E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 111 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 156 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2010 No. 33 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. and was Program is a local lifeline for at-risk teers, mentors, and staff at Women of called to order by the Speaker pro tem- young women. This pioneering program Tomorrow that this innovative pro- pore (Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland). pairs extremely accomplished profes- gram has been such an immense suc- f sional women with small groups of at- cess. risk teenage girls in public high As a proud grandmother of a beau- DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO schools for a 4-year mentoring pro- tiful baby girl, I know our girls deserve TEMPORE gram. a program like Women of Tomorrow. I The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- These mentoring women who could look forward to hearing more about all fore the House the following commu- be judges, doctors, lawyers, indeed of the future successes of each young nication from the Speaker: from all walks of life, they are all vol- woman that is involved in Women of WASHINGTON, DC, unteers who are dedicated to showing Tomorrow, and congratulate everyone March 9, 2010. teenage girls the possibilities that involved for their everyday victory for I hereby appoint the Honorable DONNA F. exist if they stay on the right track. our children. EDWARDS to act as Speaker pro tempore on The Women of Tomorrow Program I include for the RECORD the wonder- this day. gives students the hope and inspiration ful board of directors that guides the NANCY PELOSI, needed to be successful, productive, ac- Women of Tomorrow Program. Speaker of the House of Representatives. tive adults. The volunteers build self- Madam Speaker, at this time I would like to f confidence, assist the girls in achieving submit for the RECORD the board of directors MORNING-HOUR DEBATE academic success, and help students for the Women of Tomorrow Mentor & Schol- give back to their community in both a arship Program: Jennifer Valoppi, Television The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- constructive and positive manner. Journalist & Author, Founder & President; Don ant to the order of the House of Janu- Founded in 1997 by veteran TV jour- Browne, President, Telemundo Network, Co- ary 6, 2009, the Chair will now recog- nalist Jennifer Valoppi and Telemundo Founder & Vice President; The Honorable nize Members from lists submitted by president Don Browne, Women of To- Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade the majority and minority leaders for morrow is an unrivaled positive and State Attorney, Founding Mentor & Co-Vice morning-hour debate. growing force within our south Florida President; Betty Amos, President, The Abkey The Chair will alternate recognition community. Dozens of public high Companies, Founding Mentor, Board Member between the parties, with each party schools throughout south Florida have & Treasurer; Judge Judith Kreeger, Miami- limited to 30 minutes and each Mem- implemented the Women of Tomorrow Dade County Circuit Court, Founding Mentor ber, other than the majority and mi- Program. These schools allow over & Secretary; Jamie Byington, Tax Partner, nority leaders and the minority whip, 2,000 young women to be helped by this Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, L.L.P., Board limited to 5 minutes. program. And the high school gradua- Member; Donna Feldman, CPA, PA, Mentor & f tion rate of students in the program is Board Member; Marisa Toccin, President, nearly 90 percent. Linea Luxe Lifestyle, Board Member; Lisa HONORING WOMEN OF TOMORROW The Women of Tomorrow Program is Stewart Hughes, Vice President, Compliance, MENTOR AND SCHOLARSHIP inspiring at-risk young women to Telemundo/NBC Universal, Board Member; PROGRAM achieve their fullest potential through Dr. Diane Walder, MD, PA, Founding Mentor The SPEAKER pro tempore. The a strong education. And since 2000, the & Board Member. Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Women of Tomorrow project has pre- f Florida (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) for 5 min- sented $2.3 million in scholarship value utes. to over 800 graduates of their program RESTORING AMERICANS’ NET Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speak- for college. The support offered by the WORTH er, I rise today to recognize a wonder- volunteers of Women of Tomorrow give The SPEAKER pro tempore. The ful organization, the Women of Tomor- these young women the confidence to Chair recognizes the gentleman from row Mentor and Scholarship Program. pursue a college degree, to realize that Virginia (Mr. CONNOLLY) for 5 minutes. As a former educator and Florida cer- they can achieve their goals. Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam tified teacher with a doctorate in edu- The incredible impact this program Speaker, since it began in 2007, the cation from the University of Miami, I has had on south Florida in helping Great Recession has caused tremen- know first hand the importance of pro- countless troubled youth achieve suc- dous hardships throughout the Nation. viding our children every opportunity cess is truly phenomenal. It is because Millions of Americans have lost their to succeed. The Women of Tomorrow of the commitment of dedicated volun- jobs, in increasingly larger numbers 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. H1173 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 02:37 Jun 20, 2010 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD10\RECFILES\H09MR0.REC H09MR0 mmaher on DSKD5P82C1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE H1174 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE March 9, 2010 every month, including 741,000 in Janu- month. While their value has not fully Lower costs will stem from patients ary 2009 alone. Our economy contracted recovered, the average home sale price who are empowered in making health an astounding 5.4 percent in the fourth increased $45,000 from January 2009 care decisions through innovations like quarter of 2008, and an unbelievable 6.4 through January of this year, restoring expanded health savings accounts and percent as this Congress and the tens of thousands of dollars in equity by making sure that the trial lawyers Obama administration were taking of- to each homeowner. who are driving up the cost of health fice in the first quarter of 2009. Fore- The stock market, representing the care with a blizzard of frivolous law- closures were skyrocketing, up 81 per- retirement funds, 401(k)s and life sav- suits are reined in. cent in 2008, with more than 2.3 million ings of so many Americans, has grown So we should start over. Starting homes in default or seized. Our econ- almost 60 percent since its March 2009 over is the single best way to produce omy was on the brink. Nowhere was low. Although there is still a way to go bipartisan legislation that the public that more evident than in the precipi- to fully restore the value, the increases can support. We should focus on work- tous drop of American households’ net have been steady. ing step by step to enact commonsense worth. The result of these improvements to health care reform that will lower I brought a visual aid today because the American people is the blue line. It costs for families and small businesses words alone cannot do this loss justice. is $5 trillion of value restored to Amer- and expand access to affordable, high- From December 2007 through March ican households. Madam Speaker, I ask quality care. 2009, Americans lost $17.5 trillion in net you to look at that red line again. The Republicans have been talking about worth. That is trillion with a ‘‘t.’’ That decline was continuous until our inter- a step-by-step approach for months. is larger than the entire economy of ventions. Since our actions, the growth This approach would allow individuals the United States. If we dedicated the has been continuous. to buy health care across State lines, entire output of the U.S. economy, We are not out of the woods just yet. cover people with preexisting condi- every penny spent by every single per- Households lost value every month for tions, improve access to health savings son, it still would not equal that loss. the longest recession since World War accounts, as well as enact medical li- It represented a loss of $56,000 for every II. But we have turned the corner, and ability reform. The nonpartisan Con- single person in our country. Americans today have $5 trillion more gressional Budget Office estimates that I am not talking about the value of a in net worth because of our actions. such a commonsense plan would reduce That is why it is vital to stay the business, or corporate profit. The net deficits by $68 billion and reduce pri- course so we can continue to help every worth of American households is their vate insurance premiums by up to 10 homeowner recover their life savings 401(k) and retirement accounts. It is in percent. This is a plan that doesn’t and restore prosperity to every house- the value of their children’s education grow the government, and it is a plan hold. fund. It is their emergency savings and that reduces cost without a govern- nest eggs. It is the equity in their f ment takeover and without breaking homes, the single largest asset most HEALTH CARE REFORM THAT the budget or soaking taxpayers. Americans have. In fact, foreclosed WORKS Madam Speaker, it is a plan that will homes have decreased the equity of ex- The SPEAKER pro tempore.