Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize OSF St. James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center in Pontiac, Illinois for being named the Safest Hospital in Illinois by Consumer Reports magazine.

Like many Americans, I am concerned about the increasing cost of healthcare in the United States. With healthcare spending by patients on the rise, it is critical to find ways to ensure healthcare remains accessible and affordable. OSF St. James is a leader in this regard. By striving to provide safe treatment to patients on a daily basis, they reduce the frequency of readmitted patients which in turn reduces the added cost of additional procedures and care. The City of Pontiac and the surrounding area can take pride in their local hospital for the quality of care it provides to family, friends, and neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 16th District of Illinois, I wish to express our appreciation of the staff at OSF St. James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center for their diligent work and commitment to providing safe healthcare to their patients.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Fred Esmond who passed away on October 2, 2013.

Fred Esmond served in the U.S. Army Reserves, was a small business owner, participated in many community organizations, and beginning in 2001 was elected four times to serve as the Mayor of Utica, Illinois. I have no doubt that he will be remembered for his stewardship and love for his community during some of its most trying times, including a devastating tornado and multiple floods.

Mayor Esmond leaves a legacy that will continue to serve the residents of Utica for years to come. Under his leadership, the town constructed a new village hall, fire station, and numerous community buildings. Additionally, visitors and residents often recognize the beautiful streetscapes lining the realigned Illinois Route 178 and a striking memorial to the victims of a 2004 tornado.

Fred is survived by his wife Sandra; his daughters, Sarah Schweickert and Lisa Esmond; his grandchildren, Addison and Bailey Schweickert; and his three brothers, Jack, William, and Truman. While Fred has passed, his legacy and memory will endure in the hearts and minds of his friends and family.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 16th District of Illinois, I offer my heartfelt condolences to Mayor Esmond's family. The State of Illinois has lost an outstanding citizen and the Illinois River Valley community will miss him dearly.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mike Sutfin for his impressive leadership in floodplain management and his exemplary service to the City of Ottawa, Illinois and the State of Illinois.

The City of Ottawa sits at the confluence of the Illinois and Fox Rivers which makes it one of the most flood prone communities in the State of Illinois. In 2008, the City of Ottawa was impacted by a devastating flood as part of the Hurricane Ike storm system. The flood damaged homes beyond repair, and also caused an Ottawa Elementary school to close for nearly two years.

In an effort to reduce or avoid future disastrous floods, Mike Sutfin and the City of Ottawa developed a floodplain management plan that has since received state and national recognition. Mr. Sutfin has worked tirelessly to raise public awareness of the river valley floodplain through public meetings, maps, and an informative website. At his recommendation, the Ottawa City Council has incorporated better floodplain management regulatory standards into the City's ordinances. Additionally, he has helped reduce reoccurring flood loss through a major City of Ottawa buyout program and other mitigation initiatives.

In recognition of his diligent work, Mr. Sutfin has received the 2011 Floodplain Manager of the Year Award from the Illinois Association of Floodplain and Stormwater Managers (IAFSM). Additionally, he recently received the 2013 Community Rating System (CRS) Award for Excellence from the National Flood Insurance Program. Currently, the City of Ottawa is rated at Class 5 under the CRS, but with Mr. Sutfin's leadership the community will likely be upgraded to Class 2. This would make it one of the best rated communities in the State of Illinois and across the United States.

Mr. Sutfin has accomplished a great deal as Ottawa's Floodplain Manager and the resulting benefits, such as increased public safety, peace of mind, and reduced damage to property, are priceless to his community. His expertise is clearly put to good use in the City of Ottawa as well as at the IAFSM where he serves on the Board of Directors and chairs the Floodplain Management Committee.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 16th District of Illinois, I wish to express our deepest thanks to Mike Sutfin for his leadership in floodplain management and his diligent work for the City of Ottawa.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Royce for his leadership on this very important piece of legislation. For 60 years, the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea has brought stability, security and prosperity to the Korean Peninsula and Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, the U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement has demonstrated our mutual commitment of shared future economic growth and prosperity.

I rise in strong support of this bill as it is critically important to extend the current U.S.-South Korea civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreement for two years. While substantial progress has been made by the negotiators, more time is needed to properly complete a new agreement that recognizes both our countries' status as global leaders of nuclear energy. Swift passage of this 2-year extension will give both countries the confidence that cooperation between our two countries will continue smoothly.

