David Cicilline

Thank you, Madam Secretary, for your extraordinary service to our country, that has earned you the deep respect and admiration of people all over the world.

I think it is critically important of course that the United States maintain our unwavering support for the state of Israel.

I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Rhode Island will be postponed. Amendment Offered by Mr. Cohen

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Page 130, line 14, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced by $375,000,000)''. Page 153, line 15, after the dollar…

That is precisely what happened in Rhode Island, was this public investment led to a great public-private partnership and a substantial leverage of that investment which I think is helping in other places around the country.

I thank the gentleman. We are also considering amendment 118 in this bloc. This amendment would require that, before providing reimbursement to Pakistan for its efforts in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Secretary of Defense…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Page 5, line 17, strike ``grants'' and insert ``grants, including grants authorized under section 27 of the Stevenson-Wydler…

What we are really asking is what is best for our country in these early years?

There is a special role that new immigrants or immigrants to this country often who do not speak English, particularly who speak Spanish, are playing in job creation.

I want to speak in strong support of the amendment and thank the gentlelady from California for raising this really important issue.

I think it is important in this discussion to recognize that by suggesting that this amendment, which would require that this information be provided to people in Spanish, does not mean every document, including airplane manuals or every…

We ought to be prepared to be sure that that community has this information in their language as well.

We must immediately address the chronically unemployed who have grown by 441% since 2008 by providing them with the emergency funding to extend, not cut, Unemployment Insurance to those who have exhausted their benefits.

We cannot reduce our deficits simply by cutting food for hungry children or stripping our schools of computers and new books.

We must come together to lift up the millions and millions of Americans who are working full time, but are still living in poverty.

Let me be clear, we do not have to abandon Americans in poverty or fail to invest in working class families to reduce our deficits and pay down our debts.

We cannot and we must not balance the budget on the backs of our most vulnerable.

The budget is a powerful indication of our priorities as a nation.

As of this past January, the unemployment rate in Rhode Island stood at an unacceptable high 10.9 percent.

We need to make certain that whatever resources are required to implement that program...

We should, and can, do better and I urge the committee to fund LIHEAP at $7.1 billion a year so that folks do not get cold in the winter.

It makes no sense, I urge the committee to fully fund it.

I was honored to get to know Don and quickly came to respect and admire him, particularly his commitment to the continent of Africa and global health.

I, too, want to compliment the sponsor of this amendment ... I think it is really important that we at the same time raise this goal.

I think this is an issue which the President and the administration are taking very seriously and remain fully engaged in as they monitor these events and confront the growing threat of Iran around the world.