Chris Van Hollen

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the National Defense Authorization 2009. This bipartisan bill authorizes $531 billion for the DoD and national defense programs of the Department of Energy and reflects Congress' commitment to supporting our troops and their families while protecting the national interests of the United States and improving the oversight and accountability of funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe passage of this bill will be welcome news to our service members and their families. To help our troops readjust to civilian life and to help military families deal with the economic pressures here at home as a spouse serves overseas, the bill provides a 3.9 percent pay raise for all servicemembers and extends the President's authority to offer bonuses and other incentive pay. The bill provides tuition assistance to help military spouses establish their own careers, authorizes funds to assist area schools with large enrollments of children from military families, and reverses the rise in health care costs by prohibiting fee increases in TRICARE and the TRICARE pharmacy program. As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where oversight of war contracting has been a priority, I am encouraged by language in the bill to increase transparency and accountability of federal contracts. The Defense Department has made over 180,000 payments to contractors from offices in Iraq, Kuwait, and Egypt. These payments are for everything from bottled water to assault rifles. But due to poor DoD accountability and oversight, billions of dollars of taxpayer money are unaccounted for or have simply gone missing. Today, the DoD Deputy Inspector General told the Oversight and Government Reform Committee that, after reviewing approximately $8.2 billion in Defense spending in Iraq, they estimate that the Department failed to properly account for $7.8 billion. Additionally, the IG reported that the Defense Department has paid $135 million to Britain, South Korea, Poland, and other countries to conduct their own operations in Iraq. The DoD Inspector General tried to find out what this money was used for, but could find no answers. The bill addresses the lack of accountability in war contracting in two ways. First, by requiring a separate budget request for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it will be easier for Congress and American people to follow more closely how U.S. tax dollars are being spent. Second, with the passage of the Waxman amendment to the bill, anti- fraud measures will be enhanced and transparency in contracting Increased by limiting the use of abuse-prone contracts and by rebuilding the federal acquisition workforce. I am also supporting this bill for the assistance it provides the many thousands of federal employees who work for the DoD and who are fearful of administration efforts to use the OMB A-76 Circular to compete out their jobs. I am pleased that I was able to help ensure that the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act included a provision that prohibits the Pentagon from undertaking, preparing for, continuing, or completing public-private competitions of federal jobs as directed by the Office of Management and Budget. The provision also overturns the mandatory requirement that the jobs of federal employees be re-competed every 5 years. The Department of Defense has yet to issue guidance to the Department to implement past congressional A-76 recommendations nor has it listened to the recommendations of military commanders who have warned that these A-76 competitions are harming the Pentagon's mission. So, the National Defense Authorization Act again urges the Pentagon to immediately implement guidelines recommended by Congress. Like most bills, this one contains provisions that I would not have included. However, on balance it is a good bill that strengthens our national security.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I thank the gentleman. This bill continues the new Congress' steadfast commitment to driving a clean energy revolution in our country and stimulating near-term growth in our struggling economy. Gas prices are up around $4 a gallon. Climate change is a clear and present danger. We need to wean ourselves off of largely imported foreign sources of fossil fuel. This bill charts that new course, the right course. It provides critical incentives for accelerated energy production from wind, geothermal, and hydropower sources. It includes investment tax credits for solar and fuel cell properties and a number of other factors. To give our economy a boost, the legislation extends pro-growth policies like the R&D tax credit, and cuts taxes for millions of middle class families through a host of provisions including the expanded child tax credit. Mr. Speaker, this is a pro-growth, pro-environment, forward-looking and fully paid for package that helps move our country in a new direction. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to resist change. They had a monopoly on power in Washington for 6 years and did nothing. Now they have become the party of ``no,'' veto, and the status quo. Let's move in a new direction.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2419, the 2008 Farm Bill Conference Report. This bill provides a breakthrough for the Chesapeake Bay by providing an unprecedented level of funding to aid in the cleanup of this national treasure. H.R. 2419 provides, for the first time, a bay specific program to ensure that farmers in the watershed will get their fair share of conservation funding. The Conference Report provides $188 million, over 5 years, in bay-specific conservation funding. Moreover, the bill includes a baseline of funding in the amount of $438 million over 10 years. This will enable the program to be extended at the expiration of this 5-year bill. Additionally, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation estimates that farmers in the bay watershed will be eligible for an additional $252 million in national program funding in working land programs in addition to conservation set-aside programs. This funding will be over and above the annual conservation funding in the last year of the previous farm bill that provided $80 million to the Bay watershed. I want to thank the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson, and the chairman of the Conservation Subcommittee, Tim Holden, for the programs and funding that they have provided to assist farmers in controlling sediment and nutrient runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. Moreover, the program would not have been possible without the support of the many Members of Congress on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Taskforce. In addition, the work of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, in providing technical assistance and grass roots support, was essential to the success of the establishment of this program. The Chesapeake Bay Commission also provided assistance in the crafting of an initial legislation, CHESSEA, that helped galvanize the support of Members who are committed to restoring the health of the Bay. