Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to salute the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce and the fine people being recognized at

its annual awards gala, So Proudly We Hail--Celebrating Our Local Heroes.

The Dulles Regional Chamber is located in one of the top technology corridors in the nation and is the largest chamber in Fairfax County. Each year it recognizes first responders in the region who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

This year's honorees are Capt. Kathleen Stanley with Fairfax County's International Urban Search and Rescue and the late Sgt. Phillip Farley with the Herndon Police Department.

Capt. Stanley has served the citizens of Fairfax County for nearly 20 years, most recently in Battalion 401 which serves the Reston/Herndon area of Fairfax County. In 2010, she deployed with the county's Urban Search and Rescue team to Haiti, where she served for the entire deployment as a medical specialist, often administering care to patients critically injured in the earthquake.

Sgt. Farley is being recognized for his contributions from 2001 to 2010 to the Herndon Police Department. Because of his efforts, the Herndon Police Department is one of the first law enforcement agencies in northern Virginia to implement a seamless transition in its electronic records management, computer aided dispatch and mobile computer terminals to enable effective communication and records management solutions. Sgt. Farley also was instrumental in the research and testing of the department's transition from revolvers to automatic weapons. In addition, he introduced scenario-based training to coincide with annual range training.

In addition to recognizing local first responders, the chamber invited and saluted seven service men for their contributions to our country. They are: Chief Warrant Officer 5 Bradley Garfield, U.S. Marine Corps; 1st Sgt Michael Barrett, U.S. Marine Corps; Gunnery Sgt. Alain Frederique, U.S. Marine Corps; Gunnery Sgt. Josue Magana, U.S. Marine Corps; Staff Sgt. Hugh Davis, U.S. Army Reserve, retired; Technical Sgt. Christopher Frost, U.S. Air Force, and Sgt. John Eubanks, U.S. Marine Corps.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing the accomplishments of these honorees. We owe them all our thanks.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because of a tragic event--the March 2 assassination of Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, a heroic man of faith whose courageous and outspoken leadership against his nation's draconian blasphemy law made him a prime target of extremist Islamist elements in his country.

Bhatti was the only Christian member of the Pakistani cabinet.

We have lost a friend and an ally and our prayers are with Bhatti's family and those in Pakistan who mourn his loss and who stood with him in his fight against injustice and intolerance. Bhatti devoted his life to defending the most vulnerable--he is literally a modern day martyr.

Among those whose causes he championed were Asia Bibi, a young Christian mother of five, who was sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy law. Only after international intervention was her execution delayed. Her fate, however, remains unclear.

Pakistan's blasphemy laws are often used to victimize both religious minorities and Muslims. In fact, Punjab's influential governor, Salman Taseer was shot and killed by his own bodyguard who reportedly told police, ``that he killed Mr. Taseer because of the governor's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law.''

With Bhatti's life tragically cut short, a critical moderating voice in Pakistan has been lost. And I fear others will be silenced if justice is not brought to bear in Pakistan. Bhatti spoke of the importance of these voices during a recent Washington Post editorial board meeting. I submit for the Record a piece by Post editorial page editor, Fred Hiatt, who recalled Bhatti's message, ``that millions of Pakistanis remain committed to a vision of a Muslim country living in peace with its neighbors and with non-Muslims within its borders.'' Hiatt continued, ``As it became increasingly dangerous for such people to speak up, they were becoming decreasingly visible. But they are still there, Bhatti told us, and he urged Americans not to forsake or forget them.''

This must be our clarion call in the days to come.

I urge the Government of Pakistan to seek justice in this case and to give Bhatti a state funeral, reflective of the import of his life and legacy. Similarly, I urge our own government to send a high-ranking delegation to attend the funeral and to carry Bhatti's torch in continuing to press for the repeal of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan.

I also submit an Associated Press story which references the fact that Bhatti was ``aware of the danger he faced, saying in a videotaped message that he had received death threats from al-Qaida and the Taliban.'' The video was recorded several months before his ultimate assassination and can be viewed at: http://www.guardian.co.ukworld/ 2011/mar/02/pakistan-minister-shot-dead-islamabad.

Bhatti pointedly says he will continue to speak out for persecuted Christians and other religious minorities. In a chilling allusion to future events, he says, ``I will die to defend their rights.''

Indeed Bhatti's convictions cost him his life. He must not have died in vain.

Another Moderate in Pakistan is Assassinated

(By Fred Hiatt)

Shahbaz Bhatti, who was assassinated outside his home in

Pakistan today, came to visit a few of us at The Post one

month ago. He was soft-spoken and matter-of-fact about the

dangers he faced--and about his refusal, almost his

inability, to trim his sails to lessen those dangers. The

risks he faced, as a voice for tolerance in an increasingly

intolerant country, were risks that Pakistan faced--and if he

and like-minded figures stopped speaking up, what future

would the country have?

Bhatti was a Christian in an overwhelmingly Muslim country,

a minister in the government in charge of minority affairs,

and most of all an unimaginably courageous voice of

moderation. He opposed the nation's anti-blasphemy law, which

increasingly is being used to silence and oppress. When

another moderate leader, Punjab governor Salman Taseer, was

killed two months ago, his assassin frighteningly became a

hero for many in Pakistan. Bhatti was one of the few public

figures willing to forthrightly condemn the murder.

Now Bhatti, too, is gone. There will be investigations, I

suppose, into why his police guard was absent when gunmen

surrounded his Toyota sedan this morning, despite calls from

many (including Americans like Virginia Republican Rep. Frank

Wolf) for increased security. There will be tributes and

mourning, but they will be muted. Hopefully there will be

deep thinking inside the U.S. government about what it can do

to better support the forces of moderation.

On that subject, I remember two essential messages from

Bhatti's visit. He said Americans maintained too little

contact with the part of Pakistani civil society that

believes in interfaith tolerance, that sees Islam as a

peaceful religion willing to live alongside others. Bhatti

himself had organized a network of such people, he told us,

but U.S. officials were too busy dealing with the government,

army and intelligence agencies to show support or even

establish much contact.

His second message was that millions of Pakistanis remain

committed to a vision of a Muslim country living in peace

with its neighbors and with non-Muslims within its borders.

