Columbia Space Shuttle Memorials Act of 2004

Mr. President, I rise today to offer legislation to provide lawful permanent residence status to Jose Buendia Balderas, Alicia Aranda De Buendia and Ana Laura Buendia Aranda, Mexican nationals who live in the Fresno area of California.

I have decided to introduce legislation on their behalf because I believe this family is deserving of an exception.

Firstly, an immigration judge has granted the family relief, only to have that decision overturned by the Board of Immigration Appeals. Immigration Judge Polly A. Webber heard that Jose Buendia and his wife, Alicia Aranda de Buendia, should be granted cancellations of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act. In her decision, Immigration Judge Webber stated that she felt that the Buendias 9-year-old son would face exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if the family was deported from the United States.

The immigration judge's decision was based on testimony taken from Jose and Alicia Buendia, as well as Alicia Buendia's sister, who is a lawful permanent resident. The immigration judge found that if the Buendia's son ``wanted to go to school in Mexico past sixth grade, he would have major obstacles in being able to do so, which the Court can only take as extreme hardship in terms of 2-hour transportation that may or may not be available, separation from parents, perhaps having to live in a strange environment with strange people, moving away from his relatives in the United States . . . being subjected to substandard health care, economic instability, and poor living conditions.''

Unfortunately, the Board of Immigration Appeals overturned the immigration judge's decision. In a one paragraph decision the Board of Immigration Appeals concluded ``that the respondent failed to establish the required hardship to his United States citizen son, who was age 9 at the time of the hearing.'' That one sentence was the basis for overturning an immigration judge's decision.

Secondly, Mr. Buendia attempted to legalize his immigration status but was not successful due to an unscrupulous lawyer and a misinterpretation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service concerning applicants eligibility to apply for legalization under the 19876 amnesty law.

Because Mr. Buendia has been in this country for so long, he qualified for legalization pursuant to the Immigration and Reform Control Act of 1986. Unfortunately his legalization application was never acted upon.

One reason it was not acted upon is because his attorney, Jose Velez, was convicted of fraudulently submitting legalization and Special Agricultural Worker applications. Because of the criminal conviction, all of Mr. Velez's applications were suspect. Although Mr Buendia's application under the legalization program was found not to contain any fraudulent documentation associated, here began his problems.

Mr. Buendia's legalization application was flagged under Operation Desert Deception, a large-scale investigation which targeted providers of fraudulent applicants and documentation under the legalization and Special Agricultural Workers program. Dozens of people, including INS officers, were convicted of legalization fraud, bribery or tax evasion. At the time of filing Mr. Buendia's application with the Immigration and Naturalization Service the attorney, Jose Velez, was under investigation.

Although Mr. Buendia qualified for legalization because he arrived in the United States prior to January 1, 1982 he was not able to attend his interview in 1990 due to the investigation into his attorney.

Thirdly, it took the Immigration and Naturalization Service nearly 7 years to make a finding concerning his case. He was originally scheduled to be interviewed in June of 1990 on his application for legalization. The official Memo to File by the Immigration and Naturalization Service determining Mr. Buendia's application contained no fraudulent information was not posted until January 1997.

Fourthly, in the intervening years another problem arose. An interpretation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service as to the application of the law to legalization cases such as Mr. Buendia's. Because Mr. Buendia departed the United States in 1987 to marry his wife in Mexico, the Immigration and Naturalization Service stated he was no longer eligible for legalization when it again reviewed his application in 1997. This issue was litigated in CSS v. Meese and Mr. Buendia was a class member in this lawsuit. Unfortunately this lawsuit provide unhelpful to Mr. Buendia because the end result of the litigation was a much more limited class of eligible applicants.

Finally, and of substantial importance, this family has been here for 17 years and built a life here. The Buendias own property, are hard workers, are community minded and have two children in school--one of whom is a U.S. citizen.

Mr. Buendia is a valued employee of Bone Construction. He has been employed by this cement company for the past 5 years. He has proven himself, rising to become a lead foreman. His employer, Timothy Bone, says Mr. Buendia is a ``reliable, hardworking and conscientious'' employee.

Mr. Buendia has an exemplary work history. From 1981 to 1989 he worked for Ascension Hernandez as a landscaper in League City, TX. Thereafter he moved to Las Vegas, NV where he continued to work in landscaping. In 1990 he and his family settled in Reedly, CA where he began working in construction. Knowing nothing about construction, having a background in landscaping, Mr. Buendia was disciplined and persistent in his training and is now a lead foreman for a cement construction company. Mr. Buendia is such a hard worker that he even has his own cement company, which he works on weekends.

