Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. Ann Vogel of New Ulm, Minnesota, on receiving the Sertoma Club's Service to Mankind Award.

The Sertoma Club is an organization that strives to better people's lives through philanthropic activities. Since 1960, the Sertoma Foundation has positively influenced the lives of its members and hundreds of communities internationally. Sertoma primarily focuses on service projects assisting the more than 50 million people with speech, hearing and language disorders. Sertoma also sponsors community projects to promote freedom and democracy, to assist youth, and to benefit a variety of other local community needs. Every year Sertoma clubs raise more than $20 million for these local community service projects.

The Sertoma Club also recognizes the efforts of citizens who volunteer their time and service to the local community. The Service to Mankind Award, the highest honor a non-Sertoma member can receive, is awarded to an individual who has gone above and beyond the call of duty.

This year, The Service to Mankind Award was given to Dr. Ann Vogel by the New Ulm Sertoma Club. Dr. Vogel devotes her time to working at the Open Door Health Center in Mankato, a non-profit organization that seeks to provide care to uninsured and underinsured people in southern Minnesota. Additionally, Dr. Vogel led the funding drive for the Friends of German Park, a group dedicated to the redevelopment of the community area; while also dedicating her time as a storyteller with Bavarian Blast. Her community involvement also includes volunteering at Heritagefest and the Oak Hills Assisted Living Center.

I extend my sincere congratulations to Dr. Ann Vogel for receiving this commendable award. Her commitment to public service is greatly appreciated and an inspiration to all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Mrs. Julie Stevenson of Worthington, Minnesota, on receiving the 2006 Athena Award from the Worthington Travelodge.

The Athena Award is presented each year to a woman who has demonstrated excellence, initiative and creativity in her profession.

This award recognizes one woman's time and energy put in to improving the lives of her peers. This woman also acts as a mentor for other women in the community.

Mrs. Julie Stevenson received this award for her many contributions to the community of Worthington. She has served as the executive director of the Southwest Minnesota Chapter of the American Red Cross and she has volunteered with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, United Way, YMCA, Youth Area Baseball Association, Junior Achievement, Nobles County Integration Collaborative and the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce. Currently, at the Minnesota West Campus, Mrs. Stevenson has helped bring the college and the community together through a variety of programs. These include the Winter Wonderland and Golf the Links at Minnesota West and Kids College. She has been a co-host for a United Way telethon as well as a trainer in a teen asset building workshop at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

I extend my sincere congratulations to Mrs. Stevenson for receiving this commendable award. Her commitment to service has helped to grow many individuals and to strengthen the community.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of issues we talk about here on the House floor where Members don't know much about the issue they are talking about. This may be one for me. But I did serve on the Pension Commission of the State of Minnesota and I know something about defined benefit plans. I know something about defined contribution plans, and I understand how pension plans in general work, and so I rise in support of the Miller motion.

The reason this issue is here, and my colleague from Ohio just described it very well, the reason we are here is that we are now in the process where many employers are converting their pension plans from old defined benefit plans to this new hybrid plan called a cash balance plan. And I am not opposed to that basic notion.

But what happens, Members, and you need to understand, is many older workers show up for work one day and their pension plan has changed.

Now, the employers say, well, that is our pension plan and it is our money. Well, that is not exactly true. That money is being held in trust, and this has been a very craftily done procedure to allow many employers or some employers to take money from the pension plans and convert it to their bottom line, and that is wrong. This is not their money. That is the first point everybody needs to understand.

The second thing people need to understand is the Senate did a better job of writing their bill. This is all here because of a few bad actors, and the Senate said we are not going to protect those bad actors, and so the Senate did a better job. We wouldn't even be talking about this if we had all agreed on some language that would have protected those older workers.

Members, this is the right thing to do, and I want to say to my Republican colleagues, what we are talking about here is language that was inserted by the Senator from Iowa, who is a Republican. Okay? This is not a Republican issue. It is not a Democrat issue. It is not right versus left. It is right versus wrong. It is wrong to allow a certain number of employers to get their hands into the pension funds and to change these pension plans without talking to their workers. It happened at IBM and they were taken to court and Federal court ruled that this is age discrimination. And do you know what? I agree with that Federal court.

