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Bills Introduced
Statements on the Floor
Speeches
- March 2013
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The Safe Climate Caucus
March 21, 2013Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a member of the Safe Climate Caucus to remind this House of the threat that climate change poses to our communities and to emphasize the need for increased Federal investment in new and innovative technologies to protect and improve the world we live in.
This past October, Hurricane Sandy hit the mid-Atlantic, including my home State of New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy was one of the most costly storms in history. Society will bear the costs of climate change. Society is bearing the costs of climate change. The debt was wracked up as we recklessly burned fossil fuels over a century, filling the atmosphere with excess CO.
2. Now the debts are coming due as wildfires, droughts, superstorms, and floods--a costly debt in lives and dollars.
We would be wise to invest in more resilient infrastructure and sustainable, non-fossil energy sources, in good science related to climate change. We as a country should rise to the challenge. The United States is not a poor, impoverished Nation. We are just acting like one. We should be investing as if we believe there is a future for us. -
Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act
March 15, 2013Workforce investment has an important role in Congress, and it could and should be done in a bipartisan way. The government has a role to play in setting standards to preserve fairness and to expand access. The so-called SKILLS Act seeks to combine and reduce vital programs. It takes 35 programs and identifies them for elimination, and it says the Federal Government will leave a bushel basket full of money on the steps of each State capitol. This is an abdication of our responsibility to think hard, to work hard, to set standards.
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Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act
March 14, 2013Fifteen years ago, before I was in Congress, I watched with great interest as Congress, House and Senate, Democrat and Republican, worked on worker training and produced the Workforce Investment Act. I was impressed. This was the kind of thing that Congress should be doing. It was the kind of thing that made me look forward to the prospect of maybe going to Congress some day.
I remember David Broder, then the dean of Washington journalists, wrote a column saying this is exactly the kind of thing that Congress should be doing--and they were doing it in a bipartisan way.
And here we are today, 15 years later, with an ideological, partisan dead end. -
Constitutional Authority
March 6, 2013Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill.
While this bill does exempt the Department of Veterans Affairs from sequestration, that is the only good news in this bill.
H.R. 933 does provide the Department of Defense with a better balance between its operations and maintenance accounts and its longer-term investment accounts. However, it will do nothing to stop the $46 billion sequester for the Department of Defense, which will result in civilian furloughs, deployment and training cutbacks, and facility maintenance cuts.
- February 2013
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Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013
February 28, 2013Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be support this very good bill. I only wish it had been allowed on the House floor a year ago for a vote.
For the first time in years, the Congress is poised to pass a VAWA reauthorization that is worthy of the name. Finally, we will be providing real protections for a number of vulnerable populations among America's women.
Of course, this bill almost didn't make it to the House floor. The House majority was going to simply sit on S. 47 and offer their own VAWA substitute. After a massive public shaming, the majority backed down. They are still offering their own so-called substitute--which is a sham--but we will also have the chance to vote on the Senate bill, which is the true VAWA reauthorization.
This bill provides tangible, enforceable protections for LGBT, Native American and immigrant victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. The bill will help ensure the availability of services to all victims of domestic and dating violence, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity. S. 47 also provides authority to Native American tribes to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators for a narrow set of crimes related to domestic, dating violence and violations of protecting orders. The Senate bill also adds stalking to the list of crimes for which victims can receive protection through the U-Visa program. Finally, S. 47 also includes authorizations for programs preventing human trafficking, sexual assault on college campuses, as well as additional resources to address rape kit backlogs.
Madam Speaker, this day has been entirely too long in coming, but I am pleased that it is finally here and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill and sending it to President Obama for his signature. -
Condemning North Korean Nuclear Test
February 15, 2013 < Read more > -
Darwin Day
February 12, 2013 < Read more > -
Require Presidential Leadership and No Deficit Act
February 6, 2013 < Read more > - January 2013
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40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
January 22, 2013 < Read more > -
Disaster Relief Appropriations Act Remarks
January 15, 2013 < Read more > -
Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013
January 14, 2013 < Read more > -
Hurricane Sandy Relief
January 2, 2013 < Read more > -
Hurricane Sandy Relief
January 1, 2013 < Read more > -
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013
January 1, 2013 < Read more >
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Comments (optional) repName John Smith helpWithFedAgencyAddress Haverhill District Office
1234 S. Courthouse
Haverhill, CA 35602district 21st District of California academyUSCitizenDate July 1, 2012 academyAgeDate July 1, 2012 academyApplicationDueDate October 20, 2012 repStateABBR AZ repDistrict 1 repState Arizona repDistrictText 1st repPhoto SponsoredBills Sponsored Bills CoSponsoredBills Co-Sponsored Bills
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Office Locations
Office Name Location Image Map URL Washington DC 2229 Rayburn House Office
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 333-4455
Fax: (202) 333-5522http://goo.gl/maps/rqq9i Haverhill Office
Serving Haverhill County
1234 East. Courthouse
Haverhill, CA 35602
Phone: (202) 333-4455
Fax: (202) 333-5522http://goo.gl/maps/BCEEO South Office
10 Welcome Street
Tuesdays & Thursdays
9:00 AM- 11:00 AMhttp://goo.gl/maps/lodfk