As it became increasingly dangerous for such people to speak

up, they were becoming decreasingly visible. But they are

still there, Bhatti told us, and he urged Americans not to

forsake or forget them.

Militants Kill Christian Minister in Pakistan

(By Nahal Toosi and Chris Brummitt)

Islamabad.--Militants gunned down the only Christian in

Pakistan's government outside his widowed mother's home

Wednesday, the second assassination in two months of a high-

profile opponent of laws that impose the death penalty for

insulting Islam.

Shahbaz Bhatti was aware of the danger he faced, saying in

a videotaped message that he had received death threats from

al-Qaida and the Taliban. In it, the 42-year-old Roman

Catholic said he was ``ready to die'' for the country's often

persecuted Christian and other non-Muslim minorities.

The slaying in Islamabad followed the killing of Salman

Taseer, a liberal politician who was gunned down in the

capital by one of his guards. Both men had campaigned to

change blasphemy laws in Pakistan that impose the death

penalty for insulting Islam and have been loudly defended by

Islamist political parties.

The Taseer slaying triggered fears the country was buckling

under the weight of extremism, especially since the

government, fearful of militants and the political parties

that champion their causes, did not loudly condemn the

killing or those who publicly celebrated it.

Wednesday's slaying will only reinforce those concerns and

further undermine confidence in the government, which appears

paralyzed by political rivalries and unable to fix a stagnant

economy or provide basic services for the country's 180

million mostly poor people.

The turmoil comes despite attempts by the Obama

administration to support Pakistan, which it sees as key to

ending the war in neighboring Afghanistan and defeating al-

Qaida, whose leadership is believed to reside in the

mountainous northwestern regions.

Pakistani government ministers usually travel with police

escorts, but Bhatti was without such protection when he was

killed as he and a driver left his mother's home. Bhatti, who

was minister for religious minorities, had been given police

and paramilitary guards but had asked them not to accompany

him while he stayed with his mother, said Wajid Durrani, a

senior police official.

A friend of the politician, Wasif Ali Khan, said Bhatti was

nervous about using guards after the Taseer killing and had

requested a bulletproof car, but had not received one.

Bhatti had just pulled out of the driveway when three men

opened fire, said Gulam Rahim, a witness. Two opened the door

of the car and tried to pull Bhatti out, Rahim said, while a

third fired a Kalashnikov rifle repeatedly into the dark-

colored Toyota, shattering the windows.

The gunmen then sped away in a white car, said Rahim, who

took shelter behind a tree.

Bhatti was hit with at least eight bullets and was dead on

arrival at hospital.

In leaflets left at the scene, al-Qaida and the Pakistani

Taliban Movement in Punjab province claimed responsibility.

They blamed the government for putting Bhatti, an ``infidel

Christian,'' in charge of an unspecified committee,

apparently in reference to his support for changing the

blasphemy laws.

``With the blessing of Allah, the mujahedeen will send each

of you to hell,'' said the note, which did not name any other

targets.

Government officials and political party workers condemned

the killing, but made no reference to the blasphemy law

controversy. Muslim clerics contacted by The Associated Press

or interviewed on Pakistani TV either offered a tepid

condemnation or claimed the assassination was part of an

American-led conspiracy to drive a wedge between Muslims and

Christians.

Bhatti, a soft-spoken minister who rose to prominence

defending a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy,

often spoke of the threats against him from extremists. Very

few Pakistani politicians were willing to talk about changing

the blasphemy law because of the danger.

``They (the Taliban) want to impose their radical

philosophy in Pakistan. And whoever stands against their

radical philosophy, they threaten them,'' he said in the

video message, which was posted on the website of the First

Step Forum, a Finland-based group that promotes religious

harmony, rule of law and democracy.

``These threats and these warnings cannot change my

opinions and principles. I'm living for my community and

suffering people,'' said Bhatti, who was an adviser to the

group and had asked that his message be released in the event

of his death.

The slaying robbed Pakistani Christians of their most

prominent advocate.

``We have been orphaned today!'' wailed Rehman Masih, a

Christian resident of Islamabad. ``Now who will fight for our

rights? Who will raise a voice for us? Who will help us?''

Christians are the largest religious minority in Pakistan,

whose population is 95 percent Muslim. They have very little

political power and tend to work in lower-level jobs, such as

street sweeping.

As Christians took to the streets Wednesday to protest in

several cities, relatives and friends went to Bhatti's home

to pay their respects. ``Tell the mullahs that the man who

was the voice of the Christians is silent. Where are they

now?'' Samuel David, one of the visitors, shouted to a

television crew.

The assassination drew condemnation from Christian and

government leaders.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, called the

slaying a ``new episode of violence of terrible gravity,''

saying it ``demonstrates just how justified are the insistent

statements by the pope regarding violence against Christians

and religious freedom.''

Lombardi noted that Pope Benedict XVI had met with Bhatti

in September.

President Barack Obama condemned the slaying, saying Bhatti

``fought for and sacrificed his life for the universal values

that Pakistanis, Americans and people around the world hold

dear''--including rights to free speech and religious

freedom.

In Britain, leaders of the Anglican Church expressed shock

and sorrow and urged Pakistan's government to do more to

protect Christians.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the

attack was ``not only on one man but on the values of

tolerance and respect of all faiths and backgrounds.''

The blasphemy laws were originally framed by the Asian

subcontinent's British colonial rulers but were toughened in

the 1980s during the military rule of Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-

Haq, who pushed a politicized, austere brand of Islam.

Human rights groups have long warned that the laws are

vaguely worded and open to abuse because people often use

them to settle rivalries or persecute religious minorities.

Right-wing Islamist parties, looking for an issue to rally

their supporters, have campaigned against any change to the

laws, accusing those who seek to amend them of blasphemy--and

creating an environment that led to the latest killings.

``Bhatti's murder is the bitter fruit of appeasement of

extremist and militant groups both prior to and after the

killing of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer,'' said Human Right

Watch. ``An urgent and meaningful policy shift on the

appeasement of extremists that is supported by the military,

the judiciary and the political class needs to replace the

political cowardice and institutional myopia that encourages

such continued appeasement despite its unrelenting bloody

consequences.''

