Thomas Mott Osborne

Mr. Speaker, 4,000 young people die per year from suicide, and I guess what we are being told here is we do not know of anything that will work, and this bill really may make things worse, and we may actually cause some people to take…

From 1952 to 1995, we have three times the number, the rate of suicides, in this country as we did in 1952. This is a national epidemic. So to say that we really should not do anything or we should really go slow for some reason rubs me…

there seem to be three major topics which will be determining factors in this fall's elections, and these are: the conflict in the Middle East, the economy, and values in cultural issues. I will attempt tonight to discuss each one of these…

I am not a constitutional scholar, obviously. I spent 40 years working with approximately 2,000 young people. I actively recruited those young people to go to the University of Nebraska. I visited annually 60 to 70 of them personally in…

I first met Vince in 1969, when he was coaching at the University of Georgia and I was an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska, and I was impressed by his humility, his willingness to talk to a lowly assistant coach. Of course, 24…

Yesterday H.R. 4703 was introduced in response to a report issued by the White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth. The findings of the study are as follows: Number one, 10 million American teens are plagued by poverty, abuse and…

I rise in support of H.R. 4363, the Helping Hands for Homeownership Act. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of this very important legislation. The legislation corrects an interpretation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)…

I rise in support of S. 2238, the Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004. S. 2238 was originally H.R. 253 which was authored by my dear colleague and fellow Nebraskan, Mr. Bereuter of Nebraska, and cosponsored by…

often perception does not match reality. I believe that this is true in regard to our present economy. Many would characterize the economy as very poor. However, as we can see on the following chart, short-term interest rates are the…

We live in troubled times for young people. Over 36 years of coaching I saw cultural changes that negatively impacted children. The out-of-wedlock birth rate went from 5 percent in 1960 to roughly 33 percent today. The United States has…

it seems that in these debates we so often get sidetracked into discussions of ideology, and I think it is important we focus on the bill before us. I certainly have great respect for those on the minority side and understand and…

Mr. Speaker, in 2000, Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs. In 2001, more than one million children ages 12 to 17 used performance enhancing substances, and 390,000 children aged 10 to 14 used performance enhancing drugs or supplements. Chief…

I rise to support the 2005 National Defense Authorization Act and the rule. This bill contains tremendous support for our military. Among those items that I think are particularly noteworthy is increased housing benefits for our troops; a…

I spent most of my life in a competitive environment and, during that time, I tried to understand why some organizations are successful and why some fail and some win and some lose. It seems to me that in a competitive endeavor that three…

Mr. Speaker, I represent a district that is entirely rural and has nothing but small businesses in it. The number one complaint that I hear is about the cost of health insurance. These businesses employ more employees than all of the other…

as many people know, we frequently talk on the floor here about the state of the economy. However, it seems to me that much of this criticism is unfounded. We currently have historically low interest rates. Inflation is at 1.9 percent…

I rise in support of H.R. 27, which was introduced by the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter). There are over 50 small public housing authorities in my district that will benefit from this legislation. My district is almost entirely…

this evening we honored the Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams for winning national championships, a truly remarkable accomplishment to have two teams from one school do this. Not long ago, the National Academy of Science…

not long ago the National Academy of Science released a report on preventing underage drinking. This week, the Final Four NCAA basketball playoffs will occur. I believe there is a connection. The National Academy of Science report…

My district has 68 counties, 160,000 square miles. It is the third or fourth largest district in the United States. As a result, veterans who need health care must often travel several hours, sometimes hundreds of miles, to access VA…

as we have listened to debates over the last several days, actually last several weeks, there has been a lot of rhetoric about how poorly things are going in Afghanistan and Iraq, the administration has no plan, et cetera, and along with…

100 million people viewed this year's Super Bowl. It was a great football game. Unfortunately, most of the publicity did not focus on the football game, it rather focused on the half-time show and a few ads. Matter of fact, there were…

I really have three comments regarding the faith-based issue. First of all, I think that we need to recognize that there is legal precedent. And some of this has been discussed earlier. There are four different acts: The Substance Abuse…

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the National Mentoring Month Resolution honoring those who give their time to mentor children. Last night in this Chamber the President emphasized the threat of terrorism to our Nation's security, and I…

I rise in support of H.R. 253, which is a reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program, introduced by my colleagues Congressmen Doug Bereuter and Earl Blumenauer. The legislation reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program…