Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Conyers and Chairman Thompson and Chairman Oberstar for working with me to draft this legislation. The staff has been extremely helpful, and I'm very pleased with the outcome of this bill.

The Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act would provide all levels of law enforcement with the tools they need to detain those who knowingly bring illegal aliens into our country.

Additionally, it would provide prosecutors and judges with clear proof and sentencing guidelines. The bill also significantly enhances penalties for illegal alien smuggling. The crime is raised from a misdemeanor to a felony under this bill.

It is estimated that there are currently more than 20 million illegal immigrants in this country. The cost of illegal immigration to our health care system, public education system, prison system and social services continues to rise without any sign of stopping or slowing.

We must reform our immigration system to make it more efficient and effective. This bill is the first step towards doing so.

It concentrates on easing the job of law enforcement, and it is my hope that this bill will act as a deterrent for illegal-alien smugglers.

In addition to this bill, Congress must enact tough, comprehensive immigration reform that does not award illegal aliens with amnesty. We need to make sure that employers who hire illegal aliens are punished, and we need to strengthen our border security.

At the same time, however, we must remember that legal immigration has served America well. America was built by hardworking people from all over the world. Many of them played by the rules and prospered while helping to build a stronger America, and our national immigration policies must reflect this reality. As long as immigrants enter our country legally, abide by our laws, and work hard to strengthen our communities, I believe they have a right to live in this Nation.

But the personal safety and well-being of all citizens, as well as the security of U.S. jobs, are my chief concern. Therefore, I strongly urge passage of H.R. 2399, the Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act.

Mr. Speaker, later today we will consider reauthorizing the COPS program for another 6 years. It is fitting that the House will take up this bill during National Police Week. I hope our law enforcement community regards this bill and this week as recognition of our thanks for keeping us safe and protected. We appreciate their work and sacrifices immensely. Reauthorizing the COPS program is very important to our State and local law enforcement, as the program provides grants directly to them. My district has received nearly $11 million in COPS grants over the past decade and a half, and it is extremely important that this program continues. This money has helped and will help keep Hoosiers in the Ninth District safe by ensuring a greater law enforcement presence on our streets back home and combating violent crime such as meth trafficking and usage. I fully support reauthorizing COPS and thank our law enforcement for all the sacrifices they make day in and day out.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to enter into a colloquy with the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. Leader, the minority side has been talking about PAYGO rules and that somehow we have violated them. They sound very convincing. And as you know, the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition are also strong supporters of the PAYGO rule, as are all members of our Democratic Caucus. This pay-as-you-go rule was an important step in restoring fiscal discipline in Congress. The Members of the Blue Dog Coalition believe it is important that the House comply with this rule.

Can you explain how this bill complies with PAYGO and specifically, for the benefit of the Members on both sides, I ask, will the PAYGO rule that we established in January be fulfilled when the House completes action on the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act?

I will yield.

Thank you, Mr. Leader. Let me try to put it in perspective, then. If I am in southern Indiana and I am driving from New Albany to Seymour, the direct route is on I-65, but if I go to Bloomington to Seymour, it is a longer route, but I still get to Seymour.

Mr. Speaker, today, I had the opportunity to introduce, I think, a very important bill. And for those who are listening in your offices, I hope other Members of Congress who have not gone home yet will take the opportunity to review this bill and join me as a co- author of the bill.

During the campaign last year, there were many issues that we talked about: energy independence, health care, the Nation's budget. But one that emerged as a very, very important issue was the issue of ethics in the House of Representatives.

People were very disturbed at all the scandals that were going on in this great body, and they told me over and over and over again that Congress needed to clean up its act. And they are right. We did. And we do.

It pains me that the American public does not have a whole lot of faith in this institution because I love the House of Representatives. It is indeed an honor and privilege for me to serve in this great Chamber. In spite of all the arguments that we have here, democracy works.

