Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Sherman, and I rise today to pay tribute to our good friend, Bert Boeckmann, who will be leaving the Los Angeles Police Commission because of term limits. The Police Commission is one of Los Angeles' most important panels, and Bert's strong leadership and vision have played a vital role in setting police policy for the City of Los Angeles during the past seventeen years.

Bert began his remarkable career selling automobiles at Galpin Ford in 1953. Four years later at the age of twenty-six, he became the General Manager of the company. Shortly afterwards, Bert began a buyout of the corporation. By 1968, the buyout was complete. Bert's innovation and management skills, along with a very strong sense of integrity and customer concern, have helped make him one of America's most successful entrepreneurs. By surrounding himself with a management team that shares his enthusiasm, honesty and dedication, Galpin Ford has become the world's most successful Ford dealership. Bert is widely recognized as the most honored and successful automobile dealer in America.

In 1984, Bert was appointed to the Police Commission by Mayor Tom Bradley. In his many years as a member of the Commission, Bert served as a stabilizing force, often counseling younger committee members. As a Commissioner, Bert worked to revise the system-wide deployment of police units to ensure that all areas of Los Angeles received equal police response. Bert has also worked to enforce and create policy regarding Official Police Garages. In the wake of September 11, Bert monitored the police's Anti-Terrorist Division. The mark Bert leaves on the Police Commission is indelible, positive and a testament to his commitment to public service.

Bert's many philanthropic achievements have touched the lives of millions, even beyond his well-known projects in Los Angeles. For example, in 1992, Bert and his wife, Jane, personally responded to a desperate plea from the city government of Moscow and Russian farmers who were in dire need of seed for the approaching winter harvest. Through his involvement with various organizations, Bert helped arrange the donation of over 57,000 pounds of seeds. Recently, he established the Boeckmann Charitable Foundation, which gives millions annually to charities around the world. Locally, Bert has donated more than $1.5 million to the Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies at the University of Southern California.

Bert is a devoted and loving husband and cares deeply for his five children, their families and his five grandchildren. We are extremely pleased to know Bert and feel fortunate to have a person like him in our community.

Mr. Speaker, we invite our colleagues to join us in thanking Bert Boeckmann for his outstanding contributions to the Police Commission and wish him continued success.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding me this time.

To my friends who are concerned about this resolution, I remind them of the words of Yitzak Rabin earlier quoted: ``I will fight terrorism as if there were no negotiations. I will negotiate as if there was no terrorism.''

While he will never admit it, Prime Minister Sharon in the last 3 weeks has moved to that position. Notwithstanding 17 Israelis killed in a bus bombing, other Israelis killed in two other terrorism attacks since the Aqaba statements, the Israeli government has continued with these negotiations.

The notion that the Roadmap would exist, that this process would be moving forward, that the hope that we

heard at a conference this weekend by the Dead Sea from both Arabs and Israelis about the chances of moving forward would come because the United States played a neutral role in this conflict, are terribly misplaced.

The reason that the Israelis have the courage to move forward, notwithstanding the continued terrorist attacks, is because they know that the United States Government and particularly that the Congress stands with them in this conflict.

This is a resolution that for the first time in the history of this House of Representatives recognizes a two-State solution, an independent Palestinian State, and seeks to strengthen and embolden the Palestinian Authority in governing a State without terrorism.

I urge support for the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to my dear friend, Ruth Galanter, on the occasion of her retirement from the Los Angeles City Council. Ruth is an amazing, passionate and intelligent person who has accomplished so much in her political career without ever compromising her impeccable integrity or diminishing her idealism. I have had the pleasure of working with her since the 1970's when she was a prominent environmental activist and later as a member of the California Coastal Commission. I not only respect her professionally, but I value her friendship and advice.

