Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, on December 1, 2007, we commemorated World AIDS Day, and reflected both on the lives lost so far and on our continued moral obligation to ensure we provide necessary treatment and research to assist those living with HIV/AIDS.

As a senior member of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I have fought hard for increased federal dollars for New York to treat more than 111,000 New Yorkers living with HIV/ AIDS today. New York remains the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic in our nation with nearly 18 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases in the United States.

Last year, during the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, which addresses the unmet primary care and health support needs of low income people living with HIV/AIDS, I led the charge to stave off the Administration's proposal to dramatically shift needed funding away from New York. This year, we were able to achieve record increases in funding nationwide for the Ryan White CARE Act in the Labor-Health and Human Service appropriations bill. Sadly, President Bush vetoed this critical legislation on November 13, 2007.

I have also introduced the bi-partisan Early Treatment for HIV Act with Speaker Pelosi and Representative Ros-Lehtinen, which reforms rules in the Medicaid program which mandates that people be disabled by AIDS before receiving treatment. This rule is inconsistent with national health guidelines for those with HIV, which recommends early and aggressive treatment for those with HIV to keep their illnesses from progressing to AIDS. My bill will allow states to treat low-income individuals with HIV under the Medicaid program. HIV no longer has to be a death sentence with the new medical treatments available today.

Globally, we must also continue to be mindful of the 33 million individuals currently living with HIV/AIDS. Over 5,700 people die each day from AIDS related illnesses and the United States must provide adequate resources to help stop the global scourge of AIDS. As you may know, Tuberculosis is the leading infectious killer among adults with HIV/AIDS, as it preys upon these individuals with weakened immune systems. I am pleased to report that my bill, H.R. 1567, the Stop Tuberculosis Now Act recently passed the House of Representatives overwhelmingly and is currently awaiting action by the U.S. Senate. Worldwide, tuberculosis kills 1.6 million adults and 1.4 million children each year. My bill will go a long way towards providing resources to those with both HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis.

I am proud that the AIDS Institute has decided to honor me with their ``HIV/AIDS Care & Treatment Award for 2007''. I am grateful for the award but am equally aware that World AIDS Day must prompt us to examine what progress we have made and reevaluate what additional steps should be taken to combat this deadly epidemic.

Madam Speaker, working together we can address both prevention and early treatment options, and hopefully one day find a cure for AIDS.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1567) to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide increased assistance for the prevention, treatment, and control of tuberculosis, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. H.R. 1567, the Stop TB Now Act, which I introduced with my colleagues, the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson) and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith), has 106 bipartisan cosponsors, and I am proud it is moving forward today. It is a very, very important and timely bill.

International tuberculosis control has become an important issue to me. It is remarkable in this day and age, with treatment available, that TB is the biggest infectious killer of young women in the world. In fact, TB kills more women worldwide than all causes of maternal mortality. As you know, tuberculosis is also the biggest killer of people with AIDS worldwide. Someone in the world is newly infected with TB every second, and TB counts for more than one-quarter of all preventable adult deaths in developing countries.

I strongly believe that the global community, with the United States in the lead, must do more to adequately address this disease by investing in quality TB control programs, using the groundbreaking Global Plan to Stop TB as a guide. It is for this reason that I have introduced this bill, the Stop TB Now Act, which will set forth the U.S. fair share towards achieving the goals of the Global Plan.

I believe if we don't make bold and wise investments in international tuberculosis control, not only will we fail to save millions of lives and miss out on the many accompanying benefits of controlling this killer, but also that this disease will become far more difficult and costly to treat.

Extremely drug-resistant TB, or XDR-TB for short, highlights this danger. It has been found on six continents, is a growing epidemic in southern Africa, and is already reported to be here in the U.S. Regular, or non-drug-resistant, TB is curable with drugs that cost just $16 in most developing countries.

