Floor Statements

Why would you give the United Nations any impact when, in Rwanda, 700,000 people died, and the U.N. did nothing? In Srebrenica, the U.N. stood by as 700 Muslims were led to their death by the Serbs. In Darfur, where I have been, I led the first delegation, 450,000 people have died, and this House has called it genocide, and genocide continues today.

Why would you give the U.N. any authority when it couldn't stop genocide in Darfur, genocide in Srebrenica, and genocide in Darfur today? I strongly support the amendment.

Madam Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to create The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area. Senator Warner will be introducing companion legislation in the Senate.

We remember the words of Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address:

We cannot dedicate--we cannot consecrate--we cannot hallow

this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled

here, have hallowed it far above our poor power to add or

detract.

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground winds it way along U.S. Route 15 from Jefferson's home of Monticello, in Charlottesville, Virginia to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Starting as a trail used by the Susquehannock and Iroquois, America's early history can literally be traced along this corridor. Jefferson's Monticello, Madison's Montpellier, Monroe's Oak Hill and Ashlawn Highland, Zachary Taylor's homes, Eisenhower's cottage, Teddy Roosevelt's cabin, John Marshall's home, General George Marshall's home, and Camp David are situated along this route also dotted with numerous Civil War battlefields and sites from the underground railroad.

Designation of this historic route as a National Heritage Area will create a partnership between the federal, state, and local governments as well as local civic organizations to commemorate, conserve and promote the history and resources along the Route 15 corridor between Gettysburg and Monticello. It will help link national parks to historical sites, package tourism opportunities, and provide financial and technical support for sites in the corridor.

This historic corridor includes a significant part of the 10th District of Virginia, which I am proud to represent. I echo the sentiments of author and historian David McCullough when he said that ``[t]his is the ground of our Founding Fathers. These are the landscapes that speak volumes--small towns, churches, fields, mountains, creeks and rivers with names such as Bull Run and Rappahannock. They are the real thing, and what shame we will bring upon ourselves if we destroy them.''

This bill is modeled after the legislation Senator Warner and I introduced which created the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District in the Shenandoah Valley in 1996. Through that legislation, the Civil War battlefield sites in the Valley are being preserved. As with that bill, local, state and federal officials, working along with landowners and business leaders will be able to better promote the history of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground attracting tourism and an appreciation for the unique history of this area.

I would like to thank the Journey Through Hollowed Ground Partnership which has been working to forge partnerships that span the four states that fall within the proposed boundaries of the heritage area. This group has laid

the groundwork in identifying the significant historical properties within such a concentrated area along U.S. Route 15. Dozens of towns and counties along the corridor have offered letters of support as have local civic groups. The Virginia General Assembly also has approved a resolution of support.

This legislation has been painstakingly drafted to ensure that the rights of private property owners within the district will not be usurped. In fact, designation as a heritage area increases the rights of property owners giving them an opportunity to learn more about the significance of their own property and allowing them to market their property as historically significant. Landowners should have the right to choose preservation and protection along with the right to choose to build town homes, malls and highways.

The legislation clearly states: ``Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify the authority of Federal, State, or local governments to regulate land use.'' Additionally, the only new federal funds accessible to The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership will be for the management of the heritage area.

The bill also specifically prohibits the use of eminent domain and the ability of the management entity to regulate land use. The Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan research service for the legislative branch, has investigated the effect of a heritage area designation on land use decisions. Its 2004 report states: ``Heritage area officials, Park Service headquarters and regional staff, and representatives of national property rights groups that we contacted were unable to provide us with any examples of a heritage area directly affecting--positively or negatively--private property values or use.''

This legislation is a local effort to recognize the history and beauty of this region. The organizers are local landowners who have the vision to appreciate that they live among the nation's most precious resources and history. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership conducted a poll of the residents in the heritage area and found that 81 percent of those polled expressed support for the initiative.

To understand the importance of this initiative, I refer to the words of Thomas Jefferson in his Notes on the State of Virginia:

You stand on a very high point of land. On your right comes

up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the

mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left

approaches the Potomac, in quest of a passage also. In the

moment of their junction, they rush together against the

mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea. The first

glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opinion that

this earth has been created in time, that the mountains were

formed first, that the rivers began to flow afterwards, that

in this place, particularly, they have been dammed up by the

Blue Ridge of mountains, and have formed an ocean which filed

the whole valley; that continuing to rise they have at length

broken over this spot, and have torn the mountains down from

its summit to its base. The piles of rocks on each hand, but

particularly on the Shenandoah, the evident marks of their

disrupture and avulsion from their beds by the most

powerful agents of nature, corroborate the impression. But

the distant finishing, which nature has given to the

picture, is of a very different character. It is a true

contrast to the foreground. It is as placid and delightful

as that is wild and tremendous. For the mountain being

cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, through the

cleft, a small catch of smooth, blue horizon, at an

infinite distance in the plain country, inviting you, as

it were, from the riot and tumult roaring around, to pass

through the breach and participate in the calm below.

