Floor Statements

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

Mr. Speaker, with S. Con. Res. 76, I guess this majority is operating under the adage that it is better late than never.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 76 was written for an event that occurred 11 months ago on November 2, 2003. The resolution would have been timely if it had been taken up before that date.

The tribute to the survivors of the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on November 2, 2003 was a worthy event deserving of recognition. It is regrettable that the majority waited so long to bring up this resolution that the day we seek to honor has already occurred.

However, even late, it is an important recognition and I am pleased that there will be this recognition of that tribute to the survivors that occurred last year.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have reviewed Senate 2319 and have no objection to its passage today. I join the ranking member, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), in congratulating the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) on his efforts on behalf of this legislation and the Tapoco Project.

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

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

The legislation we are considering is sponsored by Nevada Senator Harry Reid. Both Committee on Resources ranking member, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) and myself have become very much aware of the bipartisan efforts among the Nevada delegation to secure public lands for various causes.

This is another one of those situations, and while we do not always agree with a particular Nevada land bill, when we can, we are always pleased to be of some of some small service to the distinguished senator.

As a member of the American Legion Auxiliary myself, I am always pleased to support any bill that is done on behalf of the American Legion. As such, we have no objections to passing Senate 1521, as amended by the House.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4593, as it is being brought to the floor today, is a diverse bill affecting land and resources in Nevada and New Mexico.

First and foremost, I want to take this opportunity to commend my colleague the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) for his work on title II of this legislation, which designates the Ojito Wilderness in New Mexico. Title II is the text of H.R. 3176, introduced by the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) and favorably reported from the Committee on Resources.

The language of title II is a model of the legislative process. The gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) has developed a bipartisan proposal that has significant local, State and national support, and we strongly support this aspect of H.R. 4593.

Title I of H.R. 4593 is the Lincoln County, Nevada, lands bill. This is a complex and far-reaching piece of legislation that includes utility corridors and rights of way, land sales and conveyances, also wilderness, ORV trails, land exchanges and water. There are still a number of issues and concerns with this title, but we are pleased that at least the two wilderness areas that were previously dropped have been added back in.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4593, as amended, is a compromise, and as such, we have no objection to its consideration by the House today.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on this, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by commending my friend and colleague on the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz), for introducing this bill and for working hard to secure its passage.

The community leaders in the Brownsville, Texas, area also deserve recognition for the decision to use water desalinization and water recycling as tools to stabilize their water supplies and reduce the impact of drought. We strongly support this legislation.

Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2960, a bill I introduced that will amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Brownsville Public Utility Board water recycling and desalinization project.

I would like to thank Chairman Pombo, Ranking Member Rahall, as well as Water and Power Subcommittee Chairman Calvert and Ranking Member Napolitano, for their valuable support on this legislation.

This bill was considered in the House Resources Committee and was passed with no dissent. It will essentially allow the Brownsville PUB to participate in water recycling and desalinization project funding authorized by the Secretary of the Interior.

This bill, H.R. 2960, makes the Brownsville Public Utilities Board (PUB) eligible for a Federal share of Title 16 funding for design, planning, and construction of facilities to reclaim, reuse, and treat impaired waters in the Brownsville area.

PUB's water supply plan has several components including: reclaiming brackish groundwater (not obligated under the Mexican water treaty) through desalinization, and building a pipeline to transport treated sewage for irrigation. This is an important bill for Brownsville and the PUB because it will make them eligible for grants to do the essential work of reclaiming waters that are currently unusable in the South Texas area.

Given our current water situation, and the ongoing water debt with Mexico, Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley must use all our creativity to find new sources of water for the next century to attend to all the needs of future water users. South Texas has seen an amazing amount of growth, a dynamic we expect to continue for decades to come. The more varied, and more creative, we are in finding new water sources, the more successful we will be in attracting new industry to sustain the growth of our Valley economy.

I ask my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, the majority has explained the pending measure. We, on this side of the aisle, have no objection to its consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, the majority has explained the pending measure. I see the sponsor of the legislation is preparing to speak on it. We on this side have no objection to its consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, as congressional action is required for land and trusts to be sold, and the Paiute Indian Tribe has contacted us for assistance, we are very supportive of authorizing the Secretary to convey these lands for the tribe.