Cases of drug-resistant TB, however, can cost thousands of dollars to cure,

with treatment that is far more difficult for patients and practitioners. Drug-resistant tuberculosis is a man-made problem and is caused by poor TB treatment. We, the global community, have the power to prevent drug-resistant TB and the power to treat and control regular TB, and yet, unfortunately, we have chosen not to do so by our inaction.

Through aggressive, committed leadership, the U.S. has proven that it is feasible to massively scale-up our investment to fight HIV/AIDS and malaria, and well we should. We have increased funding to fight AIDS from $840 million in 2001 to $2.9 billion in 2004, to over $4.4 billion in the House Foreign Operations bill in fiscal year 2008.

U.S. funding for malaria efforts increased from $100 million in 2006 to an administration request of $387 million for fiscal year 2008, with a House Foreign Operations level of $350 million.

Even our response to the potential threat of avian flu has been aggressive, from just $4 million a few years ago to $100 million in the Foreign Operations budget for fiscal year 2008 and an additional $160 million in the fiscal year 2007 supplemental.

However, only tuberculosis, the greatest curable infectious killer on the planet, has been left behind, and we must correct that, and that's the purpose of this legislation.

Because of our chronic neglect of tuberculosis, this disease is not only responsible for the preventable deaths of some 4,000 people every day, it is undermining our enormous efforts and billions in investments to fight AIDS. Tuberculosis is the leading killer of people with AIDS. Through U.S. leadership, we are seeing increasing numbers of AIDS patients access life-saving antiretroviral therapy, but they're not dying of AIDS. They're dying instead of tuberculosis. And what a shame that is and how ridiculous it is when we have the power to stop and end it. And more recently, people have been dying in large numbers in southern Africa due to drug-resistant TB.

While the President's AIDS initiative has made commendable scale-ups in TB and HIV efforts, they are still, in my opinion, grossly insufficient. Much of PEPFAR's scale-up supports testing tuberculosis patients for HIV and ensuring that TB and AIDS programs work together. It's very important. I'm glad we're doing it, but it's not addressing the core TB program needs. And PEPFAR's TB-HIV efforts are focused on those co-infected with both diseases and mostly in Africa, again, while commendable, but TB is a global problem and we need to combat it everywhere.

The costs of inaction are greater than the costs laid out in this bill. This past spring, it became clearer than ever that tuberculosis knows no border when a gentleman named Andrew Speaker, an attorney from Atlanta, traveled across the globe and came back to the United States with a highly resistant form of TB. We all remember that. Many of us were shocked by it.

Being from New York, I'm very familiar with what happens when TB control is neglected. In the late 1980s to the early 1990s, the City of New York paid a dear price for its failure to invest adequately in tuberculosis control. The city, along with many other areas of the country at the time, experienced an epidemic of tuberculosis. In this case, the epidemic was a multidrug-resistant TB, which inevitably develops in the absence of basic TB control. New York City launched an aggressive tuberculosis control campaign and brought down its burden of drug-resistant TB. The cost to the city? Over $1 billion to control some 300 cases, far higher than it would have been and it would have cost to prevent the situation in the first place. Tuberculosis is not just a global issue, but as we can see, it's certainly a local one as well.

When it comes to tuberculosis, Mr. Speaker, we simply cannot afford to maintain the status quo. The resources authorized in this bill represent a realistic and urgently needed increase in funding for global TB control based on the needs laid out in a costed-out, comprehensive business plan. The cost of inaction is much, much greater.

In conclusion, I would especially like to pay tribute to our former colleague, Senator Sherrod Brown, who was a champion of global tuberculosis efforts during his time in the House. He's doing this great work as well now in the Senate.

I would also like to thank the many groups whose advocacy helped bring the Stop TB Now Act to the floor, particularly RESULTS and the American Thoracic Society.

Finally, I would like to thank Chairman Lantos, Congressman Payne and their staffs for their unfailing support for tuberculosis control and this legislation and to the Energy and Commerce Committee and Mr. Dingell for expediting consideration of this bill. I'm proud to serve on both the Foreign Affairs and the Energy and Commerce Committee, the two committees that have jurisdiction on this bill.

