objection what purpose this gentleman from minnesota arise union calendar number two votes to h r thirty to forty six a bill to a man title forty united states code provide a comprehensive regional approach to economic and infrastructure development and in those severely economically distressed regions in the nation established three new regional economic development commissions the southeast crescent regional commission the southwest border regional commission and the northern border regional commission purpose of the regional commission approach to economic development is a recognition that economic difficulties don't stop at political dividing lines county lines state lines they transcend our political boundaries they they are grouped the economic development problems are grouped by region by economy if you will  in some years ago in that we had the upper great lakes regional commission linking upper peninsula of michigan the upper counties of wisconsin in the northern tier of minnesota they had in common forestry wo were conceived by the upper great lakes commission were to be linked to the commonality regional economic difficulties the three states experienced the same with apalachicola and the attendant difficulties of the call sector of our economy stretch across state mound reason and linked the entire appalachian region so with their forestry difficulties as well and also with their need for surface transportation development and that is the principle that is extended to the three new commissions the southeast press and southwest border and the northern border commission  the delta regional commission is one that has unique problems exacerbated and at the same time underscored by the tragedy of hurricane hurricanes katrina rita and wilma all of the counties in i should say most of the county counties and parishes in louisiana in that region suffered common economic problems so creating an economic development structure on a regional basis well join the resources in the forces of the states the counties and the parishes bring forth new ideas that will benefit not just one community not just one parish but commonality of parishes the commonality of counties and and the commonality of the states experienced in previous regional economic development commissions in the sixty's and seventy's and early eighty's we need standard procedures we need a voting structure we need standard procedures for staffing state standards that establish conditions under which conflicts of interest can be evaluated and avoided commonality of establishment of local economic development districts consistent not that for distributing economic development funds a uniform set of procedures that will apply to all of the commission and finally with commonality then we can have uniform evaluation standards of the results of these commissions and it will be the purpose of our committee on transportation infrastructure to hold intensive oversight hearings as these commissions get underway with their work they're funded and we will we will want to hold them accountable will want to see their record of success and i'm quite confident given the grassroots up nature of establishment of planning and mission of the of these commissions that there will be great success stories i reserve the balance of my time development act of two thousand and seven reauthorizes to economic development commissions the delta regional commission in the northern great plains regional commission will also create three new commissions the southeast crescent region commission the southwest border regional commission and the northern border regional commission first i want to thank turman over star and sub committee chairwoman norton for working with me to add several counties in northwest missouri to the northern great plains regional commission and for working with other members of the committee to add there are counted to bill is well i appreciate very much the northern great plains regional commission borders my district in the north and to the west the can is added by this bill are contiguous to the counties in the commission additionally these northwest missouri candidates are experiencing problems similar to the candidate in the commission already if they have higher levels of economic distress the northern great plains regional commission will set the stage for economic growth by creating an effective federal  state partnership for attracting new businesses creating new jobs and developing the infrastructure in northwest missouri the commission will encourage local economic development by making use of local resources for the benefit of the community the commission is designed successfully in this commission is designed to successfully leverage other public and private funds provide northwest missouri with a very valuable economic development tool economic development plays a very vital role in maintaining a rural way of life by keeping folks in those communities and keeping that culture alive a major component of economic development is to build broadband services throughout many regions in the country no matter where you live broadband can bring a world of opportunities and possibilities to your doorstep is imperative to our rural way of life that we push broadband out to every corner of the country where you live should not limit your opportunities for education commerce and medical care many citizens in rural america small communities do not have broadband access at a reasonable cost that should be available to everyone no matter where they live and a reasonable rate through this legislation other efforts that my colleagues and i have taken on grants will be available to further establish an infrastructure the can support this important tool to rule economic development additionally i must commend two members of the committee on transportation and infrastructure mr hayes mr beside me who have been tireless advocates for their district i'd like to recognize mr hayes for his dedication to stimulate economic development and job promotion in the state of north carolina and leading efforts to create the southeast crescent authority additionally he has championed efforts to recruit new industry and create new jobs w sharpening the competitive proficiency of existing industries in the eighth congressional district north