The landscape Jefferson depicts has been inspirational to American leaders for hundreds of years. From Susquehannock Indian trading routes and to Revolutionary War battles; from the homes of the founding fathers to the first brave pioneers to make a home beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains; from the Civil War battles which threatened to divide the union to the underground railroad, our nation was forged along this route. From Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and the fertile Piedmont to the east of the corridor the route in many ways exhibits the birth and development of our nation's economy, social movements and political landscape. Perhaps even more significant than the battlefields that cluster along the route are the documents penned in the homes along the corridor. The Declaration of Independence, the Monroe Doctrine and the Marshall Plan have influenced not only this nation, but the entire world.

Every American citizen should take a trip along this route so that they know not only from where our nation has come, but also to where we are going. We cannot stand as a nation unless we know what this nation stands for.

As we come upon the 400th anniversary this year of America's birthplace at Jamestown, I urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor on behalf of Rep. Tom Davis and myself to recognize Ms. Germaine Broussard of McLean, Virginia, for her dedication to sending many cookies and other packages to U.S. troops overseas.

Ms. Broussard is known as the Cookie Lady to those who have benefitted from her kindness. She has already baked and shipped over 51,000 cookies to servicemembers. She has dedicated many hours of her free time and her own resources toward baking cookies to thank U.S. troops.

I am proud to call attention to the dedication of Ms. Broussard. I would also like to share a recent article from The Stars and Stripes which describes Ms. Broussard's hard work.

[From the Stars and Stripes, Nov. 21, 2006]

Va. Woman Cooking Up Eats Galore for Troops

(By Kirsten Brown)

Washington.--When Lt. j.g. Gregory Trach, 34, received an

e-mail from Germaine Broussard two years ago asking

permission to send cookies to his ship, he thought little of

it.

``Thank you for your support of the U.S. military,'' he

responded, then dismissed the request as a thoughtful but

meaningless gesture.

A few weeks later, the USS Shreveport received 12 boxes

packed with more than 1,800 chocolate chip, peanut butter,

oatmeal and sugar cookies. Shocked, Trach sent Broussard a

second e-mail: ``We thought you were kidding!''

That was Trach's first brush with ``the Cookie Lady.''

So far, Broussard, 39, has baked and shipped more than

51,000 cookies to servicemembers. The McLean, Va., resident

calls her mostly one-woman program ``Troop Treats.''

It felt like Christmas to Lt. Col. Skip Goodwillie, 45,

each time he and his unit opened a box from Broussard.

Goodwillie, who is in the Army Reserves, was stationed

northeast of Baghdad at Kir Kush military base when he

started getting cookies.

``It was just wonderful to have mail call and hear, `Hey

Skip, the Cookie Lady sent us another box,' '' Goodwillie

said. ``It was wonderful for our morale.''

The Cookie Lady does get donations, but she pays for most

of it out of her own pocket. After her job as a Smith Barney

business development associate, Broussard comes home to start

mixing batter about 7 p.m. She pulls the last cookies from

the oven between 1 and 3 a.m.

``Some people can be a little hesitant about why am I doing

this,'' Broussard said. ``I had wanted to do something, but

with the Red Cross, you donate money, and they send the box.

But our family has always used home-baked cookies, bread,

whatever, to be able to say thank you.''

Broussard also sends necessities such as travel-sized

shampoo, soap, toothpaste, mouthwash and other treats,

including DVDs, Cocoa Rice Krispies and cheesecake mix.

``It's a small piece of home,'' she said.

Embedded teddy bears are also part of her effort.

Broussard's six ``Battle Buddies'' bears are dressed in

camouflage and she could fill an album with pictures of

beaming soldiers posing with their brown battle buddy.

Broussard will soon launch her second holiday project,

``Operation Santa's Little Helpers,'' which enlists children

to write cheery cards to the troops. These notes are tucked

in red or blue stockings along with presents such as Slinky

toys, Silly Putty, playing cards and, of course, candy.

In junior high school, Broussard earned only a ``B'' in her

home economics class. ``I don't use a standard one-cup

measuring method,'' she said. ``It's just a little of this,

little of that. The home ec teacher went crazy. I'd love to

go back to that teacher and say, hmm! Wonder who's right

now?''

Mr. Speaker, when the Congress was in recess this fall, a significant milestone in the fight for freedom occurred.

This past October 23 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. I want to recognize the young freedom fighters who on that day against monumental odds, put their lives on the line to fight for the liberation of their country from the oppression of a dominating communist empire.

They are true heroes, not only to citizens of Hungarian origin who have come to America, but to freedom-loving people around the world. As we remember the sacrifice of these freedom fighters, it is important to take the time to reflect upon the importance to freedom and liberty, and remember those who dedicate their lives to defending human rights.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend the members of the Iraq Study Group and to thank them for their dedication and service to our country.

I have been to Iraq three times, the first two times without military escort. I traveled all over the country. Upon my return I called for the creation of a high level, bipartisan panel to take an honest assessment of the situation in Iraq. To look forward, not back, and to report its findings to the American people.

On March 15, this bipartisan Iraq Study Group was established with co-chairmen former Secretary of State James Baker and former Congressman Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the 9/11 Commission, leading the 10-member panel--five Democrats and five Republicans. Because of the importance of their task in finding consensus on assessing the way forward in Iraq, at that time, I said it was important to have as members of the group people who loved their country more than their political party.

