Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise to honor the memory and celebrate the life of Mayor John Redding, Jr., of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. John Redding passed away on Monday, May 21, from complications from heart surgery. It is with sadness, but with fond memories and the promise of his ascension to a better place that I honor John Redding's life and memory today.

As a resident of Chambersburg for 51 years, Redding was the very definition of public service. For almost all his life, John was an active member of his community, serving on the Chambersburg Board of Directors, as chairman of the Letterkenny Industrial Development Authority, as a council representative, and later as mayor of Chambersburg Borough, his hometown and the community to which he dedicated his life.

As a man of deep faith, brave courage and impassioned loyalty, Redding made his community a better place to work and live. The outpouring of support from his friends and neighbors upon his passing is a testament to the way he lived his life and a sign that the legacy he left on Chambersburg and the whole of Franklin County will not be forgotten.

More than this, it is my privilege to have known John personally and to have called him my friend. He and my family worked closely over 30 years to make Franklin County a better place to live and work and his effort was not in vain. Franklin County continues to be a showcase for economic investment, growth and opportunity in central Pennsylvania. Its success bears the mark of John's tireless efforts.

John was a pillar of dedication, commitment and leadership. He will be missed, but never forgotten.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Lady ``screaming eagles'' of Juniata College on winning the 2006 NCAA Division ill Woman's Volleyball Championship.

In a thrilling win, the Eagles found themselves down two games to one to Washington University. Down, but not out the Lady Eagles came storming back with a brilliant offensive effort to capture the Title 3- 2. The Eagles found their momentum in the fourth game where the team went on a 4 to 1 run. After claiming the lead, the Eagles never looked back. At the end of the day, the Eagles walked away with 90 kills and a championship.

Juniata College's Volleyball Team's championship is a great example of sportsmanship and achievement in college sports. Over 30 seasons, Juniata's volleyball program has built a 1,100 win and 172 loss record. The team's coach, Larry Bock, has the most wins of any coach in the history of NCAA women's volleyball. Also, during their championship season, senior player Stephanie Kines was named Division III Women's Volleyball Player of the Year. Stephanie is the second Juniata player to earn that honor.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate all of the players and coaches of the Juniata College Women's Volleyball Team: Erin Albert, Brittany Carr, Cassie Dickmann, Kristi Fitzsimmons, Jess Fox, Paige Johnston, Stephanie Kines, Beth Kozak, Megan Lamens, Mariel Little, Michelle Morchesky, Aly Pompeani, Jessica Ritchey, Rachael Schatz, Megan Sollenberger, Molly Sollenberger, and Amber Thomas Head Coach Larry Bock, and assistant Coaches Heather Pavlik, Casey Dale and Erin Dodson. To all of the Screaming Eagles, congratulation on most successful season and a well earned championship.

Mr. Speaker, coming to the House floor as I have for the past 4 months to talk about the great concern that I have and to draw attention to what is going to happen in the United States Congress if the new Democratic majority does not act, in just 1,335 days, the American people are going to see the largest tax increase in American history. I also believe, although I haven't been able to verify this, it is probably the largest tax increase in the history of the world. And the Democratic majority doesn't have to even vote on it, all they have to do is run out the clock and allow the tax reductions, the tax cuts that occurred in 2001 and 2003 to expire. And only in Washington, and I have heard this said, that the majority party is not going to raise taxes because they won't vote on raising taxes, but because they are going to expire and people's taxes are going to go up, that is not really a tax increase. Well, if you are sitting out there in middle America and you are making $40,000 a year and you have two children, your taxes will go up approximately $2,000. That is a tax increase. Everybody in America knows that. And everybody that knows how to add and subtract knows that if your taxes go up $2,000 or if anything goes up $2,000, that is an increase. And as I said, the majority, the Democratic majority will not have to vote on it, they can just, as I have said, run out the clock.

In 2001 and 2003 and every year in the Republican majority, we cut taxes; we cut some tax over the 12 years in majority. And the new Democratic majority, it took them about a week, maybe less than 10 days to have their first tax increase. They passed it back in January. And fortunately it hasn't become law because they haven't been able to pass anything of substance that passed the House and the Senate and gone to the President. So, as I said, we haven't seen that first tax increase, although the Democratic majority did in fact vote on a tax increase and it passed here in the House.

I hope my friends on the other side will take a lesson from history and look back to the 1960s to President John F. Kennedy and what he did in his term as President. One of the first things he did was to cut taxes. And what happened in the 1960s? The economy grew, revenues to the Federal Government grew because of those tax cuts. And then look back just into the 1980s when President Ronald Reagan came to Washington, and with the help of a Democratic majority, he cut taxes. And what happened? The economy grew, the revenues to the Federal Government grew, and that was a positive thing.

The same thing occurred in 2001 and 2003 and continues. We cut taxes, allowing the American people to keep more of their hard-earned dollars, and the economy is growing. Revenues to the Federal Government are at record levels coming into the Federal Government. And the facts are there. Since 2003, 7.5 million jobs have been created. That is more jobs that the European Union and Japan combined have created. Our economy has now added jobs for 43 straight months.

Just last month, in April, 88,000 new jobs were created in the United States. Folks that had been unemployed or happen to find themselves unemployed are finding much shorter duration of unemployment than they had in the past. The national unemployment rate remains at 4.5 percent, which is well below the 5.1 percent rate which was in 2005, and below the average of each of the past four decades.

The U.S. has grown faster than any G-7 industrialized nation over the past 4 quarters. Wages have increased, and tax relief has helped spur economic growth by keeping over $1.1 trillion in the pockets of Americans. As I said, if the Democratic majority doesn't act by January 1, 2011, all those tax cuts, tax reductions we put in place for small businesses, for families, for individuals, will expire.

In my State of Pennsylvania alone, the average worker, the average taxpayer, will see about a $3,000 increase in his taxes. My good friend from Florida, Ric Keller, informs me that the average taxpayer in Florida will see an increase of $3,000, if we don't act and extend those tax cuts.

Once again, that is what we are going to do tonight, is talk about this countdown. We call ourselves the Countdown Crew, because in 1,335 days, if the Democratic majority doesn't act, the average American and average small business in this country, the individual in this country is going to see their taxes increase.

That money will come out of their pockets, will come to Washington, and they will not have an opportunity to spend it as they see fit. They won't have an opportunity to save it for their retirement, or their children's college education or future education. So it is important that we draw attention to what is going to happen here in Congress.

The Democrats won a majority in the election and they said first of all that they were going to have ``6 for 06.'' They have passed all six of those in the House, but nothing of what they passed, none of those six have made it into law. As I said earlier, very few things we have passed here on the floor have made it into law. We have named a couple of post offices and Federal buildings, but nothing substantial has been able to pass this Congress and become law.

As I said, I think it is extremely important that the American people are aware that just by running out the clock, the taxes for every American, every small business, every business in America, will go up, without action in this House.

With that, I am joined here tonight by my good friend from Kentucky, a former business owner and a father of several children, I can't keep count, five or six.

Six. I would like to yield to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman talking about this tonight. I think it is important that you point out that it is not the government that creates jobs, it is small businesses. We do want to hear your stories. We want to hear what you have been able to do with that tax cut that you received, either in your business or your family, and those stories, we would like you to e-mail them to us at [email protected].

If you don't want to send them to us, send them to your Member of Congress. Let your Member of Congress know how important it is that this Congress acts to extend those tax cuts before they expire. They are going to expire anywhere from the end of this year in 2007 to the end of 2010, and if we don't act, run out the clock, we are going to see this huge tax increase and you are not going to have that money in your pocket. It is going to be spent to Washington and the bureaucrats and politicians are going to spend it.

It is a great privilege to have with us here tonight a colleague of ours from Texas, who more importantly than that is a CPA. He understands the Tax Code better than most of us, although I don't know that anybody understands the Tax Code, as large and complex as it is. But we appreciate his coming down and being able to walk us through some of what is happening in the Tax Code and the burdens it is placing on businesses and families.

With that, I yield to a good friend from Texas, Mr. Conaway.

I think it is extremely important to point out that only in Washington, D.C. and the accounting we use here, and I know that the Democratic majority when they were the minority would say that we were cutting spending on programs when we were in the majority when actually it would go up by 2 or 3 percent instead of the 4 or 5 percent that they wanted it to, and they would say that is a cut when it is not a cut.

Now, they are saying that it is not going to be a tax increase because we did not vote on it, but all of us know that those of us balancing checkbooks at home and people who run small businesses, people that are trying to save money, know if the Federal Government takes an average $2,000 more out of your paycheck a year, that is a tax increase.

As I pointed out earlier, in my State of Pennsylvania, the average taxpayer will pay $3,000 more in taxes, and that is a tax increase. Whether the United States Congress votes on it or does not vote on it, if you pay $3,000 more in taxes, that is a tax increase.

This PAYGO rule, which I always thought PAYGO meant that if you are going to increase spending, you have got to find a way to fund it, and that is increase taxes or offset it by cutting spending elsewhere. Quite frankly, I do not know what PAYGO means under the Democratic majority anymore because they find loopholes and exceptions and make changes to it. So, once again, this funny accounting in Washington, DC continues to proliferate under the Democratic majority.

I think it is important that, as my friend from Kentucky talked about his experiences with small business, that we get Americans to e-mail us at the [email protected]. E-mail us what you have been able to do over the past couple of years with those tax cuts, whether you are putting it back in your business and increasing your workforce or making it more efficient, selling more products by expanding markets; or if you have a family and you are able to save $2,000 or $3,000 because of the elimination of the marriage penalty or the doubling of the child tax credit, how were you able to take those dollars and employ them in

your household and your business to make your lives better.

I think that is extremely important that we hear those kinds of stories. Once again, I want to point out if you are unable to or do not want to e-mail them to the [email protected], send them to your Member of Congress; let them know what you were able to do with those funds.

Again, I know all across America we hear those stories. My good friend from Florida and I were talking, Ric Keller, and talked about what the seniors in Florida, how they have been able to improve their housing, invest that money in a nicer house, a bigger house, a different house because of those tax cuts.

So I know that, once again, we are joined by our colleague, the CPA, from Texas, and it is always educational to hear him talk about some of these tax issues. I think he wants to talk a little about the ATM.

I went to my accountant a month or so ago. He was talking to me about how it is catching people in this web. He said in Pennsylvania, a household where there is two teachers, they are now approaching and some of them have surpassed that level where two teachers, modest income, are getting caught up in the ATM, paying more taxes.

So, with that, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway).

It is confusing to me because you put the card in and you get money out.

I apologize. Like I said, it is confusing to me because they just keep on take, take, take just like the cash machine at the banks.