Elected in 1987 to the Los Angeles Sixth City Council District, Ruth has spent the last 15 years shaping and improving the city of Los Angeles. Ruth was President Pro Tem for 4 years and became president of the council in 2001. She is admired and well-respected by her friends, colleagues and associates. In addition to her legendary success in solving constituent problems and her well-known legislative prowess, Ruth has made a name for herself protecting the environment. She spearheaded the city's recycling program, authored the city's major water conservation programs and led the effort to fluoridate the city's water supply. She also directed the city's conservation efforts to ensure an adequate safe water supply for the next century.

Early in her tenure, Ruth created a network of Community Planning Advisory Committees which assisted her in significant land use decisions throughout the city. Also, as chair of the Council's Committee on Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources, she worked to negotiate the challenges posed by electricity deregulation and the current energy crisis facing the State. And, as the city council's expert on aviation and airport issues, Ruth's futurist vision has improved the quality of life for all who live in southern California. She knows that the decisions made today regarding airport capacity and other transportation services directly impact our quality of life today and in the future.

Born in New York City, Ruth received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from Yale. Los Angeles has been blessed to have her at the helm, and I am proud to call her my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in thanking Ruth Galanter for all she has done and wishing her continued success in all her future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman, the ranking member of the subcommittee, both for her excellent work and for yielding me this time.

I rise in strong support of the bill, but I do want to point out a few issues that were addressed in the Committee on the Judiciary where I think we could have gone farther to be fair to the families of our soldiers.

I very much appreciate the gentleman from Wisconsin's (Mr. Sensenbrenner) willingness to create a bipartisan process in the negotiations on this bill, a process that started with at least seven different bills on the topic. I think the goal of all the Members who introduced those bills, and of most of us in the House, were the same. We wanted to reward the dedication of lawful, permanent residents in the military by making it as easy as possible for them to become full members of the country they are serving on the battlefield.

Secondly, we wanted to honor the sacrifice of both lawful, permanent residents and U.S. citizens who have been killed in service; and we are doing that by ensuring that their families are treated fairly by the country that they gave their lives to defend.

As I indicated, the bill is a very good start. The problem is that there will be some families of these brave soldiers who will not be helped by this bill. My hope is that in the conference with the other body we will be able to address those issues so we can be sure that we are not creating a situation where we have to, for example, tell the mother of a young man who gave his life for his country, our country, that we thank him very much for his service but his mother will have to leave. As one of my colleagues on the committee put it, we ought to be sure that the family members of our fallen heroes have the right to tend to the grave of their loved one.

When the Committee on the Judiciary considered this bill, I offered an amendment that would have provided the Secretary of Homeland Security the discretion, the discretion, to waive certain bars in our immigration laws that otherwise could be an obstacle to relief for the spouses, children, parents of the soldier killed in combat. We are not talking an automatic waiver. What we asked for was an opportunity for the Secretary of Homeland Security to do an investigation and, in his discretion, provide relief where he deemed it appropriate.

I think it is right to offer some level of forgiveness to these families whose spouse or child or sibling has given the ultimate sacrifice to our country; and by giving that discretion to the Secretary of Homeland Security, we would have ensured that the waiver posed no threat to our national security.

The second issue of concern in this legislation is one raised by the gentlewoman from Texas, the ranking member, that we have drawn an arbitrary line with respect to immigration relief for the parents of both U.S. citizen soldiers and soldiers granted posthumous citizenship under the bill.

Under current law, legal permanent residents cannot petition for their parents to come to this country as immigrants. Naturalized citizens can petition for their parents. Under the language of this bill, the parent of a legal permanent resident soldier who is killed in combat and is given posthumous citizenship cannot get immigration benefits if they were waiting outside the country for their child to naturalize and then petition for them.

If a U.S. citizen soldier filed a petition for their parents before they were killed in combat and their parents do not happen to have a visa to be in the U.S. on the exact date that their child was killed, the petition would be extinguished. In other words, the parent patiently waiting, playing by the rules, is turned away by the country their son or daughter died for.

