Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this final legislation to provide emergency supplemental appropriations for Fiscal Year 2007. While this final compromise is not perfect, I will vote for it to provide necessary funds for our troops in the field as well as meet other important priorities.

This bill contains more funding than the President requested for military health care and veterans health care. It expresses the support of the U.S. Congress for a new direction in Iraq by tying economic aid to 18 specific benchmarks on political, security and economic progress, although it provides the President the waiver authority he negotiated before agreeing to sign the bill. This bill also includes the first raise in the minimum wage in a decade as well as critical funding for domestic needs like hurricane recovery efforts.

I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress from both political parties as well as the President and the Administration to provide a new direction in Iraq and to meet the critical needs of the people of North Carolina's Second Congressional District.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Brad Woodhouse formally of my staff and his wife Jessica on the birth of their first child, Master Brady Carter Woodhouse. Brady was born on May 23, 2007, and weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces. Faye joins me in wishing Brad and Jessica great happiness upon this new addition to their family. A Raleigh native, Brad served as my Agriculture Legislative Assistant, Senior Legislative Assistant and press secretary and will always remain a member of Team Etheridge.

As a father and grandfather, I know the joy, pride, and excitement that parents experience upon the entrance of their child into the world. Representing hope, goodness, and innocence, a newborn allows those around him to see the world through his eyes as a new, fresh place with unending possibilities for the future. Through a child, one is able to recognize and appreciate the full potential of the human race. I know Brad and Jessica look forward to the changes and challenges that their new son will bring to their lives while taking pleasure in the

many rewards they are sure to receive as they watch him grow.

I welcome young Brady into the world and wish Brad and Jessica all the best as they raise him.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor the life of Donald N. Buie of Sanford, North Carolina, who died Monday, May 7, 2007. In his passing I lost a good friend, and North Carolina lost one of its most outstanding citizens and a man who was instrumental in his church, community, county, and State.

One of the area's most beloved men, my friend Don, passed away peacefully with his family by his side following a brief battle with Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, a rare degenerative neurological disorder. He was only 63, Don loved hunting, raising beagles, barbecuing, and shagging the night away,

Don was a native of Western Harnett County and graduated from Benhaven High School in 1961. In 1965 Don received his undergraduate degree from East Carolina University in Physical Education and completed his master's degree from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1971, Don taught school in both Harnett and Lee County for 6 years. During this time, he coached basketball, baseball, and football. In 1973, he began working at Central Carolina Community College. During his tenure at CCCC, Don was very active in expanding its curriculum, finding new talent and bringing culture in Lee, Harnett, and Chatham Counties. Don retired from CCCC in 2002 as the Dean of Continuing Education.

Don served Lee County in many capacities, and when he joined an organization he typically became the leader. Don was the chairman of the Lee County Democratic party where he helped lead us to victory in past elections. He was also past president and member of the Sanford Rotary Club, past president and member of the Lee County Wildlife Club, the past president of the Lee County Farm Bureau, and a host of others. Don is survived by his lovely wife of 38 years, Jeanne Johnson Buie, and their three children Melanie Hawes, Dixie Simpson, and David Buie.

Madam Speaker, Donald Buie used every minute of his long and productive life to make the world a better place. He was a respected and successful coach, a dedicated public servant, and a great North Carolinian. It is fitting that we honor him and his family today.

Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of our brave men and women in uniform, the police officers, firefighters and other public service officers who protect our communities.

As yesterday was National Peace Officers Memorial Day, there is no better time to call on the Department of Justice to award the benefits due to our law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defending our Nation.

For 30 years now we have made a strong statement about the value our Nation places on the contribution for those who serve our community through the Public Safety Officers Benefit plan. About 4 years ago, however, I learned the PSOB was routinely rejecting claims or requiring burdensome documentation from these officers and first responders who died from a heart attack or stroke while serving our communities. I felt that this was wrong, and so did most of my colleagues here in Congress. In a strong bipartisan effort, Congress unanimously passed and the President signed it and the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefit Act became law.

Since 2003, when the law was enacted, only two claims have been awarded out of the more than 240 received, while nearly 40 claims have been rejected. The rest languish in a bureaucratic mess.

