Recognizing and honoring the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of this Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order this evening.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to rise today, along with my other colleagues, in honor of Caribbean American Heritage Month. This month marks the fourth anniversary of officially recognizing Caribbean American Heritage Month. And I want to applaud you, Madam Speaker, the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, for introducing the legislation and getting it passed in February of 2006. President Bush officially proclaimed it for the very first time in June of that year.

The efforts to get us to that point began long before, though, with the Institute for Caribbean Studies, which started observing June as Caribbean American Heritage Month in 1999. So I want to also take this opportunity to applaud the work and leadership of its president, Dr. Claire Nelson, of Jamaican heritage.

I also want to recognize the Carib News Foundation for its work over the years to bring Caribbean and United States leaders together to discuss issues of common interest over the past 14 years. They filled an important gap.

Recent attempts to officially bridge this gap began in 1997, when President Clinton traveled to Barbados where the Bridgetown Declaration was crafted. This important declaration affirmed our common resolve to fight crime, violence, corruption, drug and illegal drug trafficking while, as President Clinton said, ``promoting open and fair trade, protecting the environment, strengthening education, spreading telecommunications, and helping Caribbean countries diversify their economies and become more competitive as well.''

Upon his return, he submitted the Caribbean Basin Trade Enhancement Act, which Congress passed. The cooperation was further affirmed with the historic meetings held in June of 2007 between the heads of Caribbean governments and the Bush-Cheney administration and this Congress. This commitment was renewed and reinvigorated at the Summit of the Americas held in the Caribbean nations of Trinidad and Tobago in April of this year with the active participation and leadership of our President, Barack Obama, who set a new tone for our relationship with the region.

But the relationship has even predated the birth of this Nation. In 1751, our very first President, George Washington, reported to have had family connections in Barbados, traveled there with his brother for a health-related matter in November of 1751. They stayed 2 months, and he is said to have been enchanted by the island and the Caribbean.

Over the years, many Congressional Black Caucus members have worked tirelessly to raise awareness and keep us focused and invested in ongoing affairs in the Caribbean. We have done this through Chairman Rangel's efforts with the Caribbean Basin legislation and other initiatives, Congresswoman Waters, who worked so hard to save the banana industry and who was then Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. She and I traveled to Barbados in 1997 for that historic meeting.

I also want to recognize the special work done by Congressman Donald Payne, who is the founding Chair of the Friends of the Caribbean Caucus, and Congressman Kendrick Meek, Congressman Gregory Meeks, and of course Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. But, truly, all of the Congressional Black Caucus members are champions of the causes of the Caribbean.

Last year, one of our great achievements, led by Congressman Donald Payne and you, Madam Speaker, Congresswoman Lee, in one of those great efforts, PEPFAR was extended to all of the Caribbean for the very first time. Two months ago, health ministers and CARICOM leaders met to draft the 5-year plan which would build on the PANCAP, the Pan Caribbean Partnership, to address HIV and AIDS in this region. The Shirley Chisholm United States Caribbean Educational Exchange Act of 2009, introduced, again, by Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman and Madam Speaker Lee, is now working its way through Congress. It will help to build a stronger Caribbean workforce and promote greater collaboration between the United States and the Caribbean, as well as a sharing of values and culture.

Madam Speaker, I do have a few colleagues here with me this evening, and I would like to yield some time to them so that they may bring some remarks about the special month that we're celebrating in which we are recognizing the contributions of people from the Caribbean to the United States.

So at this time, I will yield such time as she might consume to Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.

Thank you, Congresswoman Clarke, for your remarks this evening. And thank you, most of all, though, for your leadership on behalf of the Caribbean countries. We appreciate the work that you do both on your committee, the subcommittee that you Chair on Homeland Security, and in all of the work that addresses issues in the Caribbean. Thank you for joining us this evening.

I would like now to yield to the gentlewoman from Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Thank you, Congresswoman Jackson-Lee, and thank you for your hard work, your service, and your support for all issues relating to the Caribbean. I know you are very proud of your Jamaican heritage because you speak of it very often. Thank you.

At this time I would like to yield such time as he might consume to the founding Chair of the Friends of the Caribbean Caucus, the gentleman from New Jersey, Congressman Donald Payne.

Thank you, Congressman Payne, and thank you for your leadership both as our leader on Africa and global health as well as for all of the work that you've done with us in the Caribbean Caucus. Thank you for joining us this evening.

