Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, for the last 4 years, Texas has seen our manufacturing economy decline, entire industries virtually disappear, jobs outsourced abroad and communities across the State struggle against the tide to balance their budgets and maintain viability.

All families in Texas have seen their share of the national debt increase by $36,536.

Republicans have tried to cut back on support for local police officers, supporting proposals that would slash funding for the COPS program which has put 5,937 police officers on the streets in Texas. They have drained the Superfund program, despite the 30 sites that endanger the health of families in Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is time to wake up and address the most important problems that we face.

Let us come together on a new economic plan for America. Working together, our New Partnership for America's Future will provide prosperity, national security, fairness, opportunity, community and accountability to the families of Texas.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Olver) very much for the time, and I rise to speak in support of the amendment.

It is really just a common-sense amendment that will uphold U.S. certification for trucks to improve safety. I do not think anybody can question my record on trade. Seventy percent of the economy in my district depends on trade. I voted for NAFTA, took a lot of heat for it, but knew it was the right thing to do at the time.

However, if we insist on our trucks being certified for safety, we should insist on others. We have code-sharing for our airlines, and a whole lot fewer people get killed in airplane crashes than on trucks. About 800 commercial drivers die each year in traffic crashes, and roughly 4,900 people die and 130,000 are injured from these large truck accidents, and a lot of them occur in my district.

I-35 from Canada to Mexico has most of it in Texas, and I can assure my colleagues that we see the crashes. We see the trucks that are not safe, and that is all we are asking for.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 488 and express my appreciation of the leadership of the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) and our ranking member, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller) for commending the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, known as NOAA.

Indeed, we have profited from their skills. We commend both the agency and its employees for their hard work and dedication during these hurricanes. And also during the time of tornados in my area, we are getting the same type of alerts and notices and it really does save lives. We have not yet been able to save as much material damage and destruction as we have the lives, but the important thing is that we are saving lives. And as we begin to use more of our technology in building, we will see that even the material destruction will diminish. It underscores why we need to continue to support science and technology, to develop more skills for approaching and dealing with these types of catastrophes when they happen.

Texas certainly has benefited from warnings during both hurricanes in the south end of the State and tornados in the north end of the State. And we are grateful for the efficiency and dedication of these employees and are grateful for the existence of this agency that deserves continued support so that we can still benefit from our findings and for our future developments.

Madam speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3428, a bill to designate a portion of the Alexandria courthouse located at 2100 Jamieson Avenue as the Justin W. Williams United States Attorney's Building. The bill was introduced by our colleague, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), and enjoys very strong bipartisan support.

U.S. Attorney Justin Williams was an extraordinary public servant who served the citizens of Virginia for over 30 years. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and his law degree from the University of Virginia. During his 33 years as a Federal prosecutor, he supervised or was directly involved in every major Federal prosecution in the Eastern District of Virginia.

His career is filled with numerous awards and honors, including the Attorney General's Award for Excellence that is awarded for furthering the interest of national security, the Director's Award for Sustained Superior Performance in the years of 1990, 2000, and 2002, and Sustained Superior Performance for the years of 1990, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 1999.

In addition to being an outstanding lawyer, Justin Williams was a thoughtful mentor, loyal friend, outstanding role model, devoted husband, and a loving father. It is most fitting that we honor the distinguished career of this dedicated public servant with this designation.

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

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

H.R. 3734 is a bill to designate the Federal building in Roswell, New Mexico, as the Joe Skeen Federal Building, in honor of a former Member here, Congressman Joe Skeen.

Congressman Skeen was born in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1927, and as a young man, he served a 1-year enlistment in the Navy and served in the Air Force Reserves from 1949 to 1952. In 1950, he got his Texas marks by graduating from Texas A&M University.

He was elected to Congress in 1980 as a write-in candidate in the general election. He was only the third person in the Nation's history to win a U.S. House seat through this type of effort. For more than 2 decades, he served the people of the 2nd district in New Mexico with distinction and devotion, and I had the pleasure of serving with him.

