Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, there are moments in the lives of nations when the existing order is suddenly revealed as bereft of legitimacy and no longer viable. The wave of unrest spreading across the Arab world, touched off by the self-immolation of a Tunisian fruit vendor tired of petty humiliation by corrupt governments, has exposed the rot of decades of caprice, corruption, and incompetence. That this one man's desperate act could lead to the downfall of the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, and perhaps Yemen is testament to the pent up frustration of millions of people who were denied the basic rights and economic opportunity that we take for granted here in the West.

But it is in Syria, where the future of the Arab Spring seemingly hangs in the balance and where the security services have acted with the least restraint and maximum violence. Like marauding armies of old, select units of military and security services troops have been moving from city to city in a quest to quash the ever-spreading demonstrations that have become a feature of life in Syria.

Deraa, a town of some 75,000 lying near the border with Jordan, has emerged as one of the centers of the Syrian uprising against the 40 years of rule by the Assad family. Army and security forces have repeatedly assaulted the town and surrounding villages, killing hundreds of civilians and arresting anyone suspected of taking part in demonstrations against the regime. On April 29 in the village of Jiza, the Syrian secret police rounded up anybody it thought was involved with the protests, including Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, who had gone to watch the demonstration with other members of his family.

For a month, Hamza's family waited for him to return, worried but hopeful that he would be released unharmed. It was not to be. On May 30, Hamza's mutilated body was returned to them. He had been tortured, subjected to repeated electric shocks, and whipped with cables. His eyes were swollen and black, and there were identical bullet wounds where he had been apparently shot through both arms, the bullets lodging in his belly. On Hamza's chest was a deep, dark burn mark. His neck was broken, and parts of his body were cut off. Hamza Ali al- Khateeb was 13 years old. Video of the boy's shattered body has been seen by millions on television and the Internet.

Hamza, like the Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself alight, has become a symbol to his countrymen and the world of the depravity and illegitimacy of a regime that would torture its own children to death.

Our ability to bring additional economic pressure on Syria is limited. Its economy is already under immense strain. It is small, weak, and isolated. Political pressure, in the form of a U.N. security resolution condemning the violence and crackdown, has been blocked by Russia and China. And there is dread over what will happen when Assad falls, given the internal divisions between Sunni and Shia, Muslim and Alawi, Christian and Druze. The confessional and sectarian splits are as pronounced as in Lebanon, the potential for large scale violence as great as Iraq.

The dangers are real, but the promise of what began in Tunisia and is now materializing in Egypt and elsewhere is also real. People of courage can determine their own destiny, and it need not be one of hereditary dictatorship, kleptocracy, or lack of opportunity and stagnation. In the Arab world, as elsewhere, people should be free to choose their own government to represent them and to chart peace with their neighbors.

To conclude otherwise means that we relegate tens of millions of people to suffer the capricious ruthlessness of their despots for generation after generation, or that we are willing to trade the illusion of stability for the harsh reality of their suffering. That is not the choice we made for ourselves 235 years ago, and it is not one that we should presume to make for others.

Bashar Assad is a ruthless tyrant whose time has passed and who clings to power only by virtue of brutal force. Our role and that of the international community should be to work with

Syrian opposition figures and others to advance a negotiated transition to a new Syrian Government that will represent all Syrians and prevent the trading in of one set of thugs for another. The Arab Spring cannot be allowed to fail because of brutal repression, the specter of religious fanaticism, a fear of the unknown, or the cynicism born of unmet expectations. The region's many millions must have the freedom to write a new chapter for themselves and their posterity.

In this, the younger Assad has taken a page from his father, who unleashed his troops in 1982 to suppress a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood in the city of Hama, an offensive that may have cost as many as 20,000 civilian lives. Indeed, history may be repeating itself as Hama has become a focus of both anti-government activity on the one hand, and the use of extreme violence by the Assad government on the other.

For American policymakers, Syria presents a collection of overlapping and sometimes contradictory challenges. Like his father, President Assad has repeatedly tantalized the United States and the west with the possibility of a new opening, but he has never followed through. Syria's illegal and clandestine nuclear program, its alliance with Iran and its meddling in Lebanon, a policy that culminated in the 2005 murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, form a compelling case that the Syrian people and the world would be better off with a new leader in Damascus.

Madam Chair, I find myself in reluctant opposition to my colleague from Texas in support of the Sensenbrenner amendment. Section 3 shifts our patent system from the unique first-to-invent system to a first-to-file system.

As I speak to inventors, startups, venture capitalists and angel investors in California, I'm convinced that the proposed transition to first-to-file would be harmful to innovation and burdensome to the most dynamic and innovative sector of our economy.

