Lynn Woolsey

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1280, a resolution recognizing the goals and ideals of National Healthy Schools Day. Every year we celebrate National Healthy Schools Day to promote healthy and green school environments for all children. Across the country, more than 55 million children and 7 million adults spend their days in over 125,000 public and private schools in the United States. That is why it is essential that we recognize the importance of healthy learning environments. This year, National Healthy Schools Day 2010 focuses on the importance of good indoor air quality, nontoxic cleaning supplies, and environmentally friendly building materials. The need for healthy schools is clear. Scientific studies show that poor environmental conditions in schools harm students' health and academic achievement. On the other hand, healthy schools help students reach their maximum potential. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, more than half of the schools in the U.S. have problems linked to unhealthy indoor air quality. Too many school districts struggle with the poor physical condition of their facilities, and this reality has only become worse because of the fiscal crisis affecting our country. Schools in urban and rural areas are often overcrowded, unhealthy, inadequately maintained, and reduce quality learning. Healthy school environments encourage better school attendance and participation. Kids who feel healthy are more likely to stay in school. Healthy schools also encourage students to spend time at school for extracurricular activities, which is a key part of President Obama's goal to make our schools the community centers that they should and could be. All students deserve dry, clean, and quiet facilities with good indoor air, lighting and sanitation. National Healthy Schools Day highlights simple steps we can take that can improve school environments for our children. This year's healthy schools campaign focuses on the importance of green, nontoxic cleaning products. Approximately 25 percent of chemicals in cleaning products used in schools are toxic and contribute to poor indoor air quality, smog, cancer, asthma and other diseases. Simply replacing toxic products with all natural cleaners could immediately improve the health of our students. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides guides and assessments on their Web site to help schools improve indoor air quality. National Healthy Schools Day raises awareness of tools like these to help make our schools healthier and safer for kids. Mr. Speaker, this resolution in support of National Healthy Schools Day serves to recognize the importance of healthy, safe, and green learning environments in our Nation's schools. I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko) for introducing this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko), the author of this legislation, for as much time as he may consume.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution recognizing National Healthy Schools Day authored by Congressman Tonko from New York, and recognizing the importance of ensuring healthy and green school environments for all of our children. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1280) expressing the support of the House of Representatives for the goals and ideals of National Healthy Schools Day, as amended.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, we have no greater obligation as a Congress and as a Nation than to look after the Americans who selflessly and patriotically have volunteered themselves into harm's way in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world. When they come home wheelchair-bound or with missing limbs or with a traumatic brain injury, they deserve nothing less than the very best treatment and care. Often, that care is provided not by health care professionals at a hospital, but by spouses, parents, other family members, or a loved one that isn't even next of kin. Many of these wonderful folks are already living on a tight budget. They're likely to be already caring for young children and/or aging parents. And often they have jobs they can't afford to lose. I've fought to give these families the support they need. I introduced the first-ever expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act, which provided Americans with 6 months of unpaid leave--unpaid, should be paid--of unpaid leave to care for wounded servicemembers and their families. Last week, a bipartisan majority in the House took important new steps by passing the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act. This would ease the enormous burden falling on those whose loved ones return from war with a severe injury. It provides tools and training so they can be better caregivers. When they accompany a veteran on medical visits, their lodging would be paid for. They would also be eligible for a monthly stipend as well as health care benefits of their own. And when the stress becomes too great, which of course it does, counseling and respite care would be available. The bill also makes huge strides in recognizing the unique challenges faced by women who wear the uniform. It includes treatment for sexual trauma, which affects a staggering number of servicewomen. There is a child care pilot program so that women veterans can get the care they need without sacrificing the care of their children. Also, for the first time ever, there's neonatal care for the infants of returning soldiers giving birth. I wish I didn't have to vote for that bill last week because I wish that bill hadn't been necessary in the first place. Because the best way to support the men and women of the United States military, I believe, would be not to send them to fight in unnecessary wars in the first place. The tragedy is all the more poignant, Mr. Speaker, because these injuries are being sustained in conflicts that are doing little or nothing to advance our national security interests. I can't help but think how many military families would have been spared the struggle if we had taken a SMART security approach to fighting terrorism or if we had doubled down on humanitarian aid rather than resorting to aggression, invasion, and occupation. But as fiercely as I am in opposition to these two wars, I will never turn my back on the men and women who have been asked to fight them. In fact, the more skeptical you are about Iraq and Afghanistan, the greater you should be in your obligation to our troops on the front lines. There's one big solution to the strain on our veterans health care system and family caregivers, and that would be to reverse the disastrous policy that is creating more wounded combat veterans every single day. So, Mr. Speaker, I can think of no better way to honor our soldiers than to end these wars and to bring all of them home--and bring them home now.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the author of H. Res. 1240.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to compliment Congresswoman DeLauro and Congressman Ehlers for their amazing efforts in this regard, and I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 1240, a resolution to support the goals and ideals of Global Youth Service Day. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1293) expressing support for the goals and ideals of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, as amended.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on H. Res. 1293 into the Record.

