Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life of Mr. Anderson Kambela Mazoka of Zambia who passed away yesterday at age 56 in the Morning Side Clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa. News of this great leader's death has come to us as a shock and a surprise.

Mr. Mazoka was born on March 22, 1943 in southern Zambia to Mr. Juda Mazoka and Mrs. Bertha Mazoka. His parents were teachers. They encouraged their son to excel in school, and excel he did. He was among one of the first graduates of the University of Zambia, which was founded in 1966. He worked briefly in Zambia, before he moved to the United States, where he both worked and studied.

In the early 1970s he returned to Zambia to work for Zambia Railways. In the period of 2 years he was promoted to general manager by the former president Kenneth Kaunda. His distinguished career also included acting as the managing director of South Africa's mining giant, Anglo American Corporation.

Perhaps Mr. Mazoka's greatest legacy though, was his active political life in which he fought for democratic causes and improving the lives of the poor in Zambia. As a charming and self confident man, he incited support and excitement from his followers who want so badly to see change in their country.

He ran for president of Zambia in 2001 on the platform of providing free education, free medical services and addressing poverty. Although he narrowly lost the election, he continued fighting for these causes.

Mr. Mazoka dominated opposition politics. After his narrow loss for president he remained the greatest challenger to the parliamentary majority in Zambia, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD).

He was the president of the United Party for National Development (UPND), the strongest opposition party in Zambia, which aligned with two other parties to create United Democratic Alliance (UDA). His sudden death has left a vacuum in his party and in the Democratic Alliance, a difficult blow to their cause in year where they face the first general elections since 2001.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee's niece's father, Mr. Mazoka, envisioned a better Zambia for all. As members of Congress, let us honor this man who fought for democratic causes in one of our most beautiful countries in Africa.

We offer our deepest condolences to his family. Mr. Mazoka is survived by his wife Mutinta and his three children. I join his family, friends and loved ones in saluting Mr. Mazoka for his lifelong commitment to public service and the positive impact his work has had on countless people.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership on this issue.

Opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling is not the answer to high gas prices today or to the long-term energy needs of tomorrow. The fact is, we are addicted to oil. The proponents of this bill would have you believe that the only way to cure an addict is to feed the addiction at whatever cost, regardless of the effect on the environment, wildlife, or public health. Now, as a psychiatric social worker by profession, I can tell you this is not the way you kick a habit.

The best way to fight high gas prices now is to go after the suppliers. We should hold oil companies accountable for gouging consumers at the pump. We should institute a windfall profits tax to fund immediate investments in energy efficiency, conservation, and research into clean and sustainable sources of energy.

Instead of implementing these policies 5 years ago, this administration deliberately, they deliberately chose to fatten the wallets of its cronies in the oil and gas industry to feed this addiction. Let us not make the same mistake again.

Kick the habit and vote against this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I would first like to thank the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Hobson, and the ranking member, Mr. Visclosky, for their work in putting together the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.

I also want to thank both of them for including $43.5 million in the bill to continue funding the Port of Oakland's 50-foot dredging project in my district in California, as well as for including the Army Corps of Engineers funding request for Operations and Maintenance programs in California that should provide $6.5 million for the Port.

As the fourth largest container port in the country, the Port of Oakland serves as one of our premier international trade gateways to Asia and the Pacific.

The 50-foot dredging project will underpin an $800 million expansion project funded by the Port that will improve infrastructure, expand capacity and increase efficiencies throughout the distribution chain.

Once this project is finished, an additional 8,800 jobs will be added, business revenue will increase by $1.9 billion, and local tax revenues will go up by $55.5 million. Best of all, 100 percent of the dredged materials will be reused for wetlands restoration, habitat enhancement, and upland use within the San Francisco Bay Area.

I appreciate the subcommittee's support for this project and I look forward to continuing to work with the chairman and ranking member to complete it.

Madam Speaker, today, the House considers H.R. 4681, legislation that I'm sad to say is both overbroad in its reach and misses the mark by penalizing the Palestinian people without compelling Hamas to abandon its anti-Israeli rhetoric, its rejectionist policies and its support for terror and violence.

First of all, Madam Speaker, I want to be clear: I have always and continue to unequivocally denounce and condemn any and all terrorist acts, whether committed by Hamas or any other terrorist group.