In a bizarre and totally arbitrary twist, if that parent happened to get a visitor's visa to enter the country, say to help take care of the soldier's children while he was deployed, and that time in the U.S. happened to include the exact date on which their child was killed in combat, then the parent of a legal permanent resident soldier would be eligible for relief. This distinction makes no sense and we should correct it. A parent is a parent whether they are in Mexico waiting patiently or here on a tourist visa helping with the kids.

I would hope we could address these issues in conference.

Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the efforts of Ranking Member Oberstar, and those of Chairman LoBiondo and Ranking Member Filner of the Coast Guard Subcommittee, and also Congresswoman Miller and thank these Members for their support of H.R. 517.

I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation, which would transfer the title of two decommissioned Coast Guard vessels to organizations that, I'm sure you would agree, plan to put them to good use.

Let me speak in particular about the provision of the bill that would transfer the title to the Coast Guard Cutter Planetree to Jewish Life, a non-profit U.S. corporation based in California. Jewish Life plans to refurbish the Planetree to act as a floating exhibit to commemorate the 66 Exodus ships that carried Holocaust survivors to Israel following World War II, and to educate Americans about their role in this critical event in Israel's history.

The Planetree was decommissioned 3 years ago. The vessel is not seaworthy and has been in cold-water storage in San Francisco ever since, at some expense to U.S. taxpayers.

While many are aware of the importance of the Exodus to the establishment of Israel, few are aware of the critical role that Americans played in it. Over 200 Americans manned the Exodus ships, which were responsible for carrying 70,000 Holocaust survivors to Israel.

The vessel, re-christened the Exodus 2004, will tour ports in the U.S. and Europe, and participate in ceremonies at each stop commemorating the Exodus. The vessel will end its tour in Israel, where it will remain as a floating exhibit as part of a museum dedicated to the Exodus.

I believe that this certainly is a worthwhile cause, and I encourage you to vote in support of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, headquartered in Encino, CA and to their families who support them, give them strength, and struggle heroically to keep things going at home while they serve overseas.

I am particularly pleased to join Major General John J. McCarthy, Commanding General, 4th Marine Division, Judge Harry Pregerson and all of the family members of this Battalion in celebrating our own special ``Marine Family Day,'' an event which is planned both to provide some recreation for the family members of our reservists and to honor the more than 900 members of this Marine Forces Reserve unit who served in Iraq, and especially those 38 who were wounded in action. Sadly, one Marine, Staff Sergeant James Cawley was killed in action during this conflict.

Since the creation of the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines in July 1942, the battalion has valiantly fought in numerous campaigns from World War II where its members saw action at Iwo Jima and Saipan to Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, and, of course, Operation Iraqi Freedom. They were deployed in February of this year, and have earned the distinction of being the longest-serving reserve unit in theater. While this status has earned them honor and respect, it was gained at enormous sacrifice on the part of both them and their loved ones.

Not only have these reservists risked their lives, many have taken steep pay cuts and put their careers on hold to do so. They have missed birthdays, holidays, and other important family events. These men and women are police officers, firemen, doctors, lawyers, executives, and workers of every stripe and variety; people who make up the fabric of our communities. They are our husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends. They are patriots.

I am proud that many of these reservists and their families live and work in my congressional district and I am honored to be celebrating with them this Saturday. I ask my colleagues to join with me in saluting the men, women, and families of the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.

Mr. Speaker, this month marks the 88th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide. I rise today to commemorate this terrible chapter in human history, and to help ensure that it will never be forgotten.

April 24, 1915, the Turkish government began to arrest Armenian community and political leaders. Many were executed without ever being charged with crimes. Then the government deported most Armenians from Turkish Armenia, ordering that they resettle in what is now Syria. Many deportees never reached that destination.

From 1915 to 1918, more than a million Armenians died of starvation or disease on long marches, or were massacred outright by Turkish forces. From 1918 to 1923, Armenians continued to suffer at the hands of the Turkish military, which eventually removed all remaining Armenians from Turkey.

The U.S. Ambassador in Constantinople at the time, Henry Morgenthau, stated ``I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915.''

