Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join with me today in commemorating the 125th anniversary of the National Florence Crittenton Foundation. I am equally pleased to recognize the organization's deep roots in Philadelphia through Youth Service, Inc. and the tremendous work that has been accomplished on behalf of young women and girls in crisis.

One hundred and sixteen years ago, Charles Crittenton founded the 7th Mission Home in center city Philadelphia. The Mission later moved to the Germantown section of North Philadelphia. During that time, it sheltered young, unwed mothers and provided counseling, parenting workshops, and adoption services. Over the years, as the shifting population of Philadelphia diversified, so did the services at the Crittenton site. What remained constant, however, was the commitment to meeting the needs of youth in crisis.

The core principles of the Crittenton Mission are exemplified in Youth Service, Inc.'s mother & baby group home. Located in West Philadelphia, the home serves expectant and teenage mothers that are unable to remain in their own homes due to conditions of abuse, neglect or abandonment. It offers a structured, nurturing environment, where young women receive comprehensive support and the tools necessary to become self sufficient adults and responsible parents.

The original Crittenton site has remained a fixture in the Germantown community for more than eighty years. Currently, it operates as the Crittenton Family Support Center of Youth Service, Inc. and provides vital support services for women, children and families.

In an area where many residents experience limited opportunities for academic and occupational advancement, the services provided at the Crittenton Family Support Center are of critical importance. For infants and young children, Youth Service, Inc. operates the only Crisis Nursery Programs in Philadelphia, with sites in Germantown and Mantua, respectively.

On behalf of my constituents, I am proud to represent Youth Service, Inc. and to share in their history and dedication to the people of our community and to future generations of Philadelphians.

Madam Speaker, it is my honor to salute today a great and valued citizen of Philadelphia who is receiving one of our city's truly prestigious awards for members of the legal community.

David L. Hyman, Esquire earns his living as Managing Partner and partner for Business Development at Kleinbard, Bell & Brecker LLP, one of Philadelphia's outstanding law firms, where he leads the government relations practice. But that barely begins to describe the depth and breadth of his commitment to the city he loves.

David is a soft-spoken man with a ready and infectious smile who travels the fast lane of Philadelphia governance, religious, philanthropic and civic life, skilled at winning confidence and making things happen.

I have known David for more than two decades, since our days of pickup basketball at the Bright Hope Baptist Church in North Philadelphia. We have spent our declining jump-shot years on many of the same critical issues and causes, improving the lives and life chances for our young and underserved citizens.

David settled in Philadelphia to launch a legal career after graduating cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975 and from the University of California, Davis, School of Law in 1980. He served as Law Clerk for United States District Court Judge Peter B. Scuderi.

David is former Co-President and current advisory board member of Operation Understanding, a unique Philadelphia program that brings together African American and Jewish teenagers and trains them for cooperative leadership roles. He has been a bridge builder and passionate advocate for these two communities. -

More recently, David L. Hyman served for eight years as Chairman of the Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation, which oversees the Philadelphia Gas Works. He continues as Vice Chairman of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, which spreads the good word about our city, and serves on the board of the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia among numerous other private, public and nonprofit appointments. He has also been a champion for development, community improvement and empowerment in Mount Airy and across Northwest Philadelphia, along with his wife Farah Jimenez, the executive director of Mount Airy USA.

David L. Hyman has served the American Jewish Committee and its Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey chapter as President and Board Chairman. Now the organization he has led so ably and selflessly is returning the favor.

On Wednesday March 12, 2008, at the Rittenhouse Hotel, David L. Hyman, Esquire will receive the 2008 Judge Learned Hand Award of the

Mr. Speaker, I have always been a strong supporter of Israel and I am pleased with the friendship that the United States has forged with the people and government of Israel. I am appalled at the current situation in Israel and heavily condemn the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.

For three years, over 4,000 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel from the Gaza strip by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. These destructive terrorist rocket attacks have crippled Israel's infrastructure, traumatized and injured its citizens, and severely disrupted ongoing daily life. I can only offer my unending support of Israel in its sovereign right to defend its territory and people.

I would like to join in with the rest of my colleagues in expressing my disapproval of the terrorist rocket attacks on Israel, and I look forward to the day that peace is restored to the region.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present for the vote on H. Res. 951, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 200th anniversary of U.S. abolition of the slave trade, which marked a historic turning point in our Nation's history.