I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 2449.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my sincere condolences to the people and Government of Turkey.

On July 27, 2013, their embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia was attacked by three suicide bombers. Two security guards and a Somali student lost their lives in the explosions, while several members of the embassy staff were also injured. An al-Qaida-linked, Somali militant group named al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack. This serves as a stark reminder that al-Qaida remains strong throughout the Middle East and Africa and needs to be confronted at every turn.

Turkey has been a force for good in Somalia and is actively involved with Somalia's reconstruction. Turkish aid workers have been assisting Somali authorities to rebuild their war torn country by undertaking development projects, including street renovations and the construction of schools. Furthermore, Turkey continues to strengthen commercial times with Somalia to help boost its economy.

Mr. Speaker, I share the Obama administration's condemnation of this attack and express my condolences in the strongest terms possible.

Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue that, unfortunately, hasn't gotten as much attention lately as it should.

I'm a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, spent most of my time in Iraq; but I remember I was in a nation outside of Afghanistan getting ready to fly an airplane one day, this was back in the mid-2000s, and, Mr. Speaker, the majority leader from the other Chamber basically got on television and said, the war in Iraq is lost. He said, it's lost, it's done, it's over. I remember that because I was on a treadmill getting ready to go fly a mission into Afghanistan when I heard that.

The interesting thing about that is, I guarantee you, our enemy in Iraq probably cheered loudly at the moment they saw the majority leader from the Senate say those words.

We know that something very courageous happened. The President of the United States at the time said, not only is the war not lost, we're sending more troops and we're going to win this thing, and we did. We saw the enemy realize that America could never be defeated on the battlefield, it could only be defeated by its will, and President Bush sent a very strong and loud message that America's will will not be defeated.

This is a situation we face in Afghanistan today. Look, as a Member of Congress, as a politician, the easiest thing for me to do is to stand up here and say the war in Afghanistan is lost and we need to just go home.

And I tell you, you look at the polling, and with the lack of a President leading this country on the public opinion side of what we're doing in Afghanistan, I'd probably get a lot of people sending Facebook messages and emails saying, go get 'em; it's time to leave Afghanistan.

But you know what? If I did that, I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror and say that I did the right thing, because the right thing is generations of people that have lived under oppression and have lived for years under the Taliban regime. They stood up. They kicked the Taliban out of their nation, and they've looked at the United States and said, it took you decades at your inception to get your democracy right. Help us get our democracy right.

What's at stake here?

I look over here at this picture, and I see a couple of things. I see, number one, a girl by the name of Bibi; and if you could look closely at that picture, you would see that she does not have a nose or ears. They were actually cut off by the Taliban. They were cut off by swift justice because somebody in her family committed a crime, sold her into marriage at the age of 14 years old.

And at 15 years old she left her abusive husband, went to her uncle's house, who turned his back on her, and eventually she was captured and apprehended by the Taliban, as they forced her family to cut her nose and ears off as justice for running away from a terrible situation.

She eventually escaped and went to an American forward operating base and was saved. And then you see in this other picture, as she lives in the United States, she has a prosthetic nose today and is living as close to a normal life as possible, despite the trauma that she suffered.

On the bottom down here, you'll see a number of girls in school right now, learning and being educated. You know, before we went into Afghanistan, there was something like 800,000 people in school. Today it's over 6 million.

In fact, did you know that 60 percent of the Afghan population is under the age of 20?

And there's this movement in Afghanistan called the Civil Society in which they stand up and say it's time for freedom and it's time to take our country back.

Are you also aware, Mr. Speaker, that every province is now under control of Afghanistan, and the United States has reverted to a training mission and a counterterrorism mission. These are all huge victories for the Afghan people that we ought to be celebrating.

But, instead, I wake up the other day and I look in the paper, and the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, is saying we are exploring an option after 2014 to take all troops out of Afghanistan.

Now, let me ask you a question: Do you think that made the Taliban frightened, or do you think they cheered when they saw the President of the United States say, I'm considering all troops gone after 2014?

The whole year of 2014 was pulled out of the hat for political reasons. When you say that we're surging in Afghanistan, but as the last troop goes in, the first troop's coming out from the surge, it's not very effective.

You know, the Taliban have a saying, actually, that says, America may have the watches, but we have the time.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Speaker, we are on the verge of a clear victory in Afghanistan for the Afghan people. The biggest mistake we can make today is to let politics come into play and to withdraw and leave zero troops after 2014. In 50 years, history will judge us for that.

