John Tierney

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I'd like to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Peters).

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch).

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin). (Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield the remaining time on this side to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen).

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I hereby submit the attached letters of opposition to H.R. 4628. Congress Must Not Eliminate Prevention and Public Health Fund Statement of the American Lung Association Washington.--Some in Congress are trying to force the nation to choose between health and education. The House of Representatives is poised to vote on a measure to eliminate the lifesaving Prevention and Public Health Fund to pay for keeping student loan rates down. The American Lung Association fiercely opposes any attempts to divert or cut the Prevention Fund. The Affordable Care Act established the Prevention Fund to promote wellness, to prevent disease, and to protect against public health emergencies. America should not have to choose between protecting the health of its citizens and making higher education more affordable. Congress must reject this ill-conceived approach. The student loan interest rate issue can and must be resolved without undermining the health of millions of Americans. The Prevention Fund is already helping Americans across the country to make healthier choices and to take responsibility for their own health and the health of their families. Because of the Prevention Fund, states and communities are now able to help more people quit smoking through cessation programs and improve lung health by preventing and treating lung diseases, including COPD, lung cancer, and asthma. It is also allowing states and communities to monitor outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as influenza, and enhance prevention services in low-income and underserved communities. Quitting smoking is the single most important thing a smoker can do to improve their health status. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Tips from Former Smokers media campaign, which was underwritten by the Prevention Fund, has already resulted in tens of thousands of additional calls to 1 800 QUIT NOW by smokers seeking help with quitting. This is tangible evidence of the Prevention Fund having a positive impact. Prevention programs work. Prevention save lives and helps keep people healthy. Congress must not play politics with our nation's health. The American Lung Association strongly urges Congress to reject this absurd choice. Erika Sward, Director, National Advocacy.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that this House take action to stop the need-based student loan interest rates from doubling at the end of June. If we defeat the previous question, the House will have an opportunity to take up a bill that I have filed and introduced that will keep those interest rates at 3.4 percent for 1 year. My Democratic colleagues and I recognize the importance of being fiscally responsible, so our bill is completely paid for. We pay for it by ending unnecessary tax subsidies for big oil and gas companies. These are the same companies that took home $80 billion in profits last year. Exxon pocketed nearly $4.7 million every hour. We have to make choices here in Congress. Our side of the aisle believes that it is a fair and reasonable choice to eliminate an unjustified subsidy to hugely profitable industries so that 7 million students, including some 177,000 in my Commonwealth of Massachusetts alone, will not see an increase in their student loans. Our side of the aisle believes that encouraging middle class students and their families to be able to pay for college educations should be a bigger priority than continuing tax subsidies for Big Oil. Now, the other side of the aisle has been tremendously late to this issue. I know the presumptive nominee for the Presidential race has changed his mind and has come around to believing that this is important--a practice that he does on a regular basis. They've come around to the side of knowing that we should keep these interest rates low, and we welcome that; but the fact of the matter is that they have decided to make the wrong choice in how we're going to pay for it. The bill that is expected to come to the House floor tomorrow includes a short-term fix for the student loan issue, but it will do it at the expense of women and children. What is it with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle with the knee-jerk reaction of, every time they have to do something, they take a gratuitous swipe at women's health benefits and women's health choices? Their bill would end funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings for women, and their bill would end funding for child immunizations. Their bill makes the wrong and the reckless choice. I urge my colleagues to defeat this motion so that we can consider my bill for a vote on the floor, a bill that makes the right choice, that makes sure we keep the rates low, that makes sure the oil companies get rid of that subsidy they no longer need or should have.