On March 2, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed a bill, which became effective January 1, 1808, abolishing the transatlantic slave trade. The issue of slavery had long been a contentious issue that divided Americans, with those in favor of abolition and those against struggling to reach a compromise. The abolition of the transatlantic slave trade was one step in the quest to end slavery, but the path to full social, political, and economic equality for African Americans would be a long upward battle that would not be reached for over 100 years.

While our forefather's move to formally end the U.S. participation in the transatlantic slave trade was a giant leap toward racial equality, the ``color line,'' as W.E.B. Dubois has called it, still divides America. Even though it has been over a hundred years since the Emancipation Proclamation, the remnants of slavery still exist in the black community, and in America as a whole.

African Americans in the underclass of our cities and the rural areas of the South continue to battle challenges including a dearth of affordable housing, unemployment and a lack of educational attainment. These problems continue to shake the foundations of the black community. African American men and women still bring home smaller paychecks than their white counterparts, African American children still suffer from a lack of qualified teachers and educational resources when compared with their privileged white peers and African American neighborhoods are still under siege from street violence and urban crowding. These problems are not only representative of the pervasive social and economic injustice between the races; these problems are tearing at the threads of the American social fabric.

Despite these challenges, African Americans have made considerable progress. With advancements such as the 14th and 15th Amendments, the Voting Rights and Civil Rights Acts, African Americans began to participate more fully in American life. Since the hard-fought accomplishments of the 20th century, African Americans are now participating in the political, economic, and cultural life of America more than ever before. The commemoration of the bicentennial of the U.S. abolition of the slave trade will allow us to take time to reflect on how far America has come in reaching its dream of racial equality, but it should also serve as a reminder that as a nation we still have work to do before we can finally erase the color line that divides us.

Madam Speaker, as Chairman of the Congressional Urban Caucus, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League (NUL), and delegations from Urban League affiliates from around the country to Washington, DC for their 5th Annual Legislative Policy Conference on March 5-6, 2008. Over the course of these two days, the NUL unveils its annual landmark State of Black America report, meets with Congressional leaders, and brings a slate of key policy recommendations to members of both houses.

Established in 1910, the National Urban League is the Nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization devoted to empowering African Americans to thrive in the economic and social mainstream. Today, the National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, spearheads the non-partisan efforts of its 101 local affiliates in 36 states and the District of Columbia, providing direct services to more than 800,000 people annually, and impacting millions more through its advocacy and research.

This year the NUL and its affiliate delegates are bringing to Congress an important blueprint for economic equality known as The Opportunity Compact. The Compact is a comprehensive set of principles and policy recommendations set forth by the National Urban League (NUL) designed to empower all Americans to be full participants in the economic and social mainstream of this Nation. In pursuit of this end, the NUL (1) identifies principles that reflect the values inherent in the American dream; (2) examines the conditions that have separated a significant portion of the American population--particularly the poor and disadvantaged residents of urban communities--from accessing that dream; (3) proposes, for honest evaluation and discussion, several policy recommendations intended to bridge the gap between conceptualization and realization of the American dream.

The Opportunity Compact is the culmination of extensive research and policy analysis by the National Urban League Policy Institute (NULPI) and is based upon the input of dozens of policy experts from academia, public policy think tanks, non-profit service and advocacy organizations, the business sector, and the Urban League movement. Among other things, the NULPI hosted a series of five roundtable discussions and obtained feedback and recommendations from numerous experts concerning the development of a coherent and comprehensive plan for empowering the Nation's urban communities. As the foundation for such a plan, NUL has clearly identified four cornerstones that reflect the values represented by the American dream: (1) The Opportunity to Thrive (Children), (2) The Opportunity to Earn (Jobs), (3) The Opportunity to Own (Housing) and (4) The Opportunity to Prosper (Entrepreneurship). These cornerstones are supported by a list of ten policy priorities.

Each of these opportunities for upward economic and social mobility are available in few other countries outside the United States. Therefore, maintaining equal access to these opportunities is a vital part of preserving the very principles that make this country unique and will prove to be an effective way to eliminate gaps in income, wealth and educational attainment within this country that are too often defined along the lines of race or socioeconomic status.