I urge the Department of Justice to act swiftly and fairly on the remaining claims and pay these claims to provide this much needed and much deserved benefit as we observe National Police Week.

Mr. Speaker, as a former school chief serving in Congress, I rise today to commemorate National Teacher Appreciation Week.

All across America this week, our Nation's school children, parents, PTAs and others are gathering to show their appreciation to the professional educators who work every day to make their futures brighter. Teacher Appreciation Week is a great opportunity to stop and pay tribute to the profession that shapes the world of tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to note that this new Democratic Congress is doing its part to support education in our communities. Democrats rejected President Bush's misguided educational budget cuts. Earlier this year, the House passed a balanced budget resolution that provides billions of dollars more for the non-neglected priorities like Head Start, secondary education, the Individuals With Disability Act and important initiatives.

In addition, my colleagues and I have crafted bipartisan legislation to provide critical investment in our school construction and modernization across this country. The Rangel-Ramstad-Etheridge America Better Classrooms Act will provide $25 billion in interest-free bonds for local schools. This bill will make a difference in our communities, our children and our teachers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in this piece of legislation on National Teacher Appreciation Week.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. And let me thank the chairman and ranking member for their hard work.

The Department of Homeland Security is tasked with protecting America and its citizens. There is no greater charge. Oversight is critical to the Department both to root out waste, fraud and abuse, and to examine the effectiveness and to recommend improvements for the Department's operations. This bill provides support for the Inspector General's Office and creates tools that will enhance transparency for Congress and the public.

To help improve policymaking at the DHS and to promote long-term planning, this bill establishes a Directorate for Policy to be headed by an undersecretary for policy and requires a quadrennial review of the Department's practices and mission.

This policymaking must address the needs of America's most vulnerable citizens: its children. I thank the chairman for including my language that requires the Directorate for Policy to address the needs of children. That will enable the Department to enhance school preparedness and other emergency planning needs of facilities for children.

As a former superintendent of North Carolina's public schools, I know how important planning is to preparedness and security for our schools and other places that focus on our children. The Department must understand the importance of including schools and children in emergency planning, and this bill will ensure that it does so.

I also believe that DHS must prioritize the protection of our critical food and agriculture infrastructure to enhance the health and security of America. The ongoing melamine crisis only reveals how vulnerable we are.

This bill requires the Department to report on their progress on agriculture security in response to issues raised by two critical reports on their efforts. That will ensure that DHS is doing appropriate planning for agriculture security and give Congress the opportunity for oversight. I thank the chairman for including this in this bill.

I am also concerned about the security of sensitive materials used by the Department, uniforms, badges, identification cards, and protective equipment.

H.R. 1684 enhances the nation's security by requiring these items, subject to practical exceptions, produced domestically when they will be used domestically.

Taken together, the many good provisions in this bill will improve the Department's ability to protect our homeland. This is a good, bipartisan bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment because section 407 that my colleague wants to strike has one purpose, to strengthen our national security. It is a commonsense provision that says that sensitive materials, uniforms, protective gear, badges and identification cards should be produced and shipped only within the United States of America. It has a flexible provision that contains an exception for when materials are not available domestically of an acceptable quality or at market value. As long as the Secretary certifies that national security will be protected, he may do it. So if one of our allies makes an item of protective gear that is not available domestically, it will still be available to the Department.

Additionally, it does not apply to purchases made outside the United States for use outside the United States. So if an agent or officer is overseas and needs a bulletproof vest or other piece of protective gear quickly, he or she can get it.

Our national security could be compromised if terrorists, smugglers or other would-be counterfeiters had ready access to the Department of Homeland Security's uniforms, protective gear or ID cards.

This amendment would remove or reduce the opportunity for terrorists or others with bad intentions to pose as Homeland Security officials or officers. It is not uncommon for cargo to be hijacked or lost, particularly in the staging areas at our Nation's ports-of-entry.

The potential theft of uniforms, badges or ID cards, by the truckload it could be, poses a clear threat. In years past, there have been several reports on the overseas manufacture of uniforms for the Department of Homeland Security's operational components. Indeed, most Americans would be shocked to learn that Border Patrol uniforms have been manufactured in Mexico and other countries. This ongoing practice raises legitimate security concerns, not only at the border but all across this country, which is what this provision addresses.