We mark this anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide because this tragedy for the Armenian people was a tragedy for all humanity. It is our duty to remember, to speak out and to teach future generations about the horrors of genocide and the oppression and terrible suffering endured by the Armenian people.

We hope the day will soon come when it is not just the survivors who honor the dead but also when those whose ancestors perpetrated the horrors acknowledge their terrible responsibility and commemorate as well the memory of genocide's victims.

Sadly, we cannot say humanity has progressed to the point where genocide has become unthinkable. The ``killing fields'' of Cambodia, the Iraqi regime's gassing of the Kurds, mass ethnic killings in Bosnia and Rwanda, and ``ethnic cleansing'' in Kosovo remain recent memories. We must renew our commitment never to remain indifferent in the face of such assaults on innocent human beings.

We also remember this day because it is a time for us to celebrate the contribution of the Armenian community in America--including hundreds of thousands in California--to the richness of our character and culture. The strength they have displayed in overcoming tragedy to flourish in this country is an example for all of us. Their success is moving testimony to the truth that tyranny and evil cannot extinguish the vitality of the human spirit.

The United States has an ongoing opportunity to contribute to a true memorial to the past by strengthening Armenia's democracy. Through trade and aid, we can support the efforts of the Armenian people to construct an open political and economic system.

Adolf Hitler, the architect of the Nazi Holocaust, once remarked ``Who remembers the Armenians?'' The answer is, we do. And we will continue to remember the victims of the 1915-23 genocide because, in the words of the philosopher George Santayana, ``Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to my constituent, Anastacio A. Cisneroz, who celebrates his 100th birthday on April 15, 2003 at Pico Adobe Historical Park in Mission Hills.

Born in Purandido, Michoacan, Mexico, Anastacio and his family fled to the United States in 1918 to avoid the hardships caused by the Mexican Revolution and to find a better life. Anastacio was 15 years old, and the hunger and suffering endured by his family remains fresh in his mind.

During their journey to the San Fernando Valley, Anastacio's mother, Refujio Armenta, and youngest brother, Perfidio, died of a particularly virulent strain of influenza which also killed millions of others. His father, brother, sister and he continued by train through Ciudad Juarez to El Paso on December 25,1918.

In 1932 he married Jessie Menjares and purchased a home in San Fernando where he lives to this day. He has nine children, 31 grandchildren, 52 great grandchildren and 5 great, great grandchildren--5 wonderful generations.

Because of his determination, work ethic, and spirit, Anastacio thrived in the United States even though things were not always easy. In 1942, he began working for Lockheed. The hours were long and the work was hard, but Anastacio took pride in his efforts and was extremely successful. He retired with the respect and admiration of his peers and supervisors after 27 years of service.

Today, Anastacio likes to travel, work in his vegetable garden, shop in supermarkets and walk to the barbershop. He attributes his longevity to hard work, good food, sleeping well and never smoking or drinking. He says that the secret of his long life is ``living with common sense.''

We respect and honor Anastacio and hopefully, we will all learn from his wisdom.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to ask my colleagues to join me in saluting Anastacio Cisneroz on his 100th Birthday.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, two points: In California we had much of the same issue that the country is now facing, rapidly escalating medical malpractice premiums, concerns that the health care system was broken, and we weighed the two approaches we had. One is the accountability for bad medical practices through the tort system versus a compromise that used a combination of tort reform, enhanced regulation of the medical profession and hospitals in terms of ensuring that bad practice would not be allowed to go unpunished and to continue, and insurance industry regulation legislation.

Now, we have this crisis in many other States of the Nation. Without getting into the issue to the extent to which tort reform played a role in reducing medical malpractice premiums and without getting into the debate about why we would need to federalize the entire system rather than letting the States work this through the same way California did, I just wanted to draw the attention of the body to the fact that what you are being told is not true. This is not an effort to take the California law as passed in 1975, known as MICRA, and to pass it and federalize it and to have it apply to the country as a whole.