As Congressman, he focused his energy and interests on agriculture, national defense, and public land management. In 1985, he became a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, and in 1995, he became Chair of the Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. At the beginning of the 107th Congress, he was named the Chair of the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies.

One of Congressman Skeen's major legislative accomplishments was to ensure the opening of the waste isolation pilot plant, the Nation's first repository for defense-related waste. Concerned about the public's health and safety and the environment, Congressman Joe Skeen worked tirelessly to advance storage of Federal waste.

He supported legislation to maintain the viability of the agricultural industry. He also has been a leader in supporting legislative initiatives on a balanced budget, crime education and military spending. He is an unapologetic advocate of local control, insisting that citizens make their own determination and not let the legislature do it for them.

Congressman Skeen was well respected on both sides of the aisle. He was an earnest and capable legislator, a worthy adviser and a true gentleman devoted to his family and dedicated to his constituents. His goodwill and humor are missed by all of us.

It is fitting and proper to honor Joe Skeen's life and public service with the designation of the Federal building in Roswell, New Mexico, as the Joe Skeen Federal Building.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall).

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

Mr. Chairman, on Tuesday, September 14, 2004, I was granted an official leave of absence as a result of my illness. Therefore, I was unable to make rollcall votes 455 to 456. I ask unanimous consent that my statement appear in the Record that had I been here, I would have voted ``no'' for rollcall No. 455, the Hefley Amendment; ``yes'' for rollcall No. 456, the Moran Amendment.

Mr. Chairman, on Tuesday, September 14, 2004, I was granted an official leave of absence as a result of my illness. Therefore, I was unable to make rollcall votes 444 to 454.

Had I been here, I would have voted ``no'' for rollcall No. 444, providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 4571) to amend rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to improve attorney accountability; ``no'' for rollcall No. 445, H.R. 3369, Nonprofit Athletic Organization Protection Act; ``aye'' for rollcall No. 446, H.R. 1787, Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighter Assistance Act; ``aye'' for rollcall No. 447, H.R. 1084, Volunteer Pilot Organization Protection Act; ``aye'' for rollcall No. 448, the Turner Substitute Amendment; ``aye'' for rollcall No. 449, On Motion to Recommit with Instructions; ``no'' for rollcall No. 450, H.R. 4571, Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act; ``yes'' for rollcall No. 451, on Ordering the Previous Question; ``yes'' for rollcall No. 452, the Oxley Amendment; ``yes'' for rollcall No. 453, the DeLauro Amendment; ``yes'' for rollcall No. 454, the Kelly Amendment.

Mr. Speaker, on September 13, 2004, I was unavoidably absent due to an important meeting and missed Rollcall votes numbered 441 through 443.

Had I not been unavoidably detained earlier this afternoon, I would have voted ``yea'' on Rollcall votes No. 441, 442 and 443.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks.

Mr. Speaker, every day, our Nation's transportation system carries goods and products to stores, brings children to school, delivers employees to work and provides access to health care, education and entertainment.

Simply put, our Nation's transportation system is the backbone of our economy and way of life and we can not afford to shortchange either.

I have heard from local, state, and industry representatives, and they all concur that our transportation needs will only be met by passing a fully-funded, long-term bill at no less than a three hundred eighteen billion dollar level.

The continued stalling does nothing to address our Nation's crumbling infrastructure, and jeopardizes 1.7 million new jobs in our country.

Reports of bridges collapsing are increasing in news reports. In my district alone, there are seventeen structurally deficient bridges.

In the State of Texas, construction employment fell by two thousand one-hundred jobs in the month of June alone.

When I return home, the unemployed don't want to here about bureaucratic infighting.

They want to hear about a jobs bill that's going to put them back to work on family-wage jobs.

Mr. Speaker, the eyes of the Nation are upon us. Our constituents are counting on us to do what we know is the right thing. We can not let them down.

