Statements For the Record
Mr. Speaker, with the passage of H.R. 359, House Republicans voted today to give corporations and other special interests even more power to influence America's elections. I strongly oppose this legislation and will continue working to restore transparency and balance to our country's broken campaign finance system.
Mr. Speaker, this House and the entire Nation extend our support, love, and best wishes to our colleague, Representative Gabby Giffords, and all those wounded in Saturday's shooting. We also mourn the deaths -the tragic and senseless deaths - of six Americans who were engaged in participating in street corner democracy with their Congresswoman.
My Minnesota constituents feel the pain and loss inflicted by a few seconds of gun violence. One of my St. Paul constituents visited my office on Monday and wrote a note to Congresswoman Giffords.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize former Minnesota Twins pitcher and 2011 inductee into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, Mr. Bert Blyleven.
Mr. Blyleven pitched for 22 years at the major league level, including eleven seasons as a member of the Minnesota Twins. During his career, he amassed an astonishing 3,701 strikeouts and used his magnificent curveball to help pitch two teams to World Series victories, including the 1987 Minnesota Twins.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life, service and sacrifice of General Vang Pao, who passed away yesterday evening in Clovis, California. General Vang Pao was a historic Hmong military leader who led his people against communist forces during a turbulent time in Laos from 1961 to 1975. In this country, General Vang Pao served as a civilian leader who continued to lead the Hmong-American community for nearly four decades.
Madame Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the rules package proposed by the new Republican majority in the House.
The very first vote in the 112th Congress reveals the extent of the Republicans' fiscal hypocrisy. The new House rules create a huge loophole that allows Republicans to pass billions in additional tax cuts without finding savings elsewhere in the federal budget. These rules are a major step backward in our effort to solve the federal budget crisis. No Member who votes for this fiscally reckless rules package is serious about deficit reduction.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 3082, a continuing resolution that would fund federal government operations on a temporary basis through March 4, 2011. Regrettably, one of the last votes of the 111th Congress has become the first vote of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Mr. Chair, last night, I voted against a fiscally irresponsible $858 billion tax cut package. Every penny of this budget-busting bill will be borrowed--much of it from China--and the burden placed on the backs of our children and grandchildren.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2965, the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. This will be the second time this year that the House votes to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
I'd like to thank Chairman Waxman and Representative Frank Pallone and as well as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle Congressman Lee Terry.
House Resolution 1600 acknowledges the critical role of physician assistants (PA) by designating a week in 2010 as National Physician Assistant Week.
Forty years ago, the position of PA was created in response to a national health care workforce shortage.
Over 20 years ago, I had the honor and privilege in Minnesota to write the rules for PAs to function in providing health care in Minnesota.
Every year in the world's poorest countries millions of girls are forced into marriage. These girls - as young as age 8, but often 13, 14, 15 years old - are sold by impoverished parents to settle debts or they are given away to become wives to men years or even decades older.
For a young girl - a child - being forced to marry an adult man can only be described as a life of slavery, child molestation, and servitude. This is not marriage. It is a violation of the most basic human rights of a child.