Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an honor to be able to stand in this House of Representatives and say a few words for my distinguished colleague, Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

You know, on everybody's tombstone there are three things. There's first the date you were born and then the date you die, and in between there is a dash. And the question we all must answer at some point is what do you do with the dash. Stephanie Tubbs Jones did an amazing amount with her dash.

Born to hardworking, loving parents--Mary, who was a cook at Case Western University in Cleveland; her father, Andrew, was a sky cap-- good, hardworking people, who gave love to Stephanie. She rose to become a prosecutor, a judge, a trial lawyer, all the way up to the Congress of the United States.

And I tell you, in between, Mr. Speaker, she learned how to play a mean game of Bid Whist, Mr. Speaker. But I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, she kept the faith, she finished her course, and she fought the good fight. And therefore, there is put up for Stephanie Tubbs Jones an extraordinary crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, appointed and has given to Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and we thank God for sending Stephanie Tubbs Jones our way.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the City of Forest Park for reaching their 100th Anniversary. Forest Park began as Forest Station/Astor on just one square mile of land chartered in 1908. This early community was mostly comprised of farming families, but quickly grew as Forest Park became an important railroad stop close to the bustling hub of Atlanta. Although the railroad gradually lost its more prominent role in the area, the people of Forest Park worked with the railroad and with their neighbors to find new opportunities for themselves and for their community. Their perseverance and hard work have paid off, helping to make Forest Park one of the largest cities in Clayton County and an important center of commerce for Georgia and the Southeast.

Today Forest Park is home to over 21,000 dedicated and productive citizens. This diverse community deserves our commendation for setting a positive example for Georgia and our great nation as a whole. I praise Forest Park for its commitment to its citizens through an outstanding police and fire department, school system, and overall community atmosphere. I also applaud Forest Park for fostering strong and affordable community recreation and leisure programs. These activities serve to bring people of all backgrounds and experiences together in friendship and collaboration. I am proud to see these endeavors encouraging a healthy and dynamic environment for the citizens of Forest Park and promoting positive community values throughout the area.

Forest Park will be holding a centennial celebration for just this purpose on August 14th, 15th, and 16th. This celebration will not only serve as a time of fun and enjoyment, but will also educate the public on the rich history of Forest Park. I also look forward to the increased participation and partnership of the citizenry, public institutions, and local businesses during this time and trust this close connection will continue into the future as it has for the past 100 years. This commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Forest Park is sure to be an enjoyable and fruitful enterprise for all involved.

I would further like to laud the dedicated efforts of Mayor Corine Deyton, and City Council members Sparkle Adams, Debbie Youmans, Maudie McCord, Donald Judson, and Linda Lord for their just and spirited public service in the governing of the City of Forest Park. Congratulations on reaching this 100 year milestone are also certainly due to the citizens of Forest Park. Without their tenacity and resolve, Forest Park would certainly not be the

active and vibrant city that it is today. I wish them well in continuing to enrich the lives of their neighbors and in maintaining a beautiful and prosperous community for the 100, 200, 300 years to come.

In closing, I wish the City of Forest Park a Happy 100th Birthday. As the U.S. Representative to the 13th District of Georgia, I honor the City of Forest Park, its leaders, and its inhabitants for reaching this milestone and look forward to the continuation of its proud legacy.

Mr. Speaker, I thank very much the gentleman from Massachusetts.

First of all, some of my colleagues may not realize this but our economy is ill. It is sick. It's in a desperate situation, and more than that, millions of American citizens are just barely hanging on by their fingernails. At the core of this problem is housing.

Now, it's important for us to realize that this is not a Democratic plan. It's not a Republican plan. This is a plan that has been put together by both Democrats and Republicans and the White House and the Financial Services Committee in the House and the Banking Committee in the Senate.

The American people are crying out for help. They are watching us intently to see if we are going to respond.

Everything in this bill has been worked out, and everything in this bill has been applied with safety and soundness. We hope, Mr. Speaker, that especially what we are offering in support of the GSEs, Fannie and Freddie, and to an extent the home loan banks, is a piece of medicine that will be taken lightly, simply from the mere fact of us putting this forward. Hopefully we will send a loud message to all the financial markets and to the investors and give them the confidence to move in without us even having to go the extra step.

