Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as we get close to the end this has been an interesting debate to listen to tonight.

If I listen to all the eloquence from the other side of the aisle, I must think this is surely the only place in the United States of America that believes we do not spend enough, nor tax enough.

I tell you what, I could go into any sale barn, any peach orchard, any machine shop, any office building, sit around any kitchen table in my State of Colorado, and I could ask that question and they would tell me straight up, no, we do not believe that the United States Congress handles our money quite as efficiently as maybe they could.

Do you know what we are talking about here tonight? Over the next 5 years, reducing the rate of increase by a mere one-third plus or minus of 1 percent. One-third of a cent on a dollar rate of increase.

Now, go back home and ask the folks in your district, the folks that live across the street, the folks you go to church with if they really believe we are so good in the United States Congress with their tax dollars that somehow, someway we could not find one-third of a penny of savings out of their dollar. You know how we are finding it. We are finding it by saying, you know, folks, if you want to get in the nursing home and you happen to have three-quarters of a million dollars of equity in your house, maybe you ought to take care of yourself for a little while.

We are saying that if you sign an oath that when you immigrated to the United States America that you will not become a ward of the State, you will be self-sufficient, we think you ought to abide by that oath for 7 years. We are saying that student loans actually ought to go to students, not just brokers who trade them around in the market and try to make a buck off the deal. That is the kind of savings and efficiency that I think we all said we are going to come here to try to find for the American taxpayer. Tonight we have got a choice.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to USAF Lt Colonel Robert M. Walker, Deputy Group Commander of the 460th Operations Group, 460th Space Wing, Buckley Air Force Base. Lt Col Walker has been assigned to Buckley AFB since February 20, 2004, and has recently been selected to attend the prestigious USAF Air War College.

Lt Col Walker distinguished himself in 2004 in the performance of outstanding service to the United States as Director of the Space-Based Infrared System Mission Transfer Site Activation Task Force. He led a Total Force 25 person task force that seamlessly transferred the $16B Space-Based Infrared System to the newly activated 460th Space Wing, Buckley AFB, Aurora CO thus realizing USAF Space Command's vision for space-based warning operations.

In undertaking this endeavor, Lt Col Walker's tireless efforts and ability to work with myriad agencies, organizations, and people allowed for the activation of the 460th Space Wing in a timely and efficient manner.

Lt Col Walker distinguished service continued into 2005 when, as Deputy Group Commander of the 460th Operations Group, 460th Space Wing, Buckley Air Force Base, Lt Col Walker was second in command of an 850 person Total Force Group where his wisdom, experience and work ethic established a foundation for excellence in operations, personnel, communications, and strategic planning.

His accomplishments have truly had a profound impact not only on Buckley AFB but on the surrounding community as well.

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to offer my thanks to Lt Col Walker for his commitment and record of achievement at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado. Lt Col Walker is a valuable asset to the United States Air Force and our nation and I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for the time, and I commend Chairman Kolbe for bringing this conference report to the floor; and I rise in full support of it.

U.S. foreign aid helps promote economic development and strengthens democracy certainly around the world.

That being said, Mr. Speaker, our foreign aid and our Nation's gift to our friends around the world should not be taken for granted. We are not obliged to give foreign aid, and I believe the countries that receive that foreign aid should be held to certain standards, particularly living up to extradition agreements our country has made with them.

Included in this bill is a provision, section 581 specifically, that is going to help return cop killers to the U.S. to stand trial. For years, cop killers have been finding safe haven by fleeing the U.S. after committing their unthinkable crimes.

This problem came to my attention in May of this year when Denver Police Officer Donnie Young was allegedly executed by Raul Gomez- Garcia. After killing Detective Young and shooting and wounding his partner, Gomez-Garcia immediately fled to Mexico where he has since been tracked down and arrested.

Gomez-Garcia's extradition back to the United States is now pending, but only because Denver DA Mitch Morissey made the only choice available to him, and that is to seek a lesser plea bargain sentence. The United States should not be forced to plea bargain with other countries, nor should full justice be denied family members of assassinated cops. This appropriations bill will help us put an end to rewarding foreign nations with foreign aid that provide safe haven to cop killers.

Again, I urge its adoption and I commend Chairman Kolbe and the ranking member for bringing this to the floor, and Chairman Lewis and the full committee for the great work they have done on all our appropriations bills in this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, across the country there are more than 6 million children

living in grandparent and other relative headed households. About 2.5 million of these children are living in homes without either parent present. Regardless of the many reasons children enter relative care, including death of a parent, neglect, and substance abuse, it is never, ever the fault of the child. I commend grandparents and other relatives who step forward to care for these children, keeping them out of foster care while providing safe, stable, homes, often at great personal and financial sacrifice.

