[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 173 (Wednesday, December 22, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2250-E2251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN J. HALL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 22, 2010

  Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, I would like to submit the 
following:

                          Legislative Actions


                  ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND CREATING JOBS

       AMERICAN RECOVERY & REINVESTMENT ACT, enacted to jumpstart 
     our economy, create and save 3.5 million jobs, give a tax cut 
     to small business and 95% of American workers, begin to 
     rebuild America's road, rail, and water infrastructure, and 
     make a historic commitment to education, clean energy, and 
     science and technology, with unprecedented accountability. 
     (Signed into Law)
       SMALL BUSINESS JOBS ACT, landmark legislation providing $12 
     billion in tax relief for small businesses by enacting 8 more 
     small business tax cuts on top of the 8 already enacted by 
     this Congress; creating up to 500,000 jobs, by leveraging up 
     to $300 billion in private sector lending for small 
     businesses through a $30 billion lending fund for community 
     banks; fully paid for--doesn't add a dime to the deficit. 
     (Signed into Law)
       TEACHER JOBS/STATE AID/CLOSING TAX LOOPHOLES, creating and 
     saving nearly 320,000 jobs; providing $10 billion to save 
     161,000 teacher jobs and $16 billion in Medicaid aid, with 
     the effect of creating/saving 158,000 jobs, including police 
     officers, firefighters, nurses & private sector workers; 
     fully paid for by closing loopholes that encourage companies 
     to ship American jobs overseas; cutting deficit by $1.4 
     billion. (Signed into Law)
       STUDENT AID & FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT, making the largest 
     investment in college aid in history--increasing Pell Grants, 
     making college loans more affordable, and strengthening 
     community colleges--while reducing the federal deficit by 
     ending wasteful student loan subsidies to banks. (Signed into 
     Law)
       HIRE ACT, creating up to 300,000 jobs, by providing a 
     payroll tax holiday for businesses that hire unemployed 
     workers and a tax credit for businesses that retain these 
     workers; also unleashes tens of billions of dollars to 
     rebuild infrastructure; fully paid for by cracking down on 
     offshore accounts for wealthy. (Signed into Law)
       CASH FOR CLUNKERS, jump-starting the U.S. auto industry, 
     providing consumers with up to $4,500 to trade in an old 
     vehicle for one with higher fuel efficiency--spurring the 
     sale of 700,000 vehicles. (Signed into Law)
       WORKER, HOMEOWNERSHIP & BUSINESS ASSISTANCE ACT, boosting 
     the economy and creating jobs with more unemployment benefits 
     for Americans hit by the recession, an expanded 1st-time 
     homebuyer tax credit, and enhanced small business tax 
     relief--expanded to all struggling U.S. businesses. (Signed 
     into Law)
       U.S. MANUFACTURING ENHANCEMENT ACT, to help U.S. 
     manufacturers compete at home and abroad by temporarily 
     suspending or reducing duties on intermediate products or 
     materials these companies use that are not made domestically. 
     (Signed into Law)
       UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS EXTENSION, extending unemployment 
     benefits to millions of American families through November 
     30, 2010; every dollar of unemployment benefits creates at 
     least $1.61 in economic activity. (Signed into Law)
       CURRENCY REFORM/FAIR TRADE, to promote U.S. manufacturing 
     jobs, by giving our government effective tools to address the 
     unfair trade practice of currency manipulation by foreign 
     countries, including China; their undervalued currency makes 
     Chinese exports cheaper and America's exports to China more 
     expensive, putting U.S. manufacturers at an unfair 
     disadvantage; bill is WTO-compliant. (Passed by House)
       AMERICAN JOBS AND CLOSING TAX LOOPHOLES ACT, to promote 
     American jobs by restoring credit to small businesses, 
     extending tax incentives for American R&D and tax relief for 
     middle class American families, rebuilding American 
     infrastructure, and expanding jobs for young people; and to 
     close tax loopholes to make Wall Street billionaires pay 
     their fair share of taxes. (Passed by House)
       HOME STAR JOBS, to create 168,000 American jobs making 
     energy efficiency products, by providing incentives for 
     consumers to make their homes energy-efficient--cutting 
     energy bills for 3 million families and reducing our 
     dangerous dependence on foreign oil and dirty fuels. (Passed 
     by House)
       RURAL STAR/HOME STAR LOANS, to create tens of thousands 
     more U.S. jobs, by creating Rural Star loans for people in 
     rural America to make their homes and farms more energy-
     efficient; and a Home Star Loan Program for no-interest loans 
     for energy efficiency home upgrades in other areas; boosts 
     demand for energy efficient products/materials and 
     construction and installation services that are made in 
     America. (Passed by House)
       PROTECTING AMERICAN PATENTS, providing funding, fully 
     offset, to prevent additional backlogs in patent 
     applications, as patents are critical to American innovation 
     and economic growth. (Signed into Law)
       AMERICA COMPETES REAUTHORIZATION, to invest in modernizing 
     manufacturing; basic R&D high risk/high reward clean energy 
     research; and teaching science, technology, engineering and 
     math. (Passed by House)
       JOBS FOR MAIN STREET ACT, to boost small business and to 
     rebuild highways and transit; paid for by redirecting TARP 
     funds from Wall Street to Main Street. (Passed by House)
       SMALL BUSINESS & INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS ACT, to extend Build 
     America Bonds to help finance the rebuilding of schools, 
     hospitals, roads and bridges; and target tax incentives to 
     spur investment in small businesses and help entrepreneurs 
     looking to start a new business. (Passed by House)
       EDWARD M. KENNEDY SERVE AMERICA ACT, tripling volunteerism 
     opportunities to 250,000 for national service for students to 
     retirees; increased college financial awards. (Signed into 
     Law)
       PERMANENT ESTATE TAX RELIEF at the 2009 level to ensure 
     that 99.8 percent of estates never pay a dime of taxes and 
     offer certainty and stability for farmers and small 
     businesses. (Passed by House)