I remember, Mr. Speaker, that Dick Gephardt once told me that the arguments that we have here in this great body is a replacement for war. And that, in fact, is the case. This system, even while it gets ugly at times, is a great system that we have in this great country. We love our country and we love our government because the government is here to serve the people. And when it doesn't act right, we need to do something about it. We need to restore the confidence of the House of Representatives back to the people of the United States. And in that I introduced a bill to try to restore that confidence again by the American people.

This bill that I have introduced will replace the present Ethics Committee as we know it today. Right now, the Ethics Committee consists of sitting Members of Congress, and it is very difficult for colleagues to investigate fellow colleagues. It is just naturally very difficult. This bill will replace that committee system with former Members of Congress who are not lobbyists, giving people like, let's say, Lee Hamilton an opportunity to serve in this capacity, who can kind of take a step away from the Members and do the investigations that have to be done so that we can restore honor and integrity to this great body.

I think it is a good idea. I have talked to several Members and already have several Members who have become co-authors with me on this important piece of legislation.

There will be six members appointed by the Speaker on the Democratic side and six members appointed by the Republicans, by the majority leader, on their side. They will serve for no longer than three terms. But they will have the opportunity to do the job that sitting Members cannot do. So I think it is a very important piece of legislation.

We need to make sure that the people who are on this committee have institutional knowledge of this great body. And as former Members who are not lobbyists, they have that institutional knowledge to do the work that has to be done, which is so difficult to be done now.

So I hope those who are listening on their television sets and their offices

here in Washington, DC will take the opportunity to call my office to get on this bill and start the process of restoring confidence and integrity to the House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, the stay-the-course strategy in Iraq has failed. The war in Iraq is entering its fifth year, longer than U.S. involvement in World War I and World War II. It is time to stop the open-ended commitment there. It is time for the Government of Iraq to take responsibility for their own security. It is time to start the process of bringing our troops home. It is time to refocus our military efforts to combat terrorism. It is time to send a clear message that Congress will no longer provide a blank check to fund this war. It is time to pass the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act.

Supporting this bill supports the troops before, during, and after they are deployed. This bill enforces the Department of Defense's current standards for military readiness and provides $2.5 billion in additional funding to ensure that our troops are properly equipped and trained; it provides $1.7 billion in additional funding for health care for our troops, and another $1.7 billion to ensure our veterans receive the care they need and that they deserve. We must support our troops in the theater and when they come home.

This bill is tough on terrorism, tougher than the President's current plan that pays little attention to the war in Afghanistan. It adds $1 billion to the Department of Defense efforts there. We have lost our focus in the war on terror. We must redirect our military efforts on thwarting terrorism in Afghanistan and eliminating al Qaeda. This bill does that.

The current strategy has not worked largely because the Iraqi leadership has no real motivation to make it work. This bill holds both the President and the Iraqi Government accountable by ensuring that real progress is made. It is time to turn over the control of Iraq to their people.

Our troops have done their part, and they have done it magnificently. The American people have done their part as well by giving us their sons and daughters who ousted Saddam Hussein. With the cost of this war approaching one-half trillion dollars, it is time for the people of Iraq to spend their dollars, supply their troops, and setting their differences. The destiny of Iraq is now in Iraqi hands.

Madam Speaker, this week the House Budget Committee will mark up its fiscal year 2008 budget. After 6 years of fiscal recklessness, the Democratic budget will actually aim to balance in 2012, something that Republican budgets have been unable to achieve over the last 6 years.

It is important that the American people remember how we got to where we are today. In 2001, President Bush inherited a $5.6 trillion surplus, but over the next 6 years, with help from Congress, the President turned that surplus into a $2.8 trillion deficit.

Congress has been so fiscally irresponsible that President Bush has borrowed more money from other nations than all 42 of his predecessors combined.

This is not a fiscal record to be proud of. The President's attempt to finesse his budget has been uncovered by a nonpartisan CBO that concludes the President's budget does not reach balance in 5 years.