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the U.S. Its watershed includes 66,000 farms with an estimated 8.5 million acres of land. The watershed contains 150 tributary streams and rivers. The watershed spans 6 States and the District of Columbia. Almost half of the nitrogen and phosphorus pollutant load in the bay is caused by agricultural runoff--from fertilizer and animal waste. In 1987 there was the first attempt to clean up the bay with an agreement between the States and the Federal Government. The goal was to clean up the bay by 2000. When the deadline passed, a more detailed agreement was developed and the leaders of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the EPA pledged to fix the bay's water, its oyster population, its beds of underwater grass, and other environmental indicators by 2010--which will require the reduction of 110 million pounds of pollution. Every environmental assessment indicates that the 2010 deadline will not be met and that the environmental condition of the bay is continuing to deteriorate. A recent report by the Chesapeake Bay Program's Health and Restoration Assessment found that most of the bay's waters are degraded, the bay's critical habitats, like grasses, are at risk and that many of the bay's blue crabs, striped bass and oyster populations are below historic levels. This bill provides the much needed resources to restore the Chesapeake Bay to its original vitality. national conservation In addition to the conservation funding for the bay, this bill boosts conservation programs by $7.9 billion, to nationally reduce soil erosion, enhance water supplies, improve water and air quality, increase wildlife habitat and reduce damage caused by floods and other natural disasters. Moreover, fruit and vegetable producers will have their own place in the farm bill for the first time and will benefit from more than $1.3 billion for new programs that support research, pest management, and trade promotion to help the industry. nutrition Nearly three-fourths of the farm bill before us today, an additional $10.4 billion in new spending, goes to nutrition programs that help 38 million American families afford healthy food. These critical food stamp provisions will help about 11 million people by 2012. Households with children receive 77 percent of food stamp benefits. Moreover, during this time of fiscal austerity for many families in our Nation, this bill provides much-needed support to emergency feeding organizations, such as food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens, by increasing funding for TEFAP by $1.25 billion--with $50 million for immediate shortages at food pantries. The farm bill also will assist schools in providing healthy snacks to students, with $1 billion for free fresh fruits and vegetables. Finally, it provides international nutrition assistance by providing $60 million, in addition to the existing Food for Peace international aid program, to purchase emergency food aid overseas and provides an additional $84 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program for infant, child, and school nutrition programs in underdeveloped countries. renewable fuels The farm bill we are considering today will assist Congress in promoting the development of biofuels from noncorn sources. The Renewable Fuels Standard that was part of the 2007 Energy law requires that two-thirds of our fuel needs be met by nonfood feedstocks for biofuels, such as switchgrass and woodchips. The farm bill takes another critical step in transitioning biofuels beyond corn--by reducing the current tax credit for corn-based ethanol by 6 cents per gallon and creating a new tax credit to promote the production of cellulosic biofuels. Moreover, the farm bill invests $1 billion in renewable energy, focusing on new technologies and new sources, including $320 million in loan guarantees for biorefineries that produce advanced biofuels and a new program to encourage the production of new biomass for cellulosic ethanol and other energy production, helping producers learn how to harvest, store, and transport biomass to bioenergy facilities. critical reforms The Conferees have made many reforms to commodity subsidies in this bill. Commodity programs account for less than 13 percent of the farm bill. This bill will reduce the cap for nonfarm income by 80 percent, to $500,000, and puts in place the first-ever cap for farm income at $750,000 for fixed direct payments. The bill reduces direct farm payments by $300 million; the Administration proposed increasing these fixed payments by $5.5 billion, even though they are paid out regardless of farm prices. The bill also closes a loophole (the three- entity rule) that for decades has permitted the collection of double the farm payment limits by collecting cash on more than one business. Moreover, it includes tax reforms to limit the use of farming losses to reduce their taxes on nonfarm income. I applaud the Conferees for these reforms. Unfortunately, these measures do not go far enough. I would have preferred the elimination of subsidies to wealthy agri-business interests in their entirety. We need to continue to work to reduce the reliance of our farm program on commodity supports that often benefit the farmers who need support the least. conclusion However, the Commodity Title is included in a comprehensive bill that contains many good programs, including: the Chesapeake Bay conservation provision, as well as significant funding for farm conservation across the Nation. Moreover, the robust nutrition program that aids the disadvantaged here and abroad, coupled with the recognition of specialty crops and the inclusion of the proper incentives to increase the production and refinement of renewable fuel from nonfood sources are extraordinary advancements that are worthy of support. I believe that, on balance, this bill provides many worthwhile benefits which prompt me to cast my vote in support of this Conference Agreement.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Speaker, I rise in support of the second amendment to the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008. Today, one quarter of subprime adjustable-rate mortgages are delinquent by 90 days or more. As a consequence, during 2007, foreclosure proceedings were initiated on about 1.5 million U.S. homes. The Federal Reserve has projected that the rate of foreclosures will grow even higher in 2008. We know that many of these foreclosures are unavoidable. There are cases where investors choose foreclosure because a property's value has depreciated significantly, or a borrower's personal circumstances have changed. And, many times, as has recently become alarmingly prevalent, a borrower was put into a loan inappropriate for their circumstances. But, if a foreclosure is preventable, and the borrower wants to stay in the home, the economic argument for trying to avolid foreclosure is strong. Foreclosures impose high legal and administrative costs. Foreclosures can destabilize communities, reduce area property values and lower municipal tax revenues. And, at the national level, foreclosures add to the stock of homes for sale, increasing downward pressure on home prices, which affects the broader economy. In the past, mortgage defaults were usually triggered by a borrower's life event, such as the loss of a job, serious illness or injury, or divorce. But the widespread decline in home prices we are witnessing today is a relatively new phenomenon and lenders, servicers and policymakers will have to develop new strategies to meet this new challenge. To be effective, our approach must closely target the borrowers at the highest risk of foreclosure while avoiding programs that give borrowers, who can make their payments, an incentive to default. Th American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act will address these problems. The bill's second amendment contains several housing-related tax provisions recently reported by the Ways and Means Committee as part of the Housing Assistance Tax Act. The amendment creates a refundable tax credit of up to $7,500 for first-time homebuyers that would serve as an interest-free loan, and provides an additional standard deduction in 2008 of up to $350 for individuals and $700 for couples for state and local property taxes. It authorizes an additional $10 billion in taxexempt bonds that would be used to refinance subprime loans, finance the construction of low- income rental housing, and support loans to first-time homebuyers. To assist our men and women in uniform, many of whom have put themselves in harms way in service to their country, the amendment adds provisions from a measure approved by the Veterans Affairs Committee that extends to one year, from 90 days, the period following active duty service during which service members are protected from foreclosures. This amendment will fully offset the cost of its tax provisions in two ways. First, by raising $8 billion through FY 2018 by requiring brokers to report their customer's basis in securities transactions, and second, by raising $3.2 billion through FY 2018 by delaying, until 2010, new rules allocating interest expenses between foreign and domestic sources. Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand today in support of the second amendment to The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 and I urge my colleagues to join me.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the establishment of a National Teacher Day to honor and celebrate teachers. Teachers are the cornerstone of our Nation's schools. We ask them to be educators and mentors. We ask them to work long hours, keep order in crowded classrooms, and respond creatively to individual student needs. They consistently rise to meet the challenge. We should recognize their contributions, but we should also take tangible steps to assist them. And that means funding for our schools, high quality training, and fair pay. It means making sure that every teacher is prepared to walk into the classroom and every teacher has support through the school day. We trust our Nation's teachers with our most important task--caring for and educating our children. National Teacher Day will remind us to honor their commitment and support that mission.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 493, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. This bipartisan legislation is long overdue. Recent scientific breakthroughs in sequencing the human genetic code have already transformed the battle against a broad range of medical conditions. Scientists have now identified genetic markers for a variety of chronic health conditions which will increase the potential for early treatment and prevention. However, as much as these advances will improve health care delivery in this country, it has increased the potential for employers and insurers to discriminate based on an individual's genetic makeup. Such a threat deters the public and science from taking full advantage of the life-saving and cost-saving potential of genetic research. That why we need to pass this much-needed bill. Discriminating against someone because of their DNA is simply unacceptable. Mr. Speaker, I urge colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation so that Americans do not have to live in fear of losing their job or health insurance because of their genetic predisposition towards certain medical conditions.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bill to recognize the roles and contributions of America's teachers to building and enhancing our Nation's civic, cultural, and economic well-being. It is clear that we cannot improve schools or ensure student success without good teachers. We know that an engaged teacher can be the difference between kids getting ahead and falling behind. And I'm sure we can all remember a teacher who provided guidance or sparked interest in a new subject. Today's bill recognizes teachers, but they deserve more than recognition. We have to make sure we are taking tangible steps to assist them. And that means funding for our schools, high quality training, and fair pay. It means making sure that every teacher is prepared to walk into the classroom and every teacher has support through the school day. We trust our Nation's teachers with our most important task--caring for and educating our children. We need to honor their commitment and support that mission.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding public servant, Alan S. Weyman, as he completes more than 39 years of continuous service within the civilian leadership of the Department of Defense. He began his public service life in naval shipbuilding in 1969 as an engineer in training in the New Construction Program Office for the USS Virginia Class Cruiser and is ending it as NAVSEA's Executive Director for Surface Warfare. Throughout his career, he worked tirelessly to serve America and our Navy. Mr. Weyman joined NAVSEA in 1979 as Assistant Program Manager for New Construction. In 1987 he was appointed to the Senior Executive Service and assigned as the Deputy in the Gas Turbine Combatant Ship Program Office where he shared responsibility for fleet support and modernization of all non-Aegis gas turbine ships, acquisition of FFG 7 Class ships, and execution of the Australian and Taiwanese foreign military sales programs. He was designated as Director of Corporate Operations at NAVSEA in June 1995. While in this position, Mr. Weyman successfully led the organization through a continuing downsizing and restructuring of monumental proportions. Under his leadership, the organization reduced by 45 percent to meet downsizing workforce goals, with minimal mission impact and involuntary separations. Mr. Weyman was a natural leader in this Navy initiative, educating the organization and developing actions to meet a major budget reduction of $1 billion over 5 years. Through his determination, Mr. Weyman developed a plan to eliminate any negative impact on the fleet, core equities, or mission organizational objectives. The process he developed has been adopted as the standard for the Navy. In 1999, Mr. Weyman was assigned to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (R,D&A) as the Executive Director for the Program Executive Officer for Theater Surface Combatants which consisted of nearly 400 managers, engineers, logisticians, and financial managers. He was directly responsible to the PEO for the development and execution of a wide variety of Navy programs, including Arleigh Burke Destroyer Class shipbuilding, Navy Area and Theater Wide Ballistic Missile Defense, the AEGIS program, and life cycle fleet support of the 115 surface ship combatant fleet. As Executive Director, New Construction-Current Ship Fleet Support and Inactive Ships, he was instrumental in the successful restructuring of the PEO organization, phasing out PEO Theater Surface Combatants, primarily responsible for the Aegis Shipbuilding Program, and standing up a new organization, PEO Ships, that is responsible for all surface ship shipbuilding and modernization. He initiated an integrated Fleet Support Group for all surface ships and executed that structure within the Commander Fleet Forces Command SHIPMAIN initiative. Mr. Weyman has far exceeded expected results of his duties as Executive Director for In- Service Ships. He was instrumental in the successful operations of the PEO, primarily responsible for the in-service support for all surface ships, including destroyer and cruiser modernization programs, the ships inactivation program and the FMS Ship Transfer Program. Under his leadership, the In-Service Ship Team was the horsepower behind the SHIPMAIN Modernization Initiative, CFT 4 which prioritized alterations across classes of ships, removed non-valve alterations with a savings to the navy of over $500M, and instituted a drum beat for alteration accomplishment. He supported SHIPMAIN CFT's 1, 2 and 3, and the development of the Surface Warfare Enterprise. He achieved success in the implementation of a Multi-Ship Multi-Option contract approach for all surface ships maintenance and modernization. MSMO contracts have stabilized the repair industrial base and reduced costs to the fleet OM&N accounts. The achieved successes in the re-activation of the ex- Kidd Class destroyers for the Taiwanese Ship Transfer program were extremely impressive; four ships were re-activated for the Taiwanese Navy several months early and tens of millions under budget. Planning for follow-on ship transfer work for the MHC's, ex-Trenton, and ex- Coronado are already in place. The ship Inactivation Programs still continues to make great strides in reducing the size of the inactive fleet through the development of innovative processes and continuous improvements of existing methods. Mr. Weyman's visionary approach to challenges allows for the transformation from a ``business as usual'' mentality into actions that permit innovative improvements in the way the Government and its private industry partners achieve best value products and services. It is, therefore, a pleasure to recognize Mr. Alan S. Weyman for his many contributions in a life devoted to our Nation's security as he leaves the Department of the Navy. I know my colleagues join me in wishing him and his wife Barbara much happiness and fair winds and following seas as they begin a new chapter in their lives.