Ms. WOOLSEY. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1293, which supports the goals and ideals of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Our children are our most precious resources, and they need our support to thrive and to grow into healthy, productive adults. During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we raise awareness of the critical necessity of responding to child abuse, to promoting healthy families, and to nurturing our children in safe environments free from abuse, neglect, or fear. The effects of child abuse and neglect have enormous consequences on our Nation's children. On average, five children every day are killed as a result of child abuse or neglect, and a report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds in the United States--the wealthiest nation on Earth, I must remind us. In 2008, an estimated 1,740 children died as a result of such abuse, and that number leaves out many more deaths which are not properly reported for their actual causes. Tragically, sexual, emotional, and physical abuse threaten too many of our Nation's children every single day. Studies have shown that abused or neglected children have a higher risk in adulthood for developing other health problems, including alcoholism, depression, drug abuse, eating disorders, obesity, suicide, and certainly other chronic diseases. Our entire communities--parents, guardians, relatives, neighbors, and organizations--all share the responsibility of preventing the crime of child abuse, and our government plays an important role as well. We must support families to help them stay together and to raise children into becoming happy, stable, and successful adults. National Child Abuse Prevention Month is about increasing awareness of the problem so that we can stop child abuse and neglect before it starts. Together, we can protect children. We can strengthen families. We must ensure that every child grows up in a safe, stable, and nurturing environment. National Child Abuse Prevention Month highlights the roles of important prevention resources, such as early childhood programs, family resource centers, parent support groups, respite and crisis care, and educator training, which can help reduce the risk factors for child abuse and promote healthy families. Mr. Speaker, this resolution in support of National Child Abuse Prevention Month serves to remind us of our collective responsibility to protect our children from maltreatment and to ensure that all of our kids have childhoods free from abuse and free from neglect. I thank Representative Petri for introducing the resolution, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY. I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 1293, authorized by the gentlewoman from Illinois, Congresswoman Judy Biggert. I gave Congressman Petri the credit, but he does so many good things that I just made that mistake. I ask my colleagues to support the goals and ideals of National Child Abuse Prevention Month by voting for this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous materials on H. Res. 1131 into the Record.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1131) expressing support for designation of the week of April 18, 2010, through April 23, 2010, as National Assistant Principals Week, as amended.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. WOOLSEY. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1131, which supports the goals and ideals of National Assistant Principals Week. With this resolution, we recognize the critical role that assistant principals serve in our Nation's schools, and we honor their hard work and dedication. Many of us have fond memories of the assistant principals who served in our schools. They were the ones who made sure we were safe in the hallways and that we didn't miss our buses. They stopped by our classrooms to make sure we had all of the supplies we needed, and they counseled us through mistakes and successes to help us grow and to learn as students and citizens. Assistant principals are the unsung heroes of our schools. They serve as a behind-the-scenes link between every sector of the school community. Their job description has expanded significantly over the past decades, and they are the backbone of a school's administrative team. They interact with students, with teachers, with staff, and with parents on a daily basis to ensure that every child is receiving the best education possible. National Assistant Principals Week recognizes their important contributions. Since 2004, the National Association of Secondary School Principals and Virco have partnered to applaud secondary school assistant principals in their dedication and success in school leadership as part of National Assistant Principals Week. Their National Assistant Principal of the Year program recognizes outstanding middle level and high school assistant principals who have demonstrated success in leadership, curriculum, and personalization. I would like to congratulate Mr. Nathan McCann, assistant principal at Flowing Wells High School in Tucson, Arizona, who