Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 254) recognizing and celebrating the centennial of Oklahoma statehood.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of H. Con. Res. 254, a resolution recognizing and celebrating the centennial anniversary of Oklahoma statehood.

H. Con. Res. 254 was introduced by Representative Mary Fallin of Oklahoma on November 13, 2007, and reported from the Oversight Committee on December 12, 2007, by voice vote. This measure, which has been cosponsored by 55 Members, has the support of the entire Oklahoma delegation.

Friday, November 16, 2007, marked Oklahoma's centennial celebration. The Sooner State has played a significant role in the development and history of our Nation and will continue to be a cornerstone of the independent spirit that makes our country great.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring Oklahoma's past achievements, current accomplishments, and the State's goodwill as it continues into the future. I urge swift passage of this bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3911) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 95 Church Street in Jessup, Pennsylvania, as the ``Lance Corporal Dennis James Veater Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

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

I am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 3911, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 95 Church Street in Jessup, Pennsylvania, as the ``Lance Corporal Dennis James Veater Post Office.''

H.R. 3911 was introduced by Representative Carney of Pennsylvania on October 22, was reported from the Oversight Committee on December 12 by voice vote. This measure which has been cosponsored by 18 Members has the support of the entire Pennsylvania congressional delegation. Lance Corporal Veater was wounded in Anbar province, Iraq, and died of his wounds in Fallujah, Iraq. The mission was believed to be his last mission just 2 weeks before returning home.

Mr. Speaker, I urge swift passage of this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Carney) such time as he may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania for thinking to do something that we rarely see. We see post offices honoring Members of Congress, honoring judges, honoring very honorable people. But in my service on this committee, I have not seen a post office named for a young person who has died recently in battle. I do think it is an important way to indicate, particularly to the family, to what must surely be for many young men, many who knew him and looked forward to his returning in just 2 weeks from the time he died, that his memory will live not only with this Congress and in this resolution but also permanently with a United States Post Office in his honor.

We are pleased we were able to dedicate this resolution before the end of this Congress because this young man died just in March of 2007.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2174) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 175 South Monroe Street in Tiffin, Ohio, as the ``Paul E. Gillmor Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

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

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in consideration of S. 2174, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 175 South Monroe Street in Tiffin, Ohio, as the ``Paul E. Gillmor Post Office Building.''

S. 2174 was introduced by Senator Voinovich of Ohio on October 17, 2007, and reported by voice vote on December 12, 2007. Congressman Gillmor was serving his 10th term in the United States House of Representatives representing the Fifth Congressional District in Ohio until his untimely death in September 2007.

I know that the entire House grieved and was shocked to learn that Representative Gillmor died right here at his home, the place where he prepared to come to this very House. He is very much missed on both sides of the aisle. This is a very appropriate way to remember this long-time Member of the House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Senator Voinovich for seeking to honor the legacy of our late colleague and offer condolences to the family of Representative Gillmor and his colleagues in the Ohio congressional delegation and those in his district. I urge swift passage of this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I express once again the condolences of every Member of this House, and for that matter the commendation to our colleague for offering this commemoration to our colleague.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 816) congratulating the Colorado Rockies on winning the National League Championship and playing in the 2007 World Series, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

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

I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of H. Res. 816, as amended, congratulating the Colorado Rockies on winning the National League Championship.

H. Res. 816 was introduced by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall) on November 9, 2007, and reported from the Oversight Committee on December 12, 2007, as amended, by voice vote.

This measure has been cosponsored by 54 Members. The Colorado Rockies defied the odds this year, winning the 2007 National League Championship and capturing the best hopes of Coloradans, and giving us all a reason to cheer for their success.

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for the recognition the Rockies' victory affords and urge swift passage of this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4342) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 824 Manatee Avenue West in Bradenton, Florida, as the ``Dan Miller Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of H.R. 4342, designating the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 824 Manatee Avenue West in Bradenton, Florida, as the Dan Miller Post Office Building.

