To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to restore and make permanent the exclusion from gross income for amounts received under qualified group legal services plans and to increase the maximum amount of the exclusion.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 280, legislation to create the National Aviation Heritage Area and urge my colleagues to support its passage. H.R. 280 includes as one of its sections, my bill, H.R. 1594, to provide for a suitability and feasibility study of establishing a St. Croix National Heritage Area in the United States Virgin Islands.

The island of St. Croix has a long, distinguished, and varied history, including being the site where Christopher Columbus first stepped onto what is now American soil. There is significant interest in preserving and enhancing the natural, historical and cultural resources of the island on a cooperative basis and such a study would provide guidance on how we can best achieve those purposes.

National Heritage areas are places where natural, cultural, historical and recreational resources combine to form a nationally distinctive landscape arising from patterns of human activity shaped by geography.

While each island can make a good case for designation, the island of St. Croix with its two historic towns--Christiansted built in 1734 and Frederiksted built in 1752--is richly blessed with all of the attributes that would justify this designation.

The town's historic architecture matured over a 100-year period. The town of Christiansted is one of the finest examples of Danish architectural designs in this hemisphere. Its history can be traced back some 4,000 years to 2500 BC.

In 1493 Columbus arrived at what is now the Salt River National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, making it the only site under the American flag where his men went ashore, as well as the first recorded hostile encounter between Europeans and Native Americans.

Frederiksted has the distinction of having been the first jurisdiction to have raised its flag in salute of the new republic of the United States of America, and indeed the first designed flag was done by a resident of that island.

Among the many strong ties of great national significance between St. Croix and the United States, perhaps the most significant one is that this island was the boyhood home of Alexander Hamilton, and where he began to develop the skills employed as the first Secretary of the Treasury of this country.

I want to thank Full Committee Chairman Pombo, Ranking Member Rahall as well as Subcommittee Chairman Radanovich for their support is getting H.R. 1594 and H.R. 280 to the floor of the House today.

My colleagues, H.R. 1549 is a good bill, which could serve as a catalyst for reinvigorating the lagging tourism sector on St. Croix. I urge its adoption.