(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) today joined current and former New Jersey students for a press teleconference opposing a Republican plan that would allow the interest rates on some federal student loans to jump to as high as 10.5 percent.

“The Republican plan would, in effect, transform the federal government into a Wall Street bank – raking in billions in profits on the backs of students, who would be charged high and wildly variable interest rates,” said Holt, who serves on the U.S. House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.  “We should be making it less expensive for students to attend college, not putting roadblocks in their path.”

The Republican student loan interest rate legislation, H.R. 1911, passed the House today over Holt’s objections.

Because the Republican legislation would allow interest rates to fluctuate depending upon market conditions, students would be unable to predict their interest payments in advance.  But the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service estimates that, for a graduate who has about $19,000 in subsidized student loan debt, the Republican plan would increase total interest payments by $4,881, relative to today’s low, fixed rates.

This past week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed 400 parts per million.

This is a milestone in human history in two senses.  First, this level of carbon dioxide has never been seen by any human being.  In fact, this level has not been achieved for millions of years.

But also, this is a milestone for humans because it is human activity, the way we produce and use energy, that is responsible for this high concentration.  As scientists have made clear, this great concentration of greenhouse gas is changing our very climate in ways that are dangerous and costly in dollars and lives.

If we fail to change our ways, fail to change how we generate and use energy, then we will face worse and worse blistering wildfires, withering droughts, flooding events, and super-hurricanes.

As the earth goes barreling past 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, Congress should take action now, this year, to address climate change.  As a member of the Safe Climate Caucus, I am committed to seeing that this moment is a turning point, not just a marker of inaction and environmental degradation.

The last time I crossed paths with IBM’s Watson, we faced off in a round of Jeopardy!.  Since then, Watson has grown up and gone to medical school:  The computer system is now working with doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, learning how to suggest treatment options for lung cancer.

IBM scientists stopped by my office this week to demonstrate Watson’s new skills.  They hope that, within just a few years, Watson will be deployed to doctors’ offices around the country.

What sets Watson apart from most computer systems is that it doesn’t simply look up facts in a massive database.  Rather, it learns.  Much as Watson once learned Jeopardy!-style trivia by analyzing millions of books and websites, it is now learning medicine by reading thousands of journal articles, monitoring patients, and listening to the input of patients and doctors.

These are the kind of breakthrough technological developments that are hard to predict in advance but which almost inevitably result from private and public investments in R&D.  Such discoveries will help drive economic growth and job creation for years to come.

On May 4, 2013, U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) met with members of his 2013 Student Advisory Committee.

Participants included, from left to right: Kate Lonczak, North Brunswick High School; Jacob Hoehler, Monroe Township High School; Christopher Lynch, North Brunswick High School; Haley Amplo, Monroe Township High School; Jasmine Pegrem, Ewing High School; Jessica Rivera-Rincon, Old Bridge High School; U.S. Rep. Rush Holt; Christopher Simone, Old Bridge High School; Gabrielle Wickizer, Hightstown High School; Piyush Puri, Mercer County Technical Schools Health Science Academy; Samantha Connell, Franklin High School; Jarae Gallmon, Plainfield High School; Austin Kwinta, and Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School.

As I have written to you previously, before today is out, if it is like every other day, at least 18 more veterans will have taken their own lives.  In each of the past two years, I have obtained $40 million for military suicide prevention and outreach.  Rep. Jon Runyan, a New Jersey Republican, has been a partner in this endeavor.

On Tuesday, at a press conference at the World War II Memorial in Trenton, we urged continued action to prevent military and veteran suicide.  Ninety-seven of our colleagues in the U.S. House have joined us on a letter urging continuation of the $40 million again this year.

At the press conference, we spoke about the Vets4Warriors program, which connects veterans to peer counselors.  Linda Bean, the mother of Sgt. Coleman S. Bean, who took his own life after returning from service in Iraq, spoke movingly about the need for greater outreach.

Veterans who are struggling with the emotional, physical, family or career consequences of their service can call 1-855-VET-TALK (1-855-838-8255), 24 hours a day. The call is free, and all counselors are veterans.