There are so many men and women of Caribbean American heritage who have contributed greatly, and so many events that have created ties that forever bind us together. President Obama in his proclamation this year, recognizing Caribbean American Heritage Month wrote, ``Generations of immigrants have preserved the traditions of their homeland, and these traditions have defined our Nation's identity. This multi-lingual and multi-ethnic tradition has strengthened our social fabric and enriched the diversity of our Nation.'' He continues, ``We are neighbors, partners and friends. We share the same aspirations for our children, and we strive for the very same freedoms. Together we can meet the common challenges we face.''

I want to highlight several of those ties that bind. The birth of our Nation was supported by many Caribbean islands. Many do not know that the guns that were manned by the colonies during the American Revolution were gunpowdered by shipments from the Caribbean. While I believe most of it originated from St. Kitts, it was in the St. Croix Harbor in the then Danish West Indies where that gunpowder was loaded for shipment to the early colonies. In fact, it was also in that St. Croix Harbor, according to Robert Amandus Johnson in his book Saint Croix 1770 to 1776, that the first salute to the Stars and Stripes occurred in June of 1776.

And, of course, there is the direct relationship between Haiti and New Orleans, the latter of which in the beginning of the 19th century was considered a minor adjunct to the island which was then considered France's most valuable possession. It was only after Napoleon failed to reconquer the colony after the Africans had won their freedom and begun to establish their republic, only then did he decide to sell the Louisiana Territory. Many from the island of Saint Domingue who had fled that island became early inhabitants of New Orleans, contributing to the culture which is so recognized and renowned today.

There are also many U.S. Virgin Islanders today and in the past and from the then Danish West Indies who have and who continue to contribute much to our Nation. I have spoken of many of them on several occasions, people like Casper Holstein. Congressman Payne mentioned Raymond Jones. Jon Lucien in music, Emile Griffith in boxing, Valmy Thomas, Horace Clarke and Tim Duncan in sports. There are many, many others.

One, Denmark Vesey, was born in St. Thomas and settled in Charleston, South Carolina, one of my favorite cities. He settled there in 1783. Seventeen years later he bought his freedom, and inspired, I am sure, by the 1733 African rebellion of St. John and the 1791 successful African rebellion in the Isle of Saint Domingue, now Haiti, he also planned a well-known slave uprising that was to have taken place in 1822, but was thwarted.

I would be truly remiss if I didn't speak briefly about Alexander Hamilton, who has been named several times this evening, who was born in Nevis, which is now a part of the independent nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, and who spent his formative years in St. Croix before coming to New York and eventually becoming, as Ron Chernow puts it, ``Arguably the most important figure in American history who never attained the Presidency, but had a far more lasting impact than many who did.''

Alexander Hamilton was credited with having been Washington's aide- de-camp, a Revolutionary War hero, a member of the Constitutional Convention, the leading author of the Federalist Papers and head of the Federalist Party, as well as the first Secretary of the Treasury, who forged our tax and budget systems. I bet he would have let us budget for prevention, as we are trying to do in health care reform. He started the Customs Service, the Coast Guard, and the Central Bank.

We are proud that he was a Virgin Islander, a Crucian, and we are seeking to make his family home, the site where his mother was buried, a part of the National Park Service. It carries the same name as his home in New York City, Grange.

There have been many Caribbean men and women who have served in Congress and in our Nation's administration.

As a woman of Caribbean decent and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Shirley Chisholm led the way for Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and I. As a pioneering minority woman, her legacy holds the door open for many more African Americans and women.

Then there was Mervyn Dymally, Ron de Lugo, Melvin Evans, Victor Frazier, and all who have served as Resident Commissioners from Puerto Rico, as well as Members of Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage who are also Caribbean Americans and who serve today and have served in the past in this body.

Many more of our Nation's leaders trace their roots to the Caribbean, such

as our former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Secretary of the Interior-designee Wilma Lewis, and Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. But there are many others.

We may look back as far as the period to 1900 to 1920, which marked the initiation of mass labor migration from the Caribbean to the United States and the formation of the first large Caribbean communities here in this country.

We should not forget World War I, when the recruitment of labor from the Caribbean became imperative. More than 100,000 Caribbean laborers were recruited for agricultural and tedious jobs as part of war labor. We should acknowledge the Caribbean men and women who served our country and those who continue to serve this country overseas in its conflicts today.

So I feel it has been an honor and privilege as a Caribbean American, whose roots lie in Cuba, Antigua, St. Kitts and the Danish Indies, now the Virgin Islands, to host this hour, where the Congressional Black Caucus has recognized and paid tribute to Caribbean American heritage.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 522 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida, my good friend, Mr. Diaz-Balart.

All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only.