So Members, please support the Miller motion to instruct. All we are saying is we want the Grassley language in the final product when it comes back from conference. If we do that, we will have served the best interest of working Americans, and I think we will have served those employers who are doing the right thing, and we will send a clear message to those employers who either have done the wrong thing or want to do the wrong thing, that we are not going to put up with that.

This is a good motion. It is not a Republican motion. It is not a Democrat motion. We are simply saying, let's keep the Grassley language in the final product.

I rise in support of this motion to instruct conferees. The motion instructs the conferees to adopt the Senate provisions on cash balance plans in S. 1783 written by Senator Grassley and his Committee and passed by the Senate by a vote of 97-2.

These are common sense reforms supported by the vast majority of the Senate and AARP.

I supported H.R. 2830, the Pension Protection Act of 2005, when it passed the House. At the time, I noted it contained a weakness that I wanted to see addressed in conference committee. The weakness of the House bill is that it does not have strong rules regulating the conversion of defined benefit pension plans into cash balance plans. On the other hand, under the Senate bill, employees would be given added protections so that older employees are not put at a disadvantage when conversions take place.

Millions of Americans are currently vested in defined benefit pension plans. Even though they may be working for a very profitable company, they could show up for work one day and learn that their promised benefits have been dramatically reduced with the sweep of a pen. This is what happened to thousands of employees in my district.

Millions of Americans will be affected by this legislation. It is important we get it right. I ask my colleagues to support the Miller motion to instruct.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I am very pleased to be here and join my colleagues from Minnesota. I want to thank my colleague from North Carolina for his kind remarks as well.

Like the mighty Mississippi River, the tradition and pride of the Minnesota National Guard is long and deep. For 150 years Minnesotans have proudly taken their places in that long line of citizen soldiers, that long line that has never failed us.

Much has been said already today and I will try not to be redundant, but I do want to share some of the history of this very historical Guard. As has been mentioned, they were organized before Minnesota even became a State. Now, 150 years is a long time and many things have changed in our State, in our Nation, in our world. But there has been one constant, and that is the professionalism and the sense of service that we take for granted from our own National Guard.

As was mentioned, in April of 1861, it just so happened that the Governor of

the State of Minnesota, Governor Ramsey, was here in Washington, D.C. on other business when we heard of the firing on Fort Sumter. And President Lincoln put out a call for troops, and Governor Ramsey became the first Governor in the Union to rush over to the White House and volunteer troops to serve to defend the Union. And it then fell upon the Minnesota 1st Infantry to be the first regiments volunteered to serve in that battle for the Union. And the story has been told that when they marched off to war, they were 1,066 strong, but by the end of the day of fighting of July 2, 1863, only 47 could answer the call. They suffered on the late afternoon of July 2, 1863, the highest percentage of casualties of any unit that fought in that tragic war. But they held the line that day. And to this day many people believe that they deserve to be called the saviours of our country because of their sacrifices.

Many years later the colonel who led that regiment, Colonel William Colville, was asked what he thought about as they charged down that hill that day, and he said, ``Gad, I thought of Washington.'' They knew what the stakes were, and they knew that they had to hold that line.

Earlier in the day that pivotal battle was fought, General Hancock rolled by and he asked Colonel Colville, ``How long can you hold your position?''

And he responded with a sentence which made military and political history and survives to this day as the motto of the 1st Infantry. He said, ``General, to the last man.'' And as we know, it became no idle boast.

Since the Civil War, the Minnesota National Guard has honorably served in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm. These soldiers helped defend the border against Pancho Villa and maintain the peace in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo.

Today more than 600 National Guardsmen from Minnesota have been deployed to Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom. More than 2,600 Minnesota citizen soldiers are serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In January I saw firsthand the courage and dedication of the Minnesota National Guard at Camp Shelby. Awaiting their deployment to Iraq, these volunteer men and women maintain the historic spirit and tradition of the Minnesota National Guard.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise in support of this resolution, and I congratulate and recognize the Minnesota National Guard's 150 years of dedicated service. Because of their sacrifices, our Nation and our State are more secure and millions around the world can look forward to a future of peace and freedom.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to honor the Winona State University Warriors. They won the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship last weekend.

Winona State is famous for many things, but this historic win is the first major championship for Winona State and a milestone for WSU athletics. On behalf of basketball fans across southern Minnesota, I congratulate the players, coaches, fans and everyone who helped make this season so special.

