Providing for Consideration of H.R. 1388, Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act

Floor Speech

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1388, GENERATIONS INVIGORATING VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - March 18, 2009)

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Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my friend from California (Ms. Matsui) for the time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

It can sometimes seem that we are surrounded by news of selfishness and greed. I think, very appropriately, and I will discuss this later, the American people are outraged by an example of really cynicism intertwined with greed in this AIG example. More about that later.

However, those individuals, those few individuals, those cynics who utilized taxpayer dollars to give out bonuses for AIG, those really few individuals, Mr. Speaker, when you think about it in comparison to the myriad of individuals who really commit themselves to the service of others through volunteerism, those who serve are a beacon of compassion and hope for us all. Community service is one of the most gratifying, rewarding, fulfilling ways people can spend their time and their efforts.

Community service has always been a vital pillar of American society. It's one of the things that distinguishes the United States and exalts the American people.

Volunteers all over the United States dedicate millions of hours to their contemporaries in the hope of making people's lives better. Through their selfless work, volunteers help improve the lives of millions of Americans. In 1993, the Congress, with my support, passed legislation creating AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service to administer and coordinate Federal service community programs.

Since then, almost 500,000 Americans have served with thousands of not-for-profit organizations, public agencies and faith-based organizations nationwide.

These citizens tackle many unmet needs in our communities. They provide for our youth through tutoring, mentoring, and after-school programs. They provide for the disadvantaged by building homes for the needy and reaching out to misguided youth. They conduct neighborhood patrols; they care for our environment; respond to disasters, engage citizens in public, health, safety, and emergency preparedness services. And they support those who have served and continue to serve our Nation in the Armed Forces by meeting the needs of our Nation's veterans, active duty servicemembers, and their families. They do, oftentimes, exemplary work.

The underlying legislation, known as the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, referred to as the GIVE Act because of its initials, will reauthorize the national service programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. This reauthorization sets the goal to recruit 250,000 volunteers for AmeriCorps by 2014. It will also create service opportunities for middle school and high school students through the Summer of Service program.

The legislation emphasizes the critical role of service in meeting the national priorities of emergency and disaster preparedness, and it will help improve program integrity.

I am pleased that the committee, the Committee on Education and Labor, worked in a bipartisan manner to reauthorize this program and to include provisions that will make the programs more effective and efficient, responding to State and local needs with performance orientation.

It goes to show, Mr. Speaker, that when there is a willingness to work together and to negotiate, we can bring forth good pieces of legislation with bipartisan support.

I know the majority is trumpeting this rule with which we bring this underlying legislation to the floor because it will allow Members to debate all of the amendments that were submitted to the Rules Committee by Republicans. And that's appropriate. Nevertheless, I remind my colleagues the majority does this when the underlying legislation is uncontroversial.

Even though the majority promised to be the most open Congress in history, if the majority is so proud of this rule, then they should allow a more open process when controversial bills come before the floor as well.

I urge Americans everywhere, regardless of whether they take part in AmeriCorps, to volunteer and give back to their communities. The rewards are extraordinary to both the volunteer and to the community. As Winston Churchill said, ``We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.''

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the rule before us brings to the floor the GIVE Act, which is a bill to reauthorize the National Service programs. And the majority on our side supports that. I support that legislation. It is a good piece of legislation. It has the support of the ranking member of the Education and Labor Committee, and we are in support of the underlying legislation.

What we are saying, though, is that--and by the way, I reiterate that I'm pleased that we have caught the attention of the majority leadership and that they have convened a rules meeting for 3 p.m. to deal with the issue of AIG, the outrage of the AIG bonuses. At a time when the Federal Government is propping up AIG with over $170 billion in taxpayer funds, it is unconscionable that AIG is giving its executives bonuses, some of them which are over $1 million.

That is why today I will be asking for a ``no'' vote on the previous question. We don't have to wait until a rules meeting and then who knows when they will bring to the floor--if they do--legislation. We don't know what it will say.

What I'm saying is that right now we can amend this rule and allow the House to consider H.R. 1577, a bill by my colleagues, Representatives Paulsen and Lance, that will require that the Treasury Department implement a plan within the next 2 weeks to recoup the AIG bonuses. And in order to prevent another bonus controversy, the bill will require that any future bonus payments from TARP funds be approved by the Treasury Department in writing, including any contractual bonus obligations.

Now, Mr. Speaker, Americans are rightfully upset over the use of taxpayer funds to give executives million-dollar bonuses. They expect the administration will keep a watchful eye on the proper use of bailout funds. Just 2 weeks ago, the President's spokesman said that they were confident that they knew how every dime was being spent at AIG. Well, obviously, Mr. Speaker, that doesn't seem to be the case. That is the reason that I am calling for Members of this House to vote ``no'' on the previous question.

The Paulsen-Lance legislation is just another example of how the responsible and vigilant opposition, the Republicans, we are working to provide transparency and oversight of taxpayer funds in the TARP program. We must demand that the administration provide proper accounting of TARP funds. Americans deserve to know how their tax dollars are being utilized.

Now, if Members support transparency and oversight of taxpayer funds in the TARP program, then they should vote ``no'' on the previous question.

Now, our friends on the other side of the aisle said they have discovered the issue, and they are calling a rules meeting at 3 p.m. to deal with it. We don't know what they are going to be bringing forward. But we have brought forward legislation. Our colleagues have filed legislation, Representatives Paulsen and Lance, to deal with this issue today and to require the Treasury Department to recoup those unconscionable bonuses within 2 weeks. And we should vote on it today.

So I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and to make a statement: Enough is enough. Enough of these bailouts so that millionaires can become billionaires and billionaires can give their cronies bonuses with taxpayer dollars. Enough is enough. And we can vote on it right now, Mr. Speaker.

By the way, we will vote on the amendment on the legislation with regard to volunteerism. This does not negate that. But before, we must and we should address the issue of the unconscionable bonuses by defeating the previous question.

I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment and extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Florida?

There was no objection.

Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. I yield back the balance of my time.

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