Mr. Speaker, as a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, I am very concerned about the so-called ``zero option'' that was floated by the President.

Hundreds of thousands have fought for a victory for the Afghan people; and on the eve of victory for the Afghan people, the President is floating the option of no troops post-2014. I ask, Is the Taliban cheering that discussion, or are they scared of it? I would say that they are cheering the idea of no U.S. troops.

Sixty percent of the Afghan people are under the age of 20. It is a new society. Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that we are on the verge of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I would call on the President to announce a smaller post-2014 force and send a message to the Taliban that we will not back down and you will never rule Afghanistan again.

I thank the gentlelady from Alabama for organizing this. It is great to be joined with you on this very important subject, the idea that over 7.5 percent of our fellow neighbors--and by the way, the President's own State of Illinois, it's higher than 7.5 percent. If you want to see what Big Government is going to eventually do, just look in my home State. You're going to see people that are desperately searching for work, that wake up every day just wondering if they are going to get a paycheck. If they have a job, they're wondering, Is this the last day? Am I going to go into work today and get that pink slip? Am I going to go into work today and have to tell my wife or husband or kids that we're going to have to tighten the belt because dad or mom just lost their job?

Illinois has been hit very hard. The reason Illinois has been hit very hard is not because it is cold. It is cold in Illinois sometimes in the winter, and my friend from Colorado can talk about that, too. It's not because it's flat, although parts of Illinois are very flat. Illinois, in fact, used to be and still maintains some edge, but used to be the powerhouse for manufacturing in the country, but we've seen the disappearing of manufacturing. And in the bipartisan spirit of not trying to point too many fingers, I'll say that's happened under all administrations, where we've seen manufacturing leave. But the one difference between Illinois and what we've seen, and the States that surround us, is a big, stifling, bloated, bureaucratic government, a government that is so big it takes away the opportunity for the free market to breathe.

Mr. Speaker, I understand, and I'll be the first to admit that my party, the Republican Party, has not done a great job of messaging. I think that's the understatement of the century. Sometimes we get absorbed in the idea of numbers, and we talk about what it means to balance the budget, but we don't explain why we want to balance the budget. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about the middle class and those in lower incomes.

My father ran a homeless shelter, and he did this for a couple of decades. I was raised in an environment to understand conservatism and how that works with those who are homeless and down and out. My mom is a public schoolteacher. I understand the importance of public education in our society. And I understand that I became a Republican because I believe that a kid born in inner-city Chicago just 40 or 50 minutes from my house should have the same opportunity as a kid born in Channahon, Illinois, where I live, or Inverness, Illinois, a wealthy suburb. They should have every opportunity to find personal achievement to get an education and be successful.

I look forward to having this conversation and talking about the fact that there is a compassion for those who need help and the fact that too many people are out of work today.

I know my colleague from Colorado (Mr. Gardner) would like to say some things.

I just would like to add to that.

So, you know, we talked about regulations, and I know, look, the vast majority of Americans, myself included, are not small business owners. And so the vast majority of Americans can listen to this and say, I understand in theory what's being said, but it's not something I necessarily feel.

So let's try to put this in a way that I think a lot of people can relate to. If you're looking at buying a house, now, you have a big decision to make. You're ready to buy a new house. You've got a family you're providing for. You know what your budget is, what you can afford on a mortgage. You know what you can afford for your property taxes.

But let's say there's a lot of government uncertainty out there. Let's say, first off, you may not have a job in 6 months because of this economy. You may be saying, Boy, I just don't know what my cash flow is going to be like, and I don't know if it's going to be there.

Well, let's relate that to the bigger economy. These companies don't necessarily know what's going to be brought and put before them by Washington, D.C., what it's going to cost them.

Let's say your local government was threatening to raise property taxes in a major way. Well, now that comes into play.

Let's say there was a threat of losing your home mortgage interest deduction, and so, as you put that into play and you're trying to decide ``Do I buy this house?'' now that's a threat.

And you watch the television, and all over the television the idea is homes are collapsing in value. We remember that from a few years ago. That's uncertainty. That's the kind of uncertainty that every day Americans feel, the kind of uncertainty that you wake up sometimes in a cold sweat because you don't necessarily know what the next month is going to look like.

