Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I want to share the following letters that I have sent to President Obama urging him to implement four bipartisan proposals to strengthen our national security. It is disappointing that the administration has not adopted these proposals that would make our country safer.

Congress of the United States,

House of Representatives,

January 12, 2010.

Hon. Barack H. Obama,

President,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. President: ``National Security is too important to

become a partisan issue.'' This sentence was the opening line

in a January 11 USA Today op-ed jointly authored by Lee

Hamilton and Thomas Kean, co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission.

Last week, you, too, said, ``Now is not a time for

partisanship, it's a time for citizenship--a time to come

together and work together with the seriousness of purpose

that our national security demands.'' I could not agree more

with this sentiment.

No nation, including America, can hope to win this long

battle against al Qaeda and like foes if the war effort is

marked by partisanship. Sadly, not only has partisanship

infused the rhetoric surrounding national security

discussions, it has actually obstructed the critical role of

congressional oversight. Too often in recent months

partisanship has resulted in withholding of information,

unanswered letters and briefings denied by this

administration.

The stakes are too high and the cost of failure is too

great for petty politics to rule the day. The White House has

a moral obligation to actively and consistently reach out to

the minority party in Congress, to be forthcoming with

information and to provide access to all levels of

government.

Hamilton and Kean go on to write, ``We intend to monitor

the implementation of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations

and report on new national security threats.'' I urge you to

encourage this effort by bringing back these two co-chairs

for a six-month period to conduct a formal review and 9/11

Commission follow-up. They would be charged with evaluating

which of the Commission's original recommendation have been

implemented and to what end, and which have failed to be

implemented and at what cost.

This past weekend, The Washington Post featured an op-ed by

Bruce Hoffman, respected professor of security studies at

Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the U.S.

Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center. Hoffman wrote,

``(W)hile al-Qaeda is finding new ways to exploit our

weaknesses, we are stuck in a pattern of belated responses,

rather than anticipating its moves and developing preemptive

strategies. The `systemic failure' of intelligence analysis

and airport security that Obama recently described was not

just the product of a compartmentalized bureaucracy or

analytical inattention, but a failure to recognize al

Qaeda's new strategy. The national security architecture

built in the aftermath of Sept. 11 addresses yesterday's

threats--but not today's and certainly not tomorrow's. It

is superb at reacting and responding, but not at

outsmarting . . . a new approach to counterterrorism is

essential.''

Distinct from temporarily bringing back the two 9/11

Commission co-chairs, I also urge the creation of a ``Team

B.'' As you may know, historically the phrase ``Team B''

refers to a group of outside experts, commissioned by the

Central Intelligence Agency in the 1970's and headed by

Richard Pipes, to analyze the threats posed by the Soviet

Union to the United States and counter the positions of

intelligence officials within the CIA, known as ``Team A.''

In your remarks last week following the review of the

attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack, you rightly

referred to our enemy as ``nimble.'' Too often our response

to the evolving threat posed by al Qaeda, and others

sympathetic to their murderous aims, is anything but.

The Team B concept has been successful in previous

administrations when fresh eyes were needed to provide the

commander-in-chief with objective information to make

informed policy decisions. I believe it can work now, too,

and suggest that among the individuals, but not exclusively,

whose expertise and forward-thinking would be well-suited to

a Team B are: Bruce Hoffman; Andrew McCarthy and Patrick

Fitzgerald, both of whom were involved in the prosecution of

Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman in the first World Trade Center

bombings; Fouad Ajami, professor at the School of Advanced

International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University; Jean

Bethke Elshtain, professor of social and political ethics at

the University of Chicago; economist Judy Shelton, National

Endowment for Democracy board member; foreign policy

columnist and author Anne Applebaum; Andrew F. Krepinevich

Jr., author of Seven Deadly Scenarios: A Military Futurist

Explores War in the 21st Century; Elliot Cohen, professor of

Strategic Studies at SAIS; Philip D. Zelikow, diplomat and

author who worked as executive director of the 9/11

Commission, and Joshua Muravchik, formerly a scholar at the

American Enterprise Institute and presently a Foreign Policy

Institute fellow at SAIS.

The 9/11 Commission report was issued nearly six years ago.

Even if every recommendation had been implemented, which it

has not, our enemy has evolved since that time. Our current

intelligence infrastructure is at times overwhelmed by data,

information and the urgency of daily events, and as such is

unable to dedicate the time and resources necessary to think

outside the box and better comprehend this multidimensional

threat. ``Team B'' would possess the necessary expertise but

would be free from these daily pressures. The team would

represent a ``new approach to counterterrorism'' which

focuses not just on connecting the dots of intelligence, but

which seeks to stay a step ahead in understanding how to

break the radicalization and recruitment cycle that sustains

our enemy, how to disrupt their network globally and how to

strategically isolate them.

I also believe there is an urgent need to make the

Transportation Security Agency (TSA) administrator a long-

term position. Since TSA's inception following the 9/11

attacks, there have been six Transportation Security Agency

administrators and acting administrators. For a position of

this import to turn over with such frequency and to

automatically change hands with each new administration

simply does not make sense. I am introducing legislation that

mirrors the language used to establish a 10-year term and

Senate confirmation for FBI directors. I am hopeful that

members of both parties will see the merits of this proposal

and I urge your support for this change.

America is a great nation facing an enemy unlike any other

we have ever known. We must steel ourselves for the struggle

ahead, frankly assessing the nature and scope of the threat

we face and guarding against partisanship at all costs. The

people of this country deserve nothing less.

Sincerely,

Frank R. Wolf,

Member of Congress.

Madam Speaker, I call to the attention of the House the passing on March 25 of John E.D. Ball, 77, a resident of Vienna, Virginia, who was the founding president of the National Captioning Institute and two-time national Emmy Award winner for his television engineering work.

Mr. Ball was a native of Glasgow, Scotland. An avid electronics buff as a teenager, he was a graduate of Glasgow's Royal College of Science and Technology. He served two years in the Royal Air Force as a radio signaller and 13 years with the BBC. Recruited by Computer Sciences Corporation, he and his family arrived in the United States in 1966. He joined the Public Broadcasting Service in 1971 and helped implement the first domestic satellite distribution system. Completed in 1978, the project won Mr. Ball his first Emmy award for engineering.