carolina should be study has also worked tirelessly tirelessly to promote development and create opportunities for communities in his district and has been a leader on the issue for the entire state of louisiana again thank you mr over starr chairman over starr chairwoman norton for a working with members and working with made bring this legislation to the floor and mr speaker i know we have the speakers out there so i'll cut mine short and reserve the balance of my time and i reserve jennifer minnesota the speaker i yield some time she may consume very distinguished the chair of our subcommittee on economic development and other subject matters the gentleman from  regional economic development infrastructure act of two thousand and seven represents a vision for economic development in our nation that will help americans in the most distressed region of our country in the northern border region we have seeing clearly persistent patterns of economic distress if you look at the thirty six counties that lie on the border or right next to the border between maine and new york you will find poverty above the national average median household income that is more than six thousand five hundred dollars below the national average persistent unemployment through layoffs in traditional manufacturing industries and most striking of all a meager gain of only point six percent in population between one thousand nine hundred and two thousand compared to the thirteen percent growth nationally over the same period in short mr speaker mills are closing our young people are leaving and too many of our workers are looking for work clearly this region has a common set of challenges and  compelling need for investment in new growth two days after i was a elected to congress the very mill that i worked at for over twenty eight years went bankrupt in my home town and region was devastated the story of my town and the mill that i work that has been repeated across the regions that is why we need to support our regional industries and build a new job opportunities and that is why we need the investment leadership and focus in our regional economic development  build the northern border commission would help the region invest in transportation health care agricultural broadband and alternative energy it can be a partner with businesses to maintain our industry and build a new industry cluster it can help us create jobs in the long term we have all the ingredients we need to face out challenges head on and make our region an economic engine this new commission would help us make the fundamental changes and i thank my colleague and friend mr graves for yielding time to me mr speaker i rise in support of this bill h r thirty to forty six reauthorizes the delta regional authority which works to improve the life for residents in some of the most economically distressed areas in our country those parishes and counties served by the d e r a have per capita incomes at or far below the national average and poverty in the region runs nearly fifty five per cent higher than the national rate since being created the ira has worked to improve the economy in the delta and allow these residents to to achieve parity with the rest of the country the key to d r a success is it ability to foster partnerships throughout the region and to collaborate with local development districts and other federal and state agencies to ensure maximum benefit from the dollars invested in fact in an article published last year the economist noted is creating or helping to retain thirty six thousand jobs mostly in manufacturing which will generate one billion dollars in salaries it has also helped twenty three thousand families get running water and sewerage in the aftermath mr speaker of hurricanes rita and katrina the d r i took a leadership role and working to address many of the recovery issues facing our state of louisiana i want to thank chairman over starr my good friend and the leadership of the transportation  infrastructure committee the staff subcommittee chairman graves my good friend for working with me to ensure that several of the parishes in my district that were hit hardest by hurricane rita or included in the d r a data provided by the department of commerce shows that these parishes are now among the most economically distressed in our country and recovery has been slow i want to emphasize though that the people of southwest louisiana or resilient and we will rebuild and in fact we are rebuilding this legislation will provide them with just yet another tool to facilitate growth in return to economic prosperity in the region i urge my colleagues to support this bill again i check i think chairman oberstar democratic staff speaker i also want to express my great appreciation to german from missouri mr graves and admiration for the time that he devoted personally and committed to the hearings both in the past  were selected based on very objective and competitive criteria and i appreciate the bipartisan support that he helped round up and the bipartisan support  many members of congress and i'm going to ask that my full statement be in the record and say only a few words first about the chairman it needs to be mentioned where this all started it  country beginning with of course the classic one that everyone knows appalachian all we are doing here is expanding on mr older stars work i must say so much that has happened in our committee is emblematic of his career it will be hard to say what is what his signature what is his signature bill but i knowing him i think he would probably want to  and then coming forward with the to sticks to show that under the definition of persistent poverty they now qualified it was an easy to get a commission or to get in this bill will be one of the counties included in in this bill we held hearings and we used a very objective criteria that you had to fit in order for us after the hearings after all study to say yes that county among many in the united states that are suffering today should have the special attention of a regional commission and we think mr speaker that as the global  economy has expanded throughout our country because of all the pressures the natural pressures that come from that and international and from international trade many came forward and wanted to be