, such as the deals with Peru and Colombia and Panama. And these agreements, they have been modeled after the same flawed model that NAFTA gave us. And NAFTA was responsible for 50,000 jobs losses in Ohio. It is no longer hypothetical. We don't have to wonder what is going to happen with NAFTA. NAFTA has been a disaster for the people I represent and for this country. So while we continue to get these harmful trade agreements forced down our throats, we have failed to address many of the trade problems we face with China and Japan and Korea and others. And while our trade deficits soar to the tune of a record $800 billion, which I have to tell you is not a record we should be happy with, with these nations, our wages in our Nation stagnate and hundreds of thousands of jobs have been displaced. What is it about these failed trade policies that those who continue to push them don't understand? This is not acceptable, and we cannot allow this race to the bottom to continue. I thank the gentleman very much for his leadership. I thank you on behalf of those I represent. I will continue to work with you as much as I possibly can to develop a new trade model, one that will work for American workers and businesses.

Ms. SUTTON. Well, again, this is the way those who like what is going on with our trade deals, and those would be more or less the multinational companies who are very involved in helping to push them, whenever we start talking about this and the real impact and the real effects, they like to call you names like protectionist. That is how they shut the debate down; but we can't allow that to happen, because, again, this is not a question of protectionism versus trade. It is a question about what are the rules of trade going to be. We just have to keep saying that, because there are going to be voices out there that would like people to believe otherwise. But all we are talking about is what kind of rules of trade do we believe should be engaged in.

Ms. SUTTON

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, before I yield, I would like to remind the gentleman from Texas that this does not eliminate the right of employees to have a secret ballot. They still have that choice. It simply eliminates the practice of employers superseding the employees' will by requiring them to submit to a secret ballot election. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman, the distinguished member of the Rules Committee, from Vermont (Mr. Welch).

Ms. SUTTON. Madam Speaker, House Resolution 203 provides for consideration of H.R. 800, the Employee Free Choice Act, under a structured rule with 1 hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and Labor. Madam Speaker, I am so honored to be here to talk about this rule and this bill. There is no fear quite like the fear of losing your job. It is paralyzing, because to fear for your job is to fear for your family, for their well-being and for your ability to provide for them. I know this fear because I have seen it on the faces of the people who help to make our world turn, the workers who struggle every day to do the jobs we could not live without. Before I was elected to Congress, I had the honor to serve as an attorney representing many of those workers. And Madam Speaker, when you work as a labor lawyer, unfortunately, often you see people with that fear in their eyes. They come to you because their jobs are being threatened, or worse, because they have been wrongfully terminated because they were attempting to organize a union or promote union activity to improve their lives and the lives of their coworkers. But it doesn't have to be this way. In this country, employees who actively promote union organizing have a 1-in-5 chance of getting fired for their activities. Every 23 minutes, a United States worker is retaliated against for their support of a union. In 1958, about 1,000 workers received back-pay awards because their employers violated labor organizing laws. In 2005, over 31,000 workers received back-pay awards. It is a common tactic of those who oppose workers' rights to cast those who support them as relics of another era. They speak of unions as entities that were necessary remedies for abuses of a different time, and then they point to the dwindling union membership as evidence that organizing is no longer needed. But smaller union rolls are a symptom of a larger disease, not evidence of a cure. The quality of life we know in this Nation was built on the back of the American labor movement. More than half of the United States workforce says they would join a union right now if they could, yet only 12 percent of them are in one. Less people are joining labor unions, not because less people want to be a part of them; less people are joining labor unions because far too often irresponsible employers have perfected coercive tactics to fight their creation. Imagine if tomorrow you are taken into a room with your supervisor who sits you down and tells you, if you support organizing a union and the union wins, your business will close down. And then your boss tells you, if the union doesn't win, you will be fired anyway. The situation is not hypothetical. Research shows us that these threats and intimidation tactics are used to inhibit union organization. It sure may be illegal to fire an employee for voting in support of a union, but it is done anyway. And as things stand today, there are no real repercussions for doing so, because there are no fines or civil penalties for breaking the law. Let me tell you about a journeyman welder from Northeast Ohio and what he and his family have endured, all because he and others where he worked tried to form a union. His name is Dave, and the company he worked for was intent on keeping the union out. And as you will learn, the company was willing to go to extraordinary and egregious lengths to do it. So what happened to Dave? Since he began his efforts to help organize, he has been relegated to picking up cigarette butts at company headquarters instead of plying his skill in the field in an attempt to humiliate him. He has been singled out at captive audience meetings with verbal abuse by his employer that was so bad that Dave feared it would get violent. He has had supervisors make physically threatening remarks to him while he was in inherently vulnerable positions working in the field. And in a particularly reprehensible action, Dave's wife has been targeted for harassment that escalated to such a point that she was hospitalized, all to keep the union out. There is one thing that is clear, these tactics work. They are effective in suppressing the creation of unions, but they are not acceptable and they must stop. The Employee Free Choice Act establishes real penalties for employee intimidation by increasing the back-pay award when a worker is fired or illegally discriminated against. It also provides for civil penalties for willful or repeated violations. It will act as a disincentive for such egregious behavior. Furthermore, this legislation allows employees to unionize when a majority of workers sign cards in support of organizing, and forces the NLRB to recognize that union as a bargaining entity without giving the employer the opportunity to unilaterally veto that decision and demand an election that offers an opportunity for coercion and manipulation. This bill also continues to give employees the choice to form a union through a traditional secret ballot election as current law does. Now, let's be clear. It does not eliminate the opportunity for employees to have a secret ballot election. It simply eliminates the opportunity for an employer to require an election by secret ballot after employees have already voted for union representation through their chosen route of card check. Another important aspect of this bill is that it requires the NLRB to step in and stop illegal behavior when it is happening. And finally, and equally important, this legislation provides a path towards binding arbitration for first contracts. Right now, in 34 percent of cases a first contract is not reached, they are dragged out with the hopes of employees giving up and disbanding the union. This law pushes both sides to bargain in good faith. And that is really where we should be going; a world where both employers and employees approach the table with an intention to make a good faith attempt to come to an agreement. The old paradigms do not need to exist as they once did. I have witnessed partnerships between giants of industry and the workers on the line that have enabled businesses to thrive. Lessons can be learned from situations where employers have respected their employees' stated desire to form a union through the majority card signing method. Companies like Kaiser Permanente and Cingular. Veering away from anti-union tactics, these employers have focused on and enjoyed success working with their employees, not against them. Cingular has not stood in the way of its employees forming unions, and the model they have committed to has not stopped them from becoming the Nation's top cell phone carrier. It doesn't have to be an either/or process, but it does have to be a fair process. And that is what this bill will accomplish. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.