Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I want to say some good words about something that very few people say in a positive fashion and that is the AID supplement that goes on by our State Department in handling disastrous areas and helping develop countries that need all the assistance in the world.

As I am chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, I have been heavily involved in Central and South America for 35 years, and I have watched AID build and construct efforts on growing democracy in all of these areas, as well as trying to take care of people who are starving.

It is hard to believe it, but in Venezuela after the floods killed close to 50,000 to 75,000, AID was there immediately to supply equipment for fresh water, to help supply foods, to help supply all of the necessary things to rebuild that country.

In Honduras, I do not know how many people remember Hurricane Mitch, but it almost wiped out the whole country of Honduras. AID helped build, at least I know I was involved with them in 3,000 homes that they helped build, and to rebuild their banana crops which were completely destroyed.

In El Salvador after the earthquake that people may or may not remember, 1,000 people were killed. AID furnished a hospital in the area that had been completely just about wiped out by landslides caused by the earthquake, and also helped to rebuild the homes that were destroyed in the countryside of El Salvador.

But mostly I want to thank AID for the effort that they have done in Colombia in developing alternative crops, every type of crop that one can think of, trying to develop some with a method of replacing coca, which is the major producer of cocaine. They supply pretty close to 100 percent of all the cocaine that is used in this country, killing our children on a daily basis; and AID and its workers have been all over Colombia developing anything they can to strengthen their economy and to give them some other way of earning a living, rather than growing coca.

Coffee itself was Colombia's major crop, and then some brilliant mind came along with the idea of let us teach the Vietnamese how to grow coffee. The Vietnamese expanded coffee growth and so forth, along with the Brazilians. It just about destroyed the market for coffee. So the area that AID is trying to help the Colombian people, where the major production of coffee exists, is to somehow strengthen the product in such a way of making it cleaner and easier to sell it in this country. And they are doing a wonderful job, and they need all the assistance they can get.

They are also working in the area of Putamayo, which is the heaviest area of growth of coca in the whole country of Colombia, in developing what people would say is something that makes a great deal of sense. They happen to be in almost the Amazon area of South America with large amounts of lumber, timber, and so forth and so on; and they have been cutting trees and shipping the whole tree to Bogota where it is cut up and sawn and so forth, and they have a fairly large furniture industry that happens to be tied into the furniture industry in Hickory, North Carolina, where I come from.

What they are doing is, they are trying to help these people down there in Putamayo, a very poor area of their country, to develop an actual timbering process where they cut the trees down, they saw them up into boards, and then they kiln dry it in such a way that it all of a sudden is usable as lumber in the industry of manufacturing furniture.

Also, the shipment of the goods from Putamayo to Bogota, if they ship the whole tree, they are shipping half water. With this effort that they are putting in right now, it is an effort to really be able to upgrade the living standard of those people there, and I would just like to say that any time anybody questions what AID is doing, I hope they will speak to me.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 389, I was inadvertently not recorded. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. Chairman, in the past we were upset by the actions of the NEA, but that has changed completely to a very positive program, and with congressional oversight.

Last year, the Congressional Arts Caucus sponsored an amendment to increase funding of the NEA and the NEH. Even though the amendment was bipartisan, it was dropped during conference. This year, the Congressional Arts Caucus again wants to stress the importance of the arts to our districts and call upon the House to increase the funding for the National Endowment for the Arts by $10 million and the National Endowment of the Humanities by $5 million.

According to a 2002 study of 3,000 local arts organizations across America, the nonprofit arts industry generates $134 billion in economic activity. That is for last year. This includes $24.4 billion in tax revenue, which covers the costs many times over. Not only do governments gain economically from the arts, but almost 5 million Americans have full-time jobs in the arts industry.

In 2002, my congressional district received grants for NEA for both the Penland School of Crafts and Lenoir-Rhyne College, contributing greatly to the local communities in our lives.

Both the NEA and NEH have new programs with strong bipartisan support that will not only enhance the two agencies but will also bring a new understanding of American history and culture. Challenge America, sponsored by the NEA, and We the People, sponsored by the NEH, will both focus on educational outreach and promoting the best in arts and art education that our communities have to offer.

We owe it to ourselves and to our neighbors to support this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the Slaughter-Shays- Dicks-Leach amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding me time. First, I would like to begin by thanking the chairman and the ranking member for working with me and my colleague from North Carolina (Mr. Price) to include aspects of the gentleman's Teaching Fellows Act in today's bill.

The Ready to Teach Act authorizes competitive grants to encourage development of teacher-training programs and to create highly qualified teachers. I believe that one of the most important additions that we made to this legislation is that it allows a partnership grant to be used to coordinate with community colleges to strengthen teacher- training programs.