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1073 and the hard-working public servants it so deservedly recognizes today. As the son of a career foreign service officer and a State Department analyst, public service--in all its forms--has always been a value in my family. Whether you're talking about soldiers putting themselves on the line for our nation, police and firefighters protecting our communities, scientists and researchers developing breakthrough medicines, or teachers and librarians educating our children, it should be clear to all who stop and think about it that America simply could not be its best without the ongoing courage, intelligence and efforts of its public servants. That is why I believe so strongly in the enduring value of a robust, highly trained and dynamic civil service--and in pursuing public policies that can recruit and retain that kind of workforce. For me, that means pay parity for civil servants, a decent and dignified workplace across the government, genuinely fair rules for outsourcing competitions and benefit packages that will enable more of our best and brightest to pursue careers in public service over otherwise potentially more lucrative opportunities in the private sector. It also means generating a renewed sense of excitement and respect for public service careers in the culture. Mr. Speaker, towards that end, I believe this resolution is well- deserved and a terrific place to start. I look forward to working more closely with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to put the spirit of today's resolution into action as we deliberate policy affecting our public servants throughout the rest of the year.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children were killed by Ottoman authorities during World War I. On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman government began its genocidal plan by arresting and murdering over 250 Armenian intellectuals and political figures in Istanbul. In the interior of the Ottoman Empire, where the bulk of the Armenian population lived, the government then arrested and killed village leaders. Meanwhile, most able-bodied Armenian men, who had been conscripted into the Ottoman army, were separated into labor battalions and subsequently murdered. Next, in various provinces, gendarmes and the army massacred Armenian villagers outright, while in other provinces, the remaining Armenian population of women, children and the elderly were forcibly deported over the mountains and into the scorching deserts of Syria, without food and water. Many of the female deportees were raped and killed en route, while other deportees died of starvation and dehydration. By the end of 1915 the centuries-old Armenian civilization of eastern Anatolia no longer existed. U.S. diplomats who were stationed in Anatolia at the time were some of the main eyewitnesses and chroniclers of that horrific period. U.S. Consul Leslie Davis, stationed in Harput in eastern Anatolia, wrote the following in a cable to U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, dated July 24, 1915: ``It has been no secret that the plan was to destroy the Armenian race as a race, but the methods used have been more cold- blooded and barbarous, if not effective, than I had first supposed.'' He also wrote in this same cable: ``I do not believe there has ever been a massacre in the history of the world so general and thorough as that which is now being perpetrated in this region or that a more fiendish, diabolical scheme has been conceived in the mind of man.'' This cable, and many others of a similar nature, is housed in the U.S. National Archives only a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol and the White House. They provide unambiguous, documentary evidence of what occurred. Yet there are those who still refuse to properly characterize what happened to the Armenian people during World War I as genocide. Although the word ``genocide'' was not invented in 1915, what these diplomats described was indeed genocide of a people. I am deeply disappointed that many of our current officials avoid characterizing what occurred as ``genocide.'' This avoidance does a disservice to the memory of the victims and their descendants, and hurts our moral standing in the world. I hope that one day soon, this legislative body and the U.S. Administration will properly characterize what happened to the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. Many of the survivors of the Armenian genocide settled in the United States. Bearing painful physical and emotional scars, they nonetheless re-established their lives here, worked hard, and became proud American citizens, thankful for the opportunity to live in freedom. Many of their descendants have become leaders in the fields of science, business, academia, and the arts, and have served their country bravely in military uniform. They have also created a vibrant community. Yet they also bear the pain of what their parents and grandparents went through and are actively engaged in the effort to seek proper recognition of what happened to the Armenian people in 1915. Today, as we recall the events of the Armenian genocide and pay homage to the victims, we also honor the Armenian-American community for its unwavering commitment to this human rights struggle.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1117 to celebrate the 28'' Anniversary of Earth Day, take stock of the progress that has already been made, and recommit ourselves with a sense of focus and urgency to the work that remains to be done. We have come a long way since Senator Gaylord Nelson and Dennis Hayes organized their nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment in the Spring of 1970. In the years that followed, Congress established the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; enacted the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act; and strengthened the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, among other critical initiatives. To a large extent, these steps--and other like them--continue to form the foundation of our environmental laws in the United States. Unfortunately, recent years have witnessed an erosion to this foundation as regulatory agencies shirked their responsibility to enforce the law and existing statutes failed to keep pace with the magnitude of the environmental challenges we are confronting in the 25th century. The New Direction Congress has now begun the necessary process of reversing that erosion and establishing a new baseline of federal commitment to stewardship from which the next chapter in American environmental leadership will be written. For the first time in over 30 years, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 increased the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard for automobiles to 35 mpg by 2020. In combination with the economy-wide energy efficiency standards in