Alicia Buendia, Jose Buendia's wife, works as a seasonal fruit packer. Cliff Peters, the owner of Wildwood Orchards where Alicia Buendia worked during the 2003 season, says she is ``a hard worker, dependable, and consistently did a good job.'' He added that work would be available to her on an ongoing seasonal basis. Mrs. Buendia has worked as a seasonal fruit packer for several years.

Their daughter, Ana Laura, is in the 10th grade at Reedley High School where she has earned a 4.0 GPA which shows she is a highly motivated student. An important consideration in this case is that Ana Laura was brought to the United States by her parents when she was only 2 years old. Ana Laura, who will be 16 years old this year, has known no other country than the United States. She believes she is an American. But now she is told she must return to Mexico, a country she has never lived in.

The Buendia's son, Jose, who was born in the United States, is in 8th grade. Like his sister, this is the only country he knows.

Ana Laura and Jose's elementary school principal speaks highly of not only the children but the Buendias. This even though the children are now in high school. Mary Ann Carousso, principal, says in an e-mail to my office, ``I can tell you that I have rarely met 2 more active, concerned, supportive parents than Alica [sic] and Jose Buendia! . . . I don't think they ever missed a parent club meeting.'' Principal Carousso also says that ``Both Jose and Alicia continued to help at our school for several years after their youngest child had graduated . . . Jose, Sr. frequently hauled chairs across a dark parking lot at 9:00 p.m. at night following a parent club meeting . . . He often talked about what parents should be doing to help the school out so that excess money didn't have to be spent on simple construction projects. Alicia is a mom who just never says no to requests for help.'' With that type of endorsement it seems to me we should be thankful to have such involved parents in our communities.

This family has embraced the American dream, and I believe they should be allowed to continue to live in this country. If this legislation is approved, the Buendias will be able to continue to make significant contributions to their community and the United States. It is my hope that Congress passes this private legislation.

I ask unanimous consent numerous letters of support our office has received from members of the Reedley community be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today in honor of the memory and sacrifice of seven astronauts whose lives were tragically cut short one year ago in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia, I bring to the floor a bill to authorize the construction of several memorials in communities that were severely effected by the event.

This bill authorizes $5 million to be used in communities along the Space Shuttle Columbia Recovery Corridor: specifically, Lufkin, Hemphill, and Nacogdoches, TX. Each of these communities have started work with NASA to memorialize the disaster and the indomitable spirit of adventure and courage, the spirit that defies complacency and accepts challenge, the spirit that each of these astronauts, and each of these communities showed.

This spirit of adventure turned space travel from dreams to a reality. It is this spirit of challenge which fueled the courage and ambition of seven men and women into the sky on January 6, 2003. It is also this same spirit that drives these communities to permanently commemorate the high price we sometimes pay for reaching new horizons.

Hemphill, TX, where the nose cone of the Shuttle was found, is also where the remains of the crew were recovered. The VFW post in Hemphill fed thousands of volunteers for weeks without so much as a complaint or a dime. The men and women of Hemphill did not take their task lightly, but rather with a solemn grace and dignity.

The greatest amount of debris came down in the populated areas of Nacogdoches, TX. Backyards and streets were littered with debris, permanently altering the community. The citizens of Nacogdoches pulled together and focused on the recovery, working day and night with NASA until the job was complete. A spirit of courage overran the community of Nacogdoches and their sacrifice should never be forgotten.

The population of Lufkin, TX doubled overnight as the retrieval effort started. The people of Lufkin opened their doors and hearts to thousands and made their civic center NASA's Columbia retrival command center. From combing the streets and fields for debris to making home cooked meals for the recovery workers, the people of Lufkin mustered around the Columbia tragedy.

In recent years, America has borne too much tragedy and experienced too much grief, but our collective loss still sears our souls and the pain is never easy to bear. Today, just one year after they vanished into the deep blue skies of Texas, we pause to remember and honor Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Ilan Roman, William McCool, David Brown, and Michael Anderson.

And though the families' losses cannot be diminished, their pain and grief is shared around the world and our prayers are with them. This bill will memorialize their sacrifice and will honor the courageous spirit of the communities effected. Their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today in honor of the memory and sacrifice of seven astronauts whose lives were tragically cut short one year ago in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia, I bring to the floor a bill to authorize the construction of several memorials in communities that were severely effected by the event.