Another prominent opponent of the blasphemy laws, ruling

party member Sherry Rehman, recently dropped her bid to get

them changed. Rehman, who has said she had to abide by party

leaders' decisions, faces death threats and has been living

with heavy security.

Mr. Speaker, I bring to the attention of the House the recent passing of an outstanding public servant, civic leader, and local business owner in Front Royal, Virginia. Frederick P. ``Fred'' Foster died February 7 at age 74.

I had the pleasure of working with Fred on the redevelopment of the Avtex Superfund site in Front Royal. He was a tireless and passionate advocate for his hometown and county and will be greatly missed.

Mr. Speaker, I submit an article from the Northern Virginia Daily about the life of Fred Foster.

[From the nvdaily.com, Feb. 10, 2011]

Foster Active Part of Society

(By Ben Orcutt)

Front Royal.--Frederick P. ``Fred'' Foster was remembered

on Wednesday as a man who got things done.

Foster, 74, died on Monday at Winchester Medical Center. A

jewelry store owner, former town councilman and civic leader,

Foster was noted for his ability to tackle issues and see

them through.

``Just his determination and vision,'' said his son, Philip

T. ``Phil'' Foster. ``When he saw something that he needed to

do or that thought that needed to be done or identified a

problem, he had the tenaciousness to see it through.''

Phil Foster, 51, said his father had been ill for the past

four years and was on dialysis daily. Foster said his father

had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and most likely

died of a heart-related ailment.

``We haven't seen a death certificate or anything,'' Phil

Foster said.

Fred Foster opened Fosters Jewelers at 130 E. Main St. in

Front Royal in 1984. Phil Foster said he and his father were

partners and they opened a second store in Winchester in

1987.

``We're going to miss him,'' Phil Foster said.

Others said Wednesday they will miss him as well.

Marvin ``Cotton'' Owens, 72, graduated from Warren County

High School in 1956 with Fred Foster. Owens said the two were

like brothers for a time and that Fred Foster gave him his

first job as a teenager.

``He was one of the leaders in retail in Front Royal for

many a year,'' Owens said of Foster. ``There's so many

memories. I guess his personality, his good humor. He thought

a lot of this town. I don't know how many people knew it. He

really thought a lot of Front Royal and wanted to do

everything he could to promote Front Royal and make it a

better place, especially for businesses.''

William P. ``Bill'' Barnett will second that. Barnett said

Foster was an integral part of the Citizens Economic

Development Action Committee that tried to help turn around

the economy of Warren County years ago.

Foster also was one of the main catalysts behind the

redevelopment of the Avtex Superfund site, now known as Royal

Phoenix, Barnett said.

``Fred was passionate about Front Royal and Warren

County,'' Barnett said. ``His passion was very [infectious].

His enthusiasm and his persistence were very instrumental in

making an impact on the community, whether it was while he

served on the Town Council or the redevelopment committee.

When he decided to get involved in something, he got involved

in it 100 percent and just gave everything he had. . . .

We're going to miss Fred.''

Craig Laird, owner of Royal Oak Computers on Main Street in

Front Royal, agreed.

``Fred was a mainstay of Main Street,'' Laird said.

``During the reconstruction of downtown in the mid 1980s, he

was affectionately called the mayor of Main Street. He was a

dear, dear friend and he will be greatly missed.''

As president of Save Our Gateway, Laird also recalled when

Foster was a member of the council in 2003 and deliberately

missed meetings to help prevent the panel from having a

quorum on a vote on Wal-Mart's commercial rezoning request on

Strasburg Road.

``His bravery at standing up for his principles will also

be remembered,'' Laird said.

Even though they were on opposite sides of the Wal-Mart

issue, Councilman Hollis L. Tharpe, who served on the panel

with Foster for two years, spoke highly of him.

``He was for the citizens,'' Tharpe said. ``I don't think

personally he ever had anything on his agenda, but every vote

that he took, he took it the way he thought that the citizens

would be best served. He was always available to talk to,

whether it was town business or personal. He always had that

big smile on his face even when he didn't like voting for

something that he did.''

Jean Plauger, owner of Jean's Jewelers on Main Street, also

agreed about Foster's contributions, especially downtown. ``A

lot of things got done down here definitely because of

Fred,'' she said.

``They call him the godfather of Main, the mayor of Main

Street,'' she said. ``Fred had a presence down here.''

I thank the gentleman.

I rise in opposition to the amendments. If we really want to deal with getting deficits under control, we have got to deal with entitlements. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, that's where we have to go.

Secondly, this really will result in the layoffs of several hundred FBI agents at the FBI. We met with Director Mueller on Friday. Can you see the message when Osama bin Laden in a cave in Pakistan hears that the FBI has had a layoff of FBI agents? Thirdly, it would require layoffs at the DEA.

Lastly, for anybody interested in NASA--and so many Members came up to say, Please, help NASA--this would result in a $1 billion cut of NASA and the losses of thousands of jobs not only of NASA employees but also NASA contractors in Alabama, in Florida, in Texas, in California, and around the country. I urge defeat of the amendment.

I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Timothy McCarthy, who was the Secret Service agent who stopped the bullet that would have killed one of the greatest Presidents we've ever had, Ronald Reagan, would have deserved a step increase.

Dr. Collins, who has mapped the human genome system to be able to deal with pancreatic cancer and breast cancer and who could go outside and get a job anywhere, would deserve a step increase.

The FBI agent who is tracking down and working to find al Qaeda and terrorism and radicalization would deserve a step increase.

Lastly--lastly--some Members of this Congress have employees who have done such a good job--many of them are perhaps on the Appropriations Committee--they would deserve a step increase. If you vote for this, you can never give any of your employees a step increase for the rest of this year.

This is a bad amendment. I urge its defeat.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.

I had an amendment, which has now been ruled out of order, to create an Afghanistan-Pakistan study group. The war in Afghanistan has been going on for 10 years. The first person killed in Afghanistan was from my congressional district, Michael Spann. I was the author of the Iraq Study Group, where we got Baker and Hamilton in a bipartisan way to come together to look at the war. I have asked the administration to do something, and quite frankly, when I read Woodward's book, ``Obama's War,'' it was depressing because it almost looks like they're approaching this on basically political ways, political means.