His interest in developing closed captioning for television programs was spawned in 1972 when he attended a briefing at Gallaudet College (now Gallaudet University) and was struck by the enthusiasm from the largely deaf audience following a demonstration by ABC-TV and the National Bureau of Standards of a subtitling system for the deaf. He worked over the next 7 years at PBS to make closed caption television a reality and in 1980 accepted on behalf of PBS a second national engineering Emmy Award.

Mr. Ball's effort led to the establishment later that year of the National Captioning Institute, a nonprofit that worked to expand the availability of closed captioning, for which Mr. Ball served as the founding president and chief executive officer for 15 years. At the urging of NCI and others, Congress passed the Television Decoder Circuitry Act in 1990 that required new televisions with screens larger than 13 inches to be equipped with closed-captioning technology. Today the ``talking TV'' logo has become one of the most recognizable symbols in the country.

For his exceptional dedication and work, Mr. Ball was awarded an honorary degree from Gallaudet University and also received a distinguished service award from the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Madam Speaker, we extend our sympathies to Mr. Ball's family, including his wife, the former Elizabeth Rodger of Vienna, Virginia; three sons, Norman Ball of Leesburg, Adrian Ball of Arlington County and Evan Ball of Vienna; and a grandson.

Madam Speaker, I submit for the Record a bipartisan letter which was sent to the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, TIP, expressing ``concern over continuing reports of abductions, forced marriages, and exploitation of Coptic women and girls in Egypt.'' We urged the TIP Office to investigate whether these cases should be included in the upcoming Trafficking in Persons Report.

The U.S. has given Egypt billions of dollars in foreign aid since the Camp David Accords, and yet they persist in trampling the rights of minorities and brutally suppressing political and human rights. In fact, by most accounts there has been backsliding in all of these areas.

With still no Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, when was the last time that this administration advocated for the Coptic Christians?

Congress of the United States,

Washington, DC, April 16, 2010.

Hon. Luis CdeBaca,

Ambassador-at-Large, U.S. Department of State, Washington,

Madam Speaker, I submit for the Record an op-ed today by respected New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof regarding the Obama administration's abysmal record on Sudan. He paints a bleak picture about the potentially dire implications of the administration's failure to confront Khartoum. I echo Kristof's warning that ``if President Obama is ever going to find his voice on Sudan, it had better be soon.''

[From the New York Times, April 22, 2010]

Obama Backs Down on Sudan

(By Nicholas D. Kristof)

Juba, Sudan.--Until he reached the White House, Barack

Obama repeatedly insisted that the United States apply more

pressure on Sudan so as to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe

in Darfur and elsewhere. Yet, as president, Mr. Obama and his

aides have caved, leaving Sudan gloating at American

weakness. Western monitors, Sudanese journalists and local

civil society groups have all found this month's Sudanese

elections to be deeply flawed--yet Mr. Obama's special envoy

for Sudan, Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, pre-emptively defended

the elections, saying they would be ``as free and as fair as

possible.'' The White House showed only a hint more backbone

with a hurried reference this week to ``an essential step''

with ``serious irregularities.''

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan--the man wanted by

the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity

in Darfur--has been celebrating. His regime calls itself the

National Congress Party, or N.C.P., and he was quoted in

Sudan as telling a rally in the Blue Nile region: ``Even

America is becoming an N.C.P. member. No one is against our

will.'' Memo to Mr. Obama: When a man who has been charged

with crimes against humanity tells the world that America is

in his pocket, it's time to review your policy.

Perhaps the Obama administration caved because it considers

a flawed election better than no election. That's a

reasonable view, one I share. It's conceivable that Mr.

Bashir could have won a quasi-fair election--oil revenues

have manifestly raised the standard of living in parts of

Sudan--and the campaigning did create space for sharp

criticism of the government.

It's also true that Sudan has been behaving better in some

respects. The death toll in Darfur is hugely reduced, and the

government is negotiating with rebel groups there. The

Sudanese government gave me a visa and travel permits to

Darfur, allowing me to travel legally and freely. The real

game isn't, in fact, Darfur or the elections but the

maneuvering for a possible new civil war. The last north-

south civil war in Sudan ended with a fragile peace in 2005,

after some two million deaths. The peace agreement provided

for a referendum, scheduled to take place in January, in

which southern Sudanese will decide whether to secede. They

are expected to vote overwhelmingly to form a separate

country.

Then the question becomes: will the north allow South Sudan

to separate? The south holds the great majority of the

country's oil, and it's difficult to see President Bashir

allowing oil fields to walk away.

``If the result of the referendum is independence, there is

going to be war--complete

war,'' predicts Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, one of Sudan's most

outspoken human rights advocates. He cautions that America's

willingness to turn a blind eye to election-rigging here

increases the risk that Mr. Bashir will feel that he can get

away with war.

``They're very naive in Washington,'' Mr. Mudawi said.

``They don't understand what is going on.''

On the other hand, a senior Sudanese government official,

Ghazi Salahuddin, told me unequivocally in Khartoum, the

nation's capital, that Sudan will honor the referendum

results. And it's certainly plausible that north and south

will muddle through and avoid war, for both sides are

exhausted by years of fighting.

Here in Juba, the South Sudan capital, I met Winnie Wol,

26, who fled the civil war in 1994 after a militia from the

north attacked her village to kill, loot, rape and burn. Her

father and many relatives were killed, but she escaped and

made her way to Kenya--and eventually resettled as a refugee

in California. She now lives in Olathe, Kan., and she had

returned for the first time to Sudan to visit a mother and

sisters she had last seen when she was a little girl.

Ms. Wol, every bit the well-dressed American, let me tag

along for her journey back to her village of Nyamlell, 400

miles northwest of Juba. The trip ended by a thatch-roof hut

that belonged to her mother, who didn't know she was coming--

so no one was home. Ms. Wol was crushed.

Then there was a scream and a woman came running. It was

Ms. Wol's mother, somehow recognizing her, and they flew into

each other's arms. To me, It felt like a peace dividend.

Yet that peace is fragile, and Ms. Wol knows that the

northern forces may come back to pillage again. ``I don't

want war,'' she said, ``but I don't think they will allow us

to separate.''