included as as part of these commissions but we held to the criteria set when the oberstar bill was first passed the heads of the systemic  y and the region or the county had to be in order to be included had to be clearly underdeveloped relative to what was was was possible and so you had only two commissions and then you had you have three added now and when it comes to poverty there's always controversy about what works on this time we really know what works because this bill is pattern on the very successful indeed the acclaimed appalachian regional commission and the the bill itself simply wants to make sure that the menace traded for seizures and and methods for distributing the economic development funds are uniform when you consider that that the most of the funds that will flow to these regions far away a private funds one has to really look at this bill as a small just the word that to extricate ourselves from the stereotypes about certain regions like the northern border region which stresses from maine to new york  we're talking about a region that some might consider in light of large cities in the region but if you look as the commission methodology looks at counties in th region you will understand why the northern border region qualified few basic industries over dependence in today's economy on agriculture and twelve point five percent of the population living in poverty or take the side eastern region of the united states the sun belt with everyone associates with economic growth and well you might but these are alabama mississippi and florida and the reason we have course is that that on top of under industrial and technological development this is a region of the united states that has about highest rate of natural disasters a rate of two or three times the rest of the country finally mr speaker i wan that of of all of the aspects of this bill i think that which has been embraced most by our committee is the record of private investment in the region once we designate a commission and once it begins to operate it really does tell us much about the quote blessing of the federal government and the methodology used by this commission itself as much much about the reputation of what these commissions have done i've been in congress about sixteen years i have seldom set sat in a hearing where people came forward not with criticisms but by glowing examples of how a specific approach to poverty in our country works i therefore strongly recommend the bill and i commend all of those of whom there are dozens who had a hand  this legislation gentleman is recognized for two minutes thank you mr speaker are us today in support of the regional economic and infrastructure development act which provides a comprehensive regional approach to economic and infrastructure development in the most severely economically distressed part of our nation this bill includes legislation that i've introduced in every congress since the one hundred seventh congress that will establish the southeast crescent authority for economic development this is already would cover the southeastern portion of the united states including the states of or ginia north carolina south carolina georgia alabama mississippi and florida which have all seen poverty rates well above the national average coupled with record unemployment i would like to thank chairman of a star in the ranking member mr mica as well as the transportation subcommittee on economic development chairwoman eleanor holmes norton and the ranking member mr graves mr michaud and mr hayes them all their colleagues who together have worked with us in trying to help the most economically disadvantaged areas of our country it is their compassion cooperation and commitment that has brought us here today and i applaud all those who work together to help our areas of the country that have suffered so much the southeastern us has suffered a double whammy the highest levels of poverty coupled with a hoss levels of unemployment over the last several years as a member that represents a district from one of the southern states that has experience stagnation in job growth that we have lost many jobs held by employees who have few prospects for shifting to other jobs with comparable pay in addition the seven states of the southeast crescent authority region also have experienced natural disasters at a rate of two to three times greater than any other region of the united states and this vulnerability to natural disasters further exacerbates the ability to recover from economic distress model primarily after the successful appalachian regional commission the southeast president authority would enjoy the local state and federal partnership it's time to lift our citizens out of poverty and give them job opportunity i would ask for an additional two minutes ask you the gentleman an additional minute and is recognized by an extra minute the southeast crescent authority would help communities by doing several things improving infrastructure infrastructure given the opportunity for education and job training better health care business entrepreneurship and leadership develop and what's great about this opportunity mr speaker is that those areas in the greatest need will be targeted those with the greatest need of economic distress will be help is time indeed to change the pattern of poverty and unemployment in the southeastern united states the only major region of the country that has never had this type of federal focus on economic development we are excited that we are now able to help the least of these our brothers and sisters who suffered enough and suffered so much and now we can help bolster a better opportunity for economic progress and possibility may god bless our efforts to help those who have suffered so much and now can see a life changing difference in economic opportunity i yield the remainder of montana and the and myself fifteen seconds to explain this through a clerical error and fortunately i regret not apologize to the gentleman his name was not included in the co sponsors of the reintroduced or bill reported from the rules committee and i just want it known that this gentleman has from the outset been a vigorous supporter of this legislation his name should have been listed as a co sponsor a franklin orleans in essex it's among the