Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate all that the gentleman from Arkansas is doing to bring these issues to the forefront, to the American people, because I believe they are extremely important and I know all Members of the Blue Dog Coalition believe that accountability and responsibility to the people of our Nation is of the utmost importance.

Mr. Speaker, the President sent a $2.9 trillion budget to Congress yesterday. That is quite a lot of money. And you would think that among those trillions of hard-earned tax dollars the President would find resources for the most essential services like education for our kids and health care for our veterans. But, once again, those who need our help the most are the very people who have been pushed aside.

If we follow this budget, Medicaid and Medicare will be cut by $101 billion over the next 5 years; health care for our veterans will be slashed by $3.5 billion over 5 years; Perkins loan funds for our college students will be recalled; and No Child Left Behind will be underfunded by some $15 billion. The President, in addition, would have us cut State preparedness training programs and firefighter and law enforcement grants, depriving our first responders of the funds necessary to operate in this post-9/11 world.

These policies make no sense. They rob our children of opportunity, make our communities less safe, and dishonor those who have sacrificed while wearing our Nation's uniform. I could understand some of these cuts if they were being made in the name of fiscal responsibility, but they are not.

If we were truly making an effort to reduce our public debt, I could, and I believe the American people could, accept some pain. Because the cause that we would be fighting in that case would be a good one, and it would be about our future.

But that is not the case. This budget is not trying to reduce the debt. The President's budget will drag us even deeper into debt, to the tune of $3.2 trillion over the next 10 years. Trillion. That is a lot of money. Burdening future generations with mountains of debt, not of their own making.

Mr. Speaker, when I talk with my constituents back home in communities rich in values and common sense, they ask me a simple question over and over again.

Where is their tax money going?

If we are cutting all of these programs, yet going deeper into debt, what value are we getting for our tax dollar?

We owe it to our constituents to answer these questions. And it starts with ending the black hole of waste, fraud and abuse that is plaguing our reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

Here are the facts: we have already budgeted some $108 billion on reconstruction. Yet, the Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction is telling us that we haven't come close to recovering the level of basic services that Iraqis enjoyed under Saddam Hussein.

Here is the return Americans are getting on their over $100 billion tax investment: only 25 percent of Iraqis have access to clean water; access to modern sewer facilities remains an incredible problem for most Iraqi families; Iraqis now have electricity for only 4.3 hours per day; and oil production is down almost one million barrels a day since the levels before the war.

How long are we going to let this farce continue?

We can argue all day about spending priorities. But can we not at least agree to make sure that our tax dollars are being efficiently spent to accomplish good? Because right now the only thing I see these tax dollars are doing efficiently is lining the pockets of government contractors.

How many reports of jobs being billed that were never authorized; jobs being started without permission; individuals admitting to stealing millions of reconstruction dollars, and private contractors, such as Halliburton, being awarded unprecedented numbers of no-bid government contracts do we have to put up with before we do something about it?

Well, Mr. Speaker, it is my belief and the belief of the Blue Dog Coalition that we must demand accountability. The President, with his proposed budget, is telling our seniors, our students, our veterans, and our working families that our country doesn't have the money to help pay for their health care or for their education.

I say we will come closer to having the money for health care and education if we stop mismanaging funds in Iraq and greasing the pockets of contractors who are failing, in many instances, to get the job done. That is why our coalition, the Blue Dog Coalition, has introduced the House resolution for the Operation Iraqi Freedom Cost Accountability.

In the spirit of the Truman Committee, which defeated so much corruption and saved our country in excess of $15 billion during World War II, this resolution outlines the critical steps this body must take to hold the administration accountable for its neglect of taxpayer dollars.

It is our constitutional obligation, as Members of this body, to provide oversight for war spending. And Congress has neglected this duty for far too long. We owe it to the taxpayers of this country, to the troops who are fighting this war, and, yes, we owe it to future generations who are going to be financing this war for many, many, many years to come to stop the wasteful spending of this administration and war profiteering by contractors.

