January 6, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E11 

THE GREAT LAKES WATER 

PROTECTION ACT 

HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK OF ILLINOIS

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 

Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, today I am 

pleased to join with Congressman LIPINSKI to 

introduce the Great Lakes Water Protection 

Act. This bipartisan legislation, supported by 

the Alliance for the Great Lakes, National Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife 

Foundation, National Parks Conservation Association, Great Lakes Aquatic Network, Audubon Society and more, would set a date certain to end sewage dumping in America’s largest supply of fresh water, the Great Lakes. 

More than thirty million Americans depend on 

the Great Lakes for their drinking water, food, 

jobs, and recreation. We need to put a stop to 

the poisoning of our water supply. Cities along 

the Great Lakes must become environmental 

stewards of our country’s most precious freshwater ecosystem. 

The Great Lakes Water Protection Act gives 

cities until 2029 to build the full infrastructure 

needed to prevent sewage dumping into the 

Great Lakes. Those who violate EPA sewage 

dumping regulations after that federal deadline 

will be subject to fines up to $100,000 for 

every day they are in violation. These fines 

will be directed to a newly established Great 

Lakes Clean-Up Fund within the Clean Water 

State Revolving Fund. Penalties collected 

would go into this fund and be reallocated to 

the states surrounding the Great Lakes. From 

there, the funds will be spent on wastewater 

treatment options, with a special focus on 

greener solutions such as habitat protection 

and wetland restoration. 

This legislation is sorely needed. Many 

major cities along the Great Lakes do not 

have the infrastructure needed to divert sewage overflows during times of heavy rainfall. 

More than twenty-four billion gallons of sewage are dumped into the Lakes each year; 

Detroit alone dumped over thirteen billion gallons of sewage into Lake Huron in 2005. 

These disastrous practices result in thousands of annual beach closing for the region’s 

815 freshwater beaches. Illinois faced 793 

beach closures and health advisories in 2007, 

up more than thirty percent from 2006. Six 

beaches in my district alone exceeded health 

standards more than 25 percent of the time. 

This greatly affects the health of our children 

and families—EPA estimates suggest that 

nearly 300 people could expect to contract a 

respiratory illness after swimming in Lake 

Michigan in Chicago on one summer weekend. This trend is echoed throughout the 

Great Lakes region and is one we need to reverse. 

Protecting our Great Lakes is one of my top 

priorities in the Congress. As an original cosponsor of the Great Lakes Restoration Act, I 

favor a broad approach to addressing needs 

in the region. However, we must also move 

forward with tailored approaches to fix specific 

problems as we continue to push for more 

comprehensive reform. I am proud to introduce this important legislation that addresses 

a key problem facing our Great Lakes, and 

hope my colleagues will support me in ensuring that these important resources become 

free from the threat of sewage pollution. 

RECOGNIZING JOSEPHINE BOYLAN 

OF SPRING HILL, FLORIDA 

HON. GINNY BROWN-WAITE OF FLORIDA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 

Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. 

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Josephine Boylan of Hernando County, Florida. Josephine has done something that all of us 

strive to do, but that very few of us will ever 

accomplish, celebrate her 100th birthday. 

Josephine Boylan was born October 3, 1908 

in Lebanon, New York. After attending school 

in Lebanon, she went to work as a seamstress 

and eventually married Vincent Boylan. Josephine had three children and eight grandchildren, with too many great grandchildren for 

her to count. 

Living in Orlando until 1975, Josephine then 

moved to Tucson, Arizona for three years before returning to Florida in 1979. Since then 

she has lived in Spring Hill in Hernando County, where her grandson also lives. She is very 

proud of her grandson, and lists his graduation 

from MIT as one of the greatest moments of 

her life. 

Still living an active lifestyle, Josephine enjoys playing bingo with her friends. She has 

fond memories of her son Jerry playing the 

organ with everyone singing during the holidays and remembers sitting on the back porch 

with Vincent while they were dating. As someone who loves to sing herself, Josephine has 

said that if she could live her life over again 

she would be an opera singer. If she could 

give advice to young people today she would 

tell them to have fun and work hard. 

Madam Speaker, I ask that you join me in 

honoring Josephine Boylan for reaching her 

100th birthday. I hope we all have the good 

fortune to live as long as her. 

f 

‘‘STORMS ON THE HORIZON’’ 

HON. FRANK R. WOLF OF VIRGINIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I have never 

been more concerned about the short- and 

long-term budget shortfalls we face as a Nation. We must work to address these issues 

simultaneously in a bipartisan way. 