In the process of this, as Secretary Paulson has indicated, it is important that we give this strong medicine an opportunity to get a vote of confidence from Wall Street and the investors. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac control half of the outstanding mortgage loans in this country. That's an extraordinary amount. That's nearly $6 trillion. If that goes by the wind, our economy sinks. It will be a dereliction of our duty as the Congress of the United States for us not to put the full weight of the Treasury Department with the consultation of the Federal Reserve Chairman in place to make sure there is stability. Before the Secretary even moves, he must send a declaration to document that this is necessary to protect the stability of the market.

Now, Mr. Speaker, on the other point, we can't just deal with Fannie, we have got to protect that. But we have also got to protect our States, our local communities, right at the grassroots level. There are communities that are being devastated due to foreclosures, where we are averaging over 1,000 foreclosures each day, to give the local communities the help they need to buy up these loans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on this occasion to first of all say how much I appreciate this opportunity to address my colleagues and the Nation and to talk for just a few moments on a good and decent person, a great American. His name is Warren G. Davis.

Warren G. Davis passed away a few days ago. He was more than just an ordinary person. God blesses us with many blessings. But there is no greater blessing that he blesses you with than that to have a friend, a friend for life. And that is what Warren G. Davis meant to me and our friendship.

Warren G. Davis comes out of Texas. He was born out of Refugio, Texas, near Victoria and near Corpus Christi, a man of God from the very beginning. Warren Davis was a loving husband to his wife of over 38 years, Linda. He was a loving father to his two sons, Brad and Warren Junior. He was a loving brother to Fred Davis and his cousin Harold Martin. And of course his mother, his father and his entire beloved family mourns this hour.

But let me just say, Mr. Speaker, that not only his family mourns, his immediate family, for this young man touched many lives. In his community of South Lake, Texas, he played such an important role as a community leader, for Warren not only gave to his family, but he gave to his extended family and his entire community. He served on the school board of South Lake from 1993 to 1996. He was a member of the Red Creek Community Association. As a matter of fact, he served as its president. He was also a member of the very elite community group called the Dragons Council. It was no ordinary group, for this is an elite fan-based booster group for the young people in that community and supported the South Lake teams.

To show you a measure of his commitment, over the many years Warren G. Davis never missed a single game. He gave so much of his life to this community.

Warren Davis and I go back from the very beginning of our college careers. He has been a friend for over 45 years to me, Mr. Speaker, for in 1963 we both went to Florida A&M University where this young man was also my college roommate for 4 years. We pledged fraternity together, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; oh, did he love Alpha Phi Alpha, and we pledged the Beta Nu Chapter. We affectionately referred to ourselves as the 12 disciples. But Warren Davis was the enforcer of our group. He was the glue that kept us together. He learned very early to work with different people. He not only was there as a fraternity person, but also worked early in the student movement when we had the task of integrating many of the public facilities in Tallahassee, Florida, as we matriculated through Florida A&M University.

When he left Florida A&M, he started a very distinguished career in the computer field as one of the foremost African-American executives with the IBM corporation, working as an executive in the management and the market and the accounting areas, and paving the way for other African Americans to be able to follow in his footsteps.

Mr. Speaker, this is a great American and one who was humble and humbled himself before God and understood not only who he was but whose he was.

And so I just want to rise this afternoon to say these few words about my

great friend, my good friend, Warren Davis. Let me just say in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, that Warren Davis fought the good fight. Warren Davis finished his course, and Warren Davis kept the faith. And henceforth there is put up for him a crown of righteousness which the Lord, that righteous judge, has made available to Warren G. Davis, and so many people both near and far all across the breadth and the scope of America collectively say we thank God for sending Warren G. Davis our way.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer my congratulations to the City of Riverdale, Georgia for reaching its 100th anniversary this July. Home to over 15,000 people, this great city, on the outskirts of the bustling city of Atlanta, is known for its close knit communities, beautiful landscapes and abundant resources. With a rich history of vibrant festivals and community building activities, Riverdale prides itself on promoting the well- being of its residents. This city was formally founded in 1908 as a railroad depot. However, its history traces back to before the Civil War and owes much of its early success to a generous donation of land by Mr. and Mrs. W.S. Rivers, who wanted to see the area and its businesses thrive and prosper.

The City of Riverdale will mark the occasion by holding a Centennial Celebration. This celebration will include a full commemoration of the centennial year as well as a tribute to Riverdale's rich history. Additionally, the Centennial Celebration will strive to educate the public on the history of Riverdale, encourage community involvement and recognize organizations, businesses, and institutions that have been a part of this city for 100 years. Among the events planned for this celebration are a Centennial Parade, concerts and picnics, a Centennial Gala and a Tree Planting, as well as other activities designed to further foster a greater sense of involvement among the city's residents.

