Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure and certification information for one project authorization request that I made and which was included within the text of H.R. 2647--National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010.

Requesting Member: Congressman Gregg Harper.

Project: Advanced, Long Endurance Unattended Ground Sensor Technologies.

Project Amount: $8 million

Account: Defense-wide (DoD); RDT&E; Special Operations Intelligence Systems Development.

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Mississippi State University.

Address of Requesting Entity: P.O. Box 6301, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762.

Description of Request: A significant challenge in modern military operations is the ability to achieve and maintain real-time battlefield situational awareness. Achieving battlefield situation awareness requires the ability to robustly and persistently monitor the movements of the adversary in near real-time across a wide range of operational environments including foliage, mountainous, and urban terrain. This initiative is a follow-on effort to ongoing Mississippi State University Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) research and development in support of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 2847--Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010:

Requesting Member: Congressman Gregg Harper

Bill Number: H.R. 2847

Account: DOC, NOAA-ORF

Project Name: NOAA Northern Gulf Institute

Recipient and Address: Mississippi State University, P.O. Box 9627, Mississippi State, MS 39762

Amount: $700,000

Project Description: The NGI defines the Northern Gulf of Mexico region as the upland and watershed, coastal zone, and coastal ocean areas from the Sabine River, LA in the west to the Suwannee River, FL in the east. The Northern Gulf is a rich and interdependent natural environment of great complexity and is important to the region and the nation. The riverine-dominated Northern Gulf ecosystems are under pressure from increasing population and coastal development, impacts from severe storms and climate variability, inland watershed and coastal wetlands degradation, and many other factors. NGI has chosen an approach to Northern Gulf Region issues, problems and opportunities that is closely aligned with NOAA's strategic and research priorities and its user community.

Requesting Member: Congressman Gregg Harper

Bill Number: H.R. 2847

Account: DOJ, OJP-Byrne

Project Name: Regional Counterdrug Training Academy

Proposed Recipient and Address: Mississippi Military Department, FH- MS, P.O. Box 5027, Jackson, MS 39296

Amount: $300,000

Project Description: Using the existing facilities, staff and support structure of the regional Counterdrug Training Academy, the CJS Byrne Grant funding will result in training an additional 300 first responders in prevention of terrorism and response to terrorist incidents.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 292, 293 and 294, my flight was delayed due to weather. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on all three.

Madam Speaker, it was 1909 when a young Millsaps College ministerial student in Mississippi was sent to nearby Pearson Community on the old Illinois Central Railroad to organize a new Methodist congregation. The young pastor's name was James F. Campbell, Sr., and his new members of Pearson Methodist Church met to worship at the old Pearson School House. Although Reverend Campbell only served as pastor until

1910, his legacy was a stronger and larger community, and a church that this year proudly celebrates its centennial.

As both the congregation and community grew, the church relocated a bit north to the current day City of Pearl. There the members continued to meet in another local school until 1921. With a desire for their own permanent place to worship, the decision was made to purchase one acre of land. To construct their new church home, the members purchased the abandoned Union Jackson Methodist Episcopal Church South on Old Fannin Road. Built in 1850, the structure was dismantled and moved by wagon to its current day site. The original pulpit of the old Union church is still used to this day.

When the congregation began worshiping in the new building, they adopted the name Pearl Chapel Methodist Church, and thirty-six years later the name was changed by church resolution to Pearl Methodist Church. The congregation continued to grow, bringing many changes to the church as well as new buildings, such as new Sunday School rooms and administrative offices. In 1952, more improvements were made, such as the beautiful chancel rail, which is still in use today. During the next fifty years, the church saw many changes and improvement to accommodate the growing congregation. One final change was chosen in 1968 as the church adopted its modern day name of Pearl United Methodist Church.

Since 1909, eleven members have answered the Lord's call to ministry and the congregation has heard the word delivered from nine humble servants: Reverend James F. Campbell, Sr., Reverend F.L. Applewhite, Reverend E.R. Dickerson, Reverend L.T. Brantley, Reverend Jim Campbell, Jr., Reverend C.V. Bugg, Reverend George Thompson, Reverend Scott Larsen and Reverend David Patrick.

Many things change over the course of a century, but after hundreds of worship services, weddings, christenings, and baptisms, Pearl United Methodist Church in Pearl, Mississippi has remained faithful to its calling . . . serving God and the citizens in the Pearl community.

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

As a member of the House Administration Committee, I am pleased to support the appointment of David Rubenstein to be a citizen regent of the Smithsonian Institution. Committee members recently had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, and we discussed the heightened expectations and increased responsibilities of the board as it continues to tackle the challenges faced by the institution.

Currently, the Smithsonian Institution is comprised of 19 museums that hosted over 25 million visitors last year, roughly five times the number of visitors that came to the U.S. Capitol. In addition to current facilities, the institution is slated to break ground on the National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2012, a project estimated to cost $500 million. And just last year, the President signed the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which established a commission to study the creation of a national museum dedicated to the art, culture, and history of the Latino community in the United States.

