I thank you for your courtesy and graciousness, but I would say that clearly my colleague from Oregon is a model for all of us, especially those of us new here to the Congress, for his environmental leadership and for his legislative…

Energy development and the environment are not mutually exclusive. In fact, this Republican colleague said, we would suggest that the first joint town hall meeting with Barack Obama, proposed by McCain, be held on one of those offshore…

In the United States right now we are experiencing an environmental catastrophe. We are experiencing with the BP oil rig the largest single oil spill in American history. It's a little hard to contemplate just how big this oil spill is; 21…

I thank my colleague, and I think his point is a very cogent one, and it's even worse than we're discussing because not only did we consciously decide during the Bush administration and by previous Congresses, frankly controlled by our…

Again, I agree with my friend from Oregon completely, and as he points out, this didn't happen by an act of God. This happened because of lax or no regulation, regulation we knew was necessary and we took a chance. We took a chance. And we…

Yes, we need to clean up the mess we inherited from previous Congresses and, frankly, from the previous administration. Today, for example, the House passed S. 3473, which increases advanced cleanup funding paid for by BP so that the Coast…

I thank our friend from New Jersey and thank him for his leadership as well. Let me close by pointing out that there is a danger to bumper-sticker public policy making. Those who lived by ``drill, baby, drill'' now have to examine not only…

I thank Chairman Skelton for the opportunity to offer this amendment to improve Federal internship programs, and his staff for their collaboration on the text before us. The Federal Government faces a daunting challenge in recruiting and…

I appreciate the bipartisan leadership the committee has provided on these issues. Let me also thank you for working with the House Foreign Affairs Committee and myself on this amendment, which requires the Secretary of Defense to…

Yesterday we heard some business economic history that might make even Pinocchio blush. Our friends on the other side of the aisle sometimes want the public to forget we inherited an economy in free fall last January. GDP had plummeted 5.4…

First of all, the Democratic Party is called the Democratic Party, not the Democrat Party. We are democratic, and we give the same respect to our Republican fellows. I would hope that we would show more respect on the floor in properly…

I thank my friend Mr. Kratovil from Maryland for his leadership, and I thank the chairman and the ranking member of the committee for their leadership on this important topic of STEM education. My 14 years in local government, helping to…

This bill really is a very thoughtful bill that comes at a critical point. The United States has been seeing erosion in its preeminence in the field of innovation in science and technology. This bill is designed to sort of address that in…

As the co-chair of the Diversity and Innovation Caucus, my colleague from Texas has been a true champion for STEM education, particularly in our underrepresented communities. Our amendment builds upon that work by requiring the new STEM…

The global economy is increasingly interconnected. The current economic crisis may have begun in the United States, but it rapidly spread throughout the world. Now as we stand on the cusp of a sustained economic recovery, we must be…

The Telework Improvements Act is an important piece of legislation because it will help us meet five critical policy goals: reduction of dependence on foreign oil; reduction in traffic congestion; improvement in air quality; improvement in…

As the economy faced imminent collapse in 2008, the choice between allowing a complete meltdown of the financial sector and initiating taxpayer funded bailouts was at best a choice between the lesser of two evils. It was reflective of the…

Let me start by thanking the chairman and ranking member of the committee and the subcommittee for their leadership on this thoughtful legislation to deliver long-needed reforms to our military acquisition. I would also like to acknowledge…

Thanks to this Congress, hundreds of millions of Americans have received hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts, in fact, more than $800 billion. If that sounds like an astounding number, it is. It astounded President Reagan's…

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to remember the victims of the 1995 terrorist attack on Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. This act of terrorism was committed by a man who viewed the Federal Government as such a threat it justified mass…

I again offer my deepest sympathies to the victims of the attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, as well as to the families and friends of those victims. Fifteen years later, we remember and mourn their tragic loss. I urge my…

We have reached a historic crossroads in our Nation's history. We can choose to set our Nation on the path to improving the access to quality health insurance for millions of Americans and finally containing the cost of that care, or we…

I rise in full support of H.R. 3644, the Ocean, Coastal and Watershed Training Act. I was proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill which creates the Bay Watershed Education and Training program. Dozens of my constituents have written…

Last week I brought the same chart to the House floor to visibly demonstrate how, starting in 2007, the Great Recession destroyed $17.5 trillion of household aggregate wealth in the United States. I noted that it represented a loss of more…

I want to thank my friend and colleague from Florida for her cooperation and support and leadership on this issue. I have to say, just on a personal note, there are many issues I thought I would face when I came here to the United States…