My own hunch is that the north hasn't entirely decided what

to do, and that strong international pressure can reduce the

risk of another savage war. If President Obama is ever going

to find his voice on Sudan, it had better be soon.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate April as the National Month of the Military Child. I also ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing the outstanding work of the Our Military Kids organization as well as its 2010 award winners. I am honored that this program, founded in McLean, Virginia, is located in the 10th District of Virginia.

Our Military Kids is an organization that offers support to children of deployed National Guard and Reserve personnel in addition to children of severely injured servicemembers, through grants for extracurricular activities. In honor of the sacrifices military parents make, Our Military Kids helps to ensure that children of military families have the chance to have access to enrichment activities such as fine arts, sports, or academic programs.

I particularly wish to recognize the dedicated staff of Our Military Kids. They are joined by a Board of Directors, as well as an Advisory Board, who help make important decisions on behalf of the organization. The organization launched its original program in Winchester, Virginia, in connection with the Virginia National Guard in 2005. Today the success of Our Military Kids has gained national recognition and now reaches 14,633 children in all 50 states.

Each year Our Military Kids recognizes outstanding military children and families for their service to and sacrifice for our country. This year's award ceremony was held on April 13 in the Cannon Caucus Room here on Capitol Hill and I was honored to attend the ``Celebration of Our Military Kids' Star Power'' event at which four military children and one military family were saluted. The 2010 award winners are: Valerie Gonzalez of Alhambra, CA, in the 7-10-year-old age category; Jasmine Warren of Douglasville, GA, 11-14-year-old category; Taylor Ulmen of Madelia, MN, 15-18-year-old category; John Stefan Jenkins, Jr. of Jamaica, NY, 15-18-year old category, and four children from the Sonnen Family of Annandale, VA, whose father Tom was deployed to Iraq.

Through many generous partnerships with individuals, foundations, and corporations Our Military Kids is able to award grants to children each year. The Star Supporters of 2009-2010 include: General Dynamics; Target; Bob Woodruff Foundation; Leonsis Foundation; Lockheed Martin; American Legion Child Welfare Foundation; Emerson Charitable Trust; USAA; AUSA; General Dynamics-AIS; Jeong H. Kim Foundation; Oshkosh Defense; Mr. & Mrs. Michael Ansari; ASMBA Star Foundation; Association of Military Banks of America; Avion Manufacturing; Binder Foundation; Careerbuilder.com; EADS North America; Janning Family Foundation; PGA Tour Wives Association; Mr. & Mrs. Roger C. Schultz; Silicon Valley Community Foundation; Tiger Woods Foundation; Aspen Capital, LLC; Mr. & Mrs. Peter J. Barris; Bechtel; Binder Foundation; Booz Allen Hamilton; Congressional Country Club; Dorothy G. Bender Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Shawn Hendon, Mr. & Mrs. John H. Hiser, Kipps DeSanto; Mr. & Mrs. Gerard R. Lear; Lillian Adams Charitable Trust; Mr. & Mrs. Philip Odeen; Gen. & Mrs. Peter Pace; Triple Canopy; Walter B. Slocombe; Mr. & Mrs. Paul A. Weaver, Jr.; Mr. & Mrs. William Wolpert.

In closing, I would like to particularly thank Linda Davidson, Our Military Kids' executive director, for dedication and tireless efforts to support our Nation's military families.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the FY2011 budget proposed by President Obama for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA. I believe the administration plan would abdicate U.S. leadership in space. Nearly every astronaut, including Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has spoken out against this misguided budget proposal.

I submit articles from The Wall Street Journal and the Orlando Sentinel which further call into question the administration's judgment with regard to NASA.

[From the Wall Street Journal, Apr. 17, 2010]

NASA Whipsaw: Prop Re-Do for Obama's Speech

When President Barack Obama gave his long-awaited speech

Thursday laying out a vision for NASA, the backdrop featured

an immaculate mockup of the Orion space capsule.

But only a few days before, workers at the Kennedy Space

Center in Florida had frantically removed all vestiges of the

Orion program from the same building.

What prompted the prop swap?

The reasons behind the abrupt scene change--and Obama's

positive words about Orion in his address--reflect the sudden

shifts and last-minute policy decisions that continue to

buffet the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. For

more on that, read this WSJ article.)

In February, the White House shocked many in industry and

Congress by seeking to kill NASA's Constellation manned

exploration program, designed to replace the retiring space

shuttle fleet and eventually take astronauts back to the moon

and on to Mars. The multi-billion dollar Orion capsule,

reminiscent of the Apollo era, is part of that program.

In the following months, the Obama administration resisted

entreaties by Lockheed Martin, the capsule contractor, and

its champions on Capitol Hill to save Orion. The company

repeatedly tried but failed to interest NASA and the White

House in pursuing a less-expensive, stripped-down version of

the capsule, ``Orion light.'' For the White House, all of

Constellation was too expensive and would take too long to

complete.

On Mondays as the space center was preparing for the high-

profile presidential policy speech, Lockheed had forklifts

and other equipment hurriedly removing everything related to

Orion from the building where Obama would speak, according to

people familiar with the details. Administration officials

bluntly told company executives that the president didn't

want to be associated with Orion.

That quickly changed. On Tuesday afternoon, chief White

House science adviser John Holdren called Joanne Maguire,

head of Lockheed Martin's space programs, to inform her that

a revised version of the Orion capsule would be reinstated in

the president's plans. Now, NASA wants to use the capsule, at

the very least, as an emergency escape system for U.S.

astronauts when they are on the international space station.

That still left NASA, however, with the dilemma of what to

do about the mockup. Between Tuesday night and Thursday

morning, the White House, NASA managers and local center

officials managed to restore the Orion mockup to its earlier

prominence in the building. ``Things were really changing

pretty quickly there, at the end,'' said one administration

official.

As photographers and reporters swarmed around Obama,

pictures of the capsule were beamed around the world.

Lockheed didn't have any comment. The White House had no

immediate comment.

During his speech, Obama had only nice things to say about

the Lockheed Martin program, though he initially

mispronounced its name. NASA, he said, ``will build on the

good work already done'' on the Orion crew capsule, and it

will become ``part of the technological foundation for

advanced spacecraft to be used in future deep-space

missions.''

