Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to enter a statement into the Record on behalf of my constituent, Dr. Israel Zoberman. Dr. Zoberman is the Founding Rabbi of Congregation Beth Chaverim in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is also the president of the Hampton Roads Board of Rabbis and Cantors. Dr. Zoberman asked me to enter the following remarks into the Record regarding the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Dr. Zoberman's statement follows:

We are duty-bound to respond to the significant and related

dedications of the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument in The

Mall of our nation's capital, Flight 93 National Memorial in

Shanksville, Pennsylvania, honoring 40 lost souls, and the

Stone Memorial and Garden of 184 benches for the perished at

the Pentagon involving American Airlines Flight 77, and that

of the Memorial and Museum on the hallowed grounds of the

World Trade Center with its majority of victims, 2,753, upon

the 10th anniversary of the horrific strikes of 9/11.

Terrorism, whether from within or without, cannot be

tolerated.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. representing the Civil

Rights Movement of the 1960's will now be lastingly visible

in stone along with some of his writings--teachings forever

etched in the heart and mind of a repentant and grateful

nation. We pledge to remember both the pain and promise of

that trying and triumphant era in American History.

The impressive monument is a statement of faith in what the

martyred Nobel Peace Laureate means to a shared fractured

past and, perhaps even more importantly, to our shared future

as well. Dr. King's sacrifice of his very life, which he had

envisioned, and all, including American Jews, who heroically

participated with him, contributed to the eventual success of

the monumental struggle to liberate America from its shackles

to a demeaning past of inhumane slavery and of its aftermath

of brutal violence and disgraceful discrimination. Dr. King's

prophetic spirit of justice--planted, nourished and sustained

by Israel's Biblical prophets--is ours as we continue his and

our timeless journey to make America faithful to its most

noble promise and premise that God's divinity and human

dignity go hand in hand.

The uncommon courage and ingenuity under harrowing

circumstances of United Airlines Flight 93 passengers,

bringing down their hijacked plane, are fittingly honored and

memorialized in a lonely Pennsylvania field, turned symbol of

American inner strength in face of adversity and a spirit

that cannot be vanquished. Converting American Airlines

Flight 77 into a weapon against the Pentagon, which is

entrusted with our national defense, brought death of

innocent civilians and committed professionals all valiant

heroes of a grateful nation.

The erection of the uniquely inspiring Memorial and Museum

at the 10th anniversary of the ghastly strikes and its

haunting images of 9/11 by Islamist extremists committed to

disrupting and destroying the pluralistic and embracing

American way of life and civilization itself without moral

restraints, is a somber occasion for sacred recollection,

reflection and resolution. We prayerfully recall the victims

who were caught by utter surprise and shock, becoming

martyred heroes, their agonizing families whose lives have

been cruelly interrupted, the fortunate survivors who escaped

the inferno but not the nightmares, the first respondents and

recovery workers, some of whom paid with their lives or got

severely sick. Etched in my memory of 9/11/2001 will be

arriving in my synagogue following an early morning Neptune

Festival Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at the Founders Inn in

Virginia Beach. A phone call awaited me from the local media

concerning the first hit at

the twin towers, as I was watching in disbelief the second

hit. I knew then and there that our world will never be the

same.

Let us resolve not to allow brazen terrorism using loaded

civilian planes as missiles to plunge into the packed multi-

national World Trade Center, to topple our faith in what

America proudly and rightly stands for, making her the

world's greatest democracy and indispensible light to

humanity. Mindful of living in a challenging volatile global

community, not without opportunity, we remain vigilant in

protection of our constitutional rights even as we secure our

shaken and wounded nation from potential harm, while

overcoming crippling divisiveness from within.

Continuing to stand up to evil, there is no other choice,

may we yet turn pain into promise, violence into vision, fear

into faith, vulnerability into virtue and blemishes into

blessings.

I wrote the following poem in the wake of 9/11.

Mangled iron mingled with human

bits of crushed hopes

wedded to once a teeming

empire's cathedral brought down

by God's creatures too,

welding a monument to doomsday's promise

of hate's power.

