Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mary Maynard of Citrus County, Florida. Mary will soon do something that all of us strive for, but that very few of us will ever accomplish, celebrate her 100th birthday.

Born August 5, 1906 on a farm near Rushville, Indiana, Mary attended Webb High School in Rushville and later graduated from business college.

A farmer's wife until 1948, Mary eventually embarked on a career as a bookkeeper, real estate and mobile home salesperson and working for a prominent builder in Indianapolis selling new homes. In 1960, Mary and her daughter moved to Ft. Lauderdale where she continued her real estate and sales work.

Eventually settling in the Gulf Coast in 1975, Mary and her daughter moved first to Brooksville, and then in 1984 to Citrus County. Following several small strokes over the years, Mary has lived in Arbor Trails Nursing Home in Inverness, Florida for the past 3 years.

Her August 5th birthday celebration will be attended by family and friends from Minnesota, North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and Florida. In fact, Mary has a long lineage spread across the country, including a son and a daughter, six grandchildren, twelve great grandchildren and ten great great grandchildren!

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me in honoring Mary Maynard for reaching her 100th birthday this coming August. I hope we all have the good fortune to live as long as she has.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to alert my fellow Members to a deadline that passed with little comment over the weekend.

Following the FBI search of a Member of this body's office, President Bush sealed the collected files for a period of 45 days. That deadline passed over the weekend.

My question is, What next?

Will this House continue to shield one of its own from criminal investigation and hide behind a misreading of the speech or debate clause, or will we admit that no American is above the law, Member of Congress or not?

I have introduced a resolution making it clear that when law enforcement officers have a valid search warrant in pursuit of criminal misconduct, it is entirely within their rights to search the office of a Member of Congress.

Now that the 45-day hold has passed, I would hope that President Bush would allow law enforcement officers to continue their duties to investigate criminal misconduct wherever it may originate. Currently, there are 20 Members of this body on that resolution, and I would encourage any others who want to send a loud and clear message we are not above the law to join me in cosponsoring it.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Chairman, this is a very important amendment that is going to protect the coastlines not just in Florida. This is not just a Florida issue, but it is going to protect the coastlines by another 25 miles.

The 25-miles can make a real difference to people who live near the coastline. The existing moratorium is limited in scope and can be done away with in the Florida area.

This is a bipartisan amendment. We heard from two Members of the other side who also support it, and I urge support for the amendment.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. However, I am greatly concerned about a provision that is in the bill for bilingual ballots. That language still remains in the bill.

Let me be clear. I support legal immigration and certainly celebrating one's heritage. However, the bilingual ballot provision has long kept new citizens from increasing their knowledge of our language and from fully integrating into our society.

Not only is it expensive to print ballots in a variety of different dialects and tongues, but it reinforces a fractious society.

I had planned to offer an amendment with my good friend and colleague, Congressman Steve King of Iowa, to strip this arcane and divisive language.

I ask my colleagues for support of this measure. You heard it here.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the rule; and I want to thank Mr. Sessions, as well as Chairman Oxley and Mr. Baker and the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, for working hard to bring this updating measure to us today.

Madam Speaker, when the Financial Services Committee debated this bill, an issue came to my attention that needed a remedy.

Many States like Florida that have far too many experiences with flooding have established a mediation process for residents who have flood claims. This process gives residents the opportunity to settle a claim dispute with FEMA without having to go to court. Florida has a 90 percent success rate with this process, which other States have actually begun emulating. This process brings quick results to homeowners, saves millions of dollars in court costs and is something that should be encouraged.

However, oftentimes representatives from FEMA refuse to show up, even though the mediation program is nonbinding. This is a travesty to residents who have already lost so much.

Accordingly, my colleague and I from Florida, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, introduced an amendment that requires FEMA to participate in State mediation claims. Again, this process is nonbinding. If a resident is unhappy with the results of the proceedings, they may choose to file suit. But the language will ensure that residents have a choice, instead of FEMA making that choice for them by simply avoiding the process.

