Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I have just had a number of farmers leave my office this morning, and they are not real sure they are going to be farming this year. So I rise today because tobacco farmers, growers and allotment holders desperately need a tobacco buyout, and they expect Congress to pass one before leaving in October.

Without a buyout, approximately half of North Carolina's tobacco growers could go out of business this year. A buyout means a difference between bankruptcy and solvency, between being forced out of business and retiring with dignity, and between surrendering everything to creditors or having a legacy to leave to the next generation.

A buyout would pump almost $4 billion into rural North Carolina at a time when they are really hurting. This infusion of capital would launch our agriculture sector into a new era of growth and development and provide greater stability to those who wish to continue to farm.

Because the buyout is so critical to North Carolina's farm families and to the continued strength of North Carolina's agriculture sector, it is time for Congress to make the tough decisions necessary to ensure the buyout's success. Now, in the past several months, it has become increasingly clear that the ultimate success of a tobacco buyout is directly tied to the inclusion of FDA regulation.

Madam Speaker, tobacco growers do not want us to have a prolonged fight over FDA. That is what they have told me over and over again. They want a buyout today, and they are fully prepared to pay the price of FDA regulation to ensure and expedite the buyout package.

I have long opposed FDA regulation of tobacco, but let me state clearly, if inclusion of FDA regulation gets us to the goal of enacting buyout legislation before we leave town this year, so be it.

Madam Speaker, I know you are being asked by many people to separate FDA regulations from the buyout. They promise that a buyout can become law without FDA. Madam Speaker, I warn you here and now, if you choose that path and the buyout is defeated, either in the House or the Senate, for any reason, you and they will be responsible for that failure.

The Senate buyout/FDA amendment garnered an incredible 78 votes, more than enough to override a filibuster or overcome a veto. The Senate Republican leader and Senate Republican Whip have said FDA is needed for a buyout to become law, so have Republican Senators Dole, DeWine and McCain. Today, we have seen one of the Senate conferees, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension, Senator Gregg, will insist that FDA remain a part of the buyout package.

Madam Speaker, tobacco growers and allotment holders are at the end of their rope. Failure is not an option. Congress must pass the buyout without further delay, and it is time to make the tough choices necessary to get it done.

Madam Speaker, let us do right by our tobacco-farming families. Let us stop making promises and start delivering results. Let us get the buyout to our farmers and quota holders before the election this year. They deserve nothing less.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with great pride to introduce and present to this august body the Reverend Thomas Spence as today's Guest Chaplain in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Reverend Spence is the pastor of Leaflet Presbyterian Church, my home church in Broadway, North Carolina; and I am honored he has been with us today in the people's House. Reverend Spence possesses rare eloquence; and as a long-time congregant and friend, I can tell Members he is a unique individual whose interest and activism stretches far more broadly than his congregation. He has truly lived a life according to Jesus' example to tend to the least among us.

Like me, Reverend Spence grew up on a farm in rural North Carolina, he in Harnett County; and I grew up in the adjacent county of Johnston. The life lessons one learns growing up on a working farm shape your world view and instill what we refer to as good North Carolina values of hard work, faith in God, love of family and friends, and devotion to duty to those around us and to our world as a whole. Reverend Spence has lived North Carolina values every day of his life and has served the people of his congregation with great distinction and accomplishment. I am pleased, proud, and honored to introduce North Carolina's own Reverend Thomas Spence to the House.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Let me thank him and my colleague, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), for bringing this resolution to the floor because it is so important.

I rise to add my voice in praise of the staff and leaders of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, for the job they have been doing during this remarkably challenging time during this hurricane season.

We talk about hurricanes; but the truth is when a hurricane comes ashore, we have an awful lot of tornados that spawn from that. As any Member from a southern Atlantic coastal State can tell you, this has been a very busy season; and, unfortunately, it does not appear to be over with yet. And if the predictions are right, we are in for some pretty bumpy times in the years ahead.

The folks at NOAA and the National Weather Service have done a fine job in letting our citizens know when the storms are coming, where they would most likely strike, and they have been pretty accurate about how much wind and storm surge they can expect. As a consequence, NOAA has saved millions of lives through its timely reporting and storm tracking, and it has an awful lot to do with saving of property.

I can tell you at my office, and I expect it is true of most offices that are in the line of fire, the staffs check the NOAA Web site, NOAA tracking at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. each day because they are the ones that have the information.