With the shift to first-to-file, the rush to the Patent Office will lead to new costs for small businesses as they prepare applications for inventions that they may ultimately find impractical. For small startups, the cost of retaining outside counsel for this purpose will be a drain on their limited resources and mean less money for hiring and the actual act of innovation.

Supporters of first-to-file argue inventors can turn to provisional applications to protect their patent rights. But from talking to small inventors, I have learned that good provisional applications require substantial legal fees and time investment on the part of the inventor to make them sufficiently detailed to be of use.

I appreciate the hard work that has gone into the bill by the gentleman from Texas. However, I remain deeply concerned that the shift to first-to-file will have lasting negative consequences for small investors, and I urge the House to improve the bill by adopting the Sensenbrenner amendment.

Madam Chair, following is my statement in its entirety: I rise in support of the Sensenbrenner amendment to strike Section 3 of the underlying legislation. Section 3 shifts our patent system from our unique First to Invent system to a First to File system. As I speak to inventors, startups, venture capitalists and angel investors in California, I am convinced that the proposed transition to First to File would be harmful to innovation and burdensome to the most dynamic and innovative sector of our economy.

With the shift to First to File, the rush to the patent office will lead to new costs for small businesses as they prepare applications for inventions that they ultimately find impractical. The result will be more and lower quality patent applications, undermining the improved patent quality H.R. 1249 seeks to achieve. For small startups, the costs of retaining outside counsel for this purpose will be a drain on their limited resources, and it will mean less money for hiring and the actual act of invention.

Supporters of First to File argue that it will increase certainty in the patent process, but I am skeptical that any such gains in efficiency will result. The interference proceedings at the PTO that are used to resovle disputes regarding patent rights are rare, representing only a tiny fraction of patent filings. Moreover, there is an established, century old body of law on FIrst to Invent. It will take years, if not decades, for similar clarity to develop on a First to File.

Supporters of First to File argue that inventors can turn to provisional applications to protect their patent rights. That sounds good in theory, but from talking to small inventors I have learned that good provisional applications require substantial legal fees and time investment on the part of the inventor to make them sufficiently detailed to be of any use should another entity file a similar patent application.

Madam Chair, I appreciate the hard work that has gone into this bill and the leadership of the gentleman from Texas. However, I remain deeply concerned that the shift to First to File will have lasting negative consequences for small inventors, and I urge the House to improve the bill by adopting the Sensenbrenner amendment.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to raise my concerns about H.R. 1249 and the rule and in particular the manager's amendment.

America's uniquely innovative culture is the source of our economic strength, and I have long supported fundamental reforms to our patent system that would reduce the patent backlog, increase the quality of patents, and ensure that the patent system is not abused in ways that threaten innovation.

One of the best things in the bill up until now has been a provision to attack the backlog by devoting all of the fees gathered in the patent process to the Patent Office. We are asking the stakeholders of invention to pay higher fees to reduce the backlog. How can we ask them to do that if we are going to divert the fees they pay to paying general government expenses?

The provision in the underlying bill would have ended that practice, would have ended fee diversion, a diversion that has cost the invention community and our economy over a billion dollars in diverted funds. Unfortunately, the manager's amendment would severely undercut and really do away with that principle. I know as an appropriator I'm not supposed to be saying this. As a former member of the Judiciary Committee, however, I am, and that is, we should not be diverting these fees. We should not be diverting fees that need to be used to take down that backlog, to make sure that inventors can quickly patent their products and take them to market. This is part of our competitive economic advantage.

And so I was very enthusiastic about that part of the bill. Concerned about others, concerned about moving to first-to-file, which I will talk about later, but now I am doubly concerned because I think the most constructive part of the bill has been seriously diminished.

I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky.

If I can reclaim my time.

May I have an additional 15 seconds?

Will the gentleman yield?

Thank you, and I will be very brief.

If the funds that are sequestered--first of all, it requires another act of Congress to appropriate those sequestered funds back to the Patent Office. If it was never the intention to divert those, then why change the bill?

I thank the gentleman.

The only concluding point I want to make is the funds that are held in the escrow account, if the Congress subsequently decides because of budgetary problems they have a better use for those funds, they want to be used for something else, to pay down something else, there's nothing that precludes the Congress from reallocating those funds. The patent community, the inventor community, still has to come hat in hand to the Appropriations Committee and say, Please give us the money you put in escrow.

There's no need to set up this account if we simply take this step in the underlying bill which would end diversion once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor His Eminence Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian upon his 60th anniversary of consecration and ordination into the priesthood.

Archbishop Hovsepian was born in Beirut, Lebanon, where he received his elementary education at the Mesrobian Armenian National School, and later was accepted as a postulate at the Antelias Theological Seminary. Upon successfully completing his studies, he was ordained Father Vatche Hovsepian, and served in the capacity of assistant dean and instructor of the Seminary.