The war has now been going on for 10 years, and quite frankly, I think not only has the administration failed, but Congress has failed. So what I hope to do is to, at an appropriate time, offer an amendment to create an Afghanistan-Pakistan study group, modeled after the Iraq Study Group, and put on people like Sam Nunn; former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Duncan Hunter; Ryan Crocker, who was our former ambassador to Iraq and who supports the concept; General Jack Keane, who was author of the surge; General Charles Krulak, who was the Commandant of the Marine Corps; General Zinni, who was Commandant of the Marine Corps; and Ike Skelton, former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to see are we fighting this war the right way, are we doing the right thing.

And I believe we need fresh eyes on the target, and when you look at and read ``Obama's War'' by Woodward, you can see there are no fresh eyes on the target, and we owe it, we owe it to the men and women that are fighting in Afghanistan and dealing with this issue to make sure that we are doing everything possible--and I don't know what the answer is--everything possible to make sure that we're doing what we should do as a Nation.

And with that, I hope when there's an opportunity I can offer this amendment--because I don't think the administration is going to do this by Executive order--that we can adopt because we owe it to our fighting men.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

As the gentleman from New York knows, Congress is considering temporary extension of the same Patriot Act authorities that are targeted in this amendment.

The reauthorization process, not in this CR, is the proper venue to consider any changes to existing intelligence-gathering laws. Applications for FISA orders seeking library circulation records and book sales records may only be approved by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Deputy Bureau of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the Executive Assistant Director for National Security. This authority cannot be further delegated.

There is absolutely no evidence that this authority has been abused or misused to unlawfully acquire library or business records.

This prohibition could create a safe haven for terrorists to utilize America's libraries and bookstores to conduct research or communicate with each other. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1. This Congress must step up to reverse our Nation's mounting deficit and debt, and this measure before us today takes an important step. This is an important effort, and we need to cut wasteful and duplicative spending. But the reality is these kinds of cuts will never get us to a balanced budget.

Let's be honest. Only 16 percent of our Nation's spending is in non- security discretionary accounts. Today, we are cutting over $100 billion from just 1/6 of the Federal spending.

The infamous bank robber Willie Sutton once said that he robbed banks because that's where the money is. In our government, the money is in entitlements. For those who are concerned about funding for the sciences and education and medical research and infrastructure, as I am, the way to ensure that our Nation can pay for the programs so many people care about is to deal with the mandatory spending entitlements.

The President's State of the Union address was disappointing. He had a national forum to step up and embrace the recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility. The Bowles-Simpson Commission clearly recognized the looming fiscal crisis and offered a framework for a serious national conversation to begin on entitlement issues, and do it in a bipartisan way. I didn't agree with every recommendation and would have tried to change some. But had I been appointed to the commission, I would have voted with Senator Coburn and Senator Durbin for the report. If those Senators, from far opposite sides, could come together for the good of the country, then where is the President?

As important as it is to tighten the Federal discretionary spending bill, we will only continue to tilt at windmills with a budget ledger if we don't deal with the entitlements--Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

I believe the opportunity is to come together in a bipartisan way to put everything on the table to deal with it. Also, we need the President to step up to the plate and to be an honest broker on this issue and to lead the Nation.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

This account has been hit very, very hard already. Each reduction in the bill was carefully determined. The funding level provided for NIST construction in the bill is $89 million below FY 2010.

NIST has played a key role in enabling innovative ideas with regard to strengthening infrastructure for advance manufacturing, service and science.

NIST works with the private sector, other government agencies and universities to develop and apply the technology, measurements and standards needed for new and improved products.

We have already reduced the funding in this account quite dramatically, and this would really, I think, hurt the jobs effort and hurt manufacturing.

I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

Reclaiming my time, again, we want science, jobs, math, science, physics, chemistry, biology to create opportunities for manufacturing.

I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment.

The Appropriations Committee will be requiring the Department of Justice to come back to the committee with a spending plan outlining how it intends to use the funds provided for State and local law enforcement. We accept the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order against the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. Chairman, the amendment proposed a net increase in budget authority. Before I comment on it; one, this does not cut the Voting Rights Act. So that's not accurate. This does not, this does not, this does not cut the Voting Rights Act.

Mr. Chairman, the amendment is not in order under section 3(j)(3) of House Resolution 5 of the 112th Congress, which states, ``It shall not be in order to consider an amendment to a general appropriations bill proposing a net increase in budget authority in the bill unless considered en bloc with another amendment or amendments proposing an equal or greater decrease in such budget authority pursuant to clause 2(f) of rule XXI.

The amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill in violation of such section.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

I would tell the gentleman that the President of the United States failed to do what he was elected to do--that was to lead this country--by rejecting the Simpson-Bowles commission recommendation.

Mr. Chairman, President Obama supported and appointed the people to the Simpson-Bowles commission. Then we saw in the State of the Union message that none of the cuts that are being done tonight would have had to have been done had the President done what he should have done with regard to the Simpson-Bowles commission.

If I had been appointed to the Simpson-Bowles commission, I would have been supportive of it. If Tom Coburn and Dick Durbin can be in support of it, hopefully we can come together in a bipartisan manner; but all of the opposition would not even have had to take place if the President had not failed to provide the leadership that he failed to provide.

This bill makes deliberate choices within NASA to strike an appropriate balance between achieving budget savings, procurement support for NASA's $16 billion in annual contracts, and safety and mission assurance to prevent spaceflight accidents. To do this, you would almost guarantee that something could potentially happen.

I teach security to prevent the Chinese from having cyber attacks. We had hearings the other day, and we learned that the Chinese have had cyber attacks against NASA's computers. This amendment would say that it's okay, that we can have the cyber attacks. We're going to put it somewhere else.

In addition--and I see the gentlelady from Houston is here--this amendment will cost NASA's civil servants and contractors between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs.