If I can interrupt the gentleman for a minute, if I am going to my CPA or the person who does my taxes, because she has to calculate two different sets, it costs more money to calculate your taxes.

They claiming a circulation off of my brain.

I do not know if I can take it. You have just made the case on why we need to scrap this tax code and start with something new. I do not know.

I am getting ready to close. The gentleman from Texas seemed pretty worked up about getting something out. Do you have something else you want to get out here?

I have the time estimate, if you are filling out your own taxes it's anywhere from 8 hours to 27 hours, if you did it yourself, which is a considerable amount of time for an individual.

Right, $265 billion.

In closing, I just wanted to point out, as the gentleman mentioned, the importance of keeping your own money, being able to invest it, being able to save it. I think a lot of times Americans feel helpless, hopeless over this tax situation.

You get that paycheck, and as my 18-year-old daughter just got a paycheck, came home, showed it to me and said, why did they take so much out? I said, well the good news for you is they are going to give you most of most of it back, because you're not going to make the minimum.

But as I said, Americans feel helpless or hopeless in a tax situation, but they're not. Americans really have to pay attention to what's going on here in Washington. As we said tonight send us your stories at [email protected] or send them to your Member of Congress and tell them what you have been able to accomplish with those dollars that you get to keep in your pocket because they are not coming to Washington.

Make sure you are talking to your Member of Congress, communicating with him, telling them that you don't want to see taxes go up. You don't want to see the largest tax increase in American history. You want them to keep their tax rates low. Although many Americans are looking at those tax rates today, think they are high, they are lower than they were 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 years ago.

This Congress has to act. This Congress has to act before all those tax cuts expire by December 31, 2010, and the gentleman is signaling me. We want to make sure that the American people are communicating to their Members of Congress that they want us to stop this tax increase that's going to occur, a tax increase that the Democratic majority is saying, they are not going to increase taxes because they are not going to vote on it, which is just hogwash. The taxes are going to go up for individuals across this country, businesses across this country, if this Congress fails to act in just 1,335 days.

Madam Speaker, our enemies are listening, and they are planning on our actions today, just like the North Vietnamese did decades ago. And don't believe me, but listen to the words of Colonel Bui Tin, who served on the general's staff of the North Vietnamese Army and received the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 1995, he drew some important parallels to the debate today. When asked how the North Vietnamese intended to defeat America, Colonel Tin responded, ``by fighting a long war which would break their will to help South Vietnam.'' He went on to quote Ho Chi Minh, who said, ``We don't need to win military victories, we only need to hit them until they give up and get out.'' Colonel Tin said the American antiwar movement was essential to their strategy. He said it represented the conscience of America and the conscience of America was part of its war-making capability, and we were turning that power in our favor.

Through protests, America lost its ability to mobilize a will to win. That is what this supplemental does here today. Let's listen to the past and not repeat its mistakes. Let's pass a clean bill and give our soldiers what they need to win.

Mr. Speaker, I am coming to the floor this evening, as I have been for the past couple of months, to make sure that the American people realize what is going to happen in the next couple of years if we, in Congress don't act, if the Democratic majority doesn't act.

In 1,349 days, if we don't act, we are going to see the largest tax increase in American history. And this is coming about because the tax cuts, the tax reductions that we put in place as a Republican majority in 2001, 2003, extended some of those in 2005, they are going to expire. And the majority party doesn't have to act. All they have to do is run the clock out, and those tax increases will go into effect on the American people. The American family, small businesses, all around this country are going to feel the pain.

As I said, my friends and I have been, colleagues and I have been coming to the floor for the past few months talking about this, making sure that the American people are aware that this is going to occur.

And I have heard some folks on the other side of the aisle say that they are not going to vote for a tax increase, thus it is not really a tax increase. Only in Washington do we employ that type of rationale, that type of logic.

If we don't act, there is going to be a tax increase. And for the American people, who have just paid their taxes this year, and when they go to pay their taxes in 2008 and 2009 and 2010, they are going to see that their taxes have increased. Although there wasn't necessarily a vote on the House floor to specifically increase those taxes, those tax cuts expiring are, in effect, and, in fact, going to increase their taxes.

What kind of tax increase are we talking about? First of all, raising, from the 10 percent tax bracket to 15 percent. And more than 5 million individuals and families previously who owed no taxes will become subject to those individual income taxes in 2011, if we don't act on the House floor. If the Democratic majority doesn't act, the Democratic majority will be responsible for raising taxes on people in the lower-income levels in this country.

It will eliminate the marriage penalty relief that we put in place in the early 2000s. By 2011, 23 million taxpayers would see their taxes increase an average of $466 just because they are married.

Cutting the child tax credit in half: if we don't extend those, if we don't vote on this House floor before 2011, 31 million taxpayers will see their taxes increase an average of $859 in 2011.

The AMT tax, if we don't act, if we don't do something that rectifies that situation, we are going to see people across America that have, husband and wife that earn an income, two families, for instance, teachers, we are going to see a husband and wife that are both teachers in the coming years, if they already haven't been affected by it, they are going to be hit with the AMT and pay higher taxes if we don't act.

An elderly couple, for instance, in America, a senior couple making $40,000 in income, this couple will, their tax bill would raise in 2011, from $583 to $1,489. And for a retired couple making $40,000, that almost $1,000 increase is a huge burden on them. We have got to make sure that that doesn't happen.

A family of four with an income of $60,000: that family's income tax bill would raise, from $3,030 to $4,898, almost $5,000 in 2011 if we don't act. And I know that families in my district, that is a typical family, a family of four, $60,000 of income, two people working. That is a huge burden.

And for people across America, we have been calling ourselves the Countdown Crew, and we have an e-mail that we would like you to share your stories with us on what the tax cuts have done for you, and what, for instance, a family, again, of four, $60,000 if you have to pay about $1,800, almost $1,900 more in income, $2,000 more in taxes, how is that going to affect your family. So we would like for you to share those stories with us. You can e-mail us at the [email protected]. I will get that up here in just a minute and you can see it. But, again, that is [email protected]. And share those stories with us because we want to hear, we want to be able to have those stories to talk about how it is going to affect, as I said, a typical American household.

A single parent with two children, a woman who has got two children, $30,000 in earnings, she would, that parent qualifies at present to get about $2,400 back from the Federal Government. But if the tax cuts are allowed to expire, she is going to have to pay an $800 tax. That is a $3,200 swing from receiving $2,400 from the Federal Government to having to pay almost $800 in taxes. Families, individuals are going to be hardest hit, small businesses, unless we act.

Just to give you a brief rundown of the numbers on what is going to happen if the Democratic majority doesn't act and increases taxes, 115 million, taxpayers would see their taxes increase an average of $1,795 in 2011.

Eighty-three million women would see their taxes raise an average of $2,068 if the Democratic majority doesn't act.

Forty-eight million married couples will incur an average tax increase of almost $2,900. Taxes would increase an average of $2,181 for 42 million families with children. Twelve million single women with children would see their taxes increase an average of just over $1,000. Seventeen million elderly individuals would incur average tax increases of $2,270. And it goes on and on and on.

As I said, only in Washington, only in our Nation's Capital is the logic employed that says, if we don't vote on a tax increase, it is not really a tax increase. But I know and millions of Americans know that if they paid $5,000 in taxes one year and they pay $6,000 in another year, then that is an increase in taxes. So we need to make sure that we are honest and open with the American people and realize what these tax cuts have done.

This economy, which is growing, has grown each year for 21 straight quarters, I believe the last number was. We are creating jobs. We have created, in the last 4 years, 7.5 million jobs. Unemployment is at a 4.4 percent unemployment rate.

I have a county in my district that has a 2.8 percent unemployment rate. That is incredible, 2.8 percent. I was under the belief that full employment is when you have 97 percent of the people working, or close to 97 percent of the people, because you are always going to have folks transitioning and moving around; but I have got actually two counties that are under 3 percent. And as I said, this economy is growing because of those tax cuts.

It comes as no surprise to me, it should come as no surprise to millions of Americans, it should come as no surprise to my friends on the other side of the aisle, that when you cut taxes, the economy grows. When you cut taxes, also the revenues to the Federal Government increase.

And my friends on the other side of the aisle don't have to take my word for it. Go back to the 1960s when President John F. Kennedy cut taxes on the American people. And what happened? The economy grew and revenues grew coming into the Federal Government. In the 1980s Ronald Reagan cut taxes on the American people and American businesses and the economy grew and revenues grew coming into the Federal Government. And in 2000, once again history repeats itself. When you cut taxes, as we did, the Republican majority did, when you cut taxes, the economy grows, jobs are created, and we have seen record revenues coming into the Federal Government. In 2005 the revenues to the Federal Government grew by 14.5 percent, and last year, in 2006, they were over 11 percent growth in revenues to the Federal Government.

We have got to make sure that the American people are keeping more of their hard-earned dollars, not sending them to Washington, but that we are sending them back home. But in Washington we have to make sure that we are spending responsibly, and we are trying to balance the budget and we are working towards that and working in such a way that the budget is going to be balanced, and we have been working towards that in the last 4 or 5 years.

And I know that the Democratic majority, they talk about fiscal responsibility, but one of the first things they did was to change the rules of the House so that there was no longer a three-fifths majority needed to increase taxes. It is now a simple majority, and they can increase your taxes.

They have come out with a budget just last week, or 2 weeks ago, I guess, we passed a budget, and they make it seem like it is responsible, but a lot of things in that budget just don't add up. The PAYGO rule is something that, quite frankly, is difficult to understand. And I am privileged to have a colleague of mine on the House floor, a colleague of mine from Texas (Mr. Conaway), who is, first of all, on the Budget Committee, so he understands the complicated budgetary process that we face here in the Federal Government. But, more importantly, he is a CPA. He is a certified public accountant. So he understands the balance sheet, he understands the income statement, he understands not only that of a business, the government, but of the average American family and what it takes to balance a budget at home, in a business, and here in the Federal Government.

So with that, I would like to yield to my good friend from Texas to talk a little bit about the PAYGO rules and the budget and explain to the American people what is going to happen here in the next couple of months, weeks, and years in the United States.

With that I yield to Mr. Conaway.

Can you explain that PAYGO so people understand it better, what PAYGO really means, what it should mean.

I thank the gentleman. I appreciate you coming down and talking about the budget because I know you understand it; but as I said earlier, more importantly as a CPA, you really understand what the Tax Code means to individual businesses and families.

In fact, just last week I had a conversation, I would say it was an unfortunate conversation with my CPA as we went through my tax returns and had to pay taxes, as millions and millions of people across this country had to do.

I know the gentleman said he had one more point to make.

That ATM which I mentioned earlier and this conversation I have had over the past couple of weeks with my accountant, he is seeing married couples, both husband and wife are teachers, and they are real close to getting caught up in that minimum tax. Again, two teachers making a decent living, and they are getting caught up in a tax code that is increasing their taxes. We need to address that.