                          PROTECTING CONSUMERS

       WALL STREET REFORM, historic reforms to end taxpayer-funded 
     bailouts and the idea of ``too big to fail,'' and protect and 
     empower consumers to make the best decisions on mortgages, 
     credit cards, and their own financial future. Lack of 
     accountability for Wall Street and big banks cost 8 million 
     jobs. (Signed into Law)
       CREDIT CARDHOLDERS' BILL OF RIGHTS, providing tough new 
     protections already saving consumers money--like banning 
     unfair rate hikes, abusive fees, and penalties--and 
     strengthening enforcement. (Signed into Law)
       FRAUD ENFORCEMENT & RECOVERY ACT, providing tools to 
     prosecute mortgage scams and corporate fraud that contributed 
     to financial crisis; creating an outside commission to 
     examine its causes. (Signed into Law)
       LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT, restoring the rights of women 
     and other workers to challenge unfair pay--to help close the 
     wage gap where women earn 78 cents for every $1 a man earns 
     in America. (Signed into Law)
       AIRLINE PASSENGER SAFETY, to improve airline passenger 
     safety, by several steps including strengthening commercial 
     pilot training requirements, requiring a minimum of 1,500 
     flight hours required for an airline pilot certificate. 
     (Signed into Law)


                           HELPING HOMEOWNERS

       HELPING FAMILIES SAVE THEIR HOMES ACT, to stem the 
     foreclosure crisis, with significant incentives to lenders, 
     servicers, and homeowners to modify loans. (Signed into Law)
       FHA REFORM, to shore up federal mortgage insurance in order 
     to expand homeownership opportunities by making essential 
     reforms to strengthen the financial footing of the Federal 
     Housing Administration, saving taxpayers $2.5 billion over 5 
     years. (Passed by House)
       FLOOD INSURANCE REAUTHORIZATION & REFORM, reauthorizing the 
     National Flood Insurance Program, upon which millions of 
     American families and businesses rely, for five years and 
     making key reforms to put the program on a stronger financial 
     footing. (Passed by House)


                           AFFORDABLE QUALITY

       HEALTH CARE HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM, landmark legislation 
     putting

[[Page E2251]]