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Dick Wylie for his 25 years of service as President of Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. Receiving a bachelor's degree from Plymouth State College and a master's and doctorate from Boston University, Dr. Wylie has led by example as a professor and administrator at several notable institutions, including the University of Connecticut, Temple University, the University of Colorado, and Lesley University. Thanks in part to Dr. Wylie's leadership and dedication to higher education, Endicott College grew from a small, two-year women's college into the esteemed four-year coeducational institution it is today. Specifically, when Dr. Wylie arrived in spring of 1987, Endicott College had an enrollment of fewer than 600 students. Its campus consisted of 28 buildings on 140 acres; the College's operating budget was $7.7 million; and its endowment was $3.9 million dollars. Today--25 years later--almost 5,000 students are enrolled at Endicott College, which now has 51 buildings on 235 acres of land. The College's operating budget is now over $85 million, and its endowment is more than ten times what it was in 1987. In 1996, Dr. Wylie helped found the Van Loan School of Graduate and Professional Studies, which currently offers Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Technology and Nursing (M.S.), Master of Arts, Master of Fine Arts, and Master of Education degrees as well as accelerated bachelor's degrees for adult learners. In December 2011, the College received approval to offer its first doctoral program, a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, which is reportedly the first approved doctoral program on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Throughout his tenure at Endicott College, Dr. Wylie has never lost sight of the school's philanthropic duty to give back to its community. Mr. Speaker, it is worth noting that, just this past year, Endicott College's study body put in 15,000 hours of community service, an achievement which earned them recognition from the White House. Dr. Wylie also established Endicott Colleges ``Keys to Degrees'' program. This forward-thinking program seeks to provide young, single parents the opportunity to receive a college education. Providing an environment that supports not only their needs but their children's as well, the Keys to Degrees program allows our young parents to have a better life and in turn offer a better life to their children. Dr. Wylie's vision for providing single parents the services they need and deserve did not begin and end with the ``Keys to Degrees'' program, but it continues with a variety of educational services including internships and mentoring programs as well as weekend retreats on campus for both the students and their children. His stewardship in intergenerational education has recently earned him the distinct honor of being named a fellow at the Aspen Institute. On May 5, Endicott College will be formally celebrating Dr. Wylie's remarkable 25 years as president. I look forward to being with him and his colleagues that night. In the meantime, I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize and congratulate Dr. Wylie as well as thank him for his efforts to educate and provide opportunities for students of all ages.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer the final amendment to this bill that will give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission the resources that it needs to put an end to the speculation that's contributing to the high gas prices across this country. I want to be clear, Mr. Speaker. This amendment will not kill the bill, and it will not send it back to committee. If this amendment is adopted, the House will still immediately proceed to a vote on the final passage of the bill, and it should. Today, estimates are that speculators control about 70 percent of the open interest in commodity markets--70 percent. Ten years ago, that number was 30 percent. These speculators are essentially large banks and hedge funds. They never actually take control of the oil. They just flip the contract, make their quick profit and get out. However, unlike trading in the stocks and bonds of traditional companies, commodities speculation has a real and big-time effect on Americans, driving up the price of gas. It creates undue hardship whether you are a business owner with a small fleet of cars or a large fleet of trucks or are a homeowner who is taking his kids back and forth to school, doing your shopping or running other essential errands. This hurts people who are already struggling to make ends meet. According to one official at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, speculation, not the lack of production, has increased the price of gas by at least 22 percent, and today's price is about 56 cents per gallon. This should be unacceptable to every single one of us. What is needed is for this Congress to make a concerted effort to curb speculation and Wall Street's anticonsumer practices. This amendment will do just that, and it will ensure that the CFTC has the resources it needs to carry out investigations and enforcement activities to stop commodity markets fraud, excessive speculation, and market manipulation. The President has recognized the importance of this issue and, just today, has called on this Congress to support increases in the CFTC's surveillance and enforcement staff for oil futures market trading, among other things. We need to give American families the confidence that illegal manipulation, fraud, and market rigging are not contributing to these high prices of gas. This House can take the first step and approve this amendment. The amendment also ensures that nothing in the underlying bill allows, promotes, or facilitates lobbyist junkets related to hunting, fishing, or recreational shooting activities on Federal lands. I would hope that we can all agree that this bill should not create any loopholes to lobbying restrictions that are currently in place, and my amendment simply ensures that this is the case. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield the balance of my time to the ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey).