As I said, talking to my accountant last week, as millions of Americans had, to fill out the paperwork and write checks to pay their taxes, it is a yearly ritual that is unavoidable. The government has made this an incredibly complicated process to go through. Not only does it seem we are ignoring the need to extend these tax cuts so Americans pay less, but we are ignoring the fact we need to reform our Tax Code to make it simpler.

I recently read an article by John Stossel from ABC, and he wrote in 2005 Americans spent 6.4 billion hours complying with the Federal Tax Code. He further stated that a Washington-based group, The Tax Foundation, calculated that that 6.4 billion hours was valued at $265 billion, was what Americans spent on complying with the Tax Code. That is more than the Federal deficit last year.

If we could cut that in half, imagine $130 billion going into the economy, our small businesses being able to buy more equipment, employ more people, build a new building, expand their operations; the American family, having $130 billion to buy a new washer and dryer, save for college. What will it do for this economy? We have to make sure we pay attention to that.

As we were talking earlier tonight, the Democrat budget put out last week, in Pennsylvania alone it is going to increase taxes by 2009 on the average Pennsylvanian by over $3,000. We hope that people will e- mail us at [email protected] and let us know what $3,000 would mean to your family, how important that would be, that you would have that $3,000 to spend, instead of sending it to Washington.

As we keep pointing out, by 2011, if we don't act, the Democrat majority is going to increase taxes by almost $400 billion. It will be the largest tax increase in American history. I haven't been able to document this, but I think it is probably the largest tax increase in the history of the world. The American people need to understand that. That is the sad reality. We are taxing too much. We have got to make sure that we in Washington are making this government work efficiently and not wasting their money, but making sure that they continue to keep more of their hard-earned dollars.

Next Monday night is going to be Tax Freedom Day, April 30 this year. That means Americans will, after April 30th, starting May 1, will be able to start working for themselves. The first 4 months of the year they have been working to pay their taxes, and on May first they work for themselves.

I appreciate the gentleman for pointing that out.

As I said, next Monday night, April 30, Tax Freedom Day, Americans will begin to start working for themselves. In 2003, Tax Freedom Day was April 18. We have slowly grown to April 30. It will be even longer than that if this Congress doesn't act. The percentage the Federal Government is going to take from people will grow. People will earn less. As I said earlier, the average Pennsylvanian, and there are 4.7 million Pennsylvanians that will pay taxes, on average that tax will go up by $3,000.

So we hope the American people communicate with us at countdowncrew @mail.house.gov and let us know what they could do with that $3,000, as well as over the past 4 or 5 years what it has meant to them, whether it is their family, whether it is a small business, how they have been able to utilize those tax cuts in expanding their business and saving for their children's future. These are extremely important matters that this Congress has to address.

As we started off saying, in 1,349 days, if we don't act, if the U.S. Congress doesn't act, there is going to be the largest tax increase in American history.

So I appreciate the gentleman from Texas. I don't know if you have anything else to add. If not, I will yield back the time. I know some of our other colleagues have come to the floor here to talk about important things.

But we want to make sure the American people know what is going to happen if the flawed logic is employed that if we don't vote on a tax increase, it is not really a tax increase, when in fact if people pay more money, that is a tax increase. The American people need to know that.

I appreciate my colleague coming down to the floor tonight.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and celebrate the Bishop Guilfoyle High School girls basketball team from Altoona, Pennsylvania, for their record-breaking season which ended with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class A State Championship.

The Lady Marauders, who finished this season with an impressive 31-1 record, went 14-0 in league play and defeated Pittsburgh's North Catholic

High School 43-38 for the 2007 championship title on March 24.

The season high of 31 wins set a school record and accompanied their first State title in 14 years.

Coached by Coach Mark Moschella, the team is graduating six seniors, led by senior forward Mary Forr, a 1,000-point scorer.

Also playing their last game were Courtney Carroll, Heather Craig, Ashley Helsel, Rachel Sullivan, and Dani Williams.

And special note, Alli Williams, a freshman on the Lady Marauders, scored 13 points and finished with 10 rebounds in the championship game.

I am extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of these young women from Bishop Guilfoyle and congratulate the team, the coaching staff, and their fans on a story-book year and a deserved championship.

I rise today to honor and celebrate the Bishop Guilfoyle High School Girls basketball team for their record-breaking season which ended with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class A State Championship title.

The Lady Marauders, who finished their season with an impressive 31-1 record, defeated Pittsburgh North Catholic 43-38 for the 2007 championship title on March 24, 2007. Their season high of 31 wins set a school record to accompany their first state title in 14 years.

Coached by Mark Moschella, the team is graduating 6 seniors, led by senior forward Mary Forr, a 1,000 point scorer. Also playing their last game in the purple and gold were Courtney Carroll, Heather Craig, Ashley Helsel, Rachel Sullivan and Dani Williams, who finished the championship game with 11 rebounds.

Rounding out the championship team were; Danielle Filer, Teresa Mull, Ashley Fulare, Nicole Ciambotti, Christine Conrad, Shannon Hite, Tiffany Seasoltz, Chelsey Neugebauer, Kaylee Keagy, Brooke Stayer, Rachel Rea, Erin Brennen and freshman sensation Alli Williams, who shared the winning season on the court with her sister Dani. Alli, the only freshman on the squad, led the Lady Marauders with 13 points and finished the championship game with 10 rebounds.

The Mountain Athletic Conference Champion Lady Marauders finished undefeated in league play with a record of 14-0. During the regular season they defeated District VI champions Altoona (AAAA) and Lewistown (AAA) and District VI runner-up Bishop McCort (AA). Their only loss was to Delone Catholic in December; however, since that game, they won 23 straight including the District VI Championship and the PIAA Class A State Title.

The Lady Marauders proved their dominance on their way to the championship, defeating Rockwood in the first round of the PIAA playoffs 58-20; beating Lancaster Country Day 66-16 in the second round; following with a 57-46 win over Nativity BVM in the State Quarter-Final match-up; a 46-34 Semi-Final victory over Bishop O'Reilly and culminating with the State Championship win against North Catholic 43-38.

The team, known for its prolific defense and extraordinary teamwork, will cherish these accomplishments long after they have graduated from Bishop Guilfoyle. I am extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of these young women from Bishop Guilfoyle and congratulate the team, the coaching staff and their fans on a storybook year and a deserved championship.

I appreciate the gentleman yielding me time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise with great concern and in opposition to H.R. 1401.

I think there are many provisions in this bill that are positive, that will enhance security, but I am concerned about the strategy as we move forward. Do we have one to move forward, spending billions of dollars?

In addition, there are a couple of provisions in this bill, section 124, which would require carriers to ship along the most secure routes. That sounds good, but when you put in there shipping along these routes without concern for safety, you may decide that when you look at what may be to some secure, you have serious safety considerations, whether the track is safe or what the weather is going to be like, and what is the first responder capabilities? Those are things that we have to consider when we are deciding on which route to take different shipments.

Also, the background checks. Section 120, I believe, weakens the background checks and it appears to me may pressure private industry to hire people, hire felons that we don't want working on the rail system that could further jeopardize our security.

The whistleblower protection. I believe it already affords adequate whistleblower protection for our workers. Keeping it under its current law under the Federal Rail Administration I believe is much better than moving it over to the Department of Labor. The Department of Labor hasn't had the experience in working with rail and rail labor, where the FRA has great experience. So I think we need to leave it there instead of moving it to an agency that, as I said, has no experience.

Most importantly, I rise today to oppose the manager's amendment. For decades, the Federal policy has given the U.S. Department of Transportation preeminent jurisdiction over rail safety under the Federal Railroad Safety Act. Section 3 of the manager's amendment would destroy that Federal preemption.

Under current law, States may enact safety laws as long as they address unique local safety hazards.

As I said, section 3 of the manager's amendment will change all of that. This would balkanize our rail system and subject railroads to a hodgepodge of State and local regulations. Railroads could face different rules every time they crossed a State or county or municipal border. Imagine, 50 States, 50 different jurisdictions, or more, when you talk about the different counties in America. And they could regulate on braking systems, the number of people on the trains, and the types of trains that we use or the tracks we use. In fact, in California there are proposals out there that they want to change the track standards, they want to change the types of locomotives.

This is going to destroy the efficiency of the national rail system that we have created, a successful one over 20 or so years. And I repeat, this is not a security issue. It does not belong in this bill. And I hope the chairman of the full committee joins me in opposing this manager's amendment because rail safety belongs in a rail safety bill, which the subcommittee is going to take up. So I urge my colleagues to oppose the manager's amendment.

Mr. Speaker, for the past 2 months, myself and others have been coming to the floor to talk about the impending tax increase that we face in this country if the majority doesn't act in something just under 1,400 days, and we will see this huge tax increase and all the majority has to do is run out the clock. They have to do nothing to see this tax increase be put back in place when the tax cuts that we passed in early 2001, 2002, 2003 will expire.

But tonight we are coming to the floor, and we think it is fitting to talk about the fourth anniversary of Iraq and what is happening in Iraq and, most importantly, what is going to happen on this House floor we think this week but maybe not until next week.

It was fitting tonight that we had a moment of silence for our men and women in harm's way. It was very fitting. But it is also fitting that the United States Congress is very clear to the men and women in harm's way that we support them. And we don't just support them in standing up on the House floor talking about it, but we support them in a concrete way, and that is making sure that they are getting the funds that they need, making sure that the United States Congress is sending a message to our enemies around the world that we are behind them; that we are not going to shortchange them; that we are not going to pull the rug out from under them; that we are not going to put a time line in place that is going to allow our enemies to know when and what we are going to do, we let our enemies know that they just have to run out the clock.

And if they run out the clock, that we are going to be gone and they are going to be able to be back in Iraq, they are going to be back in other places around this world doing harm to many people, including Americans. So it is absolutely important that our men and women know, and this supplemental is going to be the key. It is going to be the key for our men and women to know that we are behind them. And what the majority party is putting forth, at least we think what the majority party is putting forward, has created a confusing and inflexible timetable for the Americans' withdrawal from Iraq.

From what they have said, and we only know in press accounts and I will read many of those press accounts, and I would encourage you to go to www.gop.gov and see last week's press conference with the leadership of the majority party, the Democratic leadership talk about their plan, and just watch it for about a minute and you will see just how confusing it was to not only the American people but to the leadership of the majority party.

As I said, they have put in place timetables for withdrawal, with forces leaving as early as July 1 and concluding their removal no later than August 2008. Now, we can talk and talk and talk, but our enemies see that, and they will just go back into the shadows and they will just wait until we are gone to be able to wreak havoc on Iraq and the Iraqi people.