Again, this is truly a bipartisan bill. I wish to thank the ranking member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and all the people, all the colleagues who have cooperated on both sides of the aisle because only by working together can we get at the scourge of TB.

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

I have no further speakers, but I would like to respond a bit to some of the points that you made.

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

I thank my colleague, and I just want to let him know and let my colleagues know that we worked together with Senator Lugar, who's the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and we specified that the funding would be a ceiling, not a floor.

The bill appropriates up to $400 million in 2008 and up to $550 million in 2009, including global activities to be carried out by USAID and CDC. So that's what we did. We negotiated it so we wouldn't necessarily spend all the money. We would spend up to that amount of money, and that would be the limit, but it would not be the

money that we would spend if we didn't need to spend it.

We worked closely with WHO, CDC and USAID, and the overall global number is derived from Stop TB Partnership's Global Plan to Stop TB 2006 through 2015, of which WHO is a partner and USAID is the current Chair of the Stop TB Partnership's coordinating board. The plan is well documented, detailed, costed out, and again, builds up from country estimates and was reviewed in an exhaustive process.

Finally and furthermore, the World Health Organization developed and released a ``Global MDR-TB and XDR-TB Response Plan'' that supplements the need calculated by the Global Plan's need in light of the outbreak of drug-resistant TB.

USAID and the CDC work together globally and both have agreed to this coordination of funding, and again, we have a ceiling of what we spend and not a floor.

So, again, I thank my colleague.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2949) to authorize grants to the Eurasia Foundation, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill, and I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Let me first thank my good friend and colleague, the chairman of the Europe Subcommittee, Mr. Wexler from Florida, for introducing this important bill.

The Eurasia Foundation has been a key U.S. government partner in the ongoing effort to promote democracy, expand economic opportunities, and facilitate government reform in countries that formerly comprised the Soviet Union.

Created in 1992 with bipartisan support, the Eurasia Foundation has invested over $360 million in Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia in programs that have complemented United States goals for participatory government and active citizenry in this region.

In addition, the Eurasia Foundation has been able to leverage significant private sector funding, in main part due to the annual funding support from the U.S. Government.

This bill seeks to enhance those efforts by recognizing the Eurasia Foundation as a distinct and independent entity that could continue to raise private capital while under a U.S. Government authorization.

Vital work remains unfinished in this part of the world. It is clear that political and economic stability in Eurasia will have a direct impact on the security of the United States.

For these reasons, it's imperative that we continue to support programs such as those conducted by the Eurasia Foundation.

I strongly support this legislation and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 379) congratulating Nicolas Sarkozy on his election to the presidency of France, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would first like to commend our distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), for introducing this important resolution that congratulates Mr. Sarkozy on being elected the next President of France.

Over two centuries ago, the people of France assisted the people of the United States in their pursuit of independence during the American Revolution. Since then, the U.S. and France have shared an extensive and mutually beneficial relationship. Today, the United States and France are major economic partners, with nearly $1 billion in trade taking place between the two countries each and every day.

France is the United States' ninth largest partner for trade in goods and sixth largest partner for trade and services. The United States and France are scientific and technical partners as well. Research institutions and private companies in both countries participate in extensive scientific collaboration on a wide range of issues, including computer development, biotechnology, and space exploration.

This spirit of cooperation also typifies the cultural exchange that takes place between American and French academic institutions, museums, and theatres. In light of our continued friendship between the people of the United States and France, we are honored that President Sarkozy will be appearing before a joint session of Congress this week on November 7, 2007.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, which congratulates Mr. Nicholas Sarkozy on his election to the presidency of France and welcomes President Sarkozy to Washington.

I might also add that it is especially nice that the leader of France has demonstrated time and time again that he has warm feelings towards the United States of America and is, indeed, a pro-American leader of France. The relations between the United States and France in the past several years has been a little frosty, and it's nice to see that those frosty relations have thawed. It's nice to see a leader of France who understands and wants to work with the United States and understands that we have a very close, long-standing relationship between our people.

