Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, the legislative process has clearly broken down and this conference report reflects that sad state of affairs. Included in this bill are a number of critical issues that have nothing to do with defense and deserve separate votes. Instead, because they cannot or do not want to legislate, the Republican leadership has decided to play politics with our troops and use this bill as a vehicle to force through harmful provisions.

It is shameful that this conference report contains, for the first time, authority for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Not only is this bad policy, but it has nothing to do with our Nation's national defense. If Republicans were truly serious about reducing our dependence on foreign oil for security reasons, this bill would contain an increase in fuel efficiency standards for automobiles or a renewable portfolio standard. Instead, it contains an ideological victory for the anti-environmental leadership of this Congress that would only provide enough oil to meet our country's needs for 6 months to a year.

This bill also contains a significant across the board budget cut, which is an unfortunate and easy way out of making smart spending choices. These cuts will have a harmful impact on everything from transportation to economic development to health care. In addition, the bill contains a damaging provision to provide immunity to drug and vaccine manufacturers.

I am disappointed that the conferees were unwilling to include fundamental provisions such as $50 million in funding for the African Union Mission in Sudan. Without these funds, there will be no U.S. support for Darfur peacekeepers beginning in 2006. The African Union is the only security force in Darfur that has been able to provide a modicum of security. Yet without this funding it will not be able to continue its current level of around 6,000 peacekeepers for an area the size of Texas, let alone expand its operations to protect more civilians and aid workers. To allow Congress to adjourn without addressing this issue makes Republican leadership and the White House complicit in this ongoing genocide.

We face significant security and military challenges from the war in Iraq to the threat of terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Unfortunately, the spending choices in this bill do not reflect these threats and challenges. The billions we waste on outdated programs like missile defense come at the expense of the less-flashy tools we need to wage counterinsurgency warfare in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, such as armored vehicles and language training for soldiers. The security of the American people and the safety of our men and women in uniform demand better than this conference report.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation is an excellent example of how the House Leadership politicizes non-issues to distract Congress from substantive issues.

The Federal Government is obviously not opposed to Christmas, an annual celebration that has deep significance for those of us from a Christian tradition. In that sense, a ``Yes'' vote is appropriate.

But Christmas is not under assault from the Federal Government; there is no need for this resolution. Therefore, a vote of ``Present'' could be appropriate; there is simply no controversy here.

I chose to vote ``No,'' however, because the resolution is flawed. It misses the point. Christmas is not being threatened by the federal government. Instead, the season that celebrates Christ's humble birth in a manger has been commercialized and cheapened by those who celebrate it as the retail highlight of the year.

My sincere wish for the New Year is that House leadership sets aside its penchant for distracting and divisive issues to focus on solutions to problems that face Americans every day.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsors to this resolution for their good intentions In opposing terrorism and promoting peace in the Middle East. However, I am concerned that it could have the opposite effect.

I join my colleagues in reaffirming the United States' total commitment to the security of Israel. I condemn Hamas wholeheartedly as a terrorist group whose aims are the destruction of Israel and whose tactics of murder are inexcusable and unjustifiable. They commit horrific terror attacks against innocent Israelis and, in doing so, set back the aspirations of the Palestinian people to statehood.

Through its social service networks and other actions, Hamas has made itself an important political force in Palestinian society. Therefore, the reality is that the way to defeat Hamas begins at the ballot box. I agree with leading Israeli and American security experts who believe that any efforts to exclude Hamas will only backfire and strengthen them. Instead, we must recommit to working against Hamas--to marginalize them, weaken them, disarm them, contain them, strengthen their democratic opponents, limit their power and influence, and eventually eliminate them.

As General (Ret.) Ephraim Sneh--the former West Bank military governor and Deputy Israeli Defense Minister--wrote in the Washington Post, ``Under current conditions in the Palestinian territories, especially given the Palestinian government's weakness, political containment should precede the dismantling of Hamas's military infrastructure. The urgent objective is to defeat it in the next parliamentary elections. Steps that could strengthen it in the elections should be strictly avoided. Attempts to postpone the elections yet again, or to prevent Hamas's participation, or Israeli disruption of the elections as `punishment' for the participation of Hamas, will strengthen Hamas in the Palestinian street instead of weakening it.''

I am concerned that this resolution sends a message that would be harmful to Israeli security and set back efforts to establish the vision of a democratic Palestinian state that lives side-by-side with Israel in peace. Therefore, I cannot support the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, after 19 years as CEO of Oregon Public Broadcasting and nearly 40 years in public broadcasting, my good friend Maynard Orme will be retiring later this month.

Under Maynard's leadership, OPB has grown and now employs 180 people, operates five television stations and four radio stations. OPB has transformed from a small to a large media entity, providing statewide service to both rural and urban Oregon. Every week 1.4 million people listen to and view OPB, making it one of the largest media outlets in the nation.

