H6072 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 19, 2012 

Month, I rise to pay tribute to the National Hispana Leadership Institute. 

Later this year, NHLI alumnae will 

gather in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 

founding of this nationally recognized 

leadership development institute. 

A national Latina organization based 

in Washington, D.C., NHLI was founded 

in 1987 in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Glass Ceiling Initiative. This seminal study found that 

while minorities and women were making substantial gains in entering the 

workforce, they were not equally represented at mid and senior level management positions in government or 

corporate sectors. The study also found 

that Latinas were significantly underrepresented on corporate boards and in 

nonprofit and political arenas. 

Over the past 25 years, NHLI has become a vital resource for Latinas and a 

key player in cultivating Latina leaders serving America today. In partnership with Harvard University and the 

Center for Creative Leadership, NHLI 

graduates have become a formidable 

cadre of well-educated, highly skilled, 

and committed Latina leaders. They 

are a veritable ‘‘who’s who’’ in many 

communities and disciplines, and the 

impact of their collective leadership is 

felt throughout the country. 

Through various mentoring initiatives and community service projects, 

NHLI alumnae have directly impacted 

thousands of Latinas in every State 

and in Puerto Rico. Its network and 

leadership projects have helped create 

new nonprofit organizations and influenced various others, including: The 

National Latino Children’s Institute, 

Voto Latino, Powerful Latinas, Las 

Comadres, Positive Directions, Latina 

Giving Circle, and Poder PAC, to name 

a few. 

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not 

mention the founders of this great organization. This prestigious group includes Maria Elena Torano, the Honorable Maria Antonietta Berriozabal, the 

Honorable Ramona Martinez, Gloria 

Rodrigues, the Honorable Raul 

Yzaguirre, and former Governor Bill 

Richardson. Through their vision and 

leadership, NHLI’s programs have become the model for Latina empowerment in this country. 

Again, my sincere congratulations to 

the National Hispana Leadership Institute on the celebration of their 25th 

anniversary. 

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VOTER SUPPRESSION 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

Texas (Mr. REYES) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I rise this 

morning to try to lend a little bit of 

perspective on a strategy that we have 

seen evolving across our country, and 

that strategy I think threatens to undermine one of the most basic rights 

and principles that we have as United 

States citizens, and that is the right to 

vote. 

Unfortunately, in many States—my 

State included, in Texas—there’s a 

strategy to pass what is called a voter 

identification law, seeking to solve a 

problem that apparently across the 

country does not exist, and that is people voting that don’t have that right, 

and trying to give the impression that 

this problem is prevalent throughout 

our country. 

As we look back at our history, I 

think we should all be proud of the significant strides in increasing and 

strengthening the electoral process for 

all. Let’s not forget that originally, 

under our Constitution, only white 

males over the age of 21 were eligible 

to vote. It took several amendments to 

our Constitution to fully extend this 

right to all minorities—women and 

young people ages 18 and older. 

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But it took us even longer, it appears, given the current situation, to 

live up to these ideals. 

As a child growing up in El Paso on 

a farm, I can remember my father talking to us about that sacred right to 

participate and to vote. 

Here is a poll tax that was charged 

for that right back in 1955, made out to 

my dad. Back then it was $1.75. Today, 

under the current strategy, that, the 

equivalent of this poll tax, could be as 

much as $20, $25, or $30 for an identification card. 

So who does that hurt? Who does 

that impact the most? It’s the elderly, 

it’s the young people, and it’s minorities. 

And while some people may think, 

well, $1.75, that wasn’t much to pay for 

the right to vote or, today, $20, $25, $30 

isn’t that much to exercise the privilege of voting, the fundamental issue 

here is that that is an inherent right 

guaranteed by our Constitution. 

But even if we wanted to look at it 

from an economic standpoint, in 2012 

dollars, here is what that $1.75 poll tax 

bought back in 1955. A gallon of milk 

was 88 cents; bread, 15 cents; chicken, 

44 cents a pound; cheese, 45 cents, and 

so on so that for a man and his spouse, 

paying two poll taxes, it would be $3.50. 

This is what they would have spent 

that money on, and often did, rather 

than paying a poll tax of $1.75. 

Today, the milk is $1.99; bread is 

$1.99; chicken, 99 cents a pound; cheese, 

$2.50, to the point to where, for paying 

one poll tax or one identification card, 

you could get these comparative 

amounts of groceries. 