URGE CONTINUATION OF $40 MILLION THAT HOLT AND RUNYAN FIRST SECURED IN 2011

(Trenton, NJ) – In a press conference today at the New Jersey World War II Memorial, U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) and U.S. Rep. Jon Runyan (NJ-03) called for the U.S. House Appropriations Committee to provide $40 million for military and veteran suicide prevention and outreach in fiscal year 2014.

If appropriated, the funds – which would include $20 million to prevent suicide among current servicemembers and $20 million to prevent suicide among veterans – would represent a continuation of federal support that Holt and Runyan first secured in 2011.

“The epidemic of suicides among our veterans is measureable in very grim numbers,” Holt said.  “Before this day is out, if it is like every other day, 18 more veterans will have taken their own lives.  Congress has begun to take this crisis seriously over the past few years, but we must continue providing the funding and support necessary to help keep our soldiers and veterans alive.”

“The men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our country deserve our complete support while on the battlefield and when they return home,” Runyan said. “As the number of suicides among U.S. military personnel continues to rise, it is imperative that we do everything we can to reach out and let them know about the resources that are available to them.  One servicemember or veteran who takes their own life is one too many.  As a country we have to show our military personnel that we truly care about them by making life saving resources available and accessible.”

You no doubt remember the atmosphere of fear and even panic in mid-September 2001 as 22 people contracted anthrax from letters mailed to news outlets and to Congress.  People died then – two postal employees and three other innocent citizens.  Those troubling days returned to my mind last week when we learned that the deadly poison ricin had been found in letters mailed to the Senate and to President Obama.  Fortunately, no one has died this time.

The manner in which these letters were discovered shows that our nation has, at least, learned one lesson from the anthrax attacks:  Both letters were opened and tested in off-site mail facilities set up after the anthrax attacks.  Yet I am troubled that other lessons remain unlearned.

How could the FBI have responded more appropriately in the immediate aftermath of the anthrax attacks?  Did the FBI truly build a sound scientific and criminal case against Bruce Ivins, the suspect held responsible for the attacks?  Is the government’s current response to the ricin attacks repeating errors of the past?

I have previously offered legislation that would create a special commission, modeled after the 9/11 Commission, to investigate the anthrax attacks and determine what lessons we can learn still.  As last week’s poisoned mailings demonstrate, the need for answers remains.

For security reasons, all letters sent to Congress since 2001 undergo intensive screening that can take days or weeks to complete.  Should you ever wish to contact me, please feel free to e-mail me at holt.house.gov/contact to ensure your message reaches me without delay.

TWO BILLS WOULD REMOVE OIL COMPANIES' $75 MILLION LIABILITY CAP, REFORM USE OF THE FEDERAL OIL SPILL LIABILITY TRUST FUND

(Washington, D.C.) – Following the third anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) today introduced the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Legislation Package – two bills aimed at holding big oil companies accountable for disastrous oil spills and improving the federal government’s ability to help areas affected by an oil disaster.

“The best way to prevent oil spills is to make sure oil companies pay for all of the damages oil spills cause. This legislation delivers a simple message: If you make a mess, you clean it up. If you hurt small businesses or communities, you fix them. If you hurt someone, you make it right,” said Senator Menendez, a member of the Senate Banking and Finance Committees. “This bill removes the $75 million cap on big oil companies’ liabilities; helping to make sure those companies do the right thing by the American people when accidents happen.”

“If you or I were to walk into a neighbor's yard and douse their grass with motor oil, a court would hold us personally liable for the full cleanup costs,” said Representative Holt. “So it's absurd that, under current law, Big Oil companies receive special legal immunity when their oil spills cause economic and environmental havoc.  Big Oil should play by the same rules as everyone else.”

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) today announced that three arts organizations in central New Jersey have received federal grants through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) totaling $54,500.  The grants will support Music for All Seasons in Scotch Plains, as well as The Princeton Festival and The Princeton Symphony Orchestra in Princeton.

“The arts and humanities play a crucial role in our society:  they enhance our creativity, promote education, and provide New Jerseyans with the opportunity to view works of beauty and personal expression,” Holt said.  “These federal funds, combined with private funding sources, will contribute to making New Jersey a better place to live and work.”

(Ewing, N.J.) – On Sunday, May 5 at 1:00 p.m., U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) will host an “Academy Day” at the Ewing Township Municipal Building for interested high school and middle school students and their families to learn more about the educational opportunities offered by the U.S. military service academies.  Educators and guidance counselors are also encouraged to attend.