It is estimated that North Carolina will need 80,000 new teachers over the next decade. To address this problem in my area, Appalachian State Teachers' College, it used to be, it is now Appalachian State University, which is a branch of the university and recognized as one of the best teaching colleges in the United States, Caldwell Community College and the local public schools initiated a proposal to leverage technology and integrate their resources to develop a model teacher- training program. Area residents who typically would not have had access to the teacher prep program would have the opportunity to become highly qualified teachers through the use of distance technology. It is this kind of innovative thinking that the Ready to Teach Act aims to encourage, and I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to speak to the point of order.

Mr. Chairman, the Raleigh News & Observer headline this past Sunday said, ``North Carolina's Trade Deficit Soars: Manufacturing Slide Continues Despite Decline in Dollar.'' One in four North Carolinians employed in manufacturing have lost their jobs during the past 5 years. Plants across the State are closing their doors entirely, and other firms are moving jobs offshore, truthfully mostly to China.

North Carolina's 10th Congressional District has a disproportionately large percentage of local economies built on manufacturing. So the communities I represent are struggling even more due to this manufacturing recession. The National Association of Manufacturers reports that job losses will continue as long as U.S. imports from China are six times as large as exports to China. These statistics highlight why I have become a strong proponent of the newly formed Defense Industrial Base Caucus.

The U.S. cannot be reliant on foreign manufacturers of military or homeland security systems and equipment. We have got to invest in critical industries where we do not have the capacity for self- sufficiency and purchase goods from those United States sectors that are the best in the world. A recent admission from the Pentagon underscores the need for the U.S. to regain its manufacturing self- sufficiency. The Swiss Government's refusal to provide crucial bomb components during Operation Iraqi Freedom could have hampered our efforts in the fight effectively if the war had lasted a little longer. We cannot afford to be hamstrung by countries that disagree with our intentions and our goals as we defend the homeland.

The U.S. makes the best products in the world. We have got to provide jobs for the American people. There is no better place to demonstrate that commitment than providing our first responders with American-made products, procured with taxpayers' dollars.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, today we are going to hear a lot of discussion, important discussion, about over 40 million Americans who are uninsured. Very few people in Congress have actually had the experience of dealing with employees and their health insurance. Well, I have, with them and their dependents.

H.R. 660 will allow small business to pool their resources in Associated Health Plans, giving them healthcare purchasing power that they do not have today.

As one Member who is a small business owner, I know firsthand that ballooning costs are a major reason why so many Americans are uninsured. When the company I founded employed only 5 or 10 workers, I was at the mercy of the insurance companies. Small companies lack the bargaining power that is necessary to find the best deal, and the smaller the company, the worse it gets.

Like me, most employers care deeply about their employees and want to give them access to quality care. Unfortunately, skyrocketing costs have forced many of us to distribute health insurance costs to our employees, to drop health coverage or to close up shop altogether. And this is nothing short of a tragedy, not only for millions of uninsured or underinsured workers and their families, but also for employers who can no longer afford the high cost of health insurance.

Mr. Speaker, the problem is not going away. While AHPs may not cover every uninsured American, I know that it will help many Americans gain access to quality care.

Some Members of this Congress will only be satisfied with universal healthcare coverage. Let me just ask you, does small business want the U.S. Government as a partner? Well, not where I come from.

These Members argue that we are somehow misguided when we want to take a common sense approach toward any American access to quality healthcare insurance. Associated Health Plans will allow small businesses to pool their resources and increase their bargaining power with insurance companies. This will allow them to negotiate better rates and purchase quality healthcare at a lower cost. In essence, AHPs will put small business on equal footing with the large, self-insured companies and unions.

Mr. Speaker, it is good to talk about the plight of the uninsured, but let us do something to help them. Let us support AHPs.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to speak and say a few positive things about the tax bill that was so heavily attacked a moment ago. I had the opportunity in North Carolina over the past weekend to speak to a group concerning the positive aspects of this thing, the job-creation part of it.

As many of my colleagues in this body recognize, I own a small manufacturing company in Hickory, North Carolina; and the tax benefits in this program, with the increased appreciation, makes decisions much more likely to be made, at least as far as my own little company is concerned.

With that 50 percent tax break and depreciation allowance the first year, we have made a decision that we made today, before I left home, that we will purchase a machine that costs $150,000. That machine, the moment it is delivered to our company, will create six jobs.

I do not know what else anybody else knows about this tax bill, I know there is a whole bunch of discussion about taxes for the rich and taxes for the poor, but this idea of creating new jobs by our tax bill is first class, and I want to say I greatly appreciate it.

