Lee Terry

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Would the gentleman yield for a clarification?

Mr. TERRY. We went through this exercise a week or so ago when we wanted to tax the bonuses at 90 percent. And so I ask the original so- called author, ostensible author of this bill, Mr. Grayson, if he even read the bill. And I would yield to Mr. Grayson for an answer. Okay. I guess we won't get an answer of whether or not he read the bill. What we found out is that now the public is still outraged because they are mad at the coverup between the Cabinet and Senator Dodd and this body's participation in it. So we are going to take now an extra measure in our CYA efforts and develop a bill that now will make the Federal Government intrude to the very core of any business that accepted a dollar of TARP dollars, where now the Treasury comes in without any expertise and sets the salaries for the secretaries on up.

Mr. TERRY. Let's go over the chronology of events here. We had a stimulus bill that was 1,100 pages, and there was a provision within the stimulus bill that was the opposite of the intentions of the House and the Senate, where language from the original versions and intentions of the House were stripped out in the middle of the night with only a few people in the room, which we have now subsequently learned that at least two of the people in the room were Secretary Geithner of the White House's Cabinet, and Senator Dodd. Now, I heard an earlier speaker, the gentleman from California, saying something about how we are deriding this one statement. They are right, because this one statement protected the bonuses, specifically protected the bonuses that became the outrage of America. This stimulus bill, with this language protecting it that was inserted by the White House and Senator Dodd, who has received about $200,000 in campaign contributions from AIG, by the way, that doesn't get mentioned on the floor too much. This was then brought to the floor, 1,100 pages, put before this body without an opportunity to read, a promise to us and American people that we would have 48 hours to read a complex bill when we had very few hours to read this bill. And now we are in what we call the coverup or cover your rear stage, because the people who voted for that stimulus are now running for cover.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to four of my constituents who have touched the hearts of countless members of the ``Greatest Generation'' and their families. Bill and Evonne Williams and John and Connie Liebsack organized the Heartland Honor Flight program a few years ago. Since 2008, in conjunction with the Nebraska Veterans of Foreign Wars, five separate flights of nearly 750 World War II veterans have been brought to Washington, D.C. to visit the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington and the World War II Memorial on the National Mall. By the end of this April, another 750 veterans will have made an Honor Flight visit to Washington, and there are still veterans on a waiting list. These men and women, most of who are seeing the World War II Memorial for the first time, are often moved to tears as they recall their war time experiences in Europe and the South Pacific and the comrades they knew who sacrificed for our liberty and freedom. Many of them, for the first time, open up to their loved ones about how their service to our Nation has affected them and their lives all these years. Madam Speaker, it is important to note that this undertaking is entirely underwritten by private donations. Airfare, meals, and medical assistance are provided free to these veterans--nearly $1 million has been raised so far. Across America, we lose more than 1,000 WWII veterans each day so it is vital those who are still among us have an opportunity to visit the Memorial. The Honor Flight network has the goal to bring 25,000 WWII veterans to the Memorial in 2009. How has this been accomplished? Through the hard work, dedication and compassion of people like Bill and Evonne Williams and John and Connie Liebsack. It is an honor for me to come to this floor and pay tribute to Bill, Evonne, John and Connie and the many other volunteers from Nebraska who have gone the extra mile to fulfill the dreams of WWII veterans. I congratulate them on their achievements and I call on all of my colleagues to offer them encouragement and support as they continue to bring as many veterans as possible to Washington in the coming months.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information for publication in the Congressional Record regarding earmarks received as part of H.R. 1105, Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. Name of the Requesting Member: Lee Terry. The bill number: H.R. 1105, Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. Project Name: Special Olympics Educational Programs. Amount Requested: $6,000,000. The legal name and address of requesting entity: 2010 Special Olympics USA National Games 8801 F Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68127. Description of earmark: The request I made was for the 2010 Special Olympics USA National Games to assist in funding the Special Olympics' Second USA National Games. This money would be spent on logistics, security, transportation, housing and meals for athletes during the 2010 games in Nebraska. It is my understanding that this project, which included my name as a requestor, is for Special Olympics educational programs that can be integrated into classroom instruction and for activities to increase the participation of individuals with intellectual disabilities, as authorized under the Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, the level of hypocrisy is astounding here. The resolution before us asks us to agree by our vote that the President is properly exercising all of the authorities granted to him by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which did ban bonuses and golden parachutes. What we do know is, the conference report, which was on a complete partisan basis adopted and signed by the President, had protection of bonuses to AIG written into it. Now what we don't know is how the language that was previously in the stimulus was taken out in conference secretively and this language put in. We do know that Senator Dodd was part of it because he has come out publicly and said I accept responsibility for putting this language in. Now, we don't know who came----