We need a modern-day Truman Committee. And we need transparency on how Iraq war funds are being spent. The days of offering the President a blank check are over. We need to ask the tough questions, and we need to send a message that waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq reconstruction just simply will not be tolerated.

I thank all of my fellow Blue Dogs for the work that they are doing on this issue, for continuing to raise awareness, and I hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join forces to restore fiscal integrity to this war.

Thank you, Mr. Ross. I appreciate the time. I appreciate the job that you are doing.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to be here this afternoon to join the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) to talk a little bit about what is obviously a very, very important subject to the American people, the subject of accountability.

Now, Mr. Ross talked a little bit about the national debt. He had a sign up which, as he said, Blue Dog offices all over the Capitol have up, showing what the national debt of this country is, and the fact that each and every American citizen owes over $29,000 just to pay off the national debt.

Now, I don't usually, or very often, come down here to join Mr. Ross in what I do think is a worthy goal, and that is educating the American people on our financial situation in this country. But I could not resist today. Being a former State auditor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, I am a little bit familiar with the issue of accountability. And you talk about this debt, the fact that it is as large as it is, the fact that our people owe, each and every one of them, over $29,000 to pay it off, well, your next question is well, what are we going to do about it? What are we going to do about this debt?

Well, one of the very first things that we can do about this debt is demand accountability in the spending. And one of the glaring examples that we have got is the lack of oversight, the lack of accountability in the spending on the war in Iraq. The numbers are huge; almost $280 million a day is what we are spending in Iraq.

Now, the Blue Dogs have made a decision to have a resolution which will show our interest in making sure that this war and the government of this country is accountable for the taxpayer dollars spent in this war. What we have done is, as Mr. Ross laid out, proposed a resolution that is called the Operation Iraqi Freedom Cost Accountability Resolution. And the resolution focused on several crucial points in demanding fiscal responsibility in Iraq.

The main points, the most crucial, I think, are, one, a call for transparency on how Iraq war funds are spent. I think another important point is the need to fund the Iraq war through normal appropriations, through that process, rather than through emergency supplemental. The third point that I believe is crucial, and one that I want to touch on a little bit today, is the creation of the Truman committee to investigate the awarding of contracts.

Now, what we want to do, the Blue Dogs, what we are calling for is the creation of a modern-day Truman committee for this war, for expenditures in this war in particular, because, in my opinion, you cannot talk about accountability in this war without talking about the need for this kind of committee, a Truman committee.

Now, in 1940, Congress prepared for the eventual involvement of the United States of America in World War II by allocating $10 billion in defense contracts. Early in 1941, stories of contractor mismanagement reached the desk of, at that time a Missouri Senator, a future President of the United

States of America, Harry S Truman. Truman, when he saw this information, decided to take action and find out for himself if this mismanagement of funds was, in fact, true. He took a 10,000-mile tour of military bases and discovered that certain contractors were getting a greater share of contracts available and that other contractors were getting paid full price for work that was either poor or inefficient. In short, what he discovered was rampant waste and mismanagement in government war contracts.

Does that sound familiar?

Well, as a result of his findings, Harry Truman went back to Washington and called for a special Senate committee to investigate. They got a lot of criticism. Many immediately criticized the Missouri Senator saying that his efforts might hurt war morale, while others thought that President Roosevelt ought to welcome this committee since it was being headed by a member of his own party and, therefore, would not be used for political gain.

Well, by unanimous consent on March 1, 1941, the Senate created what has proved to be the most famous and, in my judgment, the most successful committee of its time. The Truman Committee, with a budget of a mere $15,000 at the time, saved our country in excess of $15 billion; and in the early 1940s, $15 billion was real money. Up here some of the people don't think it is these days, but it was big money to be saved.

Now, don't you think that we could use a Truman Committee today? It seems pretty obvious to me.

The United States has allocated some $50 billion to private contractors for reconstruction in the rebuilding efforts in Iraq since the beginning of the war, and despite this $50 billion expenditure on these contracts, we hear a lot of reports of mismanagement or certainly of inefficiency and not getting the job done that we expected to see done.

For instance, only 25 percent of Iraqis have access to clean water. And prior to the war the Iraqis had electricity for an average of 16 to 24 hours a day, now that number is down to about 4.3 hours per day.