I welcome President Sarkozy. I look forward to hearing him when he speaks before a joint session of the House and Congress later on this week. I think that this resolution is a fitting tribute to him, and I believe that the United States and France, under his leadership, will enjoy warm ties.

If I can think a bit about my French from grammar school, I could say, Vive la France.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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. 435) expressing concern relating to the threatening behavior of the Iranian regime and its leader

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the activities of terrorist organizations sponsored by that regime in Latin America, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution and yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I want to thank the gentlemen from Florida, Mr. Klein and Mr. Mack, both active and valued members of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, which I chair, for their work on this timely and important resolution that raises awareness about Iran's growing foothold in the Western Hemisphere and its national security implications for all countries of this region.

This resolution is particularly valuable as it catalogues a series of facts and actions related to the growing presence of Iran south of our border.

Last month, immediately after his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian President Ahmadinejad flew to Venezuela and Bolivia. This was his third trip the region this year. Mr. Ahmadinejad has used these trips to announce increased diplomatic cooperation and multilateral agreements on energy and industry.

Iranian involvement, Mr. Speaker, in Latin America is not new, as we all know. In 1994, Iran and its proxy terrorist group, Hezbollah, were involved in planning the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, where 85 people lost their lives in the bombing.

In fact, just last week I met with the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, who updated me on Argentina's progress on the AMIA bombings.

Hezbollah remains operational in parts of Latin America, and they continue to fundraise for their global operations.

The United States must do everything we can to help Latin America crack down on terrorist groups in the region, both through joint military exercises and through legislation, giving to governments new tools to eliminate the terrorist threats.

I strongly urge passage of this timely resolution.

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

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 236) recognizing the close relationship between the United States and the Republic of San Marino, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I would like to thank my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), for introducing this resolution that recognizes a small but important friend of the United States.

It is often said, Mr. Speaker, that good things come in small packages, and in the case of San Marino, this is certainly true. San Marino is the third smallest country in Europe, only Vatican City and Monaco being smaller.

San Marino, which is home to 29,000 inhabitants in a territory one- third the size of the District of Columbia, attracts several million visitors a year. The tourist industry makes up over 50 percent of the country's GDP.

San Marino is said to be the oldest republic in the world. It was founded in 301 A.D. by Marinus of Rab, a Christian fleeing from religious persecution by the Roman Emperor.

Its constitution, which dates back to 1600, is the world's oldest written constitution, and remains in effect to this day.

San Marino has been an active player at the international level, including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and Council of Europe. Through these bodies, San Marino has sought to promote interreligious and intercultural dialogue, as well as the protection of intellectual property.

San Marino has also cultivated a close friendship with the United States based on our shared values and interests. This relationship was first expressed when President Abraham Lincoln exchanged letters with the Captains Regent of San Marino.

Nearly 150 years after these letters were sent, the United States and San Marino upgraded their bilateral relations to include the first ever exchange of ambassadors. President Bush welcomed San Marino's new Ambassador, Paulo Rondelli, during a White House ceremony on July 25. U.S. Ambassador Ronald Spogli presented his credentials to the Captains Regent in San Marino's Palazzo Publico on March 8. I welcome this development in our bilateral relations, and look forward to ever closer cooperation with our European ally.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution which recognizes the close relationship between our two countries, expresses gratitude to San Marino for its friendship and support, and commemorates the first ever exchange of ambassadors.

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

Mr. Speaker, I reserve my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 550) congratulating the people of Ethiopia on the second millennium of Ethiopia, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

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

I rise in strong support of this resolution.

I first want to thank the gentleman from California, our colleague Mr. Honda, for this resolution congratulating the Ethiopian people for their nation's second millennium. I also commend America's large Ethiopian community, the Committee for the Celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium, and Ambassador Samuel Assefa and his staff for making the celebration in Washington, D.C. a truly memorable event. That celebration brought together the finest Ethiopian artists, musicians, scientists, and scholars from around the world for the purpose of making the event not just a social festival but also a learning experience.