The group undertook a serious, bipartisan, forward-looking assessment of the current and prospective situation on the ground in Iraq and its impact on the surrounding region, and its consequences on U.S. interests. It focused on political, military, security and reconstruction in Iraq.

In addition to co-chairs, the study group members were former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese, former Clinton Administration adviser Vernon Jordan, former Clinton Administration chief of staff Leon Panetta, former Defense Secretary William Perry, former Virginia Senator Chuck Robb, former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger. The group traveled to Iraq, and met with hundreds of experts.

Yesterday the Iraq Study Group released its much anticipated report on how we as a country can come together and move forward on Iraq. The report is a tough assessment of the current situation in Iraq and a blueprint for moving forward. Not everyone will agree with every recommendation contained in the report, but it should be given full consideration by the administration, the Congress, and equally important, the American people. Rarely do we see a report that has the full consensus of such distinguished Americans, men and women of honesty and integrity. I thank them for their service and a job well done.

I also would like to thank members of my staff who worked on this issue including Christine Kojac and Mike Ringler of the Science-State- Justice-Commerce appropriations subcommittee, and Janet Shaffron and Samantha Stockman of my personal staff. A special thanks goes to my chief of staff, Dan Scandling, who accompanied me on my trips to Iraq and served as photographer and writer for the trip reports.

Mr. Speaker, gambling is exploding throughout our country. I am deeply concerned about the impact this is having on our society. Gambling destroys families and preys on the poor.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to share some comments from a recent speech delivered by Rev. Tom Grey, national spokesman and field director for the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling and National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion. Rev. Grey gave these remarks to the Seventh Annual Commercial Real Estate Deal Maker Forum on October 24, 2006, in Cleveland, Ohio, as Ohio voters were considering the question on the Ohio ballot to legalize casino gambling. The proposal, which included money allocated for education, was dubbed the ``Earn and Learn'' initiative. Voters defeated the initiative 57-43 percent on election day, November 7.

Tom has worked to bring attention to the harm gambling can bring to families and communities. Excerpts of Tom Grey's speech follow:

Gambling is like a fungus. If it gets started in one

region, it tends to spread. We saw this happening, and in

1994 we formed, from the bottom up, a national organization

to fight it. We gathered local and state activists and formed

the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. We started

sharing information and we challenged the spread of gambling

at the ballot box. We did that in the peak of hard times for

states. State budgets were upside down all across the

country, and the casinos were pitching gambling as `the force

of history, the wave of the future.' In the beginning there

were bands playing while governors cut ribbons and welcomed

the riverboats as economic salvation. The promoters declared

that gambling was `inevitable,' but a decade later we now

know it isn't even desirable.

The wave of gambling hit a wall when we started exposing

the product. Key votes in Ohio, Rhode Island, Missouri, and

Florida surprised the gambling promoters. Voters turned it

down. They burst the balloon of inevitability. The promoters

lost. Ordinary citizens were successful. It's at the ballot

box where we have our best results. They can buy legislators

with their threats and big campaign contributions, but they

can't buy elections.

Gambling is and always has been an `other side of the

tracks business.' Do you really believe that valued lakeside

museums and gateway sports complexes are enhanced by having a

casino next to them? In addition, there are terrible side

effects with this product. Read the label. `May Cause'--

no--`WILL cause addiction, bankruptcy, crime and

corruption.'

Well, most of you are here this morning because you are

business people whose businesses rise with the tide of a

flourishing Cleveland, the community where you live and do

business. Let me use an example from one of America's most

admired businessmen from the past named Herb Taylor.

For Taylor, a deal wasn't a good deal unless it was a good

deal for everyone. Every deal, and every major business

decision, had to pass these four questions, or tests:

Is it the truth?

Is it fair to all concerned?

Will it build good will and better friendships?

Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

is it the truth?

The casino crowd has made billions turning teachers, school

kids and PTA parents into gambling lobbyists. They do this by

promising money for education, and that's exactly what

they're doing in Ohio. Gambling promoters need to pick

education or some other worthy community cause to buy their

way into our communities or states. They want us to overlook

the fact that the lion's share of the money goes to them. In

Ohio, it's 55 percent. They want us to think the money's not

going to the gambling promoters; they want you to think it's

going to the schools.

Gambling isn't new money. It's re-directed money. It's

trading dollars. Gambling came to New Mexico in 1994, and by

1998 the state's Secretary of Taxation and Revenue reported

roughly $1 to $1.2 billion per year in other taxable sales

had fallen off the balance sheet. Entertainment, retail,

restaurants, and services took huge hits from the casinos,

and as a result, paid far less in taxes. The best the

economists could say was the economy was playing a `zero sum

game.' The casinos were winning and the other businesses were

losing.

Is the gambling sales pitch the truth? NO! No state has

gambled itself rich, including Nevada--a state that should

serve as a model for what a state can produce with gambling.

Nevada recently passed the largest tax increase in that

state's history. Republican Governor Kenny Guinn told his

legislature in his inaugural address, `Our revenue system is

broken because it has relied on regressive and unstable

taxes.' (Guinn understands that when you take money from the

citizens to run the government, it's still taxes, even if you

do it with a slot machine.) Guinn told his legislature,

`Implicit in this (gambling) tax strategy was a belief that

the revenues from gaming and tourism could keep pace with our

growing and diverse population. Unfortunately, this strategy

has failed.'