H.R. 4342 was introduced by Representative Buchanan of Florida on December 10, 2007, was reported from the Oversight Committee on December 12, 2007, by voice vote. This measure has been cosponsored by the entire Florida delegation.

Representative Dan Miller represented Florida's 13th District in this House from 1992 to 2002. Currently he is teaching at the University of South Florida and is developing the Manasota Institute of Public Policy and Leadership at the Sarasota Campus of the University of South Florida.

Former Representative Miller's efforts in Congress as well as in academia have been greatly appreciated, and I urge swift passage of this bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4210) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 401 Washington Avenue in Weldon, North Carolina, as the ``Dock M. Brown Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to rise in support of H.R. 4210, a bill designating the facility of the United States Post Office located at 401 Washington Avenue in Weldon, North Carolina, as the Dock M. Brown Post Office Building.

H.R. 4210, which was introduced by Representative G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina on November 15, 2007, was reported from the Oversight Committee on December 12. This measure has been cosponsored by 12 Members and has the support of the entire North Carolina congressional delegation.

Dock Brown was a dutiful and loyal public servant to the City of Weldon, North Carolina. He was a teacher and served as principal for more than 30 years in the school system. In addition to his dedication to strengthening academia, Dock Brown also served 8 years as a Halifax County Commissioner, 2 years in the North Carolina House of Representatives for District Seven, 8 years as Commissioner on the Weldon town board, and served also on the State Agriculture Committee. The City of Weldon is greatly touched by his good work, his dedication and his efforts to strengthen their community.

Mr. Speaker, I urge swift passage of this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4220) to encourage the donation of excess food to nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to food-insecure people in the United States in contracts entered into by executive agencies for the provision, service, or sale of food, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4220, the Federal Food Donation Act, as amended, is a modest measure designed to help address the very large problem of hunger in America. In 2005, 25 million people in this country, including 9 million children, had to rely on soup kitchens and other charitable food programs to help meet their nutritional needs.

Introduced by Representative Jo Ann Emerson, H.R. 4220 requires Federal agencies to include in their food service and space rental contracts a provision that would encourage contractors to donate any surplus food to nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to the hungry. This bill builds on the work of some innovative nonprofit organizations that have been conducting similar programs in the private sector.

The bill also includes provisions that will ensure that costs of collecting, transporting and storing donated food would not be borne by the Federal Government and that executive agencies and contractors would be protected from civil or criminal liability.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Together we can feed America in this rich country.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to Mr. McGovern, the gentleman from Massachusetts, who led us earlier on this very issue and succeeded in getting increases in food stamps this very year.

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega).

(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, years ago, nonprofits, mostly churches, fed people at Christmas and Thanksgiving. These nonprofits have become life-saving, year-round operations. What has occurred ironically over the past couple of years is a development that none of us anticipated, a shortage of food in

these food banks of whatever description, and they come in part because of the efficiency of the food industry itself.

The food industry itself has become increasingly, like many other industries in our country, increasingly efficient so that there is less food to give away. We greet and welcome that efficiency, and we understand the need for it, especially in the food industry where the profit margins are so narrow. At the same time, our agricultural industry has become increasingly efficient, and it is, of course, one of the most efficient industries in the country.

The net effect of this is some food goes abroad. Very importantly is that there is less food that is excess food to give away, so that you have nonprofits throughout the country, some of them have been cited in the remarks of my colleagues because they are well known as having originated here, like the Capital Food Bank; Bread for the City; SOME, So Others May Eat; and not to mention the churches which were the first to step up and perform this service.