Had President Obama done what he should have done by appointing that commission, we wouldn't even have had any cuts here. We would have been doing what we had to do. Since we're talking about crime, Willie Sutton said he robbed banks. The reason he robbed banks is that that's where the money is. The money is in entitlements. Had we dealt with the Obama commission of Simpson-Bowles, we would not be where we are today.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman.

It's my understanding that the gentleman is withdrawing the amendment. I want to thank the gentleman for raising some critically important points about the value of NASA's human exploration program and the need to fully support it. And no one is a stronger supporter of NASA than the gentleman from Texas, except maybe Mr. Culberson who is equally supportive.

I share his concern with ensuring exploration is adequately funded and that NASA remains on a clear path to achieve the human space flight goals laid out in last year's authorization. I will be happy to work together as closely as we possibly can to finish FY 2011 and move forward into FY 2012 to maintain a robust human space flight program at NASA, just as Mr. Olson would like it to be.

In doing so, I agree that it will be necessary to identify and eliminate duplicative, wasteful, or lower-priority activities in NASA's science programs or any other NASA account, for that matter, so that we can remain on a sustainable overall budget path. I look forward to working with the gentleman and our colleagues who support NASA and thank him for his continuing efforts in this area.

Will the gentleman yield?

I appreciate the gentleman's concern. He makes a very, very powerful point. I completely agree with him. These are important programs, as are many others in the bill, and we will ensure that as we review the FY 2011 spend plan that all NOAA's important activities are sufficiently funded.

I also, I might say, have a large weather service presence in my district and appreciate their hard work, and it's one of the more important things that NOAA does with regard to the weather.

I thank the gentleman for withdrawing his amendment, and I look forward and promise to work with him on these issues to resolve it, that we protect the issues that the gentleman's raising.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

I continue to reserve my point of order.

I continue to reserve my point of order.

I do, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I must insist on my point of order.

I wanted to just say, I appreciate the comments of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) and the Members on the other side of the aisle. I share many of his concerns. However, as the gentleman knows, there is not an offset to this bill and the amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill. The amendment is not in order under section 3(j)(3) of House Resolution 5, 112th Congress, which states, ``It shall not be in order to consider an amendment to a general appropriations bill proposing a net increase in budget authority in the bill unless considered en bloc with another amendment or amendments proposing an equal or greater decrease in such budget authority pursuant to clause 2(f) of rule XXI.'' The amendment proposes a net increase in the budget authority in the bill. Therefore, it is in violation of such section.

I ask for a ruling of the Chair.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

I won't go into great length about it. The very fact that the President has failed to address the issue of entitlements, has walked away from his own commission, the Bowles-Simpson Commission that had the support of Senator Coburn and Senator Durbin, leads you to activity like this. Many times Members are frustrated to deal with this issue.

We have $14 trillion of debt, and in the statement I gave on the floor several weeks ago, I said had I been a member of the commission, I would have voted for it. I think it was a missed opportunity. I also said that failure to address the issue of dealing with Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security will unfortunately result in many times the poor being hurt. In the Bible it says in Proverbs when you give to the poor, you loan to God, and I am sensitive to that. But the very fact that the administration, the President appoints the commission, comes out at a big press conference, and then walks away from it, leads you to some activity like this.

This would wipe out Legal Services, so I strongly urge Members to oppose the amendment, and I urge Members to contact the White House and ask them to support entitlement reform in the Simpson-Bowles package.

I yield to the gentleman from California.

Reclaiming my time, I believe that if President Reagan were President of the United States today, he would provide the leadership, because he did in saving Social Security. It was the Greenspan Commission, and he worked with them in a bipartisan way. I think if we had a President like Ronald Reagan, we would be resolving these issues.

With that, I urge opposition to the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Offered By: Mr. Wolf

Amendment No. 106: At the end of title XI of division B of

the bill (State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs),

insert the following new section:

Mr. Speaker, last Sunday, February 6, marked the 100th year of Ronald Reagan's birth. I've always admired President Reagan, and as a Member elected in 1980 when his name was at the top of the ticket, my coming to Congress was described by some as ``riding Mr. Reagan's coattails.''

I have never considered that as a derogatory characterization. Just the opposite. I am grateful that I was serving in Congress during his Presidency and had a close-up view of his incredible influence not only in America, but on the world stage, especially in the area of human rights.

As we reflect on Ronald Reagan's life and Presidency, I want to share a Wall Street Journal column by Peggy Noonan, a Reagan speechwriter who observed that ``being a good man helped him become a great one.''

[From the Wall Street Journal, Feb. 3, 2011]

Ronald Reagan at 100

Being a good man helped him become a great one

(By Peggy Noonan)

Simi Valley, Calif.--At the Ronald Reagan Presidential

Library, in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountain Range

where old Hollywood directors shot Westerns, they will mark

Sunday's centenary of Reagan's birth with events and speeches

geared toward Monday's opening of a rethought and renovated

museum aimed at making his presidency more accessible to

scholars and vividly available to the public. Fifty percent

of the artifacts, officials note, have never been shown

before--essays and short stories Reagan wrote in high school

and college, the

suit he wore the day he was shot, the condolence book signed

by world leaders at his funeral. (Margaret Thatcher: ``Well

done, Thou good and faithful servant.'')

Much recently has been written about who he was--a good man

who became a great president--but recent conversations about

Reagan have me pondering some things he was not.

He wasn't, for instance, sentimental, though he's often

thought of that way. His nature was marked by a

characterological sweetness, and his impulse was to be kind

and generous. (His daughter Patti Davis captured this last

week in a beautifully remembered essay for Time.) But he

wasn't sentimental about people and events, or about history.

Underlying all was a deep and natural skepticism. That, in a

way, is why he was conservative. ``If men were angels.'' They

are not, so we must limit the governmental power they might

wield. But his skepticism didn't leave him down. It left him

laughing at the human condition, and at himself. Jim Baker,

his first and great chief of staff, and his friend,

remembered the other day the atmosphere of merriness around

Reagan, the constant flow of humor.