Well, Mr. Speaker, that's our point is take that uncertainty that an individual feels, but now put that on a bigger level of a business owner, a business owner who sometimes is the last person to get paid because they sign everybody else's paycheck first.

And sometimes these small business owners are literally in tears at night. They're in bed; they don't know whether they can make payroll. They know they have 5 or 10 people that are relying on them to provide that paycheck because they have families, too. That's a lot of pressure.

So we're not talking about making businesses not pay taxes. We're not talking about getting rid of all regulations and letting this be the Wild West of business, but we're talking about creating a level of certainty that these businesses can plan, and they can begin to know what they can do and take a deep breath and create jobs.

I understand that. And look, as we go forward, you hear the rhetoric a lot; right? I mean, the House of Representatives is filled with rhetoric; right? It's probably been like that since the day it was built and the day it was created.

Some of the rhetoric I've heard is that our party only cares about big business, that we only care about the 1 percent. Recently, we talked about taking food from the mouths of children; right? We heard about that.

Any sane, reasonable person knows that's not the case. Any sane, reasonable person knows, look, both sides of the aisle are very passionate about the future of the country; they want success. I think it's okay to have a conversation about how we get there.

I believe that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want their country to be successful. I think if we can hear that they also agree that we want our country to be successful and we can have this conversation, this is so helpful.

Now, let me ask, in that vein, in having a fair and honest debate about this, let's see what the President's plans are. I mean, we hear constantly more and more stimulus spending.

Do you realize that the last stimulus bill that was really passed at midnight, basically, with a lot of Christmas tree ornaments for everybody to get ``yes'' votes, and only about 6 percent of that actually went to infrastructure, which is the job of the Federal Government in the first place; it's denoted in the Constitution. But, you know, interestingly to me, we spent, in one night, almost as much money, maybe even more money, but almost as much money as we had spent in Iraq to that point.

And what did we get for it? What did we get for it? We had a promise of unemployment staying low. It didn't.

Look, I get it. I believe that the President, I believe my colleagues on the other side of the aisle really thought this was going to be the thing that worked. I really believe they believed that. But it didn't. History shows it didn't. History shows this didn't work.

So are we going to really, honestly, revisit the idea of more and more stimulus spending again?

Let me add to that. I want to briefly remind people about the State of Illinois. I'm so proud of the people of the State of Illinois. I love my State. I've lived there most of my life, except my time in the military. But let's look at that approach.

That approach has been a regulatory approach. That's been a big government approach. In fact, you look at, again, the south part of Chicago, and you see I think it was like nine people killed just in this last weekend. It's unreal. That's more than you will find killed in a day in Afghanistan. And this is an American city.

How is the best way to fix that? It's to pull people out of poverty. Illinois has a big government. Illinois has very

generous stuff they give. But Illinois is not good lately at generating jobs. So does big government help those people in a tough situation in south Chicago? You know what would help the people in south Chicago is an opportunity to go out, work hard, earn a living, and an opportunity to get ahead. That's what this is about.

This is about how do we give everybody the opportunity that all of us speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives have, who have all the different backgrounds that we've got, whether it was from our parents or our education or from whatever it was. How do we ensure that we replicate that?

I think the great point on that is why do we want to lower the tax rate, right? Is it because we want to protect the 1 percent? I've heard that a thousand times. And I'll be honest, I probably haven't been the best at coming back at that and explaining why we want to lower the Tax Code and why we want a fair Tax Code for everybody--a tax that people pay what they need to pay to the government, they aren't overcharged, but then people aren't also allowed to get away with being undercharged.

It's because on an individual level you literally have mothers filling their vans up with gasoline, buying groceries, and not able to afford to feed their children because the government, in some cases, takes a third of what these single mothers make. They just take it. And then we see people that can get away with all the loopholes in the system. They hire enough accountants and they don't pay that percent.

So let's make it fair for everybody.

That was very well said. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just all have conversations like that all the time? I mean, look, there are people that really believe that coal is bad. I disagree, I disagree vehemently. They believe it. And I'm sure my friend from Virginia would love to debate them, and debate them respectfully. I remember hearing rhetoric about our party supporting black lungs and that rhetoric that's meant to fuel instability and anger and division. That's what's disappointing to me.