Madam Speaker, Democrats have a different set of priorities, and ours begin with actually aiming to balance the budget for the first time in 6 years.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this legislation as well. I applaud the authors and the coauthors for introducing it.

Southern Indiana has the same problem that all communities across the country are having with sewer repairs, and it is good to see that this bipartisan piece of legislation is probably going to pass.

You know, the last time I was home, I was talking to a fellow in one town in southern Indiana that actually had to wear boots in order to mow his lawn in the summertime because of the sewage that was bubbling up.

The city of New Albany, which is right along the Ohio River, is probably going to spend half of its budget revenue on fixing their sewers.

The Environmental Protection Agency approximates that each year combined sewer overflows discharge about 850 billion gallons of wastewater and storm water containing untreated wastes, toxic debris and other pollutants.

Not only New Albany, but other towns in southern Indiana, like Huntingburg, Rockport and Milltown in southern Indiana are having trouble paying for their higher sewer rates; and although they depend on sewer maintenance and repair for economic growth, not to mention basic sanitation issues, rural communities like these sometimes have difficulty with funding these types of projects because they are so small.

Mr. Chairman, in 2005, there were nearly 400 documented sewer overthrows throughout Indiana's Ninth District. I think we can do a lot better than that. That is why I am happy that the House is addressing this issue today. It is time to step up and assist communities in need.

The Water Quality Investment Act would greatly assist communities all over America and in my district to improve water quality and control sewer overflow by authorizing $1.5 billion in grants to communities over the next 5 years. These communities can use these funds to construct treatment facilities and update aging sewers to deal with the sewer overflows.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and rise in bipartisan support. Hopefully, it will pass.

Mr. Speaker, our brave men and women in Iraq have answered every call, accomplished every task, won every battle. Our brave men and women in Iraq have fought valiantly. They have executed their mission with quiet dignity and with honor that is worthy of our praise.

In looking back at all that our military has done, there has been no task that these brave men and women have not accomplished. They have risen to every occasion. However, we are not here today just to applaud our troops' performance. We are here today to ask if the surge direction that the President is taking us is the right direction for these brave troops. Is it the right direction for our country, and is it the right direction for the people of Iraq? The answer is unequivocally ``no.''

For the last 4 years of this conflict, the President has relied on the judgment of his military to execute this war and to follow their advice. Now at this critical hour, he has chosen to ignore their expertise and advice. The Joint Chiefs have unanimously disagreed with the surge.

General James Conway, commander of the Marine Corps, is quoted as saying, ``We do not believe that just adding numbers for the sake of adding numbers, just thickening the mix, is necessarily the way to go.''

General John Abizaid has met with every divisional commander and asked, ``If we were to bring more American troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success?'' They all said ``no.''

General Colin Powell has said the surge will not work. General Wesley Clark, Ambassador Holbrooke, Oliver North, Michael Vicker, Lawrence Corb, Richard Haas, have all said the surge will not work. And the list goes on and on and on.

Why does the President, Mr. Speaker, choose to ignore expert after expert, soldier after soldier, who say the surge will not work? Even General Petraeus has said, and I quote, ``The way ahead will be neither quick nor easy, and undoubtedly there will be tough days. We have a determined, adaptive barbaric enemy. He will try to wait us out. Any such endeavor is a test of wills and there are no guarantees.''

Mr. Speaker, former Secretary of State James Baker has said, ``There is no magic bullet to solve the problem of Iraq. No single answer. No quick fix.'' From this microphone over the last 2 days, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have tried to frame this debate about success and failure in Iraq.

That debate is for another day. Today and tomorrow, the debate is about the wisdom or the lack of wisdom for the surge. The President and the members of his party today need to listen to the experts who they have relied upon in the past. To do otherwise, casts doubts about who the President is listening to.