[From OrlandoSentinel.com, Apr. 18, 2010]

Obama's Space Plan Adds Insult to Injury

(By Douglas MacKinnon)

With all due respect to President Obama, regarding his

speech in Florida on ``Space Exploration in the 21st

Century,'' I simply have to ask, ``Are you kidding me?''

As one who has consulted on and written extensively about

our space program, worked in the White House and drafted a

speech or two, I know shameless pandering filler when I read

it.

The president's speech had more useless and suspect filler

than a New York City street hot dog--part of that filler

being when the president recognized his chief science

adviser, John Holdren. This is the same man who just told

students the United States couldn't be No. 1 in science

forever.

When the nation and the program most needed honesty, true

direction and an unwavering belief in the promise of space,

the president chose to add insult to the injury that is the

dismantling of our human spaceflight program. To quote Neil

Armstrong, James Lovell and Eugene Cernan, the president's

decision to ``. . . cancel the Constellation program, its

Ares 1 and Ares V rockets, and the Orion spacecraft, is

devastating.''

Three heroic and history-making astronauts take the unusual

step of writing an open letter to warn of this

``devastating'' action, and the president responds with a

pedestrian speech that makes a mockery of a dire situation.

Worse, for purely political reasons, he decided to pit the

Apollo 11 moonwalkers against each other.

To try and blunt the criticism of him by the first man to

step on the surface of the moon, Obama not only flew Buzz

Aldrin with him on Air Force One for the event at Kennedy

Space Center, but led his remarks by referring to Aldrin as a

legend. Aldrin may be the only one not aware of his role as a

prop of the White House political operation.

It's not a stretch to imagine Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

turning to David Axelrod and saying, ``If the first man on

the moon is going to strongly and publicly criticize us, then

let's use the second man to walk on the moon as validation

for our `promise them anything but deliver nothing' new

vision.''

In a speech void of detail, the president said, ``By the

mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and

return them safely to Earth.'' Where have I heard something

like that before? That would be President George H. W. Bush

in July 1989 when he spoke of landing Americans on Mars.

Twenty-one years later, Obama gives us a watered-down version

of that speech.

In 1989, much of the media rightfully took President Bush

to task for an open-ended goal that lacked specifics and

would have carried a price tag in the hundreds of billions of

dollars. Say what you will about Bush's half-hearted effort,

at least his astronauts would have landed on the Red Planet.

Under Obama's fictional plan, for our investment of more than

$100 billion, our astronauts would only get to wave at Mars

as they zipped around it, with a landing saved for a future

mission. Can't we just wave at it for free from here on

Earth?

The president betrayed both his lack of interest in human

spaceflight as well as his ignorance of the subject when he

said, ``Now, I understand that some believe that we should

attempt a return to the surface of the moon first, as

previously planned. But I just have to say pretty bluntly

here. We've been there before. Buzz has been there . . .''

By that thinking, European explorers should have abandoned

the New World and President Jefferson should have ignored the

explorations and discoveries of great natural wealth made by

Lewis and Clark.

For reasons of cost, commercial enterprise, science and

national security, it makes sense for us to establish bases,

observatories, mines and potentially even military operations

on the moon. If we don't, others--particularly the People's

Republic of China with its military-controlled space

program--most assuredly will.

President Obama has played the space community for fools,

and he's hoping he will get away with it. Unfortunately for

us all, China, Russia and others share his hope.

Madam Speaker, I would like to share with our colleagues an editorial from the April 9 Scranton Times Tribune urging the Obama administration to name an Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, as required by the International Religious Freedom Act, which was passed by Congress in 1998. The editorial rightly points out that the portfolio of this ambassador is ``fundamental to American ideals. . . .''

The absence of a consistent voice dedicated to the pursuit of religious freedom both within the State Department and globally in our interactions with foreign governments is deeply concerning. America must speak out for those around the world whose most basic freedoms are being trampled.

[From the Times-Tribune, Apr. 9, 2010]

Name, Elevate Ambassador

More than a year into office, President Barack Obama has

yet to name a key diplomat with a portfolio that is

fundamental to American ideals, international human rights

and U.S. law.

The Religious Freedom Act of 1998, for good reason,

requires the appointment of an ambassador-at-large for

international religious freedom.

Religious liberty is, of course, a founding principle of

the United States. The first line of the First Amendment

states it flatly: ``Congress shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise

thereof . . .''

Abundant experience shows that a government's lack of

religious tolerance is a sure indicator of broader

oppression. And it is a very modern problem. According to the

Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, about 70 percent of

the world's people live under regimes that restrict religious

freedom.

The Clinton and George W. Bush administrations both named

ambassadors-at-large for religious freedom but failed to

afford them the status required by the 1998 law. Passed

unanimously by Congress, the law requires the ambassador to

be the principal adviser to the president and the secretary

of state on matters of international religious freedom.

As noted by Joseph Grieboski, the Lackawanna County native

who founded the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, the

current administration would further diminish the status of

the ambassador by having the eventual appointee report far

down the chain of command rather than directly to the

president or secretary of state.

Other ambassadors-at-large, for counterterrorism, war

crimes and global women's issues, report directly to the

president or secretary, or both, as required by the laws

establishing the positions.

Religious liberty is a human rights issue inextricably

woven into America's position of promoting democracy and

freedom around the world. President Obama should signal

repressive regimes that it is an important matter to the

United States by quickly naming an ambassador and having that

person consult directly with him and the secretary of state.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the third grade students at the Loudoun Country Day School in Leesburg, Virginia. They are conducting a food drive called ``Kids Helping Kids'' to benefit Loudoun Interfaith Relief. I am honored to recognize the ongoing contributions of these special young people to help feed the hungry in their community.

These talented students are collecting healthy breakfast and lunch items to distribute to Loudoun County families this summer. Many families depend on free and reduced price hot meals for their children during the school year, and will greatly benefit for receiving meals during the summer months.

This is the second food drive that the Loudoun Country Day students have implemented this year. Last fall, the students collected 1,296 pounds of food that allowed 40 families to have a complete Thanksgiving feast.

I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating the following students for their commitment to helping the hungry in their community.