General Leave

I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 522.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H. Res. 522 provides for consideration of H.R. 1886, the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2009, and H.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011. Both bills are debatable for 1 hour each, equally divided and controlled by the Chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The rule on H.R. 1886 self-executes as a manager's amendment to resolve jurisdictional concerns in the bill and legislation providing for Afghanistan-Pakistan security and prosperity enhancement. It also makes in order an amendment in the nature of a substitute authored by Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen, which is debatable for 30 minutes.

The rule for H.R. 2410 makes in order 27 amendments listed in the Rules Committee report. Each amendment is debatable for 10 minutes, except the manager's amendment, which is debatable for 20 minutes. The rule includes a motion to recommit with or without instructions.

Mr. Speaker, the United States is faced with many challenges on the world stage. It is critical that Congress put forth the necessary funding to help rebuild our diplomatic capabilities abroad and mitigate the damage that was done under the previous administration's leadership.

H.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011, is the first foreign relations-related authorization bill to reflect essential democratic priorities since 1993. As such, it provides a new direction forward and vital resources to boost our diplomatic capacity, improve our relations around the world, protect our national security, and make use of America's smart power, rather than rely on the military only solutions of past Congresses and the previous administration.

H.R. 2410 and H.R. 1866, the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2009, together, set forth a progressive foreign affairs agenda that emphasizes diplomatic, economic and social efforts at change, not just the use of military force.

For years the Department of State has been denied critical resources to

fulfill its core diplomatic missions in furthering our global interests and protecting our national security. In neglecting diplomacy, we have missed opportunities to prevent and mitigate conflicts around the world.

Our diplomatic activities are woefully underfunded, undermanned, and underutilized. We must rebuild our diplomatic capacity to meet the needs of our increasingly complex global relations. Diplomatic, economic and social assistance is a much wiser and less expensive investment than war. Rather than relying on either hard power or soft power, we must, instead, emphasize smart power.

Promoting democracy, human rights, the rule of law and the development of civil society is a matter of leadership requiring us to think beyond unilateral military solutions and to, instead, embrace a much more comprehensive approach to our relations with the international community. This rule enables us to consider legislation to do just that.

The first legislation on this rule, the Foreign Relations Act, advances crucial and laudable programs. The Department of State is authorized to hire more than 1,500 Foreign Service officers, ensuring that our overseas posts will be staffed with eager and knowledgeable workers committed to promoting American culture, values, and policies.

Critical multilateral assistance is authorized to fund our obligations to international organizations, including the United Nations and global peacekeeping operations. This effort demonstrates the United States' commitment to working with our friends and allies as a true partner in peace and cooperation.

I'm particularly pleased with the increased funding authorization for the Peace Corps, enabling a dramatic expansion in the number of volunteers and countries served. Peace Corps volunteers exemplify our national commitment to improving the world, devoting their lives to helping the world's poorest people build communities and lift themselves out of poverty. As one of our Nation's most treasured and effective international programs, we must ensure that it attracts top quality volunteers and can reach into the farthest corners of the world.

Improvements in refugee and migration assistance are a critical part of this legislation. The United States has a long history of commitment to humanitarian issues, and this bill authorizes the funds necessary to improve resources and programs to effectively help families reunite and resettle.

I fully support section 235, relating to Iraqi refugees, whom the United States has a special obligation to help. There are more than 4.7 million Iraqis currently displaced within their own country and in neighboring states. Sadly, however, this situation has not improved much. And yet the principal reason, I believe, that this crisis has not received the attention that it should is because Iraqis are not living in refugee camps. Instead, they are a mobile population scattered throughout the region. This fact alone has made this humanitarian crisis virtually invisible to the international community. However, for those Iraqis who remain stranded, jobless, and deprived of essential services, with conditions worsening by the day, this deepening crisis only threatens to further destabilize the entire region. Section 235 of this legislation is an important step towards fulfilling our obligation to assist the Iraqi people recover from years of war and conflict.

If a picture is really worth 1,000 words, then all one must do is look into the face of the Iraqi refugee, as I have, who has had a family member murdered, kidnapped or tortured, and their own life threatened, to know that the United States must respond. I'm, therefore, grateful that my language, introduced in legislation, was included in this bill.

Mr. Speaker, this rule also includes H.R. 1886, the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enforcement Act. This legislation takes our Pakistan policy in a new direction, affirming the United States' commitment to a sustained partnership with Pakistan.

Since 2001, the United States has provided over $12 billion to Pakistan, without specific goals or objectives. Frankly, the situation has only gotten worse since that time.