While NOAA has performed well, one of the things that could be improved is predicting the potential flooding consequences of the rain associated with these storms. That is why in the 107th Congress I introduced and Congress passed into law legislation to improve the forecasting of inland flooding and to develop an inland flood-warning index similar to the Saffir-Simpson Scale that we use for wind with hurricanes. Unfortunately, we have not seen much progress with the development of the inland flood-warning index. Congress has not provided the funds necessary to develop a warning index that can better alert Americans of flood hazards associated with tropical cyclones, and NOAA has taken only a few steps to implement this legislation.

If we had had an inland flood-warning index in place, many of the more than 70 lives lost from Bonnie, Charley, Frances, and Ivan could possibly have been saved. We heard of what has happened in recent years from what we did at the turn of the century. We still can do better.

In 1999, Hurricane Floyd killed 48 people in the State of North Carolina with heavy floods, almost all of them lived hundreds of miles from the coast and died from fresh-water flooding. That can be corrected.

In Richmond, Virginia, last month the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston was predicted to drop 4 inches of rain. Instead, it produced more than a foot of rain and resulted in flooding that cost millions of dollars in damage to the city's historic downtown, and much of that damage could have been mitigated had the public been better prepared and had known what was going to happen.

Madam Speaker, as the appropriations process winds down, I urge you to fully implement and fund the Tropical Cyclone Inland Forecasting Improvement and Warning System Development Act, similar to what we did with the Saffir-Simpson scale for hurricanes in providing warning on the coast. This will make a difference in the inland areas. This Congress has shown and has spoken with an overwhelming majority, and I also call on NOAA to move forward aggressively to implement this legislation.

We should never again suffer a hurricane season without adequate prediction tools where life-saving technology exists just beyond our current grasp. It is available. All we have to do is spend just a few dollars and it would be there. NOAA already saves countless lives. Working together we can help them save even more. I urge my colleagues to adopt this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to praise my friend and colleague, North Carolina Senator John Edwards. I want to call attention to a specific accomplishment on behalf of ordinary Americans that has earned him the reputation as a people's lawyer.

Valerie Lakey, a 5-year-old girl, was maimed when a swimming pool drain malfunctioned. Her family had nowhere else to turn, and John Edwards proved the company that made the drain knew it was dangerous to children, yet did nothing.

Jennifer Campbell was born in 1979 with severe brain damage because, as a jury later determined, her mother's doctor botched the delivery. The hospital covered up the malpractice and Jennifer's parents were forced to turn to John Edwards for a measure of justice.

My Republican colleagues talk about what they call ``lawsuit abuse'' as part of their negative ads on John Edwards and John Kerry. But let the record be clear: John Edwards has spent his entire life fighting for ordinary folks who could not fight for themselves. John Edwards and John Kerry have a plan to make North Carolina a stronger home and respected in the world. I am proud of my friend John Edwards and know he will make a great Vice President.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Roy and Rhonda Harrington on the birth of their son, Mr. Roy Cameron Harrington. Roy was born on Thursday, July 1, 2004 and he weighed 7 pounds and 5 ounces. Faye joins me in wishing Roy and Rhonda great happiness during this very special time in their lives.

As a father of three, I know the immeasurable pride and rewarding challenge that children bring into your life. The birth of a child changes your perspective on life and opens the world to you in a fresh, new way. Their innocence keeps you young-at-heart. A little miracle, a new baby holds all the potential of what human beings can achieve.

With great happiness, I welcome young Roy into the world and wish Roy and Rhonda all the best as they raise him.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for yielding me the time, and let me thank the committee for reporting out favorably and unanimously this important piece of legislation that, as has been noted, was introduced and has been agreed to by our delegation unanimously. And I urge my colleagues to support this legislation as we name the main post office in Dunn, North Carolina, in honor of General William Carey Lee, as has been noted today, who has been, and it has been said is, the father of the United States Airborne, and that is absolutely correct.

William Carey Lee, as has been noted, was born in Dunn, North Carolina, on March 12, 1895. So he is a native of a previous century. He attended Wake Forest and NC State Universities, but left the latter, NC State, to enroll as a second lieutenant in the United States Army.