Permit me to congratulate Coach Mike Leaf and his staff on an outstanding season. His squad finished with a record of 34-2, winning 22 consecutive games to close out the year. Coach Leaf was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's Coach of the Year for his efforts.

The warriors, like all champions, won as a team, but they were led by a couple of outstanding players. David Zellman, a senior from Lewiston, Minnesota, ended his college career in style. He led the team in scoring with 26 points in the championship game, including seven three- point baskets. Sophomore John Smith of Johnsburg, Illinois, led the Warriors defensively and was named the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

I congratulate family, friends, and fans of the team. Two busloads of Warrior supporters made the 22-hour trip to the championship game and cheered the team on to victory. They were joined by hundreds of other Warrior fans, alumni and family members of the Warrior athletes who made their own way to the game. And thousands, like myself and my wife, were watching on TV.

Some succeed, Mr. Speaker, because they are destined to. Most succeed because they are determined to. This team worked hard, played defense, shared the ball, and stuck together. They were rewarded with a well- deserved championship that all of us can be proud of.

Mr. Speaker, this has been a very interesting debate; and if you want to get into hot water, just start debating dairy policy. It not only gets very complicated very fast, but it gets very heated.

This is not a new issue. This has been percolating around this Capitol now for at least 2\1/2\ years. I was first made aware of it by the gentleman from California (Mr. Nunes) and others on a trip to California. I have learned more about this issue than I think I really ever wanted to know; and, frankly, I think most Members of the House do not really want to know too much about this.

Our colleague from Ohio, I think, said it well. This is really an example of where the laws were originally designed to protect small producer-handlers, and here we have a large producer-handler who has found this, and I do not want to get into a fight here over the term ``loophole,'' but he has found this opportunity and he is exploiting this opportunity.

Now, we have said repeatedly to our colleagues in California, this essentially is a California issue, why do you not work it out. I think there was a good-faith effort on both sides of this argument to try and do that; but, unfortunately, they failed.

This is a very complicated issue, but I think all of the speakers who have preceded me have said it well, that we have a responsibility to have a Federal milk system that is fair to everybody. What we have right now is one particular producer who is trying to use the best of both worlds, who is situated right on the border; and, frankly, I think we have a responsibility to close that loophole.

Let me point out that this is not an issue, while generally milk issues divide geographically, they divide between the people who produce the milk, the dairy farmers and the processors, this is one where virtually everyone in the dairy industry, from all corners of the United States, whether they are dairy farmers large or small, whether they are processors large or small, or whether they are in the marketing side or the manufacturing side, almost universally they support this legislation.

So with all due respect to our distinguished colleague and chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I think this is an idea that has percolated for a very long time. It is time for the House to take action. I strongly support the bill, and I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting it as well and pass it here today on the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the Subcommittee with jurisdiction over dairy programs and policies, I want to express my support for this legislation and reiterate the comments made by the Chairman of the Agriculture Committee.

As he said, the federal milk marketing order system has served the dairy industry well. But we have this situation where a processor from outside California can undermine the market there by under pricing the regulated competition.

Mr. Nunes and a number of others have worked to address this, and the legislation before us today would direct USDA to apply the minimum pricing regulations of the federal order system to milk processed in a federal order area and distributed into states that have a statewide system.

While we're aware that some Members have concerns with this legislation, it's important to point out that it has the strong support from nearly the entire dairy industry, both producers and processors.

Again, as Chairman of the Dairy Subcommittee, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to clarify the scope of preemption under H.R. 4167, because some confusing and misleading things have been said on this subject. While I have great respect for the Association of Food and Drug Officials, especially for the work its members do at the state level, I would specifically like to clarify some mistaken points the group made in a letter dated January 16th of this year. This letter stated that H.R. 4167 would preempt state laws on food sanitation, including milk sanitation statutes on the books in Minnesota and most other states. This is not the case. The bill we're considering today would not preempt state food sanitation standards.

H.R. 4167 only provides for federal preemption of certain requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FFDCA, and these are specified in the legislation. If a requirement of the FFDCA is not specified in H.R. 4167, then it will not be preempted by H.R. 4167, and states can establish or maintain requirements that are different from federal ones. This is the case when it comes to sanitation. Again, Mr. Chairman, states would still be free to enact state sanitation standards that are not identical to federal sanitation standards.