This is a bald faced effort to cherry-pick certain provisions of that law, add many different people to the coverage of that law that were never included in that law, add additional tort reform provisions to that law that were not included in that law and then claim that we are doing MICRA.

In MICRA we enacted a series of very serious tort reforms, including the cap of $250,000, which I opposed vociferously then and do now. But we also massively enhanced both the level of insurance industry regulation and the authority of the boards of medical quality assurance, the disciplinary boards, to discipline those few physicians who were truly bad doctors, whose record of malpractice was astounding. If there was not going to be the full accountability from the tort system for the conduct of those physicians, then their status, their licenses would be in jeopardy.

We provided immunity to other physicians so that they would testify about the bad practices of those few doctors. We set up peer review committees in every area of this State. We significantly enhanced the powers of the boards of medical quality assurance. None of that, absolutely none of that appears here. This is a one-sided effort appealed to by certain interests, decrying other interests, to pretend they are taking the balanced approach of California when they are cherry-picking it to only limit its impact on one issue, the ability of injured patients to recover because of the negligence of another.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights for producing the report entitled ``Fire and Broken Glass: The Rise of Antisemitism in Europe,'' which underscores the commitment of the Lawyers Committee to speak up against human rights abuses wherever they occur, and whatever form they take.

In the report, the Lawyers Committee states forthrightly that ``antisemitism is racism. Antisemitic acts need to be confronted more forcefully and treated as serious violations of international human rights.'' The Lawyers Committee observes that the responsibility of reporting and confronting antisemitism should not be shouldered by Jewish organizations alone; ``their involvement does not relieve governments, the United Nations . . . or private human rights groups of their obligations to address antisemitism as an integral part of their work.''

In pointed remarks concerning the failure of European governments to address the problem, executive director Michael Posner writes, ``Too often European leaders have downplayed antisemitic acts as inevitable side-effects of the current crisis in the Middle East. We reject this reasoning as an abdication of responsibility. Criticism of Israeli policies and practices is not inherently antisemitic. But when such criticisms and related actions take the form of broadside attacks against 'Jews' or the 'Jewish State,' they become racist.''

The report cites recent instances of antisemitism in Europe, laments the failure of European governments to accurately report and engage in action to combat these hate crimes, and makes a series of recommendations for steps the European governments should take. The text of the report follows.

Foreword

A year ago the United Nations convened the third World

Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and

Related Intolerance, in Durban, South Africa. The conference

was intended to highlight particularly serious patterns of

racism and racial discrimination around the world and to

shape appropriate global responses. The meeting succeeded in

raising public attention with respect to some particularly

egregious situations--not least the plight of 250 million

victims of caste discrimination (among them the Dalits of

India--the so-called ``broken people,'' or ``untouchables'').

Further, the conference provided a long overdue

acknowledgment of the criminal nature of slavery (``that

slavery and the slave trade are a crime against humanity and

should always have been'') and recommendations for the repair

of its lasting consequences for people of African descent

around the globe.

The conference also made clear that racism and racial

discrimination need to be placed more squarely on the

international human rights agenda. But what was positive in

the conference process was seriously undermined when the

World Conference itself became the setting for a series of

antisemtic attacks. Directed primarily against

representatives of Jewish groups, these attacks were fueled

by the heated debates at the meeting concerning Israeli

practices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But the racist

anti-Jewish animus displayed represented considerably more

than criticism of Israeli policies and practices.

Most of the offensive behavior occurred during meetings of

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and individual

participants in a forum that paralleled the intergovernmental

conference. Throughout the five-day NGO forum, antisemitic

cartoons and materials were distributed widely and on

display, tolerated by the forums's nongovernmental

organizers. Representatives from Jewish organizations were

denied access to some meetings--either physically excluded or

shouted down and attacked when they were present and tried to

speak. Efforts to put antisemitism on the nongovernmental

agenda were roundly defeated by an assembly of

representatives and individual participants in procedures

that were neither democratic nor principled.