That is why I voted for S. Con. Res 79 in February which declared that that no U.S. assistance should be provided directly to the Palestinian Authority if any representative political party holding a majority of parliamentary seats within the Palestinian Authority maintains a position calling for the destruction of Israel.

My position on Hamas's responsibilities in light of its having attained a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legisltive Council, and thus its assumption of power as the governing party of the Palestinian Authority, has been clear:

Hamas must recognize Israel; Hamas must renounce violence and terrorism; Hamas must abide by previous peace agreements, like the Oslo accord, and act in accordance with the Roadmap; and

Hamas must return the Palestinians to the negotiating table with Israel, and reach the mutually agreeable peace agreement that is called for in the Roadmap and the earlier agreements.

This is Hamas's responsibility of governance. I believe the United States should do everything that it can to both insist upon and to facilitate Hamas taking up this burden of responsibility, and we should not rest until the goal of a negotiated settlement is achieved. Moreover, we should not slow the Middle East peace process by making these targets preconditions for our engagement in the process. As the assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin reminded us: I do not need to make peace with my friends.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to understand that engagement and negotiation for peace is a process not an event, and it necessarily involves the belligerents to a conflict not those whom we would aspire to put at the negotiating table.

I agree that we should not fund Hamas, but not at the expense of average Palestinians which is the end result of this legislation. Among other things, this legislation obstructs a

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to Interior appropriations bill and in support of the Putnam/Capps amendment that will be considered on the floor today.

For 25 years we have maintained a bipartisan agreement to ban any new drilling off our shores because we believed it was more important to safeguard the heath and beauty of our coastal environment for future generations to enjoy.

But now the Interior appropriations bill threatens to upset this agreement and open our coastal areas to drilling despite overwhelming opposition from the American people.

We should not be trading away our pristine coastal habitats to fatten the coffers of the administration's cronies in the oil and gas industry.

The fact of the matter is that new offshore drilling will do nothing in the short term to reduce the high gas prices that consumers are facing at pump, and will do nothing in the long term to wean us away from our addiction to oil.

The best way to fight high gas prices now is to hold oil companies accountable for gouging consumers by instituting a windfall profits tax.

At the same time, we need to make immediate investments to expand energy efficiency by raising vehicle fuel economy standards, increasing the use of renewable fuels, and by adopting a foreign policy that does not hold our constituents hostage to the latest political crisis in the Middle East.

Today our constituents are paying the price for this administration's deliberate decision to prioritize the profit margins of the oil and gas industry over a comprehensive and sustainable long term energy policy.

Vote against another giveaway to the energy industry. Support the Putnam/Capps amendment and save our coastal environments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life of Mrs. Pinkie Hardy of Eunice, Louisiana on the occasion of her 90th birthday.

Born May 19, 1916 in Washington, Louisiana, Mrs. Pinkie and her family moved to Eunice when she was just two years old. A self-educated woman, Mrs. Pinkie attended school until the seventh grade. During the years of the segregated south, African American children did not have a high school to attend in smaller communities like Eunice, and if their parents could not afford to send them to larger towns for a high school education, their schooling was limited to an elementary education. Despite this obstacle, as a girl Mrs. Pinkie developed a love for reading that has stayed with her ever since with the Bible being among her favorite things to read.

Mrs. Pinkie married Herman Hardy in 1936. Together, the couple had seven children and one stepson. They were married for 43 years until he passed away in 1979. During most of those years, Herman worked in the dry cleaning business and Mrs. Pinkie worked in food services at Charles Drew High School, which became Central Middle School when the local high schools were integrated in 1969. She continued to work there until she retired from the Louisiana school system in 1980. Mrs. Pinkie's children are now living and working in various states across the country, and many of them are now retired and pursuing second careers. She has 22 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren, and has always encouraged and stressed the importance of education and independence to all her children and grandchildren.

Mrs. Pinkie was and still is active in her church and community. A devout Catholic, she was one of the first Eucharistic Ministers in Eunice, and in 2002 received the Bishop's Medal from the Diocese of Lafayette for her achievements. She also served as State Deputy for the Knights of Peter Claver Ladies' Auxiliary, and was honored with an award for 50 years of service. In 1987, Mrs. Pinkie was presented with the Martin Luther King Jr. Award and in 1990, she was honored as Mother of the Year. Furthermore, in February 2005, she was presented with the ``Woman Who Made a Difference'' Award from he National Association of University Women. In addition, she has served as President of the Legion of Mary and St. Mathilda School Parent Teacher Association.