America’s military service academies provide a four-year college education, with full scholarship, to young men and women who wish to serve as the next generation of leaders in the U.S. military services.

The Holt Academy Day will feature presentations by the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, and the U.S. Naval Academy.  ROTC representatives also will be available to provide information and answer questions, and staff from Holt’s office will be available to discuss the process of receiving a congressional nomination to an academy.

Those who plan to attend are encouraged to RSVP to scotia.macrae@mail.house.gov with their name, grade, school, and number of seats needed.

For further information, please call 1-87-RUSH-HOLT (1-877-874-4658).

Sunday, May 5, 2013, 1:00 p.m.
Ewing Township Municipal Building
2 Jake Garzio Drive (off of Upper Ferry Road)
Ewing, New Jersey

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded $2,154,770.24 to reimburse Hopewell Township in Mercer County for expenses incurred in the recovery from Hurricane Sandy.

“These funds help demonstrate the continued commitment of all Americans to help Hopewell Township recover from Hurricane Sandy, and I look forward to seeing similar help provided to other Central New Jersey governments that incurred costs in the storm,” Holt said.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Hopewell Township hired contractors to aid in debris cleanup, including removing fallen trees and broken tree limbs.  The FEMA award reimburses the township for 75 percent of the cleanup costs incurred.

FEMA obligates disaster relief reimbursement funds directly to the state of New Jersey.  Following New Jersey’s state review process, the funds will be provided to Hopewell Township.

The award was made possible under the Hurricane Sandy disaster relief bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in January with Holt’s support and was signed into law by President Obama.

“Banker,” “revolutionary,” and “visionary” are not words often associated with each other.  Yet all apply to Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who this week was honored with our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, under legislation that I wrote and helped pass with help from many New Jerseyans.

Born and educated in what is today Bangladesh, Dr. Yunus discovered that impoverished people could not get ahead because of the predatory lending practices of money-lenders.  Starting with just $27 of his own money, Dr. Yunus showed that, contrary to the old, cynical saying than bankers “loan money only to people who don’t need it,” it could be profitable to loan money to poor people who had not shown marketable skills or facility in handling money.  In the face of skepticism and opposition, he built a microcredit banking business that thrived, lifted millions of people out of poverty, and provided a model for similar work around the world.

In 2006, New Jerseyans who were inspired by Dr. Yunus’s work – organized through RESULTS NJ – urged me to help honor his contributions and raise awareness of microcredit by working to award him a Congressional Gold Medal.  Awarding the medal was not easy; we had to work for four years and talk one by one to hundreds of lawmakers.  I feel certain that the effort has generated awareness and durable support in Congress for anti-poverty microfinance programs.

Now Dr. Yunus is developing his model for eliminating poverty – not simply alleviating poverty, but eliminating poverty.  Does this sound preposterously idealistic?  To many it does.  However, we would do well to listen to someone who has such a clear, remarkable record of exploding long-cherished myths about business, money, and poverty. 

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) today joined current and former New Jersey students for a press teleconference opposing a Republican plan that would allow the interest rates on some federal student loans to jump to as high as 10.5 percent.

“The Republican plan would, in effect, transform the federal government into a Wall Street bank – raking in billions in profits on the backs of students, who would be charged high and wildly variable interest rates,” said Holt, who serves on the U.S. House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.  “We should be making it less expensive for students to attend college, not putting roadblocks in their path.”

The Republican student loan interest rate legislation, H.R. 1911, passed the House today over Holt’s objections.

Because the Republican legislation would allow interest rates to fluctuate depending upon market conditions, students would be unable to predict their interest payments in advance.  But the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service estimates that, for a graduate who has about $19,000 in subsidized student loan debt, the Republican plan would increase total interest payments by $4,881, relative to today’s low, fixed rates.

On May 4, 2013, U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) met with members of his 2013 Student Advisory Committee.

Participants included, from left to right: Kate Lonczak, North Brunswick High School; Jacob Hoehler, Monroe Township High School; Christopher Lynch, North Brunswick High School; Haley Amplo, Monroe Township High School; Jasmine Pegrem, Ewing High School; Jessica Rivera-Rincon, Old Bridge High School; U.S. Rep. Rush Holt; Christopher Simone, Old Bridge High School; Gabrielle Wickizer, Hightstown High School; Piyush Puri, Mercer County Technical Schools Health Science Academy; Samantha Connell, Franklin High School; Jarae Gallmon, Plainfield High School; Austin Kwinta, and Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School.

