House Proceeding 05-12-09 on May 12th, 2009 :: 1:43:45 to 2:03:45
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1:39:30 to 1:43:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Charles W. Dent

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Charles W. Dent: to yield back the balance of my time. mr. dent: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

1:43:46 to 1:44:07( Edit History Discussion )

question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1178 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection the moti the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. walz: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree

1:44:08 to 1:44:30( Edit History Discussion )

to house resolution 451, commending the heroic efforts of the people fighting the floods in north dakota and minnesota. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: use resolution 415. resolution commending the heroic efforts of the people fighting the floods in north dakota and minnesota. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from minnesota, mr.

1:44:31 to 1:44:52( Edit History Discussion )

walz, and the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlen from minnesota. mr. walz: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent th all members may have f legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.res. 415. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. walz: madam speaker, i

1:44:53 to 1:45:13( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walz: madam speaker, i rise in the strongest support of h.res. 415, a resolution to commend the heroic efforts of the people fighting the recent floods in north dakota and minnesota. in october of 2007 the house passed h. resolution 617 to express sympathy of the

1:45:05 to 1:46:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Ted Poe

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Ted Poe: devastating flooding that occurred. i spoke on the house floor then to commend our fellow citizens in the wake of mother nature's wrath and to thank the men and women as national guard month, police officers, firefighters, medical emergency personnel. these dedicated professionals were once again called to duty last month in the wake of the

1:45:35 to 1:45:55( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: red river floods. in april, 2009, severa counties in minnesota were greatly affected in minnesota. the red river flows from north dakota to minnesota. flooding combined with extremely cold weather caused severe ice damage. it was the result of one of the wettest springs were they were

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Ted Poe: 300% above normal. when anytype of tragedy enters our life, to a large scale natural disaster, terrorist attack, our national emergency responders are first on the scene to provide expert help, aid and comfort. these individuals are on the

1:46:17 to 1:46:31( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: front line in preparing for, responding and get gaiting damages from a variety of hazards. in addition, we acknowledge the businesses and many charitable organizations whose boundless

1:46:32 to 1:46:52( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: generosity and caring are one of the pillars of which we come to rely. i strongly support its resolution and urge its passage and i ask to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i'd yield myself such time as i may consume.

1:46:35 to 1:49:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mario Diaz-Balart

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Mario Diaz-Balart: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, in march, both minnesota and north dakota, as the gentleman just said, began experiencing severe storms and flooding. and as a result major disaster declarations were issued for a number of counties in those states pursuant to the robert t. stafford disaster relief and emergency assistance act to provide federal assistance. but the numbers are staggering.

1:47:14 to 1:47:35( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: 47 of 53 counties in north dakota and 28 of 87 counties in minnesota ha been declared federal disaster areas. that just tells you the scope and size of this -- these floods. now, as a member representing a state that has seen unfortunately its fair share of storms, i can tell you that

1:47:36 to 1:47:56( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: there is so many people that really allow -- allow the people of these states to move forward and to frankly survive this and hopefully prosper from it. there are so many people, not only from north dakota and minnesota but from around the nation who assisted in fighting these floods. and hundreds of volunteers chipped in to help one another,

1:47:57 to 1:48:17( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: to fill sandbags and to do whatever it takes to make sure that they can help their fellow citizens. demolition crews freed up ice jams and ice dams toet water moving up the missouri river to minimize flooding -- to try to minimize flooding after already so much had taken place. reportedly there were so many volunteers that helped some had

1:48:18 to 1:48:38( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: to be turned away. that shows the greatness of the american people. so this resolution commends the people of north dakota and minnesota for their actions, for their heroic actions, as the gentleman just said. along with those volunteers from around the country who also came to assist. and also expresses appreciation to fema, the federal emergency management agency, and other federal agencies for their wk

1:48:39 to 1:49:00( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: with the state and local officials. again, i wanto thank the gentleman for this resolution. it's -- people are hurting and struggling but the american people have a way to come together, to help each other. this is just one more example. and i urge the approval and passage of this resolution and i don't believe we have any

1:49:01 to 1:49:20( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: speakers so with that i -- but i'll just -- i guess i'll reserve just in case but then i' reserve the remaining part of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: while i thank the gentleman from florida for these kind words and at this time i'll yield as much time as he may wish to consume to the

1:49:21 to 1:49:41( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: author, the gentleman who introduced this, the gentleman from north dakota who along with his constituents we share a common border and we share far more than that, a culture and friendship. and his leadership of makin sure that all possible steps were taken real great example for every one of us here. so with that i'll yield the time to mr. pomeroy from north dakota. gentleman is recognized from

1:49:30 to 1:58:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Earl Pomeroy

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Earl Pomeroy: north dakota. mr. pomeroy: i thank myriend for yielding and appreciate the kind comments from mr. diaz-balart as well. maybe sometime we could get the gentleman from southern florida up for one of our ice storms and his a hurricane. we can understand the other. it underscores the national dimension of how we hang