We just have got to find a way to get what we know is excess food, that all of us understand, have seen, all of us know exists, to where that food is most needed; and I believe that of the many things we could do, the bill offered by Mrs. Emerson is certainly one way to begin to draw attention to what contractors may do as an act of goodwill, without incurring any burden on themselves. Indeed, it should be a great burden at a time like this to spoil or throw away any food.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3179) to amend title 40, United States Code, to authorize the use of Federal supply schedules for the acquisition of law enforcement, security, and certain other related items by State and local governments.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on this measure and on S. 2174.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3179, sponsored by Chairman Ed Towns, would permit State and local governments to purchase homeland security and public safety equipment from the Federal supply schedules maintained by the General Services Administration.

Opening the Federal supply schedules to State and local governments has bipartisan support. In past years, contract schedules have been opened up for information technology and goods and services needed to respond or prevent terrorism to State and local governments.

State and local governments should be able to enjoy the price and convenience advantages that the schedules provide. I commend my colleague for his leadership and urge Members to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield such time as he may consume to my good friend, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).

Mr. Speaker, one word more on this resolution introduced by Mr. Towns. I am Chair of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over GSA and, of course, its schedule. Perhaps the average person would believe that States would be in the same position as the United States Government because they buy a great deal of goods and services and the same kinds of costs and scale and efficiency which comes with ordering large amounts at the same time would come to States as well. That's not always the case, and even if it is, there is no State as large or that orders as much as the United States of America. And it does seem to me altogether appropriate that States and localities have the same access to the GSA schedule as the United States and its agencies have.

This ability to use the schedule on which firms have precompeted so as to guarantee the best value hastens what can be an arduous period of competition. In my own district, I see that in an effort to make sure that a competition has properly occurred, there can often be many delays. We cannot, of course, in some respects get around those inherent delays, but with respect to many goods and services that are on the GSA schedule, if the efficiencies that we are able to provide for the government can also be provided to States and localities, the United States and the States together will be in better shape saving taxpayers money.

Therefore, I strongly support this bill and ask other Members of the House to do so as well.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a fellow native Washingtonian with whom, my staff and I have had the distinct pleasure of working since 1992: Ms. C. Pamela Holliday, Regional Director of the Washington Passport Agency.

Ms. Holliday, ``Pam,'' began her career with the State Department on February 1, 1971 as a GS-3 Passport Processing Clerk. From 1971 until her selection as Regional Director of the Washington Passport Agency in 1992, Pam served as a passport examiner, automated records manager, Consular Officer in Overseas Citizens Services, Fraud Prevention Programs, and at the US Embassy in Belize. The State Department sent her in many different official capacities to Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.

However, Pam's hallmarks are not the titles and positions she has held, but the efficiency, collegiality, and dedication she brought to her work. As the delegations from Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia know, our constituents expect us to sort out the thorniest of passport problems before their flights leave the next morning. When the going gets especially tough, the tough call Pam.

Madam Speaker, I ask this house to join with me and Pam's friends, associates, and co-workers, who on December 13th will recognize her thirty-five years of extraordinary service to the travelling public as she prepares to retire in January.

Madam Speaker, I rise to ask the House of Representatives to join the residents of the District of Columbia and thousands of Americans throughout the country in thanksgiving for the life of Frances Murphy II. The influential Publisher Emeritus of the Washington Afro-American newspaper was especially revered in this city and in her hometown of Baltimore, where the Baltimore Afro-American is published, for coverage that African Americans got nowhere else in the press. Frances Murphy's leadership in journalism and publishing and her decades of work as a reporter, columnist, and editor were instrumental in educating and raising the consciousness of African Americans through unfailing investigations and coverage on matters of race that furthered the determination of people of all races to struggle against racial discrimination. As fearless as she was able, Frances Murphy was the scion of the nation's most distinguished African American newspaper family, but she insisted on making it to the top the hard way. Ms. Murphy rose to the pinnacle of running the family business, but only after selling the Afro as a child and submitting pieces for its children's section, educating herself at one of the nation's finest schools of journalism, becoming an entry-level reporter and then learning the business first hand by performing every function until she ran the papers. It would be unusual for a woman to become head of a newspaper empire today, but Frances Murphy's rise as a pre-feminist pioneer was all the more remarkable. Throughout her long and storied career, Ms. Murphy became a life long learner, pursuing additional degrees and always educating herself. In the process, she applied the same standard to the public by insisting on educating all of us. I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the remarkable life of Frances Murphy II.