We must reject the notion of continuous, short-term extensions.

There is no better economic stimulus package than a fully funded public works bill--plain and simple.

Mr. Speaker, allow me to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) for getting us to this point.

I rise in support of their resolution, H. Res. 1723, recognizing the 35th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. I am proud to be a cosponsor.

Apollo 11 was the first mission in which humans walked on the lunar surface and returned to Earth. On July 20, 1969, two astronauts, Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong, whom I saw on television this morning, and LM pilot Edwin E. ``Buzz'' Aldrin, Jr., landed in the Mare Tranquilitatis, the Sea of Tranquility, on the Moon in lunar module, while the Command and Service Module continued in lunar orbit.

During their stay on the Moon, the astronauts set up scientific experiments, took photographs and collected lunar samples. The lunar module took off from the Moon on July 21, and the astronauts returned to Earth on July 24.

The performance of the spacecraft was excellent throughout the mission. The primary mission goal of landing astronauts on the Moon and returning them to Earth was achieved.

The space exploration research program has been one of the most successful research programs in the history of this country. The space program has yielded many life-saving medical tests, accessibility advances for the physically challenged and products that make our lives more safe and enjoyable.

Specific technological advances made possible by space research include arteriosclerosis detection, ultrasound scanners, automatic insulin pumps, portable x-ray devices, invisible braces, dental arch wire, palate surgery technology, clean room apparel, the implantable heart aid, MRI, bone analyzer, and cataract surgery tools, to name some of them.

I also know that over 40 years ago, the foresight of persons that came along before us caused us to get into this type of research. We also owe those leaders some homage for their foresight, and I am hoping we will then have the foresight to continue this type of research.

I rise to honor the distinguished career and retirement of Sandra Feldman as outgoing President of the American Federation of Teachers. She is truly an extraordinary trailblazer of the American educational system.

Defying odds and raising standards is second nature to Sandra Feldman. The daughter of laborers and a product of New York City's educational system, Sandra Feldman has dedicated her life and her passion to her community and this nation in improving teaching and learning for all Americans.

Since taking the reins of the AFT in 1997 as the 15th president and its first woman president, the organization and its state affiliates have been an unprecedented rise in state and national standardized test scores. The AFT has also increased graduation and retention rates in schools determined to be ``at risk.''

This great advocate of education has been an invaluable tool in our nation's efforts to make our public schools accountable and equipped with quality teachers, textbooks and other materials needed to ensure that the truly free people are also an educated people.

Mr. Speaker, as we recognize Ms. Feldman, I would also like to extend this recognition and honor to the Texas Federation of Teachers, particularly those in my district of Dallas. Facing extreme budget cuts from the state and new standardized test scores, the teachers of the Dallas Independent School District have risen to the challenge to make sure that their students are able to compete on the equal footing.

Mr. Speaker, as I concluded, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing an unwavering pioneer in the realm of education--Ms. Sandra Feldman.

Mr. Speaker, I intend to vote ``yes'' on H. Res. 713.

I am voting for the resolution in part to dispel any notion that I am anti-Israel or that I am not sensitive to Israel's right to self- defense.

The United States cannot ignore the horror of terror against Israeli civilians and we should not ignore equally outrageous terror against Palestinian civilians. I also believe the President should express support of the United States toward an initiative that strives for peace for both sides instead of one side. The Congress should demand Israel as well as Palestine to live up to their commitment to peace.

I strongly support Israel, but I also strongly support efforts to bring about peace in the region, which will allow the Israeli and Palestinian people to live together side by side, peaceful and secure.

I am hopeful that soon this Congress will take up a balanced resolution that will address the needs of Israelis and Palestinians. When we do that, we will be taking one of the first steps to truly pursuing peace and advancing democracy.

Mr. Chairman, let me first acknowledge the work that the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) did on the election reform bill the last session. I was there every day attempting to help make it pass, but it has not been implemented. Forty-one States have asked to implement it in 2006; and then 27, including some of those, have asked to get a waiver. So we have not improved.