After serving 18 months in Europe during the First World War and earning the rank of captain, he returned stateside where he graduated from NC State University and was so enthralled and felt so much for the military services that he went on to United States Officers Candidate School 2 years later, and his enthusiasm led him to make a career out of the military.

His enthusiasm for parachutists and glider troops that he had seen in Germany during World War I led him to develop the Parachute Test Platoon, and he had been doing a lot of work on it. Finally, in 1942, the President, President Roosevelt, assigned as the Provisional Paratroop Group, only a year old, that was then to be led by Lieutenant Colonel Lee, and it was reconstituted as the Airborne Command. Within the year, three parachute regiments were added to the Army's Airborne forces, and the Airborne Command headquarters were relocated to what was then called Camp Fort Bragg, as we know today Fort Bragg, with Brigadier General Lee in command, who had moved up very quickly in the ranks of the military.

In August of 1942, the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Divisions were formed. Major General Lee was put in command of the new 101st Airborne, and

they, of course, at that point were stationed at Fort Bragg. After a year of rigorous training, General Lee and his men departed for England.

In 1944, General Lee suffered a heart attack that forced him to step down as the commanding officer of the 101st Airborne Division, just as that division was making its final preparations for the invasion in Normandy, of which the General had been a major planner with General Eisenhower and others. As a tribute to their former commander, each of the men, as my colleagues heard this evening, of the 101st Airborne Division yelled ``Bill Lee'' as they jumped from the plane into the dark into combat.

The men of the 101st who had been under General Lee's command have since been immortalized in a best-selling book by the historian Stephen Ambrose and in the miniseries Band of Brothers. They were an elite rifle company that parachuted into France on D-Day, that fought in the Battle of the Bulge. They captured Hitler's Eagle's Nest, and they were also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties and whose lives have become legendary. One could say how could a company, how could a division suffer 150 percent casualties? Easy. As one was lost, others joined the group.

Mr. Speaker, as the Nation pauses this year to honor the World War II veterans and to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day, it is appropriate that we honor General Lee, a Dunn, North Carolina, native and the father of the United States Airborne. This General from a small town was a big-time leader. He represented the can-do attitudes and the patriotism embodied by the people of Dunn and Harnett County in North Carolina and America.

Today, in Dunn, there is a museum of his homeplace. The effort to turn that home into a museum was led by a member of his staff, Hoover Adams, who was a captain who served under General Lee. That museum is now open to the public and had a lot of memorabilia from World War II and other Airborne divisions around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and today to honor a true American hero, General William Carey Lee.

Mr. Speaker, I oppose this bill because it sets a dangerous precedent and upsets the delicate balance of power that is the heart of our Constitutional democracy. For more than 200 years, America has flourished under the Constitution of 1789 because the Framers successfully erected a system of checks and balances that assigned to the courts the task of interpreting the laws. This bill would upset that balance by intruding on that process and stripping from the courts the powers set forth by our Founding Fathers.

The implications of this precedent are very serious and go well beyond the boundaries of the current debate. If Congress passes H.R. 3313, what is to stop this Congress or a future Congress from stripping the courts of the duty to hear cases involving gun ownership, the death penalty, property rights, or any other controversial issue? Nothing. And this dangerous precedent would only encourage Congress to undertake such meddling. The notion that this Congress, which cannot even pass a budget or the appropriation bills needed to keep the government running, has better judgment on Constitutional matters than Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and John Marshall, is ludicrous.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce my support for H.R. 4842, legislation implementing a free trade agreement with the nation of Morocco.

For more than two centuries, Morocco has been a steadfast friend to the United States. Few Americans would guess that Morocco was the first nation to extend recognition to the new American nation on December 20, 1777. Morocco is also one of only six Muslim nations to be designated as a ``major non-NATO ally.'' So it is only fitting that we establish a free trade agreement with such a long-time friend and supporter.

Under this FTA, more than 95 percent of bilateral trade between our countries will be duty-free from the first day of implementation. North Carolina exports to Morocco are generally small, valued at just more than 8 million dollars. Morocco is my state's 80th biggest export market with tobacco products, chemical manufacturing, and transportation equipment being our top three exports.

However, North Carolina stands to gain much from increased access to this new market, especially in the field of agriculture. Tariffs on key North Carolina products like soybeans and processed poultry products will be cut significantly. One significant provision in this agreement is that Morocco has agreed to accept U.S. inspection standards for poultry. Phony sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions on U.S. exports have long been a hallmark of international trade. Having Morocco accept our inspection regime will go along way to improving access to that market.