But there was often a genial blackness to it, a mordant

edge. In a classic Reagan joke, a man says sympathetically to

his friend, ``I'm so sorry your wife ran away with the

gardener.'' The guy answers, ``It's OK, I was going to fire

him anyway.'' Or: As winter began, the young teacher sought

to impart to her third-graders the importance of dressing

warmly. She told the heart-rending story of her little

brother, a fun-loving boy who went out with his sled and

stayed out too long, caught a cold, then pneumonia, and days

later died. There was dead silence in the schoolroom as they

took it in. She knew she'd gotten through. Then a voice came

from the back: ``Where's the sled?''

The biggest misunderstanding about Reagan's political life

is that he was inevitable. He was not. He had to fight for

every inch, he had to make it happen. What Billy Herndon said

of Abraham Lincoln was true of Reagan too: He had within him,

always, a ceaseless little engine of ambition. He was good at

not showing it, as was Lincoln, but it was there. He was

knowingly in the greatness game, at least from 1976, when he

tried to take down a sitting president of his own party.

He was serious, and tough enough. Everyone who ever ran

against him misunderstood this. He was an actor, they

thought, a marshmallow. They'd flatten him. ``I'll wipe the

smile off his face.'' Nothing could wipe the smile off his

face. He was there to compete, he was aiming for the top. His

unconscious knew it. He told me as he worked on his farewell

address of a recurring dream he'd had through adulthood. He

was going to live in a mansion with big rooms,``high

ceilings, white walls.'' He would think to himself in the

dream that it was ``a house that was as available at a price

I could afford.'' He had the dream until he moved into the

White House and never had it again. ``Not once.''

He ran for president four times and lost twice. His 1968

run was a flop--it was too early, as he later admitted, and

when it's too early, it never ends well. In 1976 he took on

an incumbent Republican president of his own party, and lost

primaries in New Hampshire, Florida, Illinois (where he'd

been born), Massachusetts and Vermont. It was hand-to-hand

combat all the way to the convention, where he lost to Gerald

Ford. People said he was finished. He roared back in 1980

only to lose Iowa and scramble back in New Hampshire while

reorganizing his campaign and firing his top staff. He won

the nomination and faced another incumbent president.

In Reagan's candidacy the American people were being asked

to choose a former movie star (never had one as president)

who was divorced (ditto) and who looked like he might become

the most conservative president since Calvin Coolidge. To

vote for Reagan was not only to take a chance on an unusual

man with an unusual biography, but also to break with New

Deal-Great Society assumptions about the proper relationship

between the individual and the state. Americans did, in a

landslide--but only after Jimmy Carter's four years of

shattering failure.

None of it was inevitable. The political lesson of Ronald

Reagan's life: Nothing is written.

He didn't see himself as ``the great communicator.'' It was

so famous a moniker that he could do nothing but graciously

accept the compliment, but he well understood it was bestowed

in part by foes and in part to undercut the seriousness of

his philosophy: ``It's not what he says, it's how he says

it'' He answered in his farewell address: ``I never thought

it was my style or the words I used that made a difference:

it was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I

communicated great things.'' It wasn't his eloquence people

supported, it was his stands--opposition to the too-big

state, to its intrusions and demands, to Soviet communism.

Voters weren't charmed, they were convinced.

His most underestimated political achievement? In the

spring of 1981 the Professional Air Traffic Controllers

Organization called an illegal strike. It was early in

Reagan's presidency. He'd been a union president. He didn't

want to come across as an antiunion Republican. And Patco had

been one of the few unions to support him in 1980. But the

strike was illegal. He would not accept it. He gave them a

grace period, two days, to come back. If they didn't, they'd

be fired. They didn't believe him. Most didn't come back. So

he fired them. It broke the union. Federal workers got the

system back up. The Soviet Union, and others, were watching.

They thought: This guy means business. It had deeply positive

implications for U.S. foreign policy. But here's the thing:

Reagan didn't know that would happen, didn't know the bounty

he'd reap. He was just trying to do what was right.

The least understood facet of Reagan's nuclear policies? He

hated the rise of nuclear weapons, abhorred the long-accepted

policy of mutually assured destruction. That's where the

Strategic Defense Initiative came from, his desire to protect

millions from potential annihilation. The genius of his

program: When developed, America would share it with the

Soviet Union. We'd share it with everybody. All would be

protected from. doomsday.

The Soviets opposed this; the Rejkavik summit broke up over

it, and in the end the Soviets' arms spending helped bankrupt

them and hasten their fall. Years later I would see Mikhail

Gorbachev, who became Reagan's friend. He was still grumpy

about Reagan's speeches. ``Ron--he loved show business!'' Mr.

Gorbachev blustered. The losses of those years must have

still rankled, and understandably. It's one thing to be

outmaneuvered by a clever man, but to be outfoxed by a good

one--oh, that would grate.

Mr. Speaker, I want to share with our colleagues the sad news of the passing yesterday of Arthur W. ``Nick'' Arundel,

founder of the Times Community newspapers and publisher of the Loudoun Times-Mirror and Fauquier Times-Democrat, at age 83 at his home at Merry Oak Farm near The Plains, Virginia, in the 10th Congressional District.

I had the honor and pleasure of knowing Nick Arundel, a decorated Marine Corps officer, acclaimed local newspaper owner and publisher, community leader, land preservationist, animal conservationist, and philanthropist who leaves a legacy of accomplishment that may never be matched.

On behalf of 10th District residents I offer sincere condolences to his wife, Peggy, their five children, and 11 grandchildren. Their son, Peter, is president and chairman of the board of Times Community newspapers.

Mr. Speaker, I submit the obituary of Nick Arundel published in the Loudoun-Times Mirror of February 8.

Arthur W. ``Nick'' Arundel, 1928-2011

On the eve of yet another honor in a long list of local,

state, national and international acclaims, Loudoun Times-

Mirror and Fauquier Times-Democrat publisher Arthur W.

``Nick'' Arundel died at his beloved Merry Oak Farm near The

Plains, on Feb. 8.

He was 83, and was to be named the Outstanding Virginian of

2011 by the Virginia General Assembly today.

The son of Russell M. Arundel, a Pepsi-Cola executive and

fox hunting enthusiast who once served as the chairman of the

National Steeplechase and Hunt Association, and Marjorie

Arundel, a renowned conservationist, Mr. Arundel took

inspiration from both sides of the family.