Earlier this year Maynard received the Lowell Medal from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for his outstanding contributions to public television. His passion for public broadcasting is evident through his dedication on the Public Broadcasting Service board and Association for Public Television Station board. Under this hard financial time for public broadcasting, Maynard has also been able to pioneer a self-sustaining revenue model for OPB.

He is a treasure trove of institutional knowledge and although I wish him the best retirement, I hope to continue to seek his insights.

Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed that Republican leadership is again attempting to score political points on the backs of our troops. I congratulate the Iraqi people for their brave actions during yesterday's election and hope for them that this is a turning point in their country's history. Had the Republican leadership allowed our ranking member on the House International Relations Committee, Mr. Lantos, to offer his resolution to this effect, we could have offered a unanimous statement of support from Congress and avoided this ugly and divisive debate.

The basic flaw in the resolution that we are debating is that it assumes that victory in Iraq is a military outcome to be achieved by U.S. troops. Our men and women in uniform have done everything which we've asked of them. They have won every battle, but a successful future for Iraq requires a strategy to secure the peace that builds on what our troops have achieved.

It makes no sense to remain in Iraq until victory is achieved if our continued military presence brings Iraq no closer to stability. Instead, we need a plan to change the course in Iraq and achieve the best possible outcome for Iraqis and Americans. I have laid out a plan, as have Mr. Murtha and others. Rather than a divisive debate over a politicized resolution, we should have an open and honest debate over how to best proceed in Iraq. The American people deserve no less.

Mr. Chairman, the Border Security Act of 2005 will not mend our broken immigration system. This legislation is narrowly focused on interior security and enforcement while it falls far short of providing

the workable solution that we desperately need. With more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living and working in our country, simply increasing the already harsh penalties for immigration violations and placing a larger burden on employers is an inadequate approach to our immigration crisis.

By not containing a guest worker program, this legislation fails to address the presence of the sizable undocumented community in the United States. It's widely recognized that agri-business, manufacturing, hospitality and restaurant industries depend on millions of undocumented workers. Without a practical approach to this issue, real reform remains out of reach.

American taxpayers have invested billions of dollars to secure our borders and end illegal immigration, yet the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. has increased more in the past five years than ever before in our Nation's history.

In order to secure our borders, legalize our workforce, and advance our economy we must develop true comprehensive immigration reform.

Mr. Speaker, the income security of Americans has been under constant attack by the administration and Congress this year, especially those families who have not had the good fortune to earn a living that places them in our highest income brackets.

The year started with efforts to dismantle Social Security, an efficient program that is the primary source of income for a majority of retirees. Next, a slanted bankruptcy bill that puts no burden of responsibility on unscrupulous lenders and credit card companies and all of it on the families that face hardships from large medical bills, family breakups, and job losses. Congress has been wringing its hands the last couple of months over which programs for America's most vulnerable should be cut so tax cuts can be extended years from now.

The latest attack on the security of American families is this pension bill. It is clear that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation must be strengthened and that rules must be put in place to ensure companies adequately fund the promises they make to employees.

Instead, the Congressional Budget Office has reported that this bill would actually increase the PBGC's deficit by $9 billion over the next 10 years. The bill also legalizes cash balance plans without protections for long serving employees. It has been reported that without older worker protections over 90 percent of older workers would lose expected pension benefits if a defined benefit plan were converted to a cash balance plan. Additionally, this bill does nothing to help the struggling airline industry that has already seen United Airlines employees and retirees lose over $3 billion in earned pension benefits.

Strengthening the pension system and providing security to all families should be a priority of Congress and can be achieved with fiscal responsibility and fair policy. This bill falls short on both accounts.

Mr. Speaker, as we approach the last week of our work this session, there are 2 million people trapped in the unfolding nightmare in Darfur; 500 people a day being killed as we prepare for the holiday season. Since we are going to be delaying the work of the House until the end of January, this week is also the last chance for us to act to at least keep the African Union peacekeepers on the job; 7,300 people for an area the size of Texas seems like a fragile reed with which to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

The Defense Appropriations train leaving the station could contain $50 million, which would be the smallest of steps to halt what all of us here say we condemn. We all ought to ask ourselves what we are going to do about it this week.

Madam Speaker, with the PATRIOT Act set to expire at the end of the year, Congress has once again missed an opportunity to narrow and tighten the legislation.I opposed the original PATRIOT Act, as it was rushed into law in the wake of 9/11, and I strongly oppose the current conference report. The conference report tries to appease both sides of the debate by extending sunsets on the two most controversial provisions, library records and ``roving'' wiretaps, while making 14 of the existing 16 provisions permanent thus limiting Congress' ability to exercise checks and balances. This is a step backwards.

But for the existing sunset provisions, we would not have been exercising our oversight function for this sensitive area.

It puts the administration on too long of a leash and does not force Congress to review and modify the act as needed. We can keep America safe without compromising our civil liberties.

