Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I would like to call the attention of my colleagues to the following letter written by Liu Xia, the wife of imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo. Liu Xiaobo is the leader of the Charter '08 movement which calls on the Chinese government to implement democratic reforms. His courageous leadership caused the Chinese security forces to take Mr. Liu from his home in Beijing on December 8, 2008. I call on my colleagues in the Congress and the Administration to advocate for the immediate and unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo.

April 1, 2009.

Hon. Frank Wolf,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Wolf, Please forgive me for writing to you

directly, but it is only out of the most desperate of

circumstances that I do so.

As you may already know, my husband, Liu Xiaobo, was taken

from our home by Chinese police on December 8th, 2008 after

he and more than three hundred other Chinese citizens signed

Charter 08, a manifesto modeled after the Czechoslovakian

Charter 77 that appeals for comprehensive democracy and human

rights in China. Xiaobo is a writer who cares for nothing

more than his duty as an intellectual to speak out for the

disadvantaged in society. Now, however, he cannot even

protect his own rights.

One hundred fourteen days have now passed since my

husband's disappearance. On two occasions (01/01/2009 and 03/

20/2009) police took me to an undisclosed location where I

was permitted to meet with him and share a meal together.

During our conversations, which were closely monitored, my

husband told me that he has been kept in solitary confinement

in a closed room measuring approximately ten square meters in

size. A single light bulb is his only source of light. And of

the more than 60 books I had brought him, he received only a

few, the rest having been confiscated by the prison

officials.

In the three to four months that have passed since his

abduction (I can find no other suitable words to describe his

situation, as no arrest warrant or other official documents

were presented to justify his detention), nearly all of the

other 300 signatories have been summoned and investigated by

the police. It is obvious to me that the authorities are

attempting to gather evidence of my husband's ``crime,''

which will most likely be designated as ``inciting the

subversion of state power.'' I fear that the government wants

to carry out a sham trial and hand down a severe sentence to

my husband.

This is the fourth time that my husband has been dragged

away from our home in front of my eyes. When my husband was

released from prison in 1990, after serving half a year in

prison for his participation in the 1989, pro-democracy

demonstrations at Tiananmen Square, he apologized to me

because he had decided during that time that he never wants

to have children. As he explained, ``I want to continue

working as a writer. You may lose me again, but I do not want

see a child lose its father.'' Nor do I. His words came true

in 1996 when he disappeared behind bars for three more years,

owing to writings of his that promoted freedom and democracy.

Now, I am alone once again. I continue writing letters to

him, knowing that he will never receive them, just as the

letters he has sent me in the past hundred or so days have

never reached my hands.

I plead with you to help my husband in regaining his

freedom. He has done nothing but to give voice to the

thoughts and wishes that are shared by many in my country. I

will be forever in your debt if you can provide him with any

assistance.

Sincerely yours,

Liu Xia.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the service of Maud F. Robinson to the town of Vienna, Virginia. Maud will be retiring from the Vienna Town Council in June, after serving on the council since 2000.

Maud and her husband, Charles A. Robinson, Jr., moved to Vienna in 1951. Since that time, Mrs. Robinson has been involved in every aspect of life in the town. She has served as president of various local organizations, including the Vienna Women's Club, the Ayr Hill Garden Club, and Historic Vienna, Inc. She was a founding member and president of the town's library. She served as a member of Vienna's first Architectural Review Board and on the town's Business Liaison Committee. Among other honors, Mrs. Robinson was selected as Citizen of the Year in Vienna in 1993 and 2000.

Mrs. Robinson was appointed to the Vienna Town Council in 2000, to fill the term of Jane Seeman, who was elected town mayor following the death of Charles Robinson. Mr. Robinson served as town mayor for 27 years. Mrs. Robinson was reelected four times to her seat on the council, for a total of nine years.

Mrs. Robinson is a graduate of Smith College and attended the University of Virginia Law School. She served as a WAVE lieutenant, junior grade, in the United States Navy.

Maud Robinson's commitment to Vienna's citizens and business community is unparalleled. She is a woman of the highest moral integrity and is a true role model for all of Vienna's citizens. I ask my colleagues to join with me today in honoring Maud Robinson.

Madam Chair, I am deeply disappointed that the FY 2010 budget resolution considering today represents another missed opportunity for both sides of the aisle to come together for the future of our country. Frankly, it continues down a very dangerous path that has been business as usual in the House for far too long. For our children and grandchildren we must come to grips with the financial crisis looming on the horizon.

We all know that we face enormous fiscal challenges in terms of the deficit, the debt, and solvency of entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Addressing these issues in a meaningful and bipartisan way will take strong bipartisan commitment-- the kind of commitment that is sorely lacking in the budget resolution that will be voted on in the House.

The statistics accompanying the nation's long-term fiscal health are astounding. The national debt has topped $11 trillion for the first time in history. While the White House claims that the president's budget proposal would increase the deficit by $6.9 trillion over ten years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that this figure will be closer to $9.3 trillion, more than a third higher than the administration's projection. By 2019 the government could be paying over $800 billion annually just in interest on this amount. China is one of our biggest bankers and now holds the paper on about one out of every 10 American dollars. Standard and Poor's Investment Service predicts loss of our triple-A bond rating as early as 2012. Moody's predicts 2018.

The American people are hurting. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 8.1 percent in February, the highest in more than 25 years. If that isn't troubling enough, leading economists are predicting the jobless rate could hit double digits by year's end.

Many of those lost jobs are coming from the U.S. manufacturing base, or what's left of it. The decay in U.S. manufacturing is real. Drive across the cast iron bridge linking Trenton, New Jersey, with Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and read the outdated sign: ``Trenton Makes, the World Takes.'' There was a time when Trenton made the steel used for the world's longest suspension bridges, its cars, and farm tools. The sign today could be: ``The World Makes and America Takes.''

This Congress must face the reality of America's long-term financial future and start a process that will reverse the downward slide we're facing. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Congress acting alone will not make the hard choices necessary to right our ship of state. The partisan divisions are too deep. We need a process outside of Congress to come to grips with the burden of debt we are piling on our children and grandchildren.

The American people--our constituents--understand that we are in serious trouble and that regular order in the House offers no way forward. The American people have no confidence in this Congress's ability to think outside of the box and come up with bipartisan solutions to the country's most pressing issues. A recent Peter Hart/ Public Opinion Strategies survey confirmed that 56 percent of registered voters say a bipartisan commission rather than the regular congressional process is the best means to begin tackling our growing budget deficit and national debt.

There is a plan on the table right now that this House could act on to set up such a national commission. Jim Cooper and I--a Democrat and a Republican--have been working together on legislation--the SAFE Commission Act--that would establish a bipartisan commission to address entitlement spending, other spending and tax policy. When we reintroduced the bill last month, there were exactly 26 Republicans and 26 Democrats joining the effort as original cosponsors. Everything is on the table, because to reverse the current financial path, we must look at the big picture. And when the commission makes its legislative recommendations to Congress after extensive public hearings around the country, Congress is required to vote up or down, like the base-closing process, on the plan.