Madam Speaker, I ask the House to recognize Julia Hudson, who served as my chief of staff for 8 years and has been a member of my staff throughout most of my own service in the Congress. On September 5, 2007, Julia left the House of Representatives to pursue a career in public relations, the field for which she prepared herself in graduate school. The loss to my office, to me personally, and to the people of the District of Columbia is immense. However, Julia has spent nearly her entire professional life in my office serving the people of this city with excellence and special dedication to her job and to me in pursuit of my work in the House. It is understandable that she would want to pursue her chosen profession.

Julia's career here in the House of Representatives demonstrates the opportunities for upward mobility that are available based on hard work and proven capability. Starting as a staff assistant, an entry level job, she was promoted to legislative correspondent and to a sub- committee staff position before leaving for a short time to work in the Clinton administration in 1999. Because of her great skill, initiative and hard work, I later asked her to return, and she continued to work her way up to become my chief of staff when political guru Donna Brazile resigned after 10 years with me to spearhead the Gore-Lieberman 2000 presidential bid.

In addition to her non-stop work leading ``Team Norton,'' as Julia christened our staff, Julia, a native Washingtonian, has always performed outside public service here in her hometown. She is a member of the Links, Incorporated and serves as the chair of the Links' High Expectations Mentoring Program. The Links is an organization of accomplished, dedicated women who are active in their community here and nationwide. The Links members are activists, volunteers, mentors, role models and newsmakers who make the name ``Links'' mean not only a chain of friendship, but also of purposeful service. Over the years, I have watched Julia serve as a mentor and role model for the aspiring professionals who interned in our office. She set the perfect example for them to strive for the best and to take every opportunity from their internship to learn all that they could.

Julia's cordial relations with others in the Congress was an added asset to us in our work. She was always as agreeable and collegial as she was efficient and able. She is remembered for her friendships and for her professionalism, dedication, generosity, patience and her willingness to always ``go that extra mile'' in performing her chief of staff duties. She set a gold standard for staff. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Julia Hudson for outstanding service to the House of Representatives and to the residents of the District of Columbia. Julia will remain a dear friend to us all and, of course, a life member of Team Norton.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3315) to provide that the great hall of the Capitol Visitor Center shall be known as Emancipation Hall.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 3315.

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

H.R. 3315 is a bill to designate the great hall located in the Capitol Visitor Center as ``Emancipation Hall.'' As we all know, the new Capitol Visitor Center is the most recent and largest addition to the United States Capitol in its 212-year history.

The great hall will include information and ticketing desks and provide an area where Americans from across the country and where people from all over the world can gather to take in scenic views of the Capitol or prepare to tour the 580,000 square foot Visitor Center.

The great hall will also serve as a central gathering space in the Capitol Visitor Center. It encompasses 20,000 square feet and its dimensions are 100 feet by 200 feet, with a ceiling height of 35 feet. It is indeed a majestic addition to the Capitol. There will be statues from Statuary Hall on display throughout the great hall, if I may so, hopefully, finally, statues from the Capitol of the United States; the District of Columbia. The plaster model of the Statue of Freedom from the Senate Russell building will be featured in the cellar rotunda. The wall and column stone in the great hall is sandstone from Pennsylvania. The floor stone is marble from Tennessee and dolomite from Wisconsin. The black granite in the water features of the great hall comes from California. It is remarkable and impressive as a public space befitting this Capitol.