I urge all Members to give homeowners the opportunity to settle their claims quickly without a team of lawyers and mountains of legal fees. I urge your support for the rule and also the underlying bill so that homeowners living in flood-prone areas will have some certainty.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment that will increase funding for the Violence Against Women Act, also known as VAWA. It increases it by approximately $10 million.

Congress has recognized the importance of these programs in bringing hope and a safe future to women across our great Nation by reauthorizing VAWA last year.

Although the committee increased funding for this program, there are still a number of vital programs within it that are not going to be adequately funded by the bill. Such programs include funding to assist children exposed to domestic violence, such as the various counseling and education programs, the Sexual Assault Services Program, and also inclusion of Indian tribes in the national sex offender registry.

As a cochair of the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues, and also serving on a local shelter board, I know firsthand the reprehensible effects of domestic violence on a woman's dreams and success.

Every rape crisis center and domestic violence program in my district has brought hope to women and children who have been devastated by assaults.

As you know, domestic violence affects our most vulnerable constituents, battered women and their families. Evidence suggests that VAWA has been effective in reducing violence. For example, the rate of domestic violence against females over the age of 12 in the United States actually showed a slight decline.

But domestic violence is not just a man-against-woman phenomenon. When a man hits a woman or vice versa, often children and young adults are left with lasting impressions of that violence. Studies show that men who are exposed to domestic abuse are much more likely to be abusers themselves in the future. And young women who see abuse are much more prone to be victims of abuse as adults themselves.

This vicious cycle is one that we can genuinely affect through violence against women programs that provide education support networks, increased law enforcement and certainly a very important component of family counseling.

It is frustrating but realistic for policymakers to know that we can't just wave a magic wand and eradicate violence in our society. Yet, I firmly believe that this amendment is a step in the right direction.

The amendment takes funding from the Department of Justice's General Administration Fund and the Census Bureau and helps to fund the violence against women programs.

This add-on actually helps in the fight against domestic violence without breaking the bank or tipping the very careful balance that Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Mollohan crafted in the underlying bill.

Chairman Wolf, you have done a great job, and Members on both sides of the aisle respect you and the work product that we have before us.

I urge all of my colleagues to support the amendment to increase funds for VAWA programs.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for his support, and I urge a favorable vote.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge the Senate to take immediate action to secure our borders. Our constituents have watched in disbelief and disgust as the Senate passed a no-illegal-left-behind bill that gives in-state tuition and Social Security to illegal immigrants. Rather than seal our gaping borders, the bill gives the green light to even more illegal immigrants to cross our borders.

Though it would be a huge challenge to reconcile our varying bills, I ask my colleagues to stand with me to turn a terrible Senate bill into something that will secure America and make its citizens proud. I urge immediate action on a conference committee, so we can finally plug the holes in our border and show lawbreakers that Americans will not tolerate their disrespect for our laws.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

However, I am greatly concerned that provisions providing for bilingual ballots remain in the bill.

Let me be clear: I support both legal immigration and celebrating one's heritage.

However, the bilingual ballot provision has long kept new citizens from increasing their knowledge of our language and from fully integrating into our society.

Not only is it expensive to print ballots in a variety of different dialects and tongues, but it reinforces a fractious society.

Later this week I plan to offer an amendment with my good friend and colleague, Congressman Steve King of Iowa, to strip this arcane and divisive language.

I ask for my colleagues' full support of this measure and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, even those of us on this side of the aisle sometimes wonder if after 3 years we should still be in Iraq.

I recently traveled there, and like many of my colleagues, we met with soldiers from Florida. We each asked to meet with soldiers from our home State. I will never ever forget this young man. He was not from my district. He actually was from south Florida. And I asked each of them where they were from and if they were married. This young man's name was Joe. And I said to him, ``Joe, are you married?''

He said, Yes, ma'am. I am married and I have five children.''