URGE CONTINUATION OF $40 MILLION THAT HOLT AND RUNYAN FIRST SECURED IN 2011

(Trenton, NJ) – In a press conference today at the New Jersey World War II Memorial, U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) and U.S. Rep. Jon Runyan (NJ-03) called for the U.S. House Appropriations Committee to provide $40 million for military and veteran suicide prevention and outreach in fiscal year 2014.

If appropriated, the funds – which would include $20 million to prevent suicide among current servicemembers and $20 million to prevent suicide among veterans – would represent a continuation of federal support that Holt and Runyan first secured in 2011.

“The epidemic of suicides among our veterans is measureable in very grim numbers,” Holt said.  “Before this day is out, if it is like every other day, 18 more veterans will have taken their own lives.  Congress has begun to take this crisis seriously over the past few years, but we must continue providing the funding and support necessary to help keep our soldiers and veterans alive.”

“The men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our country deserve our complete support while on the battlefield and when they return home,” Runyan said. “As the number of suicides among U.S. military personnel continues to rise, it is imperative that we do everything we can to reach out and let them know about the resources that are available to them.  One servicemember or veteran who takes their own life is one too many.  As a country we have to show our military personnel that we truly care about them by making life saving resources available and accessible.”

TWO BILLS WOULD REMOVE OIL COMPANIES' $75 MILLION LIABILITY CAP, REFORM USE OF THE FEDERAL OIL SPILL LIABILITY TRUST FUND

(Washington, D.C.) – Following the third anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) today introduced the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Legislation Package – two bills aimed at holding big oil companies accountable for disastrous oil spills and improving the federal government’s ability to help areas affected by an oil disaster.

“The best way to prevent oil spills is to make sure oil companies pay for all of the damages oil spills cause. This legislation delivers a simple message: If you make a mess, you clean it up. If you hurt small businesses or communities, you fix them. If you hurt someone, you make it right,” said Senator Menendez, a member of the Senate Banking and Finance Committees. “This bill removes the $75 million cap on big oil companies’ liabilities; helping to make sure those companies do the right thing by the American people when accidents happen.”

“If you or I were to walk into a neighbor's yard and douse their grass with motor oil, a court would hold us personally liable for the full cleanup costs,” said Representative Holt. “So it's absurd that, under current law, Big Oil companies receive special legal immunity when their oil spills cause economic and environmental havoc.  Big Oil should play by the same rules as everyone else.”

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) today announced that three arts organizations in central New Jersey have received federal grants through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) totaling $54,500.  The grants will support Music for All Seasons in Scotch Plains, as well as The Princeton Festival and The Princeton Symphony Orchestra in Princeton.

“The arts and humanities play a crucial role in our society:  they enhance our creativity, promote education, and provide New Jerseyans with the opportunity to view works of beauty and personal expression,” Holt said.  “These federal funds, combined with private funding sources, will contribute to making New Jersey a better place to live and work.”

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a member of the Safe Climate Caucus to remind this House of the threat that climate change poses to our communities and to emphasize the need for increased Federal investment in new and innovative technologies to protect and improve the world we live in.

   This past October, Hurricane Sandy hit the mid-Atlantic, including my home State of New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy was one of the most costly storms in history. Society will bear the costs of climate change. Society is bearing the costs of climate change. The debt was wracked up as we recklessly burned fossil fuels over a century, filling the atmosphere with excess CO.

   2. Now the debts are coming due as wildfires, droughts, superstorms, and floods--a costly debt in lives and dollars.

   We would be wise to invest in more resilient infrastructure and sustainable, non-fossil energy sources, in good science related to climate change. We as a country should rise to the challenge. The United States is not a poor, impoverished Nation. We are just acting like one. We should be investing as if we believe there is a future for us.

   Workforce investment has an important role in Congress, and it could and should be done in a bipartisan way. The government has a role to play in setting standards to preserve fairness and to expand access. The so-called SKILLS Act seeks to combine and reduce vital programs. It takes 35 programs and identifies them for elimination, and it says the Federal Government will leave a bushel basket full of money on the steps of each State capitol. This is an abdication of our responsibility to think hard, to work hard, to set standards.