In her lifetime, Mrs. Pinkie has witnessed and made a great deal of history, living through some of the most tumultuous periods in our country's history, particularly in the years before and during the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout that time she has been a leader in her community and her family, providing wisdom and direction to all who know her.

One of her sons is married to my sister, so I know firsthand what a strong, caring, unique and inspirational woman Mrs. Pinkie is. As the leader and matriarch of her family, Mrs. Pinkie is who everybody turns to. She is the voice of reason and compassion for all her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, relatives, her church community and her friends, and continues to be a bright light we all look to for guidance.

Today, the friends and family of Mrs. Pinkie Hardy come together to celebrate the 90 incredible years during which we have been blessed to have her in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. On this very special day, I join all of them and the entire Eunice community in congratulating Mrs. Pinkie on this wonderful occasion, and in saluting her for her many years of service, leadership and dedication to helping others in her family and her community.

Mr. Chairman, thank you for yielding, and I want to enter into a colloquy with the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Walsh.

I want to thank the gentleman for his hard work on this bill and also for his dedication to our brave young men and women serving abroad. I come to the floor today to raise an issue that I know is very important to all of us, as well as to you, Mr. Chairman, on the issue of the mental health of our troops who are deployed in harm's way.

An investigative report this week by the Hartford Courant, based on records obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request, revealed, and I quote: ``United States military troops with severe psychological problems were sent to Iraq or kept in combat even when superiors had been aware of signs of mental illness.''

We all know that going to war can be psychologically very difficult, yet it was found that less than one in 300 troops received a referral to mental health professionals before being sent to war. Still, the Pentagon's own physicians have estimated that one in 11 troops going into conflict suffer from some form of major depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

The 1998 Defense Authorization Act included explicit direction to the Defense Department to include an assessment of mental health in its medical tracking system for troops deployed overseas. However, the Department's predeployment health assessment form has only one question on mental health.

Mr. Chairman, I believe this is a disservice to our troops, and I understand that there is additional money for the military services to begin to integrate mandatory mental health services into the standard operating procedures for our soldiers. I support the chairman in that effort, and I look forward to working with him on the initial assessment of mental health for troops being deployed and to ensure that the intent of the 1998 law is fully implemented.

I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Let me just thank the gentleman for his attention to this issue, and I look forward to working with him and the ranking member to be ensure it is moved forward and is addressed as he just stated.

Mr. Speaker, the Bush administration failed the people of the Gulf Coast before Hurricane Katrina and continues to fail them today.

Now, people who were abandoned and left to fend for themselves are about to get kicked to the curb again.

First, we had to fight and force FEMA to allow survivors to temporarily stay in hotels and motels. Now, survivors may be on the streets again.

On May 31, 55,000 displaced families could lose emergency shelter assistance, even though it was promised to them for at least a year.

FEMA says that these families are supposed to apply for a different kind of assistance, yet four out of five applicants reportedly are being turned down. Those who do receive assistance have to reapply every 3 months. Why are we messing with these people who deserve to be treated better by their own government?

FEMA has failed to submit its plan for permanent transitional housing for Congress, which was due in January. Instead of assistance, they have offered incompetence. In the place of aid, they have offered nothing but bureaucracy.

Why in the world are we adding insult to injury? Katrina survivors deserve better.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the bipartisan Arts' Caucus amendment that would fully fund the National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, NEH.

I Would like to especially thank co-chairs of the Arts Caucus and the authors of the amendment--the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays)--for their leadership on this issue.

In my district, the 9th congressional district of California, more than 10,000 people are employed in arts related jobs. They play an integral role in building and sustaining our local economy.

The AXIS Dance Company, an NEA grants recipient in Oakland California, is just one example of an organization in my community that relies on these funds to sustain their programs.

The AXIS Company includes dancers with and without disabilities. Thanks to an NEA Access to Artistic Excellence Grant, the company launched their first-ever Summer Intensive session last year.