Mr. Speaker, as I look to the President to lead this country, I want to look at a man who--of his past and who he is is a very dynamic person. He came from some very tough circumstances to become President of the United States. I wish he would say that, you know what, my job is to lead this conversation about jobs and the economy. My job is to lead this conversation. Look, we tried stimulus spending. I really thought it would work, but it didn't. Some Republicans, why don't you come to the White House. Why don't you have a conversation with me. I haven't been invited to the White House in years. Why don't you come to the White House, and let's have a conversation. Maybe we're not going to find any agreement, but at least we can respect each other's opinions and say what do we need to do to get this economy back on track. Why is it that over 7 percent of our neighbors don't have jobs? Many more than that are underemployed in jobs they don't want. Why is that? What can we do to come together?

Let me just add really briefly to that.

You talk about our ideas and the fact that, you know, look, the President can--the REINS Act, for instance, that makes sense, some of those things.

I make a promise here today: if the President comes to the Republicans and says, give me some ideas, and we give him ideas and he takes them, I will not go out and say that is a victory for Republicans.

So let's get the partisanship out of this and say it's time to not be Republicans or Democrats about this; it's time to be Americans. Look, Mr. Speaker, I would say that the President has made, in his mind, a valiant attempt to save the economy. Unfortunately, I hate to say it, it hasn't worked. So come to us. Let us give you some ideas. And if you adopt our ideas, I--I personally--promise that I will not go out and say that the Republican Party just rolled the President, or we just rolled the Democrats, or anything like that. I will say America just won because we've worked together to get some big things done.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Captain Paul B. Moses of the Belvidere Fire Department, and to recognize his years of dedicated public service.

Captain Moses began his career on January 10th, 1979 and was one of the first firefighters to complete Emergency Medical Technician training within the department. Since then he has worked in many different capacities during his tenure. In August of 1983, he became lieutenant and then six years later, in 1989, was appointed Chief of the department, a position he held for the next six years. Over his remaining years he completed his career as both Lieutenant and finally as Captain.

He was a member of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, the Winnebago Fire Chiefs Association, and served on Boone County's 911 Board for over 15 years, serving many years as Chairman. While Chief he was instrumental in upgrading department equipment with the purchase of a new Fire Engine and Ladder Truck. He improved training within the department and was instrumental in the computerization of records.

Most importantly, Captain Moses led from the front, never asking someone to do something he couldn't or wouldn't do himself. He is what you envision a firefighter to be, courageous, dedicated, strong, and passionate about his service.

On July 11th, Captain Moses retired from the Belvidere Fire Department after more than 34 years of sacrifice and service. Captain Moses has played an invaluable role in the Belvidere Fire Department for decades and he will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 16th District of Illinois, I wish to express our deepest thanks to Captain Moses for devoting his life's work to protecting and serving his community.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for organizing the time and bringing us all together. This is an important discussion.

When I think back to somebody who's a big hero of mine, Ronald Reagan, I think back to the eighties, of course, and I think of what Ronald Reagan talked about. He discussed America as a shining city on a hill, a city that everybody around the globe looks at and says ``I want to live there.'' Or they look at the United States and say, ``that is a country that I want my country to look like.'' That's frankly the Republican Party.

And I understand that over the last few years, the Republican Party hasn't necessarily done a great job of messaging that. That's our fault. But I look at somebody like Ronald Reagan, and I look at the vision he has put out for America and I say, You know what? That is the Republican party that I joined. That's the Republican party that I believe in, the party that believes that a kid in the inner city of Chicago should have the same opportunity as a kid raised in the best suburbs of Chicago. That's what we believe.

So when we talk about this really controversial issue of immigration--you have Americans on both sides of the issue, and Americans that have gotten ginned up on either side of this issue that are speaking to this with anger--I think something we have to do as a Nation and something that I think we need to do here right now is to say, Let's have this conversation about immigration, but let's do it in a way where we can discuss what America wants to be and what America is about and how to give most people around the world the opportunity to be in America.

I think most Americans would agree that the first thing we have to do is ensure that we have a safe border, not only just because of the idea of immigration and ensuring that we have a system that works for everybody, but because--look, on a porous border you have an opportunity for terrorists to come through with weapons that we don't want in the United States of America. We've seen in our schools--I visited a place called Rosecrance the other day in Rockford, Illinois, that has teenagers that are suffering from drug addiction. Do you know what the cheapest drug they can get a hold of is now? You'd think maybe marijuana, right? It's actually heroin. Do you know where most of the heroin is coming through? It's coming through the border of Mexico.