Last October the Washington Post reported 

that China had replaced Japan as the United 

States’ largest creditor, increasing its holding 

by 42 percent over the past year. On December 15, the U.S. Department of the Treasury 

released the ‘‘FY 2008 Financial Report of the 

Federal Government.’’ Not only is America 

facing a projected $1 trillion in deficit spending 

for this fiscal year, there is now $56 trillion in 

unfunded mandates through Social Security, 

Medicare and Medicaid, a number which will 

only continue to grow and has increased by 

$3 trillion in the last year alone. Funding the 

deficit means that U.S. must attract approximately $2 billion a day from foreign countries 

or risk a drop in the value of the dollar. 

I believe that this is an economic, moral, 

and generational issue. Is it right for one generation to live very well knowing that its debts 

will be left to be paid by their children and 

grandchildren? 

In the past few days numerous sources 

have reported that the economic stimulus bill 

on the agenda of the soon to be Obama administration is expected to cost between $675 

billion and $775 billion. Other reports say it 

could expand to as much as $1 trillion. Whatever package is passed, Congress has a historic opportunity to work in a bipartisan way to 

address the Nation’s looming financial crisis 

by including a mechanism to deal with the underlying problem of autopilot spending. The bipartisan SAFE Commission I introduced with 

Rep. JIM COOPER in the 110th Congress would 

create a national commission to review entitlements with everything—including tax policy— 

on the table. This idea garnered the support of 

over 100 members during the 110th Congress. 

Senate Budget Committee Chairman KENT

CONRAD and ranking member JUDD GREGG introduced similar legislation, which has also 

gained momentum. The time is now. 

I share with our colleagues a speech by 

Richard W. Fisher, president of the Federal 

Reserve Bank of Dallas. ‘‘Storms on the Horizon’’ is a sobering account from a monetary 

policymaker’s point of view on why deficits 

matter. Mr. Fisher calls the mathematics of 

doing nothing to change the long-term outlook 

for entitlements, ‘‘nothing short of catastrophic.’’ 

The 111th Congress will have on its watch 

this unfolding reality. What will we do to make 

a difference for our country’s—and our children’s and grandchildren’s—future? 

STORMS ON THE HORIZON: REMARKS BEFORE

THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB OF CALIFORNIA, 

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MAY 28, 2008 

(By Richard W. Fisher) 

Thank you, Bruce [Ericson]. I am honored 

to be here this evening and am grateful for 

the invitation to speak to the Commonwealth Club of California. 

Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker, two of 

Ben Bernanke’s linear ancestors as chairmen 

of the Federal Reserve, have been in the 

news quite a bit lately. Yet, we rarely hear 

about William McChesney Martin, a magnificent public servant who was Fed chairman 

during five presidencies and to this day holds 

the record for the longest tenure: 19 years. 

Chairman Martin had a way with words. 

And he had a twinkle in his eye. It was Bill 

Martin who wisely and succinctly defined 

the Federal Reserve as having the 

unenviable task ‘‘to take away the punchbowl just as the party gets going.’’ He did 

himself one up when he received the Alfalfa 

Club’s nomination for the presidency of the 

United States. I suspect many here tonight 

have been to the annual Alfalfa dinner. It is 

one of the great institutions in Washington, 

D.C. Once a year, it holds a dinner devoted 

solely to poking fun at the political pretensions of the day. Tongue firmly in cheek, the 

club nominates a candidate to run for the 

presidency on the Alfalfa Party ticket. Of 

course, none of them ever win. Nominees are 

thenceforth known for evermore as members 

of the Stassen Society, named for Harold 

Stassen, who ran for president nine times 

and lost every time, then ran a tenth time on 

the Alfalfa ticket and lost again. The motto 

of the group is Veni, Vidi, Defici—‘‘I came, I 

saw, I lost.’’ 

Bill Martin was nominated to run and lose 

on the Alfalfa Party ticket in 1966, while 

serving as Fed chairman during Lyndon 

Johnson’s term. In his acceptance speech, he 

announced that, given his proclivities as a 

central banker, he would take his cues from 

the German philosopher Goethe, ‘‘who said 

that people could endure anything except 


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