In 1953, Father Vatche went to England to further his theological studies, and was simultaneously active in the World Council of Churches Youth Movement. After attending the College of the Resurrection near Manchester, he continued his studies at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. During his stay in Edinburgh, Father Vatche was a vibrant member of the Theological Commission. When Father Vatche was assigned to the Pastorate of the Holy Cross Armenian Church of Union City, New Jersey in 1956, he diligently continued to pursue his studies and obtained his Bachelor of Divinity Degree at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary at Rutgers University.

Father Vatche's journey continued to Canada during the influx of Armenian immigrants to the region. In 1967, he was designated as ``Bishop of Canada,'' and he immediately organized a new Diocese. Through the efforts, dynamism, and perseverance of the Bishop, a cathedral with school facilities was purchased in Montreal, Quebec.

In 1971, Archbishop Vatche was elected as the Primate of the Armenian Church of North America Western Diocese. Upon attaining his new role, the Primate arrived at the Diocesan Headquarters, which at the time was a rented house in Los Angeles, California. Immediately, he began searching for a potential site for a cathedral, and a church was soon purchased in Hollywood, California. This church was later transformed into the St. John Armenian Cathedral, where the vast Armenian population living in Hollywood frequented every Sunday.

In 1988, when the disastrous earthquake struck in Armenia, the Archbishop established the Orphan's Fund, through which the Diocese sends aid and medical supplies to the orphans in Armenia regularly. In addition, Archbishop Vatche was instrumental in the founding of the St. Gregory Alfred and Marguerite Hovsepian Armenian School in Pasadena, California, as well as numerous other Armenian Day Schools in the community. Under Archbishop Vatche's leadership and guidance, the Western Diocese purchased a multi-purpose complex in Burbank, California, where the present Diocesan Headquarters stands. Archbishop Vatche has also actively participated in civic issues, and has met with five Presidents of the United States and various religious leaders.

I ask all Members to join me in thanking Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian for his selfless dedication and commitment to the Armenian community and wish him well in all future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 85th anniversary of the Young Men's Christian Association of Glendale (YMCA).

The YMCA of Glendale, established in 1922, is a not-for-profit organization devoted to community service. It is managed by its vibrant staff and volunteers and overseen by the members, who work tirelessly to ensure that Glendale's changing needs are addressed. Today, the YMCA boasts over 5,000 active members who represent every sector of the community, and ensures everyone from children and teens, to adults and seniors benefit from the opportunities and services provided by the YMCA of Glendale. People of all ages have benefited extraordinarily from programs that facilitate a strong mind, physique, and character. Such programs include aquatics, educational classes, martial arts, and gymnastics.

The success and well-being of children is also a key focal point of the YMCA of Glendale. By promoting character development and establishing the four core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility, children are more likely to overcome the negative temptations of youth such as gangs, drugs and crime.

The YMCA of Glendale is also a strong advocate of healthy living. As a part of its effort to help people achieve their goals of a healthy lifestyle, the YMCA offers a vast selection of fitness programs such as swimming, strength training, and consultations with fitness experts among other activities. Numerous seniors enjoy a variety of classes and programs, which are designed to protect the joints and improve strength. In addition, hundreds of children have immeasurably benefited from these programs, and have not only developed their physical skills, but have also built self-confidence.

For 85 years, the YMCA of Glendale has proven its selfless dedication to the community by welcoming and supporting people of all ages, religious backgrounds, incomes, and abilities. This incredible organization has embraced the city of Glendale, and to this very day implements its ultimate goal of building strong kids, strong families, and a strong community.

I am proud to recognize the past and present members and supporters of the YMCA of Glendale for their immense contributions to the community, and I ask all Members to join me in congratulating the YMCA of Glendale for 85 years of dedicated service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the City of Pasadena, California upon its 125th Anniversary.

In 1875, the area now known as the City of Pasadena, was named for a word that means ``valley'' in the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American language.

After Pasadena's incorporation in 1886, paved streets, sewers, and electric street lights were added, and so began the creation of the ``Crown City.'' On January 1, 1890, the Valley Hunt Club initiated a festival--now known as the Tournament of Rose Parade--with a procession of flower-bedecked horses and carriages, which became a tradition that in 1898 was formally sponsored by the Tournament of Roses Association. In 1891, Throop University was founded, later to become the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and in the early 1900s many grand hotels were built. Some of the most accomplished architects settled in Pasadena, which became known for its fine architecture, particularly the Craftsman style, perfected by Greene and Greene--a significant example of which is the 1908 Gamble House. Continuing to enjoy a reputation as a tourist center and winter resort until the end of the 1920s, many significant institutions were built during this time, including the Rose Bowl Stadium, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Grace Nicholson Gallery--now the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena City Junior College District--now Pasadena City College, as well as the Civic Center, consisting of the Central Library, City Hall and the Civic Auditorium. The 1920s also saw the beginning of the Pasadena Civic Orchestra, and the Shakespeare League.