Stories of a 78-year-old grandmother raising a four year old, a 71- year-old grandfather raising 5 teenagers, or a single grandmother raising more than 6 grandchildren are all too common throughout Colorado and our nation.

Grandparents and other relative caregivers are often the best chance for a loving and stable childhood for the children in their care, but their hard work and dedication often goes unnoticed. Mr. Speaker, today, I offer my formal acknowledgement and deepest appreciation for the ongoing service of these caregivers to our country and our nation's most valuable asset, our children.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity today to recognize Bayaud Industries, a non-profit corporation whose sole purpose is to provide job training and placement to the mentally and physically disabled in my home state of Colorado.

Founded in 1969, Bayaud Industries has provided services to over 5,000 disabled individuals and is currently counseling 200 people per year. Even after placement, Bayaud Industries continues its support, making sure that each of their clients has a case worker they can turn to, once they begin their first job.

According to the National Mental Health Association ``the unemployment rate in the United States for individuals with disabilities is approximately 75 percent, the unemployment rate for individuals with psychiatric disabilities are even higher at 80 percent''. People who have the ability to go work find satisfaction in their jobs because It gives them the opportunity to do something useful everyday, sadly, many with disabilities feel they have to live without this sense of accomplishment. Employment can give any person a strong sense of pride and belonging, this is the goal Bayaud Industries has accomplished for over the past 35 years.

The need for companies such as Bayaud Industries is apparent; Bayaud creates an invaluable link between the American workforce and the disabled. Mr. Speaker, I not only commend the actions of this company with their dedication to the physically and mentally disabled, but also for their commitment to businesses across Colorado.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to James Delmar Ellis, a marshal for the Brighton Colorado Police Force. While Night Marshal Ellis was making his rounds in downtown Brighton on March 6, 1908 at 2:20 a.m., he encountered three men. When he was ordered to throw up his hands and halt, Ellis refused and one of the three opened fire. Ellis, though hit, gallantly returned fire then made his way to a telephone office for help. In a short time, two local doctors arrived but Marshal Ellis's condition was assessed as grave and was placed on a train to Denver but died en-route at the young age of twenty-five.

The investigation of the event revealed that the three men were attempting to break into the United States Post office located in Brighton.

Marshal James Delmar Ellis died serving the people of Brighton. In May of 2005 his name was added to the Roll Call of Fallen Officers at the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Marshal Ellis and all of our nations' fallen officers by honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade for yielding me this time.

After what we just heard from the gentleman from Alabama, I simply have to respond. We had a meeting, we members of the Committee on Ways and Means had a meeting with the six economic ministers of these countries, and I have to tell the Members of this body that it was those ministers who sat in front of us and begged us, be our economic mentor, be our political mentor. Help us as developing countries to become like the great country of the United States of America. They held their hand out.

I have heard all night long about phantoms and ghosts and about how terrible things are going to happen if the United States of America, the greatest country on God's green Earth, would not reach out and grasp a hand that is reaching toward us. How in the world can we leave an empty hand? How can we spit in that very hand and say, no, you are not worthy somehow to participate in the freedom, in the dream that we as United States citizens have?

It says right up there, ``In God We Trust,'' and we ask God to bless us, and God has blessed this Nation. We are the greatest Nation on God's green Earth, and it is nations like the United States of America that are good neighbors. This is a good neighbor trade agreement. Neighbors help neighbors. This is a chance to do the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, I have heard all night long, I have heard all night long about the horrors that are going to happen. You can go looking, when you get up in the morning, you can go looking for reasons to not do something. I was raised by a guy who got up in the morning and looked for reasons to do something, to show up.

This is a bill, this is a trade agreement that allows us to do the right thing, to do the right thing for American workers, because the day it is signed, $1 billion worth of tariffs, like an anvil around their neck, goes away.

I was in the farming business. I know what competitiveness is about. This will make our workers more competitive. This is good for America, and good for our friends in Central America. Let us support CAFTA. Let us do the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight just a few of the reasons why I am in favor of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA.