Mr. TERRY. So we know that Senator Dodd put this language in, but we don't know at whose request. But he has said at the President's request, probably through Geithner. So I can't in good conscience vote for this saying what the President has done through Secretary Geithner is appropriate.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. The public has an absolute right to be upset, and I share that. But let's look at the facts here. This language that specifically allows the bonuses was written into the stimulus, with the righteous indignation of my colleagues and friends on the Democrat side now demagoguing what they voted for and put in. Another fact: no Republican was allowed in the room when that conference report was actually written. We do know four people that were involved in writing that: one was Senator Reid, Senator Dodd, who has claimed responsibility for that language and accepted $200,000 in donations from AIG; we know Speaker Pelosi was in the room; and we know Barney Frank was, too, probably Secretary Geithner. Another fact was that the original language, before it got into that private little room, said that bonuses would be banned. But yet they replaced it with specific language allowing the bonuses. So what we see here today, with the people who actually voted for the bonuses, is a little CYA, a disingenuous attempt to cover their rears.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information for publication in the Congressional Record regarding earmarks received as part of H.R. 1105, Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. Name of the Requesting Member: Lee Terry The bill number: H.R. 1105, Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. Project Name: Combined Sewer Separation Amount: $650,000 The legal name and address of requesting entity: City of Omaha, Nebraska--Public Works Department 1819 Farnam Street, Omaha, NE 68183 Description of earmark: To be used for the design and construction of improvements to portions of the City's combined sewer system. These projects will allow the City of Omaha to reduce the amount of sewage overflowing to receiving streams. The Combined Sewer Overflow Controls project is consistent with the latest requirements from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) to achieve the goal of improved water quality in the United States. The NDEQ has issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) CSO Permit to the City of Omaha for its regional wastewater treatment system. A Consent Order with NDEQ requires Omaha to implement a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) to reduce the impact of wastewater discharges on the water quality of the Missouri River and the Papillion Creek. Specific activities for 2009 include: the Webster Street storm sewer extension, a new South Omaha force main sewer, and other projects to be determined. The combined sewer system is restricted to the eastern portion of the City of Omaha and serves approximately 130,000 people. Wet weather conditions result in discharge of raw sewage into the environment and residents' basements. Upon completion, the planned projects will reduce the CSO volume to the Missouri River; improve the water quality and the community's public health. Based on critical necessity for the design and construction of the sewer overflow improvements, the City is requesting this federal funding. Name of the Requesting Member: Lee Terry The bill number: H.R. 1105, Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. Project Name: 2010 Special Olympics USA National Games Amount: $238,000 The legal name and address of requesting entity: 2010 Special Olympics USA National Games 8801 F Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68127. Description of earmark: Money to be used to assist in funding the Special Olympics' Second USA National Games in 2010. The money will be spent on logistics, security, transportation, housing and meals for athletes. The Special Olympics has previously been funded by the U.S. Congress and the nation has an interest in developing all of our human capital, an opportunity which the Special Olympics USA National Games provides. Name of the Requesting Member: Lee Terry The bill number: H.R. 1105, Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. Project Name: UNMC Environmental Health Informatics Data Base Amount: $238,000 The legal name and address of requesting entity: UNMC 987680 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198 Description of earmark: Money will be used to create a Midwest Health Informatics database to assess environmental influences on the development of diseases by collecting health information from 50,000 Midwesterners. This database would be the first research cohort in the Midwest to study the relationship between rural populations, the environment, and disease development. This project could reveal environmental factors responsible for birth defects or lymphoma, a cancer with high incidence in Nebraska. The data will provide valuable information on the factors influencing development of deadly diseases like cancer.