Mr. Speaker, a month ago, I voted against H.R. 3010, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies first conference report, which failed in the House with 22 Republicans also voting against the bill. Today, a similar bill with some minor tweaks to gain a few more votes for a narrow passage is before the House again.

While I am glad to see $90 million restored to rural health programs, the overall bill is still bad. It is irresponsible to raid from one program to pay for another program. This bill contains $1.6 billion in cuts from FY 2005 to important labor, health, social services, and education services.

It is unfortunate that Republicans in Congress are choosing to strip away essential safeguards for families in order to implement tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest Americans. I am voting against this bill because Americans deserve better.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present for the final vote on Thursday, December 8th, 2005, I would have voted as follows:

Rollcall vote No. 622: I would have voted ``no'' on the motion to table H. Res. 591, Leader Pelosi's Privileged Resolution on the culture of corruption surrounding the Republican's Prescription Drug Bill.

Mr. Speaker, the Republican fiscal mismanagement is so bad and their budget proposal so dreadful that even the Republican caucus is having difficulty swallowing it. Main Street Republicans don't agree with K Street Republicans who don't agree with Wall Street Republicans, and they are all hopelessly out of touch with the streets where most Americans live.

It is irresponsible to claim that this is the only way to pay for our Hurricane Katrina assistance, while the Republican leadership works on extending $70 billion in tax cuts for those least in need. In reality, we can save the budget without breaking the bank and making harmful cuts to the most vulnerable Americans. The first step is to halt plans to provide an additional $70 million in tax cuts for those least in need while cutting $11.9 billion from Medicare and $14.3 billion from student loan programs. Even with these spending cuts, the proposal will still increase the national debt by more than $100 billion over the next 5 years.

We can do better for America's future than cutting off assistance to society's most vulnerable. The budget is a reflection of our priorities and future path. We must provide the investment in education that will prepare our students for the high-tech and global world we live in. We need to create a health care system that is fair and affordable, and doesn't burden businesses in the global marketplace. We must stop shortchanging our infrastructure needs and put in place a world-class transportation system that moves people and freight seamlessly. In the long-run we are losing money by waiting in traffic-filled commutes, delayed movement of freight, and expensive patchwork repairs to inadequate systems.

There is much talk of scandal here in Washington, D.C., but the true scandal is how tragically out-of-touch my Republican colleagues are from the needs and desires of the average American.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of two important resolutions: H. Res. 438, urging member states of the United Nations to stop supporting resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel and H. Res. 535, honoring the life, legacy and example of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. At a time when the death of Yasser Arafat and Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip have created the renewed possibility for a safer, more secure, and more peaceful future for Israel, these two resolutions highlight both the challenges and the hope of the current moment.

While Israel has been the victim of unfair United Nations resolutions for much longer than I have been in Congress, the people of Israel should know that the United States will always stand side by side with them in the struggle against hatred and anti-Semitism. We join with them in the fight against terrorism, such as the recent suicide bombing in Netanya which killed 5 Israelis and wounded over 50 others.

At the same time, the memory of Yitzhak Rabin reminds us all of the courage that the Israeli people and their leaders--from David Ben- Gurion to Ariel Sharon--have shown when peace appears possible. I commend the House for making these two important statements and join my colleagues in the hope that Israel will one day live out Prime Minister Rabin's dream, ``No more blood--no more tears.''

Mr. Speaker, it is not often that we get everybody here in Congress to agree. But we do agree that Darfur's continuing nightmare is genocide. We have labeled it as such. We have all condemned it. The problem is we are not acting to stop it.

The foreign ops appropriations inexplicably dropped $50 million in conference that would have gone to support peacekeepers from the African Union. We often use this opportunity here today to talk to the American people.

Well, today I am talking to the 8,000 men and women on Capitol Hill who make things happen in Congress. Do not go home unless you ask what your office, your committee, your boss, your Member of Congress is going to do to stop the murder, the rape, the destruction and the violence.

At the very least, work to restore the $50 million in the defense appropriations so that 7,700 African Union peace keepers can be on the job. 7,700 people for an area the size of Texas does not sound like too much. It is the least we can do as we enter the holiday season.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the words of our Speaker, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) this morning when he talked about a day that would live in infamy, referencing December 7.

I appreciate that we have an opportunity now to do something to make sure that this is not a day that lives in infamy, because today another tragic chapter is being written in Darfur in the horrifying history of genocide, which people on both sides of the aisle have condemned.

Indeed, the violence appears to be getting worse and 500 people a day are dying. Somehow, the money for the United States for the peacekeepers for the African Union has disappeared from the Foreign Operation Conference Committee. This would be a tragedy, if we did not meet our obligation to provide at least 7,700 peacekeepers for an area the size of Texas.

Every man and woman on the Hill today should do something to make sure that the Defense appropriation bill is not finally approved without meeting America's obligation to stop this genocide.