Mr. Speaker, I firmly believe that this surge in the troops is the wrong policy at the wrong time, in the wrong war. The actions that need to be taken to help the Iraqi people and ultimately bring our brave men and women home safely is not as simple as rushing more troops to the front lines.

Mr. Speaker, a while ago I heard my good friend and colleague from Indiana speak about how the Iraq Study Group actually said that a surge is something that probably is necessary.

But there is more to the story than just a military surge. They also recommended that there has to be economic surge, and diplomatic surges, not just military. I talked to one of the Iraq study members just yesterday, who told me that a military surge by itself will not work.

The military has done all it can do, and they have done it very well. Now is the time to move in a different direction, Mr. Speaker. Vote for this resolution. Vote ``no'' to the surge.

Mr. Speaker, the President's budget serves as a blueprint as to what his priorities will be for the upcoming year.

At a time when our economy is becoming increasingly competitive, it is essential that we fully fund education programs across the board. Unfortunately, education is not prioritized in the President's budget.

Funding for No Child Left Behind remains about $15 billion below the level promised when the bill was first signed into law in 2001. How can we hold our schools accountable when the President refuses to provide the funds needed to improve many of these schools?

The President finally makes good on a 6-year-old promise to increase the amount of money given to low-income students through the Pell Grant program, but it comes at a price. The President proposes recalling all Perkins loans and eliminating nine other higher education assistance programs.

At a time when college is becoming more out of reach for many Americans, we should be looking to strengthen all college assistance programs so more high school seniors have a chance to attend.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats, this one included, will once again make education a priority for our Nation's students.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Gordon for introducing this important piece of legislation, the Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act.

In my home State of Indiana and throughout our country, meth labs are a growing problem, and we all know this. In Jackson County, Indiana, where I grew up and raised my family, 64 meth labs were found there in 2003. That was the fourth highest total in the State.

These meth labs pose a serious threat to the safety and physical well-being of communities and particularly our Nation's children. This bill will provide States with specific guidelines and advice on the most effective way to decontaminate a meth lab. In addition, this bill will also help keep our local law enforcement safe during a meth lab cleanup.

I would like to thank our law enforcement agents who I have had many, many conversations with about this growing problem in America and Indiana. I want to thank them for working to dramatically lower the number of meth labs in Indiana to fewer than 1,000 for the first time since 2002. We need to continue to support our local law enforcement and give them the knowledge and tools they need to make sure our communities stay safe.

Mr. Speaker, I was in my office just a few minutes ago watching, doing my work in my office, but I caught my colleagues talking about the victorious Indianapolis Colts, and I couldn't resist coming down here. I don't have any prepared remarks, but I want to come to the floor today to also extend my congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts.

My wife and my three daughters had the opportunity to see the Colts win the AFC championship at Indianapolis. And at the time, I thought it was good enough that we just made it to the Super Bowl. But that wasn't good enough for Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison and the rest of the Colts and Tony Dungy. They wanted the ring. And they stepped up to the plate and took it to another level. And I watched in amazement how they held steady when the chips were down, especially when they were playing against the Patriots, and how they held steady when the Chicago Bears scored that touchdown right off the bat. They didn't panic. They showed true leadership, and I am so proud of the Colts, and I am proud of the fact that I had the opportunity to extend congratulations to them.

I think Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning are the best one-two punch in the history of the NFL. These two players are magnificent athletes, but they are also magnificent human beings in who they are and how they lead. And I couldn't be more happy.

I also have to say something about the Chicago Bears. They are a great football team. We beat a great football team. And Rex Grossman, who is the quarterback of that team, has caught a lot of heat recently for what he did. But he took the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl, and that is a feat in itself.

And I single him out because I believe it was his dad or his uncle that I actually played football against in Bloomington, Indiana, where Rex Grossman actually is. So I consider him a constituent. Bloomington is in my district. It is great to applaud him for his accomplishments. I applaud the Chicago Bears, and I applaud the Indianapolis Colts for all the good things that they have done for the State of Indiana.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate St. Bartholomew Catholic School in Columbus, Indiana for receiving the Department of Education's 2006 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School Award.