Once again ashes blowing

in the wind of dust

an inferno called infinity

with no answer to the mystery

of faith persisting to ignite

smoldering embers of life.

May the divine gifts of Shalom's healing, hope and harmony

be bestowed upon us.

Mr. Speaker, on June 17, 2011, I was honored to take part in a ceremony recognizing more than sixty 5th grade students from Virginia Beach's Windsor Woods Elementary School to mark the transition from the elementary level to the secondary level. After six years of hard work, they enjoyed reflecting back on their accomplishments, over this important time in their development, with different types of recognitions and awards. I spoke to them about their next challenge in the upcoming seven years of secondary school. I reminded them that each part of this next period in their lives is made up of small resolute steps toward their near goal of graduating from high school by illustrating numerous stories from my life. Below are the names of the 5th grade scholars:

Otoniel Adame-Perez, Dmitry S. Alelekov, Katlyn Allen, Aric

L. Asper, Joshua A. Bailey, Joseph L. Baker, Peyton E.

Berning, Tanner S. Blais, Julia M. Bland, Monica C. Boone,

Fabricio Borda, Christopher Brazelton, Isreal Brownlow, Jacob

A. Browning, Emily B. Bullock, Alexandria E. Carman, Justin

D. Chesnut, Michelle Ciely.

Mya L. Clark, Briyana C. Davenport, Logan Davis, Morgan L.

Davis, Michael Deany, Clayton G. Ditty, Justin W. Dowell,

Christopher Dunlap, Evan Fisher, James Fisher, John P.

Gordley, Nia S. Hamiel, Angel Harris, Chance W. Harbour,

Kiavon Ingrain, Arne J. Jakobsson, Krystina A. Johnson.

Darryl Jones, Ky-Asia M. Jones, Cody T. Kaneiss, Gregory

Klein, Sarah N. Kline, Benjamin R. Kohler, Nguyen T. Le,

Joseph A. Leake, Makaela L. Leisy, Mahogany Leslie, Yong Hao

Li, Noelle N. Litchfield, Anastasia E. Maletz, Christiana L.

Marlowe, Emmalyn R. Martin, Isabella Martinelli, Raymond

Matos-Dominguez, Sean McClurg.

Jackson Mills, Christian N. Moe, Bridget L. Moran, Dillon

Morey, Mark A. Mount, Joseph L. Nguyen, Aaron J. Ortiz, John

M. Pagan Lamberty, Andjee Phillips, Jeffery Proctor, Brianna

I. Quilan, Emily I. Rice-Wheeler, Alexia R. Robbins, Andrew

B. Rowe, Jenna A. Rylko, Elijah Sailes, Esabel J. Samonte,

Carson D. Saunders.

Joseph Savage, Joseph Scharf, Matthew J. Schreck, William

Scott, Montez Scutchings, Colin S. Seys, Destani E. Shine,

Christopher Smith-Dent, Sophie R. Sparling, Jaden G.

Stanford, Jaekwon Vinson, Brandon M. Waddington, Cassidy M.

Wagner, Amari T. Wall, Aliya D. Walker, Christian Walker,

Erica M. Walker, Desmond O. Warren, Nicholas H. White, Javon

Williams, Janasia L. Woodard, Victoria E. Yocom, Matthew

Zieger.

Offered By: Mr. Rigell

Amendment No. 84: At the end of the bill, before the short

title, insert the following:

funding limitation related to acquisition of land

Offered By: Mr. Rigell

Amendment No. 82: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

Offered By: Mr. Rigell

Amendment No. 59: At the end of the bill, before the short

title, insert the following:

funding limitation related to acquisition of land

Offered By: Mr. Rigell

Amendment No. 60: At the end of the bill, before the short

title, insert the following:

funding limitation related to acquisition of land

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, Americans across this great land are hurting. Families are being hurt by excessively high unemployment. It is right now at 9.2 percent. In the Second District, it's high, and my wife, Teri, and I have dear friends who have lost their family businesses because of, I think, policies that have come out of this very institution, a hyperactive Federal Government.