As Judith Smith, the companies' artistic director, explains: ``By presenting dance that includes dancers with and without disabilities we show youth what is possible when people with differences collaborate. . . . Ultimately it helps them see that they can do and accomplish whatever they set their mind to. This is the beauty of art.''

The AXIS Company is but one example; nationally there are 548,000 arts-related businesses, but it is impossible to count how many lives are impacted by their services. The facts speak for themselves--if you cut arts funding, you cut jobs and opportunities for all.

Mr. Chairman, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the Arts' Caucus bipartisan amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the interior appropriations bill and in support of the Putnam/Capps amendment.

For 25 years we have maintained a bipartisan agreement to ban any new drilling off our shores because we believed it was more important to safeguard the health and beauty of our coastal environment for future generations to enjoy.

But now the interior appropriations bill threatens to upset this agreement and open our coastal areas to drilling despite overwhelming opposition from the American people.

We should not be trading away our pristine coastal habitats to fatten the coffers of the administration's cronies in the oil and gas industry.

The fact of the matter is that new offshore drilling will do nothing in the short term to reduce the high gas prices that consumers are facing at the pump, and will do nothing in the long term to wean us away from our addiction to oil.

The best way to fight high gas prices now is to hold oil companies accountable for gouging consumers by instituting a windfall profits tax.

At the same time, we need to make immediate investments to expand energy efficiency by raising vehicle fuel economy standards, increasing the use of renewable fuels, and by adopting a foreign policy that does not hold our constituents hostage to the latest political crisis in the Middle East.

Today our constituents are paying the price for this administration's deliberate decision to prioritize the profit margins of the oil and gas industry over a comprehensive and sustainable long term energy policy.

Vote against another giveaway to the energy industry. Support the Putnam/Capps amendment and save our coastal environments.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Congressional Black Caucus budget and in opposition to the Republican budget.

The Republican budget falls short on every account, especially when it comes to our defense priorities. The CBC budget reallocates $9.4 billion from an unworkable missile defense program and puts it into real security priorities like making sure that our troops have enough body armor, like ensuring that our veterans have enough access to benefits, and like securing our ports.

This substitute takes a first step at combating the enormous problems of waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon. GAO has concluded that one- third of the recommendations made to DOD on waste, fraud and abuse in the last 5 years has saved $40.8 billion by implementing them. Imagine how much would be saved and put into education, into health care, into job creation, into creating a liveable world for our communities here in America and abroad, if, in fact, the rest of these recommendations are implemented.

This substitute would require the Defense Department to work on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse immediately. Our national security priorities are taken very seriously in this budget. Let us support the Congressional Black Caucus budget.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to join my colleagues here in the Congressional Black Caucus, throughout the United States and across the globe in commemorating and honoring the extraordinary life of Damu Smith. A leader in the ongoing struggles for civil rights as well as social and environmental justice for more than 30 years, Damu is known worldwide for his lifelong commitment to advancing equality, human rights and nonviolence. Damu passed away on May 5, 2006 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Born in 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri to Sylvester and Vernice Smith, Damu was raised with his three brothers and sisters in the Carr Square Village housing project. A working-class family, they often struggled to make ends meet, sometimes receiving welfare or other government assistance. Damu has said that having this experience growing up developed in him a great sensitivity to the plight of low-income communities, and played a central role in shaping his views as an adult and as an activist.

As a high school student, Damu had the chance to attend some of the Black Solidarity Day rallies in Cairo, Illinois, where he listened to speeches by Amiri Baraka, Nina Simone and Jesse Jackson, and toured black neighborhoods where white supremacists had sprayed houses with gunfire, a sight that changed his life. As a freshman at St. John's University in Minnesota, and president of the Organization of Afro- American Students, Damu led a protest and takeover of the school's administrative offices to demand a Black studies program. It was during that time that he changed his name to Damu Amiri Imara Smith, the first three words meaning ``blood,'' ``leadership,'' and ``strength'' in Swahili, respectively. In 1973, he moved to Washington D.C., where he began the next chapter in his lifelong mission of advocating for social justice in the United States and abroad.

Over the next thirty years, Damu's activism included vigilance in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa as Executive Director of the Washington Office on Africa and co-founder of Artists for a Free South Africa. Additionally, Damu focused his energy and attention on broad- based efforts to expose gun violence and police brutality, and was also active in peace and nuclear weapons freeze campaigns, working as the Associate Director of the Washington Office of the American Friends Service Committee.