According to an analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation, this agreement is expected to result in a 10 to 1 gain for the U.S. agricultural sector. Within the next 10-11 years, the U.S. should expect to increase agricultural exports to Morocco by $225 million. What's more, the FTA includes a provision giving U.S. agriculture an ``automatic upgrade.'' Should Morocco negotiate another trade agreement providing another nation with more favorable market access for agriculture, our FTA automatically obtains the same level of access as the other nation. This will ensure America's competitiveness against other nations seeking to enter the Moroccan market.

I believe the geopolitical reasons for establishing this free trade agreement with another Muslim nation in a volatile region overcomes the few deficiencies inherent in the agreement, particularly with regard to textiles. Because of the small amount of trade between our two countries, any potential adverse impact should be minimized. However, this administration cannot continue to count on this Member's support for other trade agreements if it is not willing to stand up for even stronger labor and environmental standards and better protections for America's fragile textile industry.

I ask my colleagues to support this agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to praise the middle-class values and positive vision for our country that John Kerry and John Edwards are offering America.

Yesterday, Senator Edwards brought the ticket's Front Porch Tour to the Triangle region of North Carolina. My North Carolina neighbors are excited about the uplifting message that the Senator presents for a better tomorrow. The Kerry-Edwards ticket offers real hope to make America stronger at home and respected throughout the world.

Unfortunately, Republicans in Washington are so afraid of running on their record, they have launched a ferocious negative attack on John Edwards. Just yesterday, Roll Call ran an article quoting a Republican leader saying, ``It is now critical to brand John Edwards.'' After 4 years of running this country into the ground, the Republican regime has nothing to offer but attack politics.

Democrats offer a better alternative. Senator John Kerry plans to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act that the Republican leadership has shortchanged by $27 billion. Senator Kerry also supports school construction legislation to build new schools and get children out of trailers. As the first member of his family to go to college, John Edwards will work to make sure that families have opportunities for higher education.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce my support for H.R. 4759, legislation implementing a free trade agreement with the nation of Australia.

Australia represents the world's 15th largest economy and Asia's fourth largest, and therefore offers great opportunities for U.S. exports. Australia has consistently been a partner with the United States in pushing for more open and freer trade throughout the world. So it is only fitting to have a free trade agreement with nation that shares our beliefs in freedom and free markets.

Under this FTA, more than 99 percent of U.S. manufactured goods will be duty-free from the first day of implementation. North Carolina exports to Australia in 2003, my state's 17th biggest export market, were valued at almost $262 million. From computer equipment to textiles to paper products to agriculture, North Carolina stands to gain much from increased access to this new market.

I am particularly pleased about the benefits this agreement provides with respect to agriculture. All Australian agricultural tariffs will go to zero immediately, reducing costs for agricultural exporters by $400 million.

Due to the hard work of the folks at USDA and USTR, Australia has agreed to limit some of its unscientific restrictions against U.S. pork exports. Consequently, the U.S. could ship $50 million worth of pork annually to Australia.

Despite this progress, Australia must do a better job of eliminating its unscientific sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions on agricultural imports. I urge the Administration to keep the pressure on Australia to meet with USDA and USTR to resolve many of the outstanding sanitary issues affecting pork and poultry.

This is an acceptable agreement for a nation as economically advanced and sophisticated as Australia. Its labor and environmental standards match if not exceed those in the United States. However, I want to make it perfectly clear to the Administration that the Australia Free Trade Agreement is not a sufficient model for future trade agreements.

I support fair trade. However, on future FTAs, the Administration will need to do a better job with regard to market access, sanitary and phytosanitary issues, labor and environmental standards, and intellectual property protection. I look forward to continuing to work with the Administration and my colleagues in Congress on all of these important issues.

I ask my colleagues to support this agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to defend the honor of my State's senior Senator. Last night on this floor, Republican Members attacked Senator John Edwards over his career as an attorney for ordinary people who have been wronged. The critics could not be more wrong.

Growing up in the small town of Robbins, John Edwards learned the values of hard work and standing up for the little guy. He used those values in his profession as an outstanding legal mind to fight for folks who would turn to him as their last chance for justice.