So I rise today to offer an amendment that would directly address one of the principal reasons that I believe that our small businesses are having such a difficult time--and I know this firsthand because I am a small business owner--and that's a lack of credit.

My amendment would require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to submit a financial impact analysis on each proposed rule or regulation that it intends to layer upon our Nation's lenders. It would expand the cost analysis to include financial institutions of all sizes, not just the smaller ones that are currently under the cost analysis portion of the bill. Most importantly, though, the amendment would require the bureau to submit an analysis to the council on how the proposed regulation would impair the ability of individuals and our small businesses to access credit.

I've spent a lot of time, Mr. Chairman, in our district listening to small business owners and our local community bankers, not the big banks up in New York but the local banks. They've given me a clear indication of the struggle that our small business owners are having when it comes to acquiring credit. They're saying, Scott, we're not hiring account executives to go out and meet with our small business owners. We're hiring regulatory analysts to figure out and sort through Dodd-Frank, and now there's just yet another layer that's coming upon our local lenders. They're really struggling.

Mr. Chairman, what I've done in this amendment is to offer a reasonable solution that just would require that bureau to pause and to calculate and to distribute to the public a clear indication of the impact that the regulation would have both on the lending institution and on credit for our small business owners and individuals.

I believe this is a very prudent amendment. Given the hyperactive nature of our Federal Government, it continues to grow, it continues to reach out and, I think, choke out the life of the small business entrepreneur.

I would urge my colleagues to support this amendment. It really is about confidence. The hardworking folks that I know in the district, they want to know that we really are going to start in a reasonable and responsible way to contain this ever-expanding Federal Government.

Mr. Chairman, I close with this. I am not an advocate for no regulation, I'm an advocate for smarter and lighter regulation, and I think this amendment meets that test. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of it.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, our friends and neighbors are hurting. Last week the Department of Labor told us that the unemployment rate has climbed to 9.2 percent. That's unacceptable. This number reflects, in part, the policies of an administration that is embracing bureaucracy and red tape more than entrepreneurship and common sense. Let me give you a local example.

A respected developer in my district, he has got a job-creating project that is ready to go and has the full support of the City of Virginia Beach, which has already invested millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements for the project. And unlike so many of the projects that have been talked about, this really is shovel ready. HUD just needs to give it a green light. But all we're seeing is red because HUD is locked into a bureaucratic culture evidenced by a rigid first-in, first-out policy. It's resulted in an expensive 6-month delay. It's putting the entire project in jeopardy.

America can't afford even one more month of these kind of jobs numbers. So to the leadership of HUD, I am asking you, work overtime. Do what you must to turn these applications around in a timely manner and you'll unleash the greatest job-creating engine the world's ever known--the American entrepreneur.

Offered By: Mr. Rigell

Amendment No. 3: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

Mr. Speaker, it is a high honor and privilege to commend Mr. Willard Smith of Virginia Beach, a patriot known to his friends and peers affectionately simply as ``Smitty.''

Smitty is not only recognized for his notable military service in the United States Navy, but for his commitment to the wellbeing and recovery of more than 500 of our nation's brave but now homeless veterans. After five tours of duty in Vietnam as a Navy Seabee, Smitty serves as Executive Director at Vetshouse, a unique nonprofit organization serving homeless veterans in the Tidewater area in Virginia. Vetshouse is not a shelter, but a 12-month program providing contemporary living quarters in a group environment, assistance in job hunting, transportation, personal skills and development guidance.

For having the courage not only to turn his own life around, but for having the compassion and commitment to help his fellow man do the same; For bringing health, hope, and happiness into the lives of so many around him; And for his discipline, dedication, and devotion to our nation's treasured veterans; I hereby commend Mr. Willard ``Smitty'' Smith.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, each Member of this body has the duty to protect the separation of powers that was so wisely woven into our Constitution by our Founding Fathers and which forms the very foundation of how we govern this great Nation.

Mr. Chairman, an egregious ongoing breach of the separation of powers is taking place at this very hour; specifically, the usurpation of a power given only to Congress, that found in article I, section 8 of the Constitution: only Congress can declare war.