Furthermore, Damu was known for his pioneering leadership in the environmental justice movement, working as the first environmental justice coordinator for the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice. After touring cities severely impacted by chemical pollution and seeing the devastating impacts of these practices on low income and African American communities, he organized Toxic Tours in the South for Greenpeace. In 1999, he coordinated the largest environmental justice conference ever held, an event which led to the formation of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, which was the first ever network of Black environmental justice activists, and of which he served as the Executive Director.

Throughout his historic and far-reaching career of activism and advocacy, Damu was widely respected and viewed as a leading voice for social justice and progressive change in the United States and abroad. Revered by his colleagues and all who knew him as not just a leader but a true visionary in the fight for justice, peace and equality, Damu's contributions to the effort to affect genuinely democratic reforms in the United States and around the world are truly immeasurable.

My life was personally touched by Damu. I met him many years ago and his intellect, heart and soul brought joy and clarity to my life. Like all who knew and loved him, I will deeply miss his presence on this earth.

Though his death is a great loss to our country and to our entire global family, the legacy of his work will continue to improve countless lives for generations to come. My thoughts and prayers are with Damu's family, as well as the numerous friends, colleagues and other individuals that he inspired during his lifetime as we mourn the loss of this exemplary leader.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. I would like to thank Congressman Honda and the Asian Pacific American Caucus for organizing a special order tonight to honor Asian Pacific Americans and the great contributions they have made to our Nation. I would also like to say that I am very proud to be a member of the Tri-Caucus, which unites the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus. Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe in the importance of honoring all of our country's unique cultures, and it is truly a privilege to participate in this special order.

Asian Pacific Americans have played a tremendous role in the development of our Nation. I would first like to acknowledge the late Congresswoman Patsy Takemoto Mink, our first woman of color to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was a trailblazer for Asian Pacific Americans, and it is wonderful to see that her impact is still felt and that her legacy continues.

As Representative of California's Ninth U.S. Congressional District, APA Heritage month is especially important to me. Asian and Pacific Island American culture has a very large impact in the cities of my district.

My district is the birthplace of Amy Tan, a Chinese-American woman and New York Times bestselling author best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club, and it's subsequent film adaptation. She has received countless acknowledgments including the Bay Area Book Reviewer's Award. Today, Ms. Tan's novels and short stories are a part of high schools and universities' literary curricula nationwide.

My district is also the birthplace of Fred Korematsu, born in Oakland to Japanese immigrants, who challenged the World War II internment of Japanese American citizens. As an American citizen Mr. Korematsu refused to go to an internment camp, but he was arrested, sent to one in 1942 and branded a spy by newspapers. He opposed the internment policy in the Supreme Court, but in its ignoble 1944 decision the Supreme Court upheld the policy. In 1983 Mr. Korematsu appealed his conviction, which a Federal court overturned acknowledging that the Government's case at the time had been based on misleading and racially biased information. President Bill Clinton awarded Mr. Korematsu the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998, honoring Mr. Korematsu for fighting for human rights and ensuring the very liberties that created this great Nation.

Today, the legacy of Asian Pacific American leaders such as Ms. Tan and Mr. Korematsu is apparent in the numerous remarkable programs and initiatives in APA communities throughout my district. There are several that I would like to recognize, including Oakland Asian Students Educational Services also known as OASES. As the city of Oakland is one of three cities in the Bay Area that has the lowest high school graduation rates for Asian students, this organization works to decrease cultural gaps in education. OASES reaches out to all youth with limited resources and limited educational opportunities, particularly children of Asian Pacific Islander families.

I would also like to recognize the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. This center works by employing the belief that upholding cultural tradition and honoring cultural heritage are at the core of maintaining healthy and lively communities. The center presents a variety of cultural festivities and artistic expression in dance, literature, music and visual arts. The center is an excellent resource for understanding the legacy of Asian and Pacific Island Americans and their great influence on the cultural identities of our communities.

My district is also home to several of the nation's leading health care providers for APA communities. Asian Community Mental Health Services, for example, is an organization that offers access to and increases community acceptance of mental healthcare, which in many APA communities remains taboo. Asian Health Services is another organization that works to ensure that members of APA communities can overcome challenges to obtaining high-quality, affordable healthcare due to language barriers, income, lack of insurance coverage and cultural differences.