Nevada ranks near the bottom in per pupil spending on

education, and spends less per capita on Medicaid than any

other state. If those two areas don't concern you, take a

look at where Nevada ranks in high school dropout rates, teen

pregnancy, and children living in poverty. If the epicenter

of gambling can't gamble itself rich--if the poster-child of

casino-gunded government can't balance the budget, and if the

model of slot machine largesse fails its kids so miserably,

why would Ohio want to follow Nevada on its downward path?

is it fair to all concerned?

The simple truth is that 30 to 50 percent of casino

gambling money comes from problem and pathological gamblers.

Can anyone think of anything more cynical than funding

education on the backs of sick and troubled people?

There are about 400 of you here this morning. If casinos

come to town, you can expect about 12 of you will become this

kind of addicted gambler. You might not steal, but the

addiction will likely cost you your home, your savings, your

family, and your self respect. It could be you, your spouse,

your siblings, your children. In the end, this addiction

humiliates formerly great citizens to the point of

desperation and even suicide. Gambling addicts think about

suicide more than any other addictive group, and they act on

those thoughts.

Inviting a casino to town is playing Russian roulette with

your friends and neighbors; employees and business partners.

At 3 percent, which is conservative in a casino town, it

would be like giving you a handgun with 400 chambers, and 12

of them are loaded. Are you sure you want to pass that around

the tables? Are you willing to pull that trigger?

New addicted gamblers cost more than $11,000 each--MINIMUM

in `externalities.' That's extra costs the society pays for

law enforcement, incarcerations, lost worker productivity,

divorce, health care and the like. Gambling isn't

entertainment like shopping or the movies. It always brings

with it a tide of what we call the ABCs of Gambling:

Addiction, Bankruptcy, Crime and Corruption. These cost the

state, and the taxpayers, and you, the businesses, money.

That's why gambling is a net loss to the economy.

So what's your share? Let's do the math. Park a casino in

your town, and the addiction rate will hit 3 percent or

higher. Each new addict costs the economy more than $11,000.

That's about $33,000 for each hundred people, or $330 a year

for each of you. And that's using the most conservative

numbers available!

will it build good will and better friendships?

Well, I doubt it. Making slots promoters rich by turning

citizens into losers isn't a friendly relationship. It's

adversarial, predatory and parasitic. It doesn't build

friendship. It builds cynicism and despair. Good will means

the customer goes home and says I got a good deal.

Why does gambling have to keep expanding? Why do the

casinos need to be open at 3 in the morning? Because that's

what it takes to suck the addicted people dry. You just don't

see many church-going college graduates that pay their credit

cards on time yanking on slot machines at 3 in the morning.

Did you notice this proposal has already set the stage for

the conversion of slots parlors into full-blown casinos?

Corruption is government trying to make losers of its

citizens by legalizing something that damages the very health

of its citizens, all under the guise of a painless revenue

stream. Take another look. The revenue stream is running

backwards, and the pain is intense. History has proven this--

over and over again. Gambling does not build friendships. It

builds dependencies. It breeds corruption.

Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Beneficial to all means everyone should be better off, not

worse off. John Kennedy once said a rising tide lifts all

boats. If gambling made all winners, it would be beneficial

to all concerned. Of course, gambling makes losers and the

citizens are worse off because of that. Even the people who

never gamble lose money: the citizens and taxpayers. They get

stuck with additional costs that they didn't have before:

those public health and crime costs that ALWAYS follow

gambling.

In order to enrich themselves, these slots promoters are

asking you to divert money from legitimate businesses, move

jobs from real commerce to casinos, and give the taxpayers

the bill for the social costs. Remember, the promoters openly

admit they expect Ohio to sacrifice the health and lives of

109,000 of its citizens. They propose to make those people

very sick, and then spend another $28 million to treat them.

And even that sum isn't going to cover the bill. Not by a

long shot. Do the math.

Multiply that 109,000 new addicts the promoters ADMIT they

will cause, times the $11,000 each for social costs. That

comes to $1,199,000,000 loss for the economy of Ohio. Why

would we accept making 109,000 people sick, and then losing

more than a billion dollars from the economy to boot?

The Pew Research Center just this year found three

important changes in Americans' thoughts about gambling.

First, they found that 7 in 10 Americans say that legalized

gambling encourages people to gamble more than they can

afford. That's up about 10 percent in the past 10 years.

Second, a plurality, 42 percent of adults say casinos have a

negative impact on their communities, while only about a

third, 34 percent, say casinos have a positive impact. Third,

and most revealing, the study found that only 23 percent of

Americans actually enjoy gambling. That's down from 34

percent just 10 years ago. Think about that. If your product

drops 11 percent in the people who enjoy it, you're in

trouble.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with our colleagues to pay tribute to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Hyde, as he prepares to retire from the U.S. House of Representatives.

I cannot imagine this, the people's House, without Henry Hyde being here. He is the conscience of this House. His eloquence, his honesty, his integrity, his passion, his dedication have filled this chamber on so many occasions when issues of the highest and most significant importance to this country were being debated.