So the fundamental question we 

must ask ourselves when people talk 

about taking our country back, when 

people talk about the right to vote, 

these are the kinds of issues that impact us. These are the kinds of things 

that throughout our history many of 

us have fought to protect the rights of 

all citizens to participate in the electoral process, fundamentally guaranteed under our Constitution. 

While I understand the intent of 

these laws, it is designed to supposedly 

prevent voter fraud and impersonation, 

the result affects individual participation in the inherent right to vote: requiring an ID, and considering the difficulties that citizens face in the process of acquiring those State-issued 

identification cards, which ultimately 

undermines the right to vote. 

This is a serious issue. All of us who 

teach our children and our grandchildren that the most fundamental 

right to participate is protected by our 

Constitution have to remind them. I 

know I have talked to my children and 

have shown them this poll tax to remind them that freedom is not free, 

that people must understand their obligations as citizens. 

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THE DO-NOTHING CONGRESS 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

Connecticut (Mr. COURTNEY) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, one of 

the great football coaches in American 

history was Vince Lombardi, from 

Green Bay, Wisconsin, who, again, was 

very famous for his inspiring speeches 

to his players and to his staff. And one 

of his most famous quotes was: 

Winners never quit and quitters never win. 

I wish, Mr. Speaker, that the Republican leadership in the House would go 

back and read Mr. Lombardi’s words 

when they made the decision this past 

Friday to basically quit on the American people and say that we are going 

to recess this week after conclusion of 

business on Friday for the next 7 

weeks. 

This is at a time when not only the 

eyes of the country are on this Chamber to get much needed critical decisions made; but, frankly, the eyes of 

the world are watching this Congress 

to see whether or not, again, financial 

markets will have any horizon in terms 

of tax policy, in terms of budget policy, 

and in terms of a whole host of basic 

fundamental issues like the farm bill, 

like the post office functioning that, 

when on Friday, this place clears out 

after Mr. BOEHNER’s decision to recess, 

are going to be left hanging for the 

next 7 weeks. 

Again, this is not a problem for the 

House in terms of inaction by the Senate. The Senate passed a farm bill. 

They passed a bipartisan farm bill last 

June; and today we stand here with 

farmers who are getting up in the 

morning and going out and milking 

cows or picking crops, and they have 

programs which literally are expiring 

every minute. The Dairy Price Support 

programs expired on August 30, so 

dairy farmers up in eastern Connecticut, where I come from, whose 

feed costs are out of sight and whose 

fuel costs are out of sight, again, have 

absolutely no structure and no basic 

understanding of how they are going to 

continue to survive, because this place 

won’t move forward on a farm bill with 

the dairy support structure, the Dairy 


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September 19, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H6073 

Security Act, which was built in by the 

Senate with the bill that they passed. 

Again, the Senate has acted; the Senate passed a bill. They have a bill 

which extends crop insurance for 5 

years. So for all those farmers out in 

the Midwest who have seen their corn 

crops literally burn up in a historic 

drought, the fact of the matter is they 

have absolutely no idea about what the 

future holds because this Chamber will 

not take up a farm bill and do its constitutional duty and get its work done. 

Again, the post office, which fell into 

not just technical but actual real bankruptcy a month ago because of the 

structure of its pension costs, the Senate has passed a postal reform bill 

which adjusts the finances of that system, again, with bipartisan support 

and will allow the postal service to 

have some confidence that its operations and its post offices around the 

country can have some modicum of a 

future. This Chamber will not take up 

a postal reform bill between now and 

this Friday or for the following 7 

weeks. 

These are just two basic, sort of fundamental, programs which, in the past, 

Congress has done on a bipartisan basis 

without any of the drama and stress 

that the Speaker’s decision to quit, to 

use Coach Lombardi’s phraseology, is 

now creating. There are much larger 

issues, of course, which everyone is 

waiting for this Congress to act on. 

Sequestration: I have shipyard workers in Groton, Connecticut, who get up 

every morning to build nuclear submarines. They don’t know whether or 

not on January 1, whether the chain 

saw set up in the sequestration mechanism is going to go through the defense 

budget. 

We have a fiscal cliff whereby middle 

class families don’t know what their 

tax rates are going to be after January. 

We have physician fees under the Medicare program which, again, fall off a 

cliff on January 1. 

With all of these issues hanging out 

there, we still, though, have a Republican leadership in the House which has 

made the decision to go home on Friday for the next 7 weeks. 

Again, Coach Lombardi had it right: 

winners never quit and quitters never 

win. This leadership is quitting, not 

only on the Members that are prepared 

to roll up their sleeves and compromise 

and do hard work to get measures like 

the farm bill and the postal bill and 

budget policy settled once and for all. 