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, Black History Month provides a wonderful opportunity to recognize the many successful and talented African- Americans in my district. Today it is my great honor to recognize one in particular--Mr. Ben Gray. Ben Gray is an outstanding advocate for the youth of Omaha, Nebraska. After graduating from high school, Gray joined the U.S. Air Force. In 1973, he joined KETV television station located in Omaha. During his time at KETV, he worked his way from photo lab assistant to news photographer and producer and host of ``Kaleidoscope'', a weekly half- hour public service program. He has received local and nation awards as a reporter and photographer. Ben is actively involved with at-risk youth volunteering his time with C.W. Boxing Club. He is also Chairman of the Omaha Public Schools African-American Achievement Council, a group that works to close the achievement gap between black and white students. Ben is a familiar face, as he remains active in promoting equal rights and helping students to achieve success. He is active, involved and committed to helping children and bettering our community. Our nation would benefit from more people like Ben.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in order to honor a great constituent in my district, Mr. Ernie Chambers. Ernie Chambers is a former Nebraska State Senator and current member of the Omaha Learning Community. As a member of the Nebraska legislature, he served longer than any other member had and up until this year, he was the Legislature's lone African-American member. As a State Senator, he was a voice for the residents of north Omaha and he always asked the tough questions. While some of his colleagues might have disagreed with him from time to time, he earned their respect and demonstrated a great passion in his work. Mr. Chambers is a graduate of Omaha Central High School and Creighton University School of Law. It is my pleasure to recognize State Senator Ernie Chambers and thank him for his years of service to the great city of Omaha.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize another of the many successful and talented African-Americans in my district. Today it is my great honor to recognize Judy Pearl-Lee. Judy Pearl-Lee is President of Frontier Bag Company in Omaha, Nebraska. The company was started in 1946 by Judy's parents, Amos and Alberta. In the early years, the company provided products to the agricultural markets in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. Since then it has expanded into a variety of product lines, including duffle bags, briefcases and totes. As minority business owners, the family faced many challenges including the floods and fires of the 1950's as well as the civil rights riots in the 1960's. The family and the business weathered these setbacks and are now an established part of our Omaha business community. Judy attended Spelman College in Atlanta and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a degree in Bachelor Science Textile Science. In 1987 Judy took over the business and today the company can ship top-quality custom bags to anywhere in the country. Judy is also an active member of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Great Plains Minority Council, Kiwanis and Girls Inc. just to name a few. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to share Judy's life and business success with my colleagues and wish her continued success.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Water infrastructure is important. And certainly I see in the stimulus bill, at least the version that the House passed, that there will be investment in that infrastructure. And I think it's probably a good thing, although there's a budgetary process, an appropriation process, an authorization process, called WRDA, where the same thing could be done, and in an appropriate way where we can have appropriate discussions on that merit. What I have learned today during the 15-minute break I had to eat lunch is that there is now a deal that has been reached between the Speaker's office and the majority leader of the Senate's office on the stimulus bill--the conference. We always knew or anticipated that the whole process was just going to be rammed down the throats of the Members of Congress and that, in all likelihood, the conference was going to be the Speaker's office and Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader's office. Yesterday, they came out and said, We are going to have a conference. Even called our majority leader and said we are actually going to let two Republicans on the conference committee. Of course, none have been appointed. And, evidently, the deal has already been sealed, and now there's going to be some faux meeting, probably just for the television cameras to come out and display how great this process is, when the reality is not one opportunity has been given to the Republicans to be part of this process to talk about a stimulus plan that, yes, is different than the Pelosi-Reid-Obama stimulus plan that was put before this House and in a slightly different version in the Senate. I think that we should be afforded the opportunity to at least discuss the merits of our stimulus plan that is different, is philosophically different, because what we say is instead of growing government and programs, we want to stimulate the growth of business, particularly small businesses. And so we have got a laundry list of tax breaks or relief and regulatory relief that would be focused on small businesses so they cannot only retain their employees but, hopefully, even grow. Several economists have looked at our plan in comparison to the Pelosi-Reid-Obama-endorsed plan.