I say to Henry, your words have stirred this House time and time again. Colleagues always have looked to you for wise counsel. It was almost automatic that during a vote, I would always look up to see how you were voting.

I am so grateful that my years of being a member of the House have allowed me the privilege of serving with and being a colleague of Mr. Hyde.

The people of the Sixth Congressional District of Illinois, the people of the United States, and indeed freedom-loving people around the world can say to Henry Hyde, ``Well done, good and faithful servant.''

May God bless you, Henry.

Mr. Speaker, I reluctantly rise in opposition to this omnibus trade bill, which includes a provision to grant permanent normal trade relations for the government of Vietnam.

While I support this trade bill's important benefits to the people of developing countries such as Haiti and those affected by the African Growth Opportunity Program, I deeply regret the decision to extend permanent normalization of trade relations to Vietnam, a country which continues to violate the human rights of its own citizens.

I believe it is a grave error to include this PNTR provision within the trade bill. The Vietnam government has failed to prove to the world that it values democracy and the freedom of its own citizens.

The government of Vietnam is one of the most egregious human rights abusers in the world. According to the 2005 State Department human rights report, here are just some of the human rights problems reported at the hands of the Vietnamese government:

Police abuse of suspects during arrest, detention, and interrogation; harsh prison conditions; arbitrary detention or restriction of the movement of persons for peaceful expression of political and religious views; denial of the right to fair and expeditious trials; imprisonment of persons for political and religious activities; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association; restrictions on religious freedom; restrictions on freedom of movement; prohibition of the establishment and operation of human rights organizations; violence and discrimination against women; trafficking in women and children; and child labor abuse.

The State Department's report says that Vietnam's ``human rights record remained unsatisfactory.''

I receive reports almost daily confirming that these human rights abuses are continuing to occur. I am contacted every week by Vietnamese-Americans in my congressional district who are concerned for their families and friends in Vietnam who face repression and torture as they stand up for democracy and freedom.

The government of Vietnam also continues its harassment of people of faith.

For Catholics, Vietnam retains the ability to choose all bishops and screen all seminarians. Charitable and educational activities are severely restricted.

For Protestants, individual churches affiliated with Mennonite, Baptist, and 7th Day Adventist denominations have been allowed to register. However, churches with dissident pastors are not allowed to register nor are churches outside Ho Chi Minh City.

In the Central Highlands in 2001, authorities closed 1,250 religious sites in this region. As reported by Human Rights Watch, Protestants who refuse to affiliate with the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam and seek independent status are accused of ``sowing division.'' Individuals are harassed, literature confiscated, leaders are detained and interrogated and pressured to give up their faith tradition.

In the Northwest Provinces, forced renunciations of faith continued in the last year. Hmong Protestants in the Northwest Provinces have encountered the most problems in seeking legal recognition, as Vietnamese authorities have refused to acknowledge the legal existence of a reported 1,110 Protestant churches in the region. Approximately 200 Hmong churches have applied for registration under the new law, but they have encountered numerous obstacles, including some overt harassment.

For the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, UBCV leaders Thich Quang Do and Thich Huyen Quang are still restricted in their contacts and movement. At least 13 other senior UBCV monks remain under some form of administration probation or actual ``pagoda arrest.''

At the time that the report was printed, the State Department estimates that there were six religious prisoners and 15 other individuals being held in some form of administrative detention on account of their religious beliefs. According to experts this number is likely to be higher.

While pressure on the government of Vietnam has begun to move the government to change its abusive practices, life for the average person in Vietnam continues to be grim.

I am extremely disappointed to hear that the issues of human rights and international religious freedom were not a priority during the

President's trip to Vietnam in November despite ongoing and widespread human rights abuses.

The people of Vietnam deserve our support. It is a tragic error to reward the government of Vietnam with normal trade relations while the people of Vietnam continue to be exploited.

Mr. Speaker, we learned some sad news this morning. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the first woman appointed to serve as permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations and as a member of President Reagan's cabinet and National Security Council, passed away yesterday at age 80. At the time of her death, Ambassador Kirkpatrick was a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) for Public Policy Research.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with our colleagues the following statement posted today on the Web site of AEI:

In Memoriam: Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, 1926-2006

AEI senior fellow Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, who joined the

Institute in 1978, died yesterday. As a young political

scientist at Georgetown University, Kirkpatrick wrote the

first major study of the role of women in modern politics,

Political Woman, which was published in 1974. Her work on the

McGovern-Fraser Commission, which was formed in the aftermath

of the Democratic Party's tumultuous 1968 convention and

changed the way party delegates were chosen, led to

Dismantling the Parties: Reflections on Party Reform and

Party Decomposition, which AEI published in 1978.