An example of what is in the supplemental, at least that is what we have heard, we are not sure but this is what we have heard: that none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this or any other act may be used to deploy any unit of the Armed Forces to Iraq unless the chief of the military department concerned has certified in writing to the Committees on Appropriations and on Armed Services at least 15 days in advance of deployment that this unit is fully mission capable.

Now, if that is not micromanagement, I don't know what is. I think the lessons of Vietnam have been lost on the majority party. That is micromanaging the war. That is what caused us great detriment in Vietnam.

The next thing is: the President certifies in writing to the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Armed Services that the deployment to Iraq of a unit that is not assessed fully mission capable, he is required to fill a report detailing the particular reason or reasons why that unit's deployment is necessary. If that is not micromanagement, I don't know what is.

We have one Commander in Chief, clearly stated in the Constitution, not 535 commanders looking to micromanage a war. This requirement ties the hands of the President in committing more troops to fighting required by red tape and lengthy explanations, cost of time, and the risk of lives. That is micromanaging the war. I think it is very, very clear. And, again, I would urge anybody that is interested to go to the Web site and see the Democratic House leadership's press conference last week, and you will see just how clearly they are confused.

So how can the American people not be confused? How can our men and women in harm's way not be confused about what this Congress, what this House is about to do?

Just a couple of press accounts talking about the supplemental. The Washington Post, The Washington Post described the Democrat plan as: an attempt to impose detailed management on a war without regard to the war itself. Micromanagement. The Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times called for the bill to be vetoed. Imagine that. And I quote the Los Angeles Times saying this, not me: It is absurd for the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, San Francisco, to try to micromanage the conflict and the evolution of Iraqi society with arbitrary timetables and benchmarks. The Los Angeles Times is saying that; it is not the Washington Times. If it were the Washington Times, my friends on the other side of the aisle would say that is a conservative paper. But it is the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post saying this.

Now, my friends on the other side like to talk about the Iraqi Study Group, and the bipartisan Iraqi Study Group did not advocate, I repeat, did not advocate a firm timetable for withdrawal in its December 2006 report, because those folks knew that it was a bad idea to give our enemies a time certain as to when we would be out of Iraq.

The National Intelligence Estimate released in January warned of the perils of an early troop withdrawal. And it said: If Coalition forces were withdrawn rapidly during the term of this estimate, we judge that this almost certainly would lead to a significant increase in the scale and scope of sectarian conflict in Iraq. More death, more destruction.

Now, you can't have it both ways. You can't stand up and quote the Iraqi Study Group and the National Intelligence Estimate and pick out bits and pieces of it. There are certainly things in there that they said that we all need to pay attention to, but these are extremely important statements that were made.

I am sure I can go on and on quoting newspapers around this country that say similar things that The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times are saying. And, again, I want to remind people what the Los Angeles Times said: It is absurd for the House Speaker to try to micromanage the conflict and the evolution of Iraqi society with arbitrary timetables and benchmarks. It is absurd for us to give our enemies a timetable for them to know when to lay back so they can regroup and wait until we leave, so that they can go back into the country of Iraq, set up bases, and wreak havoc on the people of Iraq.

The other thing about this supplemental that is distasteful to me and I believe others on the other side is that they have loaded this supplemental with spending. They have used our troops as a bargaining chip to increase domestic spending. Now, our troops deserve better than that, not to be used as a bargaining chip. This is a supplemental. This is for emergency spending, this is for the war, this is for something that our troops need. And I hope that those on the other side that have talked on the this floor night after night about irresponsible domestic spending, that they won't stand for it to be put in a supplemental that is to be used for emergency spending on this war.

Republicans rejected last year $14 billion of domestic spending not related to the war. We had a clean supplemental. And I hope my friends on the other side will reassess what they are about to do and use this supplemental, use our men and women in harm's way as a bargain chip.

I most certainly will.

I appreciate the gentleman pointing that out. And with your background, you are most qualified to do that, point out some of the things you pointed out.

I would now like to yield my friend from Texas, Mr. Conaway.

May I interrupt the gentleman for a second? Did you say we are not going to have an open rule? Because I was under the impression that the Speaker and the leadership of the Democratic Party campaigned that they were going to have open rule after open rule, and they weren't going to put bills on the floor that didn't give the minority their rights. Are you telling me that it is not going to be an open rule on this supplemental?

And the gentleman, the point he just made is they try to compare Iraq to Vietnam, and it is not a good comparison at all. But, when the United States Congress is going to make an attempt to micromanage a war, that is going to be a comparison to Vietnam, and the same outcome is going to be not a good outcome. And like you said, the disaster that occurred, what happens after we leave and there is a disaster, human disaster of people, mass exodus from the country? So I just wanted to make that point.

I think it is absolutely right, and I think the gentleman is right to point out that is really going to be a defining moment for many Members of this body, especially our colleagues on the other side, who, as you quite eloquently pointed out, that the choice is either stay and fight and have a strategy work to help the people of Iraq or get out.

So I hope the folks that come down here, and there were some here tonight that have come down night after night and for the last several months have talked about the need, the desire to get out immediately, we are going to see. Are they going to stand up and be true to what they have been talking about to the Nation on this House floor for the past several months, or are they going to bend to the will of their leadership?

As well there are other Members on the other side of the aisle that have said they will not stand for micromanagement of the war, they will not stand for putting timelines in to give our enemy the ability to fight a different kind of war and hurt and kill our soldiers. So this is going to be a defining moment.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I wanted to talk a little bit more about the politics of this. And, again, I want to read something that The Washington Post wrote on March 13. I took bits and pieces out of there, but I think it is pretty consistent throughout the whole editorial. And again to remind my colleagues if they have forgotten, The Washington Post is no friend of the Bush administration, and it is no supporter of Republican causes. But I will give The Washington Post credit that it takes a position, thinks about it, and comes down many times on the different side of the issue, or at least they are thoughtful about it.

And this Washington Post editorial, ``The Pelosi Plan for Iraq, it makes perfect sense if the goal is winning votes in the United States.

``The only constituency House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ignored in her plan for amending President Bush's supplemental war funding bill are the people of the country that the U.S. troops are fighting to stabilize. The Democratic proposal doesn't attempt to answer the question of why August 2008 is the right moment for the Iraqi Government to lose all support from U.S. combat units. It doesn't hint at what might happen if American forces were to leave at the end of this year, a development that would be triggered by the Iraqi Government's weakness. It doesn't explain how continued U.S. interests in Iraq, which holds the world's second largest oil reserves and a substantial cadre of al Qaeda militants, would be protected after 2008. In fact,'' The Washington Post says, ``it may prohibit U.S. forces from returning once they leave.

``In short, the Democratic proposal . . . is an attempt to impose detailed management on a war without regard for the war itself.

``Will Iraq collapse into unrestrained civil conflict with `massive civilian casualties,' as the U.S. intelligence community predicts in the event of a rapid withdrawal? Will al Qaeda establish a powerful new base for launching attacks on the United States and its allies? Will there be regional war that sucks in Iraq's neighbors such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey? The House legislation is indifferent. Whether or not any those events happened, U.S. forces would be gone.

``Ms. Pelosi's strategy leads not toward a responsible withdrawal from Iraq but to a constitutional power struggle with Mr. Bush, who has already said he will veto the legislation. Such a struggle would serve the interests of neither the Democrats nor the country.''

And, again, that is coming from The Washington Post. So don't listen to a Republican Member of Congress from Pennsylvania, a conservative Republican from Pennsylvania. Listen to what The Washington Post has to say. And they are pointing it out over and over again: this is a bad plan; this is a bad war supplemental. And, again, I believe that it uses our men and women in harm's way as bargaining chips and it makes it more dangerous for those men and women in Iraq.

And it also is going to destroy their morale. If they find out they are going to be pulled out in 2 months or 6 months or 18 months or whatever the Democratic proposal is, which we are not quite sure, what is going to give a young marine or ranger the will to go kick in a door where the bad guys are when he sits back in his quarters and says, Well, I could be out of this place in 3 months or 6 months. I mean, it is going to destroy the morale of our men and women.

I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I would certainly like to welcome here tonight and yield to one of our newest Members of the House from Ohio (Mr. Jordan).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio.

And I think you are right. I think it is important. I think that one of the things that we learn as citizens, we learn here in Congress, is your word. Your word is what matters, and if your word is good, then people trust you and people know they can count on you. And I think that is exactly your point. If we pull out in Iraq, our word to not only our enemy, our enemy knows that if we pull out that our word is no good to stay there and fight them, but our friends around the world are going to say you can't count on America. And I think that is an extremely important point, and that is maybe the core of this. We need to stay and make sure the Iraqi people have control of the security on the ground. And I think that while it is too early to tell if the new strategy in Iraq will succeed, there are tangible indications that it is working.

The joint U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown is fulfilling its primary objective to reduce violence in Baghdad. Bomb deaths have gone down 30 percent. Execution-style deaths have decreased by nearly half in the last month. Iraqis are taking on an increased role in security of their country. Nine of the Iraqis' 10 army divisions are taking the lead in areas of operation. And today almost 329,000 Iraq security force members are working to secure their country. And the political benchmarks are being met. Last month the Iraqi Government approved a budget, approved a national hydrocarbon law, and just last week they convened a regional conference of 13 nations to discuss these concerns. So things are moving forward. There was a poll out, the largest poll done in Iraq in the last couple of years, the London polling firm Opinion Research Business found that in a survey of over 5,000 Iraqis that by a 2-1 margin, Iraqis prefer living under the current system than they did under Saddam. So there are positive signs there.

I yield to the gentleman.

I thank the gentleman for coming down.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

I think the gentleman makes an excellent point. This country, there are people in this country, the political discourse, we agree, we disagree, we debate, but the wonderful thing about it is we can do it, and people aren't tortured and drug off to prison and killed.

As a matter of fact, I was on the Mall last week in the morning with another colleague of ours, and we went up to the war protestors. They had their tents up and their signs up. It was really quite a magnificent picture of the war protestors, and behind it was the United States Capitol.

I started to talk. We were talking about why they were opposed to the

war and why I wanted to continue to support our troops there. I said, you know, in some countries of the world, Iraq, Iran, many of those countries, almost all of those countries in the Middle East, you cannot be doing this. They wouldn't allow you to do this. In fact, they would kill you. They would take you off and kill you possibly. And you would be lucky if you were killed because most of the time they would torture you before they would kill you.

So this country is a great country, and what we are doing over there is we are trying to help a nation stabilize, trying to help a nation build a democracy, and that is not easy. That is difficult. As our colleague from Ohio pointed out, the Revolutionary War in 1776, it took 13 years for the Constitution.