I would like to recognize Dr. Evelyn Wynn-Dixon, Mayor of Riverdale, along with City Council members Rick Scoggins, Wayne Franklin Hall, Wanda Wallace, and Kenneth Ruffin for their hard work and dedication to this community. And congratulations are certainly due to the great residents of this city who are the true heart of this community. Their hard work, family values, and commitment contribute to the daily growth of Riverdale. I look forward to seeing the continual development and prosperity of this city and it is an honor to represent them in the United States Congress.

In closing, I would like to extend my congratulations to the city of Riverdale for marking its 100th Anniversary and I wish them a healthy and prosperous one hundred more.

Thank you very much, Mr. Matheson. I certainly want to thank the gentleman from Utah for allowing me to share a few thoughts on what, I think, is the most urgent issue facing, really, the survival of the world, not just that of our country. I'd like to talk about this from an additional perspective.

This issue is rolling along on about four or five major legs. One is supply. Another is the weakened dollar, of which you spoke. Another is do we do more drilling. Then this other of which we have not dealt as we should, of which I believe is that leg of which we have to deal if we are going to really address the issue facing the American people, is the high price of gasoline. That leg is called demand. We've got speculators who certainly need to be reined in, and we're doing that.

I serve on the Agriculture Committee. We've had the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Chairman Lukken to come before our committee. We want to make sure that we give him the resources and all that he needs to bring title regulation and transparency. We need to look at issues like swapping where these traders use others' pension funds to trade among themselves with little oversight. We need to close the Enron loophole. We need to make sure that everything trading with oil is done in the light and not in foreign exchanges that have very little regulation. All of that needs to be done.

Speculation and speculators play a vital role as well. So that we have to make sure that whatever approach we take there, that's a part of the infrastructure. And still we're not addressing the issue facing the American people until we address the issue of demand.

The only way we're going to bring down the price of oil, and subsequently the price of gasoline, is to reduce our demand and our dependency on oil. Oil's not in our future if we're going to have one. If we continue with oil, this earth is going to eventually burn up. We're getting to that point now. It is the oil and other matters that are causing global warming at such an epidemic rate that even if you drill for more, that creates more demand. And drilling is where we are now. That is not where we need to go for the future.

We have got to erase the high demand or else we're going to be in a footrace with China and India. If we continue at our pace on our current demand for oil, it will go up 22 percent in the next 10 years, China's will go up 160 percent, India 110, and developing countries in the Middle East will go up 125. Increase. The more oil you drill for, the more the demand, the higher the price.

Let me tell you something that happened. Just before we left, in Jidda in Saudi Arabia they had a conference. And at that conference, Saudi Arabia said, Okay. I tell you what. We're going to increase during the month of May by 300,000 barrels per day. Then in July and June, last month, they added another 200,000 barrels a day, increase, because we felt the more the supply, then we'd lower the price. No, no, no. Less than 24 hours. That happened on a Sunday. That very Monday, when the first market opened in Singapore, the price went up from $134 a barrel to $137, and now it's rolling along at $145. Does more oil, does more production, does it drive it up? It creates the demand.

So what do we do? We've got to move forthrightly on getting off of oil, getting off of dependency on it. We've got a great chance to do that. We have the means to do it. There is no country that has the technology, that has the smarts to be able to get alternative sources of energy to survival.

If Brazil can do it, why can't we? I went down to Brazil last year, spent a week down there going into the factories, into the production plants, and 85 percent of their automobiles are running on what is called flex fuel. In other words, ethanol made from sugarcane. Why can't we do that? No. We blindly want to go with ethanol, but we want to go make it on corn.

For every unit of energy that it takes to produce a unit of ethanol from sugarcane, they can only yield less--they yield 8 units of energy. That's a great yield. With corn, for every energy it takes to produce it they can only produce less than 2 units of energy. It's not efficient. Plus, it drives up the price on food because corn is the basic for livestock. So corn ethanol is not the future. Nor should it be on any basic food.

But now our technologies say we can make ethanol from kudzu, from pine straw, from pinecones, and yes, sugarcane.