So right away I said, ``Your wife must be a saint to be home with five children.''

And he looked at me with all of the conviction that you would ever ask for in a soldier, and he said, ``Ma'am, he said, ``my wife who's home with my five children feel exactly the way that I do, and that is until the children in Iraq are safe on the streets, our children won't be safe in Florida or in America.''

Obviously we are very proud of what our soldiers are doing, as are their families. As Members of the Congress, I believe that we have an obligation to honor every person's service to our country. Using words like ``quagmire'' and ``mistaken war'' do not honor our military's service. We can do this by providing our soldiers with the support that they need and the recognition that they deserve. The negacrats and the media do nothing to make our children safer on the streets in America like Joe and his buddies do. This kind of rhetoric not only impacts our soldiers, but as I sat here tonight, I could not help but think about the families of the soldiers who are watching this at home, the children of our very, very brave soldiers who are in harm's way.

In closing, I want to thank Joe and all of our troops and those families, and I want to convey my eternal gratitude for everything that they do. May God bless them all. May God bless our troops, who, together with God, will keep our country safe.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out against the Senate's amnesty plan. Their bill is fundamentally unfair as it benefits only those who came to this country by breaking our laws. No illegal alien is left behind by this bill, because it gives aliens in-state tuition rates at colleges.

Further, the Senate bill would allow 217 million new immigrants to come here over the next 20 years. That is two-thirds of our current population. Some of my constituents have been sending me bricks suggesting that they go toward building the wall on our southern border.

When constituents have to step in to help send bricks to Congress, obviously they feel very strongly about the immigration issue. Actually, Americans should start sending bricks over to the Senate, and I hope that they do. However, the problem is they probably will not mail them. They will be throwing them at the Senate.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, Ronald Reagan had a wonderful statement, and that was, if you want to live forever become a Government program because they never, ever go away.

When the British and Iraq governments established the International Fund for Ireland in 1986, as part of the Anglo-Irish Accord, Ireland's per capita gross domestic product was relatively low. It certainly was a very good program.

Since then, Ireland has grown at a pace more rapid even than ours, and is

known as the Celtic Tiger. Today, Ireland's GDP is on par with the United States, and its unemployment rate is 4.7 percent. Yet we still continue want to appropriate $10 million for the International Fund for Ireland.

In a decade of increasing deficits, the United States must stop sending money to programs that are not necessary. Actually, most recently they used some of our money for the Chef Development Program and the construction of a 3,000 foot cafe, and also to help fund the World Toilet Summit. So obviously we have got to stop flushing away some of this money.

I have spoken to several individuals who were very, very involved in establishing this fund and feel very, very strongly about the fund. And I have assurances from the Representative from New York (Mr. Walsh) along with several others that the funding for this is going to be reduced in further appropriations.

I had thought that one of them would be here for a colloquy. And I had told the great Mr. Walsh from New York, as well as others, that I would withdraw this amendment with the assurance that future funding would be reduced and eliminated over the next few years.

Mr. Chairman, I ask for unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I certainly thank the gentleman from New York for this opportunity to exchange views. I would encourage him to look into the World Toilet Summit.

Americans are tired of money being flushing down the toilet. I am delighted that the program is going to be phased out, and also very happy that the economy of Ireland has improved. There is no better way to have peace than to have prosperity.

The fact that general economy of Ireland has improved certainly is a very great benefit to that part of the world. Mr. Chairman, I withdrew this with the information that the program is being phased out in future years.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I ask for unanimous consent to withdraw this amendment.

I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Again, Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw this amendment with the proviso that future amounts for this program will be reduced. It is obviously a great success, and at this point we want to make sure Ronald Reagan's prediction wasn't right and that future funding will be reduced.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak about this amendment on the Foreign Operations appropriations bill before us.

Let me remind my colleagues that the Mexican government publishes manuals giving advice to migrants on how to illegally enter and live in the United States without being detected. They are encouraging breaking our laws. Moreover, recently, if we recall, the Mexican government actually threatened to sue the United States if our government acts to strengthen and defend our southern border.