The Opportunity Compact serves as a vehicle to develop a serious plan of action to address the persistent inequalities faced by those in urban communities. Yet, all Americans, regardless of place of residence or racial identity, can benefit from the policy recommendations presented in this blueprint for economic equality. Furthermore, there is a role for all parties to play--private citizens, national, state and local governments, community-based service providers and the business community--as together, we seek to strengthen our Nation by maximizing the potential of all its citizens. By generating new ideas, initiating productive partnerships and fostering collaboration, The Opportunity Compact seeks to expand access to the incentives and rewards that act as the driving force behind what makes this country great--personal responsibility, initiative and hard work.

Madam Speaker, I firmly believe that the proposals embodied in the National Urban League's Opportunity Compact provide a powerful framework for approaching the difficult challenges faced by America's cities. I therefore rise today to congratulate the National Urban League for its work on behalf of cities and for bringing The Opportunity Compact to the attention of Congress.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Chairman Miller and the ranking member, Buck McKeon, for a great bill. This amendment by my colleagues to expand and authorize a greater investment in Teach for America, there is no more important an effort, as far as I'm concerned, in terms of recruiting quality teachers. We have hundreds of Teach for America volunteers in the Philadelphia School District now and across the country, and I've watched this program grow from its very inception. It is a great program.

This amendment will make this bill even better. I congratulate the chairman and the ranking member and the work product of the committee.

Madam Speaker, January 15, 2008, is a special day for more than 200,000 college educated African-American women throughout the world but especially here in our Nation's Capitol. -

It is the Centennial Founders' Day for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., the first and the oldest sorority for African Americans. On this date in 1908, nine women at Howard University in Washington, DC joined through real sisterhood and service founded Alpha Kappa Alpha. They soon added seven honor students from Howard's Class of 1910 to ensure the continuity and growth of the organization.

Their names are enshrined in the stunningly beautiful ``Alpha of Alpha Kappa Alpha'' Founders Window in the Rankin Chapel on that campus.

From its proud beginning at Howard University, AKA has grown to more than 200,000 strong, including undergraduate members and graduate members--affiliated with 975 chapters all over the globe and on every continent.

From the beginning, the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha have lived up to their calling as ``A Legacy of Sisterhood and Service.'' They have responded to the world's increasing complexity in a manner that continues to empower communities through exemplary service initiatives and progressive programs.

Centennial International President Barbara A. McKinzie is leading the membership during some of the most turbulent times in our history. Economics education is the foundation of the program platforms with special emphasis on Black families and youth, mental, physical and emotional health, encouraging entrepreneurships and other business opportunities and proving technology advancement for our seasoned seniors. This president has championed breast cancer awareness and vigilance among the membership and all African-American women. Her educational program has included advocacy for Sister Study, a long-term research project to determine the causes of breast cancer among African-American women.

Alpha Kappa Alpha has partnered with ``Coaches Versus Cancer'' to raise money for and promote cancer prevention. The sorority has partnered with State Farm Insurance Co. and Dr. Ian Smith, author of ``Fat Smash Diet'' on the 50 Million Pound Weight Loss Challenge. It is also partnering with African Ancestry to use the power of DNA to help find genealogic answers about African Americans.

These community service activities are on-going as Alpha Kappa Alpha proceeds with a nationwide one hundred year celebration.

Alpha Kappa Alpha launched its Centennial during 2007 with regional celebrations. The Centennial will kick off with the 100th Birthday Celebration at Howard University from January 12 to 15, 2008, culminating with the Centennial Boule in July that will bring over 20,000 women and their families to Washington, DC to mark ``100 Years of Service.''

As a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first African-American fraternity, I can attest to the pride and tradition and value that the Greek-letter organizations have brought to African Americans all across our land. I congratulate the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha and their families as they pause and celebrate their legacy of good works and Sisterhood.

Madam Speaker, December 13, 2007, is a special day in Philadelphia. The City Council has declared `Cardinal John P. Foley Day in the City of Philadelphia' to honor a great and humble priest of our city who has been elevated to Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

Both in Philadelphia and on the world stage, Cardinal Foley has served ably as the communicator of both faith and social policy for the

Catholic Church as it performs vital work in maintaining the health and welfare safety net for many of our citizens in need, regardless of religion, race or nationality.