The Smithsonian, like every other growing complex organization, faces unique operational challenges. Yet the institution's core mission, first articulated by James Smithson in 1826, to be ``an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge'' still stands the test of time.

Through his philanthropy, Mr. Rubenstein has already demonstrated a commitment to James Smithson's original vision. When the last privately owned copy of the Magna Carta became available for purchase, Mr. Rubenstein bought this priceless artifact and then permanently lent it back to the National Archives. Mr. Rubenstein's indisputable dedication to philanthropy coupled with his keen business sense will be a welcome addition at the institution, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting his appointment to the Smithsonian Board of Regents.

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

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you to speak of a statesman whose statue will stand tall in the halls of the Capitol, whose character and service to his country will long outlast the 8 years of his Presidency, and whose positive influence on America will endure forever. I stand before you to speak today about a statesman who I have long admired. That statesman was our 40th President, Ronald Reagan.

When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, the economy was struggling with high unemployment, high interest rates, and Americans were looking for hope. President Reagan brought commonsense values to this country and to Washington. He reduced the tax burden on Americans and helped those small businesses that were struggling. He gave us that confidence and hope that we needed as a country.

His leadership reached far beyond America, as his peace-through- strength approach to rebuilding our military and supporting missile defense, among other things, helped bring an end to communism in the former Soviet Union, giving freedom to millions of people across Eastern Europe.

It is also very personal to my family. My 19-year-old special needs son, Livingston, has collected 45 Ronald Reagan books so far that he has in his office, in his room at home, and he is looking forward to coming to the June 3 ceremony. It is a special event for our family.

This statue will be a constant reminder of the hope he gave us as we continue to our ``rendezvous with destiny.''

I come to you today to tell you a story, and it's my family's story that has great relevance to many of you, and many of you in this country.

My wife and I met and started dating when she was 15 and I was 17. We met at a great place to meet your spouse, church. We dated for 5\1/2\ years and got married. And we didn't really think we wanted children-- we really wanted grandchildren, but could not figure out a way to get there. And we finally decided, after 10 years of marriage, that we would have some kids.

Our first son, Livingston, was born in 1989, and he is now 19 years old. As we went through his development in early years, we noticed that he was not doing things as soon as we thought he should be. Everything that he did was in the very tail end of the late normal range; he did them, but it was delayed. Our pediatrician told us it was okay, that he would probably grow out of this, and we continued to go along with just normal life.

At one point, when he was about 19 months old, we went out of town on a trip, left him with one of the grandparents. And he got sick while we were out of town and had to go to the doctor. At that point, the next week the doctor called me and said I think that there's something wrong with your son; I don't know what it is, but we'll look, we'll try to figure out what it is. At that point, we were 4 months pregnant with our daughter. And we didn't know, we just started looking to see why he was developmentally delayed. We started going--and I say ``we,'' my wife was the one who did the brunt of this work. There was speech therapy twice a week, occupational therapy twice a week, tests, trips to the hospital, to the doctor, all the things that you do, trying to determine what's wrong with your child.

That continued. We went through all types of tests; we went through genetic tests that came back normal, we went through other things. We were finally given a misdiagnosis of mild cerebral palsy and labeled a near miss on autism. That's what we dealt with for the next 2 years. So we did those things that you had to do to survive.

At some point in 1993, when he was almost 4 years old, our next-door neighbor went to an education seminar in Jackson, Mississippi, and went to a breakout session called Educating Children With Fragile X. Our next-door neighbor had never heard of Fragile X. And she goes to this session, watches the video, hears this parent speak, and her mouth falls open. And she comes home that night and tells us, I think this is it. At that point, we requested testing to be done specifically for Fragile X syndrome, and it was determined that, indeed, he did have that.

The things that led us to know things were wrong, he was rocking some when he would sit, he was doing a lot of hand flapping, and maybe chewing on some objects. And then he was late doing many things, speech and language and those type issues. So we got the diagnosis of Fragile X syndrome. We went to the Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado, where he was evaluated by Dr. Randi Hagerman and her Fragile X team. It's been tough, but we have a wonderful son. He is a blessing to everybody that he comes across. And we're so thankful for our son Livingston.

Our daughter Maggie does not have Fragile X syndrome. But I wanted to mention this today because there are over 130 parents from across 35 States--all over the country--that are here today for National Fragile X Advocacy Day. And I want to commend them for the hard work that they're doing, the things that they're doing to bring attention to this.

This is something that we can work on together here in Congress. It is a bipartisan effort. We can work to find the right things for research, things that will help on treatments, and things that will ultimately lead to a cure. And I'll tell you this, for all parents of special needs children, this is something you should never give up on, never stop fighting, never quit believing. Our son graduated from high school last year. He is now in a local community college. He works two nights a week.

I want to thank the National Fragile X Foundation for all their hard work.