$17 billion of the $50 billion that has been given in contracts has been given through no-bid contracts to Halliburton, just to one company.

There were over 14,000 weapons by the United States of America, bought by our taxpayers and intended for Iraqi troops. Those 14,000 weapons are now missing.

And in addition to that, over $8.8 billion of Iraqi reconstruction funds are simply unaccounted for by the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Mr. Speaker, we desperately need a modern-day Truman Committee to bring some accountability to this war. We have got to stop the bleeding. We have got to stop this expenditure from continuing to be wasteful. We have got to find out firsthand what is going on with the spending in Iraq. We owe it to the taxpayers of this country, we owe it to the troops who are fighting this war.

We owe it so much to the troops. This is money that the troops need for their welfare in Iraq that is being diverted through the wasteful spending of those who are going to be financing this war. We owe it to them to stop the mishandling, stop the mismanagement of money in Iraq.

I strongly support this Blue Dog effort to have a cost accountability ethic relative to the war in Iraq because it is past time, way past time to hold the leaders of this country accountable for the money they spend in Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time to the gentleman for Arkansas, and I thank him for all of his efforts on behalf of accountability to the taxpayers in this country.

Mr. Ross, do you have any idea why this situation has occurred? Do you know why? Do you have answers? Do any of you have answers at this point?

It doesn't matter, in my view, which party is in control. If we had a Democratic President, I believe that a Democratic Congress ought to hold that administration accountable just like Truman did in World War II. We have had a Republican Congress that simply has not held this Republican administration accountable. That is just simply a loss for the taxpayers. That is all you can say.

It is the least that we can do for the people of this country.

And for the troops.

You mentioned a very important word, and that word is stewardship. That is what we owe to the people of this country, we owe them stewardship. We must be good stewards. And job one is to take care of their hard-earned resources that they send up here to Washington. And in this case, we are sending an incredible amount of those resources over to Iraq and nobody is watching what is happening with them. Nobody is holding that process accountable.

And I want to thank the gentleman from Arkansas for his efforts to bring light to this subject. I think it is very, very important. We need to continue to talk about this until something is done.

I am glad to see my colleague here from Georgia (Mr. Scott), who I know has come down here on a number of occasions to talk about this subject. He is a fine, fine member of our coalition. I am glad to be here with Mr. Scott, and I know he has a word or two to say about this also.

Madam Speaker, today I would like to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Midway High School's 1937 Kentucky state basketball championship. Under the guidance and leadership of Coach G.L. ``Bobby'' Burns, the Midway Blue Jays reinvented the game of basketball for years to come. The Blue Jays rejuvenated Kentucky basketball and made it a truly exciting spectator sport with their up tempo ``run and gun'' style of play.

Coach Burns and his squad of: Jack Penn, Ernest Jefferson, Armon Portwood, Carl Thomas, Raymond and Harold Sanderson, James Murphy, Sherman and Quentin Columbia, and Karl Jefferson used their natural abilities and athleticism to play against their taller competition. They averaged only 5'8", the smallest team to ever win the state tournament. Yet they persevered, as Coach Burns believed that natural instincts and physical stamina, combined with fundamental basketball, were keys to success. Coach Burns was right.

To celebrate this historic occasion, on January 12, 2007, the Woodford County Yellow Jackets will honor the ``Boys of '37'' by dressing in the blue and white uniforms of Midway High School during their regular season game against Madison Central High. Additionally, during the halftime ceremony, a giant banner will be raised and installed in the Woodford County Gym to honor the Midway Blue Jays' tournament win. In March, the members of the '37 squad will be honored in a ceremony at the halftime of the 2007 state championship game.

Madam Speaker, it is with great honor to have this momentous occasion celebrated in my home district. The ``Boys of '37'' truly represent Kentucky's passion and dedication to the game of basketball. This group of individuals will always be remembered as Kentucky's finest and we will continue to celebrate their accomplishments for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to explain my absence from the House of Representatives on November 13 and 14th.