For that reason, I oppose this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to join me in rejecting it.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, I admire the gentleman, but I think, in this case, we are talking about an issue that transcends the issues we are talking about. We are talking about the safety and security of American people.

I believe in trade. I have supported it. But there are issues that are paramount to the security and protection of the American people. I think this is one where it goes to the badges and the uniforms that our men and women use to protect Americans' interests.

So, with that, I would urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation.

This legislation provides protection to all Americans, and is consistent with our proud history as a Nation whose founding principle is that all people are created equal. Growing up on a tenant farm in rural North Carolina, I learned basic values that say that you treat all people with respect. These are the values that America stands for. Hate crimes--violent crimes motivated by bigotry against race or creed, hatred against nationality or disability, or intolerance for difference--have no place in a country that holds fast to those values.

Mr. Speaker, hate crimes exhibit exceptional circumstances where a federal role is appropriate and necessary because the crime is intended to intimidate Americans beyond the individual victim or jurisdiction where the crime occurs. The bill that the House is considering today provides vital support for the prosecution of these most heinous acts of violence. It gives local and state law enforcement vital resources to investigate and prosecute hate crimes. These resources are desperately needed, as small rural police departments sometimes cannot afford lengthy and complicated investigations. The funding provided in this bill will ensure crimes do not go unresolved due to lack of funding.

This bill appropriately targets crimes that are motivated by hatred or bigotry, not the hatred or bigotry itself. While we must work towards a world free of racism and prejudice, it is not the place of the government to tell people how to think or feel, or what to believe. What we can and must do, however, is work to sow the seeds of justice, freedom, and equality. We must protect all of our citizens from crime, and ensure that justice prevails when hatred leads to violence.

I support this bill, and I oppose the Republican motion to recommit H.R. 1592 because it is a parliamentary maneuver intended to kill this legislation.

This bill is a step towards a more just, more equal, and more free society. It provides state and local law enforcement crucial federal resources they need, and makes sure that these terrible crimes are fully investigated and prosecuted.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 249.

This legislation is critical to preserving a part of America's roots, and it is an important symbol of the rugged, wild, and freedom that is the American West. As old as the red rock on the canyon walls, and as reliable as the sun rising in the clear western sky, America's wild and free-roaming horses and burros on our public lands are part of our nation's fabric and history.

H.R. 249, a bill to protect wild free-roaming horses and burros, will expressly prohibit the sale, transfer, or slaughter for commercial product processing of any freeroaming horse or burro on U.S. public lands.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 249.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of overriding the President's misguided veto of H.R. 1591, U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act. We need a new direction in Iraq.

This legislation contains every penny the President has requested for our troops in Iraq and adds $4 billion more. The bill includes additional funding for military health care and military housing and provides $1.8 billion not requested by the President to begin meeting the unmet health care needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

As the Representative for Fort Bragg, I strongly support our troops, their families and their communities. Our superb military men and women have done everything that has been asked of them and done it well. America's military victory in Iraq was achieved when Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled. But the Administration went to war without a plan to win the peace, and our military victory has been bogged down in a mindless occupation led by bitterly stubborn politicians here at home.

Just last month, Vice President Cheney insisted that Saddam Hussein had been allied with Osama bin Laden's terrorist network despite all evidence to the contrary. Last night, the President vetoed this legislation in favor of his failed strategy of stay the course. The leadership of this Administration continues to be in a state of denial, and Congress must assert its rightful role in our nation's policymaking. I will vote to override this veto for a new direction in Iraq, and I urge my colleagues to join me in doing so.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this important legislation. This supplemental appropriations conference report contains vitally important funding for critical priorities and unmet needs. For example, this bill includes $1.7 billion more than the President requested for military health care, including funds to correct the scandalous conditions at Walter Reed and other military hospitals. It includes another $1.7 billion for veterans' health care, $2.5 billion for improving the readiness of our stateside troops and $1.4 billion for military housing allowances. A nation at war simply must provide necessary funds to support our troops.