World War II set Pasadena on the path to modern industrial growth, and led by Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which became focal points of development and research for the war efforts, the city evolved into a center for industrial research and light manufacture of scientific and electronic precision instruments. In 1930, the Art Center College of Design was built, and in 1940, the Arroyo Seco Parkway, the first freeway in the west, was completed. The 1970s were a period of economic revitalization, along with an awakened respect for the City's architectural treasures, which led to the renovation of historic homes and buildings throughout the city. 1975 marked the opening of the Norton Simon Museum. In the 1980s and 90s, the city's election system changed from citywide runoff to district only elections and the City Board of Directors was changed to the City Council, and between 1970 and 2005, Caltech's faculty and alumni garnered 14 of the institute's 31 Nobel prizes. Today, Pasadena with its beautiful tree- lined streets, historic neighborhoods and thriving business community, is home to 140,000 residents.

I am honored to represent the City of Pasadena, with its rich cultural heritage and world-renowned institutions. I ask all Members to join me in congratulating the residents of Pasadena on its 125th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the City of Burbank upon its 100th anniversary.

The land occupied by the present City of Burbank was part of two colossal Spanish land grants--the Rancho San Rafael and Rancho La Providencia. In 1867, Dr. David Burbank, who was extraordinarily active in Los Angeles real estate, purchased segments of both ranchos, and merged them to create a large ranch where he built a ranch house, raised sheep and sporadically sold off diminutive portions of land.

In the late 1800s, Dr. Burbank sold a stretch of right-of-way to the Southern Pacific Railroad, and subsequently sold his property to a group of land speculators, which led to the establishment of the Providencia Land, Water and Development Company. As speculators designed a business district and subdivided the property into residential lots and small farms, the formation of the City of Burbank began.

The City of Burbank flourished over the years, and its continuous progress has been extraordinary. In the 1920s, the real estate market boomed, the Magnolia Park sector was developed, and the area boasted a shopping center, a bank, and Burbank's very own radio station. Burbank's sought after location and available space also attracted the aviation and entertainment industries. In the mid-1920s, the Lockheed Aircraft Company purchased a portion of Burbank farmland, and built a plant for the production of its planes. Lockheed employed 94,000 individuals by the time the United States entered World War II. As a testament to their success, Lockheed's Burbank-built aircraft helped win the Battle of Britain. Additionally, the motion picture business moved to Burbank in the 1920s. A 78-acre site was originally home to First National Pictures, and later to the Warner Bros. Following its footsteps were Columbia Pictures and the Walt Disney Company.

The year of 1943 marked the opening of the new Burbank City Hall, which has been named to the National Register of Historic Buildings. In the 1960s and 1970s, Burbank attracted more key players of the Hollywood entertainment industry. By 1962, Burbank became the permanent home of the National Broadcasting Company. In 1978, the airport was purchased from Lockheed, and today, the Bob Hope Airport, governed by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, is the largest privately owned community airport in the country. The 1980s highlighted the revitalization and evolution of Burbank's downtown area, with its collection of numerous restaurants and multi-screen movie theatres. In the 1990s, the Burbank Recycle Center and the Regional Intermodal Transportation Center were opened.

I am honored to represent the great City of Burbank, which is thriving with multi-dimensional industries, and yet has not lost its small-town atmosphere. I ask all Members to join me in congratulating the residents of Burbank on its centennial anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Joseph W. Aidlin of Los Angeles County, California, who was a pioneer in the geothermal industry and development of law for geothermal resources, and institutional matters related to development and use.

Born on April 28, 1910 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Russian immigrants, Joseph's family moved to California in the 1920's, settling in the Los Angeles area. When the Aidlin family moved to Long Beach, the Signal Hill oil field was being developed and it was there-- watching oil wells being drilled--that Joseph became fascinated with oil and other mineral exploration, a life-long interest. Despite a love of science and an inclination to attend Caltech, Mr. Aidlin majored in economics at UCLA, receiving his B.A. in Economics with honors in 1930. He received his law degree from UC Berkeley, Boalt School of Law in 1933 and was admitted to the California State Bar, after which he began practicing law. His practice included divorces, wills, and taxes and a particular case involving an oil company and tideland boundaries that sparked his life-long interest in land titles and natural resources.