the legislation, this step will reduce oil consumption by 2.4 million barrels a day--for a more than 25 percent reduction over today's usage--and save 5.3 billion metric tons in energy-related CO2 emissions by 2030. It's important. But it's just a start. We must move decisively to enact an economy-wide cap-and-trade program that achieves dramatic reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century--and work with other nations around the world to do the same. We must transition our economy away from its reliance on fossil fuels and towards the clean, green energy sources of the future, while making far more efficient use of the energy we currently use. We must update, strengthen and enforce bedrock laws like the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. And we must act locally and individually in all of our communities to restore, protect and cherish ecosystems like the Chesapeake Bay on which all of life ultimately depends. Mr. Speaker, the key decisions we make over the next several years will have a profound impact on the kind of America we leave to our children. I believe the vast majority of our constituents understand this and stand ready to do their part as we come together to build a more prosperous, healthier and greener nation.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I thank the gentleman and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and congratulate him on his leadership along with the ranking member. Mr. Speaker, this year on May 14 we will mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. We will also celebrate the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and Israel. Our country, under the leadership of President Harry Truman, was the first country to recognize the State of Israel. And he later said, ``I had faith in Israel before it was established. I have faith in it now. I believe it has a glorious future before it, not just as another sovereign nation but as the embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization.'' We need to maintain the special relationship we have with Israel based on shared values, common strategic interests, and moral bonds of friendship. Today, we honor not only that country's independence but the significance of what Israel stands for. It represents the centuries-long yearnings of the Jewish people for a homeland of their own in the land of their forebears. The pogroms in tsarist Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the Holocaust under the Nazi regime in the 1930s and 1940s made the idea of a Jewish people having a State of their own where they could feel secure and never again be subjected to such horrors and brutality even more compelling and necessary. After many years of struggle, Israel emerged as an independent state. It gave refuge to tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors, many of whom had been languishing in temporary resettlement camps in Europe. The new State of Israel also became the home for Jews from scores of countries around the world. In a very short period of time, Israel developed a strong economy, became one of the leading countries within the world in terms of development, of scientific technology, and academic learning. Since its creation, Israel has continually confronted hostile forces that threaten its existence, and the United States must remain steadfast in ensuring the security of Israel. With the assistance of the United States, Israel was able to achieve peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan in the 1970s and 1990s, respectively. These agreements made Israel more secure and greatly lessened the chances for another Arab-Israeli war with those two countries. However, peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, and friendly relations with its other neighbors, have proved to be more difficult. It is my sincere wish that such negotiations will succeed, and that the Israeli people and all peoples of that troubled region will be able to live in a lasting peace. Mr. Speaker, I hope that all Americans will join me in congratulating the citizens of Israel and the entire Jewish community on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008. Since its inception, Medicaid has been a joint State and Federal partnership to provide health care to the country's neediest and most vulnerable populations. Unfortunately, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, recently issued a series of Medicaid regulations that will significantly shift costs to States and restrict services to needy individuals. These regulations will force States to stop providing beneficiaries access to certain Medicaid services. Among the damaging Medicaid regulations issued by CMS, I am especially concerned about the restrictive rules on targeted case management services that help people with disabilities remain in their community. Nearly 200,000 people in Maryland receive some type of Medicaid case management services, and these new rules will put more than $60 million in Federal funds for Maryland at risk. CMS also proposes to eliminate or severely restrict Federal Medicaid funding for rehabilitation services, graduate medical education, hospital outpatient services, safety net institutions, and school-based transportation and outreach programs. While CMS claims that the elimination of $20 billion in Federal Medicaid funding will create efficiencies in the program, it did not consult with Congress on these far reaching regulations. With so many States, including Maryland, facing huge budget shortfalls and trying to figure out how to provide Medicaid services to their populations, now is not the time for the Federal Government to cut back on its share of funding. The legislation before us today would delay implementation of the regulations put forth by CMS so that Congress can examine their full impact. Mr. Speaker, we have a responsibility and an obligation to our vulnerable citizens--low-income children, the disabled, and the elderly--to effectively provide access to adequate and quality health care services. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I thank my colleague from Georgia and thank him for his leadership on this important issue. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, the Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act. It's a set of commonsense reforms designed to make the Tax Code a little more consumer friendly for hardworking Americans. If the IRS has reason to believe that you've been a victim of identity theft, this bill says the IRS should let you know. If you're entitled to an unclaimed refund, this bill empowers the IRS to do more to find you. And if you need help with your taxes, this bill lets the IRS refer you to a qualified taxpayer clinic that can provide assistance. So whether it's from eliminating nuisance paperwork to publicizing the earned income tax credit to clamping down on predatory ``refund anticipation loans,'' this bill, time and again, sides with the taxpayer. I'm particularly pleased that it includes legislation many of us have worked on to end the practice of bounty hunting and terminate the program of contracting out the collection of taxes to private debt collectors. Proponents of this program say it's necessary to close the tax gap. The facts just say they're wrong. The program, to date, hasn't returned a single dime of additional revenue to the U.S. Treasury. In fact, so far as we gather here today, it's been a revenue loser, an ideological driven black hole that has sucked $50 million out of the Treasury last year alone. And we would have been able to raise, and this is according to both Republican and IRS commissioners, we would have been able to raise $1.4 billion in revenue from people who hadn't paid taxes if we'd simply hired more IRS agents to do the job. And that's also the testimony of the National Taxpayer Advocate at the Department of Treasury. That's the person whose job it is to look out for the taxpayers, and she testified this is a bad deal for taxpayers. We should get rid of it. And we shouldn't be surprised. We had a similar program in the 1990s that was ended because of abusive practices, and it failed to collect the money. Let's learn from history. Let's adopt this legislation.