   What some on the other side might call ``red tape'' or ``overregulation'' I would call ``standards'' in order to see that the workforce investment programs really address the needs of individuals with disabilities or the needs of identifiable groups, such as veterans and youth, who deserve our help, and that it will provide good services for those who need the help most, not the easiest cases: say, single parents, whose daily struggles with food and housing and transportation and child care make job training difficult.

   We had good ideas, the Democrats, ideas that were similar to what went into the original Workforce Investment Act--ways to improve these programs and make them serve all of these Americans. H.R. 803, for example, does not support library resource centers. It ignores individuals with disabilities and incumbent workers. The bill doesn't allow libraries to partner fully in the workforce investment programs.

   Last year, I introduced an amendment to authorize libraries to engage in statewide employment and training activities. No such this year. Many low-wage workers, often single mothers, struggling, need special help. My home State of New Jersey had online learning for low-income workers. By creating grants for online learning, such as laptops at home, we could provide many of these workers who have to stay at home and raise families the opportunity to improve their skills and enter the new economy. Yes, that should be in this program for the Nation.

   Fifteen years ago, before I was in Congress, I watched with great interest as Congress, House and Senate, Democrat and Republican, worked on worker training and produced the Workforce Investment Act. I was impressed. This was the kind of thing that Congress should be doing. It was the kind of thing that made me look forward to the prospect of maybe going to Congress some day.

   I remember David Broder, then the dean of Washington journalists, wrote a column saying this is exactly the kind of thing that Congress should be doing--and they were doing it in a bipartisan way.

   And here we are today, 15 years later, with an ideological, partisan dead end.

   Now, let me make it clear: workforce investment is what Congress needs to do. The government plays an important role in training and fostering a strong and capable workforce.

   The so-called SKILLS Act does not invest in the workforce. Rather, it seeks to combine and reduce vital programs that workers need.

   As a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I, along with others, sought to help to develop and update an efficient, fair program that would help eager workers get the right training and get the right jobs. We had some good ideas to contribute. Some of them had been tested in my home State of New Jersey.

   We had some strong evidence that some of the programs that Representative Foxx's version had canceled, or sought to cancel, should be improved and retained. We had good legislative language for the majority party to consider, and we were rebuffed. Our efforts were in vain.

   American workers are now caught in the middle of this partisan, ideological effort. Individuals with disabilities, the disadvantaged, high-risk youth, veterans cannot afford to be abandoned by the majority party's proposal.

   It was interesting that the author of this bill said, well, only 6.8 percent of the SNAP participants use the workforce training. Oh, so 3 million people we can forget about. Is that the implication of that?

   No, I think the implication should be we should expand it to even more. We need to work together to provide our Nation's job seekers with the resources and the training they need to obtain and maintain quality employment. The underlying partisan ``consolidate it and then cut it bill'' will keep people out of work, not put them back to work.

   I urge the defeat of the rule so that we can have something more bipartisan, and I urge defeat of the bill.

   Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of a line from ``The Canterbury Tales'': The gentleman doth protest too much.

   We're told that this is a partisan bill, that the efforts of the other side were in vain.

   Well, let me remind my colleague, he's one of the members of the committee that walked out of the committee meeting. When there was the opportunity for the Democrats to offer amendments, they did not do it. However, some amendments were offered before the Rules Committee, and we have all of the amendments that were submitted by the Democrats and not withdrawn that are going to be considered today.

   The Democrat substitute amendment was made in order, and I appreciate Mr. Polis acknowledging that. And we've given them extended debate time. So it's not exactly as though we are shutting them out of this process.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill.

While this bill does exempt the Department of Veterans Affairs from sequestration, that is the only good news in this bill.

   H.R. 933 does provide the Department of Defense with a better balance between its operations and maintenance accounts and its longer-term investment accounts. However, it will do nothing to stop the $46 billion sequester for the Department of Defense, which will result in civilian furloughs, deployment and training cutbacks, and facility maintenance cuts.

   The bill shortchanges our homeland security needs by denying a requested increase for FEMA State and Local Grants, locking the program into its lowest funding level in history and shortchanging disaster preparedness and anti-terrorism funds to states, urban areas, ports, transit, and first responders.

   Communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy are also shortchanged by this bill. H.R. 933 does not include funding requests important for disaster recovery, cyber-security, water infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and weatherization, including a request to lower the local cost-share from 65/35 to 90/10 for Army Corps of Engineers projects in communities affected by Sandy, hindering ability of local communities to recover and rebuild.

   The bill also violates the intent of the Affordable Care Act by failing to include a requested $949 million to implement health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, scheduled to begin enrolling participants in October. Funding is needed for IT infrastructure to process enrollments and payments, eligibility verification, call centers, and other assistance to help individuals and small businesses select and enroll in health plans.

   I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this badly flawed bill.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be support this very good bill. I only wish it had been allowed on the House floor a year ago for a vote.

   For the first time in years, the Congress is poised to pass a VAWA reauthorization that is worthy of the name. Finally, we will be providing real protections for a number of vulnerable populations among America's women.

   Of course, this bill almost didn't make it to the House floor. The House majority was going to simply sit on S. 47 and offer their own VAWA substitute. After a massive public shaming, the majority backed down. They are still offering their own so-called substitute--which is a sham--but we will also have the chance to vote on the Senate bill, which is the true VAWA reauthorization.

   This bill provides tangible, enforceable protections for LGBT, Native American and immigrant victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. The bill will help ensure the availability of services to all victims of domestic and dating violence, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity. S. 47 also provides authority to Native American tribes to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators for a narrow set of crimes related to domestic, dating violence and violations of protecting orders. The Senate bill also adds stalking to the list of crimes for which victims can receive protection through the U-Visa program. Finally, S. 47 also includes authorizations for programs preventing human trafficking, sexual assault on college campuses, as well as additional resources to address rape kit backlogs.

   Madam Speaker, this day has been entirely too long in coming, but I am pleased that it is finally here and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill and sending it to President Obama for his signature.

This past week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed 400 parts per million.

This is a milestone in human history in two senses.  First, this level of carbon dioxide has never been seen by any human being.  In fact, this level has not been achieved for millions of years.

But also, this is a milestone for humans because it is human activity, the way we produce and use energy, that is responsible for this high concentration.  As scientists have made clear, this great concentration of greenhouse gas is changing our very climate in ways that are dangerous and costly in dollars and lives.

If we fail to change our ways, fail to change how we generate and use energy, then we will face worse and worse blistering wildfires, withering droughts, flooding events, and super-hurricanes.

As the earth goes barreling past 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, Congress should take action now, this year, to address climate change.  As a member of the Safe Climate Caucus, I am committed to seeing that this moment is a turning point, not just a marker of inaction and environmental degradation.

The last time I crossed paths with IBM’s Watson, we faced off in a round of Jeopardy!.  Since then, Watson has grown up and gone to medical school:  The computer system is now working with doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, learning how to suggest treatment options for lung cancer.

IBM scientists stopped by my office this week to demonstrate Watson’s new skills.  They hope that, within just a few years, Watson will be deployed to doctors’ offices around the country.

What sets Watson apart from most computer systems is that it doesn’t simply look up facts in a massive database.  Rather, it learns.  Much as Watson once learned Jeopardy!-style trivia by analyzing millions of books and websites, it is now learning medicine by reading thousands of journal articles, monitoring patients, and listening to the input of patients and doctors.

These are the kind of breakthrough technological developments that are hard to predict in advance but which almost inevitably result from private and public investments in R&D.  Such discoveries will help drive economic growth and job creation for years to come.

As I have written to you previously, before today is out, if it is like every other day, at least 18 more veterans will have taken their own lives.  In each of the past two years, I have obtained $40 million for military suicide prevention and outreach.  Rep. Jon Runyan, a New Jersey Republican, has been a partner in this endeavor.

On Tuesday, at a press conference at the World War II Memorial in Trenton, we urged continued action to prevent military and veteran suicide.  Ninety-seven of our colleagues in the U.S. House have joined us on a letter urging continuation of the $40 million again this year.

At the press conference, we spoke about the Vets4Warriors program, which connects veterans to peer counselors.  Linda Bean, the mother of Sgt. Coleman S. Bean, who took his own life after returning from service in Iraq, spoke movingly about the need for greater outreach.