By providing over $6 billion in 4 years in democratic, economic and social development assistance, this bill demonstrates our determination to help Pakistan build a stable, democratic and prosperous future.

This funding will provide critical resources for Pakistan to address the fundamental needs of its citizens.

Through the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capabilities Fund, the United States is also committed to helping Pakistan combat terrorism and the Taliban insurgency. At the same time, mindful of the past history of neglecting oversight, this legislation provides a range of transparency, evaluation, and accountability standards to ensure that our money and efforts are being applied effectively and efficiently.

Mr. Speaker, as I am concerned about the situation of Iraqi refugees, I am also concerned about the situation of Pakistan's refugees. According to news reports, more than 3 million people in Pakistan's northwest region have been uprooted due to ongoing fighting. Like the Iraqi refugee crisis, the Pakistan refugee problem, if not handled properly, could become a ticking timebomb with ramifications far beyond what we can conceive today.

It is imperative that the mistakes of the previous administration with regard to Iraq are not made again. I am pleased that the United States has recently committed $200 million on top of a previous commitment of $110 million, but we must not think that this is the end of our responsibility. The United States must seize this opportunity and implement a comprehensive plan to address this growing humanitarian crisis.

Mr. Speaker, this is a good rule that paves the way to considering essential legislation to put our foreign policy on the right path towards improving our relations around the world. I urge adoption of the rule and passage of the underlying legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased at this time to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California, my good friend, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Berman.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), my colleague and a good member of the Committee on Rules.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Berman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein), my colleague and fellow Floridian.

Mr. Speaker, how much time do both of us have?

I would inquire of my friend if he has any additional speakers.

Then I would reserve at this time and would allow that you go forward.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I'm prepared to close.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this is a good rule that paves the way to improving our relations around the world.

As I listened to the ranking member, my good friend on the Rules Committee, I thought that he was going to support the rule because he's so impressed with the work that was put forward in this bill that covers developing democracies, which he has been such a tremendous champion of over a period of time.

I'll yield for 5 seconds.

Reclaiming my time, clearly it covers what you like, and I'm delighted. After years of neglect, now is the time to inject the critical resources that will enable the Department of State and other foreign policy agencies to carry out their important work of rebuilding lasting partnerships with our friends and allies.

The underlying bills include important provisions to fulfill our obligations to the United Nations, to peace-keeping efforts, to humanitarian aid and refugee assistance, and to building effective counterterrorism and arms control policy, and yes, to do everything in our power to avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place. These bills are a great leap forward.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and the rule.

I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question.

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my good friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), for the time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

First I would like to say a word about the session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, OAS, held last week. It was an embarrassment. Fidel Castro in Cuba wants the U.S. to apologize to him for having kept the U.S. market and its millions of tourists and billions of dollars in financing from him and for having denied him full diplomatic recognition for decades.

He also wants the international community to kneel before him and apologize, which is what the OAS did last week. Fidel Castro has been recruiting advocates, spies, defenders, cronies, and servants for years. The ideological and psychological fascination and dependency that Hugo Chavez has on Fidel Castro has allowed Castro to utilize Chavez's billions of petro dollars to purchase many important defenders. It is part of the public record that a suitcase of Chavez cash heading to Mrs. Kirchner in Argentina was recently intercepted by authorities before reaching its intended destination.

Castro has purchased advocates and spies through the years via the always-present threat of blackmail after trips to totalitarian Cuba, where the regime tapes visitors in compromising situations, as confirmed by Interior Ministry defector Roberto Hernandez del Llano and Cuban counterintelligence defector Major Roberto Ortega.

Castro also serves as a banker for illicit money possessed by those who seek to avoid detection by the anti-laundering mechanisms set up by the international community. It matters not if the money's source is political corruption or narcotrafficking.

Through his mastery of the semantic of anti-American Marxism- Leninism, he has also conned others into being his spies. No other state sponsor of terrorism--no other state, in fact--has had more spies arrested and convicted in the United States in the last decades as Fidel Castro's dictatorship.

Let us remember Ana Montes, one of the top analysts at the Defense Intelligence Agency who was arrested in 2001 and subsequently convicted of espionage in Federal court and whose treason led to the deaths of many, including U.S. Special Forces Sergeant

Gregory Fronius. And just last week, Walter and Gwendolyn Myers, a long-term State Department official and his wife with access to classified documents, were arrested for spying for their beloved hero, the Cuban tyrant.

Hugo Chavez's absolute dependency on Fidel Castro for every major decision, even for his phrases and gestures in international forums, is unprecedented. While the Soviet Union used to send Castro economic aid and also orders and instructions, Chavez sends Castro billions of dollars and receives orders from him.