Even as Cardinal Foley has served two Popes at the Vatican for the past 23 years, he always left his heart in Philadelphia. He has made frequent return visits to friends, family, fellow priests and all his admirers in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where he was born, raised and ordained.

December 13 highlights Cardinal Foley's first visit home since the Consistory in Rome on November 24, 2007, at which he and 22 other priests were elevated to Cardinal. He will be honored in Philadelphia City Council, where he will open the weekly session with a prayer. Then he will celebrate the Mass of Thanksgiving at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul along Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Cardinal Foley's career as a Catholic communicator extends back to his youth, as a teenager in Sharon Hill. As a student at St. Joseph's Preparatory School, he wrote and produced plays on the lives of saints that were broadcast on a radio station that specialized in Catholic programming. Also at St. Joseph's Prep he developed an abiding lifetime friendship with Richard A. Doran, an outstanding Philadelphian on whose counsel and friendship I often relied in the dawn of my career. Tragically, Dick Doran died less than a year before this week's celebration, but the ceremonies this week will be graced by his widow Mary Doran.

As a student at St. Joseph's University the future Cardinal Foley was a TV regular on a Channel 3 college debate series, often jousting with Penn's Arlen Specter, now Pennsylvania's senior senator. And in typical Foley storytelling fashion he recalls that the show shared studio space with ``Bertie the Bunyip,'' a legendary local puppet show of the 1950s.

The late Cardinal John Krol spotted this young priest as a devout man of great talent and potential. Cardinal Krol arranged for him to attend Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, installed him as Editor of the Catholic Standard and Times for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1970 to 1984, then recommended him to Pope John Paul II for a new post as President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at the Vatican.

Then-Archbishop Foley undertook the task of explaining church teachings through the worldwide media. He designed and implemented the Vatican's modern communications policy. He also served as the voice of the Vatican on such occasions as the global telecast of Midnight Mass from St. Peter's--a role he intends to continue.

Now, in addition to solemn duties as advisor to Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Foley has taken on the responsibility at the Vatican for overseeing the Catholic holy places in the Middle East as Pro Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Through it all, this man of God has never lost his humility, his gentle wit and his broad smile as he has risen to this most elite level of the billion-member worldwide church to which he devotes his life. Cardinal Foley Day is a day of celebration for all of us.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and memorialize WDAS-AM, a pioneering radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for its extraordinary and historic acts of cultural, spiritual and political bravery. This organization has stood for the causes of freedom and justice in helping secure the civic and human rights of African Americans and deserves the recognition and thanks of this body. The momentous victories of the civil rights and protest movements, aided by WDAS, led the United States on a new path recognizing the human dignity of all people and sparking the modern movements for the rights of women, Native Americans, Hispanics and other historically disenfranchised people.

Although WDAS in its historic role is effectively gone, the station's phenomenal impact on my hometown and our nation is a story that should be told. I am sharing, for the record, a letter I received from Wynne Alexander, a Philadelphian who is both a historian of WDAS and the daughter of a station co-founder. I believe her words are helpful in understanding this remarkable story.

In 1951, Dr. Max M. Leon and Bob Klein undertook a

revolutionary endeavor, instituting one of the nation's first

Black Radio stations, WDAS-AM of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

This industry-leading broadcast facility had a galvanizing

social impact in our state, and in fact, across this country.

This was not just a radio station, it was a cultural

institution bringing its listeners aspects of every known

societal necessity from award winning news coverage, to the

finest musical programming, to governmental and religious

affairs.

Thanks to their pioneering actions, station WDAS-AM was

eventually joined by other such stations. But none was ever

more effective in standing for justice and encouraging

enlightenment both locally and nationally. Because of its

unique position and timing,

its contributions to the causes of freedom and justice make

WDAS-AM the premiere Black station in the history of this

country.

Dr. Leon and Mr. Klein did not do this in a time of peace

and prosperity. It was a time of dangerous social upheaval.

The realities of Jim Crow America were still very much alive

in 1951, including racially motivated murders of social

progressives, lynchings, segregated schools, housing, public

transportation, drinking fountains, and certainly the

majority of White shop owners did not want Black people

shopping in their stores. This was the climate in which Leon

and Klein found themselves having to change the minds of

White, retail America, showing them and Madison Avenue the

humanity, strength and beauty of the Black community. In

their everyday actions, these two White men finessed, asked,

implored and when necessary demanded that the rest of White

Philadelphia and White America respect the Black community

the way they did. What Max Leon did in allowing his young

son-in-law to make this stand was an extraordinary act of

courage and should go down as one of the greatest leaps of

faith in the history of American Business.