1:50:05 to 1:50:26( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: together as a country. you get help we help. we get help you help. that's how it works. i want to speak for that a moment or two in my remarks today. the entire country, madam speaker, watched the compelling news coverage of the massive record flooding in north dakota and minnesota this spring that resulted from huge accumulations of snow and

1:50:27 to 1:50:51( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: dangerous spring ice. having witnessed this flood fight firsthand, i understand what made this television images so compelling. from all walks of life neighbors were helping neighbors. the nation got to see the character of north dakota and minnesota as our communities responded to this disaster. in my entire life i have never

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Earl Pomeroy: seen a time when so many our north dakota communities faced disaster threats from one end of the state to the other and so many places in between. take a look at thi picture. this is rural cass county, actually outside the city limits of fargo. or the next picture, a city

1:51:16 to 1:51:36( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: couple hundred miles north, pemb that, north dakota. -- pembina, north dakota. all you see is water, water everywhere. one of the operating heads of the disaster programs in the state observed to me, said it's become a place where our ditches are streams, our streams are rivers and our rivers a lakes. and that's certainly what it

1:51:37 to 1:51:58( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: felt like during much of the ordeal of this spring. a record snow in the end wasn't the only threat. this next picture illustrates what happened as the gentleman illustrated we had ice jams on the missouri river backing water into the southern part of bismarck known as fox island.

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Earl Pomeroy: required as mentioned, demolitioned this ice jam in a place that has not had a flood threat since the construction of the garrison dam 60 years ago. fargo mayor denny wallicker observed, if we go down we're going to go down swinging. and that absolutely captured

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Earl Pomeroy: the determination of local leadership and the citizens that responded as they fought like crazy to keep their city from becoming inundated by rampaging waters. federal, state and loc officials came together with folks from all wks of life and we're very grateful to president obama for moving

1:52:41 to 1:53:01( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: swiftly to declare north dakota and minnesota federal disaster areas unleashing the help that comes with that designation. fema administer nancy ward, acting fema administer nancy rd stood with our local leaders ensuring they had the federal disaster assistance to respond to flood threats. the governor ended up calling

1:53:02 to 1:53:23( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: more tn 2,000 natural guardsmen to respond to the threats we observed many times. it was good having them work in our sand rather than desert sand as the threats were unfolded. senior leadership present in our communities time and time again, we could not have built

1:53:24 to 1:53:45( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: the kind of emergency levees that were required without the corps' expertise. they are true partners in this fight. throughout these flood fights i had the opportunity to work with local and community officials as they led the battle against the rising waters. while i've always been impressed with the caliber and commitment of our local

1:53:46 to 1:54:09( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: leaders, i'm now in complete awe after witnessing these individuals lead their communities in times of real crisis. make no bones about it, city leaders have been instrumental, instrumental in keeping the residents and their communities safe. when the heads came to north

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Earl Pomeroy: dakota in a -- providing advice and direction, what they got back was an understanding of just how thorough the planning had been and how competent the local response was as leaders led the fight against this. it underscores a lesson we need to keep in mind in terms of

1:54:31 to 1:54:52( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: disasters. federal support, subject to local leadership because no one knows the ground better than local leaders. but we all know the heart of the flood efforts comes dn to the people themselves. these people s down, neighbor helping neighbor in this struggle to save their homes and communities. this is a picture of the fargo del.

1:54:53 to 1:55:15( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: now that's an indoor football facility w dakota plays their football games. it was turned into sandbag central and in tune of 90,000 over the course of this ordeal more than 80,000 volunteers came forward, built millions and millions of sandbags round the clock at the fargo dome. i was there. ne

1:55:16 to 1:55:36( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: in addition to that, national guard, local volunteers shown here took thos sandbags in the middle of blizzards and everything else, built dikes on top of snowbanks sometimes through some of the toughest snowstorms we had in winter. having lived this flood fight for several weeks i've seen

1:55:37 to 1:55:57( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: more examples of heroism than i can begin to recount, but the impressions will be with me always. and we will never be able to adequately thank the thousands of national guard, tens of thousands of volunteers and all the countless government agencies who brought to bear their assistance to fight this record fight.