Now I ask you, here is a question that we need to ask and the American people need to ask Congress. Why can't

we begin to offset our demand for gasoline to run our automobiles, offset, removing our demand bit by bit from importing oil from the Middle East and on oil to making up for that by pouring in ethanol? And why is it that we have a 54 cents-per-gallon tariff on every gallon of ethanol we would import from Brazil? It doesn't make sense. Why would we not want to import ethanol made from sugarcane, the most energetic, the most productive kind of ethanol, into this country from Brazil to offset the loss from importing oil from there as we build up our own capacity for ethanol?

And let me just share with you what we're doing in my great State of Georgia. Georgia is at the leadership--and I would like to say, Mr. Matheson, in my own district in Clayton County, for example, we have in Clayton County in Ellenwood, a plant that makes biodiesel fuel. And you know what they make it from? Not oil, not petroleum. They're making it from the fatty parts that you throw away from the chickens and from pork. And they're taking it. And this year, this plant, it's called the BullDog BioDiesel--you can tell we're from Georgia because it's the ``Bull Dog''--but it's the BullDog BioDiesel plant in Ellenwood. They will produce 18 million gallons of biodiesel fuel.

And it is not going to have to go on the world market like oil would. That's another thing we need to clarify because people think if we were to drill and get oil, that that oil will come straight on back here and it stays in this country. No. That goes to the world oil market and comes out at $145 a barrel if it was today. The price is there.

So my point is this: We need to understand that we are at a critical point in our history, quite honestly, as a civilization, and America must lead in this direction, and that leadership means cutting this demand and dependency on oil and moving to renewable areas. We're already moving with the battery cell automobile. Why can't we put greater emphasis on those things and those items?

And as I said, we certainly have to look at ethanol as a future because it would make up for the shortfall we would get once we are able to cut our dependency on oil, especially from the Middle East.

So I think that among all of the other things that we've got to do, and there are many things we've got to do, but essentially it comes down to the bottom line: You want the price of gasoline to go down? You want the future of the world to go up? Then what you do is you've got to cut the demand on that petroleum as a base of energy and move to another base of energy that does not threaten our economy or our environment.

Absolutely. And I just wanted to complement what my colleague from South Dakota, Ms. Herseth, has said because I serve on the Agriculture Committee with Ms. Herseth.

And this agricultural farm bill, in my estimation, in my 6 years here I've dealt with many bills, but as far as our future and our domestic and international needs, this farm bill is by far one of the absolute, most impactful bills we've had that touches on this. And I think we would do well to share with the American people--and you have alluded to so much of that already, very eloquently I might add--but let me just also point out that what's in this bill because this is so important.

We've mentioned ethanol, but it's so important that the people of America know that we have $4.2 billion in loan guarantees in this bill for the construction of ethanol plants, and we are putting the emphasis, as you said, on cellulosic. This is why it's particularly, in my part of the Nation, in Georgia, we are so excited about this bill. We not only have the biodiesel plant in Ellenwood in Clayton County, but over in south Georgia, in Soperton we have a cellulosic ethanol plant that is producing energy off of wood chips, just what you talked about.

We have scientists and engineers and chemists working right now at the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech fine-tuning how we extract cellulosic ethanol from pine straw and pine trees. I mean, these are renewable areas, and we're putting the incentives in.

Also in the farm bill what we've done, we recognize, as she spoke so eloquent, too, about the corn pressure, that we wanted to also give some emphasis to the cellulosic ethanol. So we have increased the tax credits for ethanol made from cellulosic means, while we slightly decreased it from corn to take some of that pressure off.

So I did want to talk for a moment about the leadership of the Agriculture Committee in the future of our energy needs, particularly when it comes down to our renewable fuels, but I also wanted to talk for a moment about this is a world issue, and it's a complex issue.

The question that I'm pondering with and I think we all should is this one. Fifteen years ago, just 15 years ago, the price of oil was less than $15 a barrel. Now here we are, 15 years later, and it's busting at about $150 a barrel. Somewhere, somehow we need to ask the question, how and why, because clearly if we're going to find our way out of this mess we have got to examine how we got into this mess.

Well, I did a little bit of examining, and it comes down to this. Right now, the world uses 85.4 million barrels of oil per day. Now, I ask Mr. Matheson, you might want to know, that's good, well, how much does the world produce? They produce 85.6 million barrels per day. And as I mentioned earlier, Saudi Arabia just like that said we can increase production just like that, 500 barrels a day.

Now, what I'm talking about here is that a lot has happened, but one of the most significant things that has happened has been China and India and the underdeveloped world that is putting tremendous pressure here and an OPEC cartel that tends to want to play like Russian roulette with us.