We had observers in Florida in November of 2002 requested by the Secretary of State. They came from Russia, Bosnia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and somewhere else; and we go all over the world observing elections. Why cannot we follow the same rules we insist on the world following? We write the rules. We enforce them everywhere but here. We want a fair election that is transparent, and we have not experienced it the last 4 years.

We are tired of making sure we vote and the votes do not get counted or getting intimidated to keep from voting. If we cannot do that as a democracy, we have no democracy. This is the very foundation of a democracy.

The first amendment right to freedom of speech, that is an expression of who they want in office, and they did not get the last one that was elected.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I missed four votes in the House of Representatives on July 12, 2004. Had I been in attendance I would have made the following votes:

Vote on the Holt amendment to H.R. 4755--Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for FY05. Had I been in attendance, I would have vote ``aye.''

Vote on the Hefley amendment to H.R. 4755--Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for FY05. Had I been in attendance, I would have voted ``no.''

Vote on the Motion to Recommit--4755--Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for FY05. Had I been in attendance, I would have vote ``aye.''

Vote on passage of H.R. 4755--Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for FY05. Had I been in attendance, I would have vote ``aye.''

Mr. Chairman, let me thank our leaders on the committee and our esteemed ranking member of the full committee.

I rise today and speak in support of my colleagues and the gentleman from Tennessee's (Mr. Gordon) amendment to the Manufacturing Technology Competitiveness Act of 2004.

The Gordon amendment provides a robust MEP program authorized for fiscal year 2005 to 2008; 10 percent above the fiscal year 2004 total; in fiscal year 2005, $116 million and 10 percent per year increases. This compares with approximately a 4 percent increase per year in the base bill. The amendment also adjusts the current one-third Federal cost-share for 6 years and older MEP centers to be as much as one-half in the fiscal year 2005 only.

Unfortunately, when this bill was marked up in committee, this amendment along with all of the amendments that were offered by the Democratic side were voted down. Not because of the merit but because apparently they said the White House had indicated that they would not sign the bill if they did not do it the way they wanted them to do it. But let me assure you that we have lost so many manufacturing jobs.

In Texas alone, we have lost 178,000 since 2001 and overall 8.2 million throughout the country. And you can look at there chart and see all the jobs lost. Every State has lost many jobs. This is the area which we are talking about, manufacturing. And this is also where we need to give attention most.

We are not going to get the manufacturing jobs back that have left this country but we do have to create more. Any country without a manufacturing base will never have a stable economy, and the only way we are going to get it is to do the research, involve the small companies involved.

Let me conclude by saying that when we have this many people, 8.2 million Americans without employment, which accounts for 5.6 percent and over 10 percent African Americans are jobless, we have to give attention to this manufacturing. I do not know what we are going to do instead of it, but I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that we are missing the boat when it comes to making sure that Americans will have jobs in the future.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak in support of my colleague's, Mr. Gordon's amendment to the Manufacturing Technology Competitiveness Act of 2004.

The Gordon amendment provides a robust MEP program authorization for FY 2005-2008 (10 percent above FY 2004 totals in FY 2005 ($116 million) and 10 percent per year increases for FY 2006-2008). This compares with an approximately 4 percent increase per year in the base bill. The amendment also adjusts the current one-third federal cost-share for 6- year and older MEP Centers to be as much as one-half in fiscal year 2005 only. Unfortunately, when this bill was marked up in the Committee, this amendment, along with the vast majority of amendments from the Democratic side of the committee voted down.

This language is a necessary addition to the manufacturing bill because it provides a decent level of MEP authorization--essentially a small increase in FY 2005 and $5 million per year more for FY 2006- 2008.

This is certainly an improvement on the Bush administration's efforts to kill the program, but we can do better.

MEP's services continue to be under-utilized because of a lack of resources. A recent study by the National Association of Public Administrators found that small manufacturers are underserved by the