I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, North Carolina has been the home of many brave men and women who have served their country to the utmost of their ability. Today I would like to honor retired General Charles A. Gabriel, who served as chief of staff of the United States Air Force from July 1982 to July 1986 by naming the United States Post Office in Iron Station, North Carolina, in his honor. I have chosen the Iron Station post office because General Gabriel's father worked in the same facility for 44 years.

General Charles Gabriel was born in 1928 in Lincolnton, North Carolina, as one of five children to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Gabriel. He graduated from Lincolnton High School in 1944 at the age of 16 and entered Catawba College as a star member of the football program. In recognition of his outstanding academic and athletic ability, he was recruited to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point at the age of 18 where he was named quarterback for the military academy's football team, the Black Knights. He earned his commission and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1950. While on active duty, he continued his education and in 1963 received a Master of Science degree in engineering management from George Washington University.

General Gabriel served a long and commendable career as a combat fighter pilot and later in various staff positions. He was first assigned to South Korea where he flew over 100 combat

missions in the Korean War. He then flew 150 combat missions after being stationed at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base from 1970 to 1972 during the Vietnam conflict. In 1979 he became the deputy chief of staff of operations, plans and readiness. In 1980 he was appointed commander in chief, United States Air Forces in Europe, and commander of Allied Air Forces Central Europe until his appointment in 1982 as chief of staff of the Air Force.

General Gabriel has received numerous awards and decorations, including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. He also has attended both the command and staff school at the Naval War College and the Industrial College of Armed Forces in Washington, D.C.

I ask my fellow colleagues to please join me in tribute to this great North Carolinian by naming the U.S. post office in Iron Station, North Carolina, in his honor.

Mr. Speaker, North Carolina unemployment is as bad as it is anywhere. Broyhill Industries just announced it is laying off 500 people from their furniture factory.

My little company has been operating wide open in North Carolina, lots of overtime, and that does not cost anything in additional expenditures and investment, but it reduces our efficiency.

The jobs part of the tax bill increasing depreciation writeoffs make it sensible to buy machinery and to cut down on overtime by creating four new jobs

by investing $170,000. We would not do this if it were not a plus in the tax bill. The jobs will be created in the same county where Broyhill laid off 500 people.

Mr. Speaker, I think people who have never been involved in employing people and working together do not recognize what an advantage this new tax bill is for creating jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the President's leadership on the Job and Growth Tax Act. There are too many Americans still looking for work. As its first order of business, this Congress helped by extending unemployment benefits in January. Now it is time to help American businesses create the jobs that these Americans need and want. Displaced workers have looked for employment for too long. We need a plan to encourage small business owners to expand and hire new people.

North Carolina's 10th district has been struck hard by the economic downturn. Our Unifour area's unemployment rate almost quadrupled in 2 years' time. Tax relief and fiscal restraint can help turn the tide and restore our economic vitality.

It is wrong for this Congress to play partisan politics with the future of employment of millions of Americans. Relief to American businesses will allow them to grow, providing new job opportunities.

Americans need paychecks, not handouts. The Jobs and Growth Tax Act will get us there.

Mr. Chairman, not since Congress first passed legislation to help children with disabilities to receive a free and appropriate public education has a bill done so much for disabled students, parents, and their teachers. That is why I am proud to support the Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act.

One important aspect of this legislation is that it helps to reduce the over-identification and mis-identification of non-disabled students. For far too long, students that were not disabled were classified as being disabled--stigmatizing these children for the rest of their education even though they were fully capable students.

H.R. 1350 encourages the use of early intervention strategies, which we all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. By reducing the number of non-disabled students receiving services, students who truly need assistance will have more resources available to them.

I would also like to point out that our litigious society has fostered an atmosphere of mistrust and apprehension between parents and teachers. H.R. 1350 gives parents and schools increased flexibility in resoling disputes. Through mediation and voluntary binding arbitration, the trust between parents and teachers can be restored.

While I understand the fears and concerns of some regarding changes to IDEA, I believe that H.R. 1350 goes a long way towards increasing accountability and flexibility for both teachers and parents. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate North Carolina's 2A high school basketball champions, the Mitchell High School Lady Mountaineers. Led by Coach Bruce Woody, the Lady Mountaineers blazed victory's trail by winning their final 19 games of the season, knocking off the top three ranked teams in the State.

In spite of their winning streak going into the March 15 championship game in Chapel Hill, the Lady Mountaineers were considered underdogs against the previously undefeated and formidable Lady Red Devils of Red Springs High School, but the Lady Mountaineers knew they could win, and cheered on by over 1,100 loyal fans in purple, the Lady Mountaineers fought hard through five lead changes and three ties.

Defense was the name of the game, and every athlete in purple did her part. Coach Woody could not believe his eyes when the final buzzer rang and the score read 61 to 50, with the Lady Mountaineers winning.