This bill authorizes $5 million to be used in communities along the Space Shuttle Columbia Recovery Corridor: specifically, Lufkin, Hemphill, and Nacogdoches, TX. Each of these communities have started work with NASA to memorialize the disaster and the indomitable spirit of adventure and courage, the spirit that defies complacency and accepts challenge, the spirit that each of these astronauts, and each of these communities showed.

This spirit of adventure turned space travel from dreams to a reality. It is this spirit of challenge which fueled the courage and ambition of seven men and women into the sky on January 6, 2003. It is also this same spirit that drives these communities to permanently commemorate the high price we sometimes pay for reaching new horizons.

Hemphill, TX, where the nose cone of the Shuttle was found, is also where the remains of the crew were recovered. The VFW post in Hemphill fed thousands of volunteers for weeks without so much as a complaint or a dime. The men and women of Hemphill did not take their task lightly, but rather with a solemn grace and dignity.

The greatest amount of debris came down in the populated areas of Nacogdoches, TX. Backyards and streets were littered with debris, permanently altering the community. The citizens of Nacogdoches pulled together and focused on the recovery, working day and night with NASA until the job was complete. A spirit of courage overran the community of Nacogdoches and their sacrifice should never be forgotten.

The population of Lufkin, TX doubled overnight as the retrieval effort started. The people of Lufkin opened their doors and hearts to thousands and made their civic center NASA's Columbia retrival command center. From combing the streets and fields for debris to making home cooked meals for the recovery workers, the people of Lufkin mustered around the Columbia tragedy.

In recent years, America has borne too much tragedy and experienced too much grief, but our collective loss still sears our souls and the pain is never easy to bear. Today, just one year after they vanished into the deep blue skies of Texas, we pause to remember and honor Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Ilan Roman, William McCool, David Brown, and Michael Anderson.

And though the families' losses cannot be diminished, their pain and grief is shared around the world and our prayers are with them. This bill will memorialize their sacrifice and will honor the courageous spirit of the communities effected. Their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues in cosponsoring the National Guard and Reserves Reform Act for the 21st Century.

I am proud of Oregon's citizen-soldiers, and I firmly believe we need the Guard and Reserves more today than we have in decades. Forces of the United States National Guard and Reserves make essential and effective contributions to Operation Iraqi Freedom and other ongoing military operations. Oregon units have been on the vanguard of these operations.

While our dependence on the reserves has increased, their basic pay and benefits structure remained largely unchanged until last year. Through a strong bipartisan effort Congress passed a bill to extend TRICARE benefits to National Guard and Reservists. We need to assure our military that as we continue to support their readiness capabilities, we remember the personal well-being of Oregonians in uniform as well as that of their families.

This bill will improve the medical readiness of our Reserve and Guard forces, increase recruiting and retention, and offer faster and less cumbersome mobilizations. Healthier citizen-soldiers make our military more effective. As we continue the war on terror, we need a healthy and motivated fighting force. This legislation will work toward that end.

The Guard and Reserves in my State have selflessly responded to the call of our country, and we cannot forget that part-time soldiers have full-time health needs. In order to ensure our citizen-soldiers are healthy when they are needed, I urge my Congressional colleagues to pass this bill to continue health care coverage to our Reservists and Guardsmen.

Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined by Senator Smith in introducing a bill to waive all statutory time limitations so that Colonel Rex T. Barber, of Terrebonne, OR may be posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor.

Colonel Rex T. Barber was a World War II fighter pilot who risked his life to shoot down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander in Chief of the Combined Japanese Fleet and architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Our bill not only waives the statutory time limitations applying to the Medal of Honor, but also requests that the President posthumously award the medal to this deserving man.

On April 18, 1943, Barber, then a first lieutenant in the 399th Fighter Squadron of the South Pacific Air Forces, Army Air Corps, undertook a top secret mission to shoot down Yamamoto. Barber successfully attacked a bomber transporting Yamamoto despite heavy counterattacks by Japanese fighters escorting the admiral. Upon return to base, Barber found more than 100 holes in his aircraft. Admiral Yamamoto's plane crashed in flames, killing Yamamoto and his crew.

This brave exploit of Colonel Barber is well-documented, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Oregon delegation, the Congress, and ultimately the President, to see that his bravery is formally recognized.

I ask unanimous consent that the text to the bill be printed in the Record.