WDAS was the only station to stand up for the rights of

minority broadcasters, successfully suing Arbitron

Industries, proving they were racist in their listenership

accounting methods of America's minorities. In winning this

class action judgment against Arbitron, WDAS paved the way

for equality in the market place for all minority

broadcasters and with the ensuing enhanced revenues, proved

to all of corporate America the vitality and economic

strength of the Black community.

By the mid 1950s, WDAS had established one of the first and

only full service broadcast news departments providing major

coverage of every civil rights breakthrough during a historic

era in our nation's history. The newsroom was packed with

cutting edge, highly talented journalists. WDAS was there

bringing first hand reporting from Brown v. the Topeka Board

of Education, Rosa Parks' refusal to take a back seat, the

Montgomery Bus Boycott, to the Little Rock, Arkansas riots,

the Birmingham Church Bombings, the integration of Alabama

University, Dr. King's marches on Washington D.C., his

winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the passage of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. WDAS

reporters and radio personalities covered every aspect, from

the marches in the street to the presidential signatures at

the White House.

WDAS was responsible for bringing Dr. King to Philadelphia,

forging his alliance with NAACP president Cecil Moore, Esq.

WDAS then sponsored a parade down Market Street in

Philadelphia introducing Dr. King to the city. They also

commissioned buses taking Freedom Riders to the South and

supplied buses to take people to all of Dr. King's marches.

WDAS' unprecedented and innovative programming efforts are

also credited with keeping Philadelphia calm in the wake of

King's assassination. Other cities expressed their anguish in

violent riots. Philadelphia mourned their loss in the non-

violent manner Dr. King always advocated.

In a letter written one year after King's assassination,

King confidant and Ambassador Andrew Young said this about

Madam Speaker, I rise today to share the good news that a great Philadelphian of another time, whose life, accomplishments and even his burial site have been lost in obscurity for too long, is finally being restored to prominence.

Octavius Valentine Catto, a champion of African American empowerment, civil rights and civil disobedience before those terms were even in use, was assassinated by a political thug on October 10, 1871, during a Philadelphia municipal election. Catto was walking between his South Street home and a nearby polling place on a riot-torn day during which he had been organizing African Americans to exercise their newfound franchise and throw out a corrupt local political machine.

Catto has been called a renaissance man for all that he undertook and accomplished in his short life (1839-1871). He was a classically trained student and then professor at the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, the forerunner of Cheyney University; an officer in an all-black unit of the Pennsylvania National Guard during the Civil War who insisted on a meaningful role for his soldiers; and even manager- second baseman for the Pythian Baseball Club, a renowned and pioneering all-black team. In the 1860s Catto, along with another prominent Philadelphian, the black abolitionist William Still, organized a civil disobedience campaign that led to laws desegregating Philadelphia's trolley car system.

Catto's assassination led to a massive public funeral and an outcry for justice. But gradually his deeds and memory faded from view. His remains were relocated from Lebanon Cemetery in Southwest Philadelphia to Eden Cemetery in Delaware County in 1903, but contemporary admirers haven't even known where to find his resting place.

On the anniversary of O.V. Catto's assassination, October 10, 1871, a group of Philadelphians led by Philadelphia City Council member Jim Kenney are changing all that. At a ceremony that includes representatives of the Philadelphia Union League, to which Catto belonged, Cheyney University; the O.V. Catto Elks Lodge and others, a temporary marker is being installed and dedicated at Eden Cemetery, 1434 Springfield Road, Collingdale, Pennsylvania. Significantly, his modest burial site is not far from the tomb of William Still. A permanent and appropriate headstone for Catto soon will follow.

That's not all. A site has been designated on the plaza outside Philadelphia City Hall for the construction of a statue of Catto. A design competition and fundraising effort are being launched by the O.V. Catto Memorial Fund under the leadership of Carol Clark Lawrence, the Fund's Chair, and Jim Straw, the Co-Chair. The Fund will also develop an educational program to assure that future generations will be well aware of the contributions of this outstanding Philadelphian.

Octavius V. Catto is an inspiration to Philadelphians of all races. The telling of his story is long overdue. And now it begins.

It's been said that it is how we treat the least of these that we will be judged. I think about my own four children, Francis and Chip and Cameron and Chandler. I think about the night I spent at the Children's Hospital all night long with my daughter because she suffered from dehydration. It's wonderful that she has insurance and we can provide for the best coverage at the best Children's Hospital, I think, anywhere in the world. But this bill is about helping all of our children, the six million that will continue to have coverage and the five million that we're adding.

The AMA, the AARP, the National Committee to Preserve and Protect Social Security, the Children's Defense Fund, all of these entities that represent these interests have lined up on behalf of this bill. And we need to line up this House on the right side of history.

I want to commend the chairmen, Rangel and Dingell and Pallone and Stark, for their work and ask for a unanimous vote on behalf of the CHAMP Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a disturbing human rights violation currently taking place in El Salvador under the guise of stopping terrorism, a situation brought to my attention by a dedicated group of Philadelphians that has just returned from that nation.

Philadelphia maintains a U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities connection to the rural village of Las Anonas, where most residents live in poverty and must still deal with the after-effects of the devastating civil war and a 1992 ceasefire that ended the bloodshed but brought little real change. This Sister Cities program is one of 20 that link U.S. communities and groups with rural El Salvador under the sponsorship of CRIPDES, a Salvadoran group for rural community development, and the Archbishop Romero Interfaith Center, which is based in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

About 27 men, women and teenagers from the Interfaith Community Building Group in Northwest Philadelphia, including Catholics, Jews, Protestants and Muslims, were hard at work laying the foundation of a new community center in the village of El Milagro last week. They were shocked to learn that the president, vice president and two other members of CRIPDES, their sponsor, were seized on July 2 by police on the highway on their way to join a peaceful demonstration in the town of Suchitoto.

The charges were originally ``creating public disorder,'' even though they had not even arrived at their destination. When supporters rallied outside the police station and demanded the release of the CRIPDES leaders, 10 more people were arrested and the ARENA government quickly escalated the charges. Now the prisoners have been charged with ``acts of terrorism'' under a new anti-terrorism law that went into effect last November. The law even created a special court to try such suspects. CRIPDES leaders, including President Lorena Martinez, who has visited Philadelphia, and a Salvadoran journalist covering the events, face up to 60 years in prison under this so-called ``anti-terrorism'' law in what is a clear attempt to stifle and silence dissent.

The ARENA government, ruling with a bare majority and looking toward the next election, is counting on almost a half-billion dollars in U.S. aid that is dependent upon adherence to human rights principles. El Salvador is also the only nation in Latin America to maintain troops in Iraq as part of the ``Coalition of the Willing.'' Meanwhile ARENA presides over a country so desperately poor that an estimated two million Salvadorans have emigrated to the United States, most of them undocumented.

The Philadelphia group was warned that if members raised their voices in protest to the arrests at Suchitoto, they could be immediately deported and barred from future trips. All this was occurring in the days immediately before and after the celebration, by fellow Philadelphians back home in the Cradle of Liberty and Birthplace of Independence, of the Fourth of July.

The arrests led to a massive protest demonstration in San Salvador, the capital, on July 7. I am pleased to learn that Amnesty International has taken up this case, and that friends of CRIPDES, the United States-El Salvador Sister Cities Program and the Romero Interfaith Center are all raising the alarm. The Philadelphians, who have made six trips to El Salvador in the past decade, are not alone. Delegations of community builders, educators and citizen witnesses from Sister Cities across the U.S. continue to travel to El Salvador, to join the cause of rural development and empowerment with their hands and hearts.

The ARENA government needs to know that the citizens of the United States and the world are watching what happens to CRIPDES and other peaceful, effective community development groups in their midst. Those in El Salvador's government who look to the United States for model behavior need to look beyond the shameless quick-fix of crying ``terrorism'' under cynically created laws. Instead they must heed the principles forged in Philadelphia two centuries ago.

Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

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

Mr. Chairman, the Philadelphia Art Museum is an historic location, well-known throughout the world, with over 1 million visitors a year, 78 years in existence.