Rather than serving as a forum for correcting racial and

religious intolerance and hate, the public meetings and

exhibition halls of the Durban conference became a place

where pernicious racism was practiced and tolerated.

Important recommendations adopted by the conference despite

this environment, with a real potential to advance the fight

against antisemitism--and other forms of racism--have as a

consequence received inadequate attention. Some of these

recommendations, concerning government monitoring and

reporting on racist violence, are discussed here.

The outbursts at Durban reflect a growing trend toward

antisemitic expression and violence in many parts of the

world. As this report makes clear, there is an alarming rise

in antisemitic violence in Europe: but it is on the rise in

other parts of the world as well. Unfortunately, with the

notable exception of Jewish organizations and a number of

other human rights and antiracist groups and institutions,

the world communiuty--governments,

intergovernmental organizations, and nongovernmental

organizations alike--has not responded adequately to this

growing problem. Antisemitism is racism. Antisemitic acts

need to be confronted more forcefully and treated as

serious violations of international human rights.

This report highlights the inadequacy of efforts by

European governments to systematically monitor and report on

antisemitic threats and violence--and to develop effective

measures to stop it. We define antisemitism as hatred or

hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a

religious, ethnic or racial group. Governments and

intergovernmental organizations need to routinely incorporate

facts about antisemitic assaults. arson, vandalism,

desecration of cemeteries, and the proliferation of

antisemitic materials on the internet into a wide range of

existing human rights reporting mechanisms. Though some

Jewish organizations, like the Anti-Defamation League and the

American Jewish Committee, are doing excellent reporting on

these issues, their involvement does not relieve governments,

the United Nations and its regional organizations, or private

human rights groups of their obligations to address

antisemitism as an integral part of their work.

In the pages that follow, we outline the scope of

antisemitism, in Europe and examine some of the efforts by

European governments and institutions to monitor and confront

the problem. In our view these efforts are insufficient. Too

often European leaders have downplayed antisemitic acts as

inevitable side-effects of the current crisis in the Middle

East. We reject this reasoning as an abdication of

responsibility. Criticism of Israeli policies and practices

is not inherently antisemitic. But when such criticisms and

related actions take the form of broadside attacks against

``Jews'' or the ``Jewish State,'' they become racist.

In this report we make a series of recommendations as to

how these abuses can better be investigated and reported in

the future. These recommendations are intended as a starting

point for a much larger discussion about how anti-semitism

and other forms of racism can better be addressed as a more

central element of the global human rights debate. At the end

of last year's Durban meeting, we wrote that ``[t]he subjects

of this conference are the human rights issues of the 21st

century. Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and

intolerance affect each of us in our own communities. All of

us--governments, the UN, NGOs--must

find constructive way to discuss and combat these problems.''

Events of the last year only underscore the continuing

importance of meeting that challenge, and, with regards to

antisemitism, history emphasizes the urgency of doing so with

force and with vigor. Michael Posner, Executive Director,

August 2002.

Mr. Speaker, we rise today to pay tribute to our good friend, Doctor Francine Ratner Kaufman, recently named as the Woman of Valor for 2003 by the American Diabetes Association. During the past two decades, we have had the pleasure of working with Dr. Kaufman on numerous issues relating to health policy and we are delighted she has been chosen to receive this prestigious award.

Dr. Kaufman has devoted her clinical and research career to improving the lives of those afflicted with diabetes. She is a clinician who heads the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Children's Hospital Los Angeles; a scholar who is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at USC; a researcher who has received NIH funding for over twenty years and a leader who is currently serving as the National American Diabetes Association President. In short, she is a remarkable woman with an extensive and diverse history of accomplishments.

Dr. Kaufman, the principal investigator for several nationwide efforts to mitigate or eliminate the impact of diabetes, holds numerous patents on the formulation of ExtendBar, a snack bar designed to reduce glycemic excursion and episodes of hypoglycemia in diabetics. She has even developed an interactive, educational CD-ROM game designed for children with diabetes in collaboration with the Starbright Foundation.