In addition, this legislation includes $3.1 billion for military construction to implement the BRAC mandates that impact Fort Bragg in my Congressional District and military communities all across the country. It is important to note that the former Republican Congressional Majority failed to pass the military construction appropriations and imperiled these priority projects. This legislation corrects that failure.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation will assert some measure of oversight and accountability to a war policy that has been tragically mismanaged by this administration for too long. We need a new direction to rebuild our military and refocus on the true threat to America from al Qaeda and the Islamist jihadists who attacked us on 9/11. We must deploy our military might to eliminate Osama bin Laden and the true ``grave and gathering threat'' to America.

We must pass this legislation to send a wake-up call to the President that ``Stay The Course'' is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable policy. I urge my colleagues to support a new direction and vote for the conference report.

Should the President veto this bill, as he has indicated, I believe he should then meet with Congressional Leadership to work together and forge a consensus on these vitally important matters.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 1538, Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of it.

I support H.R. 1538 because I believe our men and women in uniform who have served our country deserve the best possible care when they return home. The conditions that were recently uncovered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center were disturbing and unacceptable. In addition, thousands of soldiers are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and we need to further improve the conditions of the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration health care systems in order to meet this need. As the Representative for Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, and as a veteran myself, I have always made the needs of our soldiers and veteran and their families high on the priority list.

H.R. 1538 is a bipartisan bill that improves the lives of our veterans in several ways. This legislation will improve the access to quality medical care for service members who are outpatients at military health care facilities, restore efficiency to the disability evaluation system, and streamline the transition of wounded service members from the Armed Forces to the Veterans Administration. By establishing a system or patient advocates and independent medical advocates, and improving the system of case managers for wounded service members, H.R. 1538 makes sure that veterans are getting the care that they need. In addition, this bill improves training and reduces caseloads for these managers so that service members and their families can get more individual attention. Finally, H.R. 1538 establishes a national toll-free hotline so that service members and families have a mechanism for

reporting problems and deficiencies in their treatment.

I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 1538, Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007, and improving the quality of care for our Nation's veterans.

Mr. Chairman, on behalf of North Carolina's children and our working families and the people of America, I rise this evening in support of this budget resolution and congratulate my good friend the chairman of the committee, John Spratt, for his visionary leadership in crafting this important document.

With this budget resolution, the new Democratic majority will succeed where our Republican predecessors have failed. To budget is to govern, and this resolution will produce a balanced budget with balanced priorities, and that is important.

As the chairman has indicated, I am proud to be the only chief State schools officer serving in Congress, and I am particularly pleased about the measures providing for education and innovation in this budget. And I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership.

Specifically, rather than continuing the Republicans' record of passing a crushing debt burden on the future generations, the Spratt resolution contains tough budget discipline for a new direction for the Federal budget. The Spratt resolution rejects the President's proposed education cuts and instead provides greater investment in our Nation's schools, including the school construction bonds that Chairman Rangel and I have been working on for nearly a decade. It provides $50 billion for children's health insurance, and it protects millions of middle- income families from the onslaught of the alternative minimum tax.

There are many reasons to support this resolution, but in my brief allotted time, I want to say that I support this resolution on behalf of my grandson, William, and my granddaughter, Virginia, and all the children of America and their families who deserve a budget that puts their needs first.

My friends, this is what the Republican leadership has done for the last 6 years. They used a credit card. No one in America could get away with paying nothing but the interest on a credit card. They have run up the debt for my grandchildren and every child in America, and that is wrong. The definition of a good budget is when you do what is right for the next generation. That is the definition of this budget, and it is a budget that is truly balanced. And I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your hard work.

I thank the chairman for yielding, and I commend him and the ranking member for their hard work on this piece of legislation.

For too long, the Department of Homeland Security has ignored threats to rail and public transportation and buses; and I am pleased to help cosponsor this legislation to correct this problem.

In the face of recent attacks in London and Madrid and with our own subways and buses still vulnerable, I am hopeful that this legislation will make sure that the Department addresses this critical work.

In addition to closing security gaps in rail and mass transit safety efforts and providing support and guidance for training, security planning and research and development, this bill contains language that I proposed requiring the Department of Homeland Security to assess threats to our Nation's children posed by security risks to school bus transportation.

School buses have been targets of terrorists throughout the world, including here in the United States. Just last month, the FBI said that members of extremist groups have purchased school buses and obtained licenses to operate them, while adding that ``parents and children have nothing to fear.'' I do not believe we can take these assessments at face value without a comprehensive threat assessment of school bus transportation.