The Cooper-Wolf SAFE Commission Act has garnered support from the Heritage Foundation, Brookings Institution, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Concord Coalition, National Federation of Independent Business, Business Roundtable, The Peterson Foundation and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. Newspapers across the country, including the Washington Times, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Winchester Star, Dallas Morning News and the Tennessean, have editorialized about SAFE being the only way forward. National syndicated columnists, including David Broder, Robert Samuelson and David Brooks have all written favorably about this proposal.

I submit for the record David Broder's piece ``Hiding a Mountain of Debt'' from last Sunday's Washington Post which speaks to the inability of Congress to tackle entitlement reform through regular order and suggests the Cooper-Wolf SAFE Commission as a bipartisan process that could help lawmakers face reality.

If there are other ideas about how to come to grips with the mountains of debt under which we are burying our children and grandchildren--that can pass--I implore our colleagues to offer them. We just can't continue with the same old tired process, drawing lines in the sand while the tsunami of debt comes crashing toward America's shore.

That process is on full display today with the business as usual tone on this year's budget resolution. The current process is broken. The SAFE Commission offers an opportunity to make a difference for the country's future, rather than just continuing to score political points as we see in the debate today.

The SAFE Commission process could be the foundation for a renaissance in America. It can renew Americans' confidence in the ability of our elected leaders to act and provide the opportunity to order priorities, create jobs and provide a quality of life unsurpassed in America. It can ensure that we have the funding for education, cutting edge technology, medical research, infrastructure improvements and other programs critical to providing a bright future for the next generation of Americans.

Why is every budget plan today from both sides of the aisle missing this critical component? For our country's future, this Congress and this administration must come together and work to set up a bipartisan panel to deal with America's long-term financial future to give hope to our children and grandchildren. The time bomb of debt is ticking and it's on our watch to act before the explosion buries our country.

[From the Washington Post, March 29, 2009]

Hiding a Mountain of Debt

(By David S. Broder)

With a bit of bookkeeping legerdemain borrowed from the

Bush administration, the Democratic Congress is about to

perform a cover-up on the most serious threat to America's

economic future.

That threat is not the severe recession, tough as that is

for the families and businesses struggling to make ends meet.

In time, the recession will end, and last week's stock market

performance hinted that we may not have to wait years for the

recovery to begin.

The real threat is the monstrous debt resulting from the

slump in revenue and the staggering sums being committed by

Washington to rescuing embattled banks and homeowners--and

the absence of any serious-strategy for paying it all back.

The Congressional Budget Office sketched the dimensions of

the problem on March 20, and Congress reacted with shock. The

CBO said that over the next 10 years, current policies would

add a staggering $93 trillion to the national debt--one-third

more than President Obama had estimated by using much more

optimistic assumptions about future economic growth.

As far as the eye could see, the CBO said, the debt would

continue to grow by about $1 trillion a year because of a

structural deficit between the spending rate, averaging 23

percent of gross domestic product, and federal revenue at 19

percent.

The ever-growing national debt will require ever-larger

annual interest payments, with much of that money going

overseas to China, Japan and other countries that have been

buying our bonds.

Reacting to this scary prospect, the House and Senate

budget committees took the paring knife to some of Obama's

spending proposals and tax cuts last week. But many of the

proposed savings look more like bookkeeping gimmicks than

realistic cutbacks. The budget resolutions assume, for

example, that no more money will be needed this year to bail

out foundering businesses or pump up consumer demand, even

though estimates of those needs start at $250 billion and go

up by giant steps.

Republicans on the budget committees offered cuts that were

larger and, in some but not all instances, more realistic.

But the main device the Democratic budgeteers employed was

simply to shrink the budget ``window'' from 10 years to five.

Instantly, $5 trillion in debt disappeared from view, along

with the worry that long after the recession is past, the

structural deficit would continue to blight the future of

young, working families.

The Democrats did not invent this gimmick. They borrowed it

from George W. Bush, who turned to it as soon as his

inherited budget surpluses withered with the tax cuts and

recession of 2001-02. But Obama had promised a more honest

budget and said that this meant looking at the long-term

consequences of today's tax and spending decisions.

There are plenty of people in Congress for whom the CBO

report was no surprise, and some of them have proposed a

solution that would confront this reality. Kent Conrad, the

chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Judd Gregg, its

ranking Republican, have offered a bill to create a

bipartisan commission to examine every aspect of the budget--

taxes, defense and domestic spending, and, especially,

Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Congress would be

required to vote promptly, up or down, on its

recommendations, or come up with an alternative that would

achieve at least as much in savings.

In the House, Democrat Jim Cooper of Tennessee and

Republican Frank Wolf of Virginia have been pressing a

similar proposal but have been regularly thwarted.

The roadblock in chief is Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the

House. She has made it clear that her main goal is to protect

Social Security and Medicare from any significant reforms.

Pelosi has not forgotten how Democrats benefited from the

2005-06 fight against Bush's effort to change Social

Security. Her party, which had lost elections in 2000, 2002

and 2004, found its voice and its rallying cry to ``Save

Social Security,'' and Pelosi is not about to allow any

bipartisan commission to take that issue away from her

control.

The price for her obduracy is being paid in the rigging of

the budget process. The larger price will be paid by your

children and grandchildren, who will inherit a future-

blighting mountain of debt.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Thomas J. Welsh, the founding bishop of the Catholic Dioceses of Arlington, Virginia. He passed away on February 19 at the age of 87, from pulmonary fibrosis.

Bishop Welsh served as Arlington's bishop from 1974 to 1983. He established six additional area parishes: St. Stephen the Martyr in Middleburg; St. Catherine of Siena in Great Falls; St. John Neumann in Reston; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Lake Ridge; Our Lady of the Blue Ridge in Madison; and Holy Martyrs of Vietnam in Arlington County. Bishop Welsh dedicated 11 new churches during his years with the Catholic Dioceses of Arlington.

Other notable achievements in his career as Arlington's bishop include helping to establish Christendom College in Front Royal and Catholic Distance University in Hamilton, both of which are in Virginia's 10th District. He also approved the purchase of the building for Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax. Bishop Welsh believed in the importance of Catholic education, both at school and at home. He founded the Arlington Catholic Herald newspaper in 1975 and established the Family Life Bureau in 1977. The Family Life Bureau worked to organize various pro-life activities within the Arlington diocese.

After leaving Arlington in 1983, Bishop Welsh became the second bishop of the diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania. He retired from Allentown in 1997.