During that time, I was in Quebec City attending the NATO Parliamentary Assembly annual meeting. In the beginning of the 109th Congress, I was honored to receive your appointment to serve as a member of the assembly.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly is vital in fostering an open dialogue on security issues between member nations. A main responsibility of the assembly is to serve as Congress's check and oversight of NATO executive policy decisions. Our delegation was able to meet with representatives from other NATO countries to further our diplomatic relationships. As you know, our security, both economic and military, is increasingly dependent upon building these relationships. For this reason, I consider it prudent to participate as much as possible in NATO Parliamentary Assembly meetings.

Please let the Record show that had I been present I would have voted in the following ways: rollcall vote 517, ``yes''; rollcall vote 518, ``yes''; rollcall vote 519, ``no''; rollcall vote 520, ``yes''; rollcall vote 521, ``yes''; rollcall vote 522, ``yes''; rollcall vote 523, ``yes.''

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to first thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) for his good wishes and for his efforts as chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee to help with promoting safety in the air throughout this country. I appreciate those efforts very much, and I appreciate his help with this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart for Kentuckians who have

tragically lost their lives and for loved ones who have been left behind to pick up the pieces.

On August 27, 2006, Comair Flight 5191 crashed upon take off at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49 of the 50 people aboard. Twenty-eight of the victims lived in the district I represent, and several other passengers were fellow Kentuckians. Fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, all perished in the worst plane crash this country has seen since 2001.

The small, close-knit town of Lexington and the surrounding communities of Central Kentucky will forever be changed by the scenes from early that Sunday morning and by the sudden loss of family, friends, neighbors and community leaders. Almost everyone in central Kentucky knew someone on that plane. The loss is a community loss, but also a profoundly personal loss for those of us who remain.

I am here today to honor the victims of this horrible crash by urging this body to pass House Resolution 980, expressing the condolences of this body to all who grieve during this time and commending all of those who responded to this tragedy with courage and determination.

It is also important that today we remember copilot James Polehinke, who was the only person on board who survived the tragedy. He is currently recovering, and we certainly wish him the very best.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure there will come a day when this body will address the causes of this tragedy, particularly if there are measures to be taken to prevent future accidents. At this time, however, the thing we must do is memorialize those that we have lost.

All of Kentucky is still grieving as families continue to say goodbye to loved ones. The following are the victims whose lives were cut short by this horrible tragedy:

Rebecca Adams; Christina Anderson; Lyle Anderson; Arnold Andrews; Anne Marie Bailey; Bobbie Benton; Jesse Clark Benton; Carol Bizzack; George Brunacini; Brian Byrd; Jeffrey Clay; Homer Combs; Diane Combs; Fenton Dawson; Thomas Fahey; Mike Finley; Clarence Wayne ``C.W.'' Fortney, II; Wade Bartley ``Bart'' Frederick; Hollie Gilbert; Erik Harris; Kelly Heyer; Jonathan Hooker; Scarlett Parsley Hooker; Priscilla Johnson; Tetsuya Kono; Nahoko Kono; Charles Lykins; Dan Mallory; Steve McElravy; Linda McKee; Bobby Meaux; Leslie Morris, II; Kaye Craig Morris; Cecile Moscoe; Judy Ann Rains; Michael Ryan; Mary Jane Silas; Pat Smith; Tim Snoddy; Marcie Thomason; Greg Threet; Randy Towles; Larry Turner; Victoria Washington; Jeff Williams; Paige Winters; Bryan Woodward; JoAnn Wright; and Betty Young.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge this body to honor these victims by passing H. Res. 980.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Lantos for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I am deeply troubled by the recent violent events in the Middle East. The United States must stand with Israel and recognize their right to defend their people and country from unprovoked acts of terrorism.

As we know, innocent civilians are losing their lives right now as a result of extremist religious terrorism. Take

the heartbreaking story of Monica Seidman as an example. Forty-two- year-old Monica, a mother of two, moved to the Israeli town of Naharia from Argentina 3 years ago. Last Wednesday as she was sitting on her porch having coffee, a Hezbollah-fired rocket made a direct hit on her building, instantly killing her.