Mr. TERRY. Thank you. And those economists have said, when they have compared the two bills, the Republican one and the one that we are going to have rammed down our throats in the next day or two, if they give it 48 hours from now, that ours will be half the cost to the taxpayers, but yet create a million and a half new private sector jobs. Yet, we haven't even had the opportunity to have an open debate about which plan is better, even though we were promised that earlier. So, what we are left with is to rifle through a monstrous bill where we have uncovered money being funded to ACORN, door-to-door activities to find the 1.2 million people in the United States who evidently haven't bought their DTV converter box--$650 million for that--and a health committee that is going to second-guess physicians. We need the opportunity to be heard and to show sunlight on this process.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Mr. Salemme owns a business called Clearwire that actually will benefit from a delay because it puts his company into an advantageous position. Maybe that is why we are now talking about a delay of 4 months without any hearing. I would respectfully request that our committee oversight look into it. The ranking member of the oversight committee of Congress has asked for it, and I think it is a good idea to do.

Mr. TERRY. There was a poll that was brought out last week that said that 95 percent of the homes are ready. So if 95 percent are ready today, what is the number then that we have to be at to implement the hard date? Would it be 100 percent, 99.5 percent?

Mr. TERRY. Would the gentleman yield for one question?

Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition of this rule for a variety of different reasons. But let me engage in one of the first reasons, is I am not sure that a delay is necessary. Are there some hiccups or concerns? I am not going to agree with a couple of my colleagues and friends from the other side that talked about catastrophes. September 11th is a catastrophe. Delaying this is not, or February 17th is not. But let me run through what some of the concerns are. Some of the concerns is that we are not 100 percent ready. Some of the concerns is there is a waiting list; although, there are 10 million coupons issued today that are valid, representing 5 million homes, so those are people that were going to probably go in the next 13 days and buy one of the set-top boxes. I have gone into my electronics stores over the last week, and there are mountains. And I am not exaggerating, there were piles almost up to my neck in every one of the electronics stores that I went into. So what are the appropriate responses here? Is a delay necessary? We have had hearings, granted, on the merits of DTV hard date. We have not been able to have a discussion in this Congress whether, A, it is necessary to delay this for 4 months; or, whether there are appropriate responses that don't require a delay, like, for example, if we would have put up a suspension last week that said that the expiration dates aren't in existence anymore. So if you had one that expired, you could go out and use it. We could have changed an accounting rule that would have fixed the so-called money problem, although as the past chairman of this committee pointed out there really isn't a money problem. The amazing part about this to me is that with these simple solutions that both sides could have agreed upon, we could have had this done a couple weeks ago. But for some reason, 3 weeks ago just completely out of the blue our new President said we need to delay this. No discussion. When President Obama came to our conference a week or so ago, he was asked about why. And the response was, simply, because the past administration messed up. And he said, quote, ``Our people are telling me that we need 4 months.'' Then we find out that one of the people supposedly maybe that the President was referring to, a member of the transition team that was discussing with the transition team technology issues that owns a company called Clear Channel.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition of this delay. I want to run through numbers, and I know it's hard to orally talk about numbers and have it sink in, but the Nielsen survey that was done showed there was about 6.5 million folks or households a month ago that weren't hooked up. And Mr. Stearns from Florida mentioned that was 30 days ago, and many of those have already been hooked up, but let's just assume 30 days ago 6.5 million households. Right now, out in our communities and households there's 10 million coupons, valid, non-expired coupons. Let's assume, since each household was allowed two, that's 5 million households. So, really, what we're talking about is 1.5 million that would be left without resources, evidently, on February 18. For that, we're going to delay 4 months and also put up $650 million to somehow say in the last 2-plus years and millions and millions and millions of dollars of advertising, not only nationally but by our local affiliates and broadcasters, and here's what we've been told, it's not within the stimulus bill how that 650 will be spent, but we're told that 90 million of it is going to be spent paying people to go door to door, 40 million for converter boxes ostensibly for the 1.5 million which way exceeds the amount--so we have to ask if it's really going for converter boxes or it will be slid over somewhere else--and 160 million more in consumer education. Again, to find the 1.5 million people on February 18 that would ostensibly be left. And the other thing that confuses me is none of the public safety organizations of which our friend from Virginia mentioned in his opening remarks were coming to us in Congress, either side of the aisle, and saying, my goodness, you have to delay this. And then, frankly, nobody was coming to us saying, ``You have to delay this'' until the President, 3 weeks ago, out of the blue, said we should delay this because he was advised by somebody in his transition team that the previous administration had messed it up and it's going to take 4 months to fix. And then we find out that perhaps a person on the transition team actually had maybe a conflict of interest that was not relayed to the President. But the point that's here is that none of those folks that offered the letter had done so before the President asked for it.