Yet it was an essay written for Commentary magazine in

1979, ``Dictatorships and Double Standards'' (later expanded

into a full-length book), that launched her into the

political limelight. In the article, Kirkpatrick chronicled

the failures of the Carter administration's foreign policy

and argued for a clearer understanding of the American

national interest. Her essay matched Ronald Reagan's

instincts and convictions, and when he became president, he

appointed her to represent the United States at the United

Nations. Ambassador Kirkpatrick was a member of the

president's cabinet and the National Security Council. The

United States has lost a great patriot and champion of

freedom, and AEI mourns our beloved colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I also submit for the record a short biography of Ambassador Kirkpatrick published by AEI:

[From the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research]

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Senior Fellow

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick was the first woman appointed to serve

as permanent representative of the United States to the

United Nations and as a member of Ronald Reagan's Cabinet and

National Security Council. She served as a member of the

President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (1985-1990)

and the Defense Policy Review Board (1985-1993), and she also

chaired the Secretary of Defense Commission on Fail Safe and

Risk Reduction of the Nuclear Command and Control System

(1992). Dr. Kirkpatrick headed the U.S. delegation to the

Human Rights Commission in 2003.

For this and related government service, Dr. Kirkpatrick

was awarded the Medal of Freedom--the Nation's highest

civilian honor--in May 1985 and received her second

Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal--the

highest civilian honor of the Department of Defense--in

December 1992. In 2002, the Council on Foreign Relations

established the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Chair in National

Security, and in 1999 the Kennedy School at Harvard

University established the Kirkpatrick Chair in International

Affairs. She has held the Leavey Chair of Government at

Georgetown University from 1978.

For her work on NATO enlargement, Vaclav Havel, president

of the Czech Republic, awarded her the Tomas Garrigue Masaryk

Order, the Czech Republic State Decoration (1998), and H.E.

Arpad Goncz, president of Hungary, presented her with the

Hungarian Presidential Gold Medal (1999). For other work, she

received the 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Award from the

prime minister of Israel (1998); the Casey Medal of Honor

from the Center for Security Studies (1998); the Grand

Officier Du Wissam Al Alaoui Medal from the king of Morocco

(2000); and the Living Legends Medal from the librarian of

the Library of Congress (2000).

Dr. Kirkpatrick has received many other awards and

decorations, including: the Award of the Commonwealth Fund;

the Gold Medal of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; the Hubert H.

Humphrey Award of the American

Political Science Association; the Christian A. Herter Award

of the Boston World Affairs Association; the Morgenthau Award

of the American Council on Foreign Policy; the Humanitarian

Award of B'nai B'rith; the Defender of Jerusalem Award; and

honorary degrees from more than a dozen and a half

universities.

After her service in the U.S. government, she returned to

her previous positions as Leavey Professor of Government at

Georgetown University and as senior fellow at AEI. Dr.

Kirkpatrick also writes and speaks on a range of issues

concerning foreign policy and security affairs and

participates in the ongoing dialogue on public issues.

Dr. Kirkpatrick's published works include: Good Intentions

(2003); The Withering Away of the Totalitarian State;

Legitimacy and Force (2 vols.); The Reagan Phenomenon;

Dictatorships & Double Standards; Dismantling the Parties:

Reflections on Party Reform and Party Decomposition; The New

Presidential Elite; Political Woman; and Leader and Vanguard

in Mass Society: A Study of Peronist Argentina. She is also

the author of numerous monograms and articles.

Dr. Kirkpatrick received an A.B. from Barnard College, M.A.

and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, and studied at

the Institute de Science Politique in Paris.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for me to recognize Major David Han upon his retirement from the United States Marine Corps after 22 years of dedicated service. Major Han is a constituent who lives in Ashburn, Virginia. He spent 12 years as an enlisted Marine and another 10 years as an officer, completing assignments across the country, including his last assignment in our Nation's capital.

During Major Han's last 2 years of service in Washington, DC, he has been the administration officer in the Marine Corps' Office of Legislative Affairs. In this capacity he was able to support members of Congress and congressional committees, working on issues related to the Marine Corps and national security. During this time, Major Han volunteered to deploy to Iraq, serving with II Marine Expeditionary Force Forward at Camp Fallujah. While at Camp Fallujah he served as a protocol officer, coordinating, planning, and executing over 150 visits to USMC units in Iraq by generals, foreign dignitaries, congressional delegations, the vice president, and the secretary of defense.

These assignments are only a small glimpse of Major Han's many accomplishments as a Marine. I have no doubt that Major Han has made a lasting contribution in the capability of today's Marine Corps and has helped to shape the future of the Marines. His performance and dedication to duty over his 22-year career has been exemplary. I want to take this opportunity to wish him, his wife Cassandra, and two daughters, Anna and Madeleine, all the best as he retires from the Marine Corps. Semper Fi!

Mr. Speaker, I want to share with our colleagues my statement from a press conference I hosted with Congressman Donald Payne, and the Genocide Intervention Network today calling on all state Governors to divest from companies doing business in Sudan. Local students from Langley High School and Westfield High School also participated, and I would like to commend them for being so active on this issue.

Thank you all for coming. Today I join my good friend and

congressional colleague Donald Payne in calling on all states

to divest from companies doing business in Sudan. I want to

especially thank the Sudan Divestment Taskforce and the

Genocide Intervention Network for working so hard on this

issue. This movement started at UCLA and Swarthmore College

and has gained recognition over the last 2 years. I also

would like to thank all of the students in attendance. So

many young people are embracing this issue. I commend them

and urge them to remain vigilant.