St. Bartholomew Catholic School is among only 250 schools in the Nation to receive the Blue Ribbon School Award, and 1 of 14 schools in Indiana honored with the award. The award recognizes the high academic achievements of the students.

The Blue Ribbon School Award is a testament to the hard work and dedication demonstrated by the students, parents, teachers, and administrators of St. Bartholomew Catholic School, including its Principal Kathy Schubel. This school has become a model for other Indiana schools for its academic excellence.

It is my honor and privilege to recognize St. Bartholomew Catholic School for its outstanding achievement in preparing our Hoosier children for their future opportunities. I urge St. Bartholomew Catholic School to continue to be a shining example of superior leadership, and continue its commitment to excellence in education.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6. When I was campaigning last year back in Indiana, people found it incredible that while they were paying $3 a gallon for gasoline Congress was giving the oil companies a tax cut. They wanted change because of those kinds of things that Congress was doing.

Well, today, they are going to get their change. Instead of giving tax cuts to oil companies we are going to pour those resources into renewable energy.

My home State of Indiana boasts two premier research universities, Indiana University and Purdue University. Both of these schools have renowned research labs that study a wide range of topics, including alternative energy creation and use.

Indiana has a lot to contribute to the field of alternative energy. My constituents are very involved in biodiesel oil production. It is important to remember this source of alternative energy, as well as ethanol and hydrogen when deciding what types of initiatives to support with the new clean energy fund.

I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill that will help make the United States truly energy independent.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and I thank you for waiting for 12 years to sit in the Speaker's chair. I also thank you for the opportunity to speak on an issue that I think is one of the most important actions we can take for the American people.

I am a proud member of the Blue Dog Coalition. I have been advocating, along with my colleagues in the Blue Dogs for years that the House implement rules that ensure that the Federal Government's expenditures equal its revenues, otherwise known as PAYGO.

PAYGO rules will not only help us rein in out-of-control spending that has led to record deficits, but they will also help us clearly outline our country's priorities.

Including PAYGO rules as part of the House rules package is a great first step. And I, along with my Blue Dog colleagues, will work with leadership to ensure that they are followed. However, it is a first step. We must also work together to enact statutory rules for PAYGO as well as discretionary spending limits.

Madam Speaker, thank you again for this opportunity for the House and the country to get its spending in check.

Mr. Speaker, Alexander Hamilton once said, ``Here, sir, the people govern.'' These words grace the entrance to the House of Representatives to remind us of the promise of our representative democracy. The Founders of this nation understood that a free society must rely on the knowledge, skills, and virtue of its citizens and those serving in public office on their behalf. That is why civic education in our schools is so important. In my state of Indiana, and throughout the nation, I am pleased to learn that a proactive effort has recently been initiated to improve civic learning and instruction.

On September 20-22 of last year the First Annual Congressional Conference on Civic Education was launched. The conference was sponsored by the Alliance for Representative Democracy and co-hosted by the four leaders of the U.S. Congress.

One of the very positive outcomes of the congressional conference was the establishment of state delegations that would return to the state to enact specific policies designed to restore the civic mission of our schools. I would like to recognize John J. Patrick, the facilitator of the Indiana delegation, for leadership in working to design an action plan to improve civic education in our state. These state activities include: (1) organizing conferences for professors of Indiana colleges and universities to emphasize civic education in the preparation of teachers; (2) producing reports about exemplary practices of civic education; (3) supporting programs to improve teaching and learning about the United States Constitution in schools, and (4) building a network of organizations and individuals to promote civic education in Indiana.

Mr. Speaker. I look forward to the success of the Indiana civic education delegation and their participation at the Second Annual Congressional Conference on Civic Education on December 4-6 of this year.