CAFTA is going to level the playing field for U.S. workers and farmers. Right now, the CAFTA countries have virtually open access to our U.S. market. This agreement will give Americans the same free and fair access to their markets. The day CAFTA is signed, nearly $1 billion a year in tariffs on U.S. goods goes away, making us immediately more competitive. Somewhere in this world, farmers will be producing the food and workers will be making the goods to meet the growing demand of the CAFTA nations. I want this demand to be met by American workers.

CAFTA will protect existing American jobs, allow us to compete fairly for more international business and strengthen our relationships with these six developing democracies.

Mr. Speaker, neighbors help each other, and CAFTA is a good neighbor treaty. I urge its adoption.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. He likewise is a very good friend.

I want to applaud, first of all, your leadership. I know many of us in the House have worked on the passage of CAFTA, but I do not know that anybody has worked harder, longer, more diligently and more successfully than the gentleman from Texas. I am confident later this week we will not only take up CAFTA, but we are going to pass CAFTA. We will pass it, I think, in a bipartisan fashion. I fully believe

and hope and expect that a number of our colleagues from the Democrat side of the aisle of this great Chamber will join with us.

I want to stay on the point that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul) and you were just dialoguing about just a moment ago, this issue of national security. I think you will recall that we had the opportunity, we in our Ways and Means Committee, to sit with the six economic ministers of these member nations. All of them just volunteered to us that they have got a long way to go. They are not the United States of America yet. These are developing, fledgling democracies. But you were just making the point that 20 years ago, what was in the news day after day? El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua were hotbeds of communism. Today we would be calling it terrorism; anti- American hatred right on our southern border. Who would think that less than a generation later, economic ministers from these now developing democratic nations would be sitting with us, Members of the United States Congress, saying, please help us.

Someone is going to be the political and economic mentors of these developing nations that are our next-door neighbors. I think that someone ought to be the United States of America, not people like Hugo Chavez, not Fidel Castro, not the anti-American freedom haters around the globe who would love to have a foothold on our southern border.

This is a critical agreement for us in the United States of America. I think sometimes that we get up in the morning, and often it is easier to find a reason to not do something; everything from the simple not getting out of bed on time or not getting out of bed at all, not going to work in the morning, not rolling up your sleeves and putting in a good, hard day's work, or maybe not taking on a real significant challenge. Certainly anybody in this great Chamber can look through this document if they want to go looking for some reason to say no.

But I am saying yes. I join the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady) in saying yes because this is the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do because neighbors help neighbors, and it is not just one way. It is not about us just helping these six developing nations. It is about the United States of America and American workers.

I used to be, as the gentleman pointed out, in the cattle business. We exported cattle all around the world. Nothing would make me happier to wake up some morning and suddenly find out that the United States Congress and our President had just adopted an agreement with some foreign nations that immediately, immediately made my product, my cattle, more competitive to these nations. That is what happens in this agreement. The day it is signed, $1 billion a year of tariff goes away on our goods, our services, the products we send down there. From my State, just like your State of Texas, a lot of that is agricultural products. A lot of it, too, is manufactured goods, in the high-tech sector, plastic molds. We are sending a lot of stuff down there. These are developing nations, meaning that in future years it will be more that we will be sending them. It only makes sense that somebody around this globe is going to meet the needs of those people. I want that somebody to be American farmers and ranchers and laborers and small businesspeople.

I was a community banker. A lot of my bank customers were in the business of making stuff, all kinds of stuff, stuff you could not even imagine that somebody is really out there making that. But they are all anxious for a bigger market. We have got a bigger market right on our southern border. They are begging us to give them a chance to do business with the United States of America. Why? Because they know that by doing business with us, that is the quickest way to emulate us, to be like us, to be a free, open society. That is what they want to become, both politically and economically. How can we as the United States of America, the greatest Nation ever on God's green Earth, deny that kind of hope, that kind of opportunity to our neighbors and friends and at the same time help our own citizens, the workers right here in the United States?

I will just close and yield back to the gentleman here in a moment by saying that when I get up in the morning, I like to be about building up, not tearing down. I think the CAFTA agreement is very much one that builds up. It builds up opportunity for the United States of America and United States workers, but it also does the right thing that we as Americans, compassionate people, know we have an obligation to do around the globe, and that is help people that are reaching out a hand to us.

With that, I will say, let us pass CAFTA later this week. I applaud you for your leadership. Thank you for letting me be part of your Special Order tonight.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the tremendously dedicated and talented group of professionals who make up the St. Anthony Hospitals Flight for Life team of Colorado.

