John Tanner

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution.

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to thank Mr. Capuano and Members of the House Sudan Caucus for introducing this resolution to remind us of the important work that needs to be done to implement the final stages of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the National Congress Party and the Southern Sudanese Liberation Movement in Sudan. The CPA requires referenda in January 2011 to determine whether South Sudan will become an independent country and whether Abyei (AH-BEE-AY) region will be a part of the North or South. The Obama Administration has worked tirelessly to help the Sudanese people prepare for the referenda and the hard policy choices that must come after. This resolution puts the Congress on record encouraging the President to continue a robust engagement in the CPA process and make sure the National Congress Party and the Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Movement fulfill the obligations of the agreement. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano).

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1661) honoring the lives of the brave and selfless humanitarian aid workers, doctors, and nurses who died in the tragic attack of August 5, 2010, in northern Afghanistan.

Mr. TANNER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, on August 5, 2010, 10 unarmed humanitarian aid workers affiliated with the International Assistance Mission, a nongovernmental organization operating a mobile health clinic for Afghans with little access to medical care, were brutally killed in Badakhshan province, Afghanistan. There were six Americans among the murdered aid workers. These brave and selfless individuals, Cheryl Beckett, Brian Carderelli, Thomas Grams, Glen Lapp, Tom Little and Dan Terry, dedicated their lives to serving the people of Afghanistan. Despite the grave danger that many humanitarian aid workers face, including from the Taliban, aid workers continue to operate in Afghanistan on behalf of the country's most impoverished and marginalized populations. We urge all parties involved in the conflict in Afghanistan to respect the neutral status of humanitarian aid workers and urge the Afghan authorities to do their utmost to bring the perpetrators of this heinous act to justice. The resolution before us today honors the sacrifice and the service of the brave and caring aid workers, doctors, and nurses who died in the tragic attack, and extends our condolences to the families of the victims. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6200) to amend part A of title XI of the Social Security Act to provide for a 1-year extension of the authorizations for the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance program and the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security program.

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

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. This bill is an extension of two very important provisions of the Ticket to Work Act of 1999 which basically helps disabled Americans return to work when, and if, they can. This has been a bipartisan team effort I was pleased to work on with Mr. Johnson some time ago. The bill has no direct spending and complies with pay-as-you-go rules. I am pleased to support this important extension of two programs from the bipartisan Ticket to Work Act of 1999, which was introduced by my colleagues Earl Pomeroy, Jim McDermott, and Sam Johnson. This has been a bipartisan, collaborative effort to ensure that two important programs that help disabled Americans return to work continue for another year, and I thank my colleagues for their good work on this issue. The Work Incentives Planning and Assistance program (WIPA) provides $23 million for community-based organizations to provide personalized assistance to help Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) recipients understand Social Security's complex work incentive policies and the effect that working will have on their benefits. In 2009, WIPA assisted over 37,000 SSI and DI beneficiaries who wanted to return to work. The Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) program provides $7 million in grants to designated Protection and Advocacy Systems to provide legal advocacy services that beneficiaries need to secure, maintain, or regain employment. In 2009, PABSS served nearly 9,000 beneficiaries. If Congress does not extend these programs by the end of October, the Social Security Administration has told us there may be a lapse in service to beneficiaries, so it's important that we act now. The bill also includes two commonsense, good-government changes to increase accountability and make the WIPA program more efficient. First, we add a requirement that all WIPA grantees report data to the Social Security Administration about the beneficiaries they serve and the kinds of help they provided, the same requirement that current PABSS grantees have. Good data is critical to our efforts to make sure that taxpayer funds to WIPAs are well-spent. It also helps us learn more about what kind of help disabled beneficiaries may need if they are able to return to work, which will allow us to make other improvements in future legislation. Second, this legislation would allow all WIPA grantees to carry over 10 percent of their funding into the next year, a change originally proposed by the Obama Administration. This change will allow for better and more consistent budgeting instead of encouraging end-of-year spending. By extending WIPA and PABSS for a year, we reaffirm our commitment to these important work support programs, while also acknowledging the need to consider policy and funding changes in the near future. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan, commonsense legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased at this time to yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Mr. TANNER. I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1631) calling for the protection of religious sites and artifacts from and in Turkish-occupied areas of northern Cyprus as well as for general respect for religious freedom.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1662) expressing support for the 33 trapped Chilean miners following the Copiapo mining disaster and the Government of Chile as it works to rescue the miners and reunite them with their families.

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. On August 5, 2010, the San Jose copper-gold mine in Copiapo, Chile collapsed, leaving 33 miners trapped 2,300 feet underground. As of today, they have been there for 55 days. The Chilean President has made the rescue of these stranded miners a national priority. This resolution addresses that deplorable event. While initial estimates suggested that a complete rescue will take as long as 4 months, recent developments give hope that relief could come for the miners and their families much sooner. Chilean officials are working tirelessly to rescue the 33 miners, and are making the necessary preparations to ease them back into society post-rescue. In this context, NASA has provided its unique expertise on rescue missions and the psychological impact of isolation. Private U.S. companies such as UPS have also contributed. Madam Speaker, this resolution expresses solidarity with the stranded miners and their families, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Ultralight Smuggling Prevention Act of 2010 is a bill introduced by my colleague Representative Giffords and is aimed at preventing smuggling through the use of ultralight vehicles, a recent practice threatening our border security. The legislation is a commonsense, good policy approach to give border enforcement officials the tools they need to protect to the fullest extent and bring to justice those who attempt to smuggle illegal narcotics and contraband into our country, regardless of the means. It makes good sense that we do this bill now. Our prosecutors should be armed with the ability to apply the strongest deterrents. Before yielding, at this moment I would like to thank Representative Giffords for her efforts in bringing this bill to the floor. It is, I think, great national security. We all know what the problems are, and her dedication and her commitment to this approach is something that I think deserves our notice and our thanks. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5307) to amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to include ultralight aircraft under the definition of aircraft for purposes of the aviation smuggling provisions under that Act, as amended.

Mr. TANNER. Thank you, Mr. Heller. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Giffords).