Along with his law practice, where his most recognized accomplishments had been in land titles and natural resources, especially geothermal, Mr. Aidlin influenced geothermal activities fundamentally in numerous other ways for many years. In 1954, he and his partners, B.C. McCabe and Robert Bering, co-founded Magma Power Company which ``created modern geothermal development at the Geysers Geothermal Field, which is to say geothermal development in California, the United States and the Americas.'' Joseph served as Vice President, Secretary, General Counsel and Member of the Board of Directors of Magma Power Company until 1987. Mr. Aidlin co-founded the Geothermal Resources Council (GRC), and he was the first recipient of a prestigious award given to the person contributing most to the geothermal industry, the Joseph W. Aidlin Award. A leader in writing national and state legislation relating to geothermal resources, Mr. Aidlin drafted the world's first geothermal lease, contributed to having the Geothermal Resources Act being made a part of California's Resources Code in 1968 and participated substantially in developing provisions of the Federal Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. He was a member of the National Geothermal Advisory Committee of the Department of Energy and Chairman of its Legal and Institutional Subcommittee, and a member of the Geothermal Energy Panel of the Energy Research Advisory Board of the Department of Energy.

Joseph and his wife Mary were married for 63 years. After Mary's death in 1997, Joseph continued to work at his law practice beyond his one-hundredth birthday on April 28, 2010, making him the oldest active lawyer in California. Mr. Aidlin died peacefully in his sleep on September 30, 2010. A pioneer and a man of great principles, I ask all members to join in me in remembering Joseph W. Aidlin.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Hilda Grigorian, a Glendale resident who has dedicated herself to helping those in need around the world, often in some of the most challenging and dangerous locations.

Hilda Grigorian was born and raised in Iran, and migrated to the United States in 1978 in pursuit of the American dream of education and career. Hilda achieved both of these goals--she obtained a bachelor's degree and MBA and is currently working toward her Ph.D. at Walden University. She also worked in the private sector for over two decades, focusing on international development.

Hilda began her international relief efforts with a trip to her motherland of Armenia, where she volunteered to help small businesses. After several visits to Armenia's rural villages, she established a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) called Armenia Village Operation, which she started with her own funds and other private funding. The program implemented important projects in the rural villages of Armenia.

In 2005, Hilda traveled to Afghanistan to work with a USAID-funded program to help vulnerable, widowed women with business planning and access to funds to regain their businesses which were destroyed by the Taliban. She then worked for UNDP in the youth development project. In 2008, she began working for USAID Afghanistan as a Field Program Officer, stationed in the Province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. In 2009, she was transferred to the remote, rural Province of Ghor in Western Afghanistan, where she helped people implement community development programs, created jobs through cash for work projects, and ensured a fair distribution of food to the people of Ghor.

Hilda's selfless dedication to the people of Afghanistan has immeasurably benefited some of the most at-risk people in the world, and has demonstrated the generous spirit of Americans toward those in crisis. She thrived in an environment that afforded her very basic living conditions, with no luxuries or amenities we often take for granted.

I ask all Members to join me in thanking Hilda Grigorian for her unwavering commitment to the people of Armenia and Afghanistan and wish her well in all future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the thousands of men and women of the media here and around the world who strive every day--many of them in the face of extreme violence and repression--to report the news. This is the lifeblood of democracy. I do so as Co-Chairman of the bipartisan, bicameral Freedom of the Press Caucus, and on behalf of fellow Co-Chairman of the Caucus, Rep. Mike Pence.

Chartered 18 years ago by the UN, World Press Freedom Day was hosted for the first time this year in the United States and was marked by a three-day conference here in Washington attended by journalists and media leaders from around the world. World Press Freedom Day isn't, however, fundamentally an academic or congratulatory exercise, Mr. Speaker. Rather, as defined by the United Nations:

``It serves as an occasion to inform citizens of violations of press freedom--a reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered.

``It is a date to encourage and develop initiatives in favour of press freedom, and to assess the state of press freedom worldwide.

``It serves as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.

``Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.''

One journalist who was brutally taken from us was, of course, Daniel Pearl of the Wall Street Journal, whose name last year graced the bipartisan Freedom of the Press Act. That legislation emphatically put Congress, the President and our Nation strongly on record in support of freedom of expression by mandating more detailed reporting than ever on its fate around the world in our State Department's annual Human Rights Report.

Significantly, Mr. Speaker, Congress expressly required in The Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act that the State Department chronicle not only where repression is at its most brutal and obvious, but also to shine a bright light on ``indirect sources of pressure, and censorship by governments . . . .''

In the past months we have seen an unprecedented wave of protests and demonstrations sweep the Arab world. Two governments--in Tunisia and Egypt--have fallen to the demands of pro-democracy protesters, while others have come under intense pressure. These uprisings have highlighted the level of violence and physical harassment directed at the press. We've seen journalists threatened, arrested, beaten, assaulted, and in some cases even killed, while working on the frontlines in the fight for democracy and greater opportunity.