most beautiful parts of vermont it has among the most industrious people in vermont but it has the highest unemployment rate in the lowest wages about ten thousand dollars below the national median we want economic development in our northern counties this legislation is going to give that impetus that is going to allow our regional economic commissions that have been providing excellent leadership but on thread their resources the opportunity to use local decision making local engine ot local people committed to a prosperous a county in that region to get a leg up and what is tremendous about this legislation modeled after its predecessors is that it is a bottom up approach so if we have a proposal from folks in caledonia county that broadband penetration is going to be what they need or if we have folks in franklin county who are going to do an agricultural to energy related project or something with dairy and that's what they need they're going to have the opportunity for that to become a reality so this is a situation where we actually have a bottom up leadership integrated into this legislation where the federal government here in washington is going to be a partner not an impediment to the goals the aspirations in the accomplishments of people back home so this bill it's really about hope for the future it's about confidence that local people and those counties of vermont can make the best decision for themselves and it's about congress finally working as a partner with our local communities the most local leadership and i yield the balance of my time and his ex by gentleman from minnesota you to two minutes to the single gentleman from new hampshire  subcommittee chairwoman ms eleanor holmes norton as well as mr graves for their work on this important bill i rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill which includes the northern border regional development commission parts of my home state of new hampshire and grafton sullivan and carroll counties and especially in co ops county the beautiful region known as the north country have taken an economic beating and are struggling to recover a staggering numbers of the number of jobs have been lost we've seen manufacturing plants close paul plants disappear and our young people leave to place says that offer more opportunity new hampshire's north country has suffered repeated economic body blows and for the people who live there it's getting harder and harder to get by as i travel throughout my state i speak to hardworking folks who have the drive to improve their neighborhoods but who feel that their communities have been  d by the federal government for years the commissions created in this bill would be charged with investing federal resources for economic development and job creation in the most distressed counties in new hampshire and the ice belt region i used the word invest purposely new hampshire is a very frugal state we believe in small effective government but we also know that a wise effective federal government honors local control and invest wisely to promote opportunity and prosperity this commission employs a bottom up grassroots approach that ensures that actions reflect both local needs and regional economic development goals it also ensures that states have a deciding voice in what investment is made within their borders the bill says that if you're willing to work hard and play by the rules we are here to help you get ahead and that's why this bill ensure enjoys such bipartisan support it's an important step for many communities in new hampshire i urge passage thank you mr speaker i yield back the time thanks by a gentleman from minnesota i yield the two minutes support of h r thirty to forty six the regional economic and development act of two thousand and seven the us mexico border regions economic challenges are deeply entrenched and have been overlooked by national policy makers for far too long throughout my district low incomes and high unemployment have translated into a stacked and depressed local marketplace many colonialists along the border lack a shortage of investment and development has limited at the economic opportunities of residents throughout that region in addition to current challenges the border regions population is expanding very rapidly and straining our local infrastructure historically congress has confronted regional economic challenges by creating multi state development commissions designed to coordinate local resources and encourage cooperation between federal state and local governments the southwest regional border commission included within this bill would represent a significant commitment by congress to developing the economic the economy of the southwest because the challenges of this region cannot be isolated in any one city county or state the commission will work to stimulate the entirety of the area's economy by recognizing the connections between local economies and by coordinating the efforts of officials by facilitating the provision of grants to states local governments and universities small businesses and nonprofit entities the commission will plant the seeds of future economic growth throughout the region by expanding the transportation public health facilities wastewater treatment plants and telecommunications networks and these grants will provide the border region with the infrastructure it nice to meet its current needs while preparing for the strain of an disparities are causing great economic distress in the border region the southwest regional border authority has never been more needed and i urge my colleagues to support this critical legislation h r thirty to forty six  tremendous work and the work of chairman over starr for the leadership and the vision that is provided along with chairman reyes this bill creates a southwest border region commission that will positively impact the state of texas eleven out of the twelve counties that i represent will be impacted in a positive way this county so struggling with common infrastructure needs that inhibit the community's ability to increase economic development some of those communities on the us mexico border can be ide d as colonias as you know colonials are found in texas new mexico arizona california all of the states that will benefit from this stablish been of the south was