In North Carolina, we know well that John Edwards earned a reputation as the people's lawyer. The Raleigh News and Observer called him ``an avenging angel.'' The Charlotte Observer called him a ``powerful advocate for average North Carolinians. And the Wilmington Morning Star said, ``By background and occupation, Mr. Edwards seems inclined to take up for people who work hard and struggle against long odds.'' Others described him as a ``soft-spoken David who has done battle with the Goliaths'' on behalf of the little guy.

Mr. Speaker, the Republicans are wrong to attack John Edwards. He has earned an outstanding record for leadership and service for the people of North Carolina. He will make a great Vice President.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition on behalf of the farmers who for years have made a contribution, and now they are asking for an opportunity for a way out to save their way of life. And I am embarrassed that people that have no farmers and do not understand the program are the ones who are in support of the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Flake amendment.

As I understand the gentleman's intention, he wants to prohibit USDA from implementing a tobacco program buyout if it is funded from taxpayer dollars out of the general fund.

When tobacco members first began working on tobacco buyout legislation, our intention was for the tobacco companies to finance it.

In fact, I along with Congressmen Fletcher, McIntyre and Goode, introduced a buyout bill last year, H.R. 3160, which would have funded a more generous $15 billion buyout paid for through user fees on the tobacco companies.

The vast majority of tobacco state members endorsed that proposition by cosponsoring the bill.

Buyout legislation pending in the other body would also have the companies pay for it. It has the support of every single tobacco state Senator, Republican and Democrat alike.

But financing the buyout from current tobacco excise taxes was the only way the Republican leadership would support a buyout.

Despite promises to the contrary, the Republican leadership never let H.R. 3160 see the light of day.

They did not believe tobacco companies should pay for a buyout, so they kept our bill bottled up.

Let me be clear, the buyout provisions the House included in the corporate tax bill Congress passed last month are not perfect, but as I said then, beggars can't be choosers.

Since 1997, tobacco quota has been cut by more than 50 percent. Consequently, farm families have seen their incomes cut by more than half.

My tobacco farmers need a buyout in order to have an honest chance to survive.

They don't care if it is paid through current excise taxes, new excise taxes, user fees, assessments, whatever.

They don't even care if it has FDA. All they care that it gets done this year.

The time for action is now. I urge my colleagues to oppose the Flake amendment, and let's move forward on an issue of great importance to North Carolina and other tobacco producing states.

Vote ``no'' on the Flake amendment.

Madam Speaker, this evening I rise with several of my colleagues and a number from my North Carolina delegation to talk about our favorite son, John Edwards, as well as our ticket.

John Edwards is from a little place in Moore County called Robbins, North Carolina. He currently resides in our State capital of Raleigh.

I normally do not respond to things some people say on the floor, and I find it a bit of interest earlier that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle knew so much about him, they wanted to quote from the Wall Street Journal. There are a few people in North Carolina who read the Wall Street Journal, but if he really wants to know about John Edwards, I would suggest he read the Raleigh News and Observer, probably the Charlotte Observer or a lot of our weekly papers, and he would find a lot out about John Edwards.

If he had been in Raleigh on Saturday, he would have had the opportunity to see about 20,000 people standing in the hot July sun, over 90 degrees for 4 hours, to welcome home John Edwards and Presidential nominee John Kerry and their wives Elizabeth and Teresa to Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a wonderful celebration of the first North Carolinian on the Presidential ticket in modern times.

I will have more to say about this in just a moment, but first I want to yield to my colleague, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller), for some comments.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller) for joining us.

When we talk about this ticket, and certainly John and his wife, Elizabeth, my North Carolina neighbors and all of our colleagues in North Carolina, their neighbors, and people from all walks of life are just thrilled to see this ticket, to see John Edwards and Elizabeth really rise to national prominence, because they truly are one of us.

Mr. Speaker, I now turn and yield to my colleague, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), for his comments on this ticket.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. He certainly has represented the fourth district and part of the district that I had the privilege of having for a while and part of the district that the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller) has. He certainly knows what it takes to be a good legislator, and I appreciate his comments on that.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre) for his comments as well. I thank him for joining us this evening.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre) for his comments. Certainly having come from rural eastern North Carolina, he understands what he is talking about and understands our friend John Edwards.