What the world witnessed, first at the April Summit of the Americas and then at last week's meeting of the OAS, was a culmination of years of preparation in the purchase and cultivation of advocates and defenders by Fidel Castro. Castro's defenders know full well that chapter II, article 3d of the Charter of the Organization of American States requires the existence of representative democracy in all of the countries of our hemisphere and that the Inter-American Democratic Charter of 2001 carefully spells out the collective steps to be taken when an American republic's democracy is even threatened. They know that Cuba, under Castro, was the only country in our hemisphere where free elections have not been held in over 50 years and where dungeons are full of nonviolent political prisoners who are subjected to hell on Earth each day of their lives. They know that under Castro Cuba is a personal island-estate, a ranch, a personal landholding or homestead, a totalitarian fiefdom owned by one man with a brother who enjoys the title of head of State and carefully carries out his brother's orders.

At the OAS meeting of last week, we witnessed an example of the Obama administration's diplomatic incompetence and its appeasement of the enemies of the United States. The administration went along and agreed to violate the OAS Charter and the OAS Inter-American Democratic Charter in an action that constituted a grotesque and unmerited betrayal of the oppressed people of Cuba.

The Obama administration says that the OAS resolution was a great victory because even though paragraph 1 of the ``resolved'' clause unilaterally lifted the exclusion of the Cuban military dictatorship, in paragraph 2, the dictatorship was allowed to initiate a process of dialogue to reenter the OAS in accordance with the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS. In other words, in the first sentence, the OAS ripped up and threw in the garbage can the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS, including its charter and the Inter-American Democratic Charter. And then in the next sentence, it invited the Cuban military dictatorship back in in accordance with the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS. Some victory. I mention this in the context of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act because the American taxpayer should not be paying for almost 60 percent of the putrid embarrassment which is the OAS.

I recognize that on funding international organizations, the administration will get its way, just like the Bush administration would get its way whenever someone in the OAS would propose ending the exclusion of the Cuban military dictatorship and the administration would simply say, That's a nonstarter. But here is the heart of the issue with regard to U.S.-Cuba policy: The U.S. Congress must continue to condition access by the Cuban regime to the billions of dollars in U.S. tourism and massive investment in trade financing to the liberation of all political prisoners, without exceptions; the legalization of all political parties, without exceptions, labor unions and the press; and the scheduling of multiparty elections. That is critical leverage for a democratic transition to take place in Cuba when Fidel Castro dies, for he is the ultimate source of absolute personal totalitarian power in that enslaved island, like a modern day Caligula or Nero, and that moment is approaching.

We must keep in mind the effect of unilateral concessions such as last week's shameful OAS action on Fidel Castro. How does he react to such unilateral concessions? The repression is more intense than ever; the brutality, more savage than ever. The alliance with Chavez, the Iranian dictatorship, the Syrian regime, Middle Eastern terrorists, and with the North Korean dictatorship is closer than ever. That is what must be kept in mind about unilateral concessions to the Cuban military dictatorship.

Now, specifically with regard to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, earlier in the year Secretary Clinton testified before the House Foreign Relations Committee that she had challenged the State Department to reform and innovate and save taxpayer dollars. I found the Secretary's statement to be quite appropriate. Unfortunately, the majority has decided to ignore that challenge and instead today has brought forth legislation that authorizes increased spending by 35 percent without increased transparency, accountability, and efficiency.

This legislation will also increase U.S. taxpayer funding authorized for the United Nations by nearly one-third without requiring the United Nations to undertake necessary reforms to improve efficiency and stop blatant corruption.

While failing to place accountability standards in this bill, the majority decided to include provisions in the Pakistan Assistance Act-- which is also being brought to the floor with this one rule--that will micromanage U.S. policy toward Pakistan. In a letter to the Armed Services Committee, Secretary of Defense Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mullen wrote that ``the degree of conditionality and limitations on security assistance to Pakistan'' in the legislation ``severely constrains the flexibility necessary for the executive branch and the Department of Defense given the fluid and dynamic environment that exists in Pakistan.''

This rule bringing forth two pieces of legislation limits the number of amendments that the House will be allowed to debate. Out of the 85 amendments submitted to the Rules Committee, the majority decided to make 27 amendments in order. I understand that the majority has a responsibility to move legislation and manage the time on the floor, but if we look at the amendments the majority made in order, they do not fully address the scope and range of issues of concern to House Members. For example, amendments that would prohibit funds from being used by the State Department to encourage U.S. courts to dismiss claims brought against European insurance companies to recover compensation from Holocaust-era insurance policies, or, for example, to re-list the North Korean tyranny as a state sponsor of terrorism were prohibited from being debated.