Monica was the first civilian killed in this conflict. How can this be explained to her children? How will they ever understand the meaning of this attack?

I believe the United States must call on Syria and Iran to stop all support of Hezbollah. The Israeli people do not want violence. They want peace. They want to be able to go about life without causing harm to anyone else and without fearing for their own safety. Israel's voluntary withdrawal from southern Lebanon 6 years ago is proof of their desire for peace and stability in the region.

It is my hope that Israel will be able to secure its border quickly and facilitate a safe return for its soldiers captured by Hezbollah and Hamas, and that is why I fully support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute today to an outstanding group of representatives from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) on their 75th anniversary of their founding, as well as the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) for their dedication to quality anesthesia care and patient safety. CRNAs are advanced practice nurses who are the hands-on providers of approximately 65 percent of all anesthesia given in the United States each year.

Nurses were the first professional group to provide anesthesia services in the United States. Established in the late 1800s, nurse anesthesia has since become recognized as the first clinical nursing specialty. On June 17, 1931, pioneer nurse anesthetist Agatha Hodgins founded the National Association of Nurse Anesthetists (NANA) in Cleveland, Ohio. Eight years later, NANA officially changed its name to the present AANA. The oldest national organization of anesthesia providers in the country, the AANA is the professional association for more than 35,000 CRNAs and student nurse anesthetists.

CRNAs administer every type of anesthetic and provide care for every type of surgery or procedure, from open heart to cataract to pain management. CRNAs practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered: traditional hospital surgical suites and obstetrical delivery rooms; critical access hospitals; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, and pain management specialists; and U.S. Military, Public Health Services, and Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities.

CRNAs are the sole anesthesia providers in approximately two thirds of all rural hospitals in the United States, enabling these healthcare facilities to offer obstetrical, surgical, and trauma stabilization services. In some states, CRNAs are the sole providers in nearly 100 percent of the rural hospitals.

Since World War I, nurse anesthetists have been the principal anesthesia providers in combat areas of every war in which the United States has been engaged. During the Panama action, only nurse anesthetists were sent with the fighting forces. Nurse anesthetists have been held as prisoners of war, suffered combat wounds during wartime service, and have lost their lives serving their country. The names of two CRNAs killed in the Vietnam War are engraved on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. Military nurse anesthetists have been honored and decorated by the United States and foreign governments for outstanding achievements, dedication to duty, and competence in treating the seriously wounded. In the 21st Century, CRNAs continue to care for servicemen and women, their dependents, and veterans--whether on the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan, or in military hospitals and VA facilities.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today in recognizing the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA and their 35,000 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) as they celebrate 75 years of invaluable service to their patients and to our country.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for all his work on this issue.

Mining coal is indeed a way of life in Kentucky. Our fellow citizens who work in our coal mines have been and are still very much at risk. To date there have been 33 miners killed in the United States this year alone, most recently at the Darby mine in eastern Kentucky which took the lives of five miners.

As public servants, it is our job to protect the people that we represent. While the bill before us today does not include all of the protections many of us would like, it is certainly a start. This bill will save lives.

I support this bill, but I also urge my colleagues to see this bill as only a beginning to the reforms that need to be passed to make sure that our miners have the very safest workplace possible.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of Amon Brock, Jimmy D. Lee, George Petra, Paris Thomas, Jr., Roy Middleton and Steve Bryant. These are the names of Kentucky miners who have died in the last week.

As we just heard this morning, the other body acted on behalf of our miners, and it is critical that the House take immediate action and pass H.R. 5389, a comprehensive mining bill that will not only crack down on negligent operators but save lives. This body should not risk another miner's life by failing to act.

I call on all of my colleagues to reach across party lines for the sake of our miners who are simply trying to go to work and provide for their families.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of life and on behalf of my constituents whose voices are weakening because they are losing their battles with diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS.

Just last week, I met with Mary Lou Smith of Lexington, Kentucky, who struggles daily with her battle against Lou Gehrig's disease.

Diagnosed in February of 2005, this degenerative neurological disease has quickly devastated her and her family.