He played polo and raced steeplechase horses, was an avid

rider and fox hunter and founded Great Meadow Field Events

Center.

Mr. Arundel raced Sugar Bee, the only Virginia-bred horse

to win both the Maryland Hunt Cup and the Virginia Gold Cup

at Great Meadow. In his career, Sugar Bee earned Timber Horse

of the Year and National Stock Horse Association Horse of the

Year honors.

Mr. Arundel also was an early enthusiast and a lifelong

energetic supporter of land conservation programs, helping

launch and nurture conservation easement programs that have

done much to preserve open space, agriculture and forestry in

the northern Piedmont.

Wildcat Mountain, site of Merry Oak Farm, was one of the

first large tracts of land to be put in conservation easement

in Fauquier County. Altogether, the Arundel family has put

more than 5,000 acres under conservation easement.

``Growth over the years just ahead here will probably be

greater than in all of the combined history of Fauquier

County,'' Mr. Arundel wrote in a front-page statement of

purpose in his first issue as owner of The Fauquier Democrat,

which he bought in November 1974.

``It has the promise of creating opportunity for work and

careers for young people here, which have not always been

present. Growth must not and shall not happen at the price of

destroying this county's beauty, natural heritage and its

vital farm industry.''

Great Meadow perhaps is the Fauquier County crown jewel

that perfectly aligns Mr. Arundel's interest in equestrian

sport and land conservation.

The 540-acre tract had been destined for houses on one-acre

lots when Mr. Arundel purchased the boggy, low-lying

property.

``In an increasingly crowded nation with such large pieces

of land for these events gradually disappearing,'' Great

Meadow Foundation trustees said in accepting Mr. Arundel's

gift of the land, ``Great Meadow will provide a permanent,

open-space green theater preserved from development to engage

the graceful drama and color of these sports for the general

public . . . For the community and legacy of these great

sports, we are grateful for Mr. Arundel's characteristic

thoughtfulness in making this possible.''

Born in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 12, 1928, Mr. Arundel

grew up there and in Mason City, Iowa. He graduated from

Harvard in 1951, a friend and classmate of Robert F. Kennedy,

and served as a Marine Corps paratroop officer in Korea,

where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart.

In 1954, Mr. Arundel parachuted behind the lines into

Hanoi, leading a clandestine team to successfully destroy key

installations there before Ho Chi Minh took over the city

after the French loss at Dien Bien Phu. That would not be his

last mission in southeast Asia.

Mr. Arundel left the Marine Corps in 1955 with the rank of

captain, but returned to serve his country as a paramilitary

officer attached to the CIA in Vietnam. He was wounded there

as well, earning a second Purple Heart.

Mr. Arundel was fond of telling the story of convincing

Edward R. Murrow that he had the skills and drive necessary

to become a reporter. Murrow was apparently swayed by the

young former Marine and sent Mr. Arundel to work as a Defense

Department correspondent in the Washington bureau of CBS

News. Mr. Arundel later joined United Press International,

also covering the Defense Department.

After a stint as a special assistant to the Secretary of

Commerce, and with a bank loan of $75,000 and the courage of

his convictions, Mr. Arundel purchased D.C.-area radio

station WARL, a country music station, changing the name to

WAVA. Arundel and his staff began reading wire service

stories on the air when the popular morning announcer was

killed in a car crash on his way to work.

WAVA became, ``the first all-news station in the world,''

Mr. Arundel said. ``It's very pleasing to see that being

carried on today . . . in television.''

Over the ensuing years, Mr. Arundel built Arundel

Communications (ArCom, now Times Community Media), adding

radio, television and, with the 1963 purchase of the Loudoun

Times-Mirror, newspapers.

``I fell in love with print journalism and left

broadcasting,'' Mr. Arundel said. ``I sold out of it.

The money was in broadcasting, but the joy was in print. I

was never in print journalism till I bought my first

newspaper and walked in the door, sight unseen.''

Mr. Arundel bought what was then called the Fauquier

Democrat in 1974. At the pinnacle of his career as a

newspaper publisher, ArCom operated 17 weekly community

newspapers in Fauquier, Culpeper, Prince William, Clarke,

Loudoun and Fairfax counties.

Politically active, Mr. Arundel was on a first-name basis

with virtually every prominent Virginia politician and many

others who walk the national stage.

While still at Harvard, he served in an internship with

then-U.S. Sen. Lyndon Johnson on Capitol Hill. He also ran

the Virginia presidential campaign for Harvard classmate

Robert F. Kennedy and threw his own hat into the ring for

election to the Virginia Senate in the early '70s as a

Democrat.

Pragmatic and more concerned about leadership than party

labels, Mr. Arundel endorsed a variety of candidates for

public office on the editorial pages of his newspapers,

including, most recently, Republican John McCain for

president in 2008.

``In the first part of your life, you learn,'' Mr. Arundel

said of the development of Great Meadow, which he donated to

the nonprofit Great Meadow Foundation. ``In the second, you

earn, and in the third, you give it all back.''

He remained in active pursuit of the last-named goal until

the end of his life.

Recent projects included the establishment of Morningside

Training Farm, a 120-acre equestrian center at the very foot

of the Merry Oak driveway. There, Mr. Arundel was building a

training facility for every facet of equestrian sport.

He also was actively engaged in the Journey Through

Hallowed Ground, which he founded and for which he served as

chairman.

Mr. Arundel was a founder and president of Friends of the

National Zoo; the first chairman of George Mason College (now

George Mason University); a founder and president of Piedmont

Environmental Council; founder of the U.S. Marine Corps

Heritage Center in Quantico; co-founder of the National Press

Foundation; co-founder of the Washington Journalism Center,

co-founder and past president of the African Wildlife

Foundation; and a member of the Board of Visitors of

Harvard's Kennedy Center of Government, Duke University's

Public Affairs Institute, the Monticello Founders Board, the

Virginia Higher Education Business Council, National Sporting

Library, National Military History Museum, Virginia Museum of

Fine Arts, George Washington University, Waterford

Foundation, Fresh Air/Full Call Campaign, the Virginia Racing

Commission, and the Americans at War Foundation. He was

inducted into the Hall of Fame of Virginia Communications in

2001.