     American families and small business owners--not the 
     insurance companies--in control of their own health care; 
     lowering costs for middle class and small business; holding 
     insurance companies accountable to prevent denials of care 
     and coverage, including for pre-existing conditions; 
     strengthening Medicare and lowering prescription drug costs; 
     creating up to 4 million jobs; and reducing deficit by 
     largest amount in almost two decades. (Signed into law)
       HEALTH CARE FOR 11 MILLION CHILDREN, to finally provide 
     cost-effective health coverage for 4 million more children 
     and preserve coverage for 7 million children already 
     enrolled. (Signed into Law)
       FDA REGULATION OF TOBACCO, granting the Food and Drug 
     Administration authority to regulate advertising, marketing, 
     and manufacturing of tobacco products, the #1 cause of 
     preventable U.S. deaths, and to stop tobacco companies from 
     targeting our children. (Signed into Law)
       ENSURING SENIORS' ACCESS TO THEIR DOCTORS, by blocking 
     scheduled 21% cut in Medicare physician payments through 
     November 30, 2010 and also updating payments by 2.2%. (Signed 
     into Law)
       FOOD SAFETY, to fundamentally change the way we protect our 
     food supply; close gaps exposed by recent food-borne illness 
     outbreaks; give the FDA new authorities. (Passed by House)
       RYAN WHITE HIV/AIDS TREATMENT EXTENSION ACT, guaranteeing 
     access to lifesaving medical services, primary care, and 
     medications for low-income patients with AIDS and HIV. 
     (Signed into Law)


                CLEAN ENERGY JOBS/HOLDING BP ACCOUNTABLE

       AMERICAN CLEAN ENERGY AND SECURITY ACT, historic 
     legislation to create 1.7 million jobs (with the Recovery 
     Act); help free us from funding terrorism with our dependence 
     on foreign oil; reduce the carbon pollution causing climate 
     change; keep costs low for Americans; will not increase the 
     deficit. (Passed by House)
       RESPONSE TO BP OIL SPILL, a bill providing a comprehensive 
     response to BP oil spill--eliminating the $75 million cap on 
     the liability of oil companies, restoring the Gulf Coast and 
     protecting local residents, imposing new safety requirements 
     and strengthening oversight of offshore drilling, and 
     protecting whistleblowers in offshore drilling industry who 
     report safety violations. (Passed by House)
       Just hours after a Committee hearing during which I asked 
     BP America's President whether chemical dispersants they were 
     using to break up the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico are 
     safe, the EPA ordered BP to choose a less toxic chemical. The 
     Washington Post reported the EPA ordered the change following 
     a hearing by the House Transportation and Infrastructure 
     Committee at which I questioned BP's use of hundreds of 
     thousands of gallons of chemical dispersants.
       SPILL ACT, to reform maritime liability laws to ensure that 
     the families of those killed or injured in the BP Oil Spill 
     and other such tragedies are justly compensated for their 
     losses. (Passed by House)
       BP OIL SPILL COMMISSION SUBPOENA POWER, to give subpoena 
     power to National Commission on BP Oil Spill to ensure that 
     it cannot be stonewalled by BP or others in its search for 
     spill's causes. (Passed by House)
       OMNIBUS PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT ACT, the most significant 
     conservation bill in 15 years, strengthening tourism and 
     rural economies with more than 2 million new acres of 
     wilderness and parks. (Signed into Law)


               FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY & GOVERNMENT REFORM

       BUDGET BLUEPRINT, creating jobs with investments in health 
     care, clean energy and education; cutting taxes for most 
     Americans by $1.5 trillion; cutting Bush deficit by more than 
     half by 2013. (Action Completed)
       BUDGET ENFORCEMENT RESOLUTION, setting a limit on 
     discretionary spending for FY 2011 that requires spending 
     cuts of $7 billion below the President's budget and $3 
     billion below Senate. (Action Completed)
       STATUTORY PAY-AS-YOU-GO, to restore 1990s law that turned 
     record deficits into surpluses, by forcing tough choices; 
     Congress must offset new policies that reduce revenues or 
     expand entitlements. (Signed into Law)
       IMPROPER PAYMENTS ELIMINATION, to help identify and 
     eliminate improper federal payments, as well as recover lost 
     funds that federal agencies have spent improperly. (Signed 
     into Law)
       WEAPON SYSTEMS ACQUISITION REFORM, cracking down on 
     Pentagon waste and cost overruns in the acquisition of weapon 
     systems, increasing oversight and competition. (Signed into 
     Law)
       REFORMING OTHER DOD ACQUISITION, cleaning up DOD 
     acquisition spending for the 80 percent that is for services 
     and other non-weapons items, saving taxpayers an estimated 
     $27 billion a year. (Passed by House)
       DISCLOSE ACT, to fight a corporate takeover of our 
     elections, requires them to disclose they are behind 
     political ads; bans foreign-controlled corporations from 
     putting money in U.S. elections. (Passed by House)