Madam Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), which really happens to be the State where our Vice Presidential nominee was born. We are just grateful his parents decided to come to North Carolina so he could be reared there and get an education and make his living there. But we are happy to have the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) with us this evening to share a few comments about our friend John Edwards on our ticket with John Kerry.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for his kind comments. And he is absolutely right. Elections are about the future, and this election certainly is about our future and the kind of balance we have. John Kerry had the good sense to reach down and choose a man who really the people had already had a chance to see. And I thought the gentleman's comments were absolutely on target with that because never before have we had a candidate that our Presidential nominee reached down and chose as Vice President that they already had a chance to have a shake-down run at the level this one has.

I am also glad the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) has joined us. It is great to have someone comment and join this group tonight. I yield to the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank my friend from New Jersey. Let me also thank the gentleman for being here and joining us this evening on this evening of special orders to talk about our ticket and for those of us from North Carolina to have a little swelled up pride about having a North Carolinian on the ticket for the first time in actually 140 years. We have to remember that really the person that was on there 140 years ago really was from Tennessee. He just was born in North Carolina.

So we have a great deal of pride in John Edwards and the fact that our presidential nominee John Kerry had, as I said earlier, the vision and the wisdom to reach out and touch him and bring him and Elizabeth along. I think they will add a great deal to the ticket, and I thank the gentleman for his comments and leadership.

As we said earlier, this thing of elections is really about the future. It is about our hopes, it is about our dreams. It is about responsibility on the part of individuals. But it is also about people who care. The gentleman's point was on target.

We are elected, all of us, here in this House and over in the Senate, to represent the people of this country. Every person that has a grievance, within reason, ought to be able to have us to deal with it in some way. If they do not get their shot and only those who have the money and the influence to have people to get things done, then the average person gets left out, and that questions a whole lot of things.

We talked earlier about our vice presidential nominee in John Edwards. I like to think of the values that John Edwards learned growing up in Moore County, in North Carolina, and they are the same values that I think I picked up growing up on a farm down in Johnston county.

When you grow up in a rural area, you learn you have to depend on your neighbors. I told a group the other day, I remember, today we would not think about going to our neighbor and saying I want to borrow a cup of sugar or a cup of flour or some coffee. But that is the way it was in rural North Carolina when John Edwards was growing up. People would go over and do it, and then return it. Today we hop in the car and go to the store and get it, because you have a few more resources.

But I think among those shared values that he picked up and he learned were the value of hard work, love of family, faith in God and in our country, and a dedication to the larger community, where neighbors look out for one another, and everyone has a decent shot at the American dream.

John certainly lives his faith every day. He is not the type of person that you see wearing it on his sleeve, where he talks about it. It is a part of him. I know actually even before he was in the Senate, our children, our two older children attend the same church he does in Raleigh, and he is faithfully there with his children every Sunday now that he is in the Senate, and he was before when he was in Raleigh.

He is really in touch with the American people, because he never lost touch with where he came from. Even though he grew up in Robbins and went to North Carolina State University and on to the University of North Carolina to get a law degree, he helped earn that money along the way to get his degree.

Yes, he has been successful, because he has worked hard. There is nothing wrong with a person working hard and being successful, as long as they are honest in what they do. That is what the American dream is all about. That is what public education is about, getting an opportunity to make it. And whether the issue is working to improve our schools, or bolster economic development to create good jobs, or making healthcare, as you have talked about, a little more affordable for working families and available for those who have been injured, John Edwards always had the family of small town America in mind, because that is where he comes from, where you grow up and the values you learn are the values you carry with you all your life.

Just like the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), when you grow up in a small town, you may move to the big city, but the old adage has been said, you can take the boy out of the country, but you cannot take the country out of him when you bring him to the city. John Edwards is the same way. You have those things, those values you learned, that make all the difference in the world.

I once had the occasion to work in a cotton mill for about a year. We did not call them textile mills then, we called them cotton mills. There was a reason for that, because there was a lot of dust and lint in the air and they were hot, they were dusty and they dirty.

It was good work, and there were great people that worked there. They were great people. They were God fearing people that cared for their country and helped one another. But it is hard work, it is hot work and it is dirty work. His dad worked there for 36 years, and I can tell you it is hot in the summer because there is very little breeze.

I have heard some on the other side question why John frequently mentions his father's work in the textile mill. I think it is an important point to make. I think he makes it because he wants people to understand not only does he care about his parents, but he cares what they taught him. Those are the values that he carries with him today.