Aidan Kennedy

Alex Moran

Annabella Stavrou

Ben Kowkowski

Greyson Sequino

Hunter Gowin

Lindsey Fouty

Lyndsey Coleman

Lauren Miller

Peyton Carter

TJ Donovan

Lauren Rubino

McKenna Martinez

Maddi Moran

Ella Parsons

Brian Wilmans

Christophe Atkinson

Luke Miller

Stephen Kalivokas

Drew Johnson

Gabrielle Latimer

Zyannah Malick

I thank the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, this is a sad occasion as we inform the House of the passing of a former colleague, Representative Stan Parris, who died on March 27 at the age of 80.

Stan loved the people's House and proudly served Virginia's Eighth District for six terms. I had the privilege of serving with Stan for 10 of those 12 years. He was a good friend. He had many legislative accomplishments for the people in northern Virginia, in addition to the ones my colleagues, Mr. Moran, said. I think many would agree that one most significant accomplishment was the transfer of Dulles and National Airports from the FAA to a regional airports authority, an effort that consumed several years, but eventually led to two of the finest airports in the region.

He was not only an outstanding Member of Congress, but he was a Korean War hero. Someone said if you wanted to understand Stan Parris, you should read the book ``The Right Stuff'' because he had the right stuff. He was a pilot, had been shot down during the Korean War. His airplane landed on power lines, and he was later rescued in North Korea. He received a Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart and the Air Medal. He was also a State legislator and a local legislator, businessman and attorney. He recently had made his home in Mathews, Virginia, with his wife, Martie. And so to Martie and Stan's three children and two grandchildren, we express our deepest sympathies.

Funeral services for Stan will be held in late June, I believe June 28, with a burial at Arlington National Cemetery. He was a good Member of Congress, and he loved this institution as much as anybody that I ever met.

[From the Washington Post, Mar. 29, 2010]

Stanford E. Parris, 80, Dies; N. Va. Member of Congress

(By Matt Schudel)

Stanford E. Parris, 80, who served six terms in the U.S.

House of Representatives as a Republican from Northern

Virginia's Eighth District, died March 27 of heart disease at

his home in Mathews County, Va.

Mr. Parris, who was a lawyer and car dealer before entering

politics, was first elected in 1972, then returned to

Congress from 1981 to 1991. A onetime Air Force fighter

pilot, he survived several hard-fought campaigns and was

among the first Republicans to gain a foothold in modern-day

Virginia politics.

During his first term in Congress, he won the gratitude of

football fans by introducing a bill prohibiting the National

Football League from imposing television blackouts of sold-

out games. He supported efforts to improve transportation in

Northern Virginia, including carpool lanes on Interstate 395,

and helped transfer control of Dulles and National airports

from the Federal Aviation Administration to a regional

airport authority.

As ranking Republican on the House District Committee, he

was a persistent critic of the D.C. government and often

quarreled with then-Mayor Marion Barry. Mr. Parris also led

an effort to move the D.C. prison from Lorton, which was

finally accomplished after he left Congress.

Mr. Parris possessed a blunt, direct style that served him

well on the campaign trail. He had three epic electoral

battles with Democratic Rep. Herbert E. Harris II, losing in

1974 before ousting Harris from Congress in 1980. Mr. Parris

defeated Harris in a rematch in 1982, spending $700,000 in

Virginia's most expensive congressional campaign up to that

point.

``They were tough campaigns,'' recalled U.S. Rep. Frank R.

Wolf (R-Va.), who served in Congress with Mr. Parris. ``They

were almost like the Lincoln-Douglas debates.''

Describing his political approach to The Washington Post in

1989, Mr. Parris said: ``Somewhere along the line, I learned

the best thing to do was to simply stand up and say what you

mean, mean what you say, and do what you commit to.''

Stanford Elmer Parris was born Sept. 9, 1929, in Champaign,

Ill., and was a graduate of the University of Illinois.

During the Korean War, he piloted fighter jets and was once

rescued after being shot down over North Korea. He received

the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and Air Medal.

He graduated from George Washington University law school

in 1958, settled in Fairfax County and practiced law. He

later owned car dealerships in Woodbridge and Manassas.

After serving on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors,

he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1969, as

one of nine Republicans in the body. He was Virginia's

secretary of the commonwealth in 1978.

Mr. Parris unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination

for governor in 1985 and 1989 and failed in a bid for the

Virginia state Senate in 1995. After losing his congressional

seat to James P. Moran Jr. (D) in 1990, he was administrator

of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. and was of

counsel to the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro.

He was also a founder of the Flying Circus Aerodrome in

Bealeton, where he took part in aerobatic demonstrations.

In recent years, Mr. Parris lived in Mathews County and

Melbourne, Fla.

His marriages to Jane McCullough Parris and Sonja Parris

ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of 28 years, Martha Harper

Parris of Mathews County and Melbourne; three children from

his first marriage, Michael Parris of Los Angeles, Ann Parris

of Culpeper and Susan Parris Littlewood of Mount Airy; and

two grandsons.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions of the members of the Virginia-Maryland-District of Columbia National Guard on the occasion of the 66th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion and D-Day which will occur this June 6. I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing the service and sacrifice of the members of this National Guard unit.

The Virginia-Maryland-District of Columbia National Guard unit was the only one from the United States to serve in the first wave of the Normandy Invasion on D-Day. Over 3,100 soldiers from this unit courageously served their country in Normandy, and there were 1,107 casualties in the invasion.

The 29th Infantry Division of the Virginia National Guard joined the 116th Infantry Regiment, also known as Virginia's ``Stonewall Brigade,'' and the 111th Field Artillery Battalion in the assault on the Nazis on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. The Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment is still based in Winchester, Virginia, and continues to send its troops to serve their country in Afghanistan and Iraq. A new National Guard Armory opened last year in Frederick County and was named in honor of Staff Sgt. Craig W. Cherry and Sgt. Bobby E. Beasley, two local National Guardsmen who lost their lives in Afghanistan in 2004.

I submit for the Record the text of a joint resolution passed in the Virginia General Assembly in February, honoring this heroic unit of the National Guard:

House Joint Resolution No. 292

Offered February 16, 2010

Commending the 29th Infantry Division of the Virginia-

Maryland-District of Columbia National Guard and the Virginia

communities represented in the Normandy Invasion on the 66th

anniversary of D-Day.