Dedicated to helping others, Dr. Kaufman served as the medical director at a summer camp for children with diabetes in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California for more than twenty years. She also helped establish standards of care for the American Diabetes Association. Using her influence to help in her cause, she has led many advocacy efforts at the local and national levels to increase insurance benefits and to reduce discrimination against people with diabetes.

We ask our colleagues to join us today saluting our friend Doctor Francine Ratner Kaufman for her service and commitment to our community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the AYSO, Culver City, Region 19, Boys U12 Division team, Tidal Waves. Headed by the superb leadership of Coach Steve Salazar and Assistant Coach Alfonso Espinoza, Tidal Waves finished the season undefeated. Coach Salazar and Assistant Coach Espinoza knew how to get things done. Their tireless commitment, boundless energy, no nonsense coaching and clear sense of direction are responsible in a large measure for the Tidal Waves success.

Team members Austin Mott, Gregory Salazar, Henry Best, Joe Best, Mychal Cooper, Matthew Galvan, Austin Brasher, Giovanni Espinoza and Robin Clarkson played hard, tough competitive soccer. They gave their best effort at every practice. The players displayed a passion about improving their individual skills equal only to their determination to improve as a team. With every game played, they exceeded the skill of the game before. Tidal Waves always demonstrated good sportsmanship.

The enthusiasm and zest for soccer expressed by the team was matched by the commitment and support of the parents. The parents of Tidal Waves dedicated time and energy and keep the team's spirit high.

I ask my colleagues to join me today in saluting Tidal Waves for their outstanding achievement in the 2002, AYSO Region 19, Boys U12 Division, Culver City.

Mr. Speaker, I support this measure to give Federal Judges a cost-of-living adjustment.

Just today, the Washington Post reported the findings of a non- partisan National Commission on the Public Service, led by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volker.

One of the first steps the Commission recommends is to give federal judges an ``immediate and significant'' increase in pay.

As it is, judges make far less than they could earn in private firms, and there is certainly no monetary incentive for top lawyers to accept nomination to the Federal judiciary.

Though there is prestige in serving as a Federal judge, many of this country's best lawyers simply cannot justify leaving private practice during their prime earning years to serve on the bench.

In the long run, this phenomenon will affect the quality of people we can attract to serve as federal judges. It doesn't mean that we ought to be matching partner bonuses dollar-for-dollar, but it does mean that we have to consider what the private sector offers if we want to ask our best and brightest to become public servants.

Though a 3.1 percent COLA may not be all that ``significant,'' it is a small step toward creating enough incentive for Judges to remain on the Bench.

I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the life and work of Wayne Owens and to send my regards and sympathy to his wife, Marlene and his children and grandchildren.

I had the privilege of serving with Wayne in the House, and I quickly developed a great admiration for his hard work, integrity and dedication to good public policy. We served together on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he focused his attention on the Middle East.

Wayne was active on a broad range of issues, and while he spent much of his career focused on weighty matters of international affairs, he never lost sight of the issues that mattered most to people in his home state of Utah.

Wayne was a very effective legislator, and he earned the great respect of Members on both sides of the aisle for his willingness to put politics aside and tackle the important issues of the day.

After Wayne left Congress I continued to have the pleasure of working with him on the Middle East peace process.

As President of the non-profit Center for Middle East Peace, Wayne worked tirelessly to promote continued dialogue between Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East. His goal was to help build economic interaction between Israel and her Arab and Palestinian neighbors and through that work, to support and promote the peace process. He spent much of the last decade meeting with leaders in the region trying to foster peace through economic development.

He was very effective in this role because all sides accepted him as an honest broker.

Even over the last couple of years, when many others gave up hope that Israelis and Palestinians would ever be able to resolve their differences, Wayne continued his work to find common ground.

He was often frustrated--as we all are from time to time--and he understood the realities on the ground, but he never stopped believing that peace was possible.

We will sorely miss Wayne, and his dedication and creativity. As we work toward a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, may we remember Wayne's life and works and let every action we perform be a tribute to his memory.