It is individuals such as Mary Lou Smith that exemplify the urgency for the Federal Government to act on stem cell research. I urge the other body to pass H.R. 810, which the House passed 1 year ago tomorrow.

Stem cell research has the potential to not only improve the quality of life of people living with ALS but save the lives of individuals all across this world.

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

I first want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) for his working with me on this bill. He has been very helpful throughout the process.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4530 is a bill to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 101 Barr Street in Lexington, Kentucky, as the Scott Reed Federal Building and United States Courthouse. I can think of no other individual more deserving, no other public servant more worthy and no other action more appropriate than naming the Federal courthouse in Lexington after the Honorable Scott Reed.

A prominent central Kentucky attorney, first Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court and Federal judge, Scott Reed exemplifies the definition of honor and integrity. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, on July 3, 1921, Scott Reed graduated with distinction from the University of Kentucky. While in college, he was editor-in-chief of the Kentucky Law Journal and awarded the Order of the Coif, the highest academic award that can be given to a law graduate. He was also a member of the Phi Delta Phi Fraternity.

He achieved many honors at the University of Kentucky culminating, upon graduation, as the recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Medallion, an extremely prestigious award given to individuals who ``exhibit ideals of heart, mind and conduct as evince a spirit of love for and helpfulness to other men and women.''

Prior to his service on the bench, Scott Reed was County Attorney. He was retained as counsel for the Fayette County School Board and distinguished himself as a trial lawyer with great integrity. He served from 1948 through 1956 as an acting associate professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, and from 1964 until 1969, he was judge of the First Division of the Fayette County Circuit Court, which is the highest trial court in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He then was elected to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, at that time Kentucky's highest court.

As Chief Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, Judge Reed oversaw the most comprehensive judicial reform in our State's history. It included passage of a constitutional amendment that unified and modernized Kentucky's court system. As part of the modernization, the Court of Appeals became the Kentucky Supreme Court, and Scott Reed was elected by his fellow justices to be the first Chief Justice of Kentucky.

As Chief Justice, he then oversaw the implementation of the reform that has led Kentucky into having one of the most efficient and modern court systems in the country. The Chief Justice of the Commonwealth holds equal rank with the Governor, the latter being the head of the executive branch and the Chief Justice serving as head of the judiciary.

He was elected as a fellow in the National College of the Judiciary in 1965 and Judge Reed was a voting member of the American Law Institute, a body of scholarly people who shape the laws of our Nation. The opinions written by Scott Reed during his time on the Supreme Court of Kentucky have received national acclaim for their scholarly content. He has been viewed as one of Kentucky's most accomplished and erudite jurists.

Judge Reed was a frequent lecturer to the National College of Trial Judges and has achieved the highest honors that can be bestowed on a member of his profession. Scott Reed was named to the University of Kentucky College of Law Hall of Distinguished Alumni on April 11, 1980. He crowned his career with 10 years on the Federal bench.

In 1989, he took senior status while battling the onset of Alzheimer's, which eventually took his life on February 17, 1994. Judge Scott Reed's fine legacy to his hometown of Lexington and to his home State of Kentucky will always be a proud part of our heritage.

Mr. Speaker, as the sponsor of H.R. 4530, I strongly urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3858, the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2005. This legislation amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to require the Director of FEMA to ensure that State and local emergency preparedness operational plans address the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals following a major disaster or an emergency.

It must be a top priority of our Nation to save citizens from any disaster, yet we should not underestimate the importance of rescuing pets to our ability to help citizens in a disaster. None of us should be faced with the choice of abandoning our beloved pets and critically needed service animals or risking our own personal safety.

As we witnessed during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a significant number of people chose not to abandon their pets and risked their lives to stay with their animals. Some areas of Florida where hurricanes are a yearly occurrence have long recognized saving animals saves people and include a place for animals in emergency plans. And now, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a few areas and other Gulf Coast States, including Harrison County, Mississippi, will have its first pet-friendly shelter in place for the 2006 hurricane season.