In 2004, congressional leaders directed the Architect of the Capitol to produce a report on the history of slave labor in the construction of the Capitol itself. The completed 29-page report examined the efforts of slaves that helped build the Capitol, other Federal buildings, and the White House, which at the time was known as the President's House. Although the record was incomplete because of limited documentation of slave labor, the evidence available and historical context in the report provided several indications that slaves and freed African Americans played a significant role in building the physical symbols and the Capitol itself.

H.R. 3315 was introduced to acknowledge the work of many who were forced to work on building the U.S. Capitol. On Wednesday, November 7, the congressional task force completed its work and included in its list of recommendations a specific recommendation to honor slaves who built the Capitol.

Mr. Speaker, I am a third-generation Washingtonian. My great grandfather, Richard Holmes, was a runaway slave from a plantation in Virginia. He arrived here in the 1850s, and that's how our family began here. He was freed in a congressional emancipation 9 months before the Emancipation Proclamation. This emancipation was a Civil War emancipation bill issued earlier than the more famous Emancipation Proclamation.

He worked on the streets of the capital. I have no evidence that he worked on the Capitol itself. Indeed, there was no mention of the work of slaves or African Americans on this Capitol even in official Capitol histories until recent decades.

This Capitol has stood for 212 years without even acknowledging, in some small way, perhaps a marker, something to indicate that slaves, many of them quite skilled because they were hired out as ``hired Negroes'' in order to bring the greatest revenue to their slave owners, and therefore, it behooved him or her to hire out those Negro hires, as they were called, who could benefit the slave owner the most.

These are nameless African Americans. Nothing in the Emancipation Hall and nothing that we do now will make us understand who they are. The very least we can do, if we are adding to this Capitol, is to finally acknowledge their work in building this extraordinary building that was called from its earliest beginnings, the Temple of Liberty, or perhaps now that we have founded the great hall, it will be more worthy of that name.

When I visited the center, I was very impressed by it; but in the early days of its construction, I asked, How are you going to commemorate the fact that slaves worked on the original Capitol? And there was something, along with many other historical remembrances, that did indicate that slaves had built or helped build the original Capitol, along with, of course, many working-class and skilled whites who participated in the effort. But that was going to be the sum total of it.

One of the difficulties may be, how do you do something so late in the history of our country that is large enough to encompass what we had not remembered for two centuries?

In my judgment, there is no place, there is no marker, there is no piece of ground that can adequately, finally remember their contribution. And so we don't name a hall, we don't name a room, we don't have a statue. We say

enter this space. When you enter this space, it will be called Emancipation Hall.

And in that way we will perhaps emancipate our Capitol from more than two centuries of ignoring the contribution of these slaves who helped build this majestic building.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson).

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

I would like, also, to thank Mr. Wamp and Mr. Jackson, who worked very diligently on this bill to reach this point.

I would like to read from the recently released report of the Task Force on Slavery, on the use of slaves in the Capitol:

``The issue of slavery, in particular, was an embarrassing subject that did not sit well with squeamish writers. Early histories of the Capitol were focused on architecture, architects and superintendents, and not on the workmen who actually implemented the plans and orders. This situation has changed dramatically in more recent accounts, which reflect a new respect for all who played a role in the Capitol's history, including lower-class laborers and slaves. This is the result of a more inclusive view of history by modern scholars and a relatively new interest in multi-cultural subjects.''

The report also says, and here, again, I'm quoting: ``It is not possible to examine the documents of the National Archives related to the Capitol's early construction without being impressed by the sheer number of references to `negro hire.' ''

Mr. Speaker, according to the records, the financial records of the District of Columbia, hundreds of local residents of the District of Columbia received payments for the work of the slaves they owned here. Remember, the Capitol of the United States retained slavery until just before the end of the Civil War. But we should not forget

that, while it is well enough to acknowledge that slaves were instrumental in building this building, there is no building from the 19th century that was constructed in this town, no public building, no building of any note, that was not built in part through the labor of slaves. This was true throughout the United States. Faneuil Hall in Boston, the so-called ``Cradle of Liberty,'' was built by slave labor. The homes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were constructed with the help of slaves.