We support the tribe's sovereign decision to sell these lands and wish them the best in further economic development. We urge our colleagues to support H.R. 3982.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, the majority has explained the pending

measure. We on this side have no objection to its consideration.

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

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, across our Nation people are grasping for solutions to better control and mitigate the significant adverse economic and environmental costs associated with invasive plants, animals and insects. The pending measure is the final product of a dialogue initiated by Senators Larry Craig and Tom Daschle which began 4 years ago.

Noxious weeds remain a substantial threat to western rangelands. This legislation will provide needed financial and technical support for local weed management programs, particularly in western States, including South Dakota and Idaho.

While I commend the sponsors of this bill for working so diligently on it, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), ranking member the Committee on Resources, and I also hope that in the next Congress we might move forward with more comprehensive invasive species legislation to address the ecological challenge of harmful nonnative species on a broader level.

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

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, we have no objection to the consideration of this legislation. We believe it will not harm the integrity of the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge.

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

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution which congratulates the American Dental Association for sponsoring the ``Give Kids a Smile'' program.

I want to say that the participation of dentists in the second annual ``Give Kids a Smile'' program, which was established and sponsored by them, the American Dental Association, and held this year on February 6, 2004, serves as a reminder to people in the United States about the need to end untreated childhood dental disease and, in doing so, also prevent adult dental disease.

This activity was participated in by more than 37,000 volunteers, including more than 15,000 dentists who provided free education, screening and care services to an estimated 1 million children. We want to thank the American Dental Association for doing this and thank the National Dental Association for their support.

This bill was favorably reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce last week by a voice vote.

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

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

I rise in support of S. 551, the Southern Ute and Colorado Intergovernmental Agreement Implementation Act of 2003. This legislation is necessary to allow the Southern Ute Indian Tribe to be treated as a state for purposes of administering the Clean Air Act on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in southwestern Colorado.

Under this bill, both Indian and non-Indian areas within the Reservation can be regulated by a single entity, a joint State/Tribal Commission, composed of three members from the tribe and three members from the State. This makes good common sense and will allow the State and the tribe to properly implement the Clean Air Act.

S. 551 will not alter anyone's duty to comply with the Act nor would it alter any rights of any citizen to bring an action to enforce the Clean Air Act. S. 551 will implement the Intergovernmental Agreement that was negotiated

between the State and the tribe. I understand that the Attorney General of Colorado, Ken Salazar, has been a key negotiator in negotiating this agreement. Without his work, it would not have happened. The State of Colorado, the tribe, and the Attorney General's Office are to be commended for this effort. I urge my colleagues to support Senate 551.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I am a cosponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 496, and I rise in strong support of the resolution which calls on Congress to support badly and immediately needed humanitarian assistance to the Caribbean countries which were devastated by the recent hurricanes, as we provide aid to the people of Florida; and our hearts go out to them as well.

Mr. Speaker, Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Gaston, Ivan and Tropical Storm Jeanne have caused widespread damage in large numbers of our neighboring Caribbean countries. We have seen the tragedy in Haiti where Hurricane Jeanne resulted in more than 2,000 deaths, many more still missing and over a quarter of a million people homeless. In Grenada, Hurricane Ivan destroyed 78 percent of the island's electrical system and homes as well as hospitals, schools and their spice industry. And Hurricane Frances has caused an estimated $125 million in damage to the islands of the Bahamas. More than 440,000 individuals have been displaced throughout the region.

These storms left a path of destruction across a region that is our third border and which was already stressed and whose economies were already heavily burdened in part by our own homeland security needs. They do not have the capacity to respond. These countries, which include six of the top ten most indebted countries in the world, are in desperate need of our assistance for everything, emergency health services, water, shelter, food and infrastructure.

To put the situation into perspective, the U.N.'s Office For the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in an October 1 report pointed out that Grenada, one of the smallest countries in the western hemisphere, bases its economy on tourism and agriculture and imports most of the food that it consumes. The majority of the island's 102,000 inhabitants make their living out of these two vital sectors which were severely hit by Hurricane Ivan. The negative impact of the disaster has been enormous at all levels and in all sectors, disrupting the livelihood of every single Grenadian and causing serious damage to the backbone of the country's economy.