John Kerry recognized that when he said, ``I want John Edwards to join me,'' and he made that call last week. He understood it. He saw it in him.

I think John Edwards is the embodiment of the notion that in America, the son or daughter of a mill worker has just as much right to run for higher office as the son or daughter of a President or a corporate tycoon.

I predict to you he has already shown himself to be capable and able, but I think the American people will see over the next several months and learn to love him; a young man who came from Robbins, North Carolina, married his college sweetheart, and has done quite well. He has the tools to be a great vice president.

I guess one of the other things I like about John Edwards is he and I share probably only one other thing: He and I were both first in our family to go to college.

Madam Speaker, you have a heavy obligation when you do that, because you have an obligation to help others. He has a strong and abiding commitment to helping working families get

access to college, because he understands education is the one thing that levels the playing field. It does not make any difference what one's ethnicity or economic situation is, or who one's parents are or where you come from; if you get an educational opportunity, you have a chance to make it. He knows firsthand that a quality college education really is the key to the American dream.

I predict to my colleagues that as Vice President, he will fight to promote education, because he does know, as I have already said, it levels the playing field for everyone and gives them that chance for success. Those are the values that have made America great, and those are the values that he brings to this ticket. Those are the values that John Kerry saw in John Edwards when he made that decision. I predict to my colleagues that they will make a great team. They will make a difference in America; and that, as has been said by all of my other colleagues this evening in one way or another, they will give America hope again, because there are those who want to provide fear. They are about optimism and hope and dreams and possibilities and opportunities, so people can feel good not only about America, but our position with our allies and friends around the world, and that every person takes responsibility for themselves as we move forward into the 21st century.

Let me now close by thanking my colleagues for joining me this evening. And since I only have a couple of minutes, I want to close with a little poem. I think it says a lot about this ticket of John Kerry and John Edwards. It is written by the person who writes more lines than anyone else. It is anonymous. It is entitled ``The Builder.'' It goes like this.

``I watched them tear a building down, a gang of men in a busy town. With a ho-heave-ho and a lusty yell, they swung a beam and a side wall fell. I asked the foreman, `Are these men skilled, the kind you would hire if you had to build?' He smiled and said, `No, indeed. Common labor is all I need, for I can wreck in a day or 2 what men have taken years to do.' I thought to myself as I went my way, which of those roles have I tried to play. Am I being careful to measure the world by the rule and a square, or have I been content to roam the town, content to do nothing but tear things down?''

Madam Speaker, I predict to my colleagues that John Kerry and John Edwards will be builders. What this country needs is people with a good attitude, with a vision to build, bring people together, and let America be America again.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to call on the President to get off the sidelines and support the tobacco buyout once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, across the country families are feeling the economic squeeze of higher prices for gasoline, food, and college, record job losses, and an uncertain future. In my State of North Carolina and in other rural areas, tobacco

farm families are hurting because of the implosion of the Depression- era quota system. Farmers desperately need a tobacco buyout, which this House has passed, but the President continues to fail to support our farm families.

Yesterday the President flew to Raleigh to raise money for his campaign. Although he collected $25,000 per plate in campaign funds, he failed yet again to stand up for our tobacco farmers and support the buyout.

Let me state clearly: John Kerry supports the tobacco buyout and rural America. John Edwards supports the tobacco buyout and rural America. Democrats and Republicans alike in this House and the other body are working together to get it done.

We need leadership for a change from the President of the United States for our small towns and rural communities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Senator John Kerry for naming North Carolina's John Edwards to the Democratic ticket. As our State's favorite son, Senator John Edwards has done North Carolina proud time and again throughout his career as a people's lawyer, in the Senate, and on the Presidential campaign trail. He will do great things for our Nation.

My friend John Edwards is in touch with the heartbeat of America because he has lived the American Dream. Growing up in the small rural town of Robbins, North Carolina, John Edwards learned the values of hard work, a quality education, and helping lift up those around him who suffered hardship. He is a living example of what we call North Carolina values.

Mr. Speaker, America needs new leadership at the national level to make our country stronger at home and more respected around the world. America needs new leadership that represents the values, dreams, and aspirations of the middle-class families, those families struggling to make it into the middle class and those families struggling to stay in the middle class.

Mr. Speaker, Senator Kerry's choice of John Edwards for a running mate is good news for North Carolina and good news for America.