School transportation is a patchwork of systems including public entities, privately owned school bus companies, contractors who provide school transportation, individual owner-operators of school buses who contract with school districts or school systems. The risks are poorly understood, as the FBI's muddled message indicates.

An attack on our school buses would be devastating not only in the lives harmed but also in the psychological and symbolic impact. As a former superintendent of schools for the State of North Carolina, I know that children, parents, and schools deserve our school buses to get children to school as safely and as securely as possible. We owe our children no less than to be able to confidently say that our transportation system is secure.

The bill requires DHS to perform a comprehensive threat assessment for school transportation and make recommendations on how to respond to these threats. The bill requires vulnerability assessments and security plans for other modes of transportation in the public trust, and it should be the same for our children.

I urge everyone to vote for it.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding the time and to the ranking member for all your hard work.

Madam Speaker, today I have introduced, together with my colleagues from the Committee on Homeland Security, Chairman Thompson of Mississippi and Mr. Rogers of Alabama, legislation that will prevent terrorists or others with bad intent from posing as Homeland Security officials or officers. This common sense bill will require the Department of Homeland Security to make sure that sensitive material--badges, identification cards, uniforms, and protective gear-- is made in the United States. As these items would be vulnerable to theft in transit, it just makes sense to make sure they start and stay in America.

When the Department of Homeland Security buys identification cards overseas, there is no system in place to ensure that they are not stolen and misappropriated by terrorists, who could then pass into restricted areas with fraudulent credentials. In countries with less robust ethical and management standards for business, manufacturers might even be willing to sell uniforms or badges to the highest bidder. The men and women who serve in positions that protect our security are put at risk by a policy that does not secure these materials, and the practice of purchasing them overseas without appropriate safeguards must end.

It is certainly not uncommon for cargo to be hijacked or lost, particularly in the staging areas at our Nation's ports of entry. The potential theft of uniforms, badges, or ID cards by the truckload pose a clear threat. These items are meant to serve as validation that those charged with securing our country are who they say they are; misappropriation is unacceptable.

This legislation will not slow down the Department at all with regard to purchases; it merely ensures that sensitive materials are kept securely inside the United States when appropriate. The bill contains a waiver for small purchases and for material that will be used outside of the United States. It gives the Department the flexibility to procure materials outside of the United States if necessary and as long as steps are taken to prevent misappropriation.

This legislation is focused and targeted at the area of greatest risk in procurement. I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this important legislation.

This supplemental appropriations bill contains vitally important funding for critical priorities and unmet needs. For example, this bill includes $1.7 billion more than the President requested for military health care, including funds to correct the scandalous conditions at Walter Reed and other military hospitals. It includes another $1.7 billion for veterans' health care, $2.5 billion for improving the readiness of our stateside troops and $1.4 billion for military housing allowances. A nation at war simply must provide necessary funds to support our troops.

In addition, this legislation includes $3.1 billion for military construction to implement the BRAC mandates that impact Fort Bragg in my Congressional District and military communities all across the country. It is important to note that the former Republican Congressional Majority failed to pass the military construction appropriations and imperiled these priority projects. This legislation corrects that failure.

Mr. Speaker, the standards and benchmarks in this legislation will assert some measure of oversight and accountability to a war policy that has been tragically mismanaged by this administration for too long. I have resisted supporting date certain language for troop redeployment because it is preferable that the executive branch have the lead in foreign policy in partnership with the legislature. Unfortunately, this Administration has mistakenly interpreted that deference as a blank check for its go-it-alone approach. No more.

The President's speech this week calling for ``courage and resolve'' demonstrated a continued state of denial. The American people do not need more lectures from this President about resolve. Our troops do not need more lectures about courage. What we need is a new direction to rebuild our military and refocus on the true threat to America from al Qaeda and the Islamic jihadists who attacked us on 9/11. We must deploy our military might to Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere to eliminate Osama bin Laden and the true ``grave and gathering threat'' to America.

We must pass this legislation to send a wake-up call to the President that ``Stay The Course'' is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable policy. I urge my colleagues to support a new direction and vote for this bill.