Lastly, I would like to bring special attention to Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (ACRJ) and its Executive Director, Ms. Eveline Shen. Founded in 1989, ACRJ has been a longtime leader in ensuring that APA women and girls are equipped with the tools to make important decisions about their reproductive health. Under the leadership of Ms. Shen, ACRJ places reproductive health and freedom at the center of promoting social and economic freedom for APA women in the shadows of patriarchal cultures. During her nearly two decades of community organizing and eight years at ACRJ, Ms. Shen has become a leader in building a social justice movement in APA communities, which is one of the fastest growing constituencies in California and in my district. I commend Ms. Shen and ACRJ's dedication to assisting APA women to obtain the American promise of ``liberty and justice for all.''

As our Nation is home to so many people from all over the world, it is important that we continue to bring attention to the issues that affect all communities. It is our responsibility to ensure that no one is ignored and that equal attention is given to all groups. It is also our duty to seek justice for those who are underrepresented. And, lastly, it is our privilege to come together to celebrate the accomplishments of the many leaders throughout Ameican history, who have embodied excellence in advancing the principles of democracy, freedom and justice for all of our communities and strengthening the foundation of America.

Mr. Speaker, again I would like to thank Mr. Honda and the APA Caucus for inviting me to participate in this special order. Let us continue to unite, pay tribute to Asian Pacific Americans and remember the importance their outstanding contributions to our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4297. This legislation would give big benefits to millionaires, billionaires and giant corporations while the average American suffers under record high energy costs and again gets stuck with the bill.

Mr. Speaker, we should not increase the burden on our children and our grandchildren with this administration's record deficits just to make another 70 billion dollar gift that will line the pockets of the wealthiest few. Let's not extend tax rates that would encourage oil company executives to continue gouging record profits from every hard working American.

Mr. Speaker, we need to rethink our priorities. Instead of another 70 billion dollars for the super rich, why not provide health care for millions of children, provide housing for the neglected victims of Katrina or improve the education of the countless students that this administration has left so far behind? Is this Republican Congress so busy returning profits to the wealthy, that it has forgotten the families who have done all the hard work?

I encourage members to remember the American families that are the back bone of our nation and our economy and vote ``no'' on this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 4954, the SAFE Port Act, and I want to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for their work on this bill, as well as my colleagues from California Mr. Lungren, Ms. Harman, and Ms. Loretta Sanchez.

As a member of the Port Security Caucus and as an original co-sponsor of this legislation I have been consistently fighting for a massive increase in funding and focus to secure our Nation's ports.

The fact of the matter is that over the last 4 years we have done far too little to secure our Nation's ports.

Since 2002 we have barely spent $700 million on port security grants throughout the country even though our ports have already identified and applied for over $3.8 billion worth of security improvements and even though the Coast Guard estimates that at least $5.4 billion is needed through 2010.

Instead of spending $320 billion to mislead us into a war in Iraq, the administration could have hired nearly 5 million inspectors to ensure that all cargo that enters our country is inspected.

This year this administration has even proposed to roll all critical infrastructure security grants into one pool, forcing ports, rail and other critical infrastructure to compete for scarce security dollars. That just doesn't make any sense.

The SAFE Port Act rejects the administration's wrongheaded proposal and increases the authorization for port security funding to $400 million per year.

Although this bill does make a number of very good steps in the right direction to secure our ports, I am disappointed that it does not go far enough to screen foreign cargo before it enters U.S. ports.

If we had adopted the Markey-Nadler amendment requiring 100 percent container scanning prior to shipment from foreign ports, we could have ensured that any potential threat would be identified and dealt with before it entered the United States.

If even one incident occurs that compromises a single container of a known shipper, our current screening system will fall apart. Mr. Chairman, I believe that 100 percent screening is our only option because in this day and age we cannot afford the risk of even one incident.

But we haven't even been given the option to vote on the Markey- Nadler amendment.

I'm also disappointed that the bill does not contain enough funding for the Coast Guard's deepwater program, or the radiation portal monitoring program that was first successfully launched at the Port of Oakland in my district last year.

We can and we must increase funding for both these programs and provide a comprehensive and integrated approach to port security that includes 100 percent screening. Until we do so, our job remains unfinished.