Mr. Speaker, Ethiopia is one of the most fascinating countries in the world. It is a country of great antiquity with a culture and tradition dating back thousands of years. The most recent humanoid remains yet discovered, known as ``Lucy,'' were found in Ethiopia.

Modern-day Ethiopia is a multiethnic country with some 83 languages spoken, most of which belong to four main language groups. It is a multireligious country where for centuries, Christians, Muslims, and Jews have co-existed.

In a region of the country known as Kaffa, Ethiopians in the ninth century discovered what we now know as coffee. Ethiopians still practice a traditional ceremony around coffee, a significant social event of the day for family and community.

Today Ethiopia is an emerging democracy, a leader on the continent of Africa, and a friend to the United States. Ethiopia stood by the American people on September 11 and has continued to cooperate with the U.S. Government and the world community in the fight against terrorism.

I wish to express our gratitude and to extend our best wishes to the people of Ethiopia as their nation observes the beginning of its third millennium.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, we have now concluded six bills that came out of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I just want to congratulate all the sponsors of the bills and the members of the committee. You can see these bills were all supported with strong bipartisan support. But I want to especially commend the staffs on both sides of the aisle for working very, very hard in getting these bills through.

The very first bill we did was H.R. 1567, which was my bill, the Stop TB Now Act of 2007. And I want to especially commend my legislative director, Emily Gibbons, who was so responsible for this bill. If it wasn't for her, I don't think this bill would have come to its fruition. She was tenacious and was extraordinarily helpful to me in passing this legislation, and this legislation is clearly also a tribute to her fine work.

So I wanted to mention that, and I wanted to again thank my colleague from Arkansas.

I thank my friend from Nebraska, and I too want to rise to pay tribute to my classmate in 1988, Peter Hoagland. Peter and I were best friends, socialized with our wives and our kids many, many times. He was truly a gentleman. Both our colleagues from North Dakota and from Nebraska really epitomized what Peter meant to all of us. His wife, Barbara, and the five children, a wonderful family.

And let me just say that Peter was in public life for all the right reasons. He cared so much about this country. He cared so much about public policy. He cared so much about people.

In all the time I was with Peter, I was with him a lot, I never once heard him utter a negative word about anybody. He really truly respected this institution. He loved our country, and he respected each and every Member in this House, on both sides of the aisle.

It came as quite a shock to me when I found out about his passing, although I had known that he had been ill for a while. Sixty-six is awfully young, too young, when you have such a good person with such a great, keen intellect and a wonderful person.

So I just want to say on behalf of myself, my wife Pat, my family, and our class of 1988, we were 18 Democrats and 15 Republicans that year, we're all going to miss Peter very, very much, and may he rest in peace.

I thank my friend from Missouri, and I rise in strong support of H. Res. 759, which recognizes the 40th Anniversary of the Mass Movement for Soviet Jewish Freedom and the 20th Anniversary of the Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jewry on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

The gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley) is so right when she says that these rallies inspired the cause of human rights all over the world. And as we fight for human rights all over the world, we must continue to fight for human rights wherever bad things raise their ugly heads.

For decades, Jews in the Soviet Union faced serious restrictions on their right to practice their faith. In response, a campaign developed in the United States and around the world to pressure the Soviets to end the abuses and permit their Jewish population to emigrate. In 1964, the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry was founded to spearhead a national campaign on behalf of Soviet Jewry. Israel's victory in the 1967 6-Day War inspired Soviet Jews to intensify their efforts to win the right to emigrate to Israel and other places, but the Soviets followed with an anti-Zionist propaganda campaign in the state- controlled mass media and a crackdown on Jewish autonomy.