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

Mr. TIERNEY. I am.

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. I thank my colleague from Massachusetts for yielding, as well as for taking the time to help manage this bill and for being an original cosponsor; and I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania, as well, for cosponsoring this bill and for his kind words in discussion of what it is and how meaningful it is not just to Salem, Massachusetts, but to the country as well. I rise in support of this bill to officially recognize Salem, Massachusetts, as the Birthplace of the National Guard. Salem was the site where our country's first military regiment mustered. This militia was the foundation of what would eventually become the National Guard. Last year, I offered a version of this legislation as an amendment to the Defense authorization bill, and it was approved by a voice vote. Unfortunately, my amendment was not included as part of the final conference report. So for the past several months, we've been working together to bring this bill to the floor. Next month is the 375th anniversary of that first muster on Salem Common, and it's being commemorated; so I'm particularly pleased that the House is considering this bill at this time. I want to be clear: consideration of this bill today is made possible because of bipartisan support; and just like my two colleagues here, there are a number of people, over 116 cosponsors from both parties, who participated in bringing this bill. I want to thank the majority leader, as well as the leadership on both sides, for his courtesy given to the staff as well as to me. I also want to thank the House Armed Services Committee chairman, Buck McKeon, as well as the ranking member, Adam Smith, and their staffs; and I want to note the 116 colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, all the Democrats on the Armed Service Committee and a substantial number of Republicans on that committee for their support. This kind of consideration is just the way this House should behave and should act, and I'm glad that we were able to do it on this bill. So today is an important day for the City of Salem and for the National Guard and for local residents like Larry Conway and many others who have been advocating for this designation for years. Designating Salem as the Birthplace of the National Guard will pay tribute to those who first organized to defend our country almost 375 years ago, and it will also honor those men and women who continue to serve in the National Guard today. We are working closely with our Senate counterparts to ensure that that Chamber acts quickly in time for the 375th anniversary next month. I won't recount all of the details my colleagues here were so kind to enumerate, but I do note that the bill itself sets forth all the important benchmarks and the progress that we've made. Again, I want to thank my colleagues, and I urge all the colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support legislation that I, along with Congressman George Miller of California and Ruben Hinojosa of Texas, are introducing later today to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act. The Workforce Investment Act, or WIA as it is commonly known, is the primary Federal law governing how employment and training services are provided to adults, youth, and dislocated workers. It was enacted in 1998 when unemployment was below 5 percent and before many of today's high growth industries even existed. It is long past time for WIA to be modernized and retooled to address our country's current challenges. The bill I'm introducing today does just that. This bill increases access to training and improves the delivery of employment services. It strengthens the law's accountability standards to better evidence program effectiveness and provide assurances that our taxpayer dollars are being well spent. My bill ensures that the kind of innovative work that's being done by the North Shore Workforce Investment Board in my district and elsewhere across the country can be replicated and taken to scale, and it expands the role of community colleges in job training. This is the kind of commonsense legislation on which this Congress should be acting. We need to make sure we provide the training and education so that Americans have the skills to fulfill the jobs of today and tomorrow. Too many businesses have job vacancies because they can't find qualified candidates. Working together to help workers and those looking to hire them should not be a partisan issue. We need to find those qualified candidates and put them to work. Modernizing and strengthening WIA will help both workers and employers, and it will ensure that our country can remain competitive in this global economy. I urge my colleagues' support for it.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Christine Taillon for her 32 years of service at General Electric in Lynn, Massachusetts, and to congratulate her on her recent retirement. Christine started as a temporary employee in 1979 but soon became a permanent member of the GE staff. While raising two sons, working full time, and completing a bachelor's degree at Salem State College and a master's degree in Management at Lesley College in Cambridge, Christine progressed in various roles throughout the Lynn Aircraft Engine unit and became one of the first women in the company to become a Six Sigma Black Belt--a team leader responsible for measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling key processes that influence customer satisfaction and productivity growth. Christine completed her General Electric career at the end of 2011 as a Senior Tech Manager for Turbo Shaft & GE38 Marine & Commercial Programs. The GE38 engine is believed to be the most technologically advanced turbo shaft engine in its class, and it is my understanding that the United States Marine Corps has selected it to power the Sikorsky CH53K Super Stallion helicopter. General Electric has been in Lynn since 1892, and members of Christine's family have proudly worked there for most of that time. Christine's grandfather, Martin G. Higgins, entered the apprentice program at Lynn General Electric in 1904 and worked there for 34 years. Her father, John J. Higgins, worked at GE for 33 years, from 1943 to 1975. Christine's husband, Michael Taillon, also worked for 41 years at Lynn GE. In total, that is 140 years of service to General Electric in Lynn. I congratulate Christine on her remarkable career and wish her all the best in her retirement.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. I am.