Veterans who are struggling with the emotional, physical, family or career consequences of their service can call 1-855-VET-TALK (1-855-838-8255), 24 hours a day. The call is free, and all counselors are veterans.

You no doubt remember the atmosphere of fear and even panic in mid-September 2001 as 22 people contracted anthrax from letters mailed to news outlets and to Congress.  People died then – two postal employees and three other innocent citizens.  Those troubling days returned to my mind last week when we learned that the deadly poison ricin had been found in letters mailed to the Senate and to President Obama.  Fortunately, no one has died this time.

The manner in which these letters were discovered shows that our nation has, at least, learned one lesson from the anthrax attacks:  Both letters were opened and tested in off-site mail facilities set up after the anthrax attacks.  Yet I am troubled that other lessons remain unlearned.

How could the FBI have responded more appropriately in the immediate aftermath of the anthrax attacks?  Did the FBI truly build a sound scientific and criminal case against Bruce Ivins, the suspect held responsible for the attacks?  Is the government’s current response to the ricin attacks repeating errors of the past?

I have previously offered legislation that would create a special commission, modeled after the 9/11 Commission, to investigate the anthrax attacks and determine what lessons we can learn still.  As last week’s poisoned mailings demonstrate, the need for answers remains.

For security reasons, all letters sent to Congress since 2001 undergo intensive screening that can take days or weeks to complete.  Should you ever wish to contact me, please feel free to e-mail me at holt.house.gov/contact to ensure your message reaches me without delay.

“Banker,” “revolutionary,” and “visionary” are not words often associated with each other.  Yet all apply to Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who this week was honored with our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, under legislation that I wrote and helped pass with help from many New Jerseyans.

Born and educated in what is today Bangladesh, Dr. Yunus discovered that impoverished people could not get ahead because of the predatory lending practices of money-lenders.  Starting with just $27 of his own money, Dr. Yunus showed that, contrary to the old, cynical saying than bankers “loan money only to people who don’t need it,” it could be profitable to loan money to poor people who had not shown marketable skills or facility in handling money.  In the face of skepticism and opposition, he built a microcredit banking business that thrived, lifted millions of people out of poverty, and provided a model for similar work around the world.

In 2006, New Jerseyans who were inspired by Dr. Yunus’s work – organized through RESULTS NJ – urged me to help honor his contributions and raise awareness of microcredit by working to award him a Congressional Gold Medal.  Awarding the medal was not easy; we had to work for four years and talk one by one to hundreds of lawmakers.  I feel certain that the effort has generated awareness and durable support in Congress for anti-poverty microfinance programs.

Now Dr. Yunus is developing his model for eliminating poverty – not simply alleviating poverty, but eliminating poverty.  Does this sound preposterously idealistic?  To many it does.  However, we would do well to listen to someone who has such a clear, remarkable record of exploding long-cherished myths about business, money, and poverty. 

Social Security has always had its rabid opponents.  Alf Landon, the 1936 Republican presidential nominee, called President Roosevelt’s new Social Security program “unjust,” “a fraud on the working man,” and “a cruel hoax” that would leave retirees with nothing but “roll after roll of neatly executed IOUs.”

Alf Landon was wrong.  But he at least had an excuse for his wrongness:  he had never seen Social Security in action.  Today’s Social Security opponents have no such excuse.

After 77 years, Social Security has compiled an overwhelming record of success.  Its payments are modest, averaging only $1,265 per month, but for about 13 million seniors, such an amount is the difference between poverty and sufficiency.  And notwithstanding claims to the contrary, the program remains on reasonably sound financial footing, as I have described before.

Yet opponents such as Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, want to slash Social Security by changing the rate at which benefits adapt to inflation.  Sen. McConnell claims that something called “chained CPI” is a more accurate measure of inflation – ignoring evidence that most seniors experience higher inflation levels than measured under current law, due to their disproportionate use of high-cost-growth services such as health care.

While Social Security’s foes might prefer to couch their proposals in bureaucratic phrases about inflation indexes, big words can’t hide hard truths:  this plan would mean a cut for America’s seniors, one that would eliminate benefits that they have earned and depend on, one that would cut the average benefit by $16,000 over a 25-year retirement.

Troublingly, President Obama, in an effort to reach political compromise, has included similar Social Security cuts in his proposed 2014 budget.  Not only is it bad strategy to concede to your opponents’ demands before even sitting down at the negotiating table, but the President is flatly wrong to use seniors’ earned benefits as a bargaining chip.