A story I like to tell, because it happened in my district, during the first year of George Washington's second term, we had already got a Constitution, we elected a President, George Washington, not once, but the second time. In that first year, the Whiskey Rebellion occurred in western Pennsylvania. The farmers in western Pennsylvania didn't like the tax, so they revolted. So George Washington, it was the only time that a Commander in Chief mounted up on a horse and took the soldiers into the field, had to ride up into western Pennsylvania and put down that rebellion.

We as Americans sometimes forget that it took us a long time until we were able to establish democracy. So it is not easy. We need to remember our history, that it takes time. It takes time especially when you are a nation that has never known democracy; never known democracy, but certainly has that feeling, has that sense of wanting freedom.

I think that there is no doubt that the Iraqi people, as well as any person, any people in the world, or every people in the world, want freedom. They have a desire for freedom.

I thank the gentleman for joining me and appreciate that report on the revenues to the government. Once again it proves that tax cuts do work. It increases the economic activity in this country, which generates more revenue not only for the government, but for the good people of America that are out there working hard every day. They are able to put more of that money into their pockets instead of sending it to the bureaucrats in Washington to spend it.

I think it is important on this fourth anniversary that we did speak about what is happening in Iraq, and most importantly what is going to happen on this House floor.

The American people, I was told by Colonel Walt Piatt in Afghanistan when I visited there a couple years ago, and I was talking to Colonel Piatt, who is from my district, and we were talking about the effort and the needs of the troops and the military equipment, and he said to me, you know, America's power is not its soldier, it is not its weaponry, it is not the bombs we create. The strength in America is the will of the American people, because if the soldiers know that the people are behind what they are doing, in support of what they are doing, they can accomplish anything.

I think what is going to be said here on this House floor, because the House, we are the people elected, we are the leaders elected from our districts, 435 districts, and what we say here is going to go a long way in whether we are going to be successful in helping the Iraqis building a democracy, in stabilizing that country and helping long term what is going to happen in the Middle East.

So it is going to be very critical what is said here on the floor in this war supplemental. Are we going to use it as a political ploy, use it as a bargaining chip, use our men and women as bargaining chips to get spending to things that don't belong in this war supplemental, or are we going to do the right thing, and that is you support our men and women with the funding that they need? Are we going to support them?

That is going to be a large step in proving to them that we are with them, that we are behind them and that we are not going to put in arbitrary deadlines that are going to give our adversaries and our enemies a leg up on us.

So this is going to be an absolutely critical week for America. It is going to be a critical week and a defining moment I believe for the majority party, because I don't believe, and I think it is pretty clear, the American people don't like conflict, don't like war, don't like death, don't like destruction. Nobody likes that. But the American people do not want to lose in Iraq. I think that is very clear. And this war supplemental, putting in these arbitrary timetables, is a prescription for that.

It is micromanaging this war by the politicians in Washington, just like many on the other side of the aisle say is what happened in Vietnam. That was wrong in Vietnam, and yet they are standing up on the House floor this week and the past couple weeks proposing that we do just that, micromanage this war. 435 Members of the House, 100 Senators, they are not the Commander in Chief.

The Constitution is clear. When you are fighting a war, you need one leader. When you are fighting a war, you leave it to the professionals, you leave it to the generals, you leave it to the colonels, you leave it to the men and women that are trained to do this, not bring it on the House floor. And as I said and as The Washington Post has said, trying to micromanage this war is the wrong thing to do for the Iraqi people, it is the wrong thing to do for the American people, and it is the wrong thing to do for the men and women that are in harm's way.

So I hope we are able to come together on this House floor and strip out many of those things that are in here that just make it unworkable and bad for the American people and the military.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Chief Thomas D. Miller, who after 33 years of distinguished service is retiring from his prestigious responsibility as Chief of the Blair Township Police Department. Chief Miller has had a successful and prominent career with many achievements and recognitions.

Chief Miller's law enforcement career began in 1974 as a part-time patrolman and quickly made his way up the ranks with his dedication to serving the community. In 1980, 3 months after being hired as a full- time police officer by the Blair Township Police Department and elected Constable of Juniata County, he was promoted to Assistant Chief. On March 13, 2001, Chief Miller was appointed Blair Township Chief of Police. His devotion to duty and commitment to the community can surely be drawn upon by future police officers.

Chief Thomas Miller's career in law enforcement has brought him recognition for his courage and bravery. He was awarded the Silver Star for Bravery from the American Police Hall of Fame, as well as the Legion of Honor Award from the American Law Enforcement Officers Association for his courage, bravery, and allegiance in the performance of his duty following an incident that occurred on March 27, 1985. He is also an active member and participant in the Blair County DUI and Drug Task Forces. Chief Thomas Miller's character does not go unnoticed and is sure to bring him the most rewarding experiences in life.

Chief Miller also recognizes fellow officers' spirit and bravery being a member of the Blair County Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Foundation.

Madam Speaker, Chief Thomas D. Miller has been very active in both professional and personal activities throughout Blair Township, Pennsylvania. Chief Thomas D. Miller is a great citizen of Blair County and we are honored to recognize him for all of his work and accomplishments. I congratulate him and wish him the best in his retirement.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Patrick Crawford of Bedford, Pennsylvania, who has been named ``2007 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year'' by a committee of his peers from the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators. This distinguished award is given annually and is part of the National Superintendent of the Year Program sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators. It is presented to further inspire exemplary leadership and promote a sense of confidence and pride in our Nation's public schools. Dr. Crawford will be recognized in March at the American Association of School Administrators Conference on Education, where the national recipient will be chosen among the State nominees.

Dr. Patrick Crawford has been superintendent of Bedford Area School District since 1996. His outstanding service to the Bedford area has included several noteworthy programs. The Superintendent's Leadership Academy, a 2 year leadership program for high school juniors and seniors; the Bedford Teacher Technology Academy, a staff development program that advances the use of technology in learning; and the Classrooms for the Future initiative which will place laptops on the desks of every high school student in the district. These initiatives all take precedence on the future of education in the Bedford area.

In addition to the time he spends as a superintendent, Dr. Crawford dedicates much of his schedule to the betterment of the Bedford community. He has worked through organizations such as the Pennsylvania Leadership Development Center, the Blended Schools Virtual Learning Consortium, and is serving on the Learning Lamp Board of Directors. He is also active in community organizations, such as the Sunrise Rotary Club of Bedford and the Bedford County Chamber of Commerce Youth Leadership Program and Education Foundation.

Nominators of Dr. Crawford cite his excellent vision and leadership in guiding his colleagues toward innovation and excellence, yet Dr. Crawford selflessly announced ``what this award really demonstrates is that there is a whole team of people who are working to make Bedford Area School District a better place.'' This modest educator is truly a wonderful asset to the Bedford area, as well as the State of Pennsylvania, and is most deserving of this prestigious honor.

Mr. Speaker, we have come to the floor tonight again, my colleagues and I, to talk about something that is of great concern to us, great concern to the American people. And that is that, in just 1,398 days, there will be one of the largest tax increases in American history, over $200 billion, and that is going to occur if the majority party does not extend the tax cuts that the Republicans put in place in 2001, 2003 and extended some of them in the last Congress.

But that is going to happen. This huge tax increase is going to occur in America. And the Democrats don't have to do anything but run out the clock. If they sit on their hands, sit on the ball, we will see, in 1,398 days, as I said, one of the largest tax increases that the American people will have ever experienced.

Some of my colleagues on the other side have talked about the change that took place in this body, and there was a change. But I don't know anybody in America, nobody that I talk to in the

Ninth Congressional District of Pennsylvania or across Pennsylvania, that voted to see their taxes get increased.

Over the last several months, over the last few years, several years actually, we have seen this economy move forward creating jobs. In fact, over the last 4 years, this economy has created 7.2 million jobs.

It is because of those tax cuts that we put in place. The unemployment rate in America is at 4.6 percent. It is the lowest average unemployment rate in the four decades that we have experienced over the last three or four years.

Once again, if we don't extend these tax cuts, the American people are going to see more of their hard-earned dollars being sent off to Washington. If you look at a family of four that makes $40,000 or so combined income, has two kids in their family, if we don't extend these tax cuts, if the majority party, the Democrats in Congress, don't extend these tax cuts, people in that income range are going to see an increase of about $2,000 or $2,200 a year.

Some in this body may think that is not a lot of money, but I know to the hardworking people in central Pennsylvania that earn $40,000 in income, $2,200 is a lot of money. You can take that money and that is a nice down payment on a car. You can buy a new washer and dryer machine. You can save that money for college for your children. If you take that $2,000 or $2,200 a year over the next 10 years and invest it in a mutual fund returning about 5 percent income, that would grow to $30,000 in the next 10 years. That is a significant amount of money to send your child off to one of the higher education institutions in our country.

I think that the majority party ought to take a lesson from one of their own. Back in the 1960s when President Kennedy came into office, he cut taxes. What happened was that the economy grew and revenues to the government grew. We look back at history to President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. He did the same thing. He cut the tax rates. The economy grew, it created jobs, and, lo and behold, more revenues flowed into the Federal Government.

That is again what we did in 2001 and 2003. We cut taxes, and history has repeated itself. This economy is one of the strongest economies in U.S. history. We are getting record levels of revenue coming into the government. So what we need to do is to continue to keep those tax rates low, extend those tax cuts.

Unfortunately for the American people, and that is one of the reasons we come to the floor on a weekly basis and talk about this, to make sure we bring the attention to the American people, make sure they are aware of what is going to happen, the Democrats, they said it very clearly in their campaign rhetoric in 2006, that the leader of the Ways and Means Committee, the new chairman, has said time and time again during that campaign election that he didn't know of any of President Bush's or the Republican tax cuts that deserve to be extended.

One of the first things they did when they became the majority party is they made it easier, not harder, but made it easier to raise your taxes. When the Republicans controlled the House, we made it the rules of the House that you couldn't raise taxes unless you had a three- fifths vote in the House to raise taxes. One of the first things the Democrats did was to make it easier. They decreased it to a simple majority to raise your taxes.

They put in place PAYGO. It should actually be PAYTAXGO, because it is going to make it easier for them. They are not going to touch any existing programs, but on new spending they are going to have to offset any new spending; and the way to offset that, the easiest way, is to increase taxes. I believe, as I believe many Americans believe, that that is what is going to happen.

The American people need to know this. We hope that people are tuning in and listening to us as we talk about this. We call ourselves the Countdown Crew. We are 1,398 days away from this huge tax increase unless the American people speak up, unless the American people talk to their elected officials and say they are not going to stand for a tax increase.

We have created a Web site, and we would love for you to e-mail us and let us know, give us your story of how the tax cuts, whichever one, whether it was the child tax credit, or the accelerated depreciation, dividend tax cuts, the death tax, which one of these tax cuts has benefited you. We would like to hear your story so we can talk about it.