They will never be commemorated. What Emancipation Hall will do is to make Americans want to know more about how much of our country was built on the backs of slave labor that have never been recognized. And Emancipation Hall is the place to do it because the visitor center itself is going to be a giant temple for education about our country, about our Capitol, and about what has happened in this building. So when people visit the Capitol and come through Emancipation Hall, there should be a marker indicating why the great entrance to the visitor center is named Emancipation Hall. And throughout their visit, as they travel down the history of our country, which is going to be recorded there in so many ways, they will be educated about much that has happened in our country; and for most Americans, this will be the first time they will have been educated about slaves and their contribution to the United States of America.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

I thank the gentleman for his important work. Two thousand five hundred ex-felons return to the District of Columbia every year. They are a microcosm of who is coming home to every community in this country.

There is a special benefit and a special burden that has to be spoken of on this bill. Twelve percent of our population is African American; 40 percent of those in Federal prison are African Americans. Most of these are nonviolent drug offenders. It is the sentencing guidelines, the mandatory minimums that have done this. All of us here have played a major role in destroying the African American family and their children, because these have been drug peddlers, not kingpins.

The disparities have been recently relaxed. Justices, beginning with Justice Rehnquist, have spoken to the injustice. These inmates are now coming home. They have been in Federal prisons. Let's not make it any worse than it was in condemning them disproportionately under the crack cocaine guidelines. We owe it to their communities to help them return and become good citizens. That is all this bill aims to do.

I thank the gentleman for all of his work on this bill, and particularly the sponsor, Mr. Davis.

Madam Speaker, the Smithsonian Institution is a unique and irreplaceable cultural, historical, educational and artistic complex without any public or private counterpart in the world. Since its founding, the Smithsonian has become an extraordinary array of world class museums, galleries, educational showplaces and unique research centers including 19 museums and galleries, 9 research facilities, the National Zoo, and a National Museum of African American History and Culture, approved by Congress, now seeking funding from the private sector for construction. The Smithsonian has grown with trust funds, donations from American culture and life, and other financial contributions. However, most of its funding continues to come from federal appropriations. Despite receiving 70 percent of its support from the federal government, the Smithsonian has long had serious and mounting unmet infrastructure and other financial needs. Infrastructure needs have increased to $2.5 billion, and continuing deterioration threatens exhibits and restricts access. Congress must help the Smithsonian Institution strengthen its ability to build resources beyond what taxpayers are able to provide. The most important step that Congress could take today is to finally rescue the Smithsonian from the 19th century governance structure that keeps it from accessing needed available private resources and limits close and critical internal oversight similar to what public and private facilities receive today. This bill provides a structure befitting an agency of the unique complexity of the Smithsonian's, without which these goals cannot be reached.

In no small part, the difficulty the Smithsonian has faced results from limitations inherent to its antiquated governance structure. The existing structure may have fit the Smithsonian 160 years ago, but today, the structure has proven to be a relic that has disserved the Institution. The present governance places immense responsibility on dedicated but overextended members of the House and Senate, the Vice President of the United States and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, fully half of the board, who must perform their fiduciary duties as board members while giving first priority to their sworn responsibilities as important Federal officials.

The need for new revenue streams and for a modern governance structure has been clear for years but can no longer be avoided following unprecedented controversies and irresponsible risks taken by Smithsonian management. The Smithsonian's first full-blown scandal in its 160 year history, replete with embarrassing coverage, has damaged the Smithsonian's reputation and perhaps the confidence of potential contributors. The poor judgment and overreaching of Smithsonian personnel require new and concentrated oversight by citizens from whom the Smithsonian can command priority attention. The Regents, of course, have taken some important action on their own. After irregularities were uncovered by the media, the Regents responded to the controversies by creating a Governance Committee, chaired by Patty Stonesifer, a Regent who is chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with a mandate to comprehensively review the policies and practices of the Smithsonian and how the Board conducts its oversight of the Institution. The Board also established an Independent Review Committee (IRC), chaired by Charles A. Bowsher, former Comptroller General of the United States, to review the issues arising from the Inspector General's reports, the Regents' response, and related Smithsonian practices.