has been named the 2010 National Assistant Principal of the Year. Mr. McCann is leading an effort to reform his school's curriculum in response to student feedback, and he has worked closely with school counselors to help the graduates of Flowing Wells to pursue their goals of postsecondary education. I thank Mr. McCann for his hard work, for his dedication to his school and for being the role model he is for assistant principals nationwide. Mr. Speaker, once again, I express my support for National Assistant Principals Week, and I thank the Nation's assistant principals. I thank Representative Fudge for bringing this resolution to the floor, and I urge my colleagues to pass this resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 1131, authored by Congresswoman Marcia Fudge from Ohio, and I urge my colleagues to support the goals and ideals of National Assistant Principals Week.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 375) supporting the goals and ideals of Workers' Memorial Day in order to honor and remember the workers who have been killed or injured in the workplace, as amended.

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Sutton).

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 563 congratulating the Onondaga Community College Lazers for winning the NJCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise with sadness today to honor a man who was a dear friend to me and a giant in our community. Reverend James Coffee of Santa Rosa, California, passed away April 6, 2010, at the age of 76, after a life that touched thousands of lives. He will be deeply missed. Raised in Oklahoma when segregation was the rule of the day, Rev. Coffee moved to the San Francisco Bay Area as a teenager. He was first invited to be the pastor of Community Baptist Church in Santa Rosa in 1962 while studying at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary in Mill Valley. A year later, he accepted the position and took on a small congregation of 15 African American members. Rev. Coffee was engaged in the civil rights struggles of those times, including the 1956 Montgomery bus boycott where he met Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Racial tensions existed in Sonoma County also. In 1985 the church was damaged in a fire that Rev. Coffee believed to be arson, possibly because of his stand against apartheid and his success in persuading the Board of Supervisors to withdraw investments in South Africa. Many in the community rallied around the church, contributing time and money to the repairs and later to the building of a new church. Reverend Coffee always persevered in his vision of a society where everyone could realize his or her full potential. With love and an open heart, he acted on his principles. With the support and assistance of his wife Vivian, his family, and his many friends made over the years, he worked inclusively to break down the barriers between races and promote the greater good. He was particularly concerned with the community's youth, mentoring young people, providing scholarships, and joining with others to establish and promote programs such as Rites of Passage (with Shirley Gordon) which teaches teens that they can attend college and become leaders. These activities have given young people the hope and the support that keeps them out of gangs and on the path or promise. Rev. Coffee also founded or participated in a wide variety of civic organizations and could be found bringing people together for a wide variety of social issues. From the Bridge Builders Organization (to promote racial reconciliation), 100 Black Men of Sonoma County, Race Equality Week, and Citizens Against Domestic Violence to the Salvation Army Advisory Board and Citizens for Balanced Transportation, Rev. Coffee's presence and energy were a catalyst for the whole the community. In 1981, he co-founded Santa Rosa's Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebration (with Carole Ellis and Mary Moore) which continues to inspire youth and bring people together. In 2004, he had the honor of meeting King's son, Martin Luther King III who spoke at a Sonoma County Human Rights Commission event at which the first of a new series of awards were presented--the Reverend James E. Coffee Human Rights Awards. Rev. Coffee himself earned many awards throughout his years of service. He appreciated these acknowledgements, yet the greatest honors for him were the light of understanding in a teen's eyes, the dialogue across a racial barrier, and the legacy of love and activism. He leaves a Community Baptist Church that is multi-cultural with 500 active members who will carry on his work. He is survived by his wife Vivian; his children James Jr., Shirley, and Yvette; three grandchildren; one great grandchild; and countless friends who will mourn him and be inspired by his example. Madam Speaker, I am one of those many friends and I will miss him every day. To me, the Reverend James Coffee, has been the perfect embodiment of one of his favorite sayings: ``Make a difference one day at a time.'' Reverend Coffee did make a difference--with strength and persistence, humor and compassion--every day of his life.