North Carolina's 10th District salutes our Lady Mountaineers. We are all inspired by the team's tenacity and winning spirit. Congratulations, Mitchell High School Lady Mountaineers.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) that would cut $34 million in Colombian assistance provided by the Defense Department and $27 million earmarked for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative to be added to the Office of Domestic Preparedness.

Mr. Chairman, it really makes no sense at this time to direct additional funds to the Office of Domestic Preparedness when $331 million remains unspent from a previous allocation of $494 million.

President Uribe of Colombia is showing real leadership in the face of drug-financed terrorism. His life is always in danger. Our drug czar, John Walters, recently testified before my subcommittee about Colombia's record progress in eliminating illegal drugs. The governor of a leading drug-producing area in Colombia, Putamayo, was in my office just this week telling me of additional successful efforts in his Putamayo district. In fact, drug production in Putamayo has already been reduced from 66 million hectares to 13 million hectares. That is a reduction of 80 percent over 2 years.

Cutting aid to Colombia would also remove search and rescue funding, even as we work to return three Americans who are being held by the

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to the members of our armed forces serving overseas, but I do not wish to use words of my own. I want to use those of my constituent, Miss Lisa Seviers. Miss Seviers is only ten years old, but her words are of an understanding far greater than her age. Miss Seviers wrote a poem which I would like to share with you now:

``These Troubled Times''

In this time of 2003, a troubled year ahead we see,

But lose no confidence for we are strong, bounded by our

Nation's thoughts of liberty, justice and freedom for all.

We are the ones who will stand tall,

When and if the economy falls.

We will not lose hope--we will hope even more.

Stand at the thought we are free,

No matter what happens in other countries.

We will stand strong, we will not give in.

For the people of our land, we sent soldiers out to fight.

So fearless, bold and courageous.

They are being sent to a new land,

Yet they show not signs of being afraid.

We will pray to God to keep them safe.

If he will, we will praise the Lord.

If they don't come back safe, most will say

``Why did you take my loved one away?''

The answer hides on a coin: ``In God We Trust''

Your answer is--we trust in God to keep them safe

For God is wise, and what you say is--

``The best way to die is dying free.''

I want to thank Miss Seviers for sending me her poem. I want to join with her and express my faith in our troops and my hope for their safe and speedy return.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record the attached statement of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe supporting U.S. action in Iraq.

Excerpts of a Televised Address to the Colombian Nation by His Excellency Alvaro Uribe, President of the Republic of Colombia on Iraq

The Government has openly supported the use of force in

Iraq in order to disarm its regime and prevent its weapons of

mass destruction from continuing to threaten mankind and the

Iraqi people, who have been a victim of horrid crimes

perpetrated by Iraqi authorities. The world still remembers

images of the mothers of Halabja, dying while embracing their

children in a last effort to protect them from the deadly

effects of Saddam Hussein's poisonous gas.

This international action should protect civilians and

respect the legitimate rights of the population of Iraq.

We belong to a coalition formed of countries like the

United States, Spain, England, Italy, Denmark, Holland,

Nicaragua, El Salvador and Bolivia. As in the case of

Colombia, the people in many of these countries have suffered

from terrorism and have learned, as we have, that this

scourge has to be defeated by force in order for citizens to

be able to live in peace.

Colombia has been requesting the world's support in its

fight against terrorism and we cannot refuse to support

actions aimed at defeating terror wherever it takes place. We

have demanded global solidarity to avoid the suffering

brought about by terrorism and we must fight together to stop

terrorism from causing havoc here and there--in the Twin

Towers of New York, in the streets of Great Britain, in

Spanish cities, in Bogota's Club El Nogal, in Cuouta and

Neiva, in the humble town of Ricaurte just last night, or in

Arauca, nearly on a daily basis.

Neither state terrorism nor terrorism by armed groups of

any kind can be tolerated. Our Government is committed to the

fight against terrorism until terrorist networks are

dismantled. Only then will we see full compliance with human

rights. The dignity of our open democracy requires this and

only when it is realized will we be able to maintain

international credibility, which is our defense against

unilateral intervention of any kind.

We will overcome the terrorist's deceit: Terrorists in

Colombia advance their agenda through illegal drugs,

kidnappings, arms and technology while misleading well-

intentioned analysts and seeking sinister alliances. We

cannot remain in doubt, lacking determination and mistaking

weakness for legality, which has prevented us from gaining

effective allies against terrorism.

By participating in this alliance against terrorism,

Colombia strengthens its ability to gain international allies

who can help us defeat terrorism internally. We have also

learned that international cooperation cannot remain solely

in the realm of words, but must translate into concrete

support, good offices and effective military action.

We feel for the victims of terrorism in Colombia and other

countries. To demand solidarity, we must show solidarity.