Patrons--Sherwood, Abbitt, Abbott, Albo, Alexander,

Anderson, Armstrong, Athey, BaCote, Barlow, Bell, Richard P.,

Bell, Robert B., Brink, Bulova, Byron, Carr, Carrico,

Cleaveland, Cline, Cole, Comstock, Cosgrove, Cox, J.A., Cox,

M.K., Crockett-Stark, Dance, Ebbin, Edmunds, Englin, Garrett,

Gear, Gilbert, Greason, Griffith: Herring, Hope, Howell,

A.T., Howell, W.J., Hugo, Iaquinto, Ingram, James, Janis,

Joannou, Johnson, Jones, Keam, Kilgore, Knight, Kory, Landes,

LeMunyon, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Lohr, Loupassi, Marshall,

D.W., Marshall, R.G,, Massie, May, McClellan, McQuinn,

Merricks, Miller, J.H., Miller, P.J., Morefield, Morgan,

Morrissey, Nixon, Nutter, O'Bannon, Oder, Orrock, Peace,

Phillips, Plum, Pogge, Poindexter, Pollard, Purkey, Putney,

Rust, Scott, E.T., Scott, J.M., Shuler, Sickles, Spruill,

Stolle, Surovell, Tata, Torian, Toscano, Tyler, Villanueva,

Ward, Ware, O., Ware, R.L., Watts and Wright

Whereas, June 6, 2010, is the 66th anniversary of the

Normandy Invasion, commonly known as D-Day; this epic and

decisive moment in World War II helped defeat Nazi rule in

Europe and was the most massive military operation in world

history; and

Whereas, the only National Guard division of the United

States Army selected to participate in the initial assault on

the coast of France was the 29th Infantry Division of the

Virginia-Maryland-District of Columbia National Guard; this

division was assigned as its objective that beach sector

designated Omaha, which because of the fierce resistance

encountered there soon became known as ``Bloody Omaha''; and

Whereas, Virginia's historic ``Stonewall Brigade,'' the

116th Infantry Regiment, was chosen to be in the first wave

at Omaha and, after a bloody battle on the beach, finally

succeeded in taking the high ground above it, and thus

secured a beachhead in France; when ``the Longest Day''

ended, the courageous regiment of over 3,100 soldiers had

suffered 1,107 casualties; and

Whereas, joining the 116th Infantry Regiment in the assault

was Virginia's 111th Field Artillery Battalion and other

smaller units from the Virginia National Guard, all elements

of the 29th Infantry Division. and

Whereas, the Virginia communities represented in the D-Day

Invasion were:

116th Infantry Regiment (Stonewall Brigade)

Headquarters and Headquarters Company--Roanoke

Anti-Tank Platoon--Roanoke

Medical Department Detachment-Staunton & Wytheville

Service Company--Roanoke

Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion--Roanoke

Company A--Bedford

Company B--Lynchburg

Company C--Harrisonburg

Company D--Roanoke

Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion-Altavista

Company E--Chase City

Company F--South Boston

Company G--Farmville

Company H--Martinsville

Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion-Winchester

Company I--Winchester

Company K--Charlottesville

Company L--Staunton

Company M--Emporia

29th Infantry Division Band (Virginia portion)--Roanoke

29th Signal Company--Norfolk

29th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop-Berryville

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 29th Infantry Division

Artillery-Richmond

111th Field Artillery Battalion (First Virginia Artillery)

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery-Norfolk

Service Battery--Newport News

Battery A--Richmond

Battery B--Norfolk

Battery C--Portsmouth

227th Field Artillery Battalion (formerly 2nd Battalion, 111th Field

Artillery)

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery--Richmond

Service Battery--post mobilization organization--no

Virginia community

Battery A--Hampton

Battery B--Richmond

Battery C--Fredericksburg

Whereas, many brave individuals participated in the

Normandy Invasion and all who worked so hard and fought so

valiantly are honored as heroes; and

Whereas, General George C. Marshall, U.S. Army Chief of

Staff, helped plan the Allied invasion of France; he

graduated from the Virginia Military Institute as First

Captain of the Corps of Cadets in 1901; and

Whereas, a former commander of the 29th Infantry Division,

Lieutenant General Leonard Gerow was promoted to command the

V Corps (Fifth Corps), made up of the 1st and 29th Infantry

Divisions, which were the first troops to land on Omaha

Beach; he was a native of Petersburg and a graduate of the

Virginia Military Institute, Class of 1911; and

Whereas, on June 8, 1944, Technical Sergeant Frank D.

Peregory of Charlottesville's Company K, from the 116th

Infantry Regiment, single-handedly killed or captured over 25

enemy soldiers, earning the Congressional Medal of Honor,

only to be killed in action six days later; and

Whereas, a graduate of The Citadel's Class of 1929 and a

teacher and coach at Staunton Military Academy, Major Thomas

D. Howie of Staunton's Company L, best known as ``the Major

of St Lo,'' was killed in action on July 17, 1944, while in

command of the 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry, during its

final drive to capture the strategic city of Saint-Lo; and

Whereas, commander of the 111th Field Artillery Battalion,

Lieutenant Colonel Thornton L. Mullins of Richmond, after his

unit lost all of its guns but one in the English Channel when

its landing craft were either swamped or destroyed by enemy

fire, was killed in action while leading a band of survivors

and destroying several enemy positions; he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Army's second highest