Specifically, I want to thank and honor the flight crew that allowed me to join them on Saturday, June 18th: Flight Nurse Hollie Seeley, Medic Vance Silvia, and Pilot Jeff Warner. Having the opportunity to spend a mere four hours with these remarkable individuals was certainly enough to realize that, on any given day, there are angels in the skies over Colorado.

Responding to everything from car accidents to farm accidents, Flight for Life has not only saved countless lives of the people of Colorado and the surrounding states, they've enabled those citizens who live far from a metro area to enjoy the small town quality of Colorado and the West while not totally losing access to world class medical care.

Established in October 1972, Flight for Life was the first hospital- based civilian emergency air ambulance program in the Nation. During its 30-year history, Flight for Life has logged more than 75,000 missions and has become the model for the nearly 200 air ambulance programs worldwide, and is still considered a leader in its field.

Serving every community in the great state of Colorado and the surrounding seven states, Flight for Life is the biggest and busiest critical care air transport program in Colorado, transporting patients to any appropriate medical facility.

Flight for Life's reputation is second only to its dedicated crew. Located across the state in Denver, Frisco, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, the crew consists of 31 flight registered nurses, 27 flight paramedics, 14 helicopter pilots, 6 fixed-wing pilots, 6 helicopter mechanics, 10 emergency medical technicians (EMT), and 10 communications specialists.

Mr. Speaker, the people of Flight for Life in Colorado are not only talented professionals, but they are indeed public servants who deserve our admiration. I join the large number of Coloradans and others across the country who have been positively affected by these people in saying a well-deserved ``thank you'' for all that they do to serve and protect our citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and thank two men from Hudson, Colorado, Alan Lemons and Chado Jacobs, for their selflessness and heroic acts that helped save the lives of two other fellow Coloradans, Shalyn and Zach Roach on Saturday, June 18, 2005.

Mr. Speaker, on that same day I was witness to an event of true heroism and of God's great intervention. That Saturday, I had the honor of joining some of the tremendously dedicated and talented group of professionals who make up the St. Anthony Hospital's Flight for Life team of Colorado.

It just so happened that on this Saturday morning, the Flight for Life air ambulance was called to the accident site in Hudson, Colorado where Shalyn and Zach Roach had been in a car accident that led to their car being trapped upside down, underwater, in an irrigation canal.

As the car lay upside down, partially submerged in water, the situation was obviously very dire for the Roaches. However, thanks to Alan Lemons and Chado Jacobs, Shalyn and Zach Roach are still with us today.

After witnessing the accident, Mr. Lemons and Mr. Jacobs immediately rushed into the canal and, putting their own personal safety aside, went underwater in order to pull the Roaches from their submerged vehicle and perform CPR on Shalyn.

Mr. Speaker, the term ``hero'' means different things to different people. To some, people who have fought in wars for our country are heroes, and I think that's a very appropriate description. For others, a hero may be a former teacher or coach, or maybe even a professional athlete. I submit, Mr. Speaker, that the actions of these two men from Hudson, Colorado are nothing short of heroic. Before the Flight for Life crew arrived on the scene of the accident, these men acted without concern for themselves and helped save two lives of people they had never met before.

And so, Mr. Speaker, it's with great appreciation and honor that I speak from the floor of this great chamber to honor Alan Lemons and Chado Jacobs for their selflessness and heroism. We're proud to call them Coloradans, and the State is a better place because of them.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Elizabeth ``Betsy'' Hoffman for her devoted services as President of the University of Colorado System. President Hoffman has provided unwavering leadership to the University of Colorado bringing about several major achievements to each campus in the CU system. President Hoffman created and implemented CU Vision 2010, a bold system wide effort to enhance the University of Colorado in teaching, research, and service, by establishing a commitment to a culture of excellence.

I would like to recognize President Hoffman for her tireless efforts in working with Congress, federal agencies, local governments, and businesses that have furthered the development of a world-class health sciences center located at the Fitzsimons campus. Most recently, President Hoffman guided the University of Colorado through a consolidation of the Denver and Health Sciences Center campuses creating the number one research institution in the Rocky Mountain West at $330 million a year.

Under her direction, the Boulder campus has consistently ranked among the top tier of public universities in federal research funding and first among public universities in NASA funding, which has bolstered and created new partnerships with private industry in the community.

President Hoffman has worked to uniquely position the Colorado Springs campus as the fastest growing campus within the University of Colorado System. She has cultivated partnerships with U.S. Space Command and NORAD to provide education, training, and research in areas of homeland defense and homeland security and directly supporting government efforts to promote the development of a professional space cadre.