For over 20 years the government of Sudan engaged in a

brutal civil war with the people of southern Sudan. This

conflict took the lives of over 2 million people. During this

time slavery flourished and terrorism took root in Sudan. In

2003 a conflict in Sudan's Darfur region broke out. The

government reacted by unleashing a war on innocent people and

began the genocide. That was 3 years ago. Over 400,000 people

have died since and over 2 million continue to be at risk.

I led the first congressional delegation to Darfur. I

witnessed the horror these people live with day to day and

the impact of decades of war. Just last week the United

Nations reported fresh ongoing attacks. There is no question

that the government of Sudan orchestrated and continues to

direct the genocide in Darfur. In one village, 27 of the

people that were killed were children under the age of 12.

The United Nations is working to try to get desperately

needed U.N. troops on the ground but the government of Sudan

continues to reject this deployment.

Targeted divestment from companies doing business in Sudan

is an action that can make a difference. The genocide in

Sudan can be stopped. Every American can do his or her part.

The United States Congress and the president have called it

genocide. It is now up to the states to apply economic

pressure on the government of Sudan and divest from companies

doing business in Sudan. We have seen in the past that the

government in Khartoum responds to economic pressure.

Last month I called on my home state of Virginia to divest

and a state senator will be putting forth legislation when

the General Assembly returns in January. I hope every state

will follow the lead of California, Connecticut, Illinois,

Maine, New Jersey and Oregon which have already moved to

divest from companies doing business with Sudan. Today we

call on the remaining 44 states to do the same.

We encourage all governors to review their state's pension

funds and identify companies which are doing the type of

business in Sudan that is aiding the government and

fulfilling this genocide, not helping the people. We ask that

they work with their state legislators to enact legislation

to divest from those companies.

California just passed a law last month and its model of

targeted divestment limits the scope of companies and

investments, providing a good plan for action. We need to

send a signal to the government in Khartoum that America and

the West will not stand silent in the face of genocide--that

the women and children in those camps matter as much to us as

our own families.

History will judge our willingness to act.

Mr. Speaker, last week Loudoun County in Virginia's 10th District lost a loyal public servant. Frank Lambert, a former Loudoun County supervisor, passed away on Wednesday, November 8, at the age of 77.

I was honored to call Frank Lambert a friend and to work with him on issues of importance to Loudoun County when he served on the Board of Supervisors during the 1980's.

Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record an obituary from the Leesburg Today newspaper of November 10 which describes the public service of Frank Lambert. We send our condolences to his wife Ruby and all his family.

[From Leesburg Today, Nov. 10, 2006]

Former Supervisor Frank Lambert Dies

(By Margaret Morton)

A longtime Waterford area resident, Frank Lambert, 77, died

early Wednesday morning at Inova Loudoun Hospital's Cornwall

Street campus in Leesburg.

Colleagues and friends were surprised by the news of

Lambert's death. Attorney Steve Stockman, who served with

Lambert on the county board when Republicans were a rare

breed in Loudoun, knew he had been ill, suffering from

pneumonia, but he said Wednesday he had visited him in his

home north of Waterford less than a month ago. ``He seemed

strong,'' Stockman said.

The two Republicans served on the board of supervisors

together from January 1984 to December 1987, along with Jim

Brownell and Andrew Byrd, with Lambert representing the

Catoctin District.

``He was a very nice man, the epitome of a Virginia

gentleman,'' Stockman recalled. He described his former

colleague as being ``very, very astute, with a brilliant

mind.'' Despite a bit of occasional acerbity, ``when he had

to,'' Lambert did not try to force his opinions on others.

``He would lay it out and give a brilliant analysis,''

Stockman said.

Stockman, who was some years younger than Lambert, said he

was also very friendly. ``I learned a lot from him,'' he

recalled, describing Lambert as almost ``Reaganesque'' in his

warmth and ability to communicate, with a big deep baritone

voice.

His political philosophy was ``very conservative,''

according to Stockman. After both had left elective office

Lambert and former Leesburg mayor and Leesburg District

Supervisor Frank Raffo, a staunch Democrat, did a weekly

radio talk show and Brownell recalled Wednesday the two had

some ``heated exchanges.''

``He was very principled, very true to his cause,''

Brownell said of his former colleague. ``If ever there were a

loyal and faithful Republican, he was it,'' he said.

Describing Lambert as ``very, very conservative,'' Brownell,

whose support for moderation often put him at odds with GOP

stalwarts, said that looking back, however, ``Frank was

probably right about a lot of things.''

After Democrat Betsey Brown defeated Lambert as part of the

1987 slow-growth movement, he left active politics, although

he remained an ardent Republican, according to Brownell. He

also continued in public service as a member of the Loudoun

County Library Board and currently as a member of the Loudoun

County Animal Control Advisory Board.

Winston ``Win'' Porter was chairman of the Loudoun

Republican Party when Lambert was on the board of

supervisors. He echoed the opinions of Lambert's colleagues,

calling him ``very intelligent and capable, with a lot of

ideas.''

