Transcripts For CSPAN Morning Hour 20141210 : vimarsana.com

CSPAN Morning Hour December 10, 2014

The chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip but in to five minutes, no event shall debate continue beyond 11 50 a. M. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. Gallego, for five minutes. Mr. Gallego thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise to say thank you to the wonderful people of the 23rd district of texas who for the last two years gave me the privilege of serving as their voice here in the peoples house. Im living proof that this is a nation of opportunity and that the American Dream still exists. God has blessed me in many ways. I was born into a warm and loving family. My parents taught me to work hard and respect others. I married to a wonderful wife who has stood with me through the peaks and valleys over the last 25 years of our lives and were parents of a son, nicholas miguel, who has taught us the true meaning of love. In addition, though, my roots are humble, i had the privilege of working in this chamber, few people get to serve here. And yet congress isnt what it once was. Agreements are few, partisan ranker are common, statesmanship is rare. Who are the giants of history among us . Where are the states men and women who have accomplished historic feats through signature legislative achievements . But we know that it is possible. When Congress Puts party labels aside, like we did on v. A. Reform, we can accomplish some great things for the American People. But those occasions were far too rare. More often, this chamber saw bickering and pettiness and this congress made history as the least productive and most unpopular congress in the history of this proud nation. And the American People responded by making history of their own. On election day, a Record Number of them simply threw up their hands, wondered whats the point and didnt go to the polls. And its easy to see why americans are so tired of politics. To understand why many of us dont check in on election day when our democracy needs us the most, we check out. Polarization, discontent, dissatisfaction, disappointment, dismay all now normal in the course of our public discourse. Oldfashioned values like truth and good manners and respect for others views and appreciation are no longer envogue. Candidates and Office Holders and super p. A. C. s and yes, even to some it is unchristian. They attempt to stampede people with fear and many teams our fears or lack of faith went out and we failed to realize how really truly lucky we are as americans. But before saying people didnt meet their civic responsibilities, congress should reflect of whether they should be meeting their own responsibility because Even Congress complains about congress. Yet, it does nothing to change. Most americans, most americans are somewhere in the middle, but thats not where congress is. And in our current system, super p. A. C. s attack those members who stake out middle grounds. The American People deserve better than theyre getting. Our country deserves better. Our future and our childrens future is too important. Both congress and our country must rise to the occasion and confront and conquer our only internal pa rale cis. Patriot simple must trump partisanship. A robust democracy requires active participation. Congress, indeed america, needs all of us. It needs democrats and republicans and libertarians anglos and nd fearns. Soon, ill have the highest title, not the title of an elected official, but the title of citizen and as a citizen i hope to continue to remind congress of the importance of governing well and the importance of participating in our electoral system. I have faith that ours is a resilient nation blessed by god. Despite our frustrations and our fears and our failings, despite ourselves, we still live in the greatest nation the world has ever known. Sure, times are tough but they were tougher for our parents and our grandparents. If you think back a moment and you compare your life to theirs and you can see how far you and all of us have come. The job now is not to be mad about and continually relive the old battles of the pacific we need or past, to look to the future. I leave this institution, particularly grateful for the opportunity to work with and serve our veterans and our active duty military and amazed at the incredible and still Untapped Potential of our amazing democracy. I want to say thank you to each of my employees and thank you, again, to all the people of the 23rd district of texas. Especially to those ive had the privilege of representing since i first became a state legislator in 1991. I wish my successor well and i offer my prayers for all the members of the 114th congress. Youre capable of doing great things for america when you remember to put people and policy ahead of part sanship and politics. May god bless texas and may god bless the United States of america. Thank you, mr. Speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Thompson, for five minutes. Mr. Ompson thank you, speaker. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to discuss the proudly restoring officers of prior enlistment retirement, our proper act, legislation that i will be introducing this week that will support americas separated service members. For the First Time Since the 1990s, the army is shrinking. As our military continues to drawdown in the middle east, all Service Branches have been tasked with making difficult, force reduction decisions. Our allvolunteer service has made considerable sacrifices. Valiantly fighting two concurrent wars while solely remaining dedicated to the mission at hand. As the pentagon continues to implement a drawdown policy, provisions in the law could create unwarranted and unnecessary redictions reductions to military retirement pay for unvoluntary separated service members. Mr. Speaker, these men and women have honorably served our country and deserve better. For example, some prior enlisted soldiers who received a commission into the officer corps are now facing a difficult situation. Years after being commissioned, the army has made the determination to relieve these experienced soldiers from military service. To make the situation worse, many of these individuals do not have the required time in the officer corps and are forced to receive a lesser retirement pension. Mr. Speaker, after having earned an officers rank, these soldiers have been reduced in rank for retirement purposes. Mr. Speaker, soldiers have honorably served our country and deserve better. These men and Women Deserve to collect full pension and benefits, equivalent to their service in uniform and not subjected to an arbitrary reduction in rank and pay after being unvoluntarily separated from the military. To prevent this injustice, ill soon be introducing the proudly restoring officers of prior enlistment retirement or proper act. The proper act does not prevent further troop reduction. It merely assures these soldiers and those affected through each Military Branch can be made financially whole with respect for their service. Thank you, mr. Speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. Gutierrez, for five minutes. R. Gutierrez as the New York Times said in an editorial last week, theres an Immigration Crisis looming next year but has nothing to do with the border. Rather, its the huge effort that will be needed to fulfill the president s executive action and get millions, millions of American Families out of harms way by protecting them from deportation and destruction. Sure, we are celebrating the series of executive actions taken by the president , but were also rolling up our sleeves and getting to work. So i want to talk just a little bit about what were doing in the city of chicago and what im hoping my colleagues here in congress and my colleagues across the country and communitybased institutions, immigrants in every state will get people to sign up when the window to Submit Application opens in 180 days and the governments review of cases begin. This coming saturday, the 13th, at 9 30 in the morning ill be at the church on the north side of chicago and more than 500 families have already preregistered for an orientation. We will go over what the president s announcement means for individual immigrants and their families. Then, those who have preregistered will have an opportunity for a oneonone preliminary eligibility from people we are calling family defenders. We are already scheduling followup events this month and into the new year and well be ready to accommodate the huge demand for accurate and trustworthy information. Mayor emanuel has been my friend and partner in the effort and were both committed to making chicago the model for the rest of the country. And for the advocates, the legal community, the business community, the public sector, were all working together to make that a reality. Thats right, new york. Listen up, l. A. Get ready, miami, houston and dallas. Were going to work to protect as many families as we can in the city of chicago and were challenging you to keep up. But it is not just the major immigrant gateway cities where we need to organize to protect American Families. As the president showed us yesterday, cities in the south like nashville, are leading the way to integrate and assimilate immigrant populations. The spirit of inclusion is of utmost importance as we help families come forward, register with the government, submit their paperwork and fingerprints and get ready and into the system. I have told my house colleagues that i plan to be on the road a lot at the start of next year traveling anywhere they need me to travel to help them conduct outreach and educate immigrant communities where they live. But its not just the blue districts where we must support our immigrant communities and make sure they register. It will be necessary in red districts too. States like south carolina, arizona and alabama, states that tried unsuccessfully to push their immigrant communities farther underground, i will accept invitation from those states too to get the word out and educate the community in whatever way i can. I cant tell you how many people have come up to me and said, congressman, i dont know if this will help my family, my dad, my mom, my neighbor or my parishioner but i hope they will not still have to live in fear of deportation. And there are millions who will not be able to come forward and sign up because their cases cannot be reviewed under the president s guidelines, and i tell them that what the president has announced is bold, its broad and its extremely generous and helpful to the United States and her mmigrants who it does not replace for congressional action and legislation. But let us all remember that by the end of this week the clock is going to have run out on the best chance the house has had in decades to address immigration in a bipartisan and measured manner. The senate did half the work by giving us more than a year to craft a bipartisan answer to their proposal, and we tried in many, many different ways to help this house rise to the occasion to get out of the partisan ditch we have dug for ourselves and to put the country on a path to safe, legal, orderly immigration system that protects the country and its people while welcoming its strivers and innovators from around the world. In the end, the house was asleep at the switch and let the country down, but even as i work with people across the country to protect as many American Families as possible, i pledge to my colleagues in both parties in the most sincere way possible, please work with us to solve the immigration issue so that we can move forward as a nation. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from illinois yields back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio, mr. Chabot, for five minutes. Mr. Chabot i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Chabot mr. Speaker, i stand before you today a proud alumnus of cincinnatis La Salle High School because for the first time in the schools 54year history, they have won the ohio state football championship. Last friday evening, they claimed the title with a 5520 victory, breaking a record for most points ever scored in an Ohio Division ii championship game. La salles offense was so strong this season that in each of their five playoff games they averaged nearly 50 points. Leading the offense was junior running back Jeremy Larkin who ran over 2,500 yards in just 15 games, scored 40 touchdowns and is now a finalist for the coveted ohio mr. Football award. All season long, la salle competed with the best of the best, finishing with 14 wins and one nail biting loss to the st. Ax bombers, including elder s over muller, and as i mentioned, la salle is my alma mater. I graduated in 1971 and i played on the defensive line and in my senior line we won seven games, lost one. Coincidently to future speaker John Boehners Moore High School where he played football too although he graduated three years earlier, and we tied elder 00 in the pitt. Mr. Speaker, i stand before you today a very proud alumnus of my high school and i also want to mention that my brother, dave, whos 10 years younger than me, also played football at la salle and he was a defensive back there. La salle will always have a special place in my heart. I learned many of lifes most important lessons in her halls and on the football field. As a matter of fact, my political career got its start at la salle when i was first elected to Student Council there. I want to thank the coaches, teachers, and staff, and especially the parents who have made the sacrifices to pay the tuition there to make it possible for their sons to receive a tremendous education at la salle. Mr. Speaker, boxing legend muhammad ali once said, champions arent made in the gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them, a desire, a dream, and a vision. This season the lancers had the desire to make every practice count and play every game as if it were their last. They shared a dream that was Strong Enough to overcome the many distractions the High School Kids often face in todays world. And their coaches gave them the vision that their hard work and sacrifice would pay off in the end. Mr. Speaker, lancers roll deep. This season illustrated that. To the team, the school, the community, congratulations on a season well played and a job welldone. Go lancers. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from ohio yields back of the the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from pennsylvania, ms. Schwartz, for five minutes. Ms. Schwartz it has been my honor and privilege to serve in congress the past 10 years representing the people of the 13th Congressional District of pennsylvania. As many of you know my mother came to this country alone at the age of 16, a refugee of the holocaust. America offered her safety, freedom, and opportunity. Her experience of fear, tragedy, resilience, and hope inspired my commitment to public service, my love of country, and all it can be. As i conclude my congressional service, i want to thank my family and friends who believed in me and supported me. My constituents who trusted me. The civic and elected leaders, activists, and advocates who gave voice to the wide array of concerns and causes. And to my talented staff who enabled me to do all that we did. Im proud of all we accomplished together from the new parks and bike paths along the North Delaware river in northeast philadelphia to the revitalization of main street in towns. We made our streets safer, promoted economic growth, and improve the lives of families across the philadelphia region. I came to congress in 2005 at a time of war. And as the daughter of a korean war veteran, i know how important it is for veterans to find meaningful work to support themselves and their families when they come home. That is why my first legislative initiative to become law addressed the needs of young men and women returning from iraq and afghanistan by offering incentives to employers to hire our newest veterans. In the time since that first legislative victory, you sought to embrace innovative ideas to find common ground, and to turn these ideas into action. I successfully championed legislation that is now law, including extending tax credits for Energy Efficient commercial buildings, establishing incentives to change the way physicians write prescriptions to reduce errors and save lives. New tax credits and grants to startup biotech companies. And changes in medicare to improve access to primary care for our seniors. Ensuring all americans have access to quality, Affordable Health care has been the priority for me throughout my professional life in both the private sector and elected office. Im proud of the role i played in the achievement for Health Coverage for all americans, in protecting and strenchtening medicare, and advancing access to care for women and for children, including those with preexisting conditions. And today we see the benefits of this effort for millions of americans who now have meaningful Health Coverage for themselves and their families. For this success and others, i want to express my appreciation to the other members of the of congress on both sides of the aisle who enabled us to get things done for the people we represent and for the nation. I value the work that we did together. And i value your friendship. As the only woman in the pennsylvania delegation, i am proud that i had the opportunity to stand up for womens rights and for women to be leaders in pennsylvania and acro

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