There are millions and millions of Americans out there, young and old, low and medium income, that have benefited by these tax cuts. Our Web site, I guess it is our e-mail, is [email protected]. Once again, there are some stories tonight. Later on in the evening we will be sharing with you that people around the country have sent us e- mails about how important these tax cuts are to them and how detrimental it will be to their small business or their family or communities across America.

I am pleased to be joined tonight by one of my colleagues from Kentucky, Mr. Davis. I yield to Mr. Davis to talk about some of these issues tonight.

How many people does George employ?

That is small business personified, that 25 people. Those are the kinds of stories that I think we need to bring out.

Absolutely. I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I just wanted to know what size business that was and make sure the American people know that we are talking about people in their neighborhoods, in their communities, that employ 25, 30, 50, 100 people and that start from small and turn these enterprises into successful businesses. In most cases, my experience has been those small business owners, they are the backbone of the community. They are the ones that give to the local little league team. They are the ones that contribute to the hospital and the hospital boards. They are the ones making sure their communities are wonderful places to live, or are helping to make sure they are wonderful places to live.

As soon as next week, the Democratic majority will be introducing their budget. It is my guess that they are going to spell out exactly how they are going to increase taxes on the American people to pay for that budget. They are going to have a choice. The choice is going to be either to continue the tax policies which have resulted in record job growth, 7.2 million jobs over the last 4 years, 40 quarters of an expanding economy; or they are going to choose to put the brakes on the growth of this economy by raising taxes.

I am going to predict tonight that if they decide to choose to raise taxes, which all indications lead me to believe they will, the brakes will go on this economy in very short order.

One of the important reforms that we as Republicans made when we were in the majority was to reduce the taxes on dividends and capital gains. In past history, dividends and capital gains were sort of viewed as only the fat cats in society, only the wealthy get to benefit by a reduction in taxes on dividends and capital gains. But that is not the case today.

Over 60 percent of the American population is invested into mutual funds and the stock market, into various other financial vehicles. It is widespread in the economy who invests and who can benefit from a decrease in the tax on dividends and a cut in the tax on capital gains.

Prior to 2003, tax cut dividends were subject to individual income taxes up to 38.6 percent on top of corporate taxes of 35 percent. It was double taxation. The corporations in America that you invested in, if you invested in General Motors or you invested in Wal-Mart and they made a profit, they got hit with a 35 percent tax increase, and then they paid out their dividends to the millions of people from all walks of life who invested in those corporations, and the dividend, it was hit at a tax rate of 38.6 percent or below. Among developing countries, only Japan has had higher tax rates on investment income than us.

In 2003, the top individual tax rate on dividends was cut by more than half down to 15 percent. Starting next year, there will be no dividend tax at all for lower income Americans which is absolutely essential to continue growth in this economy.

In addition, capital gains tax increased, with the top rates on long- term capital gains dropping from 20 and 10 percent down to 15 and 5 percent. The 5 percent rate will drop to

zero next year for those in the bottom two tax brackets. Again, for families in the middle and lower income that have investments, they are not going to be taxed on those types of investments, or it is going to be significantly decreased.

Those lower tax rates have promoted a strong and growing economy, and has created 7.2 million new jobs. Our job creation in the last 4 years is greater than the European Union and the Japanese economy combined. This has been an economy that has grown strong and created millions and millions of jobs.

Again, if the Democrats fail to extend the tax relief, in 2010, those rates will return to where they were before we lowered them, and the American people are going to experience significant tax increases.

Because seniors rely on income from investments, they have benefited greatly from those lower taxes. That is why it is important. They are one of the key groups in our economy that have benefited by it.

The Treasury Department has estimated that 8.5 million seniors saved an average of $1,144 on their 2005 taxes as a result of lower rates on dividends and long-term capital gains. And $1,100 goes a long way towards buying something new for your home, whether it is a washer and dryer, or whether it is a senior giving it to their grandchildren to help them out as they make their way in the world and go to college and try to get an education.

According to the Tax Foundation in an analysis of IRS data, more than half of all taxpayers over the age of 65 received dividend income in 2004. Over half of the folks over 65 years of age are receiving dividend income. That is double the national average for all taxpayers.

Seniors also rely upon capital gains income. That same Tax Foundation report found that while nationally less than 13 percent of taxpayers claim capital gains income in 2004, that figure cost 30 percent, a third for taxpayers between the age of 65 and 74, and more than 27 percent for those over the age of 75. Seniors benefit greatly by the dividend and capital gains tax cuts.

On May 10, 2006, Flora Gramma Green, a national spokeswoman for the Seniors Coalition, described the importance of lower dividend tax rates for seniors living on a fixed income. She said, ``When I planned for my retirement, I needed the dividend income just to have a secure retirement. I am not wealthy. I worry every day if I will have the money to buy the gas I need to get to the doctor, I worry if I will have the money I need for proper nursing care as I get older, and I worry that the monthly income I plan for will stretch far enough each month to let me pay my bills. The millions of fellow seniors who benefit from this tax reduction are in the same boat I am in. We need this tax break just to continue the safe and secure retirement that we planned for.''

Those are the words of a senior who is certainly involved in the fight to continue to keep these tax rates low, to see that the tax rates are extended so that in just 1,398 days, which will be January 1, 2011, which is a short period of time away, we will see this $200 billion tax increase, and it is going to cut across all income spectrums, from low income to high income.

These folks are going to have to send more of their money to the Federal Government and not be able to put it back in the economy, creating jobs in the most efficient way that an economy can create jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I don't want to mention his full name, but I had a conversation with a gentleman today who is a local businessman and employs about 120 people in one of my counties back in Pennsylvania. I am just going to call him Harold. I had a conversation with Harold on the phone today, and it was about the negative impact of these tax increases if we don't act on them.

As I was talking to Harold, he has been in business. Actually, his father started the business. Harold has been in it for 40 or 50 years. They started out with a couple of dump trucks and a bull dozer. Today they have a tremendous amount of equipment. They are an excavating business. They employ 120 people. But Harold's wife, Delores, just had a health scare, and so Harold has been looking at the business and what would happen if he were to pass away.

He said, you in Congress need to pass the death tax because if you don't, if I pass away, it is going to cost his children millions, up to several millions of dollars in taxes that they are going to have to pay in Federal and State tax, mainly Federal tax, to keep the business. He said, my children won't have access to that kind of cash, so they will have to liquidate the business if I were to die.

There are thousands of stories like that across America, that we need to make sure that we are extending the death tax and making sure that small-business owners like Harold and Delores, if they pass away, that their children will not have to liquidate a business because you have 120 families that they employ making a good living, living in rural Pennsylvania, that are potentially not going to have jobs if that were to happen.

Also, something that I think is important, as you mentioned, you were a small business owner, and I was a small business owner before I got here. Harold is the kind of guy in Pennsylvania, he is one of the pillars of the community. He is the guy that is always contributing to the community, giving back, whether he is on the hospital board or the economic development board. He is the guy making sure that he is contributing to the local Boy Scouts, to the Little League, making sure that the firemen have money, that he is supporting their efforts to raise money as they struggle to keep their ambulance and fire service going.

Those are the kinds of people, small-business owners, that have been in business for many, many years, that give back to their community, give back to their community and give back to their community.

Those are the kinds of people and those are the kinds of communities that are penalized with a tax like the death tax that would cause a business, one of the pillars of the community, to have to liquidate to raise the money to send it down here to Washington, to come into the Federal Treasury, and it would go out again probably 50 percent or 60 percent less of what came in. It would be less efficient than Harold being able, or Harold's family being able, to give back to the community and get the most impact out of a dollar.

Again, those are the kinds of people. I had a lunch with a gentleman in a similar business as Harold, gentleman by the name of Dave I will call him, who is the same type of person, started a business, told me about growing up on the farm in rural Pennsylvania, saying he did not have any money; he did not know any better. But he started out a with a flatbed truck hauling coal from the coal region of northeastern Pennsylvania back down to central Pennsylvania. That is how he got started, and today he has 200 employees, three different businesses, and is another gentleman who gives back to the community again and again and again.

That is what we are talking about. That is what makes America great, coming from a poor farmer to a prosperous business owner and a pillar of the community. Again, that is what makes America great. These are the kinds of people all across this country we have to make sure that we are not penalizing for being successful.

I yield back to the gentleman.

Absolutely. You talked earlier about the stories that we want to have sent to us, talking about real-life stories out there in America, how these tax cuts have helped them or what they are feeling in the economy or what they are feeling about their government. You can e-mail us at [email protected]. That is [email protected].

I received an e-mail, and I wanted to read some of it to you. It is from Kent Berry, who is a small business owner from Gravel Ridge, Arkansas. I have never been to Gravel Ridge, Arkansas. It is about 15 miles north of Little Rock; and over the past months, Kent has been watching us.

Kent says he is swamped by Federal tax regulations which are driving him down. He goes on further to say: ``More and more I feel that the deck is stacked against me. I witness so much nonproduction being rewarded with money which I had to struggle to remit. I'm beginning to feel that the American Dream is an optical illusion. I'm starting to envision the American Dream a lot like the carrot and stick. I keep pressing but it ain't gettin' no closer.''

Kent continues: ``I'm no constant agitator or perpetual malcontent, but I do enjoy C-SPAN and I did hear your e-mail address several times, and I'm writing to say that I'm struggling here.

``Government, like a lot of things, is a good thing. But like all good things, moderation.''

And as Kent points out there, he is struggling out there because he has got a small business. He works hard to earn the money that he earns, and then he has to turn around and pay a tax bill that is bigger than he can probably handle. If we do not extend some of these tax cuts, the tax bill is going to be even greater for Kent.

I know his story and his feelings are like millions of Americans out there that want to make certain that if they are going to invest their capital, if they are going to invest their blood, sweat and tears into a small enterprise, that they have the ability to get a return, that they have a ability to save some money, that they have an ability to make sure that their family lives a little better life than they have.

This is the American Dream, as we have talked about a couple of these folks from your district and some from mine, that they start from meager beginnings and with hard work, with ingenuity, they grow a business and become significant parts of their communities, giving back to their communities. Those are the types of people that we want to make sure that they are not penalized, that they are not driven out of business because they have to have some big tax bill when they pass away, you know, whether it is taking that money and investing it into a mutual fund so they can get a nice dividend back and they are not overburdened with taxes, whether they take their company or their business or their property and sell it and do not have an oppressive capital gains tax.

As you mentioned, most Americans do not take the money and bury it in the backyard. They put it back into the economy. They invest it in a mutual fund. They invest it into another business or a property that builds something, but that money goes back into the economy to create jobs and to hopefully when they invest that money create a return for them so they can continue to live a good life.