award for valor; and

Whereas, today, the 116th Infantry Regiment and other

Virginia National Guard units of soldiers and airmen maintain

a proud tradition with troops deployed in harm's way in the

War on Terrorism, such as the mobilization to Iraq of the 1st

Battalion, 116th Infantry on January 6, 2010, and two

deployments to Afghanistan of the 3rd Battalion, 116th

Infantry accompanied by several Embedded Transition Teams

drawn from across the Virginia Army Guard, including the

116th Infantry's Brigade Combat Team; and

Whereas, since the start of the current wars in Afghanistan

and Iraq, nearly 10,000 men and women of the Virginia

National Guard have served in one or both conflicts,

many on multiple tours, and a total of 13 members have died

on active duty protecting our liberties, and it is fitting we

honor and remember their service and sacrifices; and

Whereas, the Commonwealth of Virginia and its citizens are

indebted to and thankful for the D-Day soldiers, their

successors in the ranks of the Virginia National Guard today,

and their families for their valiant service and enormous

sacrifice; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring,

That the General Assembly commend the 29th Infantry Division

of the Virginia-Maryland-District of Columbia National Guard

and the Virginia communities represented in the Normandy

Invasion on the 66th anniversary of D-Day that occurred on

June 6, 1944, honoring the brave troops who served there,

especially the soldiers of the Stonewall Brigade, 116th

Infantry Regiment who fought in the first wave of attack and

the 111th Field Artillery Battalion, both of which are a part

of the 29th Infantry Division; and, be it

Resolved further, That the General Assembly acknowledge the

efforts of the Virginia National Guard to commemorate the

Normandy Invasion with a Day of Awareness to remind

Virginians of the sacrifices made to preserve their freedoms

by those who fought on D-Day and by the men and women of the

Virginia National Guard who continue to fight around the

world to protect liberty for their countrymen; and, be it

Resolved finally, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates

prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Major

General Robert B. Newman, Jr., the Adjutant General of

Virginia, on behalf of the General Assembly in recognition of

the soldiers of the 29th Infantry Division of the Virginia-

Maryland-District of Columbia National Guard and the Virginia

communities represented in the Normandy Invasion who fought

at Normandy and on into the heart of Germany to help bring

about the final victory over Nazi tyranny.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend the winners of the Valor Foundation's essay contest. I am honored to recognize the achievements of these students from Loudoun County and this excellent program in the 10th District of Virginia.

The Valor Foundation is an organization dedicated to partnering with individuals and organizations to support local community fire, rescue, and law enforcement groups. The dedicated work of this foundation supports numerous public safety officers and their families during their times of need. To recognize and celebrate these individuals, the foundation held a youth essay competition to honor the first responders.

To recognize the National First Responder Day, Loudoun County Middle School students were asked to submit essays describing, ``Why We Should Have a National First Responder's Appreciation Day.'' The Valor Foundation collaborated with Randy Kelly, CEO of INOVA Loudoun Hospital, to award five essay winners with savings bonds. I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating these outstanding students for their achievements, as well as the dedication of the first responders of Loudoun County.

I submit for the winning essays:

Tommy Mai, Belmont Ridge Middle School:

First responders are brave people. They sacrifice their

lives just to save other lives at any cost. Whether it's a

fire, medical emergency, or a shoot-out, they'll put anything

and everything on the line. Think about a jailhouse without

police guards, or a burning building without fire fighters

coming to the rescue, or hospitals without doctors, nurses,

and paramedics. Think about what would have happened during

9/11 without these brave people. Who can think of braver

people. They sacrifice their lives for their families, for

us, but more importantly, for America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this flawed health care bill.

I do not question the need for Congress to find a way for the millions of Americans without health insurance to be assured of quality, affordable health care. The majority of my constituents in the 10th District of Virginia have made clear that they want an open and transparent process in which Republicans and Democrats work together to pass responsible health care reform that lowers costs and offers greater access to affordable health care.

They told me that they don't want more government spending.

They don't want government-run health care.

They don't want a plan that hurts America's seniors, families or small businesses.

What they do want is a plan that fixes what's broken and keeps what's working without adding billions of dollars to an already ballooning deficit.

I cannot support today's bill because it will raise over $500 billion in new taxes during a recession and times of high unemployment. This will especially hit small business employers at a time when the Federal Government should be assisting in job creation, not raising taxes.

This legislation cuts billions of dollars from Medicare, a program that our seniors rely on.

It requires individuals to purchase health insurance. If you don't purchase health insurance, the government will fine you a minimum fine of $750, up to the maximum penalty of 2 percent of your income. This provision has drawn the attention of the citizens of Virginia, with the Virginia General Assembly, in a bipartisan vote, becoming the first legislature in the Nation to pass legislation opposing this mandate.

This bill mandates billions of dollars in additional Medicaid spending in unfunded mandates for cash-strapped states.

It breaks a promise to members of our Nation's armed services, their families, veterans, and employees, with its failure to protect the military's TRICARE system--health care programs provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This means that, under this legislation, unless an individual has TRICARE for Life, additional health insurance would have to be purchased.

Mr. Speaker, I am committed to working with my colleagues to pass real health care reform in a cost effective manner. This legislation fails that test.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 605, a resolution recognizing the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China on the 10th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party campaign to suppress the Falun Gong spiritual movement. The resolution also calls for an immediate end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

The Chinese government's abuse of the Falun Gong is well-documented. The State Department's annual International Religious Freedom Report, found that the Government of China, ``continued to restrict severely the activities of groups it designated as `evil religions,' including several Christian groups and Falun Gong. . . . There are reports that dedicated government offices were responsible for coordinating operations against Falun Gong.''

Just last week, the State Department released its annual Human Rights Report which included numerous examples of the Chinese government's persecution of the Falun Gong including the following: ``Family members of activists, dissidents, Falun Gong practitioners, journalists, unregistered religious figures, and former political prisoners were targeted for arbitrary arrest, detention, and harassment.'' The report continued, ``Police continued to detain current and former Falun Gong practitioners and used possession of Falun Gong material as a pretext for arresting political activists. The government continued its use of high-pressure tactics and mandatory anti-Falun Gong study sessions to force practitioners to renounce. Falun Gong.''

Among the most notorious human rights abuses of the Chinese government last year was the arrest and subsequent disappearance of top Christian human rights attorney, Gao Zhisheng. Gao had defended house church Christians and Falun Gong members which earned the ire of the government. According to the State Department, ``At year's end his whereabouts remained unconfirmed . . .'' Prior to his arrest Gao had published a letter in which he went into great detail about the torture he experienced during his previous detention. Gao has paid dearly for his defense of basic human rights including those of Falun Gong practitioners.

China has become increasingly brazen in its human rights abuses. In the face of this repression, America has a responsibility to continually affirm that we stand with the defenseless--with those whose voices have been silenced. President Reagan understood this well. He famously described the U.S. Constitution as a covenant we have made not only with ourselves but with all of mankind. This Congress and this administration must be unwavering in our support of all persecuted peoples, be they Coptic Christians in Egypt, Baha'is in Iran or Falun Gong in China.