So this is why I am saying and I am concerned that if we move towards drilling, wherever it may be, I am just one voice here. There are all areas of leadership, and my leadership is going to be in trying to get alternative energies on the market, trying to bring down the 54-cent tariff that we have for keeping ethanol out so that we can have some competition.

Even as we're speaking, I believe the world is listening, and they're listening to what America is saying. And if America is saying we're making moves to get you out of the back pockets of the American people and we're going to move into a situation where we don't need you, we're going to bring that price down. You watch what we say. If it takes drilling, if it takes a threat of drilling, if it takes moving it and getting the oil companies finally to move on the 68 million acres that we've already leased to drill on--and that is the other question, Mr. Matheson. Not only the other question about what happened in the 15 years, but why is it that we've given the oil companies 68 million acres to drill on and everybody is saying drill, drill, and not one drill has hit the ground in those 68 million acres?

The American people ought to get an answer to that. If they want more drilling, why haven't the oil companies drilled on the 68 million acres that's there to drill? Those are some very serious questions that I think we need to ask and examine thoroughly.

But I will say this, this Congress is speaking with a loud, precise voice. And I believe the more energetic we speak with this voice, the more precise we speak with it, the more action-oriented we speak with it, both Democrats and Republicans, all of us speak in a loud voice together, saying enough of this, we're not going to take it anymore and move forward with some alternatives, that will get these oil folks out of our back pockets. That's what the American people want. And that's what is going to bring down these oil prices, shaking the demand.

Thank you very much. It is always a pleasure to come down and to be able to communicate with the American people with my distinguished members of our Blue Dog Coalition. What I would like to do as a part of this discussion tonight is to certainly communicate why we need to institute and maintain what we have instituted or reinstituted, and that is PAYGO, to pay our bills as we go.

Let me see if I can just set the stage to show the American people just how precarious a position we are in both from a national security standpoint as well as an economic security standpoint. As we stand right now, the national debt is a staggering $9.13 trillion. That is almost $10 trillion of national debt. And just to show you how serious this is, we are accumulating this debt at an astounding rate of $1.4 billion every single day. That amounts to nearly $10 billion every week that we are adding to our national debt.

And then we compound that. This debt is not free. We must pay interest on this debt. And the interest on this debt last year alone was an astounding $430 billion. So I can put that in perspective. Just the interest that we pay for borrowing this money is four times more than what we pay for education, for the health of our children, for our veterans and homeland security combined. Folks, that's mighty, mighty dangerous ground for this country to be on. That is one of the foremost reasons why we must change this direction, or else we are going off the cliff. And this is something that is of very, very much concern to Democrats, I think to some Republicans as well, and most assuredly, to our Blue Dog Coalition that is providing the leadership here so that we can be responsible.

Now let me just add another point. This money that we are borrowing is broken down into two groups. Of the $9.13 trillion in debt, about $5.1 trillion of that is what we call the public debt. The other $4 trillion is debt that we

incur through our private means, through borrowing from Social Security and other government agencies. But let's just look at that public debt for a moment because the other reason that this is so much of a great concern is the threat to our national security. Because, ladies and gentlemen, 45 percent of our public debt is being borrowed from foreign governments, and not just any foreign government. We are borrowing this money from places like China. They have $500 billion of our debt. Japan has $601 billion of our debt. And then Saudi Arabia and the oil- producing OPEC nations have $153 billion in debt. And then if we go to places like Russia, $43 billion, and to Korea, $42 billion. And I think you are getting the picture, ladies and gentlemen. These are countries that we have got to deal with firmly. It is undermining our security to have our debt in the hands of these countries because he who controls your debt controls you and your future. And it begins to weaken our leverage in dealing on the international stage.

Let me just give you one example. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, our President Bush went over to Saudi Arabia, yes, to really try to do something about the high price of gasoline that my dear friends on the other side have just talked about a few moments ago. But here is the President going to Saudi Arabia begging hat in hand basically to ask the Saudis to increase their oil output. Keep in mind that it only costs the Saudis $2 a barrel to get that oil out of the ground. And now it's going for what, $120, $130 a barrel? But the Saudis said ``no.'' In the back of their minds I am sure they were saying, we got your oil, and we got your debt.

That's why I'm saying that this debt situation is placing our Nation in a terribly precarious situation from an economic security standpoint as well as a national security standpoint. And we have got to change that.

And finally, I want to just add this one point, too, because this business of continually not only having this huge debt, which we've got to saddle on the backs of our grandchildren and other generations, is not fair to them. But not only that, but the monies that we are spending in Iraq and in Afghanistan are being borrowed from China and Japan.