Even if H.R. 4167 did preempt state laws on food sanitation, which it again does not, it would still not preempt state milk sanitation laws. Through this bill, for preemption to be found in general, there must be a conflict between a state law and a federal requirement of the FFDCA or certain other federal laws and regulations. But in the case of milk sanitation, there is no federal law or regulation for a state law to conflict with. There are only the FDA definitions of ``pasteurized'' and ``ultra-pasteurized'' milk, which are agreed upon by agencies at all levels of government and the entire dairy industry, and the general manufacturing practice regulations applicable to all foods. Along these lines, Mr. Chairman, I ask that the dairy industry's letter of support for H.R. 4167 be included in the Record following my remarks.

These were conscious decisions made by the authors of H.R. 4167, decisions that, I think it is safe to say, are certainly agreed upon by the over 225 cosponsors of this bill, including myself. We recognize that states have often been at the forefront of regulating food sanitation, and for this reason, one of our legislative intents through this bill was that food sanitation standards should not and would not be preempted.

February 28, 2006.

Members of the House of Representatives,

Washington, D.C.

Dear Representatives: America's dairy producers and

processors urge you to vote for H.R. 4167, the ``National

Uniformity for Food Act of 2005.''

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) support H.R. 4167,

a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in

the areas of food safety tolerance setting and warning

labeling because it takes a measured, science based approach,

to achieve labeling uniformity. The bill contains a method

for the orderly review and harmonization of existing state

food safety adulteration laws and warnings as they relate to

Federal law. No existing state labeling law would be

preempted without this review and state requirements under

petition would stay in effect during that review.

H.R. 4167 recognizes that it makes no sense to have a ``patchwork quilt'' of different states adopting different regulatory requirements on identical food product labeling. National uniformity in food laws is actually the norm, not the exception. All meat and poultry regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have national uniformity under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act. The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990 established uniform nutrition labeling requirements on manufactured foods. In addition, the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996 included a uniformity provision for pesticide tolerance standards in food products. H.R. 4167 completes the job by establishing national uniformity for food additives and warning labels.

H.R. 4167 enjoys the support of 227 bipartisan co-sponsors and was reported by a bipartisan vote from the Energy and Commerce Committee on December 15,2005. America's dairy industry believes consumers deserve a single standard when it comes to food safety, and this bill will allow states and the Food and Drug Administration to work collaboratively in establishing sound food safety labeling policies that benefit, not confuse consumers. We urge your vote for H.R. 4167.

Sincerely,

Connie Tipton,

President and CEO, International Dairy Foods Association.

Jerry Kozak,

President and CEO, National Milk Producers Federation.

Mr. Speaker, baseball fans everywhere, and in Minnesota in particular, mourn the passing of Kirby Puckett. Kirby Puckett was born to play baseball. He lived for the game. In an era of oversized egos and greed gone mad, he was a throwback to an earlier time.

Kirby was the ultimate underdog. Born to humble beginnings, he related to kids that could not afford to buy an autograph. Like a bumblebee, he did not know that his stubby body could not fly. Propelled only by an infectious enthusiasm, he amazed us with leaping catches that mere mortals would have conceded to the bleachers.

We always knew that with Kirby in the game the underdog Twins always had a chance. With his bat, his glove or with his smile, he made everyone around him play better.

He embodied the essence of all that baseball is supposed to be. The game will go on, new heroes will emerge, but there will never be another Kirby Puckett.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on behalf of 7,000 current and former IBM employees who live in my district. While most of this bill is necessary and the legislation is appropriate, the weakness of the bill is that it fails to clarify the rules concerning the conversion of defined benefit pension plans into cash balance pension plans.

I understand the bill will not affect the IBM employees and their court case. It could, however, affect millions of Americans that are currently vested in defined benefit pension plans. Even though they may be working for a very profitable company, they could, under the terms of this bill, show up for work one day and learn that their promised benefits have been dramatically reduced with the sweep of a pen.

Under cash balance plans, older, long-serving employees do not have the same opportunities to build up retirement benefits that younger workers do. The bill before us today would allow conversions to take place but gives no protections to workers during these transitions. I offered an amendment last night at the Rules Committee to provide protections to vested workers. Unfortunately, the Committee did not rule my amendment in order.