So I think when we talk about border security, we're not talking about it in an angry way. We're just saying as a sovereign Nation, we have a right to determine our immigration policy, and you can't determine immigration policy with a porous border. Once we do that, once we have honest border security and we're honest with the American people, then we have to have this discussion about how do we passionately and compassionately deal with folks that want the American way, as well.

That's a conversation I'm looking forward to having tonight over the next few minutes. And as we move on, I'd like to yield to the gentleman from Colorado, a great Member of Congress, Mr. Cory Gardner.

I thank the gentleman for your statements and everybody here for your statements. I am a member of the International Guard. Just 2\1/2\ months ago, I actually did missions on the border between Mexico and Texas. I fly a reconnaissance airplane, and the goal was to look for folks who had crossed illegally. In most cases, we were looking 60 miles into Texas. We were finding dozens of people. Each time we would look somewhere, we'd catch 60 to 100 a night.

I felt bad for the folks who were hunkered down, who had crossed the border that were told by some coyote that they paid their entire life's saving to, told by some coyote that ushered them over that once you step foot in America, you'll be just fine. And then they realize that the journey actually begins. What you'd see in many cases was the Border Patrol, who do very tough, hard work, would apprehend most of these folks. In some cases, a couple of them would scatter, and they'd be left alone. They'd be left 15 miles away from the nearest town, with no water, with no food, and with no idea where to go.

I think of that, and I think of the administration saying the border is already secure. I think what that leads to is there is an epic lack of trust in Washington right now. That's why actually the four of us came to Washington, because we recognize there's a huge lack of trust in D.C.

So this idea that we're going to say from on high in Washington, we're going to just deem the border secure at some point, when the administration has already deemed it secure, is I think where the lack of trust is and why there's so much emotion tied into this. I think this is a beginning step in having a great discussion about how to actually tackle this problem in a way that both sides can agree with and that is fair to the American people and to folks who want to live the American life.

That's a great story. I just had a town hall meeting in Rockford, Illinois, yesterday. You get folks from all ends of the political spectrum. That is the great thing about our democracy is we can have that respectful conversation.

You have everything from folks who say, Look, all you have to do is enforce existing laws, put more people on the border. Then you have a lot of people who say, Hey, we need to not have any more border enforcement and just allow everybody here to become U.S. citizens.

I think the answer is, frankly, in the middle of that. When you talk to folks, and it doesn't matter if they're on the right or left or somewhere in between, everybody has a heart. Everybody cares about people. And when you talk about the fact, as Mr. Gardner mentioned, there are people here who are 5 years old, through no fault of their own, sometimes 12 years old, or now they're getting ready to go to college and they realize they're not here legally, this is something we ought to have a lot of compassion for and understand.

And I think we've got to take some of the anger out of it on all sides of the aisle and just have a grown-up discussion and say, What do we have to do to fix the problem here? What do we have to do to fix the issue? Because, frankly,

I don't know how long I'll be in politics, but I don't ever want to have to address this again. And I think that's the thing. And that's what I hear at my town hall meetings is, you know, when you really get past kind of the initial arguments, folks say, We just really don't trust Washington, but, unfortunately, you're the ones that have to solve this problem.

Well, thank you. And as we do wrap up our time, I just want to say thank you to those paying attention today and to my fellow Members here.

This is an important issue. This is the very beginning of a long discussion that we need to have because this is too important to get wrong. This is too important to rush, because America's the greatest country in the world and this is something we ought not ever forget. And in the process of doing that, we ought to remember that we're an America that many of us come from immigrants and an America that, frankly, is proud of where we've come from.

So with that, I want to thank the fellow Members of Congress here with me to talk about this. And this is the very beginning of, I'm sure, a long discussion about where we go from here.

The big picture of this is we're getting into a lot of the details we need to. But I want to just, as I give my last statement of the night, I just want to say this.

You know, America is the land of opportunity. America is growing at less, frankly, organically, with folks just

here, than we need to to continue to be a powerful economy in the world, so this is a discussion that we have to have. It is a discussion that is required if we're going to be, in 20, 30, 40, 50 years, the most powerful country in the world.

I don't have kids yet, but I sure hope when I do that my grandkids can live in a world where America is unchecked, the power in the world. They never have to worry about some of the problems that previous generations have had to worry about.