After two months of silence, Lara Logan, the CBS reporter who was sexually assaulted by a mob in Cairo's Tahrir Square the night that President Mubarak stepped down in February, opened up about the brutal attack in an emotional interview on ``60 Minutes'' Sunday. Logan, whose attack shined a light on the dangers that female journalists face while working abroad, said she is proud to have broken the silence on what some female journalists have experienced but never talk about for fear they will be taken off the story.

ABC's Christiane Amanpour and Fox News Channel's Greg Palkot and Olaf Wiig also faced physical assault and intimidation during the protests that swept Mubarak from his post--notable examples out of as many as 100 journalists who were assaulted, threatened or detained during the uprising in Egypt.

Elsewhere in the Arab world, four New York Times reporters were taken captive by Libyan government soldiers outside of Benghazi in March. After enduring harassment and abuse, they were thankfully released.

Less fortunate were award-winning photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, two of the most seasoned photojournalists, who were killed while covering a battle between rebels and Libyan government forces in the city of Misrata. Theirs is not only a loss to their friends and families, but also a great loss to the profession.

Freedom of expression cannot exist where journalists are not safe from persecution and attack, which have an unnerving effect on the profession. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 16 journalists have been tragically killed this year. Alarmingly, the failure to punish or even seriously investigate crimes against journalists has now reached appalling proportions.

And although one can certainly find such censorship in the Middle East and North Africa, or in countries such as China, Cuba, Kazakhstan, South Korea and Syria, sadly it exists and may be getting worse much closer to home.

As just reported last month by the State Department--and as borne out by major 2010 reports of the Organization of American States, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom House, and many others--our own hemisphere is home to many disturbing examples of what Ms. June Erlick, a former correspondent now with the David Rockefeller

Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard called a ``much more insidious'' form of press repression. Quoted in the Committee to Protect Journalists' ``Attacks on the Press 2010'' report, Ms. Erlick elaborated that, ``You never know where the censorship is coming from-- through threats, attacks on the streets, new laws, or lack of access. The threats are always there and sometimes lead to self-censorship even before censorship begins.''

In the spirit of this World Press Freedom Day, Mr. Speaker, let me then use the balance of my time to turn over just a few of these ``much more insidious'' rocks:

In Venezuela, the government has engaged in what CPJ unambiguously calls ``a systematic campaign to stifle dissent.'' It included barring the publication of photos in conjunction with reporting on rampant crime and unsolved murder cases; suddenly voiding the broadcasting license of the nation's oldest television channel and a major critic of the government; and exploiting or inventing technical regulations to administratively shut down dozens of radio stations also critical of the government.

In Ecuador, the OAS' 2009 Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights special rapporteur for freedom of expression found that, ``Ecuador has seen a rising climate of polarization in which attacks on and threats against journalists and media outlets of all editorial positions have increased''; a March 3 Inter-American Press Association report stated flatly that the government had ``redoubled its offensive'' against press freedom; and, just last month our own State Department's 2010 Human Rights Report found--among many other actions-- that, ``In June and July, during the broadcast of the Soccer World Cup matches, the government ran a media campaign against the press, referring to media outlets as corrupt and delinquent.''

. . . And, in Argentina--according to The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Financial Times among many other outlets--for more than two years the government has waged an escalating war against critical media outlets. Specifically, the government: was just found by the nation's Supreme Court to have unconstitutionally allocated government advertising funds to reward news outlets favorable to its policies while withholding such funds from opponents; shut down and tried to literally force the sale of the nation's biggest private internet service provider; orchestrated a surprise raid by 200 federal tax agents on the offices of the nation's largest media company and then dismissed the raids as a ``mistake''; and--in a series of moves taken directly from the original Peronists' playbook--is seeking aggressively to seize control of the nation's newsprint supply to silence opposition newspapers by literally making it impossible for them to go to press.

These are just a few of the things happening in a few of the countries in our own backyard, Mr. Speaker, that justify--indeed, demand that Congress remain vigilant and vocal in defense of freedom of expression everywhere . . . not just on World Press Freedom Day, but every day of every year.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Hilda Grigorian, a Glendale resident who has dedicated herself to helping those in need around the world, often in some of the most challenging and dangerous locations.

Hilda Grigorian was born and raised in Iran, and migrated to the United States in 1978 in pursuit of the American dream of education and career. Hilda achieved both of these goals--she obtained a bachelor's degree and MBA and is currently working toward her Ph.D. at Walden University. She also worked in the private sector for over two decades, focusing on international development.