border region this colonias many of times are not have paved roads hospitals or even utilities many colonials do not have the systems sewage systems that force residents to rely often and adequate waste water disposal methods such as small and outdated septic tanks this conditions often result in sewage pulling on the ground and even if this colonias do have adequate sewer systems the border area lacks sufficient facilities to treat wastewater in this area so again this southwest border commission will provide the resources to help vermont myself missouri and i think folks can see that there is we have a lot of areas in the united states that are very economically distressed and and for various reasons every one of those regions is in that traditionally the appalachian region  distressed for for different reasons but this bill does leverage it allows these commissions to leverage up public and private dollars it's a great partnership again i want to thank the chairman for allowing me to to add counties in northwest missouri it's very important to the folks there and for his hard work i know he's been working on various aspects of these commissions for a long long time and i appreciate his expertise and and  time again to express my great appreciation to mr mica the ranking member the full committee especially to mr graves who devoted so much time to the hearings to the diligent effort within the committee of shaping and crafting this bill and in the matter of adding counties that were not in the original commission commission's proposals we had here to a very  strict principle that is the additions had to conform with unemployment rate significantly above national average income per capita income rates that were significantly below national average rates migrations and in all cases counties recommended by the gentleman from missouri the parishes by the gentleman from louisiana and a gentleman from mississippi a all conformed when we got updated census information so i think we have here a splendid structure one in which we can achieve accountability one in which there already is success in a report  the committee received just this morning from the delta regional commission on cumulative projects over the last year they leveraging ratio is sixteen to one that is for every one dollar the commission invested in projects within the region sixteen additional dollars in private sector and non federal funds have been invested that is an extraordinary success ratio we want to assure that that  success will continue and will be extended to all of the commissions without mr speaker i yield back the balance my time and ask for a rezoning affirmative vote for this legislation all the have it third reading and be all to him entitled forty united states code to provide a comprehensive regional approach to economic and infrastructure development in the most very economically distressed regions in the nation for what purposes the gentleman from diversion pursuant to the rule the gentleman from ohio is recognized for five minutes in support of this motion and a member of post will be recognized for five minutes misspeak or a thank you appreciate the work of the of the chairman of the committee and the ranking member of the motion to recommit that you have and that we have in front of us is is an insurance policy it will guarantee that no fun in the bill go to lobbyists or lobbying activities this motion in other words is a step towards breaking that link between legislation lobbyist h r three two four six is intended as we've heard from the language here on the floor today is intended to aid the economic and infrastructure development in economically distressed regions of the country taxpayer dollars should be used for that purpose and that purpose only the motion does two things first it prevents any of the funds authorized by this bill from being used to lobby or retain a lobbyist for the purpose of influencing a federal state or local government entity or officer and second the motion prohibits funds to pay for expenses related to the membership of an individual or entity in an organization or association the majority promised in its opening day rules package section two o two of h resolution six two in project this motion to recommit is policy that all members should support both republican to all members should support in fact when this same language was offered to h r five sixty nine the wall water quality investment act it was approved by a four hundred twenty five to zero vote that same act came out this same committee the full house in the unanimous fashion supported this same language again mr speaker this motion to recommit is an opportunity to improve the bill by adding explicit language to make it's well known been debated many times in this body that a motion to recommit that uses the term promptly is simply a motion to kill the bill by sending it back to com e where it will take weeks to then return it to the house floor why motion to an initiative to try to kill this legislation would be offered is puzzling to me since there was no since gentleman offering the motion referred to initiatives by the democratic majority to have accountability page seventeen of the bill section one five three zero six personal financial interests conflicts of interest we address the issue of personal conflict of interest integrity of  clear obligations for reporting and excluding of such activity furthermore under general federal legislation lobbying by a federal government agency accomplish anything except the purpose of sending the bill back to committee and in fact they are killing it by by delay there is again i repeat there was no opposition register when the committee on transportation infrastructure committed consider this bill in subcommittee mark up in full committee markup when it came to the floor under suspension of the rules nor was there any opposition today why would there be a motion of this nature to to to kill the bill is beyond me and furthermore there are restraints very explicit language on personal financial interests conflict of interest not allowed and in general federal law federal government agencies are prohibited from lobbying retaining a lobbyist to lobby or pay expenses for lobbying so this five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of passage