August 2, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5687 

second American women’s gymnastics 

team ever to win the gold medal. These 

teenagers will also be awarded $25,000 

each for being the best in the Olympic 

world—but what they’ve earned they’re 

not going to be able to keep because 

part of the medal and the prize will be 

confiscated by our government, so 

sayeth Uncle Sam. 

That’s right, Mr. Speaker. Each one 

of the Fierce Five has to pay a medal 

tax of up to $236. Then they also have 

to pay a prize tax on their cash award 

that could be up to $8,750. So that 

brings the total up to about $9,000 that 

they could owe the taxman. Leave it to 

our government to punish Team USA 

for their success on behalf of all Americans. 

Yesterday, Senator RUBIO introduced 

a bill to exempt Olympic medalists 

from paying taxes on their medals and 

their prizes. I am a cosponsor of a similar bill in this House. The long arm of 

the internal taxman reaches far across 

the seas to grab a piece of the gold 

from kids that it neither earned nor deserves. 

And that’s just the way it is. 

f 

ON THE ATTEMPT TO ADJOURN 

(Mr. BARBER asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mr. BARBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise 

today to express my opposition to this 

body’s attempt to adjourn until September 10. 

The people of southern Arizona sent 

me here to work on their behalf, and 

while it is essential that all of us go 

back home from time to time to hear 

from our constituents, we attempt to 

leave here today with many critical 

issues unresolved. 

We have done nothing about sequestration. We are facing $1.2 trillion in 

across-the-board cuts in defense and 

domestic programs. These arbitrary 

cuts will harm the people of my district. 

Yet we took a vote to leave Washington. 

We have done nothing about the postal service, which is bleeding billions of 

dollars because of congressional mandates; and it is wrongfully planning to 

shut down a crucial processing facility 

in my district. 

Yet we took a vote to leave Washington. 

We have done nothing to approve 

budgets to maintain vital programs 

that assist veterans, seniors, and children. 

Yet we took a vote to leave Washington. 

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to 

stay here and work. 

f 

ERIN CAFARO, WINNING THE GOLD 

(Mr. DENHAM asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) 

Mr. DENHAM. I rise today to honor 

Modesto native, two-time Olympian, 

and five-time U.S. National Team 

member Erin Cafaro, who this morning 

successfully defended, along with her 

teammates of the United States women’s eight rowing team, the gold medal 

they won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

Erin’s victory today is the culmination of years of training, and it is an 

example of how personal dedication to 

a goal is the cornerstone of success. 

The London games are Erin’s second 

Olympics, having first represented the 

team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 

2008, Erin and the women’s eight rowing team were the first to bring home 

a gold medal to the United States in 

this event. In this morning’s race, 

faced with strong competition from 

Canada and the Netherlands, Team 

USA won in a time of 6 minutes, 10.59 

seconds. 

Erin Cafaro, you and your teammates 

have made Modesto, the State of California, and the Nation proud. Please 

accept my sincere congratulations on a 

gold medal today. 

f 

RESTORING CONFIDENCE IN OUR 

DEMOCRACY ACT 

(Mr. DINGELL asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) 

Mr. DINGELL. Citizens United v. 

FEC is one of the most destructive Supreme Court decisions in the history of 

this country. 

It unleashed the floodgates for unlimited expenditures on elections; ignored factual records; disregarded congressional intent; and opened up the 

floodgates of crime, misbehavior, and 

scandal. In addition to that, people are 

going to be spending money without 

knowing who is having it spent, why, 

or for how much or by whom. 

That is why, today, I, along with a 

number of my colleagues, will be introducing the Restoring Confidence in Our 

Democracy Act. This legislation makes 

findings of fact about the negative effects of unlimited spending which the 

Court cannot ignore. It reinstates the 

law that was in place on the day before 

Citizens United was adopted by the 

Court. It prohibits corporate spending 

in elections, and it subjects super PACs 

to $5,000 contribution limits. 

Don’t wait for a constitutional 

amendment to undo Citizens United. 

Support the Restoring Confidence in 

Our Democracy Act, and let us do it by 

an enactment of Congress preceded by 

the necessary findings pointing out the 

evils of this scandal. We will be back in 

less than 30 days, and we are going to 

find out after the primary elections 

and after the general election what an 

outrage this is. 

f 

b 1740 

ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIVERSITY 

OF MEDICINE AND SCIENCE 

(Mr. DOLD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) 

Mr. DOLD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today 

to recognize Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science for 100 

years of educating and training physicians and health care providers. 

Since they opened their doors in 1912, 

Rosalind Franklin has had a nondiscrimination policy in place and has 

embraced a diverse student body. These 

students have gone on to treat patients 

throughout the world and contribute to 

vital research. 

At Rosalind Franklin University of 

Medicine and Science, their focus is on 

interprofessional education, where students are encouraged to learn and 

share experiences with members of the 

health care team outside of their chosen profession. This provides a strong 

foundation for graduates of the program and enriches their clinical practice. The president, Dr. Michael Welch, 

has received numerous accolades for 

his leadership, including winning the 

10th District Congressional Leadership 

Award for education this year. 

I want to congratulate Rosalind 

Franklin University of Medicine and 

Science for an impressive 100 years of 

educating some of our best and brightest health care providers, and for giving back to the community and working to better the world around them. 

f 

REPUBLICAN HOUSE FIDDLES 

WHILE AMERICA BURNS 

(Ms. BROWN of Florida asked and 

was given permission to address the 

House for 1 minute and to revise and 

extend her remarks.) 

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, 

I rise in opposition to the Republican 

do-nothing congress. With all the problems we’re having in our Nation’s 

transportation and infrastructure, we 

had a full committee meeting today on 

Amtrak food and beverage service. We 

could have been talking about critical 

rail issues that we left out of the surface transportation bill, like positive 

train control, the railroad rehabilitation improvement financing program, 

or the freight congestion plans. Or we 

could have been talking about real debt 

restructuring of Amtrak. We could 

even have gotten crazy and talked 

about how we were going to finance future transportation bills or hold a 

markup on a Water Resource Development Act. And if we really want to 

talk about food, we could have had a 

hearing on the repeated instances of 

needles being placed in airplane sandwiches. Most importantly, we could 

have had a hearing on the near fatal 

plane collision that happened just 2 

days ago at Washington National Airport. 

Once again, the Republican House 

fiddles while America is burning. 

f 

HOUSE STANDS READY TO WORK 

(Mr. HARRIS asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 


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