Don Walker, of Walker and Clarke Construction, recalled

another of Lambert's contributions, calling him ``the father

of communications in Loudoun.'' Fascinated with radio

communications as a youth, Lambert established one of the

area's first successful pager companies, Metrocall. Since

1969, he has been president of the Great Eastern

Communications Company. He also was a Ham radio operator and

held a FCC first class radio telephone license. In the 1960s,

Lambert was part owner and manager of WEER in Warrenton and

later worked for WAGE in Leesburg.

Lambert's pioneering paging business was not without

controversy, and some opposed it, especially the tall radio

tower that was erected at his home north of Waterford. ``But,

no one at the time had instant communications,'' including

those who would most need them, such as doctors, nurses or

fire and rescue workers, Walker said. Ironically, he

recalled, one of the opponents had a heart attack and it was

one of Lambert's pagers that helped save her life.

But Lambert was more than just a successful businessman to

Walker. ``He was my neighbor and friend, from the day he

moved here in the mid-1970s,'' he said. It was a friendship

that lasted from the first day. Walker, as a young man, met

the older Lambert, when he went up to help him move into

his house, to Wednesday morning's news that he had died.

Describing Lambert as ``a very professional and academic

man, a caring member of the community and a great lover of

animals,'' Walker asked him to be godfather to his two sons.

``I would trust him with anything I had, or would hope to

have, in my life,'' he said this week.

He is survived by his wife Ruby; sons Roger Lambert of

Andros Island, Bahamas, and Christopher Lambert of Waterford;

grandsons Michael and James Lambert; granddaughters Constance

and Angela Lambert; and brother Roland Lambert of

Connecticut.

Graveside services will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13

at Union Cemetery with the Rev. Edwin Urban officiating.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill which would grant permanent normal trade relations for the government of Vietnam.

Why are we here today ready to give Vietnam--a country with an abysmal human rights record, which continues to abuse and oppress its own people--favorable trade status?

I am strongly opposed to this action and urge defeat of this legislation.

There are people in Vietnam right now, as we debate this bill, in jail for their support of religious freedom, democracy, and freedom of speech--universal freedoms on which our country was built. If someone says they are for you, but do not want to be identified with you, how much are they really for you? Are we for democracy and religious freedom in Vietnam or are we more interested in promoting trade?

The answer to that question may lie in the incredible news just announced today that the State Department has conveniently removed Vietnam from its list of Countries of Particular Concern--a designation stamped on countries with egregious violations of human rights and religious freedom. Vietnam had been on the list in the company of China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

I stand with the dissidents who remain in jails across Vietnam because they spoke out against human rights abuses being committed and condoned by their own government. Mr. Speaker, I call on this House to stand with the people of Vietnam who deserve our support as they seek democracy and freedom from oppression.

Later this week the President will make a historic trip to Vietnam. I have called on him to meet with Vietnamese human rights activists here in the United States, and I have asked that he meet with dissidents in Vietnam. I have asked President Bush to stand with the dissidents in the way that the Reagan administration did with regard to the Soviet Union. It is unacceptable for the United States to encourage democracy and respect for human rights and then fail to hold Vietnam to this standard before granting them PNTR.

Earlier today there was a groundbreaking ceremony on the National Mall to launch the memorial for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I ask my colleagues to think about Dr. King's words before voting on the legislation before us: ``In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.''

If the Bush administration and this Congress want to be friends with those fighting for democracy, religious freedom and an end to human rights abuses, the silence should be broken. I call on the President and our ambassador in Vietnam to meet with dissidents and to break the silence about human rights abuses in Vietnam.

Mr. Speaker, our actions today are more than how much the U.S. will trade with Vietnam. The decisions we make will reach the 83 million Vietnamese people who are struggling to live in freedom. What will our answer be for them?

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 504 and 505 I am not recorded because I was absent due to my attendance at former congressman Joel T. Broyhill's funeral. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for me to recognize Ms. Joy Trickett of Leesburg, Virginia, for her outstanding work to address homelessness and poverty in northern Virginia. Ms. Trickett is currently board chair for the Good Shepherd Alliance (GSA) Emergency Homeless Shelters in Sterling, Ashburn, Leesburg, Lucketts and South Riding in Virginia's 10th District.

For many hours each week, she volunteers to make a difference, one person at a time. On any given day, you might find Ms. Trickett in the Good Shepherd thrift store in Sterling, working with her staff, or writing a grant proposal with her administrative director in Leesburg, or interfacing with other sister organizations like the Clothes Closet in Herndon, LINK in Sterling, Loudoun Red Cross and Northern Virginia Family Services in Fairfax. She serves on the board of directors for both GSA and LINK, and on the ecumenical council of her church. Joy believes we all have an inherent responsibility to serve the poor and needy. She is an energetic, God-loving woman who leads by example.

Joy has received several awards and recognition, including the Loudoun Volunteer Services 2005 Adult Volunteer of the Year award in Leesburg during April 2005 and the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) 2005 Outstanding Humanitarian Award in Washington, D.C., during October 2005. During the 2006 Virginia General Assembly, House Joint Resolution No. 316 was passed commending Joy Trickett. Individuals are nominated for this recognition based on efforts that are considered to be of local, state or national significance.

In short, Ms. Trickett has provided tremendous synergy for her work with Good Shepherd Alliance and LINK in Loudoun and Fairfax counties. I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing Ms. Trickett's work and accomplishments.