Imagine how surprised I was when the committee added another $1 million increase that Mexico will ostensibly use to strengthen its northern border.

This increase is over the budget request in the International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement section. My amendment will actually leave the $39 million included in the budget request for narcotics control and law enforcement untouched. Instead, my amendment eliminates that $1 million that the committee recommended to be used to help Mexico's northern border infrastructure.

Let's face it, they are not interested in defending and protecting their northern border, which is our southern border. In past years, Mexico actually spent the money appropriated for narcotics control and law enforcement in even a questionable manner. However, sending extra money to the Mexican Government to strengthen their borders is, I believe, as insane as it is unconscionable.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, a week ago today I was actually on the Mexican border. I was in Texas, in El Paso. The sheriffs along the border, the ones on our side, are the ones doing the interdiction of the drugs. This amount, while it is $1 million, and I guess in Washington everybody says it is only a million, a million here, a million there starts to add up, but I would certainly encourage support for this amendment.

If we are going to spend that extra million dollars, I would rather give it to the sheriffs at the border patrol on our side of the border, where I know the money is well spent, and so I ask for the support of my colleagues for this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Offered By: Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida

Amendment No. 2: Page 23, line 11, after the dollar amount,

insert the following: ``(reduced to $0)''.

Offered By: Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida

Amendment No. 3: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

limitation on international narcotics control and law enforcement

assistance for mexico

Sec. 5xx. Of the funds appropriated in this Act under the

heading ``International Narcotics Control and Law

Enforcement'', not more than $39,000,000 may be available for

assistance for Mexico.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to commend one of the bravest acts of personal courage that I have seen in many years.

In the face of deadly car bombings, suicide attacks and assassination attempts, there are some Iraqi leaders who are willing to tell the truth about the successes of our American troops in Iraq and to share the stories of their generosity and courage.

Earlier this month, one of my constituents named Roger Hattersley sent me a letter written by the mayor of Tall Afar, Iraq. Roger's son is an enlisted soldier serving in Iraq as part of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and had sent his father a copy of this letter.

Having personally visited Tall Afar just this winter on a CODEL with the Government Reform Committee, I was very interested to read what the mayor had to say.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to read the letter here on the House floor so that all Americans can hear the bravery and courage of Mayor Najim Abdullah Abid Al-Jibouri and also the good works of our young men and women in uniform.

To the courageous men and women of the 3rd Armored Cavalry

Regiment, who have

changed the city of Tall Afar from a ghost town, in which

terrorists spread death and destruction, to a secure city

flourishing with life.

To the lion-hearts who liberated our city from the grasp of

terrorists who were beheading men, women and children in the

streets for many months, to those who spread smiles on the

faces of our children, and gave us restored hope, through

their personal sacrifice and brave fighting, and gave new

life to the city after hopelessness darkened our days, and

stole our confidence in our ability to reestablish our city.

Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al

zarqa wi. The city was completely held hostage in the hands

of his henchmen. Our schools, governmental services,

businesses and offices were closed. Our streets were silent,

and no one dared to walk them. Our people were barricaded in

their homes out of fear; death awaited them around every

corner, terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital

in the city. Their savagery reached such a level that they

stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed

them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents

attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young. This was

the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered

unto them the courageous soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry

Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of Zarqawi's

followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists, and

forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats to

the surrounding areas, where the bravery of other 3rd ACR

soldiers in Sinjar, Rabiaft, Zumar and Avgani finally

destroyed them.

I have met many soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry

Regiment; they are not only courageous men and women, but

avenging angels sent by the God himself to fight the evil of

terrorism.

The leaders of this regiment; COL McMaster, COL Armstrong,

LTC Hickey, LTC Gibson, and LTC Reilly embody courage,

strength, vision and wisdom. Officers and soldiers alike

bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a

bygone era. The mission they have accomplished, by means of a

unique military operation, stands among the finest military

feats to date in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and truly deserves

to be studied in military science. This military operation

was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the

ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of

surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city

without causing unnecessary damage!

