Accomplishments of the 110th Congress

Floor Speech

ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE 110TH CONGRESS -- (House of Representatives - October 31, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the recognition. It's a great honor to be a member of this class and a Member of this Congress.

I can testify, having spent really a lifetime in local and State government, about the talent level that exists in this class and, to be honest, this Congress. There are numerous people who are committed to issues and have a wealth of talent and knowledge, and they put that to work on a daily basis to try to come up with the best solutions for the American people for a new direction in this country.

The gentlemen I'm with are four of the leaders in this class and in this Congress. I really want to commend the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth) for bringing this article I issue to the fore. The op-ed written in the New York Times by Mr. Adam Cohen really brought forth all the points that Congressman Yarmuth thought about when he brought this campaign to our attention and the freshman class adopted it.

Article I does make it clear that Congress makes the laws and Congress is where the power starts. It's really supposed to be the strongest arm of government because it truly represents the people, and this House has 435 Members. Each Member in the history of this House, and there have been about 10,000 people who have served in this House over the history, have been elected. Nobody, if there's a vacancy, gets appointed. In this place, not like the United States Senate or your State legislature, there aren't any interim appointments. Every person is elected by the people at home and they're supposed to represent those people, and I think it happens here.

This House needs to assert its power, and one of the areas where it's been doing it, particularly in the Government Reform Committee which Mr. Waxman chairs, and looking into actions of this administration is also the Judiciary Committee, where I'm blessed to be a member with Chairman John Conyers. We've had the opportunity to look into the Justice Department, which Mr. Hodes brought up. The Justice Department we found has politicized that office to the extent that it's really embarrassing I think to us as members of the committee, Members of us particularly who are attorneys and know what the attorneys and judges are supposed to be in terms of being impartial in the way they mete out justice, and I think to the judiciary at large in this country.

The politicization of that office has been greater than I think at anytime in the history of this country. The cases that have been brought we have found have been based, oftentimes, on the politics of who the defendant is.

We had the discussion last week of the case in Mississippi where one gentleman was indicted and another gentleman was not investigated. The gentlemen did the same exact thing. They each guaranteed loans, which was legal in Mississippi, to a justice, a Justice Diaz of the Supreme Court.

One gentleman made contributions that guaranteed a contribution of $65,000. Another gentleman guaranteed contributions of $80,000. The gentleman who guaranteed the $65,000 was indicted and tried in a Federal court. The gentleman that made the $80,000 contribution wasn't indicted or even investigated.

They each loaned a home to Justice Diaz when he had family problems and needed a new place to stay. They were co-owners of the home, Mr. Scruggs and Mr. Minor. The one gentleman who was the man that made the $65,000 loan and was indicted was indicted for loaning his home to the Supreme Court justice. The other gentleman wasn't.

What were the differences in the gentlemen? Well, one man was one of the top ten contributors to John Edwards for President, a Democrat. One man supported Democrats and trial lawyer issues in Mississippi. He was indicted. He was convicted the second time, and he's spending now, started serving 11 years in jail and was fined $4.5 million, 15 times what was recommended.

The other gentleman, man named Dickie Scruggs, is also a trial lawyer. He wasn't even investigated. He did the same exact thing. He donated a half a million dollars to Republican activity, a quarter of a million dollars to the Bush-Cheney reelection effort, and he, for whatever reason, may have nothing to do with it, he happens to be the brother-in-law of one of our colleagues in the Senate, Trent Lott.

So if you look at that case, and it's hard for anybody to look at it and think that there wasn't politically selective prosecutions, which makes Lady Justice have to turn her eyes and maybe shed tears at what's happened in Mississippi. That's happened in Alabama where a Governor was indicted and convicted of things that ordinarily wouldn't even be investigated.

We've seen U.S. attorneys, Republicans, appointed by President Bush fired because they didn't go after Democrats or they didn't go after voting actions that people in the Republican Party wanted pursued.

So oversight's real important in the Judiciary Committee. We've seen it. And the Justice Department, I mean, that's an area where Caesar's wife should be beyond reproach. Every area of government should be beyond reproach, but justice first. Justice is supposed to be blind, and justice has not been blind, and the work of Chairman Conyers and his staff and the members of that committee exposed much of that.

This Congress has done a lot of good. The idea that Mr. Yarmuth brought up from the President where he suggested we've been wasting time, that's ridiculous. The fact he's tried to veto bills or has vetoed bills and threatened vetoes shows we've been doing some things that are effective and good.

The minimum wage should have happened years ago. We finally got a minimum wage. The people at the bottom of the economic ladder needed that step up. We passed the minimum wage.

People that need a step up and to start college educations, they got Pell Grant increases, they got the cost of their loans reduced so they won't be saddled with high interest rates in the future on their loans. To help kids get a start and go to a college and to not, when they get out, have a tremendous debt to pay back is important. To be able to have Pell Grant money to give them a better start is important. These are two of the best initiatives that I think we have seen.

When I was a State Senator I worked on college scholarships, and I worked on minimum wage. I am happy to be in a Congress that have seen both of them effectuated and made a change.

We have looked at global warming, we have passed some bills that require renewable energies, and we have looked at bills that will help clean up our environment, which is definitely in jeopardy. And we have looked at the budget. We have put our future generations in debt, this administration and this Congress, by spending, spending, spending, not having a PAYGO bill.

The future of this country is in jeopardy because of the recklessness of the past Republican Congress and this President for spending too much money, sacrificing our goodwill overseas with a foreign policy that has been reckless after we had a President in Bill Clinton who had a balanced budget, a surplus, in fact, and the respect of the world for this country. We have lost the respect of the world, we have lost our budget surplus, and, finally, we have restored a modicum of fairness by giving an increase in the minimum wage, increases to kids going to college, help with health care and work on the environment.

I am very proud to be a Member of this Congress, this class and this Congress, and the differences you see are healthy and good. Rubber stamp shouldn't exist in government. There should be healthy debate. The conflict of ideas produces better ideas. That's why this Democratic Congress is so important to the future of this country.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COHEN. Thank you, Mr. Klein.

I think when I first addressed this group and, Mr. Speaker, I mentioned how proud I was to be a Member of this body and this class, and I think the people who have listened to this discussion realize why I'm so proud to be a member of the class. The talent is here, as some people have State legislative experience, some come straight from the private sector, and each brings a different perspective but a concern for the people and a concern for change and direction of this country and for the middle class.

Mr. Hodes talked about Ms. Miers and Mr. Rove not obeying the subpoena that was issued for them to come to testify before the Congress. This Congress is looking at having a contempt charge brought against them, which I think we should have done earlier. We need to have a contempt charge brought, and we need to have them be punished for their contempt of this Congress, which, in essence, is a contempt of the American people and a contempt of the Constitution and of all things good that the American people stand for.

I am proud to be a member of this class, to support SCHIP, for health care for children and for all Americans.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source