However, unfortunately, for most of the gulf coast and indeed the rest of the country, the issue is still unresolved unless legislation like this is approved today. All of us saw many horrible scenes of abandoned pets wandering through the flooded city of New Orleans. In addition to the humanitarian issue of forcing people to choose between their own safety and leaving their pets behind, there are serious problems, including health and safety risks to the disaster area, that are exacerbated by the abandoning of pets.

We know that many of these problems can be mitigated or even eliminated through proper emergency planning. Fortunately, legislation like this helps increase the awareness of lawmakers and emergency officials to recognize what animal advocates already know, that pets figure strongly in a person's decision to evacuate to safety. And we certainly want to encourage our citizens to do just that.

Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. I applaud Mr. Lantos and Mr. Shays for all of their efforts on this bill, and I urge its support.

Mr. Speaker, I think that Mr. Shuster has already mentioned Mr. Lantos' interest in the welfare of animals. It is heartfelt. I have had the opportunity to work with Mr. Lantos on the International Relations Committee, and I have the great privilege today of introducing him and yielding to him such time as he may consume to speak on this very important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I want to thank Mr. Lantos and his wife, Annette, in particular for extending their well-known humanitarian instincts to the welfare of animals. I also want to thank Mr. Shays and Mr. Shuster for all of their work on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to congratulate Georgetown, Kentucky, and Toyota for their successful 20-year partnership that has resulted in significant opportunities for Georgetown residents and substantial growth for Toyota.

The benefits to Kentucky cannot be overstated. Toyota is among the top employers in the Commonwealth, with 7,000 jobs in Georgetown alone. That total does not include the many spin-off benefits in terms of economic development from the many suppliers and partners that have started operations in the vicinity of Georgetown. Kentucky benefits from the thousands of secure, well-paying jobs our citizens can be proud to go to every day. Supporting economic development is one of my most important jobs in Congress. It strengthens families and communities, and it makes possible all the promise America has to offer--education, reliable health care, a better home, and safe, stable communities. We are fortunate to have Toyota help provide that environment.

Toyota, also, has thrived during this 20-year period, thanks to its hard-working, dedicated team in Kentucky. Its Georgetown operation now produces a half million cars a year, far more than what was projected when it opened. During that time, Toyota has become one of the top manufacturers of cars, in terms of number and quality, and we in Kentucky are proud that those cars are American-made.

Toyota has given back to Kentucky in so many ways. It is deeply involved in our civic life. Toyota provides jobs for Kentucky residents, but it also supports our schools and youth programs for the next generation. Toyota generates significant tax revenue for Kentucky and our cities and counties, but it also participates in our community activities, sharing its resources and the time and talents of its employees.

And Toyota foresees even more opportunity in Kentucky. I am pleased that it has selected

Georgetown as the first site in the United States to produce hybrid vehicles. Toyota perhaps sees this as a wise investment in a potentially rewarding market. I and many in Kentucky see it as an entry into a cutting-edge technology that will continue our leading role in the U.S. auto industry, and we hope eventually provide an alternative for Americans saddled with ever-increasing gas prices.

This is a happy occasion for Toyota, for Kentucky, and for me personally. I hope to see many more such occasions over the coming years as Toyota and Kentucky continue to expand their relationship.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an American hero. SFC John D. Morton made the ultimate sacrifice when he gave his life in Afghanistan while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. John was not only a courageous soldier, but a dearly loved father, brother, son and friend. It is with heartfelt sadness and my deepest sympathies that I stand before you and pay homage to a true defender of freedom.

As a senior at Powell County High School, SFC John Morton felt the call of duty and enlisted in the United States Army. His service to our country sent him all over the world--Somalia, Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 74th Infantry Detachment (Long Range Surveillance), 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, Italy.

On December 15, 2005, John's patrol was on a mission in the mountainous area around Kandahar, Afghanistan when they were confronted by Taliban fighters. John suffered a fatal wound to the chest. On December 28, 2005, SFC John Morton was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

John had a strong commitment to his country and to the uniform that he wore. He believed in his mission in Afghanistan and in the war in Iraq. Along with being an American soldier, John was a beloved father and husband. It is with grief, sadness and humility that I thank John's parents and two sisters. I also wish to thank John's wife, Sarah, and his three children Joshua, Scarlette and Olivia for making the ultimate sacrifice.