The project for the modernization and renovation of the museum is one of note. It is important this year over $130 million will be spent. This $100,000 will be less than 1 percent of that. But it is an important effort for the Federal Government to participate and support the renovation of the exterior.

This multiyear program of over half a billion dollars to renovate and modernize the Philadelphia Art Museum is an important linchpin to an expansion along the parkway in Philadelphia's role in the world in terms of a world-class art collection. The Barnes Museum will be built and the Rodin Museum.

The collection will bring more visitors, twice as many visitors, to Philadelphia, as if we would have the Super Bowl in Philadelphia, and these visitors will spend three times as much money. Many of them are international travelers and art collectors and people who appreciate art.

I know that the House, notwithstanding the views of one Member who has offered this amendment, I am certain that a majority of the Members of this House will speak clearly that when we are talking about America's treasures, that the very well known but very old and in need of repair Philadelphia Art Museum deserves support under the program, the Saving America's Treasures program, which was designed exactly for this purpose and in which it has been the practice that the Congress would select about half of the projects.

So I ask that we oppose this amendment, and I ask that we support the Philadelphia Art Museum in this effort in this city and Philadelphia region. Many of our Members and families have visited, and we encourage all to visit, including the gentleman who is the sponsor of the amendment.

I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

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

If the gentleman would yield, this grant would be to assist in the project related to repair of the historic facade of the existing museum.

I think you would say ``asked and answered'' at this moment, right?

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

I think that this discussion on this bill today should begin with an appropriate appreciation for the great work of the chairman and the ranking member. Both Chairman Price and the gentleman, Mr. Rogers, the ranking member, have done an extraordinary job in crafting a bill to address the real challenges facing our Nation in terms of homeland security. I think that the fact that there have been cuts in various programs shows that it was a rigorous process, but I think that the additions are also equally important.

I wanted to point out in particular a number of the sections in this bill: This domestic nuclear detection office is so important, because I think that we all know based on the information both in classified and declassified briefing material, and for the general public, whether it's watching Jack Bauer or however they may gather their information, that it is a real concern in our Nation, the possibility of a nuclear strike at one of our major urban centers, a nuclear device, a dirty bomb. This domestic detection office and the funding for it allocated in this bill, I think, is important.

I think that the availability of grants for our first responders. I come from the Philadelphia region. I don't want to prejudge any of the cases, but we have had arrests that have been widely noticed in the national media of people allegedly preparing to strike at Fort Dix in New Jersey. We've seen the incident at the JFK airport where the discussion is around people who were focused on potentially doing massive harm, attempting to blow up jet fuel lines running from Linden, New Jersey, all the way into the JFK airport.

So the question of homeland security, protecting our borders, adding thousands of additional Border Patrol guards, I think that this House has been well served by the capable leadership of the chairman, Chairman Price, and the ranking member. They've brought a quality bill to the floor. This is my first term serving on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, a committee that was previously led by the ranking member but is now being led by Chairman Price, but they have put together a bill that came out of our full committee and out of our subcommittee with strong bipartisan support.

Even though, Mr. Chairman, we hear some comments from the other side, we know that they don't really represent the total views of the Members either on our side or the other side, because this bill got quality support in committee. I know that when we get a chance to vote on this bill, when we get a chance to vote on increasing State grants for law enforcement, $950 million, $50 million above the 2007 number and $700 million above the President's request for grants to help local communities plan, equip and train first responders, that this bill is going to get a resounding level of support in this House. There probably wouldn't be more than a handful of Members, if that, who are going to vote against this bill. Even though we have a lot of discussion about things that are not really meritorious, in this bill there is a great deal of meritorious approaches to protecting our Nation from real threats.

These are real threats that are playing themselves out on our borders and in our cities each and every day, and our local and national law enforcement community needs the resources that are being made available and appropriated in this bill.

I am very appreciative of the effort that has been put in the urban area grants and in the fire grants, and after Katrina and the work that has been done on emergency management and the performance area.

I would hope that before too many people are swayed, that somehow this bill doesn't represent our efforts to deal with the challenges facing our country, that they really look at the details, Mr. Chairman, and some of the political grandstanding that is going on will give way and we will get to the heart of this issue and the country will be in a position to appreciate the great work of our chairman and the ranking member. I have had the pleasure of serving with them, seeing the hearings and seeing the oversight.