Again, through my district, there are a number of people. I have mentioned the name before, a B.C. Stone, another one of those operations started out in a garage. I visited with those folks about a week or so ago. They started out in a garage and today with a couple of employees, and today they employ 70 people. Their business is prosperous. It is growing over the last 4 years, and Travis Collins, one of the owners, says it is directly because of the various tax cuts that we put in place. The economy is moving, booming, and so his business right along with it.

As I mentioned before, he has taken on an old hotel in my hometown of Everett, Pennsylvania, an over 110-year-old hotel, and he is restoring it and turning it into a 12-bedroom hotel with a first-rate restaurant in it. By doing this, he hopes he is going to make some money, but he really wants to give back to the community and this beautiful, small town that he grew up in and this hotel, quite frankly, was dilapidated. He is putting a fresh face on it, and he is going to try to attract people to come into the community, to spend money through tourism.

Again, these are the kinds of things that happen when you allow people to keep more of their own money. They invest it, they grow their business, they try to create jobs and make their communities better places to live and to work.

Just in our closing minutes here, I want to reiterate, first of all, say we have been getting up here for the last several weeks talking about the coming tax increase, unless Congress and the Democratic majority acts, which will occur in 1,398 days, which will be January 1, 2011, and that occurs in 2008, some of the taxes, if they are not extended, will expire, 2009, 2010. Again, we want to hear from citizens around the country that have benefitted by these tax increases, tell us your story about your small business, how it has grown or how you started it.

You can get those stories to us at the [email protected]. We want to hear those stories. Again, I want to close with just talking about what's going to happen with the dividend and the capital gains tax cuts if we don't act.

January of 2010, those rates will go back up. As I mentioned earlier, when folks think about those dividends, whether you have a mutual fund, you have an IRA, you have a 401(k), you have some pension fund out there. By and large, if not all of them, almost every one of them, is dependent on investments to put income in and pay out to the beneficiaries.

Prior to a 2003 tax cut, dividends were subject to an individual tax rate up to 38.6 percent and on top of a corporate tax rate of 35 percent. Those types of rates are coming back unless this Congress and unless this Democratic majority acts. In 2003, the top individual tax rate on dividends was cut by more than half, down to 15 percent; and starting next year, that dividend, no dividend tax on income, on lower- income Americans. That is substantial.

In addition to capital gains tax decreased with the top rates on long-term capital gains dropping from 20 and 10 percent down to 15 and 5 percent, and, again, the 5 percent rate will drop to zero next year for those in the bottom two tax brackets.

If the Democrats fail to extend this tax relief, again, in 2010, they are going to come back, and anybody out there in America that is retired, anybody out there, as I said, that has a 401(k), a mutual fund, they are going to be taxed at a higher rate on those dividends. So it is important that we act. That is, again, why we come to the floor once a week and remind the American people that this tax increase is coming.

You need to talk to your Member of Congress. I do not believe that anybody in the November elections voted to increase their taxes, and your Member of Congress needs to hear about it. We have to stop it because we want to see this economy continue to grow and to prosper.

Does the gentleman from Kentucky wish to close? The gentleman from Texas arrived, too.

We certainly appreciate you coming here over the past several weeks. It is always good to have a CPA on the floor to be able to correct us when we spout off a number that is not quite accurate. You have been able to do that a number of times with us. We appreciate it.

I just want to point out again to people that may be watching tonight, such as a CPA, a small business owner. I was a small business owner. We all have children. Your children, I know, are grown now.

But it is important in America that small business owners and families are not burdened with these heavy taxes. We have to keep them low.

I think the gentleman from Kentucky might have a final passing word.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Mr. Dick Rice of Bedford, Pennsylvania. Mr. Rice was a longtime Commissioner of Bedford County before his passing last spring. He was known for his boundless energy, his optimistic attitude, a wonderful singing voice and the many issues he championed as a leader of his community. One of those issues dear to Mr. Rice was education. He believed strongly in the importance of providing local, high quality post-secondary education at an affordable cost. But he also showed his commitment by making a real difference in the lives of students. He found joy in presenting students with scholarships, tuition assistance awards, and emergency book funding.

Mr. Rice played a critical role in the development of the Bedford County Campus of Allegany College. By serving on the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation he was able to help make significant accomplishments. When the Bedford County Campus was founded in 1990, Bedford County ranked 64th out of 67 Pennsylvania counties in the percentage of high school graduates pursuing post-secondary education. Today, Bedford County is ranked 34th. The presence of a local campus has encouraged many area students to begin or continue their educational journeys close to home. Since 1990, more than 6,500 people have taken classes through the Bedford County Campus. The Foundation has worked to provide more than $190,000 to more than 700 of those students over the past 11 years. It is fitting that the Foundation has now established the Dick M. Rice Memorial Scholarship Endowment, to benefit Bedford County residents who attend Allegany College.

To cite each accomplishment and individual contribution that Dick has been a part of would take a very long time. His involvement in the educational community over the years has been immense and has touched numerous lives. We are all very grateful for his effort toward positive enrichment of Bedford County, and I offer my sincerest sympathies for the loss of such a great citizen.

Madam Speaker, one of our greatest strengths as elected officials is the opportunity to bring to light truths that are little known and command recognition.

Today, as the Co-chairman of the House Azerbaijan Caucus, I would like to bring to the attention of this body the tragedy that took place in Khojaly, Azerbaijan, a town and townspeople that were destroyed on February 26, 1992. Fifteen years later, there is little attention or interest paid to the plight of Khojaly outside of Azerbaijan.

Sadly, Khojaly, a town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, now under the control of Armenian forces, was the site of the largest killing of ethnic Azerbaijani civilians.

According to Human Rights Watch and other international observers, the massacre was committed by the ethnic Armenian armed forces, reportedly with the help of the Russian 366th Motor Rifle Regiment. This crime led to the death of 613 civilians; including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly men; 1,275 persons were taken hostage, and the fate of more than 150 remains unknown.

As part of the population tried to escape the town of Khojaly, they encountered violent ambushes and were murdered. According to the Russian organization, Memorial, 200 Azerbaijani corpses were brought from Khojaly to Agdam within four days, and it was discovered that they were subjected to abuses, torture and mutilation. Human Rights Watch stated that ``we place direct responsibility for the civilian deaths with Karabakh Armenian forces.''

At the time, Newsweek Magazine reported: ``Azerbaijan was a charnel house again last week: a place of mourning refugees and dozens of mangled corpses dragged to a makeshift morgue behind the mosque. They were ordinary Azerbaijani men, women and children

of Khojaly, a small village in war-torn Nagorno-Karabakh overrun by Armenian forces on 25-26 February. Many were killed at close range while trying to flee; some had their faces mutilated, others were scalped.''

Time Magazine stated ``While the details are argued, this much is plain: something grim and unconscionable happened in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly two weeks ago. So far, some 200 dead Azerbaijanis, many of them mutilated, have been transported out of the town tucked inside the Armenian-dominated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh for burial in neighboring Azerbaijan. The total number of deaths--the Azerbaijanis claim 1,324 civilians have been slaughtered, most of them women and children--is unknown.''

Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) from Albania, Azerbaijan, and the United Kingdom stated in May 2001 in Written Declaration No. 324 that the ``Armenians massacred the whole population of Khojaly and fully destroyed the town.''

Khojaly was the first significant Azerbaijani settlement overrun by Armenian forces in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The forces next overran the Nagorno-Karabakh districts of Zangilan, Gubadli, Fuzuli, Aghdam, and Kalbajar, as well as the towns of Shusha and Lachin. Altogether, the occupied territories represent roughly 20 percent of the territory of Azerbaijan. And, altogether roughly one million Azerbaijanis were evicted from their homes over the course of the Armenian-Azerbaijan war.

On January 25, 2005 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe overwhelmingly adopted a resolution highlighting that ``considerable parts of Azerbaijan's territory are still occupied by the Armenian forces and separatist forces are still in control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.''

Armenian Defense Minister, in an interview with British journalist Tomas de Waal openly admitted that ``Before Khojaly the Azerbaijanis thought that . . . the Armenians were people who could not raise their hands against the civilian population. We were able to break that [stereotype].'' Madam Speaker, the tragedy of Khojaly was a crime against humanity and I urge Congress to join me in standing with Azerbaijanis as they commemorate this tragedy.

Mr. Speaker, ``So they go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.'' The words of Winston Churchill on the eve of World War II ring true today as clearly as they did decades ago describing our state of affairs.

I am disappointed with my colleagues in the majority. They spent the time and effort solidifying their caucus against the war in Iraq. They devised a number of plans to withdraw our troops. They made Iraq the focus of their agenda in November and not staying the course their slogan. However, they stand today, as Churchill said, resolved to be irresolute in their position on Iraq.

The resolution we debate in the House today is based on flawed logic. The resolution states that Congress supports the efforts of our troops in mind but not in body. The fact is, this resolution is framed upon the idea that the current state of affairs in Iraq is beyond recovery and should be abandoned.

Instead of offering any real alternatives, the Democrats have drafted a nonbinding resolution that rejects the President's plan to reinforce our troops and give the Iraqi Security Forces the assistance they need. This resolution does not bring us one step closer to victory. This resolution does nothing more than reinforce the status quo.

This resolution does show the American people that yet again, the Democrats, for all of their rhetoric, have no plan, no alternative to fight the threat of Islamic jihad. They instead have chosen, amazingly, to simply stay the course.

I will be the first to admit that, despite the outstanding jobs that our troops on the ground have done, progress in the war is slow and frustrating. We overthrew a violent despot, only to see a new and dangerous threat emerge. But we can not be fooled into thinking that by leaving Iraq this threat will melt away.

By the very admission of the Islamic fundamentalists we fight, this war is

only part of a larger power play to consolidate power and form a jihadist Islamic state in the center of the Middle East.

In a speech released this month, Ahman Zawahiri praised al Qaeda's master plan for Iraq. He asked Allah to consolidate Iraq so that it unites all our Muslim brothers in Iraq and sets up an Islamic state which will proceed to liberate Jerusalem and take steps towards reestablishment of the Caliphate.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is a grave mistake for us to not take our enemy at their word. The jihadists do not want peace. They want capitulation. We ignored their threats in the 1980s and they bombed our Marine barracks in Beirut. We ignored their rhetoric in the nineties and they bombed the World Trade Center and our embassies in Africa. We ignored their threats in the days leading up to September 11, and our world was changed forever.

Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards described this resolution best when he compared it to a child standing in a corner, stomping his feet. This resolution may draw headlines, but it will not change a thing.