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Army SPC Armer Nathan Burkart, who died of injuries sustained in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 11, 2006. Specialist Burkart was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, with which he served in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a high school student in Derwood, Maryland, Specialist Burkart participated in ROTC. He attended Lehigh University on an ROTC scholarship before enlisting with the United States Army in July 2000. Specialist Burkart always dreamed of a career in the military, following in the footsteps of his two grandfathers, who were both retired Navy captains. He was a devoted husband to his wife, Christy, and a fine soldier. It is with the utmost gratitude that I recognize Specialist Burkart's heroic service to our Nation.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the reauthorization of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act. Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI, is a leading cause of death and disability in young Americans. Approximately 1.4 million people sustain a TBI each year in the United States. The most common causes of TBI are falls, traffic accidents, and assault. These brain injuries result in short-term or long-term disabilities and can severely impact how people live their lives. Congress took an important step in 1996 by passing the Traumatic Brain Injury Act to promote brain injury research, education, treatment, and prevention. It is the only Federal law that specifically addresses the issues faced by persons with brain injury. This law has successfully improved access to health care and other services for individuals with TBI. Without the TBI Act, State governments and these individuals would be left to their own devices. More recently, we have seen an increasing number of traumatic brain injuries in servicemembers returning home from combat operations. The programs in the TBI Act can help the thousands of troops wounded in combat and suffering from brain injury. We have an obligation to assist these soldiers, and I am proud that Congress has provided funding in the recent appropriations bill to address TBI in returning personnel. The reauthorization of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act builds on the success of the original 1996 law by continuing to educate the public and provide much needed data on TBI for scientists, health care providers, and policy makers. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act. Imagine having a child with a food allergy who is at school and can potentially eat something that will cause a life-threatening or fatal reaction. This can especially be a very nerve-wracking experience for any parent when their child is away from home and spends most of their time in school. This commonsense legislation was brought to my attention by many school-age children from my congressional district. They shared their experiences of what they have to do every day to manage their food allergies. They have to scrutinize everything they eat in order to make sure they avoid the allergy-producing ingredients. The least we can do for these children and their parents is to encourage school districts across the country to adopt uniform guidelines in managing the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis, and develop emergency plans for children who suffer from this illness. This legislation would accomplish this goal by creating a new grant program to provide resources for those school districts who voluntarily implement these measures. Madam Speaker, by passing this bill, we can help reduce the number of life-threatening allergic reactions and help children manage their food allergies. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act. Sadly, thousands of infants are born with a hearing loss each year. Fortunately, thanks to the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program that was established in 2000, today approximately 93 percent of all newborns are screened. Many infants with hearing loss and their families have benefited from early identification of hearing loss. The EHDI program allows babies with hearing loss to develop normally and lead productive lives by ensuring that they will be ready to learn when they enter school. However, many infants who are identified as having a hearing disability due to the screening tests do not receive timely follow-up care because of shortages in trained professionals needed for infant hearing screening programs. We must do better in ensuring that infants and their families have access to comprehensive hearing loss care. The bill seeks to accomplish this by presiding comprehensive information about family support, training, and information services to the family of children identified with hearing loss and ensure that they are given the opportunity to consider all the options of early intervention services, educational and program placements. This legislation will improve on the successful Early Hearing Detection and Intervention program. I urge my colleagues to vote for this much needed bill.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, today, the 2008 Olympic torch arrives for the first time on American soil. It almost didn't make it. After violence erupted in Paris and London between police and demonstrators protesting Chinese human rights abuses, there were serious discussions about ending the torch's journey across the world before it arrived in the United States. Despite ongoing complaints by the international community about China's human rights abuses--and its restrictions on freedoms of speech--China refuses to take corrective action. This resolution is an attempt to pressure the Chinese Government to address international concerns of human rights abuses in that country. This resolution is also a reaction to six decades of cultural and religious repression of the Tibetan people. Now is the time to bring the suffering of the Tibetan people to an end. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution to encourage the People's Republic of China to enter into discussions with the Dalai Lama and respect the human rights of all its citizens.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Chairman, I rise in strong support of the critical bipartisan Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. We have a moral obligation to address the global pandemics of HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It was 5 years ago that Congress took leadership to address this crisis. Today, because of Congress's actions, the United States has become the leading provider in the world of HIV/AIDS assistance, treatment, prevention and care. AIDS continues to be the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. The United Nations estimates that 33 million people are infected with HIV worldwide, with an estimated 22 million HIV-infected people in sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 1.6 million deaths in sub- Saharan African resulted from AIDS in 2007. This legislation reaffirms our commitment to combating this deadly epidemic by reauthorizing the 2003 law and will give more flexibility to host governments in planning, directing, and managing prevention, treatment and care programs that have been established with our assistance. I am pleased that the bill also includes a provision that authorizes funding for U.S. contributions to research and development of a tuberculosis vaccine. Tuberculosis is a deadly epidemic that faces our planet today. Nearly 2 million people die from it each year and approximately 9 million are diagnosed with tuberculosis annually. It is the largest killer of people with HIV/AIDS, accounting for one-third of AIDS deaths alone. The current tuberculosis vaccine is more than 85 years old and is unreliable against pulmonary tuberculosis. New tuberculosis vaccines have the potential to save millions of lives and would lead to substantial cost savings. Madam Chairman, let us honor the spirit of the two men--Chairmen Lantos and Hyde--who guided the 2003 law through this body in bipartisan manner by passing this much needed legislation to combat these deadly diseases.