                 NATIONAL SECURITY/TROOPS AND VETERANS

       FY 2010 DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION, authorizing 3.4% troop pay 
     raise, strengthening military readiness and military families 
     support, focusing our strategy in Afghanistan and 
     redeployment from Iraq. (Signed into Law)
       I travelled to Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Kuwait, and UAE 
     to visit with troops, and receive updates from U.S. military 
     leaders and NGOs.
       FY 2011 DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION, increasing hostile fire and 
     imminent danger pay; extending TRICARE dependent coverage up 
     to age 26; and strengthening counterterrorism. (Passed by 
     House)
       REPEAL OF DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL, to provide for the repeal 
     of this outdated policy, contingent on the certification that 
     military review completed and that repeal would not impact 
     readiness. (Signed into Law)
       IRAN SANCTIONS, significantly strengthening sanctions 
     against Iran, including imposing sanctions on foreign 
     entities that sell refined petroleum to Iran or assist Iran 
     in its domestic refining capacity. (Signed into Law)
       VETERANS HEALTH CARE BUDGET REFORM & TRANSPARENCY ACT, a 
     top priority of veterans' groups, authorizing Congress to 
     approve VA medical care appropriations one year in advance to 
     ensure reliable and timely funding and prevent politics from 
     ever delaying VA health care funding. (Signed into Law)
       I authored and introduced the Veterans Administration 
     Claims Modernization Act. This law streamlined the VA 
     benefits application process. It was based on problems I 
     heard directly from the experiences of local veterans as well 
     as national VSOs. The law was called ``the most sweeping 
     reform of the VA in a generation'' by the Times Herald 
     Record.
       I successfully advocated for a VA rule change to create an 
     automatic service connection for veterans diagnosed with PTSD 
     after serving in combat. This change dramatically streamlines 
     the process for veterans to receive appropriate care and 
     compensation.
       Implemented the post-9/11 GI Bill to provide for a college 
     education for returning veterans.
       FY 2010 MILITARY CONSTRUCTION-VA APPROPRIATIONS, 
     strengthening quality health care for 5 million veterans by 
     investing 11% more for medical care, benefits claims 
     processors, and facility improvements. (Signed into Law)
       CAREGIVERS AND VETERANS OMNIBUS HEALTH SERVICES, landmark 
     legislation providing help to caregivers of disabled, ill or 
     injured veterans, and improving VA health services for women 
     veterans. (Signed into Law)
       AGENT ORANGE BENEFITS, providing long overdue disability 
     benefits to more than 150,000 Vietnam veterans and survivors 
     for exposure to Agent Orange. (Signed into Law)


                   SECURITY FOR AMERICA'S COMMUNITIES

       FY 2010 HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS, strengthening 
     security at our ports and borders and on commercial airlines, 
     giving first responders tools to respond to terrorism. 
     (Signed into Law)
       HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT, giving law enforcement 
     resources to prevent and prosecute hate crimes against 
     Americans based on gender, sexual orientation, gender 
     identity, or disability. (Signed into Law)
       BORDER SECURITY EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS, providing $600 
     million to enhance security at the Southwest Border, 
     including funding 1,200 additional Border Patrol agents, 500 
     additional CBP officers, and additional FBI, DEA, and ATF 
     agents for the border region; paid for by visa fees. (Signed 
     into Law)
       I visited the border patrol in Arizona to view the 
     situation first hand and obtain a better understanding of the 
     situation they face.
       COPS ON THE BEAT, putting an additional 50,000 cops on the 
     street over the next 5 years. (Passed by House)
       CHEMICAL & WATER SECURITY ACT, to increase security and 
     safety of the nation's chemical plants and water facilities 
     vulnerable to terrorist attacks and the millions of Americans 
     that live nearby. (Passed by House)

                          ____________________