Finally, on the foreign standpoint, it is very important to really dramatize the seriousness of this debt. Over the last 8 years, since 2001, we have borrowed under this President and this Congress, he couldn't have done it by himself, more money from foreign governments than we have borrowed in the previous 224 years of our existence. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. We have borrowed more money under the Bush administration and under this last 7 years of Congress than we have done in the previous 42 administrations of this country. That is numbing. It is mind-boggling. This is a terrible situation for us to be in. This is the reason why we have got no choice in this matter. We've got to pay our bills.

And it is a great testimony to the leadership of the Blue Dogs and certainly the leadership of the Democratic party in this Congress that we have indeed instituted pay-as-you-go so that we can have both economic security as well as national security. The American people deserve no less.

Thank you very much, Mr. Boyd.

I want to go back and complement what you are saying because you are hitting it from the domestic side in terms of our jobs. I want to complement that because I serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee, as you know. In addition to that, I serve on the Middle East Subcommittee and am vice chairman of the Subcommittee on International Trade, Nuclear Proliferation and Terrorism, and I am a sitting member of NATO's Parliamentary Assembly. I mention those committees that I serve on because it puts me in a pretty good position as we get around the world to really focus on this other side as to why we have to pay this debt down. We don't have all of the answers, but it is incumbent upon us to start this ball rolling. The very future of our country is at stake.

In this past winter's meeting when we were at NATO, word came out that a Chinese lawmaker, and incidentally, we are borrowing $500 billion from the Chinese, he stands up and he says I think we ought to now start buying euros instead of dollars, and the stock market plunged 300 points. That is what I am talking about in terms of our own national security, the threat that we have if we do not take care of this debt, particularly in the hands of foreign countries.

The other point is in Russia, for example, it is tied into our failure to deal with this debt, it is tied into our energy dependence. And $46 billion of our debt is in the hands of Russia whom we are having a difficult time with. Any reason why? And they are now Iran's number one buddy. And dig this, Mr. Boyd, this is the interesting point: 45 percent of all of the natural gas reserves are controlled by Russia and Iran. And they hold our debt.

When you combine that with the $153 billion that the OPEC countries hold, and the treatment that they gave our President when he went there and asked for them to increase their oil output and they said no. The comment was we control your oil and we control your debt.

The point I am getting at is this, that our failure to pay down this debt will have a devastating impact on the future of our country and our ability to have the leverage we need to survive on the world stage.

I just wanted to make that point from the foreign affairs perspective on why we have to put these PAYGO rules in and make them stick.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me this opportunity. I want to speak very briefly about this bill. This is a very, very important bill. It is critical to the future of education of our young people.

Let me start out by letting you know how important this is to my State of Georgia, and especially the metro Atlanta area. The metro Atlanta area is the third fastest growing child population in this country. Some 120,000 school children will enter area schools over the next 5 years. They need additional space. They're meeting in trailers. They're meeting in broken down buildings. They need help.

Now, Madam Chairman, I just came from a trip from Afghanistan and Iraq, and I'm very proud to say our soldiers are doing a wonderful job and all of our contractors are doing a wonderful job. They come to tell us, oh, we're doing great, we're building these many schools, we're building these many hospitals, which is wonderful, but then to come back here and to see us crawling and falling back instead of going forward to do the same thing for our own people. Not since 2001, 7 years ago, was the last time we even gave direct Federal aid to the States and the counties of our Nation to build schools, to help repair schools.

This bill is important because not only does it build schools, it builds them in a way that helps our environment, it builds them in a way that preserves our energy, cuts down on emissions that help global warming. It is an effective measure, Madam Chairman. It is a bill we must pass, and the time to do it is now.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentleman, Mr. Speaker, this bill requires our urgent action to override the President's veto. The American people are concerned about many, many things, but they are most concerned about the high cost of food and the high cost of gasoline. And as soon as this bill is made into law, we will deal with these two issues right away.

The first thing that this bill does to address the high cost of food and the high cost of gasoline is that we immediately look at the corn- based ethanol, and we reduce the tax credits on corn-based ethanol and we increase the tax credits on ethanol made from cellulosic materials, which are switch grass and pine straw.