Mr. Speaker, President Bush and the administration have announced they will provide $50 million to assist the region, specifically Haiti, Jamaica and Grenada, with small amounts for the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. That is not enough. Much more will be needed to help the entire region. Because so many of the economies of the countries in the region have been severely damaged because vital income-producing crops were destroyed, and replanting and new seeding processes will not yield salable produce for several years, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus have called for an appropriation of $500 million for reinforcement and alternative economic development.

Mr. Speaker, my district is part of the region. We know the devastation of hurricanes, not only to the physical structures but to the emotions and to the families, and the difficulty of recovery. Even with the strong and resilient spirit of the people of the Caribbean, things are very, very difficult today.

I join my colleagues in urging this body to support the adoption of this

resolution as well as our request for additional funding for the region.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions of a quiet, family man who served the community of my home island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands for over 30 years and who will celebrate his 70th birthday on October 2nd. Mr. Speaker, Charles Elvis Nixon came to St. Croix with his family in 1970 and has contributed to its health and well being as a pharmacist, small businessman and good friend and neighbor.

Mr. Speaker, from 1970 through 1985, Charles Nixon owned and managed a small chain of drugstores, namely the Center Pharmacy, Island Pharmacy and Corner Drugs, which were the main centers that met pharmaceutical as well as other needs for the people of St. Croix. His Corner Drug Store was right down the hall from my family practice. More than just professional neighbors, we became friends and he was a sounding board for my early political ideas. We raised our children together.

During that time, Mr. Nixon also co-owned the Caribbean Medical Supply Company with his late wife, Laura and the St. Croix Surgical Center, the island's first privately owned ambulatory surgical service.

Since 1985, he has served the people of St. Croix as a pharmacist at various locations including Gore Pharmacy in Gallows Bay, D&D Apothecary in Frederiksted and Drug World Pharmacy in Sion Farm. He also worked for the Virgin Islands Department of Health from 1993 to 2000 as the pharmacist for the Medical Assistance Program at the Frederiksted Health Center.

Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest tributes to Mr. Nixon, who is lovingly referred to as ``Doc Nixon'' by the many people who he served over the years, is the success of his four children who are all Ivy- League educated and successful as businessmen and women. Mark, his eldest son, is a marketing executive, Tracy, his oldest daughter is an entrepreneur, Jennifer is an obstetrician and gynecologist and Alison is a conference coordinator. Mark, Tracy and Allison are married with families of their own.

Mr. Nixon was born and raised in Smithfield, North Carolina in 1934. He earned his Bachelor Degree in Science and Pharmacy at Texas University. Drafted to serve his country in 1959, he served two years at Ft. Gordon in Augusta, Georgia.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Nixon had an old fashioned country pharmacist approach to helping people. When his children asked him what he liked most about being a pharmacist on St. Croix, he said he liked meeting and helping people and being a part of the health care team for the island. His children remember that after St. Croix was devastated by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, how Charles Nixon worked long hours to provide as many people as possible with their much needed medication and in some instances, he personally delivered the medication to their homes after work.

His children remember that after their mother's death, the local newspaper mentioned the urgent need for a substitute pharmacist since its only pharmacist, their dad, was out on bereavement leave. This ``mention'' illustrated for them just how many lives a pharmacist touches and how many people depend on them always being there.

Mr. Speaker, on the eve of his 70th birthday, Mr. Nixon continues his work as a pharmacist on St. Croix at the Kmart Pharmacy in Frederiksted. I never go there without stopping to visit with him and catch up on old times and the latest accomplishments of his children. He has re-married to the former Lucille Jacobs and spends his free time playing golf, traveling and visiting with his three granddaughters. I am proud and honored to be able to call Charles Nixon my friend.

Charles Nixon's friendliness, willingness to listen and help, his professionalism, his dedication to his work, his integrity and success as a father and husband, his success as an entrepreneur, his adoption of St. Croix as home and his belief in the power of God's love makes him eminently worthy of this recognition on behalf of the people of St. Croix, the entire Virgin Islands and our Nation.