I don't understand why the majority blocks a debate on such important amendments. I don't know if they're afraid of debate or protecting the Members from tough votes or afraid of the democratic process, or all of the above.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the point made by the distinguished chairman as to the strings on the military aid to Pakistan, I hope and expect that that will be engaged in during the debate with the ranking member, who very clearly in the Rules Committee pointed out that the strings are still excessive.

I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Lee).

Yes.

Thank you.

I yield 2 minutes again to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. Speaker, I would inquire how much time remains.

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Broun).

Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of our time to the ranking member, Mr. Dreier.

(Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Thank you. Let me commend the Congressional Black Caucus and its chairperson, leader this evening, Barbara Lee from California, for the outstanding job that she is doing as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. As the caucus moves forward, being the conscience of the Congress, let me also commend Representative Fudge, who is from the great State of Ohio, who continues to lead the Special Orders on our evenings, and of course our Caribbean queen, Delegate Donna Christian- Christensen, who, as you know, is our representative from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Not only is she an expert on the Caribbean but, as we all know, she is an internist, a physician and has been very, very helpful as we move forward in very difficult health care reform. Her input is invaluable. I also want to commend her for the recent involvement in a documentary about the relationship between St. Croix and Puerto Rico that went through the history of the sugarcane industry back at the turn of the century in the late 1800s, early 1900s and the number of Puerto Ricans who came to St. Croix to work there. This was shown last weekend, will be shown in New York, and has received many praises for the interesting history that it brings about.

Let me just say that it's a pleasure to be here--as chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health but also as Chair of the Caribbean Caucus, the bipartisan caucus that we have here--to kind of expand our relationship with the Caribbean. This Caribbean American Heritage Month is well deserved. It's recognizing the diversity and success of people from the Caribbean. You've heard other speakers talk about the many people from the Caribbean who have been so outstanding. The achievements and impacts made from Caribbean people have continually made a positive contribution to the well-being of American society. We could go back to our beginning with Alexander Hamilton, who came from St. Kitts, our first Secretary of the Treasury. Secretary Colin Powell is from the Caribbean as well as Cicely Tyson, W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Malcolm X, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, and, in my own district, two people that I might talk about here, Antoinette K. Ellis-Williams and Dr. Claire Nelson. Dr. Claire Nelson, the founder and president of the Institute of Caribbean Studies, is known for her leadership in making Caribbean Americans heard. I am proud to say I work with her on a regular basis, as many of us do; and we admire her and the great work that she does. We just had the opportunity to be with her last week, and we are extremely pleased at the outstanding work that the institute is doing. The second person that I mentioned, Dr. Antoinette K. Ellis-Williams, a leader in my congressional district, currently serves as president for the Essex Valley Health Care and serves on the board of East Orange General Hospital. She is a proactive member of the Caribbean Medical Mission, a nonprofit organization of doctors, nurses, health care workers, engineers and other professionals who give back to the community through their services. She is a founder and director of the Statewide Female Leadership Development Institute and Research Center at the New Jersey City Institute.

The Caribbean community's presence also plays a wide role in our elections, especially in my district, where the greater settlement of many people from the Caribbean in East Orange, Irvington and Newark make their voices heard. In past elections we have seen many people from the Caribbean community educate fellow Caribbean Americans about the U.S. political process and encourage their participation in the democratic process.

In recognizing June as Caribbean month, in my work with the caucus, this Congress has continually focused on enhancing relationships between the United States and the Caribbean states by reviewing proposals and pending legislation that have a direct impact on the Caribbean. I believe that by facilitating an ongoing dialogue, we can continue to recognize the Caribbean as America's third border for trade, for political stability, for the fight against drug trafficking and for economic development. We need to remember that the Caribbean is not just a place for vacationing, but it's a place in need of economic development. With the current open trade regime, the challenge for the Caribbean is to quickly develop high productivity sectors that could drive the region's development. We know that the same problems that have stricken us in the U.S. have stricken the Caribbean. HIV and AIDS has become a problem, but we're very pleased that the PEPFAR program now has been expanded to 14 Caribbean countries. In 2005 an estimated 300,000 adults and children in the Caribbean were reported living with HIV, making it the leading cause of death among adults aged 15 to 44. We know that in Haiti, life expectancy has also been impacted tremendously by HIV and AIDS.

However, like I said, we have a tremendous relationship with our friends in the Caribbean. There are several problems that we need to help them with.