His dedication and ministry will be missed by all who knew and worked with him. In the homily given at his funeral Mass, Msgr. Anthony D. Muntone, pastor of St. Elizabeth Parish in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, quoted one of Bishop Welsh's favorite saints, St. Thomas More, who said: ``Pray for me and I will pray for thee that one day we will meet merrily in heaven.'' I believe Bishop Welsh, as a dedicated believer and servant to the Catholic Church, will indeed be met merrily in heaven. His memory will live on through all the lives he touched and the legacy he left in both Arlington and Allentown.

Madam Speaker, the right to worship according to the dictates of your conscience is among the most precious freedoms.

Tragically this basic freedom has not been realized for millions around the globe. On January 16, the State Department designated the annual ``Countries of Particular Concern.'' This notorious distinction is given to countries deemed particularly severe violators of religious freedom. This year the list included Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.

Oftentimes the most powerful testimony of the repressive nature of these governments is found in the accounts of their own people.

Take the words of a 23-year-old Burmese monk: ``We did not expect that the junta would crush down a peaceful demonstration but when they raided the monasteries, shot and arrested the monks. I was so surprised and unbelievable that I could not express how my feelings were. All my beliefs were also destroyed.''

Or the reflections of a Chinese house church leader: ``First, when they arrest you, they try to convince you to give up your faith. And when you surrender to them they will offer you an office in a position such as community member or a position in the Three Self church. If you do not deny your faith and surrender to them, then they will attack you. First they put you into a small place, isolate you, and they let you starve to convince you.''

Or these insights from North Korea: ``North Korea is a prison without bars. The reason why the North Korean system still exists is because of the strict surveillance system. When we provide the information like `this family believes in a religion from their grandfather's generation,' the National Security Agency will arrest each family member. That is why entire families are scared of one another. Everyone is supposed to be watching one another like this . . .''.

With the 1998 passage of the International Religious Freedom Act, legislation which I authored, the promotion of religious freedom became official U.S. foreign policy. Sadly, 10 years later, the fight for this ``first freedom'' has never been more necessary. We must commit ourselves anew to standing with persecuted people of faith around the world who against all odds, in the face of fear, intimidation, imprisonment, torture and worse gather secretly to worship as their conscience demands.

Madam Speaker, I want to share with our colleagues today the recent passing of Frank Raflo of Leesburg, Virginia. He died on March 15, 2009, at the age of 89.

A long-time resident of Leesburg, Frank was a giant in his community who made public service a priority. He was a member of the town council for several years, as well as serving as mayor for two years. During his tenure as mayor, Frank oversaw the effort to build an airport in Leesburg. He was also a member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors for 14 years, including a year as chairman in 1985.

Frank served his community in unelected positions as well. He was one of the charter members of the Leesburg Kiwanis Club in 1957. The club holds the annual Kiwanis Halloween Parade that local children look forward to year after year. With his wife Frances, Frank championed parks and outdoor spaces in Loudoun County. They were influential in the creation of the W&OD Trail in Leesburg, and a park along the trail was subsequently dedicated for them. In more recent years, Frank wrote a column in the local paper, the Leesburg Today.

The town of Leesburg and the Commonwealth of Virginia will greatly miss the service of their friend, Frank Raflo. His legacy will not soon be forgotten.

I would like to share an in memoriam of Frank Raflo that ran in the Leesburg Today on March 18, 2009:

[From the Leesburg Today, Mar. 18, 2009]

Frank Raflo: In Memoriam, 1919-2009

(By Margaret Morton)

Small in physical stature, but towering in intelligence,

integrity and love of community, Frank Raflo, who died Sunday

at age 89, was one of the pantheon of legendary Loudoun

leaders during the second half of the 20th century.

All this week, tributes poured in for a man whose breadth

of interests was phenomenal. A generous dispenser of advice

for others making their way in the world, Raflo retained all

his long life a curiosity into what made people and

institutions tick.

Blessed with a sharp brain, with a penetrating eye for

fiscal detail and a consuming interest in all that went on

around him, Raflo lived an extraordinary life in which he had

a number of careers-businessman, journalist and columnist,

author, radio commentator and local elected government

representative.

In his later years, Raflo's column, Just Being Frank, in

Leesburg Today, in which he dispensed his particular brand of

down-home wisdom, had a loyal following. Readers were drawn

to his often whimsical but always knowledgeable observations

on a variety of subjects, ranging from the quirks of human

beings, government malfeasance, the price of coffee, hemlines

going up or down, how to find good tomatoes or a good shovel,

whether a sale price was a true sale or not, and so on. In

addition, Raflo wrote a number of books detailing Leesburg's

and Loudoun's history, among the best known being Within The

Iron Gate.

Serving on both the Leesburg Town Council and the Board of

Supervisors, Raflo's love of both was remarkable. Director of

the Loudoun Office of Transportation Services Terrie Laycock,

who started work with county government in 1977 as an aide to

board members, worked closely with Raflo, who served on the

county board from 1972 to 1986, including as chairman in

1985. ``You never questioned that his motives were anything

other than for the good of Loudoun County: No politics, no

personal advancement, it was always from his perspective for

what he felt was best for the county,'' she said.

He was a dedicated Democrat and an equally dedicated

Kiwanian, a charter member of the Leesburg Kiwanis Club, and

founder of the Kiwanis Halloween Parade in Leesburg.

Growing up in Leesburg, Raflo attended Leesburg High School

where he always was at, or near, the top of his class. That

keen intellect led to his being accepted into the College of

William and Mary in Williamsburg, from which he graduated as

a Phi Beta Kappa student.

As a businessman, Raflo and his wife, Frances, operated a

women's dress shop on South King Street, a characteristic

partnership in all his endeavors that that lasted until

Raflo's death. Loudoun Museum Executive Director Karen

Quanbeck remembered her days on The Fashion Board at Loudoun

County High School.

Raflo created the group, comprised of junior and senior

girls who would model fashions from his store at charity

fashion shows, typically on weekends, Quanbeck recalled. ``It

takes a lot to get teenage girls out of bed at 6 a.m. on

weekends, and make it fun.'' She recalled Raflo as ``very

jolly and very supportive of the girls on the board. He was

always interested in us and what we were going to do with our

lives.''

A strong believer that local government was the most

effective form of public service to be found, Raflo served

two terms on the Leesburg Town Council from 1949-1951 and

1953-1955, as well as serving as mayor from 1961-1963.

Whether or not people agreed with him, ``they always knew

where he stood,'' his son Alan said this week, recalling the

tales of many battles that came home with his father during

his years of public service.

Raflo enjoyed a long working partnership with the late B.

Powell Harrison, who, while never an elected official, shared

many similar ideas about the future of Leesburg and the

county. Harrison's widow, Agnes Harrison, recalled the long

partnership between the two men, who worked together on many

projects to better both the town and the county. Their

offices were next door to each other, and, both being notable

talkers, ``they would meet on the street on the corner and

discuss many, many things,'' she said. ``If everyone who

lived in Leesburg were as public minded as Frank Raflo it

would be an even better place than it is,'' she said.

Alan Raflo similarly recalled his father talking to

everybody he met on the street in his retirement. When once

he asked him whom he was waving to, his father replied, ``Oh,

I wave to everybody.''

Both Agnes Harrison and longtime friend Mac Brownell

recalled the courage shown by both Raflos in the face of

family tragedy, having lost two of their children in car

accidents. ``They suffered serious sadness and

disappointment, but they kept going. They were a brave

couple,'' Harrison said.

``I always had great respect for Frank. I saw a side of him

that so touching, that people didn't often see, particularly

the way he spoke about children. He had a very tender

heart,'' Brownell said.

Laycock also spoke of Raflo's interest in those who were

less fortunate, whether from a financial standpoint, or if

they had physical or mental disabilities. ``He was always

looking out for those who often don't have opportunity.''

Raflo felt that whenever possible patient should be brought

out of mental institutions, ``deinstitutionalizing'' them and

returning them to their communities. ``He felt strongly that

if people could stay near their families or where they'd

grown up, they would have a better quality of life,'' Laycock

recalled.

Among the many awards and honors Raflo received in his

lifetime was one he received in 2003 and treasured highly-the

highest award granted by the Kiwanis Club. Neatly suited

during his government days, Raflo would always wear his

Kiwanis button on his lapel.

The lifelong public service of Frank and Frances Raflo also

was recognized by the Town of Leesburg in the naming of the

park along Harrison Street at the W&OD Trail in their honor.

Former Farmwell Middle School principal Rocky Fera called

him ``Mr. Kiwanian.'' Fera accompanied Raflo on a 1992

Kiwanis trip to Lithuania, from whence Raflo's family

originated.

Describing Raflo as ``a bit of gadfly, with his fingers in

everything and as smart as can be,'' Fera joined the Kiwanis

in the 1970s and got to know Raflo well.

When Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union, ``Frank

pitched to the club: `We need to take the notion of service

clubs to this new nation.' '' Fera's responsibility on the

trip was to ``take care of Frank, keep him out of trouble,

and not let him go off on some tangent.''

It was a great trip, Fera said, saying he thought of Raflo

as a father figure. ``He was just a fine man. I looked up to

him.''

Raflo's love of his hometown was deep. A scrappy fighter,

he was ``such a fierce defender of Leesburg on all levels,

pulling no punches to make sure the town's position got

protected,'' Loudoun attorney Liz Whiting recalled.

Leesburg Realtor Tom Jewell, owner of Carter Braxton Real

Estate Company and a longtime admirer, said Raflo ``brought

Leesburg out of the Dark Ages'' and was the most important

county leader during the second half of the last century.

``He always had his facts together. He never went into a

meeting unprepared.''

One of Raflo's signal victories was construction of

Leesburg Airport at Godfrey Field. As mayor, Raflo presided

over the controversial effort to build the airport, in

partnership with council members George Hammerly and Stanley

Caulkins. Although the faction supporting the airport was

defeated by future Mayor Kenny Rollins and his supporters in

May 1963, the airport did get built-just.

``Leesburg got within one day of not having an airport,''

Caulkins recalled with a chuckle. ``We signed the contract

with Earthwork Construction and the FAA, and the next day we

were voted out of office.'' It was after that ousting, and

before the new council took office, that ``we decided the

town had to have a manager and could not elect a whole new

slate at once,'' Caulkins said. The new structure, in place

today, consisted of electing mayors every two years and

council members for four, staggered, terms.

Caulkins praised Raflo as being ``very, very dedicated, and

community spirited,'' noting he was responsible for getting

$50,000 for the new wing of Loudoun Memorial Hospital,

introduced the first two-way radios in Loudoun, and the first

ambulance in Loudoun--``a big old Cadillac.''

In addition, Raflo was the first town businessman to permit

the use of credit cards in his store, Caulkins said,

recalling the almost universal derision then greeting the

innovation.

After serving on the Leesburg Town Council, Raflo ran for

the Board of Supervisors, where he served from 1972 to 1986.

He also served on the Virginia Commission for Local

Government for many years, having been appointed by both

Democratic and Republican governors to that post, where his

experience in local government planning and budgets aided

other communities around the commonwealth.

Raflo's son recalled his father was a firm believer in

``planning for growth,'' and his earlier work in Leesburg

would ``culminate in his years serving on the Board of

Supervisors in the 1970s and 1980s. He was an early advocate

of capital improvements and adequate public facilities

planning to service growth, particularly water and sewer, as

well as ensuring quality and sufficiency of water.

``He worried about approving houses if the infrastructure

were not there,'' according to his son. Several colleagues

agreed, citing his frequent comments on community planning

that ``you will grow to the capacity of your toilets'' and

``if you can't flush, you can't build it''--highlighting the

essential role in utility service in community development.

His interest in being prepared to manage growth responsibly

led him to join other county leaders on a trip to England to

look at planning progress there in 1972. The trip was

organized by Powell Harrison, founder of the Piedmont

Environmental Council.

Raflo's interest in tying adequate infrastructure to

housing approvals presaged repeated efforts by county boards

into the 1990s to seek state enabling legislation to adopt

the local growth controls, each meeting without success.

Among the champions of that effort was Supervisor Jim

Burton (I-Blue Ridge). ``We had many good conversations about

it,'' Burton said. ``I had a lot of respect for him.''

Burton recalled the deliberations of the Leesburg

Restaurant lunch group, of which Raflo was a member, as the

town's political, judicial and business leaders met each day

at the diner's large table, ``solving the problems of the

world.''

In her years providing assistance to board members, Laycock

recalled Raflo's frustration with constant comments by staff

members that the board had to have studies and analyses

before they could decide on various topics. Raflo's response

was to ``come into the board meeting, pulling a kid's wagon

behind him, with a stack of studies in it. He loved to do

theatrics to prove his point.''

Jim Brownell, who served on the county board for 30 years

called Raflo ``such an interesting fellow'' and ``the hardest

working member of the board in my time.''

``He was always real good with figures, and very intense

with it. He always wanted to be right,'' Brownell laughed as

he recalled Raflo's constant visits to then Director of

Finance Kirby M. Bowers for information.

Bowers, who will retire as county administrator April 1,

Tuesday recalled Raflo as a tough budget reviewer. ``Men I

was budget manager he was in my office almost every day.''

``Frank would go to see him and find out what was going on,

so often, that Kirby finally had to go to [then] County

Administrator Phil Bolen and say, `Mr. Raflo's always here. I

can't get my work done!' That led to a resolution that no one

supervisor should go to see a department head ``about

anything,'' Brownell said.

Former Loudoun Supervisor and, later, State Senator Charles

Waddell recalled Raflo used to do the same with Bolen,

constantly going to him with ``big ideas'' on policy change.

``Phil's standard reply was, `Frank, do you have five votes?'

'' He rarely did, Waddell said.

``He was as honest as the day was long. He had no hidden

agendas. He was very hard working and if anyone was

`government,' he was it,'' Brownell recalled. ``I always

thought of him as my best friend,'' Brownell said, laughing,

as he recalled a common description of the two colleagues as

``Frank as the bantam rooster and me as the old setting

hen.''

Hard working as he was, Raflo always had time to help

others. Waddell first met Raflo in 1963 several years after

coming to live in the county. That year, he became chairman

of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee. In 1967, Waddell

ran successfully for the Board of Supervisors, joining

Brownell as freshmen members. ``He was a great help to me in

my campaign as Democratic chairman and also as a member of

the board.''

Raflo's assistance did not stop there, as Waddell recalled

he helped him in his initial campaign for the state senate

and afterward.

Waddell said he recalled to Raflo years later going to the

dress shop on King Street for help on speeches or statements,

and Raflo would say, ``Charlie, come on downstairs to my

office,'' then proceed to translate Waddell's ideas into

correct prose on his trusty Underwood typewriter.

``He was a detail man on the budget, which was his

specialty. He always said, `It must be necessities, not

niceties,' '' Waddell remembered. Describing Raft as a

``brilliant man,'' who could be a little abrasive and

controversial at times, ``there was a lot of substance in

what he did,'' Waddell said. A favorite saying of Raflo's was

``hold on to your tax bills, they'll never get any smaller.''

``He cut out a niche for himself, he made a difference in

the last half of the 20th century.''

It's not widely known that Raflo was instrumental in the

creation of the W&OD Trail and securing parks for Loudoun

County, including Algonkian Park.

Purcellville Councilman and longtime member of the Northern

Virginia Regional Park Authority Board of Directors Jim Wiley

recalled he and Raflo were the first two appointed members

from Loudoun to that board.

``He was the father of regional parks in Loudoun,'' Wiley

said, noting that Raflo and Brownell were responsible in 1972

for NVRPA coming to the county.

Wiley was then chairman of the county's advisory board for

parks and recreation. ``The supervisors kept promising us

$100,000 per year for parks, but it never came through,''

Wiley said. Then, the park authority offered to do regional

parks for the county. To Wiley's frustration, the supervisors

turn down that offer, too.

``So, in a huge fury I publicly resigned,'' Wiley recalled.

The next day, he got a call from Brownell. ``I met with him

and with Frank. They had decided it was a good idea after

all, and we both got appointed to the [NVRPA] board.'' That

was in 1973. Raflo became a ``great park advocate,'' Wiley

said, and the governmental spokesman for Loudoun until his

resignation in 1986.

Raflo was very much involved with both land purchases--for

the W&OD and Algonkian Park.

``We had some great conversations, we rode back and forth

together to NVRPA meetings,'' Wiley said. ``He was extremely

effective, a great communicator, who got along with everyone,

and always meant what he said.''

As dear to his heart as parks became, Democratic politics

was a true avocation.

Longtime Democratic activist and former member of the

Loudoun Electoral Board Til Bennie termed Raflo ``a true

Democrat, who stuck by his principles, never bent, even when

under pressure to do so.'' She recalled that the Young Turks

of the party sometimes would ``poo poo his ideas,'' and

showed

irritation with Raflo's tendency to tell stories.

``They'd strum their hands on the table and dismiss him

because it was all so whimsical, but he was so often proved

true.''

Raflo would say that the Democratic Party was sliding down

the tube in Virginia, ``and it did,'' Bennie said, recalling

that Raflo kept telling the party it would have to do things

differently if it were to succeed.

``He was always looking into the future, and had enormous

experience. And he was often right.''

Raflo was the son of Joseph Raflo and Fannie Bulitsky

Raflo. He was predeceased also by his daughter Joe Raflo; son

Philip Raflo; and brother Harry Raflo. He is survived by his

wife Frances Atwell Raflo; sons Paul Raflo of Stevensville,

MD, and Alan Raflo of Blacksburg; grandson John-Paul Raflo;

and great-grandchildren Josephine, Luke, and Delaney. Funeral

services were held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Congregation

Sha'are Shalom in Leesburg, followed by interment at Union

Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to be sent to

Leesburg Kiwanis, PO Box 445, Leesburg, VA 20178, Attention

Bob Wright; Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company, PO Box 70,

Leesburg, VA 20178; or Capital Hospice, 209 Gibson St. NW,

Suite 202, Leesburg, VA 20176.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last week, the national debt topped $11 trillion for the first time in history. On Friday, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the Federal deficit will soar past $1.8 trillion this year, which would be the highest recorded since World War II, deficits for as far as the eye can see.

By 2019 the government will be paying over $800 billion annually just in interest on the debt, borrowing money from China and other countries.

Congressman Cooper of Tennessee and I have introduced the bipartisan SAFE Commission Act to create a national commission aimed at addressing entitlement spending and our national tax policy with everything on the table. It's bipartisan, with exactly 26 Republicans and 26 Democrats joining as original cosponsors. A similar proposal in the Senate has the support of Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and ranking member Senator Judd Gregg.

The commission would force Congress to act on the mountains of debt under which we are burying our children and our grandchildren. Without it, we will have the same old tired process, drawing lines in the sand while the tsunami of debt comes crashing over our shores.

According to a recent Peter Hart/Public Opinion Strategies survey, 56 percent of registered voters prefer a bipartisan commission to the regular congressional process as the best means of tackling our growing budget deficit and national debt. The current process isn't working. In other words, the American people understand we are in trouble, yet Congress continues to fiddle while Rome burns. Congress is made up of parents and grandparents, yet we seem to be prepared to push all of the debt we are creating off to our children and grandchildren.

The American people are experiencing a crisis in confidence and they are worried about our country. When we gain control of reckless spending, we will be able to rebuild the economy and see a brighter and stronger America, stronger for us and stronger for our children and our grandchildren, to bring about a renaissance.

How will history judge the 111th Congress if it doesn't deal with this issue? Cosponsoring the Cooper-Wolf SAFE Commission is supporting the bipartisan way forward. If any Member has a better idea that can honestly pass this place, then they ought to put it forward. If they can't, we should pass the Cooper-Wolf bill.

Madam Speaker, I would like to share with our colleagues an editorial from

yesterday's Washington Post highlighting Secretary of State Clinton's disappointing start on human rights. In referencing some of her recent comments, the editorial rightly notes, ``Ms. Clinton is doing a disservice to her own department--and sending a message to rulers around the world that their abuses won't be taken seriously by this U.S. administration.'' Secretary Clinton is sending the wrong message on human rights.

[From the Washington Post, Mar. 10, 2009]

Some Friends

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to

devalue and undermine the U.S. diplomatic tradition of human

rights advocacy. On her first foreign trip, to Asia, she was

dismissive about raising human rights concerns with China's

communist government, saying ``those issues can't interfere''

with economic, security or environmental matters. In last

week's visit to the Middle East and Europe, she undercut the

State Department's own reporting regarding two problematic

American allies: Egypt and Turkey.

According to State's latest report on Egypt, issued Feb.

25, ``the government's respect for human rights remained

poor'' during 2008 ``and serious abuses continued in many

areas.'' It cited torture by security forces and a decline in

freedom of the press, association and religion. Ms. Clinton

was asked about those conclusions during an interview she

gave to the al-Arabiya satellite network in Sharm el-Sheikh,

Egypt. Her reply contained no expression of concern about the

deteriorating situation. ``We issue these reports on every

country,'' she said. ``We hope that it will be taken in the

spirit in which it is offered, that we all have room for

improvement.''

Ms. Clinton was then asked whether there would be any

connection between the report and a prospective invitation to

President Hosni Mubarak to visit Washington. ``It is not in

any way connected,'' she replied, adding: ``I really consider

President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I

hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the United

States.'' Ms. Clinton's words will be treasured by al-Qaeda

recruiters and anti-American propagandists throughout the

Middle East. She appears oblivious to how offensive such

statements are to the millions of Egyptians who loathe Mr.

Mubarak's oppressive government and blame the United States

for propping it up.

The new secretary of state delivered a similar shock in

Turkey to liberal supporters of press freedom, now under

siege by the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

Erdogan. According to the State Department report, ``senior

government officials, including Prime Minister Erdogan, made

statements during the year strongly criticizing the press and

media business figures, particularly following the publishing

of reports on alleged corruption . . . connected to the

ruling party.'' That was an understatement: In fact, Mr.

Erdogan's government has mounted an ugly campaign against one

of Turkey's largest media conglomerates, presenting it with a

$500 million tax bill in a maneuver that has been compared to

Russia's treatment of independent media.

Ms. Clinton was asked by a Turkish journalist what she told

Mr. Erdogan when he complained about the State Department

report. She answered: ``Well, my reaction was that we put out

this report every year, and I fully understand . . . no

politician ever likes the press criticizing them.''

``Overall,'' she concluded, ``we think that Turkey has made

tremendous progress in freedom of speech and freedom of

religion and human rights, and we're proud of that.''

In fact, as the State Department has documented, Turkey is

retreating on freedom of speech. In Egypt, the human rights

situation also is getting worse rather than better. By

minimizing those facts, Ms. Clinton is doing a disservice to

her own department--and sending a message to rulers around

the world that their abuses won't be taken seriously by this

U.S. administration.

Mr. Speaker, I will vote today for S. 22 because I have been an advocate of initiatives like many that are authorized in this package that protect our nation's historical, cultural, and scenic heritage. Several provisions in this bill will specifically help to preserve areas in my district and throughout the state of Virginia.

I have cosponsored and voted for the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act, which is included in this package and provides grants to assist with the purchase of important Civil War sites that have not yet been protected. This program has helped preserve many sites in my district, rich in Civil War heritage. Most recently, the purchase of the site of the Battle of Third Winchester is contingent on receiving grant funding from this program.

Other initiatives that will preserve important sites in Virginia that are included in this package are the Virginia Ridge and Valley Act, the Northern Neck National Heritage Area Study Act and the Washington- Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail Designation Act.

While I agree in general with the intent of programs included in this package, I also have concerns regarding some of its provisions. There is language included in the bill that would prohibit natural resource development on about 1.2 million acres in Wyoming. According to the Bureau of Land Management, this provision would permanently take 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 300 million barrels of oil out of production. I believe that it is irresponsible to put restrictions on domestic energy production. Environmentally friendly domestic energy production should be considered as part of a comprehensive energy plan to help stabilize the cost of gasoline and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

I also maintain that long-term, permanent energy policy must be developed through clean, alternative and renewable energy resources to fuel our cars and light our homes and businesses. Solar power, wind power, clean coal technology, nuclear power, the hydrogen economy, new energy transmission technology, hybrid vehicle development, biofuels-- every option must be on the table for investment and development to secure our nation's energy needs for the 21st century. But we cannot close the door to domestic energy production.

I want to thank the ranking member and also the chairman for their leadership on this issue, and also thank Speaker Pelosi for her comments here today and also for the comments that she made yesterday.

In August of 1997, I traveled to Tibet, making it known to no one that I was a Member of Congress. I spoke to Buddhist monks and nuns on the street and in monasteries who have been brutally tortured in the infamous Drapchi prison. We drove by the Drapchi prison and they told us of the torture of pulling out fingernails and everything else, just simply for professing allegiance to the Dalai Lama.

The Chinese government sends Tibetan children to China for education to learn Chinese ways. The Chinese government forbids faithful Buddhists from displaying pictures of the Dalai Lama. There was one person in a Buddhist monastery who showed me the picture and then put it away quickly.

What the Chinese government is doing to Tibet is cultural genocide-- and I hope the foreign minister, who's in town today, hears it. It is cultural genocide--systematically destroying the fabric of the Tibetan society.

Last March, the Tibetan people took to the streets to protest the iron-fisted rule of the Chinese government over Tibet; a harsh crackdown, violent repression, and a year later, 1,200 Tibetans remain unaccounted for. Where are they? Let's ask the foreign minister when he goes to the State Department, Where are they?

For over a decade, the United States has asked China for a consulate in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and China has refused. Yet we continue to allow the Chinese government to build new consulates across the United States. We should not allow China to build any new consulates in the United States until China allows the U.S. to build a consulate in Lhasa, period, end of story.

It is with a heavy heart that we commemorate the Dalai Lama's flight to Dharmasala. I believe one day we will stand here--and, if this debate had taken place before, Tom Lantos would be here, whereby people would give Tom Lantos the credit for leading the effort whereby Tibet will be, basically--not basically, but Tibet will be free.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the School Food Recovery Act of 2009. The purpose of this legislation is simple: to keep excess school food out of the garbage and get it into our food banks.

Our Nation's food banks and food pantries are struggling to keep up with demand. On average, client visits are up more than 30 percent over the past year. Families in northern Virginia and all around the Nation are going hungry. Our food banks and food pantries are their last resort.

Consider that for a family earning $45,000 a year, it costs an extra $1,000 today to maintain the same food, gas, and basic good purchases compared to 2006--a 9.6% increase. That reality has led some families in my district who had been donating food in the past to now turn to the same pantries for food assistance.

Unfortunately, we are not doing enough to prevent the waste of perfectly good food as these families go hungry. According to a USDA report on waste in the National School Lunch Program, it was reported that an estimated ``30 million Americans were in danger of going hungry and 96 billion pounds of food were being wasted at the retail and food services level.''

To address this, former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman awarded twelve $10,000 grants to school districts during the 1998-1999 school year to develop models to donate unused food to local food banks and food pantries and the results were published in a ``best practices'' manual in 1999. However, since the conclusion of the one-year grants, little has been done at the Federal level to encourage school districts to donate surplus food to food banks.

In 1993, Congress passed the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act, which protects donors who give to food banks in good faith from all liability. This law has helped encourage many businesses and civic organizations to donate more and to build connections with food agencies.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about our school cafeterias. Far too few school districts have been willing to donate excess food, primarily due to administrative resistance and a misperception that Federal regulation doesn't allow it.

The School Food Recovery Act will clarify--once and for all--that schools are covered from liability under the Good Samaritan Act and will allow each school to authorize an employee who has the discretion to release excess school food to local food banks on a regular basis.

I believe this legislation will cut through the red tape and ensure that excess school food is used to feed the hungry, not to fill a school's dumpster. It only requires schools to identify local food banks and pantries, identify the employee authorized to release food to those agencies, and create a database of these contacts at each school that food banks can use to connect with these individuals.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this straightforward legislation to help feed the hungry.

Madam Speaker, I would like to bring to my colleagues' attention the following letter I recently sent to President Obama regarding the appointment of former Ambassador Charles W. Freeman to serve as chair of the National Intelligence council.

Congress of the United States,

House of Representatives,

March 6, 2009.

Hon. Barack H. Obama,

The President, The White House,

Washington DC.

Dear Mr. President: I write today to share my deep concern

regarding the appointment of Chas W. Freeman Jr. as chairman

of the National Intelligence Council.

Particularly disturbing is Mr. Freeman's position on the

international advisory board of the China National Offshore

Oil Corp. (CNOOC), which he has held since March 2004. The

communist government of China,

along with other state-owned companies, are majority

stakeholders in CNOOC. This connection would require Mr.

Freeman to recuse himself from certain matters involving

China.

The 2007 United States-China Economic and Security Review

Commission's Classified Report to the Congress addresses

Chinese activities in the areas of espionage, cyber warfare,

and arms proliferation. In 2006 four of the computers in my

Capitol Hill office were hacked. It was confirmed by the FBI

that these attacks originated in the People's Republic of

China. The economic stimulus plan recently rolled out by

Chinese Premier Wen Jiaobao includes a 14.9 percent increase

in military spending. It is evident that China poses an

increasing national, security threat to the United States.

How is national security policy enhanced by having a chairman

of the NIC who must recuse himself from matters involving a

regime which poses one of the most serious national security

risks to the United States?

In an April 25 speech given by Mr. Freeman at the National

War College Alumni Association, he described the March 2008

protests in Tibet as ``a race riot.'' The Tibetan people have

suffered for decades at the hands of the authoritarian

Chinese government, and such a characterization of the March

uprising is deeply insulting. I traveled to Tibet in 1997

where I heard endless accounts of violent oppression by the

Chinese government. I spoke to Buddhist monks and nuns who

recounted their experiences of torture and imprisonment in

Tibet's notorious Drapchi Prison. Just last week, the

Associated Press reported that a Tibetan monk was shot three

times by Chinese security forces after he set himself on

fire.

Additionally, CNOOC's substantial investment in Sudan's oil

sector has served as the lifeline to the regime of President

Omar al Bashir, recently indicted by the International

Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Senator Sam Brownback and I traveled to Darfur in 2004, where

we saw first hand the suffering and destruction that has

taken place under the Bashir regime. We heard first hand

accounts of women who were brutally abused at the hands of

the janjaweed forces. During our visit we captured the

haunting images of the terror and destruction, and we will

share those photographs with your administration at your

request. Mr. Freeman's appointment to this high level post

undermines the policy of U.S. divestment from the genocidal

regime of Sudan.

Most recently, Mr. Freeman served as president of the

Middle East Policy Council, a think-tank funded by the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On September 20, 2006, in an

interview with the Saudi-US Relations Information Service,

Mr. Freeman said that ``thanks to the generosity of King

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia we have managed to

accumulate an endowment'' for the Middle East Policy Council.

According to filings with the Internal Revenue Service, Mr.

Freeman drew an annual salary from the Middle East Policy

Council. However, the foundation has never publicly released

its list of contributors.

In his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Looming Tower,

Lawrence Wright states on page 170 that ``Saudi Arabia, which

constitutes only 1 percent of the world's Muslim population .

. . supports 90 percent of the expenses of the entire

faith,'' including ``thousands of religious schools around

the globe, staffed with Wahhabi imams and teachers.'' I have

enclosed a copy of this book and strongly encourage you to

read it. Wahhabi teachings exported by the Saudis have

inspired a generation of young radicals that have proven

themselves ready to take up arms in the name of faith. Many

experts believe that the notorious Taliban leader Mullah Omar

was educated in a Saudi-funded radical madrassah. How can Mr.

Freeman possibly be expected to confront this challenge head

on after taking home years of paychecks from the Saudis?

The reprehensible regimes with which CNOOC does business

does not end there. The company rebuffed public calls to

withdraw from Burma in October 2007 after the ruling military

junta opened fire on peaceful protestors in a movement known

as the Saffron Revolution. CNOOC also has invested in Iran, a

country which is actively seeking to build nuclear weapons

and has vowed to ``wipe Israel off the map.'' Such activities

starkly contrast with the national security interests of the

United States.

The evidence strongly suggests that Mr. Freeman is not the

right person for this job and for the good of our country I

urge you to reconsider your choice.

Best wishes.

Sincerely,

Frank R. Wolf,

Member of Congress.

Madam Speaker, I would like to share with our colleagues a letter I sent to the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) following the successful rollout of the 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

These sweeping reports reflect the hard work of hundreds of human rights officers in Washington and abroad. I would like to thank, by name, the DRL staff people without whom this report would not have been possible. Specifically the editorial staff of the Country Reports Team consisting of: Editor in Chief Stephen Eisenbraun; Office Directors: Bruce Connuck, Kay Mayfield, and Michael Orona; Senior Editors: Jonathan Bemis, Douglas B. Dearborn, Daniel Dolan, Jerome L. Hoganson, Patricia Meeks Schnell, Julie Turner, and Rachel Waldstein; Editors: Naim Ahmed, Sabrina

Bahir, Joseph S. Barghout, Katherine Berglund, Sarah Beringer, Alisha Bhagat, Sarah Buckley, Laura Carey, Elise Carlson-Rainer, Ebenezer Concepcion, Sharon C. Cooke, Susan Corke, Stuart Crampton, Frank B. Crump, Mollie Davis, Cortney Dell, Morton Dworken, Jennifer Evans, Verinda Fike, Joan Garner, Karen Gilbride, Jeffrey Glassman, Edward Grulich, Cheryl Harris, Patrick Harvey, Matthew Hickey, Alexandra Hoey, Victor Huser, Stan Ifshin, Sami Jiries, Simone Joseph, Jennifer King, Jane Kim, Sidney Kwiram, Lawrence Lesser, Jessica Lieberman, Katie McLain, John McKane, Michael McKenna, Gregory Maggio, Jessica Megill, Nicole Morales, David Mikosz, Leonel Miranda, Stephen E. Moody, Jennie Munoz, Sandra Murphy, Daniel L. Nadel, Catherine Newling, Susan O'Sullivan, Meredith Pierce, Drue Preissman, Peter Sawchyn, Amy Schmisseur, Wendy Silverman, Erin Spitzer, Rachel Spring, Brian Stout, James Todd, Rachel Waldstein, Nicole Wilett, Mikel Wood, and Isabelle Zsoldos; Contributing Editor: Lynne Davidson; Editorial Assistants: Adrienne Bory, Karen Chen, Carol Finerty, Elizabeth Mokaba, and Kimberly Jorgensen; and Technical Assistant Eunice Johnson.

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC, March 2, 2009.

Ms. Karen Stewart,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights

and Labor, Washington DC.

Dear Ms. Stewart: I write following the successful rollout

of the 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. I know

that this exhaustive report which catalogues human rights

abuses globally is the result of countless hours of hard work

on the part of human rights officers in DRL and in American

embassies abroad. I also know that the final product often

comes after hard fought battles within the building.

I ask that you share with your staff and with human rights

officers the world over my profound appreciation for their

efforts. At times I know it can seem a thankless task. But

the efforts of your bureau to speak truth to power and to be

a voice for the voiceless brings hope and makes a difference

to millions.

You have my profound thanks. Best wishes.

Sincerely,

Frank R. Wolf,

Member of Congress.

Madam Speaker, I bring to the attention of the House an interview conducted by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Human Rights in China. Upon her release from prison, Shaung Shuying, the 77- year old mother of house church pastor Hua Huiqi, recounted that she endured beatings and electric shock at the hands of her captors. She was the oldest inmate at Beijing Women's Prison where she served a two- year sentence.

This severe treatment of an elderly woman is evidence that the Chinese government is indiscriminate in its human rights abuses. Chinese officials truly know no limits.

[Feb. 13, 2009]

Case Update: Elderly Activist Shuang Shuying Released; Reports Abuses

in Prison

Shuang Shuying, 77, evictions activist and mother of house

church pastor Hua Huiqi, was released from the Beijing

Women's Prison on Sunday morning, February 8, 2009. In an

interview with HRIC on the day of her release, Shuang

recounted the abuses she suffered in prison.

Shuang served a full two-year term on conviction of

``intentional damage of public and private property'' for

striking an on-coming police car with a cane during a 2007

visit to a local government office to protest her son's

detention.

On the afternoon of her release, Shuang went to visit her

ailing husband, Hua Zaichen, 89, hospitalized at the Beijing

Electricity Hospital since February 5. Hua passed away at

7:50 am the following morning, February 9, 2009.

Shuang and her family are longtime rights activists. She

and her husband have spoken out against Reeducation-Through-

Labor (RTL) and religious persecution. Their son, Hua Huiqi,

has suffered numerous detentions, beatings, and threats for

his activities as a house church pastor. In 2002, Shuang saw

her Beijing home demolished to make way for Olympics

redevelopment. Subsequently, the family had to relocate eight

times.

At Beijing Women's Prison, Shuang was the oldest inmate,

and endured beatings and electric shock. She suffered from

diabetes, high blood pressure, cataracts, heart disease, and

arthritis, but prison authorities denied her request for

medical parole. According to her husband in 2008, Shuang was

almost completely blind in both eyes due to the abuses

inflicted upon her.

The following is Shuang's account of the abuses she

suffered in prison.

Madam Speaker, earlier this week the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, founded by former Commerce Secretary Pete Peterson, whose president is former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, released the results of a survey conducted by Peter Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies which looked specifically at public attitude toward America's fiscal policies.

According to this survey, by a significant margin, 56 to 30 percent, registered voters prefer a bipartisan commission to the regular congressional process as the best means to begin tackling our growing budget deficit and national debt. The fact is there really isn't even a congressional process that is dealing with this issue.

The bipartisan commission Congressman Cooper and I have proposed with every spending program on the table with tax policy is the approach that will lead to a solution. Congress would be forced to vote on the commission's recommendations. Over 111 Members of this House pledged their support last session, bipartisan, and Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad and Ranking Member Judd Gregg have offered similar legislation in the Senate.

Just look around. Main Street is suffering. Everyone knows the country is in trouble. The American people are experiencing a crisis of confidence. The Dow is falling through the floor, below 7,000 yesterday. Unemployment, the latest figure came out today, 8.1 percent unemployment in the Nation with 650,000 jobless claims for just last month. The American people need their confidence restored, and this bipartisan commission would restore it, would restore the confidence.

The American people believe that elected officials will work together to solve the Nation's most pressing problems, but this confidence is dwindling with every piece of bad news that factors into the country's economic narrative.

As evidenced by the Peter Hart Research/Public Opinion data, a majority of the American people understand that this Congress is broken. It has become a partisan political place. And if it takes a commission with teeth for Congress to deliver on its responsibilities, then so be it.

If other Members, and there may very well be better ideas, if other Members have a better idea, then they ought to put it forward and we ought to pass it. But if we don't address entitlement spending in the over $56 trillion in unfunded obligations through Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, our children and their grandchildren will pay the price.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I believe that a bipartisan commission would renew America's confidence in the economy and in the ability of our elected leaders to come together. I was the author of what they call the Baker-Hamilton Commission, the Iraq Study Group, where we brought both sides together, five Republicans and five Democrats, and we saw the good that came out of that.

This would provide a brighter future. This would provide a renaissance in this Nation. This would provide a bright future whereby we could then put more money into math and science and physics and chemistry, more money into autism research and more money into cancer research and more money into research for Alzheimer's, and really electrify America whereby we are creating jobs for the sake of the country.

For the sake of our children and grandchildren, this Congress and this administration should do this. And let me just say, this is a bipartisan criticism, the Bush administration, Secretary Paulson did not do a very good job on this and missed that opportunity. Now this administration has an opportunity. So hopefully this Congress and this administration, and if this administration doesn't do it, this Congress will do it, will vote to set up a bipartisan panel to deal with America's financial future to give hope to our children and our grandchildren and create a renaissance in America so we can honestly say America's best days are yet ahead.