E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 159 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2013 No. 52 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was Now is the time to choose the budget and their families. When he served for called to order by the Speaker. that reflects our American values. The 10 years as my legislative director, f American people and future genera- John was instrumental in crafting the tions of Americans deserve a balanced Federal Employee Pay Comparability MORNING-HOUR DEBATE budget. Act and in making sure Congress The SPEAKER. Pursuant to the f passed it into law. Mr. Speaker, that order of the House of January 3, 2013, was a bipartisan law, and it was Presi- the Chair will now recognize Members JOHN BERRY dent George Bush I who signed that from lists submitted by the majority The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. COL- piece of legislation into law in 1990. and minority leaders for morning-hour LINS of New York). The Chair recog- In that undertaking and in many oth- debate. nizes the gentleman from Maryland ers, John Berry made a real difference The Chair will alternate recognition (Mr. HOYER) for 5 minutes. for the more than 62,000 Federal work- between the parties, with each party Mr. HOYER. Preliminary, however, ers and everyone else who calls my dis- limited to 1 hour and each Member to my remarks, I want to say I thank trict home. Just as we look to our Fed- other than the majority and minority the previous speaker for his remarks, eral workers to watch out for us, our leaders and the minority whip limited and I would hope that with the Sen- Federal employees have looked to John to 5 minutes each, but in no event shall ate’s having passed a budget, our hav- to watch out for them—to make sure debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. ing passed a budget, and the President that they have a safe work environ- ment, that their paychecks will arrive f submitting a budget that we will now, hopefully as soon as this week, go to on time, and that the benefits they THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DESERVE conference so that we might discuss earn are the ones they receive. A BALANCED BUDGET the differences and get that budget to Under President Clinton, John served The SPEAKER. The Chair recognizes which the gentleman addressed him- as deputy Assistant Secretary and act- ing Assistant Secretary for Law En- the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. self. forcement at the Treasury Depart- HURT) for 5 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay trib- ment, overseeing the United States Se- Mr. HURT. Mr. Speaker, the Amer- ute to a wonderful individual who has cret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, ican people know that a budget is one served our country in government serv- Tobacco and Firearms. He later moved of the most important documents pro- ice for many years and has spent the to the Interior Department where he duced by any legislative body. It is a last four in overseeing our Federal was Assistant Secretary for Policy, document that reflects the values and workforce as the Director of the Office Management and Budget, essentially priorities of our government and our of Personnel Management. I am speak- the manager of the Department of the Nation; and while it is a document that ing of my dear friend John Berry, who Interior. is a reflection of today, more impor- retired last week as Director of the Of- Before coming to the Office of Per- tantly, it is a document that lays out a fice of Personnel Management. sonnel Management, John spent nearly vision for our Nation’s future—the fu- America, Mr. Speaker, is blessed with a decade working on conservation as ture for our children and the future a Federal workforce composed of hard- Director of the Fish and Wildlife Foun- that they will inherit. working, talented, and dedicated men dation. Then, arguably, the job he per- So now, for the first time in 4 years, and women. Too often, however, their haps enjoyed most was that of Director the American people are able to com- contributions are overlooked or are of the National Zoo. At the National pare, side by side, the three competing even denigrated by those who would Zoo, he was so successful at turning visions for our future as proposed by use our Federal employees as an easy around a faltering institution that the House, as proposed by the Senate, target to attack the institution of gov- after he left they named a lion in his and as proposed by the President. Two ernment. honor. of these proposals would give to our John Berry made it one of his central John, indeed, was a lion—a lion on children more taxes, more spending— missions at OPM to stand up for Fed- behalf of the Federal employees, a lion and neither ever reaches balance. eral workers’ achievements and remind on behalf of good government, a lion on There is only one proposal, the House the American people of the true value behalf of integrity. Those who know budget, that would instead give to our we get from recruiting and retaining John can attest that he is not only a children a balanced budget and a the best public workforce in the world. true leader and an effective manager brighter future of freedom and oppor- He came to OPM with plenty of experi- but also an incredibly warm person tunity. ence in fighting for Federal employees with an unfailingly positive outlook. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H2069 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 01:50 Apr 18, 2013 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A17AP7.000 H17APPT1 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with HOUSE H2070 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE April 17, 2013 John Berry will be greatly missed by generation of veterans receives the greatest gifts each of us can give our all who serve our country in its civil- support and timely access to health families is to have a thoughtful and ian workforce, and I wish John and his care that they have so honorably frank discussion about what our wishes partner, Curtis, all the best as he be- earned. would be for medical care if we’re un- gins the next phase in his career. f able to suddenly make those decisions. I hope my colleagues will join me in It’s also one of the greatest gifts that thanking John for his service, for his b 1010 this Congress can make to the people leadership, for his insights, for his in- END-OF-LIFE CARE we represent by doing our job so that spiration, and for being an example to the Federal Government is a better all of us of a positive, constructive, The SPEAKER pro tempore. The partner in making sure those conversa- supportive, and successful career in Chair recognizes the gentleman from tions are possible. Federal service. Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 min- Please cosponsor our bipartisan Per- Mr. Speaker, our country has been utes. sonalize Your Care Act, H.R. 1173, and the beneficiary of his character, integ- Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, then sit down and have this conversa- rity, and extraordinary ability. We Monday in the blink of an eye, hun- tion with your family. It’s not always wish him well in all that he will be dreds of people at the Boston Marathon the easiest, but it is far better than doing. I’m sure it will be extraor- were faced with an awful decision. making your loved ones guess and feel dinarily productive and of service to None of them woke up that morning guilty. expecting they, or a loved one, was our country as he moves on from Fed- f eral service at the OPM to a new chal- going to need emergency care in a life- lenge and a new career. threatening situation. We tend to PATH TO STATEHOOD think of end-of-life care as the province f The SPEAKER pro tempore. The of a terminally ill person, often elder- Chair recognizes the gentleman from THE VETERANS TIMELY ACCESS ly, but that’s just one circumstance, Puerto Rico (Mr. PIERLUISI) for 5 min- TO HEALTH CARE ACT and not necessarily the most common. utes. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The The decisions need to be made in- Mr. PIERLUISI. Mr. Speaker, in No- Chair recognizes the gentleman from stantly about whether to amputate a vember 2012, Puerto Rico held a ref- Florida (Mr. ROSS) for 5 minutes. limb, and a decision must be made that erendum on its political status. The re- Mr. ROSS. Yesterday, I had the dis- moment. If a person is in shock or un- sults demonstrated that a clear major- tinguished opportunity to greet three conscious, who helps make that deci- ity of the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico busloads of Florida World War II vet- sion for them? want to end the island’s current terri- erans participating in an Honor Flight. Last week, I had two more cir- tory status, that a supermajority pre- In total, more than 80 proud Florid- cumstances where people in my life fers statehood among the possible al- ians who bravely fought to free the were faced with totally unexpected ternatives, and that—for the first time world of evil during World War II had life-threatening circumstances that in history—more voters favor state- the wonderful opportunity to visit and brought these questions into sharp per- hood than the current status.