God bless this brave regiment; God bless the families who

dedicated these brave men and women. From the bottom of our

hearts we thank the families. They have given us something we

will never forget. To the families of those who have given

their holy blood for our land, we all bow to you in reverence

and to the souls of your loved ones. Their sacrifice was not

in vain. They are not dead, but alive, and their souls

hovering around us every second of every minute. They will

never be forgotten for giving their precious lives. They have

sacrificed that which is most valuable. We see them in the

smile of every child, and in every flower growing in this

land. Let America, their families, and the world be proud of

their sacrifice for humanity and life.

Finally, no matter how much I write or speak about this

brave regiment, I haven't the words to describe the courage

of its officers and soldiers, I pray to God to grant

happiness and health to these legendary heroes and their

brave families.

Mr. Speaker, as you have just heard, the mayor of Tall Afar exhibited personal courage in daring to speak out in support of American troops.

I recently read in the papers of a horrific homicide bomber who attacked a police recruitment station in Tall Afar.

The terrorist killed more than 20 Iraqis, and there is no doubt in my mind that this attack was motivated in part by the outspoken support for the American 3rd Armored Cavalry regiment by the mayor.

My constituent Roger Hattersley and I spoke about his son and his service in Iraq. he told me that like so many of the young men and women serving there, his son is totally committed to the cause of freedom and liberty in this far away land.

It is heartwarming for me to read the words of mayor Al-Jibouri. It is clear that he is willing to put his life on the line to recognize the commitment and bravery of our men and women in uniform.

While you will probably never hear about the courage of mayor Al- Jibouri on the evening news or in your local newspaper, I wanted to take this opportunity tonight to make sure that the mayor received recognition for his outspokenness and honesty.

Mr. Speaker, once again I would like to say how much I support the mission and work of our troops, especially the 3rd Armored Cavalry regiment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor James D. Daugherty, a brave firefighter from Brooksville, Florida who is retiring after more than thirty years of service to our community.

Chief Daugherty was born in Kentucky on October 10, 1947 to Lilburn and Irene Daugherty. Serving in active duty in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1969, James was stationed in Vietnam during the war. Later he joined the Florida National Guard and served there with distinction for seventeen years.

While stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia, James came with a fellow soldier to Brooksville, Florida. He met his wife Juanita on a blind date and they were married on July 3, 1969. James and Juanita have one son, Jeff, and two grandchildren.

While Chief Daugherty has had a long and distinguished career, one specific incident with the Brooksville Fire Department in January 1978 had a lasting effect on him. Responding to an emergency call at a ditch cave-in while off duty, James dug in the dirt to help rescue the trapped men. Caught in the second cave-in, the one thing that stayed with him was the fact that they were communicating with the man that died when the second cave-in caught him in its wake. They were so close to saving him when the unthinkable second cave-in happened.

Promoted to Chief in 1999, James has had a long and distinguished firefighting career. In addition to his basic fire training, James has gone out of his way to advance his knowledge of life-saving techniques and procedures. He has an Associates Degree in Fire Science from St. Petersburg Junior College, is certified as an EMT, has attended Florida Smoke Divers School, is a Certified Wildland Firefighter, and has trained extensively in Emergency Management, Disaster Response, WMD, and in Hazardous Materials Response through the National Fire Academy and the Department of Homeland Security.

The dedication James has shown to the Fire Department is truly outstanding. Following open heart surgery in October 2002, Chief Daugherty went back to work as soon as his doctor would release him. He was determined that this surgery would not keep him down.

Mr. Speaker, throughout his years of responding to accidents and fighting fires,

James has shown his compassion and caring for the families who lost loved ones and cherished friends. It is that caring that Chief Daugherty will be remembered for by the entire Hernando County community.