The Senate version of the bill contains more protections for workers. For those and other reasons AARP supports the Senate passed bill and opposes the House bill. I would hope protections like the amendment I tried to offer will be incorporated in the final version.

While I am voting today to move the bill forward into conference with the Senate in the hopes more worker protections can be added, I reserve the right to oppose a report that fails to correct this glaring omission.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Lance Corporal Roger Wayne Deeds, who served in the Second Marine Division from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Corporal Deeds died November 16 while searching for insurgents in the town of Ubaydi, Iraq. He was killed by small arms fire as he returned to the scene of combat to rescue a fellow Marine. Corporal Deeds spent his favorite years in Truman, Minnesota, where his mother, Joyce, still lives.

Roger Deeds leaves behind a 16-month-old son and a 7-week-old daughter that he never met. He lived in Goldsboro, North Carolina with his wife, Sarah. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I honor the memory and the service of this brave American. It is fitting to offer tribute on a day already set aside for remembrance.

The anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that took place on December 7, 1941. Much like the brave soldiers who fell that day, Corporal Deeds made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of freedom.

Mr. Speaker, the attack on Pearl Harbor thrust our Nation into a terrible world war. Today we find ourselves in the midst of war once again, a very different kind of war. 64 years ago, in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt in this very Chamber addressed the country.

His closing thought is as appropriate now as it was then. He said, ``With confidence in our Armed Forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.''

We owe Corporal Deeds a debt of gratitude we can never repay. He chose to set aside the safety and comfort of a life spent at home in order to defend freedom for people who will never know his name.

He now takes his place in that long line that Douglas MacArthur said has never failed us. I thank the Deeds family for giving their loved one to this service. I hope it brings some comfort to know that the thoughts and prayers of thousands of Minnesotans are with them.

May God have mercy on his soul. May He continue to bless America and all who defend her.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for holding this special order tonight.

Mr. Speaker, John Adams once said very simply, ``Facts are stubborn things.'' Somebody else once said that you can ignore the facts, you can deny the facts, but in the end, there they are. Tonight we are talking about the facts.

I want to just share with my colleagues some information according to the Office of Management and Budget, because this is pretty shocking. Some of our friends on the left are saying, Well, it is because we are wasting all this money fighting terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. Well, maybe they are right, I do not know. Some of them say, Well, the reason we have a deficit problem is because of tax cuts. Well, I think we can dispel that myth, because let me just share with my colleagues some numbers from the Office of Management and Budget.

Since 2001 through 2005, the inflation rate here in the United States has averaged a little more than 12 percent, total. We have increased spending on science, space, and technology by 21 percent. This Congress has increased spending on transportation by 24 percent. We have increased spending on unemployment benefits by 26 percent; general government, 32 percent; income security programs, or what we would call welfare and other programs we are going to talk about in a minute, have increased by 39 percent. Now, that is at a time when inflation has been a little over 12 percent, so it has increased at triple the inflation rate.

Health care programs, we have increased by 42 percent just since 2001; community development, 71 percent; housing and commerce, 86 percent; international affairs, what some people call mostly foreign aid, has increased by 94 percent.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, this area that we are just slashing and burning, education, has increased by 99 percent. The facts are right here, and if anyone would like a copy of the article, if they call my office, I will be happy to send them one.

We talked about facts, and the gentlewoman mentioned food stamps. Now, listen, I think I speak for everyone on both sides of the aisle here in the U.S. House of Representatives and, frankly, I think I speak for all Americans, it is something we take pretty seriously. We do not want anybody to go to bed hungry here in the United States. But I am happy to say that this House, this House leadership, this Budget Committee and the chairman and the members of the Republican Caucus have a plan that will reform government and provide savings for the American taxpayers. Spending has been going up too fast, and we propose to do something about that.

I came here in 1994, and earlier my colleague, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) talked about what we did in 1995 and 1996. One of the things we did that I will always be proud of is, we reformed the welfare system, and we put limits on welfare. We heard some of the same arguments back then, Oh, my gosh, people are going to be thrown into the streets, people will go hungry, this is going to be terrible. Well, let us look at what happened. We cut the welfare caseloads by 50 percent.

Mr. Speaker, I always said, and I really believe this, welfare reform was never about saving money. It was about saving people; it was about saving families; it was about saving children from one more generation of dependency and despair.