The Independent Review was forthright in its investigation and recommendations. The IRC stated explicitly in its report that the root cause of the current problems at the Smithsonian was an antiquated governance structure that led to failures in governance and management. According to the IRC, the Board of Regents for the Smithsonian must recognize a fiduciary responsibility that carries a ``major commitment of time and effort, a reputational risk and potentially, financial liability.'' The IRC further found that the Smithsonian, with a budget of over $1 billion a year, must have a Board of Regents who ``act as true fiduciaries and who have both the time and the experience to assume the responsibilities of setting strategy and providing oversight. Time is a major factor.'' The IRC cited lack of clarity of the roles of the Vice President and Chief Justice on the Board, and said that ``it is not feasible to expect the Chief Justice to devote the hours necessary to serve as a fiduciary agent.'' The same might be said of members of the House and Senate who serve. The IRC recommends expanding the level of expertise and number of board members and ensuring that Regents who are appointed have sufficient time and attention to dedicate to the Smithsonian.

The Smithsonian's own Governance Committee identified several board weaknesses and concluded that the Regents did not receive or demand the reports necessary for competent decision making, that staff whom the Regents depended upon for oversight inquiries, did not have direct access or the relationships necessary to bring forward important

issues, and that the inability of staff to communicate red flag issues ``crippled'' internal compliance and oversight mechanisms.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3495) to establish a National Commission on Children and Disasters, a National Resource Center on Children and Disasters, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 3495.

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

Mr. Speaker, as amended, H.R. 3495 is a bill to establish a national commission on children's needs as they relate to all hazards, including major disasters and emergencies. I strongly support the creation of this commission because there is no doubt that in dire circumstances the needs of children are different from the needs of adults. This realization is one of the many lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. Almost 5200 children were reported missing or displaced to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after Hurricane Katrina. This bill is a step in the right direction in identifying the needs of children in such conditions and deserves our support.

Consistent with other commissions, this bill provides that the Chair and Vice Chair be chosen from commission members. The role of State and local emergency managers is acknowledged in commission membership along with private nonprofit organizations. The committee recognizes that State emergency managers and local emergency managers perform complementary but not identical functions and therefore recognize in a commission such as this it is important to have both groups represented. The commission will produce an interim report and a final report with specific recommendations which will be sent to Congress and the President. The commission member will serve without pay and be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act requirements. The amendment authorizes $2 million for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for the commission work.

I commend my good friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown), for her diligent work on this bill. I strongly support H.R. 3495 and urge its passage.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown), the author of the bill, for such time as she may consume.

This side, I say to the Member, has no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I want to once again thank the gentlelady from Florida for this very important bill. The tragedy on the gulf coast was a human tragedy at every level, but the most unbearable scenes were those of hapless children, with and without parents. It's almost unimaginable to understand the trauma of a child who had lost her parents during that time.

The committee, our subcommittee, has indeed last year and this year, Mr. Speaker, passed two important bills: the Post-Katrina Management and Reform Act and, more recently, the Katrina and Rita Recovery Act.

But all of this legislation still leaves the gap that the gentlelady's bill would address, and there was probably good reason for it. In a real sense, we don't know what to do yet. We know what the problem is. We saw the problem with our own eyes.

Then the question becomes how do you put together what it takes to make sure it doesn't happen again, and the gentlelady has wisely decided that first we have to find out, with our bill, for a commission to provide us with the expertise to go further. She's done a real service to children of the United States of America because such a tragedy could happen everywhere.

With no further speakers, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.