This reminds me, and as I've heard folks on, frankly, the other side of the aisle that have said many times, you know, they use very emotional statements to talk about what the Republican Party believes. I've heard us called the Party of No. I've heard us called, you know, taking food from the mouths of children, not caring about anybody but the rich. I've heard it all.

Look, I'll admit this in some cases, in many cases, the Republican Party has not done a good job of messaging. I remember seeing an ad on television where a pizza company talked about how they used to do it wrong and now they want to do it right.

Well, here's what we need do and here's what my passion is: to let the people know that, frankly, the Republican Party is the party of opportunity. We're the party that, as I mentioned earlier, believes that a kid born in the worst of circumstances should be able to pull himself out of those circumstances and be one of the most successful people in the world, including President of the United States if he or she wants to be. That's what we believe.

That's, when we go forward in this debate and any other debates, that's the message that I think is important to get out. Let's quit calling each other names. Let's quit trying to use cheap shots. Let's just have a grown-up discussion and say we both, all sides of the aisle, want a successful America; we just see how to get there differently. And let's have a discussion as adults, as Members of Congress, and, frankly, as Americans should have a discussion.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Cherry Valley Police Chief Todd M. Houde, and to recognize his service to the Cherry Valley community.

Chief Houde began his career in law enforcement as a deputy sheriff with the Winnebago County Sherriff's Office in 1981 after graduating from Memphis State University with a degree in criminal justice. He became a full-

time police officer with the Cherry Valley Police Department in August 1986.

Throughout his years with the department, he has protected the Cherry Valley Community through his work on multiple task forces. From 1987 to 1990, Chief Houde was assigned to the State Line Area Narcotics Task Force and in 1995 he was assigned to the Northern Illinois Auto Theft Task Force.

On June 28, Police Chief Todd M. Houde retired from the Cherry Valley Police Department after thirty-two years of service.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 16th District of Illinois, I wish to express our deepest thanks to Chief Houde for devoting his life's work to protecting and serving his community.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate you yielding.

And, Mr. Blumenauer, thank you for leading on this, Ms. Gabbard and Mr. Stivers as well. This is such an important issue.

You know, we're a Nation of commitments, and a lot of the times Washington gets this reputation of Republicans and Democrats don't agree on anything, and we just fight like cats and dogs. I feel like some of that is true, but I think this is a great example of where, frankly, people are coming together to say as a Nation what's the right thing to do here.

We've made commitments. We've taken ourselves and made promises to people, and people have put themselves out on the line for us. What's the right thing to do?

I would even dare to speculate that those of us that are sponsoring this amendment probably don't even agree on the future of the Iraq war or the Afghanistan war. But we do know that we believe we have to hold to this.

As Ms. Gabbard was talking about, there's a lot of unsung heroes in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I experienced it as well as a pilot in the military as people that were Iraqi nationals, in my case, that really stood up and put their lives on the line in order to fight for a new Iraq, to fight for a new freedom, to provide for their families, and to understand that they want to build an alliance between Iraq and the United States.

And a lot of them went home at night, as was eloquently expressed, went home at night in fear that this was going to cost them their lives, but knowing that the strength and the power of the United States was there with them, and that they could rest easy at night, knowing that we could keep to our words.

Unfortunately, many of these folks have been killed or targeted for killing, and do continue to live in fear. And so we created a program which would allow a lot of these that have put their lives on the line in order to facilitate what our interest is in Afghanistan and Iraq, to be able to come to the United States.

And, unfortunately, this has been bogged down in bureaucracy that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. It's been bogged down in the definition of whether they worked for the United States or whether they actually worked for ISAF. Well, I would tend to say that whether you worked for ISAF or the United States, you should probably fall under this program.

I think it's just right that we, as a Nation, figure out what's going wrong and do this, and I think this is a great opportunity. This is a great opportunity to come together and say, you know, you put your life on the line for us; we're going to do everything we can for you.

I think about all the times when I would be ready to go fly and, you know, you talk to folks that are associated with what we're doing; and had we not had interpreters there to be able to bring the languages, frankly, the United States and Iraq or Afghanistan together, we'd often just be staring at each other, not knowing what we're thinking, but we're each thinking something.

But to be able to have these folks that come together and really talk

about what it is that we need to do is the right thing to do.

I just, again, want to say that, as Americans, we have to hold to our commitments. This program provides lifesaving protection to those that served us. It will provide refuge to the countless Iraqis and Afghan civilians that have helped us, and it's the right thing to do.