The other reason why we need to make sure we override this veto is simply because, Mr. Speaker, this bill will reach out and bring in individual segments of our population that were left out. The African American farmers are entitled to their due, and this bill will require that African American farmers who in the past have been discriminated against will have this, and it provides millions of dollars for traditionally African American schools. That is why it is important that we override the veto of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate students, teachers, judges and attorneys residing in my Congressional District. Once again, I congratulate the Jonesboro High School Mock Trial Team for winning the National High School Mock Trial Championship on May 11, 2008, in Wilmington, Delaware. The Jonesboro team also won the national title in 2007 and has held State titles six times in the last 20 years.--

The Jonesboro Mock Trial Team represents some of the best and brightest of Clayton County students. I want to take a moment to recognize the aspiring lawyers, the honors students and the Eagle Scout candidates who comprise this winning team. Special recognition must go to returning members Jayda Hazell, Jurod James, Tabias Kelly and Braeden Orr who competed with the 2007 team. In addition, I congratulate Brian Bady, Miguelande Charlestin, Kayla Daniels, Dominique Delgado, Lindsay Hargis, Bridget Harris, Avion Jackson, Adrienne Marshall, Laura Parkhouse, Joe Strickland and Ralph Wilson for their win.

The Jonesboro Mock Trial Team is fortunate to be guided by legal professionals including the Honorable John C. Carbo and the Honorable Deborah Benefield, both Clayton County State court judges, as well as Ms. Tasha Mosley and Ms. Katie Powers, attorney coaches. In these exercises, students gain insight about the American legal system including trial preparation and standard courtroom procedures. Jonesboro faculty sponsors Andrew and Anna Cox also helped the team since early in the fall term to the present so that the team members are prepared for their local, State and national competitions.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I am delighted to recognize the efforts of the Jonesboro High School Mock Trial Team for their back-to-back victories. I hope to see the Jonesboro High School team compete again at the 2009 National Championship, which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express support for House Resolution 1026. For over one hundred years, the Congressional Club has been a place to cultivate friendships among the spouses of sitting or former Members of Congress, Supreme Court

Justices and Members of the President's Cabinet. Although the group was founded as an organization for congressional wives, the group includes husbands too, as we are privileged to now have 86 women serving in this great body, in addition to the many before them and those who have served in Presidential Administrations since 1908.

I am also pleased to rise today, as someone very special to me has been involved with this organization since my first election to Congress in 2002. My wife, Alfredia, was the chair of the 2008 Congressional Club First Lady's Luncheon, an event held by the Club annually since 1912. At the event entitled ``The Many Splendors of Spring,'' Mrs. Bush was presented with a lovely quilt commissioned by Arts Clayton, an organization located in my congressional district, which was handmade by Ms. Debra Svitil of Alpharetta, Georgia.

Artist Theresa Fontes-Black, of Snellville, Georgia, was also commissioned to create over 2,000 glass-bead necklaces of various shapes and designs for luncheon attendees as party favors. It was an honor for Arts Clayton and the 13th Congressional District to have such beautiful recognition in this time-honored tradition. In addition to this outstanding social event, members are also involved in social service projects to benefit those less fortunate. Proceeds from the sale of the Congressional Club's annual cookbook not only support the clubs activities but also support charitable giving to organizations throughout the area.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, it is with great pleasure that I recognize the important work of the Congressional Club by celebrating its centennial on the House floor today and urging its passage.

Madam Speaker, let me first begin by paying just a few words to our beloved Senator Edward Kennedy, who is at this very moment, as we know, fighting for his life.

Senator Kennedy is beloved by all of us. He is truly the lion in the Senate. Our prayers are with him and his family at this great hour of need.

Madam Speaker, let me just say one word very quickly. This is Memorial Day, and all of us will be visiting our troops. I know I along with other Members of Congress and our entourage will be going over to Europe and into the Middle East to see firsthand about our troops, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate and commemorate Memorial Day than to be over with our troops as they are in harm's way.

Now, Madam Speaker, let me rise to give recognition to an extraordinary American and Georgian and a constituent in my district, in the 13th District of Georgia, and that is Pastor Kenneth E. Marcus, who is now celebrating his 20th anniversary as pastor of the Turner Chapel AME Church in Marietta, Georgia, in Cobb County, in the heart of my district. Let me just say a few words about this outstanding individual.