Hilda began her international relief efforts with a trip to her motherland of Armenia, where she volunteered to help small businesses. After several visits to Armenia's rural villages, she established a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) called Armenia Village Operation, which she started with her own funds and other private funding. The program implemented important projects in the rural villages of Armenia.

In 2005, Hilda traveled to Afghanistan to work with a USAID funded program to help vulnerable, widowed women with business planning and access to funds to regain their businesses which were destroyed by the Taliban. She then worked for UNDP in the youth development project. In 2008, she began working for USAID Afghanistan as a Field Program Officer, stationed in the Province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. In 2009, she was transferred to the remote, rural Province of Ghor in western Afghanistan, where she helped people implement community development programs, created jobs through cash for work projects, and ensured a fair distribution of food to the people of Ghor.

Hilda's selfless dedication to the people of Afghanistan has immeasurably benefited some of the most at-risk people in the world, and has demonstrated the generous spirit of Americans toward those in crisis. She thrived in an environment that afforded her very basic living

conditions, with no luxuries or amenities we often take for granted.

I ask all Members to join me in thanking Hilda Grigorian for her unwavering commitment to the people of Armenia and Afghanistan and wish her well in all future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, the outrages perpetrated by Syrian President Bashar Assad against his own people have laid bare his regime's total lack of legitimacy. The shelling of Homs evokes memories of the 1982 massacre at Hama, in which his father ordered the Syrian army into the rebellious city, killing up to 40,000 people.

After the elder Assad died in 2000, the new president, in interviews with western journalists, made several cautious statements that led many Syrians to believe that their new president would be willing to take at least the first steps towards democracy in their ancient land. Indeed, the first months of the new regime saw a period of intense political and social debate in Syria which continued to some degree until the fall of 2001, when the government sharply reversed course and ended what had become known as the Damascus Spring.

Similarly, others saw his succession and the September 11 attacks as an opportunity to coax Syria into playing a more constructive regional role, especially in Lebanon, and as a chance to widen the circle of Arab-Israeli

peace. As with the domestic opening, this too proved fleeting and illusory. Tentative Syrian cooperation in the opening months of the campaign against al Qaeda after 9/11 did not last and, in 2005, Syrian intelligence officers joined with Hezbollah in murdering Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Harriri and provoking a war with Israel in the summer of 2006. In Iraq, Syria worked with Iran to supply arms to radical Shiite militias, even as the country sought to join its ally in the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Now the Assad regime has turned on its own people, who have been inspired by their fellow Arabs in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere to rise up to demand their rights. As Americans and as the custodians of a great democracy that was forged in revolution, we have a special obligation to support and nurture the aspirations of others who seek to secure for themselves and their posterity the blessings of liberty.

We in Congress must use every diplomatic and economic tool at our disposal to end this dictatorship and I urge President Obama to support the Syrian people in their quest for an end to the corruption and brutality in the Assad regime.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to memorialize and record a courageous story of survival of the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulted in the death of 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children. As the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau documented at the time, it was a campaign of ``race extermination.''

The campaign to annihilate the Armenian people failed, as illustrated by the proud Armenian nation and prosperous diaspora. It is difficult if not impossible to find an Armenian family not touched by the genocide, and while there are some survivors still with us, it is imperative that we record their stories. Through the Armenian Genocide Congressional Record Project, I hope to document the harrowing stories of the survivors in an effort to preserve their accounts and to help educate the Members of Congress now and in the future of the necessity of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

This is one of those stories:

Submitted by Mary Boghossian

Dear Congressman Schiff,

I am writing you because I admire your longstanding support

of Armenians and Americans. My parents, Toros and Santoukht,

my husband, Hagop, his mother, Ani, and his two older

sisters, Vartouhi and Dikranouhi, were survivors of the

Armenian genocide.

As you know, it is important to remember how the Armenian

Christian population was treated by the Turkish government

from 1895 through 1923. Over one and a half million Armenian

men, women, and children underwent unspeakable suffering.

They were deported from their homes, slaughtered, butchered,

enslaved, and more, without consideration of guilt or

innocence. Among those who suffered immeasurably were my

parents and my husband's family.

My father was born in 1895 in Turkey. During the Armenian

massacre in 1915, the Turkish government was going to take

him away on a death march in the desert. Fortunately, he was

hidden behind the door in a house and the Turkish soldiers

did not see him, so they left. God saved him and he escaped.

At the age of 20, he lost his innocent beloved family along

with their belongings. The trauma was so great that he

refused to discuss it with his family members for a long

time.

My mother was born in 1905 in Turkey. In 1915, my mother's

brother was included with all the people that were marching

during the deportation by the Turkish government. My mother

started running after him while he was being marched away.

She never caught up to him, and never saw him again. At the

age of 10, she became an orphan and did not know if any of

her family members were dead or alive.