Mr. TERRY. So what we also need to look at here is the $650 million, an appropriate amount for the 1.5 million. Are we, if we delay this another 4 months, even going to be able to find that 1.5 million? And I told a story the other day when we were discussing this about Tom Osborne, a Nebraskan icon, an idol. When he ran for Congress, a poll was done showing he had 95 percent name ID in the State of Nebraska when he ran for Congress. That means after 30 years of coaching and three national championships in the State of Nebraska, there were still 5 percent that had never heard of him. So if the new standard is to reach 100 percent, Mr. Speaker, we're not going to get there on February 18 or in June or June of 2010. So I don't understand why we're delaying this.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. TERRY. Are non-Members of Congress allowed to vocalize a vote?

Mr. TERRY. There were more than two ``ayes'' and there are only two Members on the House floor.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in order to honor a great Nebraskan, Marlin Briscoe. Marlin was a standout basketball and football player at Omaha South High School. He attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha where he played quarterback, something unique for an African American in the 1960s. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos. He played for them and the Miami Dolphins, and he went on to play several years in the NFL. But he really made his mark when he fell from grace because of his addiction to drugs, and he even spent time in jail. But Marlin eventually recovered and has since turned his life around and has been a strong advocate for at-risk youth. He is a mentor, a teacher, a role model. He once said that working for the Boys and Girls Club was the most important thing he had ever done in his life. Marlin, our country, and especially the people of Omaha, Nebraska, are very proud of your contributions and accomplishments.

Mr. TERRY

Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to voice my objection and disappointment to this massive spending bill, perhaps a trillion dollars by the time it's all done. And that is being sold as the only way to jump-start the American economy. Portions of this bill may lead to financial relief for some individuals and some small businesses, but most of the new spending will simply increase the size of the Federal Government, creating a new baseline which is not sustainable. Now, that concerns me greatly because this trillion dollars goes to the national debt, which is, to me, a drag on the economy now. Economists tell us, and I believe them, that this will cause an increase in the inflation rate, create stagflation, and increase interest rates over the next several years. This is not the right way to go at this point of time. If the bill contained tax cuts, incentives, as well as the infrastructure that is much needed in America, I could support that.