Deportation. As you know, in 1996 the U.S. law changed that anyone convicted of an offense had to face deportation from the United States; and as a result, many of these small nation countries have had to absorb persons who may have come to the United States as infants but have engaged in crime and now are sent back 20, 30, 40 years later as hardened criminals; and many of the countries in the Caribbean are having a difficult time dealing with these deportees. Another problem that we see is with the drug trafficking in Mexico. We're finding that they are pushing drug trafficking into the Caribbean, and we need to assist the Caribbean in fighting this and give them assistance with law enforcement, training and Coast Guard assistance. But we are very proud of many of the Haitians, as I mentioned. Track and field is something that they have excelled in. I

recall when I was running back in the early fifties, George Rhoden was a quarter miler who won the gold medal in the Helsinki Olympics. George Rhoden and many other Jamaicans came up and went to Morgan State University. At the Penn Relays, these Jamaicans in the late forties and early fifties started to get recognition. And we know that in the Beijing Olympics, Usain Bolt, at 20, 21 years old, won the 100 meters and the 200 meters. He was one of the youngest persons to ever win those events, and the first person since Mr. Lewis from New Jersey to win both sprints in the Olympics. We have had many outstanding people that started politics in New York, Hulan Jack, way back, a fellow from St. Lucia. He was born in 1905, moved up to New York, a high school dropout, went to work for a company, and worked his way up from a janitor to become a vice president of the firm. He became active in politics, and he became a New York City Democratic political leader, loyal to the Tammany Hall operation, which was run then by a fellow named Carmine De Sapio. But in 1940 Hulan Jack won seven straight elections to the New York State Assembly, representing his Harlem district. And in 1953, Hulan Jack was elected to borough president of Manhattan, becoming the first African American to hold the post. Elected more than a decade before the rise of big city black mayors in the sixties, Hulan Jack was the highest ranking African American municipal officer in the Nation. With an annual salary at that time of $25,000, he was the highest paid black office holder in the country. He served as Manhattan Borough president for several terms; and because of his emerging strength, the powers that be interrupted his career, and he left office. But Hulan Jack showed that politics was something that many of our Caribbean folks brought to the leadership of politics in our country.

I'll just finally end with a person that we all admired so much and has been mentioned earlier, Mr. Michael Manley, son of Norman Manley who served as the Prime Minister from '59 to '62. Michael Manley came in and became a three-term Prime Minister from '72 to '80 and '89 to '92, and he stepped down because of bad health. But just look at what Michael Manley did in Jamaica: Minimum wage for all workers; free education at secondary and university level, to the extent that space was available; instituted a literacy campaign; subdivision of what he called idle land to poor blacks, a formation of agrarian cooperatives where they worked together; price control on numerous staples to benefit the poor; reduction of the voting age to 18, thus increasing the black vote that then was able to continue to move forward. Listen to this--institutionalizing paid maternity leave and free milk to mothers. This was way back then in Jamaica where, as you know, we are still fighting to get family leave instituted in some of our States in the United States of America 30 years later. A person like Mr. Michael Manley did such an outstanding job. So we're just pleased to celebrate this heritage month.

Once again, I certainly commend the gentlelady from the U.S. Virgin Islands for her leadership. I know that we will have a wonderful month as we celebrate the great attributes that people from the Caribbean have made not only to the United States, and Europe but of course the Caribbean.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado for yielding.

Speaker Langevin, I congratulate you on taking the podium. I congratulate you on your extraordinary service to the people of Rhode Island and the people of our country. And I congratulate you for being an example of the can-do spirit that has made America such a great country.

Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to be here on this, the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I'm particularly pleased to be here on the floor with my former colleague and my lifetime friend Tony Coelho of the State of California. Tony Coelho was the Whip on our side of the aisle for a number of years, elected into that position very shortly after he took his seat in the Congress of the United States. He is a person of extraordinary ability, extraordinary energy, extraordinary focus, and extraordinary accomplishment.

But early in his life, he fell off, in a farming accident, a tractor and injured his head. As a result of that traumatic injury, he became an epileptic. And because of that, his lifetime dream of becoming a priest was not available to him. That was something of a great trauma, again, to him.

However, he overcame that, came to Congress, and has made his life's work opening up America to those who had been discriminated against, to those who had been shut out, to those for whom the pursuit of happiness was made either impossible or very difficult by the barriers and prejudice that existed.

Twenty years ago today, the first President Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act. I was proud to help pass that legislation. But much more, I was proud to see our country come together to rededicate itself to the principles of equal opportunity, irrespective of race or color, national origin, religion, or any other arbitrary distinction, including disability.