My parents met and were married in Greece, had 7 children,

24 grandchildren. They were married over 63 years and lived

over 90 years.

My husband was born in 1910 in Turkey. His parents had

three sons and three daughters. My husband always reminded us

what happened to his family in the days following April 24,

1915, the conventional starting date of the Armenian

Genocide.

He said to us: ``During the massacre, the Turkish

government took away my innocent father and my older brother

and they never returned home. They were murdered by the

Turkish government. My younger brother died of cold and

hunger and there was no one around to bury him. My second

oldest sister was married to a Turkish man by force and she

died of hunger and cold as well. All of our belongings: home,

money, jewelry, clothing and our historic homeland, were

taken away by the Turks.''

My husband was an eyewitness to the massacre. He was

exposed to a terrible tragedy. It changed his entire life. He

saw bodies buried below the ground with their heads exposed

to the sun. He saw men, women, and children lying on the

ground dead.

The surviving members of my husband's family, his mother

and two older sisters, ended up in a refugee camp. His mother

worked hard for several years just so they could stay alive.

She was a beautiful woman, and had offers to marry several

Turkish and Armenian men, but refused to remarry. In the

1920s they were fortunate to emigrate to Israel, and then to

the United States in the 1960s.

My husband experienced a great deal of sadness, tragedy,

depression, and loneliness. He always loved his family and

this country with all his heart. He acknowledged all the

Presidents of the U.S. by hanging their pictures on the wall

of our home. To him, these men stood for freedom. The freedom

this Country gave him allowed him to live like a human being,

and express his thoughts. It gave him the courage to speak

freely and never be silent again about his beloved families.

As you know, the ``Aloha state'' proclamation makes Hawaii

the 42nd state to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Countries

around the world such as Switzerland, France, Canada, Italy,

Sweden, Russia and others, have passed a resolution

recognizing the Armenian genocide and proclaim a Day of

Remembrance every year on April 24.

The U.S. government should have the willingness to join

with countries around the world, and formally acknowledge and

commemorate the Armenian genocide each and every year on

April 24. If it is not taught in our school and if we ignore

the history then we are destined to repeat the mistakes of

the past.

Thank you for supporting the remembrance of the Armenian

Genocide.

Sincerely,

Mary.

Mr. Speaker, the outrages perpetrated by Syrian President Bashar Assad against his own people have laid bare his regime's total lack of legitimacy. The shelling of Homs evokes memories of the 1982 massacre at Hama, in which his father ordered the Syrian army into the rebellious city, killing up to 40,000 people.

After the elder Assad died in 2000, the new president, in interviews with western journalists, made several cautious statements that led many Syrians to believe that the new President would be willing to take at least the first steps towards democracy in their ancient land. Indeed, the first months of the new regime saw a period of intense political and social debate in Syria, which continued to some degree until the fall of 2001, when the government sharply reversed course and ended what had become known as the Damascus Spring.

Similarly, tentative Syrian cooperation in the months after 9/11 did not last, and in 2005, Syrian intelligence officers joined with Hezbollah in murdering Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and provoking a war with Israel in the summer of 2006.

Now the Assad regime has turned on its own people who have been inspired by their fellow Arabs in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere.

We in Congress must use every diplomatic and economic tool to end this dictatorship. And I urge President Obama to support the Syrian people in their quest for an end to the corruption and brutality of the Assad regime.

Mr Speaker, I rise today to honor Ramon C. Cortines for his lengthy and distinguished career as an educator. Mr. Cortines will be retiring shortly as the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. His tenure as Superintendent of the LAUSD has capped off a 55-year career in education that has taken Mr. Cortines to schools all across the country and has demonstrated his passion for both education and public service. His dedication to our Nation's children is admirable, and I stand today to commend his service as a teacher, mentor, administrator and advocate.

The breadth of Mr. Cortines' experience in education is impressive. His work both in and out of the classroom has focused on improving education in this country. As an administrator and public servant at the State and Federal levels, Mr. Cortines used the perspective he gained in the classroom to address the educational challenges this country faces from a big-picture perspective.

While Mr. Cortines has worked for schools all across the country, he spent a considerable portion of his career in California. He started in 1956 as a teacher in Aptos, California and went on to hold numerous positions in schools and districts across the State. This service included time as superintendent in Pasadena, San Jose, San Francisco and finally Los Angeles.

Mr. Cortines has also lent his expertise to many taskforces and governmental agencies. He worked at both the State and Federal levels on education policy, as well as for many non-profit foundations dedicated to improving education. Mr. Cortines has also held numerous positions in academia at Universities across the country, sharing his expansive knowledge with the next generation of educators and policy makers.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring Ramon C. Cortines for his exceptional service to the community.