Reverend Marcus was born in Trinidad in the West Indies. He came to this country in 1975. Then he went to Morris Brown College and got his bachelor's degree from Atlanta University. And, Madam Speaker, it was there as a college student that Reverend Marcus received the word and the call from God to preach. He then immediately went to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he received his master's degree in divinity. And he started off his career in Athens as his first assignment at the St. Luke/Nimno Circuit in Athens, Georgia. Then he moved on to the Greater Smith Chapel AME in Atlanta, Georgia. And then in 1988 this extraordinary Georgian Reverend Kenneth E. Marcus was appointed pastor of the Turner Chapel AME Church in Marietta, Georgia.

And let me just say, Madam Speaker, to show you the significance of this individual, when he was appointed there at Turner Chapel in 1988, there were just 150 members of that church, and now today, just 20 years later, that church has a membership of over 6,000 people. That in and of itself is testimony to the great leadership and the contribution of this outstanding pastor. And this church that he started, he started in a high school gymnasium in Cobb County, and now today Turner Chapel is in an extraordinary cathedral, a modern edifice of extraordinary magnitude which now seats 3,000 members. This is just the testimony of this great, great pastor.

They have over 100 ministries that are serving us throughout Georgia and in some parts of this Nation. And we are so proud of Reverend Kenneth E.

Marcus on his 20th anniversary as the pastor of Turner Chapel AME Church in Marietta.

But he did not do that alone. With God's help, God provided him with an extraordinary partner in Ms. Cassandra Young Marcus, who not only is his partner and his wife but is also the assistant pastor at Turner Chapel. What a great story, what a great American story of achievement and attainment, and we are so proud to, in this Congress, celebrate and recognize his 20 years of service.

You know, Madam Speaker, God calls people for various purposes, and God each Sunday calls this individual, Reverend Kenneth E. Marcus, and gives him utterance to speak boldly as he ought to speak about the mysteries of the Gospel. And he does it with boldness and vision and inspiration each Sunday.

And in conclusion, when you talk about greatness, Madam Speaker, and in this measure we are talking about a great man in Reverend Marcus, that greatness is measured by three people that I would like to mention. When the word ``greatness'' or what it means to be a great person was put to the great philosopher Aristotle, he said in order to be great, you have to, first of all, ``know thyself.'' Well, Reverend Marcus not only knows himself but he knows whose he is as well.

And Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman general, said in order to be great, you need to have discipline. But just a measure of moving a church from 150 parishioners to 6,000 is that.

And then, finally, when the question was put to the great Messiah, Jesus Christ, Jesus said in order to be great and certainly a great minister, you must, first of all, sacrifice yourself. And this is a story of a great man who has sacrificed himself so that the world can be a better place.

It is with great pride that this Congress of the United States commemorates and recognizes Pastor Marcus on his 20th anniversary as the pastor of Turner Chapel AME Church in Marietta, Georgia.

Yes, I will.

Absolutely. And as this indicates, Madam Speaker, Senator Kennedy is beloved by all of us, both Democrats and Republicans.

Mr. Speaker, let me just say, is this a perfect bill? No, but is it a good bill, yes. It's a good bill for the people of America in response precisely to their needs now.

The American people are concerned about high food prices, this brings it down. They are concerned about high gas prices, this bill brings it down. One of the most pressing areas that this bill does good on, it corrects a major injustice to African American farmers by passing a bill which includes $100 million to set up a fund so that these black farmers can have their day in court, something they fought for for years.

It also has money in here to set up research grants for predominantly African American land-grant colleges of 1890, Florida A&M University, agriculture, mechanical; Arkansas A&M University, agriculture, mechanical; North Carolina A&T, agriculture and technical. These schools were grounded in agriculture. But, yet, because of past discrimination, the black farmers and black colleges have been denied.

This good bill corrects that. We must pass this bill and make sure that this bill passes.

Madam Speaker, I rise to day to acknowledge racing pioneer Charlie Scott, and to express support for his admission into the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame Association.

Born in Crawford, Georgia, Charlie Scott was the first African- American to drive in an officially sanctioned National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) event, debuting at the Daytona Beach Grand National in 1956. As reported by NASCAR.com earlier this year, ``[Charlie] drove a Kiekhaefer Chrysler. When the checkered flag waved, Scott found himself in 19th place, earning $75 for his efforts.'' This outing--at Daytona, where NASCAR was born--was a groundbreaking effort and no doubt inspired countless future NASCAR drivers and fans. His illustrious career included races all over the country in motorcycles and other automobiles. He loyally supported the sport throughout his lifetime, and deserves recognition for helping to break the color barrier in automobile racing.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I want to recognize the achievements of Mr. Scott and express my gratitude for his courageous efforts to make racing an inclusive sport from the very beginning.