John's death is a great loss to the state of Kentucky, to our country, but most of all, to the entire Morton family. I know in my heart that SFC John Morton will always be remembered as an American hero.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Ross for yielding to me. I appreciate my fellow Blue Dog from Arkansas putting this very important time together for us to talk to the country about what we all believe is a very important matter.

Mr. Ross's grandparents, I am sure, just the same as my grandparents, grew up in the Great Depression. And I am sure that they had experiences very similar to mine, and those experiences instilled in them a great sense of fiscal responsibility. My grandfather, in fact, always used to tell me, and I cannot even count the times that he told me, ``If you spent more than you took in, you would go broke.'' Wise words. Too bad that the leadership of the Republican-controlled Congress seems to have forgotten this most basic rule of fiscal management. By all accounts, the mentality of our grandparents and their generation has been lost.

As the gentleman said, later this week, maybe as early as tomorrow, the House will consider the first of two bills the Republican leadership will bring to the floor under the auspices of reducing the deficit. The only problem is that this so-called deficit reduction package actually adds billions to the deficit, hastening a fiscal crisis brought on by the systematic mismanagement of our country's finances.

Our deficit has now passed $8 trillion, and we see right there on that sign that the gentleman has got next to him, that poster, the number 8 trillion. I am surprised we can even breathe a number that big, all those zeros. I did not even know what 8 trillion was until I came up to Congress and I saw that number. And I am sure the American people would be astonished if they realized just how much in debt they were now. And, incredibly, something I heard from the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner), who I think is with us tonight, earlier this week he told me that this administration has now borrowed more money from foreign governments and banks than the previous 42 United States Presidents combined. Even using the projections from the budgets adopted by this Republican-controlled Congress, the deficit will grow by over $167 billion over the next 5 years. Bottom line, this Republican-controlled Congress has proven itself utterly incapable of responsibly managing the Federal Treasury.

Rather than use what little funds we have to pay down the deficit and help those in need, many of my Republican colleagues seek another round of tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans that will drive our country even deeper into debt. This budget package that is being offered is nothing more than

smoke and mirrors. It is not about making sacrifices to reduce the deficit. It is about carving out space for ever-larger tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans by cutting programs that help seniors, students, and low-income families. The very principles that our men and women are fighting for in Iraq and Afghanistan, defending the ideals of our country and helping those in need are on the chopping block this week.

The message from the Republican-controlled Congress is clear: under our leadership the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class shrinks all the while.

Low-income families in my home State of Kentucky depend on Medicaid for health care. Thousands of children in Kentucky schools depend on school lunch programs for their only hot meal of the day.

And over 50 percent of college students in Kentucky rely on some type of financial aid to pay for their college expenses. It is simply immoral to turn our backs on those families in need and students striving to get ahead. Not to mention the cuts to child support programs that will hurt families across our country, and the fact that at a time when the USDA must turn away three-fourths of farmers wanting to participate in conservation programs, cutting Federal funds is going to put an even larger strain on our farm families, certainly the farm families in Kentucky who are doing everything they can just to make a living.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this misguided and immoral budget reconciliation package and instead use this as an opportunity to step back and examine the financial state of our country. Instead of leaning on the poor as a means of cutting taxes for the rich, we need to get serious about addressing the deficit.

Foreign lenders such as China own 40 percent of our total debt. At some point, America must pay back the money it owes. The Republican leaders on the other side of the aisle pride themselves in cutting taxes for the American people. But their irresponsible budget practices now are nothing more than a tax increase later. Continuing to make irresponsible financial decisions now only adds to the burden we are leaving to the coming generations.

This Congress must take immediate action to put our fiscal house in order, and I commend you, Mr. Ross, and I commend the other Blue Dogs for your steadfast efforts to ensure that the American people understand what is happening to them and the fact that their fiscal house is not in order. You are doing a great service for this country, and I urge my colleagues to join with the Blue Dogs and examine the budget reforms that we have proposed.