I already have written the President to oppose these cuts to Social Security, and I will strongly oppose his plan in Congress.

A better way forward is the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act, which I have cosponsored.  It would bring Social Security’s revenue back into line with historic norms by increasing the wage base that pays into the social insurance program, and it would adopt a more sensible inflation index that recognizes that seniors’ costs generally rise faster than the costs faced by younger families.

This week, Rutgers fired men’s basketball coach Mike Rice after video surfaced of him using homophobic slurs and physical abuse against his players during practices.  Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti also resigned in the video’s aftermath.

This is a reminder to all that colleges have an obligation to build character as well as minds and athletic skills.  Antisocial behavior that is dehumanizing or discriminatory on the basis of race, sexuality, or religion should not be tolerated by anyone in the university community.  There are no innocent bystanders.

The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, which Sen. Frank Lautenberg and I wrote several years ago and reintroduced in February, would require colleges to set high standards against such language and behavior and to achieve those standards.  This Rutgers incident highlights the need for our bill to become law.

Since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School brought renewed national attention to preventing gun violence, at least 2,200 people have died by gunfire in homicides and accidental deaths, according to an analysis by the Huffington Post.  Yet even this horrific figure does not fully describe the toll of gun violence.  At least as many people have died by their own hands:  nearly 60 percent of all gun deaths are suicides.

Mostly, the people who die by gun suicide would not have died but for their access to firearms.  In fact, the urge to die by suicide is often overwhelming but brief.  According to one study of people who attempted suicide but survived, more than two-thirds took action within an hour of deciding to kill themselves.

Someone who has access to a gun within that hour-long window and who uses it is very likely to die:  about 85 percent of suicide attempts by firearm result in death.  Other attempts by other means are much less likely to be fatal.  For example, attempted drug overdoses are fatal only 2 percent of the time.

If you have a gun in your house, I urge you to take careful responsibility for ensuring that it is locked away from anyone who might use it in a suicide.  And if you or someone you know ever considers suicide, please call 1-800-SUICIDE for help.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed – over my objections – the so-called Ryan budget, a grim and pessimistic vision for America’s future authored by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan.

If the plan of the budget resolution were made real in appropriations legislation, it would, according to estimates by the Economic Policy Institute, cost 2 million jobs next year.  It would eliminate the mandatory Pell Grant program, a cut of $98 billion, and let interest rates double on student loans.  It would cut key transportation investments by more than 20 percent.  It would slash Medicaid support by $810 billion, and it would end the Medicare guarantee on which seniors depend.

If that sounds familiar, it should.  This Ryan budget is a barely warmed over version of last year’s Ryan budget, which was so thoroughly debated during last year’s election – and so soundly rejected by voters.

It is important to remember that a House budget is only a roadmap and does not have the force of law.  However, budget sequestration, which already is in effect, and the Appropriations Legislation passed today are binding.  The resulting hardship is only beginning to be felt.

The Fifth Amendment guarantees that no American shall “be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.”  Yet the Department of Justice has, according to leaked memos and news reports, prepared legal justifications that permit the government, under presidential directive, to kill American citizens without trial during the course of counterterrorism operations.

This week, I joined Rep. Barbara Lee and other members of Congress in urging President Obama to release these Justice Department memos in their entirety.

Of particular concern is the possibility that unmanned drones may be used to execute American citizens without due process.  Senator Rand Paul raised this concern during his 13-hour filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be the director of the CIA, and in response, the Attorney General provided a two-sentence letter saying that drones could not be used in this way.  Yet without the context of the full legal justifications for targeted killings, this assertion provides little comfort.  Central questions are when a terrorist or potential terrorist relinquishes his or her constitutional protections, how the government would make this determination, and how precisely and accurately a government directive would identify that person.

Drones have legitimate uses, and but we need to put clear, enforceable boundaries around their use.  Last summer, I tried to fill this legal vacuum through an amendment to the annual Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that would forbid the flying of armed drones over U.S. soil.

That amendment passed unanimously in the House, but unfortunately the funding bill itself never passed the Senate, so the provision did not become law. I intend to try again this year when we debate the Fiscal Year 2014 appropriations bills.