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today along with my colleague, Representative Mike Thompson, to honor the life and memory of Hugh Codding, who helped shape and define Sonoma County over the course of the 92 years he was with us. He was a legend in his lifetime; a home builder, commercial developer, banker, city councilman, civic leader and philanthropist, who during the construction boom years of the 1950s and `60s, changed the face of the county forever. He built his first home in the 1930s and honed construction skills in the Seabees in World War II and brought those skills home with him. He leveraged his $400 discharge pay into a construction project and with profits earned from that endeavor and a small bank loan, he built one of the first shopping centers in the state, the first of several he would eventually build in the county. As much as he was a builder and developer, he was also a showman. He earned Time magazine designation as the wunderkind of the post-war boom by building an entire house in three hours and 18 minutes and a church in five hours and 16 minutes. He gave back generously to his community, helping fund and sustain both the Luther Burbank (now Wells Fargo) Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa and the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. There was scarcely a non profit organization in the county that didn't experience his generosity, whether it was the 4-H Club, the Earl Baum Center for the Blind, the Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation, the Sonoma County Community Foundation, the Children's Health Network, Artstart, the Southwest Community Health Clinic, Planned Parenthood, the Blood Bank of the Redwoods, the Green Music Center, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the Jewish Community Free Clinic, the Council on Aging, the Sonoma County Museum or the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Rosa and many more. He is survived by his wife Connie; former wife Elizabeth Mulkey; son George David Codding; granddaughters Alexis Codding, Lois Codding, Lisa Codding Chodrick, Terra Saxton and his stepchildren Brian Baker, Pamela Reed, Lisa Malapit, Melinda Bailey, and Bradley Baker. Madam Speaker, Hugh Codding was an influential and respected resident of Sonoma County who will be greatly missed. It is therefore appropriate that we acknowledge him today and honor his memory.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Hanna Boys Center, who has been providing a home and education to students in Northern California for 60 years. The school began as an experimental program for neglected and troubled boys in 1944 in Menlo Park, south of San Francisco. The 25 original students were referred to the new school by social service agencies and parish priests. The demand quickly outweighed the physical resources of the small school and after a very successful speaking tour, enough funds were raised to purchase 157 acres in the Sonoma Valley, the school's home today. By 1949, classrooms, an administration building, a chapel, gymnasium, swimming pool and one residence hall had been completed. The first students entered the Sonoma Valley campus by the end of that year. Today 109 boys ages 13 to 18 call the campus home. Although Hanna students come to the school from throughout the country, many are from my Congressional district. Many are from troubled homes. There is a fully accredited high school on campus and all students can participate in woodshop, choir, soccer, baseball, track and basketball. Football is provided at nearby Sonoma Valley High School. Thirty-four Hanna graduates are currently serving in the military. Graduates include very successful businessmen and civic leaders or simply men who live quiet lives of contribution and contentment. Only three directors have piloted the school in its 60 year history, founder Monsignor O'Connor for 23 years, Father James Pulskamp for 12 years and Father John Crews for the past 25 years, a testament itself to the loyalty the school inspires. Madam Speaker, Hanna Boys Center changes lives. It has been a stabilizing influence on hundreds of young men who have passed through its doors. It is therefore appropriate to honor the school for 60 years of dedicated service to our community.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, for those of us who want to live in a world without nuclear weapons, there was very little good news, very little to celebrate over the last decade or so. The previous administration showed barely any interest in eradicating the nuclear threat. But now finally, with the recently signed START treaty between the United States and Russia, there is cause for optimism and hope for further progress. In negotiating this agreement, I am pleased that President Obama has embraced the principles of the ``no-nukes'' resolution, House Resolution 333 that I have introduced in the Congress, and the SMART Security approach I've championed for years. Much of the attention paid to arms control issues focuses on North Korea and the looming possibility of a nuclear threat from Iran. And of course these are gravely important matters to grapple with. But the fact is that more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear capability rests with the two Cold War superpowers. So a serious commitment to nonproliferation must begin with a bilateral U.S.