mr. michaud for purposes of kohl three. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. michaud: i rise in colloquy with chairman peterson. i want to thank chairman peterson for his hard work in this legislation. i seek clarification of two provisions in section 788 in the bill, relative to forestry lands and the forestry sector, specifically, page 9 , line 14, ilede like to know if the legislation includes forest lands and forestry sector and on page 199, does the term projects include sustainable forest practices such as avoided deforestation agreement? mr. peterson: i want to thank the gentleman for his work in improving the definition of biomass in the bill and just as with many usda conservation programs, forestland qualifies for this program and it's our intent ta it be included. they could be used to provide incentives to private forestland owners who may not otherwise qualify to participate in the ag offset program. i'll continue to work with the gentleman and he can be assured this will be include. mr. >> i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from

mr. michaud, for those comments and that it very important question which, if mr. paniati and the administration can't answer it, we have an awful lot of other folks who can. the key element to keep in mind is as the recovery act stimulus winds down next summer or fall, the trust fund will be at its lowest ebb. and there will be no reauthorization under the administration proposal. and the effective stimulus will be gone, and the existing law under their plan would stay in effect, and that means funding and a substantial lower-level than was authorized in the 2005 bill. and the economy will suffer very severe job losses. as well as not enjoy the benefit of the 6 million jobs to be created over six years of our committee bill. >> mr. chairman, could i speak to that for a minute because the transit program is also authorized under that program and i think it's important to point out, the president is focused on economic recovery, and probably the greatest danger looming could really start to economic recovery is as jeff pointed out the eminent bankruptcy of the trust

mr. michaud: this is a tremendous worth while product and helps sustain a vital product in the state of maine. this is vital to maintaining the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of people. in order to maintain an important part of our economy, we must continue to monitor the resource in part so we don't overfish. in maine alone, more than 40,000 jobs depend on the health of this industry. in all, the industry contributes an indispensible $1 billion a year to the maine economy. as the fisheries have declined, fishermen have increased their dependency on lobster. down coast maine has the most effective michiganries in new england. this is a key element to the economic stability of this industry. these programs monitor the health and sustainability of the lobster resources and are the foundation of the industry management program. their continuation is not only essential to the successful preservation of the lobster population, but the preservation of tens of thousands of jobs in the state of maine. i urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair

mr. michaud: i thank the gentleman for yielding one minute. the debbie smith act provides state and local agencies funding to combat serious crime such as rape, sexual assaults and murder. i would like to thank congressman nadler and congresswoman maloney for their leadership on this very important issue. our amendment will fully fund this valuable program. each untested d.n.a. sample represents a missed chance to keep these violent offenders off our streets. in one case in california, a repeat sex offender raped a woman before the test could be processed by state crime labs and then attacked two additional women and a child as well. in maine, we have a backlog of over 4,000 samples that need to be analyzed. with no additional funding, many of our cold cases will go unsolved and this backlog will continue. i urge my colleagues to support this very important amendment. and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from virginia. mr. wolf: i reserve the balance. the chair: th

mr. me show, for the great leader -- michaud, for the great leadership on this issue. the veterans' affairs health care system includes 153 medical centers with a facility in each state, puerto rico, and the district of columbia. almost 5.5 million people received care in the v.a. health care facilities in 2008 and v.a.'s outpatient clinics registered over 60 million visits. this is one of the largest health care providers in the country. however in fiscal year 2009 for only the third time in the past 20 years v.a. received its budget prior to the start of the new fiscal year. it isn't reasonable to expect that one of the largest, fastest growing health care providers in the country can operate in a most efficient and effective manner if they don't know what their bubts -- budgets will be. the current budget process continues to hamper and threaten v.a. health care delivery. when v.a. does not receive its funding in a timely manner, it is forced to ration its care. so much needed medical staff cannot be hired, equipment cannot be procured, waiting times increase, and t

mr. speaker, i'd also like to thank representative michaud, for his outstanding work in helping wi this bill. he is a co-sponsor. i thank the ranking member, spencer bachus. of course i thank mr. barney frank. i also would like it to thank the housing subcommittee chair who has worked closely with me on this project, representative maxine waters. mr. speaker, the question may be posed in the mind of someone as to why we should pass the homes for heroes act. i'd like to answer this question. we need to pass this bill because, while many of us are sleeping in the suits of life, too many of our veterans are sleeping in the streets of life. we node to pass it because while many of -- we need to pass it because while many of us have homes and jobs, too many of our veterans are homeless with no jobs at all. we must pass this piece of legislation because america can't continue to be the home of the free and the land of the brave if too many of our brave veterans continue to be homeless. mr. speaker, the statistics are shocking. they literally shock the conscience. veterans are % of the population a