A key event in the campaign to free the Soviet Jews occurred in 1982 when President Reagan enacted Public Law 97-157, expressing the sense of the Congress that the Soviet Union should cease its repressive actions against those individuals who seek the freedom to emigrate or to practice their religious or cultural traditions. This law drew special attention to the hardships and discrimination imposed upon the Jewish community in the Soviet Union.

After so many years of captivity, the Supreme Soviet passed a law in 1991 that codified the right of every Soviet citizen to emigrate, precipitating massive emigration by Jews from the Soviet Union, primarily to Israel and the United States. The hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the Soviet Union and former Soviet republics have greatly enriched their new-found homes in areas as diverse as business, science, the arts, politics, and philanthropy.

As Ms. Berkley mentioned, I was proud to be part of the effort to liberate the Jews of the Soviet Union and remember the historic Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jews in Washington, DC 20 years ago before I was a Member of Congress. I remember meeting Natan, then Anatoly Sharansky, at the gathering of approximately 250,000 people prior to the start of the Reagan-Gorbachev summit. This event helped increase the awareness of the plight of Soviet Jews throughout the world. Earlier, I demonstrated in front of the Soviet mission to the U.N. in New York in an effort to demonstrate how deeply I felt about religious freedom and the right of the Jews of the Soviet Union to emigrate.

In conclusion, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 759 and remember the campaign to liberate the Jews of the former Soviet Union. And, again, may we have many, many more resolutions like this to help all oppressed people all over the world.

Madam Speaker, Visitation School has been a presence in the Kingsbridge community since its inception in 1932, and was approved by the Archdiocese of New York in 1928, under the direction of the first pastor, Monsignor Stafford.

Visitation School was initially staffed by the Sisters of Charity; their motherhouse was and remains today on the grounds of the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York.

The first Principal of Visitation was Sister Mary Angelita Meiswinkle of the Sisters of Charity, who was principal from 1932 to 1949. She set the firm foundation for this Roman Catholic elementary school that continues to flourish as we celebrate its seventy-fifth anniversary.

In 1980 the current principal, Sr. Rosemarie Connell, was appointed. She oversaw a time of sweeping change, with an emphasis on strong religious principles, discipline, and a commitment to academic excellence. In her long tenure, she has created and maintained a dedicated and experienced teaching staff made up of Catholic laypersons and religious sisters representing several communities, including the Sisters of Charity, Sparkill Dominican Sisters, and School Sisters of Notre Dame.

She established a full-time kindergarten; weekly computer classes for kindergarten through grade eight; high school advanced-placement programs for math and Spanish; science lab; a state-of-the-art computer lab; and the institution of an after school program.

In 1995, the New York City Council recognized her for her ``continuing dedication and service to the education and improvement of the lives of Bronx children and their families.'' In the year 2000, she received the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Compassionate Educator Award for her years of service to children in the Archdiocese of New York.

For 75 years, the Kingsbridge community has benefited from the presence of Visitation School as it continues its great legacy of faith and determination to deliver a quality Catholic education to children in the community. Visitation School remains a rare place where mind, heart, and spirit grow in grace and strive for excellence.

Madam Speaker, a community is an aggregate of its residents, but its quality of life is determined by the dedication of those who devote themselves to the welfare of their community.

Mary McLoughlin is such a person, and her dedication is the occasion for special recognition by the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center at a dinner honoring her tonight.

She is a co-founder of that organization and is almost single- handedly responsible for acquiring a community center. In 1972 she heard that the police precinct was leaving its building and she began a campaign to get the building for use by the community.

Almost three years later, KHCC acquired the building and she, with Patricia Burns and Janet Athanasidy, cleaned the floors; and took out the debris as part of the extensive renovation needed.

She envisioned a Center modeled after the great early New York settlement houses, providing educational, recreational and cultural activities for all community residents.

In 1975 the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center opened its doors with a Teen Program as well as a Head Start Program. Mary McLoughlin's continuing dedication is evident as today the center provides a multitude of programs to individuals of all ages including: early childhood educational, health and nutrition services, after school recreation and literacy, College Prep and financial aid, services to individuals with developmental disabilities, and civics classes, child sexual abuse treatment and prevention, parent and child advocacy, and case management services to prevent foster care placement, to cite a few.