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1005, a resolution supporting the designation of May as Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Month. I want to thank my colleague Tom Davis for his leadership on an issue that is very important to many Americans. Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental health illness that centers on the inability of people to manage their emotions effectively. Approximately 4 million Americans suffer from borderline personality disorder. Its symptoms include destructive impulsiveness, rage, marked shifts in mood, bodily self-harm, chaotic relationships, fears of abandonment, substance abuse, and unstable self-identity. Although it was officially recognized in 1980 by the psychiatric community, borderline personality disorder is at least two decades behind in research, treatment options, and education compared to other major mental illnesses. Borderline personality disorder can have a devastating impact on people's lives. While some persons with this disorder may be functioning normally in certain settings, their private lives are often in turmoil. Others are unable to work and require financial support. If Americans would like more information on borderline personality disorder, I encourage them to visit the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder Web site at www.neabpd.org or the National Alliance on Mental Illness Web site at www.nami.org. Madam Speaker, this resolution acknowledges the pressing burden of those afflicted with borderline personality disorder and seeks to spread awareness of this under-recognized, and often misunderstood, mental illness. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3773. This bill reestablishes the role of the Court into foreign surveillance if and when a U.S. person becomes a target of such surveillance. H.R. 3773 also authorizes the FISA court to review the ``minimization'' procedures used by intelligence agencies regarding the use of material that has been inadvertently intercepted. Moreover, this bill authorizes the FISA court to also review the ``targeting'' procedures that involve U.S. persons. Finally, the bill creates a commission to review the President's previous warrantless surveillance program and to report to Congress. It is important to note that H.R. 3773 contains no retroactive immunity for the telephone companies for their past accommodation to intercept the communications of U.S. persons without a court order. After the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, our security agencies worked to improve their intelligence operations to ensure that such a plot could never again be executed on U.S. soil. However, this Administration, rather than assessing the need to make adjustments to surveillance authorities, embarked upon an unauthorized secret program authorized by nothing more than Executive fiat and clearly outside of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, FISA. The telecommunication industry was directed to comply with demands of the Administration with or without the requisite authority. Some telecommunications companies complied some did not. Despite repeated requests from Democratic Members of Congress for the Administration to assess the limitations of the existing FISA law and to request necessary changes, the Administration refused to do so. Only after James Risen in 2006 exposed the fact that the Administration had been engaged in a massive domestic spying operation did the Administration begin to address the need to reconcile the program with some semblance of statutory authority. To that end, last summer the Administration identified a change in technology that warranted a change to the law. The change in the telecommunications industry has placed nodes and other technological backbones on U.S. soil regardless of the flow of information. Consequently, many foreign-to-foreign communications pass through the U.S. without involving U.S. persons. This technological ``touch down'' under existing law would require a court order and needed to be changed. From that request for a technical change, the Administration, with the assistance of the Republicans in Congress, launched an initiative to virtually remove court orders for the surveillance of American persons. Moreover, the Administration launched an additional initiative to provide blanket retroactive immunity for all the phone companies and ISPs that intercepted communications in the absence of a legal authorization. This immunity was demanded without the disclosure of the acts that would be subject to such immunization. Currently, there are almost 40 lawsuits pending that have challenged the legality of the President's unauthorized surveillance program. All of these past cynical efforts to engage in an illicit surveillance program have now transformed into a campaign to engage in a widespread cover-up of past illegalities. The Republicans and the President cloak their surreptitious activity in a cloak of national security. However, the American people know better. We all want to stop terrorism. We all agree that foreign-to-foreign communications should be intercepted without needing a court order. We all agree that merely because such a communication is transported through a device that sits on U.S. soil, it should not impose any impediment to the surveillance of these communications. Where we disagree is in the need to carry on an illegal program, to defy any accountability and then come to Congress to seek legislation that is purely designed to conceal wrongdoing. The bill before us today accomplishes the following: Provides for surveillance of terrorist and other targets overseas who may be communicating with Americans. Requires the FISA court to approve targeting and minimization procedures--to ensure that Americans are not targeted and that their inadvertently intercepted communications are not disseminated. These procedures must be approved prior to surveillance beginning--except in an emergency, in which case the government may begin surveillance immediately, and the procedures must be approved by the court within 30 days. (This may be extended if the court determines it needs more time to decide the matter.) Provides prospective liability protection for telecommunications companies that provide lawful assistance to the government. Requires a court order based on probable cause to conduct surveillance targeted at Americans, whether inside the United States or abroad. Requires an Inspector General report on the President's warrantless surveillance program. Prohibits ``reverse targeting'' of Americans. Explicitly establishes FISA Exclusivity--that FISA is the exclusive way to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance inside the U.S. Any other means requires an express statutory authorization. Sunsets these authorities on December 31, 2009 (same as the PATRIOT Act sunset). Moreover, this bill is as important for what it does not contain, i.e. retroactive immunity. This bill does provide telecom companies a way to present their defenses in secure proceedings in district court without the Administration using ``state secrets'' to block those defenses. Finally, this bill