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to this bill. It will not kill the bill, and it won't send it back to committee. If adopted, we will then vote on the passage of the bill, as amended. When families in my district and across the country sit around the kitchen table to try to balance their budgets, they know that costs don't stay the same every year. They know the price of milk and gas and college and health care all go up. Yet H.R. 3578, left unamended, holds the budgetary baseline constant instead of allowing it to reflect increases in costs, making simple inflation adjustments look like increases in spending. Ignoring increases in costs will dramatically lower program levels in the baseline. Translated, this means that the priorities we support to help sustain the middle class and those aspiring to it, the programs we pay our taxes to support, will be cut as inflation eats into the accounts set in the budget. The Republican majority argues that America's middle class must make even more sacrifices to address our debt. The majority's mantra is that austerity alone, spending cuts focused only on nondefense discretionary domestic spending with no additional revenue and without closing any special interest tax loopholes, is all they think should be done. Never mind that it's largely their policies enforced under the last administration, aided and abetted by the then-Federal Reserve Board chairman, that were largely responsible for the debt situation. Never mind that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has since testified that this was wrong, that his ``unconstrained free market'' ``winner- take-all'' theory had never worked in his 80-plus-year life span. Never mind that in the 1970s, we used to spend 5 percent of our national income on discretionary domestic spending, like education, job training, health, research, veterans, and infrastructure; but more recently, we've already pared that back to 2.5 percent. With this bill, the majority tries to balance the budget on the backs of workers, middle class families, small businesses, and society's most challenged. They refuse to consider a fair distribution of our tax obligations. They even refuse to close special interest tax loopholes. This bill, if not amended, chooses shielding the extraordinarily well-off from any fair share of taxes over sustaining Pell Grants, student assistance promising opportunity to families. It chooses allowing hedge fund managers the benefit of especially low tax rates over Meals on Wheels for seniors. And it chooses special tax credits to the mature, extremely profitable oil and gas companies over providing the security of housing for homeless veterans returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. The austerity-only approach to addressing their largely self-induced debt is not the smart response to our economy's needs. We need to deal with our economic situation in a smart way, as attested by the majority of economists from all across the political divide. We need a gradual approach, balanced between spending cuts and revenue increases fairly distributed. Those need to be appropriately targeted in amount, share and time, not applied in bludgeon fashion like this bill on the floor today. Choking off the middle class by cutting spending for education, health, jobs, job training, research, senior care, and our obligations to veterans is shortsighted. Studies and reports from international and national economists tell us that a vibrant middle class is essential for the well-being of our economy; imperative for businesses so they have customers for their goods and services; important to employers so they have the next generation of innovators, inventors, scientists, teachers, engineers, and a generally capable workforce; and important to families and individuals as they seek personal and economic security. We shouldn't need to argue the moral imperative of meeting our obligations to those suffering from debilitating health conditions and the families that support them; to the care of our seniors, especially those aged, alone and poor; nor to our duty to our military forces, especially the wounded and disabled. Left as is, this bill is a step to undoing all the progress, however slow, so far made in moving from the near depression caused by the failed policies of 2001-2008. Simply cutting spending on the middle class, at the same time businesses and families have been forced to limit spending, and just as municipalities and the States are trimming back, just adds to the downward spiral of fewer customers for our businesses, less growth for our economy, more layoffs, and on and on in a repeating circle. Make no mistake, this bill, if not amended, makes the dream of post- high school certificates or degrees or acquired job skills more remote for many; makes the visit of a neighbor and delivery of perhaps the day's only warm meal for seniors less likely; means research on debilitating health conditions or diseases may be delayed, and the cure of cancers a more distant goal; and consigns our veterans to longer periods of homelessness and more difficulty getting the services they need to get a job. This amendment would allow the effects of inflation to be factored into the budgetary baseline so as to avoid automatic cuts in purchasing power that would otherwise result from this bill. Passing this amendment allows us to at least start on a path to the kind of America most of us envision, or at least it lessens the obstacles to that America that are thrown up by this legislation in its current form. Let's pass this amendment and start down a path that recalls what makes this country exceptional, the notion that everyone, no matter what economic or social condition one is born into, should have an equal opportunity to reach our goals; to an America reflecting that its people should shoulder and will shoulder any burden, suffer any sacrifice, if shared fairly. Let's pass this amendment and add back at least a modest degree of balance and fairness. Mr. Speaker, I would hope that for those who count on us to be fair and just, or to make smart, targeted, and balanced approaches to our complex challenges, we could at least do that. I urge support of this amendment, and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is relatively straightforward. It ensures that two important Army Corps of Engineers accounts--construction and operation maintenance--be funded at last year's levels. I certainly understand that the committee was challenged by the allocation it was allotted, and that was $1 billion below fiscal year 2011 and nearly $6 billion less than the President's request. Despite that, I appreciate that Chairman Frelinghuysen has added $195 million to the President's budget request for the Army Corps of Engineers. He is to be commended for that. Unfortunately, I think that Congress can and must do better. According to the Army Corps, we have 59 ports and harbors that carry about 90 percent of our economic activity in this country--2.2 billion tons of cargo and $1.4 trillion in commerce. In testimony before the Senate