We have one Commander in Chief, not 435 separate executives. What the Congress does have is the power of the purse and the ability to cut off the funding for the war. Let's be honest. This resolution is the first step in that direction.

If cutting off funding is the Democrats' plan, and I believe it is, then let them state it openly. They are no longer the voice of the opposition in Congress. They are the majority, and they have an obligation to govern. It is time for them to create a plan, a real course of success. The American people are waiting.

I thank the gentleman from Kentucky. I appreciate your leadership down there on the floor, and I appreciate everybody that has been here tonight. As always, with those of us down here on the Countdown Crew, we all come from business backgrounds, most of us, if not all of us, small business backgrounds. I ran a business that employed between 30 and 40 people. And many, many Americans, small business owners, know just how difficult it is to meet payroll every month, to pay your bills.

There are many people here in Congress that talk about the escalating costs of health care and how difficult it is. But there aren't that many, there are few that are in Congress that have experienced that, like Mr. Davis has, I know Mr. Kingston or Thelma Drake or myself. We saw it happen year after year, and it is something that we are all concerned about. It is something that we all want to make sure we find an answer to, seeing that health care costs don't continue to climb.

But the answer is not to raise taxes. That works just the opposite. And I am very, very concerned that the American people are not aware, that was one of the reasons that getting together with Mr. Davis and Mr. Kingston and Mrs. Drake and others, we came up with this idea to talk about the countdown to the tax increase, because we are concerned about it, and because the Democrat majority does not have to do anything.

They have to run out the clock, and if they run out the clock on 1419 days, there is going to be the largest tax increase in American history, over $200 billion. That does not occur all at one shot. It is going to occur over the next 4 years.

In 2008, there are certain tax cuts will expire; in 2009, 2010; and then January 1, 2011, all the tax cuts put in place will have expired, and we will see our taxes go up considerably.

If you are at home thinking about what your tax liability is going to be in the future, you need to realize that the Democrat majority, as Mrs. Drake and Mr. Kingston pointed out and discussed about the difference between the three-fifths and the simple majority, the Democrats changed those rules in the very first days of the Congress so that they can raise your taxes.

The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from New York, said before the election that he did not know of any of the Bush tax cuts that he thought were worthy of continuing or extending.

So they have made it quite clear from their leadership, to the fact they changed the rules, that they intend to raise taxes. Why they keep talking about the deficits and deficit spending, and that is the answer to it, well, I believe just the opposite. It is not the answer to it.

If you look at the revenues in 2006 to the Federal Government, they increased by 9.7 percent in 2006. The deficit is down 50 percent of where we projected it to be in 2005. The 2006 deficit is down 50 percent as to where we project it to be, and why is that? That is because the revenues are coming into the Federal Government in significant numbers.

In 2005, there was an over 14 percent increase in revenues. That is because the economy is growing. That is because the Republican majority tried to hold the line on spending. We did not do enough. We need to do more, but the worst thing to do is to put a halt, put a hurdle on this economy, put a bump in the road to stop this economy from growing.

As many have said tonight, talked about the facts, the numbers, in December alone, there were 167,000 jobs created in this country; in January, 111,000 jobs. To date, over the last 4 years, there have been 7.3 million jobs created in America, and those are due to allowing the American people and small businesses to keep more of their hard-earned dollars in their own pockets so that they can go out and buy new things, whether it is a washer and dryer or whether it is a downpayment on a new car or saving money for college, putting that money away, $2,000 at a clip; and that is what the average American with a family of four and making between $40,000 and $50,000 a year, if these tax cuts are not extended, they are going to be hit with about a $2,000, $2,200 tax increase. If you take that money, $2,000 a year, and put it in a bank account at 5 percent interest over 10 years that grows to $30,000. That is a nice downpayment on a house. That is a nice downpayment on your kid's education. It is your money. It should not be sent to Washington. We want to keep it out there in the families of America and the small business of America.

As I said more of those numbers, we are at 4.6 percent unemployment, and it is the lowest rate on average over the last 4 decades. Cutting taxes drive this economy in a positive way. And others have said here tonight, and just to remind people that we are not the first to use tax cuts to move this economy forward, Ronald Reagan did it in the 1980s, and this economy grew by leaps and bounds. And President John F. Kennedy did it in the 1960s, cut taxes to spur this economy on, and that is what we need to do.

As I said, there are millions of Americans out there today that are depending on these tax rates to stay low. There are millions of small businesses which are the backbone of this economy that are counting on us keeping these tax cuts in place. There are millions of small businesses and farmers in this country hoping that we will extend the death tax so that they can plan for their future, so they can do the financial planning necessary because the alternative is it will expire at the end of 2010. The alternative is, if you cannot plan properly for expansion, for the future, you certainly do not want to die so that your family gets that tax, the tax break that we put in place.

So this is extremely important, as I said, to Americans across the spectrum, across this Nation from Arizona to Pennsylvania to Washington to Florida. I know millions of Americans, actually 10.6 Americans, low- income Americans, that are not paying taxes at all today because of the tax cuts we put into place in 2001 and 2003.

As we have been talking about for the last month this countdown to the tax increase, 1,419, dies, if Mr. Davis will put that chart back up, not the chart but our e-mail address. We have the [email protected]. We would love to hear from across this country how Americans have utilized these tax cuts, whether it is the child tax credit, whether it is the accelerated depreciation or any of the decreases in the marginal income tax rates. If you have utilized the Tax Code in a positive way, we want to hear about that. We want to be able to talk about that on the House floor.

One story that I have, back in central Pennsylvania, Dr. Greg Pyle is the president of Oil Surgery Associates. His practices are in Bedford County and Blair County, Pennsylvania, which are in the Ninth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. He has seen steady growth over the past 10 years, some of the most impressive growth being in small Bedford County. It is about 45,000. According to Dr. Pyle, medical practices usually plateau financially from 5 to 8 years. However, Dr. Pyle's medical partnership, which has been in business for 12 years, has seen some of

its greatest growth just in the past couple of years. He attributes that directly to the reduction in taxes and that people have more money in their pocket that they can come in and utilize his services that he provides to them in central Pennsylvania.

Again, we have many, many other stories, but I just want at this point to yield back to my good friend from Kentucky (Mr. Davis).

I appreciate that. You made a very important point about the minimum wage. I think you and I both voted at the end of the last Congress to increase the minimum wage, but it failed in the Senate. It was not able to get through in the Senate.

What is happening here today is that our friends on the other side, they stand up on the House floor and claim that they have raised the minimum wage when, in fact, all they have done is pass it in the House. It is not law yet. It takes both bodies to pass it.

Thank goodness for the United States Senate. They are putting back in those tax cuts for small business. They are absolutely critical for small businesses.

I agree with you on that.

There is a small amusement park in my district, Lakelawn Park, and I was talking to the general manager of Lakelawn Park, and he told me the increase in the minimum wage is going to cost him between $130,000 to $150,000 to the bottom line, and what they employ are mainly high school kids in the summertime to run those rides. He said that kids starting out at minimum wage, if they had been there for a period of time they certainly make more than that.

But without any kind of tax decrease or other kind of tax benefit, that is going to cost them $130,000. It is going to cause him to hire less kids to work in the summer because he is not going

to be able to afford that kind of hit to his bottom line. So we passed it here in the House, we know, and unfortunately the national news media, unlike in 1995 when the Republicans took control, I remember it well. The first 100 days, every time the Republicans would pass something the national news media was quick to point out, Well, they haven't done anything yet, they just passed the House.

And that is all that happened here in the first 100 hours, is we passed the House. Minimum wage has not gone up. It will go up with probably a lot of Republican votes if the Senate comes through with the tax measures that they proposed. And I know the House, Johnny-come- lately to the tax cut for small businesses, we are going to hopefully pass something here this week to offer some of those tax cuts, but not near enough what small businesses need. Our small business owners are out there every day creating jobs, meeting payrolls, working long hours, and giving back to the community.

The community I come from, when you look at who are the people that are contributing to the charities and the different civic organizations, it is the small business owner, giving back to its community to make it a better place to live. So I think it is so important that we put tax breaks in, we make the ones permanent that we passed in 2001 and 2003.

And I just have another story of a small business owner from my district, Greg Rothman with RSR Realty in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, which is Carlisle, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He has seen a massive increase in his business due to the economic policies that were put in place over the last several years. The lower tax burden has trickled down, and houses are being sold and houses are being built, more attractive for the consumers to buy throughout Pennsylvania, and especially in central Pennsylvania in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and employment rate is about 3.3, 3.4, 4 percent, one of the lowest in the State.

Reductions in capital gains tax have allowed many empty nesters to enter the housing market to buy homes, to improve what they are living in, or downsize into nicer places. It has helped his realty business grow. And since becoming a partner in RSR realty in 1999, Greg has seen it grow from 20 Realtors to 60, which is an increase of 40 jobs in about the past 7 or 8 years. And it is these economic policies that we have put in place that have caused this to happen; and Greg said that he has seen the highest sales volume since he has entered the industry.

And I think that is important to tell those kinds of stories. Those are real people; those are real jobs. And I want to remind people that we would like to hear those kinds of stories; we want to hear from all across America. At the [email protected], you can send us in that story, your success story, and how you utilized those tax cuts that have been put in place in the early 2000s and why we need to keep them in place. So we would love to hear stories from business people, small, medium-sized, and large all around the country. We certainly would appreciate that.

At this time I will yield back to the gentleman from Kentucky.

I appreciate that. And I think the point you made is worth repeating, because I know you and I believe this and many of our colleagues believe this, especially on this side of the aisle, that government doesn't create jobs. We can only create

an environment to give people the opportunity to create jobs, small entrepreneurs and business people across this country. And our fiscal problems in this country, our financial problems with the government, isn't that the government taxes too little. It is that we spend entirely too much. And I know the coming weeks, I know especially the new Members of Congress are going to be put to the test to stand up and be accounted for, because there are many people who say that America voted for a change in November, and they did.

But I know there is nobody in the Ninth Congressional District and nobody that I have come across as I travel this country that wanted to change from a lower tax system to higher taxes. Nobody wants to do that. And our goal is, in the Countdown Crew, to make the American people aware that the Democrats don't have to do anything; they can run out the clock, and on January 1, 2011, they will have the largest tax increase in American history, over $200 billion. And I believe it is our duty to make sure that we are talking about it so that the American people know what the majority intends to do by changing the rules on their first couple of days of Congress from a three-fifths majority to a simple majority to raise taxes, they have made it a lot easier to raise taxes.

They put PAYGO into place which only deals with new spending, and it really does nothing to address the deficits we have today. So PAYGO really should be TAXGO, because that is what the American people are going to see.

So, again, we urge you to e-mail us at [email protected], because we want to hear your stories about how you have put those tax cuts into use to create jobs and make America a more prosperous place.