also establishes a bipartisan, National Commission--with subpoena power--to investigate and report to the American people on the Administration's warrantless surveillance activities, and to recommend procedures and protections for the future. We all want to prevent the acts of terrorism. However, some of us believe that we can protect our Nation without throwing away all of the rules that have been designed to protect the Constitutional rights of Americans. The scare tactics that have been used by this Administration to further cloak their illegal programs are reprehensible. What is more is that these tactics are not even marginally credible. The President's national security programs by and large have been a failure, his misadventure into Iraq on a quest for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction have led us on a path of a substantial loss of life, resources and moral standing in the world. Moreover, it has diverted our attention from those who did attack us on 9/11, Al-Qaeda and its Taliban allies who are regrouping and strengthening, according to declassified U.S. intelligence estimates, along the Afghanistan- Pakistan border. In addition, the President's authorization to use torture on U.S. soil, as well as outsourcing it to foreign countries, by way of rendition, has compromised the security of our troops and diplomatic corps around the world. These practices have done much more to compromise our national security than to protect it. For these reasons, the President is not in a position to invoke national security on any grounds and certainly not to justify a warrantless domestic spying program and retroactive immunity for those who were complicit in this activity.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to solemnly remember the 20th anniversary of a terrible crime committed against the Kurdish people, the gassing of the inhabitants of the city of Halabja on March 16, 1988. This attack on men, women, and children was a crime against humanity. On that day, Iraqi planes dropped chemical munitions, including mustard gas and nerve gas; the planes concentrated their attack on the city as well as the roads leading out of the town. More than 5,000 people were killed and another 10,000 were injured. Twenty years later, the survivors of this attack are still suffering from the effects of that horrendous onslaught. As a staffer with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time, I had the opportunity to travel to the region after this attack, in September 1988, and observed fIrst hand the effects of that terrible campaign against the Kurds. With my colleague, Peter Galbraith, I interviewed Kurdish survivors of other chemical attacks that followed. We had the sad but important task of documenting chemical attacks on 49 Kurdish villages. These attacks were part of a year-long brutal campaign that resulted in the deaths and disappearances of approximately 180,000 Iraqi Kurds. Because of these brutal attacks against the Kurds, the Senate passed stiff economic sanctions against the Saddam Hussein regime at the time, but the Reagan Administration defeated this effort and failed to penalize this regime with any meaningful measures. That failure sent a terrible signal to Saddam Hussein, and he may have concluded that he could subsequently attack Kuwait with impunity. After the Persian Gulf war of 1991, the United States imposed a no-fly zone over the Kurdish region of Iraq, which helped the inhabitants of that area to begin to restore their shattered lives. Today, the Iraqi Kurdistan region is one of the most stable and peaceful regions of Iraq, and its brave people are trying to concentrate on political and economic development. As we try to assist these people we should also be mindful of what they have lived through and the loved ones they have lost. We must never forget the crime against the inhabitants of Halabja and other Kurdish towns and villages.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this budget blueprint for the priorities it sets and the fiscal sanity it restores to our Nation's Capitol. Seven years after President Bush inherited a projected 10-year $5.6 trillion year budget surplus, the Congressional Budget Office now reports that the FY 08 budget deficit will be $396 billion and the FY 09 budget deficit will total $342 billion. These are the second and fourth largest budget deficits in U.S. history. Not coincidentally, the first and third largest budget deficits in U.S. history were also recorded during the Bush administration. During the same period, our national debt has exploded by $3.9 trillion to well over $9 trillion--or more than $30,000 for every citizen in the United States. In fact, each taxpayer is now paying over $3000 every year just to pay the interest on their share of the national debt. Astonishingly, this budget deterioration has coincided with dangerous disinvestment in our Nation's health, education, public safety, energy independence, veterans and basic scientific research--among other critically important priorities. This budget document changes all that. It rejects the President's misguided cuts in health care for seniors and lower-income citizens. It increases our national investment in education and lifelong job training. It restores funding for State and local law enforcement. It prioritizes the development of next generation renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. It spares veterans the President's proposed fee increases for health care they have rightfully earned. And it provides robust funding for the Democratic innovation agenda to enhance our Nation's position in the global marketplace. Importantly, this budget accomplishes these objectives while providing middle class tax relief to millions of hard-working Americans by patching the Alternative Minimum Tax and extending the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief and the 10 percent income tax bracket. Consistent with the PAYGO rules adopted by this House, this document achieves these public policy goals with no new deficit spending. And it brings our budget into balance in 2012. Mr. Chairman, this budget represents a properly prioritized, fiscally responsible blueprint for the Nation's future. I urge its adoption and encourage my colleagues' support.

Mr. VAN HOLLEN

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1024, which celebrates the 187th anniversary of the independence of Greece, one of our country's closest and oldest allies. A longstanding member of NATO, Greece has played a pivotal role in the stability and development of the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean region. It has invested over $20 billion in the countries of the region, contributing to the increasing economic vitality of the area. Greece has also contributed to peacekeeping operations that have been sponsored by the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe. In addition, it has closely collaborated with the United States in opposing and fighting terrorists and terrorist networks. Ancient Greece was the birthplace of democracy, and our country's Founding Fathers took much of their inspiration from reading the philosophers of that time and place as they created a fledgling new democracy here in the late 18th century. A century later, many Greek immigrants began to arrive at our shores, bringing with them a steadfast determination to succeed in realizing the American Dream. The Greek-American community, strengthened by new waves of immigration, has contributed to our society in numerous ways; many within the community have become leaders in the field of commerce, academia, the arts, and politics. They have also been instrumental in fostering close ties between the United States and Greece. As we celebrate the independence of Greece today, we also celebrate the accomplishments of the vibrant Greek-American community.