She is a mother of eight, but has spread her caring over the community, improving the lives of thousands. The KHCC as the largest employer in the community continues to address the needs of the changing community.

She has been, and remains, a God-send to the Kingsbridge community. I sincerely thank her for all that she has done and continues to do for the people of this community. She is an inspiration to all.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the SCHIP program. The bottom line, my friends, is do we want to fund children's health care for poor children in this country or do we not?

The arguments against it from fiscal conservatives, and I always have to question that a bit because our Republican friends have driven up the deficit to the greatest in American history, and now they want to tell us this program is too expensive.

One of the reasons the American people are so disenchanted with Congress is because the Republicans are blocking a bill that is very, very supportive of what American people want. We see here that 72 percent of the American public, two-thirds of the Senate, the majority of the House, 43 State Governors and more than 300 organizations support this legislation; and our friends on the other side of the aisle are blocking the will of the American people.

Let's fund this bill. Let's help poor children. Stop with the nonsense, stop with the nonsense about New York. We try to help as much as we can. Congress ought to help our poor kids. That's the question. Do you want to help poor kids, or don't you?

Mr. Speaker, a very disturbing report has come out that Iraq has agreed to award $1.1 billion in contracts to Iranian and Chinese companies to build a pair of enormous power plants. That is what the Iraqi Minister of Electricity said on Tuesday. Word of the project prompted serious concerns among American military officials who fear that Iranian commercial investments can mask military activities at a time of our heightened tension with Iran.

Mr. Speaker, at a time when young Americans are dying in Iraq and when the U.S. is spending billions of dollars in Iraq, this makes absolutely no sense at all. The Iraqi Electricity Minister said that the Iranian project would be built in Sadr City, a Shiite enclave in Baghdad that is controlled by followers of the anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. He added that Iran had also agreed to provide cheap electricity from its own grid to southern Iraq and to build a large power plant, essentially free of charge, in an area between two Shiite holy cities.

The expansion of ties between Iraq and Iran comes as the U.S. and Iran clash on nuclear issues and about what American officials had repeatedly said was Iranian support for armed groups. This is an outrage and should not stand.

Madam Speaker, among the many of our men and women who serve in Iraq are the Nurse Corps Officers who treat the ill and the wounded, giving sustenance while saving lives.

Lt. Col. Pedro Altiery is one such member of that Corps whose exceptionally meritorious service earned him the Bronze Star for his service during Operation Iraqi Freedom from March, 2005 to May, 2006.

He was described as one of the best Nurse Corps Officers who ensured the highest standards were kept in operating rooms and in providing quality care to the detainee population. He developed a highly organized, professional and clinically excellent team which could be called on in a moment's notice to be fully operational.

He set the tone for his team with his enthusiastic leadership. He wrote detailed Standards of Operating Procedure that are still used today and will be for the duration of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I salute the great work done by Lt. Col. Altiery under exhausting conditions while maintaining his extraordinary technical skill and expertise. As well as thank him for his meritorious service to our country.

Madam Speaker, Rosamond Beatrice October is 100 years old and the United States was fortunate to woo her from her native Guyana. She was born there on November 6, 1907 and has lived through perhaps the most remarkable age in the world's history.

In 1928 she and William October were married and had two children before they adopted several more. She was a successful caterer in Guyana and in 1973, at an age when most people have retired; she came to America and continued her successful catering operations.

She is a grandmother of 12 and great grandmother of 14, and aunt of several nieces and nephews. She lives with her daughter, Claudette Cox, in the Bronx and is the oldest member of the Eastchester Presbyterian Church. She attributes her long life to her faith and trust in God. And we thank God for allowing Mrs. October to remain with us and share her gifts of love and experience with us all.

I offer her my sincere wishes for the happiest of birthdays and congratulate her for a long and successful life.