The ADA made it possible for Americans with disabilities to use the same public spaces that so many of us take for granted and to succeed as their talent and drive allows them to. Fifty million Americans have gone through the doors of equal opportunity that are open. When I first heard that figure, it sounded awfully high to me because I thought about disabilities being somebody who, like Mr. Langevin, as a result of an accident had been forced to use a wheelchair for mobility purposes. I was used to thinking of disability as somebody who used a cane because they had no sight or somebody who used a hearing aid because their hearing was diminished or nonexistent.

Helen Keller, of course, taught us a great and powerful lesson about overcoming disabilities. But I learned quickly that so many of us have a disability that nobody else sees. Mr. Coelho is on the floor. If I asked you to identify Mr. Coelho by his disability you'd be unable to do so because it's not apparent. But the prejudice with respect to his disability was in fact very present.

So the Americans With Disabilities Act not only dealt with actual, visual impairments, but also perceived impairments.

We know that those doors are not all the way open, however. We strengthened the act in 2008, and today it is our job to live up to its enduring principles, whether it's making the House rostrum wheelchair accessible--thank you, Madam Speaker, for your leadership on making sure that Jim Langevin, our colleague, who has the ability to preside, has the accessibility of the rostrum so that he can exercise that ability. That's what the Disability Act was all about.

I thank my colleagues that helped to make the ADA possible. Tony Coelho, of course, in the House was our leader, our spark plug, our visionary, and he enlisted many of the rest of us to assist in this effort. The disability community who fought so hard, who showed so much courage, who spent so much time to let Members of Congress know the discrimination to which they were subjected.

I believe that this act is an act which will continue to make America a better country, it will continue to make America a country that is in fact living out the core of its principle, which is equal opportunity for all under the law.

I want to thank a number of people, some of whom we will see further today. Mr. Markey, who was so critical on the communications issue. I want to thank my friend Jim Sensenbrenner, who sits on the floor here, who was a leader on the Judiciary Committee, a critical component of the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act. I want to thank my friend Steve Bartlett, who himself was a Member of Congress--not now-- but was my partner in coordinating the various committees and subcommittees and worked together with me in an absolutely nonpartisan--it wasn't bipartisan. It had nothing to do with party or politics; it had to do with our country's principles.

I want to thank Augustus Hawkins, who was chair of the Education and Labor Committee; Major Owens; Matthew Martinez; Steve Bartlett, whom I mentioned; Congressman Fawell. I want to thank John Dingell, who chaired the Energy and Commerce Committee; Edward Markey, the chair of the Telecommunications Subcommittee; Tom Luken; Norm Lent; Bob Whittaker; Matt Renaldo; Glen Anderson, who was the chair of the Public Works Committee; Robert Roe, ranking Democrat; and Norm Mineta.

Every time you see a bus that's accessible or train station that's accessible or an airplane that's accessible, remember Norm Lent. Remember Norman Mineta as well, who made that possible. And that was very difficult because there was a cost associated to it, and we wanted to make sure that it was a reasonable cost to be imposed. But we knew that in the long run, that investment would pay off for America.

I want to thank John Paul Hammerschmidt as well; Jack Brooks chaired the Judiciary Committee at that time; Don Edwards; Bob Castermire; Hamilton Fish; and, of course, Jim Sensenbrenner. There are many, many others.

This resolution recognizes the adoption of a bill 20 years ago. Jim Langevin is the living, breathing, participating example of how that statute made a difference.

Not just for Jim Langevin but for all of us who will benefit from the contribution that the Jim Langevins of America will make, and we ought to be proud in America that this bill is now an example to all the world and has been used as a model by many nations in the world that they have followed to

make their societies more accessible and make the lives of those with disabilities fuller and more productive

There is much that remains to be done. Those with disabilities still are more likely to live in poverty. Those with disabilities are still more likely not to be able to get a job. Those with disabilities are still confronted with a lack of access to some facets of our society.

So as we recognize this anniversary, as the President tonight will honor the 41st President of the United States, George Bush, and his son who signed the Amendment Act, so both President Bushes have played a role in making accessibility a reality in America. So as we celebrate this day, let us recommit ourselves as our Founding Fathers talked about equality of opportunity and as we have seen for the 200-plus years of the existence of our constitutional democracy, that periodically we've had to take steps to make sure that the promise of opportunity was the reality of opportunity.

So, Speaker Langevin, congratulations to you. Congratulations to our country. Congratulations to our citizens as we all work together to make this a more perfect union.