1:55:58 to 1:56:18( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: i think president obama put it best in his radio address which featured our state's disaster and response in our region, because there's lessons we can learn from all this. the president said, and i quote, at moments like these we're reminded by the power of nature to disrupt lives and endanger communities, but we're also reminded of the power of

1:56:19 to 1:56:39( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: individuals to make a fference. in the face of incredible challenge, the people of these communities have rallied in support of each other and their service isn't just inspirational. it's integral to our response. it's also a reminder of what we can achieve when americans come together to serve their

1:56:40 to 1:57:00( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: communities. in facing sudden crises or more stubborn challenges, the truth is we're all in this together. as neighbors and fellow citizens. that is what brought so many to help in north dakota and minnesota and other areas

1:57:01 to 1:57:21( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: impacted by flooding, end of quote. you know, some may see these images of snow and rain and sand and mud and water and say to themselves, why would anyone want to live there. but to each of us who played our respective part in this fight, experienced the sfreng

1:57:22 to 1:57:42( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: of our community, mobilized together shoulder to shoulder, helping one another, we say, why would someone want to live anywhere else. thisongressional resolution is a well-deserved way to express our deep appreciation as a congress and recognize

1:57:43 to 1:58:05( Edit History Discussion )

Earl Pomeroy: north dakotans and minnesotans publicly for their courage and resilience. they are a true inspiration and i am committed to stan them during the long recovery process that now lies ahead. i thank you very much for allowing me this kind of time. and in addition to this, mr. chairman, my partner across the

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Earl Pomeroy: river in the flood fight, representative colin peterson, cannot be on the floor at this hour but has provided to me his

1:58:11 to 1:58:31( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: statement. and i would ask consent to submit it in the record along with my statement in support of this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pomeroy: thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. i'm sorry, the gentleman from florida.

1:58:15 to 1:59:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mario Diaz-Balart

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Mario Diaz-Balart: mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i want to thank the gentleman for that great illustration of what the people are facing. you know, i recall that after hurricane andrew i ran into -- i ran into a number of obviously volunteers and something that really struck me is i ran into two people who were there on vacation and they were actually helping in a daycare center for children

1:58:55 to 1:59:16( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: th had lost their homes. and because the gentleman just talked about that we all need to see that and how we all here come together as well but because of that experience i did go to missouri in the 1990's after some floods. i had somedays off. i was in the state legislature during those days and i volunteered and i went down there and spent a few days

1:59:17 to 1:59:37( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: sandbagging. you really see the best of the country when people are really hurting and people are really struggling. again, we've received the kindness of the american people in florida multiple times. you also see the -- how hew rowic the american people are -- heroic the american people are. i thank the gentleman for bringing up this resolution. it's timely.

1:59:38 to 1:59:51( Edit History Discussion )

Mario Diaz-Balart: it's so important that we recognize tough times are to b had but the american people does step up and both those states they're going to -- they're going to do better than they ever were. they were going to be stronger and the people are going to survive and prosper again.

1:59:52 to 2:00:12( Edit History Discussion )

Ted Poe: i want to thank you all for bringing this up. with that, madam speaker, i would like to then just yield back the remaining part of my time. the speaker pro tempo: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i thank the gentleman from florida for his words and i thank the gentleman from north dakota for his inspirational description. both of them did a wonderful

1:59:55 to 2:01:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Ted Poe

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Ted Poe: job of explaining when we come out of these most difficult situations it's the best that we have. i think as the gentleman from north dakota mentioned when we saw hurricanes katrina and rita we all became floridians. and when the red river was flooding we were all minnesotans and north dakotans, a commonality in this nation in the ability to pull together is truly inspirational. so i thank the gentleman for his time and for his kind

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Ted Poe: words. madam speaker, i encourage my colleagues to support this resolution, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 415. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are

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Ted Poe: suspended, and the resolutio is agreed to and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

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Stephen F. Lynch: . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts rise? mr. lynch: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 370 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: house resolution 370, expressing support for

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Speech By: Stephen F. Lynch

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Stephen F. Lynch: designation of april 27, 2009 as national healthy schools day. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch and the gentleman from nebraska, mr. fortenberry, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: thank you, madam spear. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five

2:01:55 to 2:02:15( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks. wofmente. the gentleman is recognized. mr. lynch: i yield myself such time as i may nsume. madam speaker, in the coming months we will address critical areas in the areas of energy, health care. national healthy schools days

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Stephen F. Lynch: promotes changes and i'm pleased to present the amended version of house resolution 370 for consideration. this legislation expresses the support of congress for the goals and ideals of national healthy schools day. house resolution 370 was introduced by representative paul tonko on april 27, which is

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Stephen F. Lynch: the day that national healthy schools days is annually commemorated. the measure has support of over 50 members of congress and has met approval by the committee on oversight and government reform. i'm sure you will agree it is important to ensure that our public schools are places that advance intellectual growth and

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Stephen F. Lynch: provide healthy environments for our children to learn and to thrive. the environmental protection agency estimates that only 22% of public schools in america have effective indoor air quality management programs. more stringent regulation of indoor air quality in public schools would protect students

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Stephen F. Lynch: against dangers, environmental hazards such as carbon dioxide, radon and asbestos. the national healthy schools day initiative encourages new efforts to combat these hazards and limits the prevalence of asthma triggers that have been report todd account for more than 14 million missed schools

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Stephen F. Lynch: days each year. steps to improve the indoor quality of our public schools should work in conjunction with efforts to make our schools more energy efficient through the use of new ventilation systems and construction of high performance, so-called green schools, we can make certain that our educational facilities are using less energy while