-Russia approach. This pact, the New START, mandates a 30 percent reduction in the allowed number of deployed strategic warheads, from a maximum of 2,200 down to 1,550 for each country, the most significant step toward disarmament in years. The treaty is far from perfect. In fact, I am disappointed that it places no restrictions on the development of missile defense programs which have delivered little bang for the taxpayer buck over the last several decades. But it is crucial that our Senate colleagues move quickly to ratify this treaty. Hopefully the partisan obstructionism that we've seen over and over again on the other side of the aisle will be laid aside on this vital matter of national security. We now have momentum on this issue. The President seized it this week with important breakthroughs at the Nuclear Security Summit he hosted in Washington. Tomorrow, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs will convene an important hearing to discuss stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and combating nuclear terrorism. We cannot let up, Mr. Speaker, because there is difficult work ahead, and because the New START treaty with Russia really doesn't go far enough. We can't be satisfied with incremental steps. 1,550 nuclear warheads is still 1,550 too many. Just one of them has the power to leave carnage so devastating it would make 9/11 look like a minor traffic accident. In an op-ed written for the Tampa Tribune, the leaders of the group Physicians for Social Responsibility reminded us in vivid terms what a nuclear strike would mean, and I quote: ``A single Hiroshima-sized bomb detonated by terrorists in New York City could kill over 250,000 people and cause somewhere between $2 trillion and $10 trillion in damage.'' They continue: ``A large-scale nuclear exchange with Russia would kill more than 100 million Americans in the first half-hour. Clouds of dust and soot would block out the sun, and in a matter of days the average temperature across the globe would plummet 18 degrees Fahrenheit, to levels not seen on Earth since the depth of the last ice age. In this nuclear winter, agriculture would cease to exist throughout the northern hemisphere, and billions of people would starve in the following months.'' Mr. Speaker, nothing less than the future of the human race hangs in the balance here. That's why the New START must be the start and not the end of our commitment to eliminate nuclear weaponry once and for all.

Ms. WOOLSEY

Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to protect America's estuaries by strengthening the management of the National Estuary Program, NEP, and to thank Congressman Oberstar, Congresswoman Johnson, Congressman Bishop, Congressman Boozman, and beyond for their excellent, excellent work. Mr. Chairman, we have a solemn responsibility to keep the vital habitats clean for the thousands of plants, fish, and wildlife that live, breed, and spawn there. That is why I am proud to support H.R. 4715, the Clean Estuaries Act. Currently, there are 28 estuaries within the NEP. The NEP conducts long-term planning and management activities to restore and protect estuaries. There are 38 additional estuaries, including Tomales Bay in my district, which have wanted to join the NEP. With H.R. 4715, we can increase the authorization of the NEP to $50 million. Tomales Bay and the other estuaries that have a desire to be part of it will have the opportunity to become part of this important program. Tomales Bay supports a diverse group of wildlife, including seasonal populations of salmon and steelhead, more than 20,000 shorebirds and seabirds, and a wide variety of shellfish. Tomales Bay is considered a wetland of significant importance under the International Convention on Wetlands, so protecting the vibrant biological hotspot from pollution through the NEP will help to preserve this estuary for generations and generations to enjoy. I want to commend the hard work of the Tomales Bay Watershed Council, a multistakeholder group that has long championed restoring Tomales Bay. Additionally, the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is working on a Tomales Bay management plan, covering the bay, itself. Extending this plan to the entire watershed through the NEP process would ensure better scientific understanding, and it would improve restoration projects. The Gulf of the Farallones would be a valuable and experienced stakeholder in developing a watershed-wide plan. Mr. Chairman, we must protect nationally significant estuaries like Tomales Bay through better accountability, management, and coordination with local partners. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting healthy and clean estuaries by voting for H.R. 4715.