They are quitting on the American 

people. That is unacceptable leadership 

for the trust, the public trust with 

which they have been given. 

This morning’s New York Times has 

a story: ‘‘Congress Nearing the End of 

a Session Where Partisan Input Impeded Output,’’ and they show the 

numbers that this is the least productive Congress in a century. 

Back when Harry Truman was President, he campaigned against the donothing Congress. That Congress enacted 906 bills in the 2 years during 

which it was convened. As of this week, 

this Congress has enacted 173, a quarter of the do-nothing Congress which 

Harry Truman made infamous and famous in American history. 

We can do better as a Nation. We can 

get a farm bill passed. We can pass a 

postal reform bill which will keep that 

system alive. We can do budget policy. 

We can create a horizon for this country, which the American people sent us 

here to do, not go home and campaign. 

f 

RECESS 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 12(a) of rule I, the Chair 

declares the House in recess until 2 

p.m. today. 

Accordingly (at 12 o’clock and 20 

minutes p.m.), the House stood in recess. 

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b 1400 

AFTER RECESS 

The recess having expired, the House 

was called to order by the Speaker at 2 

p.m. 

f 

PRAYER 

The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick 

J. Conroy, offered the following prayer: 

Loving God, we give You thanks for 

giving us another day. 

We pray this day, O Lord, for peace 

in our world, that freedom will flourish 

and righteousness will be done. 

The attention of our Nation is drawn 

toward an impending election, but 

there is work yet to be done. 

Send Your spirit upon the Members 

of this people’s House that they might 

judiciously balance seemingly irreconcilable interests. Help them to execute 

their consciences and judgments with 

clarity and purity of heart so that all 

might stand before You honestly and 

trust that You can bring forth righteous fruits from their labors. 

Bless this day and every day, and 

may all that is done be for Your greater honor and glory. 

Amen. 

f 

THE JOURNAL 

The SPEAKER. The Chair has examined the Journal of the last day’s proceedings and announces to the House 

his approval thereof. 

Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Journal stands approved. 

f 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman 

from Ohio (Mr. KUCINICH) come forward 

and lead the House in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Mr. KUCINICH led the Pledge of Allegiance as follows: 

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the 

United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, 

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER 

The SPEAKER. The Chair will entertain up to 15 requests for 1-minute 

speeches on each side. 

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BRING OUR TROOPS HOME IN 2013 

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

minute.) 

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, today I had 

the privilege and honor to visit Walter 

Reed Hospital to say thank you to our 

wounded from Afghanistan and Iraq, 

and I saw those who have lost both 

arms and legs. It’s just so sad to go 

there. 

That brings me today to the floor to 

thank the chairman of the Armed Services Appropriations Committee, C.W. 

‘‘Bill’’ Young, who has come out and 

said it’s time to bring our troops home 

from Afghanistan, and I quote: 

I think we should remove ourselves from 

Afghanistan as quickly as we can. 

Mr. Speaker, that brings me to a couple of comments. I called a former 

commandant of the Marine Corps 3 

years ago and asked him to advise me 

on Afghanistan, and he has, and he has 

been very loyal. I want to read his 

comments: 

I am more convinced than ever that we 

need to get out of Afghanistan. When our 

‘‘friends’’ turn out to be our ‘‘enemy,’’ it is 

time to pull the plug. We are now nothing 

more than a recruiting poster for every malcontent in the Middle East. We need to wake 

up. 

I would say to the Speaker, I would 

say to the leadership of the Republican 

Party, join us in bringing our troops 

home in the year 2013. No more should 

die for a lost cause like Afghanistan. 

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GENETICALLY MODIFIED 

ORGANISMS 

(Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, in 1992, 

the Food and Drug Administration decided that genetically modified organisms were the functional equivalent of 

conventional foods. 

They arrived at this decision without 

testing GMOs for allergenicity, toxicity, antibiotic resistance, and functional characteristics. As a result, hundreds of millions of acres of GMO crops 

were planted in America without the 

knowledge or consent of the American 

people, no safety testing, no long-term 

health studies. 

The FDA has received over a million 

comments from citizens demanding labeling of GMOs. Ninety percent of 

Americans agree. 

Why no labeling? I’ll give you one 

reason. The influence and the corruption of the political process by Monsanto. Monsanto has been a prime 

mover in GMO technology, a multimillion dollar GMO lobby here and a 

major political contributor. There is a 

chance that Monsanto’s grip will be 


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