Unfortunately, our friends on the left still believe in big government. They somehow believe that big government programs can really solve problems.

Mr. Speaker, we believe people should not go to bed hungry.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the city of Mankato, Minnesota, for being a great place to live and grow up.

On Nov. 1, the city of Mankato was recognized as one of the ``100 Best Communities'' for Young People by America's Promise, an organization founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. At the awards ceremony in Washington, DC, Mankato also received a special award for its outreach efforts to Gulf Coast residents.

Located on the beautiful Minnesota River in the heart of Blue Earth County, Mankato is a great place to live. But as America's Promise has recognized, Mankato is also a great place for young people. Boasting one of the lowest high school dropout rates among the Nation's small cities, Mankato remains committed to education and family values.

In particular, I would like to recognize the parents and teachers of the city who devote their time to Mankato's youth. I would also like to commend Kathy Brynaert, Independent School District #77 School Board Chair and Anna Thill of the Mankato Area United Way who attended the awards ceremony and accepted the honor on behalf of the city.

In addition to the award for being one of the ``100 Best Communities for Young People,'' Mankato was also recognized for its work in aiding communities devastated by recent hurricanes. Red Cross volunteers and professionals from Mankato immediately responded to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina by traveling to the Gulf Coast to lend a helping hand. Meanwhile, back in Mankato, community residents and local organizations rallied to collect money and supplies for hurricane victims. Local students designed cards offering their love and support that were delivered to children there.

I hope my colleagues will join me in honoring and congratulating these outstanding Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I share my strong support for H. Res. 302, honoring the employers of National Guardsmen and Reservists who have been called to active duty.

Today, 1.3 million Americans serve in the Guard and Reserve, representing nearly half of our total military force.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Minnesota National Guard members have served on active duty supporting operations in more than 30 countries around the world. This fall, 2,600 Guard members from the 34th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team were activated for service in Iraq.

Their 18-month mission will take them away from family and friends, their careers and their everyday lives. They will miss birthdays and anniversaries, holidays and school plays, a baby's first steps and home-cooked meals. However, these soldiers could not perform their mission without the support of their civilian employers.

In 1972, President Nixon established the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). In Minnesota, there are 140 ESGR volunteers who promote the value of Guard and Reserve employees.

Last year, the State of Minnesota received the Defense Secretary's Employer Support Freedom Award for its programs supporting activated service members. The State, for example, makes up the difference between a reservist's active-duty pay and his or her State salary.

The Minnesota Timberwolves organization are another outstanding example of a business that supports the Guard and Reserve. In 2004, the Timberwolves received the ESGR's ``Outstanding Corporate Citizen Award.'' This year, the Timberwolves are hosting a ``Salute to the Armed Forces'' event at the Target Center on Nov. 9. The team donated more than 1,200 tickets for the month of November so military personnel can attend a game.

Support of the Guard and Reserve also takes place at the local level. This year, the New Ulm Police Department and Immanuel St.

Joseph Hospital in Mankato, received ``Above and Beyond'' awards for their ongoing support of reserve employees. More than 475 Minnesota employers were nominated for this national award. Only 23 received this prestigious award.

Mr. Speaker, one of America's great strengths is the unselfish courage of the citizen who steps forward, puts on the uniform and stands ready to face danger. It is that quality, more than any other, which has kept us free for more than 200 years.

We must commend the tens of thousands of American businesses who willingly employ members of the National Guard and Reserve. It is this essential alliance and shared sacrifice that keeps America and much of the world free.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from early afternoon votes in the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 8, 2005 due to an important meeting I had with the New Zealand Ambassador in St. Paul, Minnesota. During this meeting, the Ambassador and I discussed agricultural trade issues.

Had I been present in the U.S. House of Representatives, I would have voted ``aye'' on the following bills:

Motion to Table the Appeal of the Ruling of the Chair on Motion to Instruct Conferees; H. Res. 38; H. Res. 302; H.R. 3770.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the House on November 7, 2005 due to an important meeting I had with the New Zealand Ambassador in St. Paul, Minnesota. During this meeting, the Ambassador and I discussed agricultural trade issues.

Had I been present in the House, I would have voted ``yea'' on the following bills: H. Con. Res. 260, H.R. 1973, and H. Res. 444.