committee last year, an official from the United States Chamber of Commerce discussed the importance of our ports, inland and coastal waterways to America's businesses. This is what the official said: The business community, from ports to barge operators to agricultural exporters, depends on a marine transportation system to move goods to domestic and international markets. They are also important parts of the Nation's economic engine and are drivers for job creation in America. Maintaining our Federal channels to their authorized and required dimensions is a critical part of ensuring that this commerce can continue uninterrupted. Yet we continue to have a significant dredging backlog, and I am concerned that this bill's allocation for the Army Corps is insufficient to appropriately address that backlog. It doesn't just affect commerce; it impacts people's lives very intimately as well. I hear from constituents in my district, particularly those in Newburyport and the Plum Island part of Newbury, who tell me that their homes are quite literally about to fall into the ocean unless the Army Corps can rehabilitate a jetty that hasn't been repaired in 40 years. That's not an uncommon story on our waterways. The least we can do for these families is to ensure that the important Army Corps programs are funded at last year's levels. The subcommittee allocation makes that incredibly difficult for Members to address, and I understand that. Taking care of perceived deficiencies in a bill are going to need attention. I expect there will be some concerns, which I am perfectly willing to address in my further comments. In anticipation of what might be brought up, either Congress can fund these important Army Corps functions at last year's levels by making modest reductions to two Department of Energy programs that, when combined, receive more than $1 billion in this bill or Congress can choose to sustain the level of commitment to the Army Corps and slightly reduce the Department of Energy's fossil fuel energy research and development and the nuclear energy programs. I think it is a relatively easy call. For my constituents, it certainly is. Congress should be on the side of increasing its investments and repairing and modernizing its water infrastructure and putting people back to work, so support for this amendment would ensure that we don't diminish our commitment to those critical Army Corps functions. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Chairman, this is a revised amendment that deals with the objection raised by the chairman on the previous amendment that was proposed on this matter. It still gets to the fundamental issue here, that we need to restore the Army Corps of Engineer budgets here through the Construction and Operation and Maintenance accounts to the point of at least where it was in fiscal year 2011. We have serious issues confronting our economy. This is a way to make sure that the Corps has the resources it needs to deal with its numerous issues--our ports, dealing with our economy, moving the cargo, and essentially putting people to work, and also protecting the homes and the welfare of people that live along ways that need dredging or that need jetties repaired that haven't been repaired for decade after decade. While I understand that the chairman had a difficult role and opportunity was limited due to the amount of money that was allocated for him and this committee, and I respect what he tried to do, simply speaking, I think we have the choices to make here, and those choices are to protect the interests of people, to make sure that we get people back to work, to give the Army Corps the resources that it needs, at the same time reducing other accounts by a rather minimal amount so that we effect our purposes without causing too much destruction to programs that other people may favor. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the accomplishments of Susan E. Egan and congratulate her on her forthcoming retirement. For the past 38 years, Mrs. Egan has served as the Head of Harborlight Montessori School, which she co-founded in 1973. She has served as an active leader of the school and has made numerous contributions to the school's development as well as to the community. Under her leadership, Harborlight grew from a 27-student, one-room school located in the basement of the First Baptist Church in Beverly, Massachusetts, to a model Montessori school enrolling more than 250 students in 17 classes. With the addition of several wings for a preschool, an expansive school library, and additional rooms for art, music and language lessons, Susan's vision of making the Montessori method of teaching accessible to all children of the North Shore continues today. An active member of the community, Susan serves on the Board of Symphony by the Sea as well as the Lynch Park Advisory Committee. Her dedication to service is instilled in the fabric of Harborlight, where students are involved in community service projects that partner with local organizations. Prior to serving as the Head of Harborlight, Susan earned a master's degree in education and completed post-graduate work in counseling psychology. She is a licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Marriage and Family Therapist, as well as a licensed teacher, school director and Registered Nurse. As she concludes her tenure as the Head of Harborlight Montessori School, I wish to recognize Susan Egan for her remarkable achievements as a teacher and mentor and wish her all the best in her retirement.

Mr. TIERNEY

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 30th anniversary of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council (MSAC). For the past 30 years, the MSAC has served as a champion for low- and moderate- income seniors, achieving gains in promoting the rights and well-being of seniors. Since its first meeting in April 1981, the MSAC has brought together thousands of area seniors to participate in public meetings, rallies and government hearings and has succeeded in bringing necessary services to seniors in need. Shortly after its inception, the MSAC restored local bus routes, established medical and transportation services, and ensured the improvement of maintenance at local subsidized housing complexes. It has won hard-earned victories in creating low-cost drug programs for seniors, passing legislation to provide home care as an alternative to institutional care, and ending ``balance billing'' for Medicare patients. Today, the MSAC has over 1,000 active members of all ages working at the grassroots level to continue to ensure that seniors have access to the resources they need most. Seven chapters throughout Massachusetts provide support, leadership training, and opportunities to advocate for those members of the senior community who otherwise would have no voice. I join my friends in the North Shore chapter and so many others in congratulating the Massachusetts Senior Action Council on 30 successful years. I wish them the best as they continue to serve as a voice for all vulnerable residents of Massachusetts.