President Hoffman has facilitated a record level of private support including $250 million to establish the Coleman Institute to assist those with cognitive disabilities, providing the distinct honor of receiving the largest private gift to a public university at that time.

As an appointed member of the National Science Board and serving as Chair to the Board's Committee on Education and Human Resources, President Hoffman has championed policies for the University of Colorado and its peers to advance their basic research and applied science programs.

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to offer my thanks to President Hoffman for her commitment and record of achievement as President of the University of Colorado System. I have enjoyed our working partnership and wish her and her husband, Brian, the best in her future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding me this time.

I especially want to commend the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) for bringing this resolution to the floor tonight, and I rise in strong support of it.

As has been cited repeatedly in this debate, the fifth amendment of the Constitution of the United States states clearly that private property cannot be ``taken for public use without just compensation.'' The recent egregious ruling by the Supreme Court in the Kelo versus the City of New London case ignores the word ``public'' and opens the doors for the government to deprive any individual of his or her private property for any reason, including to directly benefit a private individual or private corporation. Under the guise of economic development, State and local officials can now arbitrarily kick families out of their homes, farmers and ranchers off their land, and close small businesses that do not provide enough tax revenue for the city or the State. Mr. Speaker, that is unbelievable in the United States of America.

I believe in the same thing that our Founding Fathers addressed when drafting the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. Government is morally obliged to serve the people, namely by protecting life, liberty, and, yes, private property. The Supreme Court should honor these values, and I applaud the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) and those other Members who are actively taking the initiative tonight to protect the fundamental private property rights of all Americans.

I urge every Member to support this resolution expressing the grave disapproval of the House of Representatives regarding the majority opinion of the Supreme Court in the Kelo versus the City of New London case.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I want to first of all acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the chairman, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe), and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), for their dedication and the construction of a very, very good bill.

But I rise tonight with an amendment, and the intent of this amendment is very, very simple. It is to return cop killers back to the United States to stand trial in our country, the same country in which they committed their unthinkable crime.

The problem was brought to my attention last month after Denver Police Detective Donnie Young was allegedly executed by Raul Gomez- Garcia. After killing Detective Young and shooting and wounding his partner, Gomez-Garcia fled to Mexico, where he was tracked down and arrested weeks later. The Mexican Government now refuses to extradite him back to the U.S. if there is any chance he could spend life in prison without parole. Detective Young's widow and his two children now face the further tragedy of either partial justice or no justice at all being served to her husband's killer.

In another case, in 2002, a convicted felon who had been deported three times allegedly shot and killed a Los Angeles County sheriff following a routine traffic stop before fleeing to Mexico, where he remains today, essentially escaping justice.

The U.S. should not be forced to plea bargain with other countries in order to try criminals, especially cop killers, in our own courts. As a good neighbor, Mexico should live up to their end of our extradition treaty. Killing a police officer is one of the most egregious crimes, and we should have the right to seek justice for the families of the slain officers.

The U.S. is not obliged to give foreign aid, and we should not reward nations giving safe haven to cop killers. I ask my colleagues to vote for this commonsense amendment that will bring help and peace and justice to those who deserve it most.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McHenry).

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the remaining time.

I could not agree more with the chairman that this is more for the U.S. than it is for our neighbors. I also want to state for the record that I have enormous fondness for our neighbors to the south. I have 20 percent Hispanics in my district and many of them came from Mexico. One of my earliest childhood memories is of migrant workers sitting around our kitchen table at our farm, my mother cooking them lunch as they harvested our crops, thrashing the grain crop from our dairy farm. I have great fondness for them but, I also believe, as the gentleman stated, in the rule of law.

Let me quote Steve Cooley, the Los Angeles District Attorney. ``As you are aware, the Mexican Supreme Court unilaterally altered the Extradition Treaty in 2001.'' He goes on to say, ``This decision and its application to the Extradition Treaty between the United States and Mexico is clearly violative of the Treaty.''

That is what we are talking about tonight. We have a treaty in place. Good neighbors mean what they say and say what they mean, and live by treaties that are reached.

This amendment is all about just being honest and fair-dealing with good friends. We intend to be a good friend of Mexico and other nations around the globe. We will live by our treaties, and we ask that they live by theirs.

I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Offered By: Mr. Beauprez

Amendment No. 7: Page 132, after line 13, insert the

following:

limitation on assistance to foreign countries that refuse to extradite

to the United States any individual accused in the United States of

killing a law enforcement officer