Mr. Arundel was married for 53 years to his wife Peggy, nee

Margaret C. McElroy, of Philadelphia, who survives him.

The couple had five children, all of whom also survive--

Mrs. Donald DeWees, of Wilmington, Del.; Peter W. Arundel, of

McLean; Wendy Arundel, of Sherborn, Mass.; John Arundel, of

Alexandria; Thomas B. Arundel, of Washington, D.C.; and 11

grandchildren.

Peter Arundel is president and chairman of the board of

Times Community Media, the parent company of the Loudoun

Times-Mirror, as well as the Fauquier Times-Democrat, the

Culpeper Times and the Gainesville Times.

In the wake of the devastating attacks targeting Christians in Iraq and Egypt last year, it is clear that religious minorities in the Middle East are facing a grave threat. There are even reports of Christian women who, having fled Iraq, are living in ghettos in Syria and have been driven to prostitution in a desperate attempt to provide for their families.

With the exception of Israel, the Bible contains more references to ancient Iraq than any other country: Abraham, Nineveh, Esther, Daniel, to name a few.

Iraq and Egypt are not an anomaly. A Christian mother of five in Pakistan remains in prison charged with blasphemy. If found guilty, she faces the death penalty.

In the face of these grim realities, I have introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 440, which would create a special envoy at the State Department to advocate on behalf of religious minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia. I urge all colleagues who care about the persecution of Christians in Iraq and Pakistan and Egypt to cosponsor my bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw the attention of my colleagues to the plight of Christians and other religious minorities in the Near East and South and Central Asia and to announce that I am introducing legislation which would require the administration to appoint a special envoy for religious minorities in these regions to make this issue a foreign policy priority. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this important legislation.

Last October, at least 70 people were killed during a siege on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad making it the worst massacre of Iraqi Christians since 2003. Less than two months later, extremists bombed the homes of more than a dozen Christian families throughout Baghdad. In a hearing before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, an Iraqi nun testified that the current spate of violence against Christians is worse than anything experienced under the ruthless dictator Saddam Hussein. The U.S. has a moral imperative to ensure that these minorities are protected.

On New Year's Eve, Miriam Fekry, a 22-year-old Egyptian woman posted on her Facebook page before leaving for mass that ``2010 is over. This year has the best memories of my life. Really enjoyed this year. I hope that 2011 is much better. Plz God stay beside me & help make it all true.'' Tragically, that evening Miriam and 22 other people were killed by a suicide bomber in Alexandria, Egypt while coming out of mass at St. Mark and St. Peter Coptic Church. It was the worst violence against the country's Christian minority in a decade. Just ten days after the attack in Alexandria, an off-duty police officer fatally shot a Coptic Christian man and wounded five others Copts on a train in Egypt.

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, countries where the United States has invested its treasure and the lives of countless brave young American soldiers, persecution of Christians runs rampant. On November 7 last year, a Pakistani court sentenced Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, to death for the ``crime'' of blasphemy. Only after intervention by the international community was her execution delayed. Her fate remains unclear. Unfortunately this is symptomatic of a much larger problem in Pakistan. Pakistan's blasphemy laws are often used to victimize both religious minorities and Muslims. In fact, Punjab's governor, influential governor, Salman Taseer was shot and killed by his own body guard who reportedly told police, ``that he killed Mr. Taseer because of the governor's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law.''

In Afghanistan, a televised broadcast of Afghans being baptized resulted in the arrest of four Christians last August, who were eventually released due to international pressure. However, two Afghan converts to Christianity remain imprisoned on account of their faith. One of the Christian converts who is facing a possible death sentence reportedly said, ``Without my faith I would not be able to live.''

Other religious minorities including the Ahmadis, Baha'is, Zoroastrians and Jews are under increasing pressure in the region.

Last May, militants in Pakistan attacked two Ahmadi mosques in Pakistan killing at least 80 people. While the Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim, Pakistani law does not recognize them as such and they have been the target of large-scale coordinated attacks by extremist groups.

According to the Baha'i World News Service, some 335 Baha'is have been arrested in Iran on account of their religious beliefs. Seven leaders of the Baha'i faith in Iran have been imprisoned since their arrest in 2008. According to the State Department's 2010 International Religious Freedom Report, Zoroastrians living in Iran also face persecution and blatant discrimination.

Members of the Jewish faith continue to experience discrimination and persecution throughout the region. The Special Envoy for Anti-Semitism Hannah Rosenthal has noted that Holocaust glorification ``is especially virulent in the Middle East media.''

In the wake of these devastating attacks on religious freedom, which in some cases are so severe that they literally threaten to wipe these ancient indigenous communities from the lands they've inhabited for centuries, it is clear that more must be done. Sadly, against the backdrop of these attacks, the post of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the State Department has been vacant for two years.

If the international community fails to speak out, the prospects for religious pluralism and tolerance in the region are bleak. President Ronald Reagan once said that the U.S. Constitution is a ``covenant that we have made not only with ourselves, but with all of mankind.''

I believe that the United States has an obligation to speak out for the voiceless around the world, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting my legislation calling for a special envoy dedicated to speaking out for religious minorities in the Near East and South and Central Asia and elevating this issue as a foreign policy priority for America.

Mr. Speaker, last week the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing on the plight of Christian minorities in Iraq and Egypt. In the wake of the devastating attacks targeting Christians in both countries, it is clear that religious minorities in the Middle East are facing a serious threat that must be addressed. This recent spate of violence has driven many Christians and other religious minorities to flee the lands they have inhabited for centuries and attempt to emigrate to the West. If the international community fails to speak out, the prospects for religious pluralism and tolerance in the region are bleak.

President Reagan once said that the U.S. Constitution is ``a covenant that we have made not only with ourselves, but with all of mankind.'' I believe the United States has an obligation to speak out for the voiceless around the world.

This week I will introduce, with other Members, a bill which would require the administration to appoint a Special Envoy for religious minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia in order to make this issue a foreign policy priority, and I ask my colleagues to join me.