Madam Speaker, I am deeply concerned by reports that the majority party may try to move the health care reform bill through the House without a vote. To move such sweeping legislation, especially considering the price tag, using a parliamentary gimmick is unconscionable. The majority of the American people do not support the health care reform bill presently before Congress. It spends money we don't have, cuts the Medicare program when we should be coming up with ways to get our financial house in order and make sure the Medicare program is protected. The American people want a bipartisan bill that fixes what is broken and keeps what is working.

Where is the accountability? Where is the transparency? America expects more and deserves more. This morning The Washington Post said that what the Democrats are threatening to do is ``unseemly.'' There needs to be an up-or-down vote on health care reform, not on a procedural sleight of hand.

Madam Speaker, I come to the floor today to share the sad news of the passing of Manus ``Jack'' Fish. An engineer by profession, Jack worked for almost four decades at the National Park Service here in Washington, serving from 1973 until his retirement in 1988 as the director of the National Capital Region. Jack, one of my constituents from Ashburn, Virginia, died on February 27 at the age of 81 following a stroke.

I had the pleasure of first working with Jack Fish in the early 1970's when I served in the Interior Department under Secretary Rogers C.B. Morton and he was at the Park Service. When I came to Congress in 1981, our working relationship continued, and Jack was instrumental in the approval of a safety improvement plan I had recommended at the merge of the Spout Run Parkway and the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the first federal parkway and gateway to the nation's capital.

Jack was the epitome of a public servant. He loved his job and made it his life's work to maintain and beautify and preserve the grounds that encompass the vast national capital region--from the gardens to the memorials to the Mall to the parks--for every resident and visitor of this area to enjoy.

We express our condolences to his wife of 58 years, Rosemary Fish, their 12 children, 42 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, and we remember Jack Fish with these biblical words: ``Well done, good and faithful servant.''

Madam Speaker, I submit an obituary for Jack Fish published in the Washington Post on March 4.

[From the Washington Post, Mar. 4, 2010]

Manus ``Jack'' Fish, 81, Dies; Led National Park Service Work

(By Patricia Sullivan)

Manus ``Jack'' Fish, 81, the National Park Service regional

director who oversaw the heavily trafficked National Mall,

expanded the Civil War battlefield at Manassas and supervised

the planting of 150,000 trees and millions of flowers in the

parks and byways of greater Washington, died after a stroke

Feb. 27 at Heritage Hall nursing and rehabilitation center in

Leesburg.

Mr. Fish led the Park Service's complex and diverse

National Capital Region, whose holdings include historic

memorials, the 185 mile-long C&O Canal, an urban sports

complex, Civil War battlefields, the White House and two

major highways. His office granted 1,000 permits a year for

demonstrations including a one-person crusade for ``husband

liberation'' as well as the hundreds of thousands who gather

for the Fourth of July celebrations between the Capitol and

Washington Monument. He was the regional director from 1973

to 1988 after working three years as the deputy.

A diplomatic and unflappable engineer, Mr. Fish worked for

the Park Service for 36 years, based the entire time in

Washington. He helped design playground swings and the

Roosevelt Bridge and became a regular presence on Capitol

Hill, either appearing at hearings or reassuring his hundreds

of Congressional bosses that, yes, he was dealing with the

timing of lights on Spout Run at George Washington Parkway or

trying to resolve who would pay for a leaking roof at the

Kennedy Center.

``I've got to study issues in detail,'' he told a

Washington Post reporter in 1978. ``And I guess I like that.

If I didn't, I'd have ulcers and high blood pressure.''

His nighttime studying was done in a household of a dozen

children, with television, radio, stereos and phone

conversations swirling around him. His wife of 58 years,

Rosemary Fish, was ``kind of a short-order cook,'' he joked,

adept at managing the comings and goings of the brood.

In addition to his wife of Ashburn, survivors include 12

children, M. John Fish of Herndon, Theresa Grooms of

Leesburg, Mary Ann LaRock of Gambrills, Joan Rowe of Irmo,

S.C., Peter Fish of Huntsville, Ala., Christine Behrmann of

Troy, N.Y., Helen Kokolakis of Falls Church, and Kathleen

Key, Rosemary Burke, Brigid Powell and Bernadette Ishmael,

all of Ashburn; a brother; a sister; 42 grandchildren; and

nine great-grandchildren.

After leaving the Park Service in 1988, Mr. Fish worked for

10 years as vice president at the West Group, a local real

estate developer, and was chairman of the Parks & History

Association, which operates 25 bookstores in the national

parks. He also served on numerous boards and was a member of

St. Theresa Catholic Church in Ashburn.

A native of Trenton, N.J., Manus John Fish Jr. moved to

Washington as a youth and graduated from St. John's College

High School. He served in the Army in Korea between World War

II and the Korean War, then returned to Washington and

graduated from Catholic University with a degree in

engineering. He began working for the Park Service in 1952,

reporting to the stone engineer's office near the Washington

Monument.

In pursuit of his duties, he rode in countless parades,

mastering horseback riding in two days in order to accompany

a member of Congress on a tour of one of the parks, and

learned to iceskate overnight when a skating rink opened on

the Mall. ``I was able to stay on the horse, and I kind of

skated on my ankles,'' he told a Post reporter in 1988.

He also managed 3,000 employees and oversaw an annual

operating budget of $100 million. During his tenure,

Constitution Gardens and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened

on the Mall; handicapped-accessible entrances were added to

many memorials, and Wolf Trap's Filene Center was rebuilt. It

was his decision to close Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park to

vehicles on weekends and holidays, to close and grass over

two streets on the Mall and to eliminate nine holes from a

36-hole golf course in East Potomac Park to expand an

adjacent softball field, a decision that did not stand under

fierce protests from golfers.

He made maintenance and preservation a priority and

struggled for additional appropriations for repairs, which

forced him to reduce grass cutting and put off hiring Park

Police officers. He received the Interior Department's

Distinguished Service Medal for guiding the expansion of the

parks, especially during the 1976 Bicentennial year.

``There remains much to be done,'' he said upon his

retirement.

So long did he hold the politically sensitive ``fish-bowl''

job that he, too, is memorialized. If you're at the Tidal

Basin next month when the cherry blossoms bloom, take a look

at the Ohio Drive bridge. You'll find some gargoyles sculpted

into the stone. The fish creature is a caricature of the Park

Service's Mr. Fish.