Known initially as Operation Odyssey Dawn and now as Operation Unified Protector, military intervention easily rising to the definition of war is being carried out in Libya. It is being carried out with the bravery, exceptional professionalism and commitment to victory that define our fellow Americans who serve in our Armed Forces. And before I address the mission itself, I first applaud their willingness to sacrifice so much for their fellow Americans.

Mr. Chairman, a careful review of the President's case for support of his actions in Libya leads me to this sobering but firm conclusion. The President's use of force in Libya is unwise and it is unconstitutional. The level of military resources being employed both in personnel and equipment, the amount of ordnance delivered, and the damage inflicted constitute acts of war. At the very minimum, they meet the definition of ``hostilities'' under the War Powers Resolution. Yet not one of the three criteria delineated in the War Powers Resolution that would justify his action has been met.

There has been no declaration of war. There has been no statutory authority issued. There has been no evidence that an attack on American forces was imminent or had occurred.

Now if a Tomahawk missile was launched into any American city, whether Los Angeles, Chicago, or even my home city of Virginia Beach, would that not meet our definition of hostilities? Absolutely, it would.

Now, Mr. Chairman, this is the pivotal issue: The military force being directed toward Libya easily triggers the definition of hostilities. The legal opinion upon which the administration stakes the legitimacy of its actions in Libya is thinner than the paper on which it is written. It is not based on law but something that he refers to as the ``national interest,'' a term that the President, in his wisdom, believes he can solely define himself. His Office of Legal Counsel concluded that: ``President Obama could rely on his constitutional power to safeguard the national interest by directing the anticipated military operations in Libya which were limited in their nature, scope, and duration''--listen carefully here--``without prior congressional authorization.''

Disregarding the legal opinions of the Pentagon's general counsel and the acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, both of whom told the White House they believed that the military's operations in Libya amounted to ``hostilities,'' the President plowed ahead.

Mr. Chairman, a President's opinion of the War Powers Resolution does not negate its authority.

Though required by law, there was no check; there was no balance. Even the broadest interpretation of article I, section 8 cannot corral the interpretation held by the President of his unilateral right to engage U.S. forces in combat. It is irreconcilable with our Constitution. The President has taken America into a war in the midst of a financial crisis, in yet another Muslim nation, in pursuit of a military objective that is ambiguous and constantly morphing.

Though I disagree with the President's actions in Libya, I stand here today not motivated by partisanship. Now, if I woke up tomorrow morning and learned that the President had taken action to defend this great country from imminent danger and attack, I would be the first to stand next to him and affirm his action. If America should go to war, it must be done so in a very careful, deliberative manner and as a last measure.

It must be done so in a way that is fully consistent with our Constitution. That is not the case here.

My amendment is necessary because only by using the power of the purse can we end an unwise war and meet our duty, our high duty, to preserve the separation of powers. Now is the time to act.

I respectfully ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Offered By: Mr. Rigell

Amendment No. 1: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), add the following:

Offered By: Mr. Rigell

Amendment No. 2: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), add the following:

Offered By: Mr. Rigell

Amendment No. 3: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), add the following:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Paul Shoemaker and the Virginia Beach Elks Lodge #2268. On Sunday, June 12, 2011, the Virginia Beach Elks Lodge #2268 held a Flag Day Ceremony at the Flame of Hope Memorial in Virginia Beach, VA, to commemorate the adoption of the Flag of the United States. I would like to thank Chief Warrant Officer Floyd R. Shoemaker, Sr. for attending the ceremony and for his 43 years of service in the Navy, Air Force, and Army. I would also like to thank Colonel Francis X. Cubillo, USMC; Mayor William D. Sessoms, Jr.; Captain Robert N. Geis, USN; Karyn Swenor; Beverly Hamby; the Green Run High School NJROTC; Ron McGregor; and Samantha Spencer for participating in the ceremony. The Elks did an incredible job putting this event together, and I commend them for their continued service in the Hampton Roads community.