So, again, I just want to say to Mr. Blumenauer, to Ms. Gabbard, to Mr. Stivers and to everybody watching, frankly, and listening to these proceedings, thank you for your help.

Thank you to America for standing up and doing the right thing, and to those that continue to defend us day by day.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

You know, in the midst of talking about immigration reform, which I think is something that we're going to be addressing very shortly and something we ought to address very shortly, I want to just come forward and share an experience I had over the last week.

I'm still a pilot in the Air National Guard. That's a job I've kept while I've been in the Congress and a job I hope to continue to keep. Part of what I did last week is I actually went and worked on the border with the Air National Guard. We do an ISR--intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance--looking for people that have crossed illegally into our country and, frankly, looking for drugs and things along that line. It was a unique trip for me, because most times when Congressmen go to the border, they actually probably would go in an official capacity as a U.S. Congressman. We've all experienced these trips. You see what the administration, frankly, wants you to see. So they take you somewhere like El Paso where there's a very effective fence in place.

But where they don't take you is a place called Mac Pump. Mac Pump is in McAllen, Texas, one of the areas that I worked in my capacity as an Air National Guard pilot, and it really was actually kind of disheartening what we would see. You'd see folks cross the Rio Grande, that would stand in the United States of America. As we would call Border Patrol to come and assess the situation, they would literally step back and put their ankles in the water and at that point they are unapprehendable. And they would stare, 5 feet away from U.S. Border Patrol, and maybe a hundred yards away then another group, knowing that our Border Patrol agent was tied up, would

then cross the Rio Grande and make it free. Or they'd outlast the Border Patrol agent and then they'd step back onto U.S. territory and then the agent would come back. They'd play this cat and mouse game. It could easily be solved with a border fence. It could easily be solved with actually real border security.

This isn't border security that we're going to do because we're upset, because we're angry, but because I believe that we have to have real immigration reform in this country. Things like high-skill visas are very important, but allowing people who want an opportunity to come to the United States to do so through a legal process.

The problem that we have set up now, though, and really frankly the sad part about it is a lot of these immigrants believe that the second they set foot in the United States of America, everything's going to be good. Everything's going to be all right. And we agree. This is the greatest country in the world. The problem is once many of these immigrants step into the United States of America, their journey has just begun, because the other part of where I worked in this mission over the last week was about 50 to 100 miles inland in Texas, as we would find people hunkered down in moss, very thick brush, as they would try to wade and rely on their guides. In many cases their guides would vacate when they'd hear Border Patrol, and they'd run away from these groups of people hiding in the brush and would leave them stranded in the middle of the Texas plains without water, without food, without any knowledge of where they're going. In fact, in this sector I was working last year, there were 200 dead bodies found, and that's only a fraction of those that actually die on this journey.

So I believe that border security is important so that we can set up a situation in which those that want to come here legally can do so and can go through the legal process of living in the United States or eventually becoming a United States citizen, and we're not creating a situation in which many of these immigrants are coming and frankly losing their lives.

I've talked to Border Patrol, and the interesting thing is now I did it out of the capacity as a U.S. Congressman, although of course they knew what I did in my other job, and I said, if I could take one thing back to Washington, what would it be? And they said, if you take back one thing to Washington, tell them that even though the Secretary is saying that the border is secure, even though the administration is saying the border is secure, it is not secure. Take that back. We need more border patrol agents, we need the fence, we need the ability to do our job. They're prevented from doing legal things that are humane to apprehend in many cases folks running with dope and trying to escape, giving them the opportunity to do what they need to do.

So, Mr. Speaker, I agree with those that are saying we need immigration reform in this country, and I'm a believer in that. I believe it's time that we understand and talk about the fact that America is a nation built of immigrants. My third or fourth generation ahead of me came over from Germany. I respect that and I appreciate it, and I think it's a tradition we need to continue. But I believe the first step to real immigration reform is border security. And I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, my trip to the border for a week as a pilot in the Guard opened my eyes to the fact that we are continually exposing ourselves not just to dope and drugs being run into this country but into a potential of a terrorist attack on the United States and a weapon that was run through the border of Mexico, because it's done every day.

Mr. Speaker, if I had been able to offer an amendment to the Continuing Resolution, H.R. 933 I was prepared to offer the following: