Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's President Bashir, charging him with seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is the first time the court has accused a sitting head of state of war crimes.

The world knows what's happening in Sudan and Darfur, and yet the Obama administration has failed to appoint a special envoy. I have asked him to appoint a former Senator, Bill Frist from Tennessee, who can start today. The tribunal spokesman said the crimes included, and I quote, ``murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians and the pillaging of their property.''

According to the U.N., an estimated 300,000 have been killed since the Darfur conflict began and 2.7 million displaced. And yet the Obama administration has failed to appoint a special envoy. As recently as just yesterday, the AP reported that in recent weeks 26,000 people have fled their homes in Darfur and flooded Zamzam refugee camps, already at 50,000.

I close by saying time is short. The killing and the devastation goes on. The administration must act. This cannot wait.

Madam Speaker, America is facing a crisis. The budget request projects a $1.8 trillion deficit this year and a $533 billion deficit in fiscal year 2013, and red ink is as far as the eye can see.

We have over $56 trillion in unfunded obligations for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The national debt is nearing $11 trillion and growing every day.

Standard & Poor's investment service predicts the loss of America's AAA bond rating as early as 2012, and that will be devastating.

Every day seems to bring more bad news. The stock market continues to plummet, dropping below 7,000 this morning, and Americans everywhere understand that our Nation is in trouble. When I left my office today, the stock market was down over 200 points.

Most Americans realize that Congress is broken, and it will take a special process to address this runaway spending.

The action that will lead to a solution is the bipartisan commission that Congressman Cooper of Tennessee and I have proposed, with every spending program on the table along with tax policy. Congress, under this process, would be forced to vote on the commission's recommendations, and over 111 Members of the House pledged their support to this last year, and it would be bipartisan.

This process, which also would have outside experts, would help establish confidence. In the Webster Dictionary it says in the definition of confidence, ``the faith or belief that one will act in a right, or effective, way.'' And boy, do we need that now.

Congress is paralyzed by partisan bickering, and so far, this Congress has chosen to hide behind the mantra of ``regular order.'' But this problem will not fix itself.

There is a bridge linking Trenton, New Jersey, with Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and there's a sign on the bridge that said, ``Trenton Makes, the World Takes.'' Well, Trenton doesn't make anything anymore, and the sign ought to say, ``The World Makes, Trenton Takes.'' And all you have to do is get on the train from Washington going up to New York, and all the factories are closed and in decay, and the windows are broken.

A bipartisan commission would renew America's confidence in the economy. It would create a renaissance in the ability of our elected leaders to act. It would provide a bigger and brighter future for the next generation of America's young people and ensure that we have discretionary dollars for math and science and physics and chemistry and biology and cancer research, research for autism, research for Alzheimer's. It would also help create manufacturing.

For the sake of this country, this Congress and this administration should act to set up a bipartisan panel to help us give some hope to our children and our grandchildren.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I would also say to the leaders of this Congress, this is also a moral issue. This is also a moral issue. Is it appropriate for one generation to be living so well, knowing that their children and grandchildren will have to pay?

And to close, I read a quote by Deitrich Bonhoeffer, who was a Lutheran pastor who stood up to the Nazis and was killed, hung, by the Nazis in Flossenberg Prison just before the end of the war. Deitrich Bonhoeffer said, ``The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.''

This Congress, as of now, is failing that moral test.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in calling on the Egyptian government to respect human rights and religious freedom by supporting the res which I have just introduced.

Each year the United States gives Egypt approximately $1.5 billion in foreign military assistance--with no strings attached. No strings attached.

The United States gives Egypt $1.5 billion a year and the Egyptian government continues to arbitrarily detain and brutally torture human rights and democracy activists, bloggers, and members of opposition political parties in its attempt to suppress dissent.

The United States gives Egypt $1.5 billion a year and the government of Egypt continues to show utter and blatant disregard for human rights and religious freedom.

The United States gives Egypt $1.5 billion a year and Egypt continues to allow weapons to be smuggled to Hamas through elaborate networks of underground tunnels.

The United States gives Egypt $1.5 billion a year and Egyptian government deploys an arsenal of Washington's heavy hitter lobbyists to peddle excuses for the deplorable conduct of the Egyptian government.

If you speak to the Egyptian on the street, you will find that they long for freedom. They long to speak without censure, assemble in absence of fear and worship in peace. So I call on the Egyptian government to respect these fundamental rights.

We too often forget how we are blessed to live in the United States of America. But to whom much is given, much is required. America has a responsibility to the world.

President Ronald Reagan once said that the Constitution is ``a kind of covenant. It is a covenant we've made not only with ourselves but with all of mankind.''

We have a rare opportunity before us. The fact is that we not only have the opportunity, we have the obligation to stand up for freedom where it is stifled, and to seek out justice where there is tyranny.

This nation was founded upon the principle that every man is endowed with certain inalienable rights. These are the principles which led this nation to rise to greatness. Let us not turn our backs on these principles now.

This resolution will put Congress on the right side of history. I urge its passage.

I just want the Members to know that the son of former Congressman Duncan Hunter, now currently Congressman Duncan Hunter who just spoke here about the flag drape policy with regard to our fallen soldiers who return to Dover Air Force Base, served in Iraq in combat and served in Afghanistan in combat. I think that the Obama administration ought to listen to people who serve.

Mr. Speaker, today the President released his budget request which projects a $1.8 trillion deficit this year and a $533 billion deficit for 2013. Yet, the Congressional Budget Office ran a deficit projection using a baseline which assumed the policies in the President's budget request contends that the FY 2013 deficit will be a staggering $715 billion.

President Obama's pledge of cutting the deficit in half is important, but it will still be at record levels. In this morning's Washington Post, Maya MacGuineas, president of the bipartisan Committee For a Responsible Federal Budget, said she would like ``To see them [the Obama Administration] go much further in terms of fiscal responsibility in actually closing that deficit gap.''

More to the point, Brian Riedl, budget analyst for the Heritage Foundation, says, ``It is easy to cut the deficit in half after you've quadrupled it.''

Today's Politico features an article titled, ``Arguments Lost in Blizzard of Billions,'' which contends--and I agree--that Congress is so desensitized to numbers that ``a billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking about--well, pretty soon no one has a clue what you're talking about.''

Have we forgotten that we have over $56 trillion in unfunded obligations through Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid--already saddled on the back of future generations--$11 trillion of debt? Do elected officials know that Standard and Poor's Investment Service predicts the loss of America's triple-A bond rating as early as 2012?

When Secretary of State Clinton was in Beijing last week, she asked the Chinese--who now holds the paper of about 1 of every 10 American dollars--to keep buying our debt. I never thought I would see the day when the United States was forced to hold a tin cup in China mortgaging the future for our children and our grandchildren to some of the worst human rights violators in the world.

We are in a crisis today. Main Street is suffering. Americans everywhere understand our country is in serious trouble--we are sinking--and it is on this Congress' watch. The 111th Congress is doing nothing.

Confidence. The definition of ``confidence,'' according to Webster's Dictionary, is ``faith or the belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way.'' ``Act'' being the key word.

Americans are under the belief that elected officials will work together to solve the Nation's most pressing problem. But if Congress is paralyzed by partisan bickering, what happens to the word ``act''?

Entitlement spending and the massive debt we're leaving to our children and our grandchildren are pressing issues of economic and moral--this is a moral issue. The Tenth Commandment says, ``Thou shalt not steal.'' Well, this generation is stealing from the next generation. Every day the canyon of debt widens and deepens, and yet elected leaders--many hiding behind the mantra of regular order--seem to think the problem will magically go away. The fact is, congressmen give speeches and say, ``I'm all for this. I'm concerned. But let's go through regular order.''

When it goes through regular order and it goes through the Budget Committee, when it goes through regular order and it goes through the Ways and Means Committee, it is dead. This Ways and Means Committee this year will not act unless they're forced to act by changing the process.

With that, Mr. Speaker, we have to act to get control of our debt for our children and our grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, today the State Department released its annual Human Rights Report, an exhaustive report which documents the human rights abuses of countries worldwide.

The report highlights several disturbing global trends in the area of human rights and goes on to say that these trends ``confirm the continuing need for vigorous United States diplomacy to act and speak out,'' and, yet, America's leading diplomat, Secretary of State Clinton, could not find it in herself to publicly press the Chinese Government on their human rights abuses during her recent visit.

Which begs the question, has the situation improved so dramatically so as to justify relegating human rights to the back burner? Was last year a banner year for the Chinese Government marked by tremendous reforms and greater freedom? Has a new day dawned for the people of China? The answer is no. We need look no further than the State Department's own report that came out today that says such notions could not be further from the truth and would be laughable if the reality of the situation wasn't so sobering.

A few excerpts from the report:

``The Government of China's human rights record remained poor and worsened in some areas. The government . . . tightly controlled freedom of speech, the press (including the Internet), assembly, movement and association.''

``Authorities committed extrajudicial killings and torture, coerced confessions of prisoners, and used forced labor. In addition, the Chinese government increased detention and harassment of dissidents.''

For people of faith, the situation was especially grim:

``Authorities disrupted church meetings and retreats; detained, beat, and harassed church leaders and church members.''

``Harassment of unregistered Catholic bishops, priests, and laypersons continued, including government surveillance and detentions.''

This is the State Department's report that came out today.

For North Korean refugees the report had this to say:

``Authorities stepped up efforts to locate, detain, and forcibly return North Koreans to North Korea,'' basically gulags where they will be persecuted.

On forced labor it said: ``Forced labor remained a serious problem,'' and on and on. I am running because of the time.

For Tibet, here is what the report said:

``The government's human rights record in Tibetan areas of China deteriorated severely during the year. Authorities continued to commit serious human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary arrest, extrajudicial detention,'' and then it goes on with much others.

The list goes on. I marvel that there can be such a disconnect between the systematic documented abuses of the Chinese government, the importance, as stated in the report, of the U.S. Government speaking out on behalf of those living under repression and the shocking silence of Secretary Clinton. The Chinese Government could barely contain their excitement about Secretary Clinton's silence.

AP reported that ``China gave U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton a glowing review.'' No wonder they gave her a glowing review because she didn't say anything following her weekend visit, during which she steered clear of human rights issues.

China doesn't want our Secretary to speak on human rights, but that's the very reason why they should speak out on human rights.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, silence in itself is a message, not just to the Chinese Government but to the Chinese people whose struggles are outlined in grim details.

Martin Luther King said, and I quote, ``In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.'' For the Secretary of State to be silent on the issue of persecution in China, where there can be a number, can you imagine, Mr. Speaker, how a Catholic bishop, or a Buddhist monk or a Protestant pastor or a Muslim Uighur was in prison and the prison guards came around and said, ``See, your Secretary of State was in town and she never even raised the issue.''

The way to do this, Mr. Speaker, in ending, is the way Ronald Reagan did it in the eighties. Every time President Reagan would go or any Secretary of State would go to Moscow, or whatever, they would speak out on behalf of human rights. Our embassies were islands of freedom.

And so I ask the Secretary to make it clear: Is this a retreat on human rights? Did you just make a mistake? But the sound and the silence is reverberating, and it will also have an impact on dictators around the world because they will see the Secretary going to China and not speaking out. Ahmadinejad will do what he wants with regard to the Baha'is, Egypt will do what it wants with regard to the Coptic Christians and on and on, and the world will be a much more dangerous place.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican guidelines on earmarks, I submit the following statement for the record regarding H.R. 1105, the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act.

Requesting Member: The Hon. Frank R. Wolf.

Bill Number: H.R. 1105.

Provision: State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance, Byrne Justice Assistance Grant.

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force.

Address of Requesting Entity: One Park Center Court, Manassas Park,

Sometimes it takes a crisis to move Congress to action, and we are in a financial crisis today and have reached the point where Americans everywhere understand that our country is in serious trouble. We are sinking, and it is on this Congress' watch, and it is this Congress' obligation to fix it. Main Street USA is suffering. Businesses are closing. Wages and hours are being cut back. Restaurants that once bustled with customers are half empty, and the only waiting line starts at the unemployment office.

How did we get to these frightening times?

Look at the numbers. For years we've been spending and spending beyond our means, mortgaging the future for our children and grandchildren--over $56 trillion in unfunded obligations through Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The national debt is $11 trillion. Standard & Poor's investment service predicts the loss of our triple-A bond rating as early as 2012. Imagine the headlines when that day comes.

China now holds the paper of 1 of every 10 American dollars, and we saw for the first time the Secretary of State punting when she was in Beijing, never raising the issue of human rights and religious freedom. Imagine how the Catholic bishops and Buddhist monks who are in prison felt when they heard that the Secretary, because of pandering to the Chinese in wanting them to buy our paper, never raised this issue. Yet this Congress has done nothing but spend, spend, spend and talk, talk, talk.

Congress is made up of parents and grandparents. Yet it seems that this Congress is prepared to push all of this onto our children and our grandchildren. Why won't Congress act? Why has Congress failed to act? What is Congress afraid of?

Over the weekend, President Obama said, `` . . . we can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control.'' I could not agree more, and time will tell if this administration and this Congress will embrace the process that leads to a solution.

The process that will lead to a solution is the bipartisan commission that Congressman Jim Cooper and I have proposed with every spending program on the table with tax policy. Congress would vote up or down on the commission's recommendations.

If any Member from either side, from my side who is not on this bill or from the Democratic side who is not on this bill, has a better idea that will work--a better idea rather than just a rotary speech, a better idea that works--put it forward. Don't hide behind the process.

There always seems to be an excuse. The American people are experiencing a crisis of confidence and expect this Congress to act. When we gain control of the reckless spending, we will be able to rebuild our economy. We will have a renaissance in America, and we will see a brighter and a stronger America--stronger for us, stronger for our children and stronger for our grandchildren. As Ronald Reagan said, we will literally have a renaissance when we get control of this spending,

But I ask you, and every Member who serves here has to ask themselves: How will history judge the 111th Congress if it does not deal with this issue?

Your children and your grandchildren will come up and say, you know, ``Grandpop or Grandmom or Dad or Mom, weren't you there during the 111th Congress when we had $11 trillion of debt? When the Chinese had such influence on this country that this Secretary no longer spoke out on human rights and religious freedom when there were 30-some Catholic bishops in jail? When we saw all of this going on with unemployment? What did you do when you were there? Were you there?''

Yes, I think you were. What would you do?

This Congress will be a total failure, and it will be our children and our grandchildren who will pay the price, and history will judge it very, very poorly.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to add my voice to the chorus of human rights organizations who have expressed shock and disappointment at Secretary Clinton's comments during a recent Asia trip indicating that human rights will not be a priority in her engagement with China.

We need to look no further than the Sharanskys and the Solzhenitsyns of recent history to know that bold and public proclamations on the importance of liberty, freedom and absence of repression are cause for great hope to those political prisoners who languish behind bars. Words have power, the power to inspire or deflate, to give vision or stifle hope. But for words to inspire the hope for a day when the Chinese people can worship freely, where the press is not censored, where political dissent is permitted, they must first be spoken.

Silence itself is a message. Martin Luther King, Jr. said famously, ``In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.'' America has always been a friend to the oppressed, the persecuted, the forgotten. I pray our allegiance has not changed.

This administration must make the solid rock of freedom their foundation, rather than the sinking sand of repression.

Congress of the United States,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC, February 23, 2009.

Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton,

Secretary of State,

Washington, DC.

Dear Secretary Clinton: I write to share my dismay, also

voiced by a number of leading human rights organizations, at

your comments during your recent Asia trip indicating that

human rights will not be a priority in your engagement with

China. These statements come on the heels of the U.S. failing

to participate in the United Nations review of the human

rights record of China, among other worst offenders. Both are

deeply troubling commentary on this administration's

commitment to human rights, and are undoubtedly disheartening

for scores of Chinese citizens, including the imprisoned

Catholic bishops, persecuted house church leaders and

repressed Tibetan Buddhists.

Certainly there is a place for pragmatism in diplomacy. It

may be that the Chinese government, when confronted with its

gross human rights violations, would dismiss U.S. concerns

and tell us not to interfere in their ``internal matters.''

But we need look no further than the Sharanskys and

Solzhenitsyns of recent history to know that it is equally

pragmatic to believe that bold, public proclamations on the

importance of liberty, freedom, and the absence of repression

are cause for great hope to those political prisoners who

languish behind bars.

In short, words have power. They have the power to inspire,

or deflate; they have the power to give vision or to stifle

hope. But for words to inspire the hope for a day when the

Chinese people can worship freely, where the press is not

censored, where political dissent is permitted--they must

first be spoken.

Silence is itself a message. Martin Luther King Jr.

famously said, ``In the end, we will remember not the words

of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.'' America has

always been a friend to the oppressed, the persecuted, the

forgotten. Has our allegiance changed?

Words are, of course, strengthened by policy, and policy is

shaped by personnel. You have a number of important decisions

before you in this regard: Will the new U.S. ambassador to

China be singularly focused on good bilateral relations, and

increased trade--or will that diplomat tirelessly work to

ensure that our embassy is an island of freedom in a sea of

repression? Will the assistant secretary for Democracy, Human

Rights and Labor be someone known and trusted by the human

rights community? Will the new ambassador for International

Religious Freedom worship with the underground church and

press the Chinese government to respect this first freedom?

This administration is young and finding its sea legs. My

hope is that the solid rock of freedom will be your

foundation, rather than the sinking sand of repression.

I urge you to change course, lest this country itself be

changed.

I am reminded of a story told by Holocaust survivor Elie

Wiesel which speaks to this very point: ``One day a Tzadik

came to Sodom; He knew what Sodom was, so he came to save it

from sin, from destruction. He preached to the people.

`Please do not be murderers, do not be thieves. Do not be

silent and do not be indifferent.' He went on preaching day

after day, maybe even picketing. But no one listened. He was

not discouraged. He went on preaching for years. Finally

someone asked him, `Rabbi, why do you do that? Don't you see

it is no use?' He said, `I know it is of no use, but I must.

And I will tell you why: in the beginning I thought I had to

protest and to shout in order to change them. I have given up

this hope. Now I know I must picket and scream and shout so

that they should not change me.' ''

Sincerely,

Frank R. Wolf,

Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the conference report to the economic stimulus legislation.

I understand that Americans are hurting. Many have lost their jobs, are unable to pay their mortgage, don't have health insurance and are struggling to make ends meet. Small businesses have especially felt the brunt of the recession.

Congress needs to come together with the president to restore confidence in the economy and create a climate conducive to job growth. But instead of a narrowly focused effort to stimulate the economy through targeted programs to put more money in the hands of taxpayers and create jobs, this massive spending bill--the largest in our Nation's history--creates new programs and bolsters others, many of which have nothing to do with economic recovery. I don't question the urgency of congressional action to stimulate the economy, but I do question the priorities in this package and its price tag.

I have never been more concerned about the future of our country. The unprecedented amount of borrowing and spending in this package will place a tremendous burden of debt on present and future generations. This economic stimulus package was not only an opportunity to look at short-term solutions to help jump-start the economy and assist struggling taxpayers and homeowners, but also a historic opportunity for Congress to address the long-term financial plan for our country.

I have been speaking out for several years about getting mandatory spending under control. Congressman Jim Cooper and I have authored bipartisan legislation, which I first introduced in 2006, to set up a national commission to review our nation's long-term economy, including entitlement spending, discretionary spending and tax policy, and recommend a plan to Congress to get America on a sustainable financial path. The Securing America's Future Economy (SAFE) Act would address this financial crisis and solve it with bipartisanship. The SAFE effort differs from others because it requires an up or down vote in Congress on the commission's proposal, similar to the process for closing military bases enacted in 1988.

As the piece of the budget pie continues to grow to pay for entitlements, spending for discretionary programs shrinks. That means fewer dollars for education, for medical research, for investment in technology, for national security, for transportation, and a myriad of other programs on which Americans rely. Not only is it unacceptable to shoulder our children and grandchildren with a crushing debt burden, I believe it raises serious moral questions. Is it right for one generation to live very well knowing that its debts will be left to be paid for by others?

I reached out to both Democrats and Republicans to push for a bipartisan entitlement reform commission to be considered as part of the stimulus package. The SAFE idea has garnered growing support. I offered the SAFE Commission as an amendment when the stimulus legislation was marked up in the House Appropriations Committee, and again when the Rules Committee decided which amendments would be made in order for consideration on the House floor as a part of House legislative package. I was disappointed that my amendment was not even allowed to be debated by the House.

I am deeply concerned about the divisiveness in Congress and believe that a bipartisan commission may well be the only way to mandate action on long-term budget controls. President Obama has indicated his willingness to reach across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions. I have always believed that working together in a bipartisan manner is what the American people expect of their leaders.

The Congress had the chance in this measure to take a bold step for America's future financial security and instead we are going down the same road of adding to the deficit and national debt with questionable programs that are touted to create jobs and stimulate the economy. We can do better and we must

do better--for our children and our grandchildren's future.

Mr. Speaker, I insert with my statement an op-ed from yesterday's Washington Times by Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation who understands the urgency of Congress and the administration coming together to stop the financial tsunami that threatens the financial future of our country.

[From the Washington Times, Feb. 12, 2009]

Butler: Congress Needs Cover to Reform Entitlements

(By Stuart Butler)

The price tag is stunning. Pegged at nearly $800 billion--a

figure that doesn't even include interest payments--the so-

called ``stimulus'' bill sets an all-time record for deficit

spending by a single bill.

Congress has gotten away with deficit spending in the past,

because foreign investors were willing to buy U.S. bonds to

cover the debt. But the size of this bill will send our

deficits sky-rocketing, to the point where overseas investors

may have second thoughts about lending us more.

And that's the good news!

The bad news is there's a far bigger problem threatening to

undermine overseas confidence in America's finances. That's

the looming fiscal tsunami due to wash over us as baby

boomers start retiring in ever-growing numbers and start

claiming Social Security and Medicare benefits Congress has

promised them. They are promises even the most robust economy

could not afford to keep.

Some lawmakers fear that Congress is incapable of

addressing this problem, given the way it currently does

business. They say the entitlement tsunami needs a very

different approach. They are right.

Let's understand the situation. Over the next 10 years,

Congress says the stimulus will cost about $800 billion we

don't have. In its single most expensive year--2010--Congress

will borrow just over $350 billion to create ``energy-

efficient visitors centers'' and otherwise ``stimulate'' the

economy. That's a lot of money.

But let's look at what Medicare alone must borrow--every

year--to cover the gap between what it spends and takes in

through premiums and payroll taxes. It's already costing

taxpayers almost $200 billion this year. Within 10 years,

yearly borrowing will hit the equivalent of $285 billion in

today's economy. In 20 years it will be close to $600

billion, with hundreds of billions more from red-ink

saturated Social Security and Medicaid spending.

And we are worrying about a peak of $350 billion for the

stimulus?!

Two congressmen, Rep. Frank R. Wolf, Virginia Republican,

and Rep. Jim Cooper, Tennessee Democrat, don't believe

Congress has the stomach to rein in such staggering

shortfalls in these politically sensitive programs.

To give weak-kneed politicians the cover they need, Mr.

Wolf and Mr. Cooper propose a bipartisan commission to

recommend long-term structural changes in entitlement

programs. Commission proposals would be sent to Congress for

an up-or-down vote.

Mr. Wolf and Mr. Cooper reckon their commission would get

members off the hook of voting line-by-line for unpopular

changes. And a bipartisan commission means both parties get

the political pain and gain of taking tough action.

Now, we've had budget commissions before. Sometimes they

consist of top congressional leaders who meet behind closed

doors and produce few real program changes but more real

taxes. Or they produce a report that goes nowhere.

But the Wolf-Cooper plan has two stages that may change the

political dynamic.

Before the commission even meets to talk turkey, for

several months it would hold a national conversation across

the country, with town meetings and other ways to gauge

public sentiment. Only then would the commission begin its

work. Armed with this public support, Mr. Wolf and Mr. Cooper

reason, lawmakers could vote ``aye'' with political

protection.

This ``public mandate'' stage is modeled after something

called the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour. The tour consists of

representatives from the Concord Coalition, a budget watchdog

group, as well as the Heritage Foundation and the Brookings

Institution, together with former U.S. Comptroller General

David Walker.

This left-right panel has held dozens of large meetings

around the country, talking with tens of thousands of

Americans. As a ``made member'' of the tour, I can tell you

how Americans are likely to react to a commission seeking

their views:

People want the truth about our fiscal future. If they get

the facts in a nonpartisan way, first they are stunned and

then they want action.

The elderly, as well as young Americans, are willing to

support tough steps on Medicare and other programs--if they

are first brought into a serious conversation.

And they doubt that more money sent to Washington would be

used to avoid future deficits. They are sure it will be

spent.

Here's a thought. Let's say President Obama were to back

the Wolf-Cooper two-stage commission. Imagine if he and

congressional leaders from both parties were to hold their

own tour. They would jointly give Americans the full picture

of the future tsunami and an honest description of the major

options from all sides. And imagine they asked the American

people what to do. Then, say, a commission put together a

package of reforms based on the people's mandate and sent it

to Congress for a vote.

That's the kind of commission report that could work. The

kind of change you can believe in.

Madam Speaker, I would like to bring to my colleagues' attention some deeply disturbing news coming out of Tehran. Tehran's deputy prosecutor recently announced that the revolutionary court will hear the cases of seven members of the Baha'i faith accused of spying for Israel. The continued systematic persecution of the Baha'is by the tyrannical government of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad is unacceptable and must stop. I ask that a report from the Agence France Press be inserted into the record, as well.

Iran To Try Bahais for Spying for Israel

Tehran (AFP)--Iran will soon try seven members of the

banned Bahai religion on charges including ``espionage for

Israel,'' the ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

``The charges against seven defendants in the case of the

illegal Bahai group were examined . . . and the case will

be sent to the revolutionary court next week,'' deputy Tehran

prosecutor Hassan Haddad was quoted as saying.

Haddad said the charges included ``espionage for Israel,

insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the

Islamic republic.''

Iran and Israel are arch-enemies, and Iranian President

Mahmud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the Jewish state

to be wiped off the map.

In late January, judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said

Iran had arrested six adherents of the Bahai faith on the

same charges.

Earlier last month, the Fars news agency said the ex-

secretary of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi's office was

detained for links with an organisation of the Bahai faith,

adding that the ex-staffer was a Bahai herself.

Haddad did not say if the seven being charged were the same

as those arrested in January.

Followers of the Bahai faith, founded in Iran in 1863, are

regarded as infidels and have suffered persecution both

before and after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Bahai teachings emphasise the underlying unity of major

religions, with history having produced a succession of

divine messengers, each of which founded a religion suitable

for the times.

Bahais consider Bahaullah, born in 1817, to be the last

prophet sent by God. This is in direct conflict with Islam,

the religion of the vast majority of Iranians, which

considers Mohammed to be the last prophet.

In late 2008, Iran reported the hanging of a Bahai man for

rape and adultery.

The European Union has expressed ``serious concern about

the continuing systematic discrimination and harassment of

the Iranian Bahais on the grounds of their religion.''

I rise today to call on the Obama administration and Secretary of State Clinton to appoint a special envoy for the genocide that is taking place in Darfur. Senator Brownback and I were the first Members of Congress to go to Darfur. The genocide continues, and yet there's almost the sound of silence.

This is a photo that Sam and I took of a village that had been bombed and the janjaweed come riding in on horseback. This is the janjaweed. They ride in, the Antonov bombers come over, they drop bombs here on these Russian-made bombers, then Soviet Hind helicopters come in and gun the people down. Then, the janjaweed people like this on horseback or camel come in, they rape the women, they burn, they torch the villages, then move on.

Now, President Bush put a lot of time in this effort. Unfortunately, it was not concluded. But I want to commend the Obama administration for appointing a special envoy for the Middle East, former Senator Mitchell and also former Ambassador Holbrooke, for a special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. But why not a special envoy for the people of Sudan and for Darfur?

We call on them in a letter that went out today, particularly, and also asking Secretary Clinton to, when she goes to China, to publicly and privately urge the Chinese to help bring about the end of genocide.

The Chinese have the largest embassy in Khartoum. They sell the weapons, the guns and all, to the Khartoum government, that are later given to the janjaweed to then continue this effort.

Five years of genocide. And, Secretary Clinton, when she was a Senator, voted, I'm sure, for the first Brownback amendment that designated this activity in Darfur as genocide.

So, in closing, Madam Speaker, I commend the administration for Mitchell in the Middle East. But when the people of Darfur are looking, they say, Special envoy to the Middle East, special envoy to Pakistan. Why not? Why not?

I urge them today, before the end of this month, hopefully, even before the end of this week, a special envoy to help the people of Darfur.

Madam Speaker, this is an ad that appeared in newspapers around the country. It is an iceberg. We can see what is going to happen. It says:

``Today's economic crisis is just the tip of the iceberg.

``$56 trillion.

``We must focus on a much larger yet less visible threat: the $56 trillion in liabilities and unfunded retirement and health care obligations (that's $483,000 per U.S. household), and the dangerous reliance on foreign lenders that threaten our ship of state.

``Fortunately, the Obama administration and a growing number of congressional leaders recognize the urgent need to address these challenges with entitlement, budget, spending, and tax reforms. We believe a capable and credible approach is necessary: an action- oriented, bipartisan commission that will engage the American people, that will consider all options and that will make sensible recommendations that will be guaranteed to be put to a vote in Congress.

``Meeting today's challenges is very important, but addressing these structural challenges is crucial to navigating a better future for our children and grandchildren.''

The question is, Madam Speaker, will this Congress deal with the greatest economic crisis that we have faced for the last 50 years?

The United Nations Human Rights Council is now conducting reviews of the human rights record of 16 countries, among which are China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Russia. And I was shocked and, quite frankly, disappointed to learn that the new administration has failed to fill its seat and has washed its hands of even questioning these countries. How can America be silent about four of the worst offenders of human rights and religious freedom around the world?

China has been designated by the State Department's annual Religious Freedom report as a country of particular concern since 1999. No administration comments.

Saudi Arabia has received this designation, too. Again, no comments from the new administration.

The U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom placed Cuba on their watch list. Again, no comment from this administration.

The administration made a pledge to place human rights at the top of its agenda, and yet they're absent at this very critical point. This is a bad start for this administration in the area of human rights and religious freedom.

Madam Speaker, I know it sometimes takes a crisis to move Congress to action. We are in financial crisis mode today, and while there never is a convenient time to make hard decisions, the longer we wait, the more dramatic the required remedy will be.

Americans everywhere understand that we are in trouble. When you wrap your head around the following facts and figures, it's stomach-turning that things have gotten this bad--over $56 trillion in unfunded obligation through Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; the national debt nearing $11 trillion; and China, which violates human rights and has Catholic priests and evangelical pastors in jail, and has plundered Tibet, now holds the paper on 1 out of every 10 American dollars.

David Walker, former U.S. Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office, has said that the sum of these statistics equals storm off our coast that is strong enough to ``swamp our ship of State.''

The narrative that accompanies the staggering statistics, I believe, is even more compelling. Entitlement spending is squeezing the life out of every discretionary dollar this committee appropriates: Math and science initiatives, so that our children receive the education that will enable them to compete in the global economy; medical research initiatives that will help us find the cure for cancer, autism, and Alzheimer's; infrastructure projects to build safe roads and bridges. All are at risk if Congress continues to keep its head in the sand while the financial tsunami moves closer to shore.

In recent weeks, the Congressional Budget Office has projected that the Federal budget deficit will balloon to $1.2 trillion this fiscal year alone. That doesn't include the $800 billion economic stimulus package recently passed by the House, a package which I believe represents a missed opportunity for Congress to address the Nation's financial future in a truly bipartisan manner.

Congressman Cooper and I have been speaking out about the dangers of runaway spending and the need for lawmakers to come together to tackle this issue. We joined together to introduce bipartisan legislation in the last Congress to create a commission to review Federal spending, with everything--entitlement and tax policy--on the table.

The SAFE Commission, short for Securing America's Future Economy, will look beyond the Beltway for solutions, holding at least 12 town meetings, one in each of the Federal Reserve districts, over a span of 12 months, in order to hear directly from the American people. After having a supermajority of the commission's members in agreement on the package of recommendations, the House would vote up or down on the commission's recommendations. Modeled after the Base Closing Commission process, Congress would be forced to act.

I offered the SAFE Commission as an amendment to the House-passed stimulus when it came through the Appropriations Committee and, because it failed more in the process rather than the substance, I also submitted it to the Rules Committee, the ability to offer the amendment, and I was disappointed that the Rules Committee denied full debate on this measure, which is a bipartisan measure which would have given every single Member of the House who understands the dangers of runaway entitlement spending the chance to be on the record on this issue.

You may ask why Congress would need a commission with teeth to deliver its responsibilities. Quite frankly, I worry that the Congress is not up to the job, and we will allow our children and our grandchildren to languish in a political divide. The SAFE Commission process gives us the necessary push to get the job done.

One of the most compelling statements I have read about our current state of affairs comes from an unlikely source. Richard Fisher, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, has called our situation ``catastrophic,'' noting that, ``doing deficit math is always a sobering exercise.'' He said, ``It becomes an outright painful one when you apply your calculator to the long-run fiscal challenge posed by entitlement programs.''

It's out of the ordinary for the Federal Reserve to publicly express an opinion on fiscal policy matters, but these are not ordinary times.

In closing, make no mistake. This could well be the hardest economic issue our Nation will ever be faced with. But we cannot afford to wait to act. The futures of our children and our grandchildren hang in the balance. This is an economic, it is a moral, and a generational issue, and I believe Congress, this Congress has the ability to come together and do what the American people want us to do. If we do not do it, if we do not do it, history will judge the 111th Congress in a very harsh manner.