Floor Statements

Offered By: Mr. Kingston

Amendment No. 17: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

I want to commend the members of the Ag Committee on a

bill that is well put together in some parts. As the chairman knows, he has been very generous with his time, talking to me about the cotton section, the peanut section, and fruits and vegetables. I think there was a lot of good bipartisan support. I commend the committee for that.

Unfortunately, so much of this bill is not direct agriculture. So much of this bill, 60 to 70 percent, and this is true with all farm bills, it is the entitlement section, the school nutrition programs, there are a number of problems I have with that.

Number one, this tax increase is to support an increase in the entitlement section. It doesn't go directly to farmers or help the dirt farmer. It is not intended for that.

I have problems with the tax increase, and I do think it should have been gone through the Ways and Means Committee where it could have been thoroughly vetted and people could have decided what does this mean, because the truth of the matter is there are question marks on both sides.

The second thing, in agriculture appropriations we have had lots of hearings on the Indiana privatization of food stamps. I think it is a great program. I think reducing the government bureaucracy so that you can get more money to the people who need the food stamps, I think that is a good fundamental idea. I think it is one that President Clinton would have appreciated. It is searching for the third way. Not always a Democrat or Republican solution is adequate; you have to come up with something else. This is a hybrid program. This is a privatization program, and I know that is a bad thing for many on the fringe left, but I think most of us in the ag community will agree that it is a good thing. And yet this bill stops that.

The third thing is the special-interest payoff to the unions. Can you imagine, here we are at an energy crisis time. It is $3.05 if you shop all over town to find the bargain, and we are going to increase the cost of producing ethanol. We are going to say if you build an ethanol plant, you have to use the highly inflated union prevailing wages. It is a special payoff to the unions. We should not increase the price of producing energy during a fuel crunch. It is that simple. This bill does that.

Finally, one of the things that we all do, Republicans and Democrats, we want to balance the budget. We want to cut out the waste, as long as it is done in a different district than ours.

Now, the farm service agencies, there are too many of them. There are 58 that don't even have staff. This bill prevents them from being closed. We need to close some of the farm service agencies. Because of technological changes, we can do that without hurting the farmers, and yet this bill will prevent that from happening. One thing we are all hypocrites on is, hey, let's balance the budget; but, oh, not here where we have an opportunity to balance the budget. I think that is something that is ill conceived. I know there is bipartisan resistance on that, and it is very difficult for all of us.

I have four farm service agencies in my district that are being closed; and I tell you, it is tough. I hate to see any of them closed, but I realize in the big picture if you want to save money for the farmers for other programs, sometimes you have to make these decisions.

Madam Speaker, Members of the House, and my friend John Lewis, you are correct. His father was my State senator and John Barrow's State senator for 38 years. He was a very well-respected Democrat. We all liked him a lot. But he sure raised his son the right way. We are glad to have him.

We all miss and loved Charlie Norwood. You know, in this House, there are creatures of habit. Of course, any time you want to see Mr. Murtha and the Pennsylvania delegation, you go to that corner. Any time you want to see Mr. Young and anybody who wants something out of him from Appropriations, all the Florida Members, you go over to that corner. I think, in Charlie's memory, we will all begin to think that the Georgia delegation will be sitting there.

Paul, we are going to be very happy to have you sitting amongst us.

Paul, John Barrow and I went to the same junior high school. We are very proud to boast about that. He is an avid fly-fisherman. He is a sportsman. He did volunteer work for Safari-International and worked with many of you, got to know Ron Marlene very well and Jo Ann Emerson, among others, and he is ready to go on any codel to Montana or Wyoming that he gets invited to.

Paul is going to be a great Member of the House. He is a hard worker. I think you will like him on both sides of the aisle because he will work for what is best for the United States of America.

Mr. Lewis has already gone over his resume, so I won't repeat it. But I will just say, Paul, welcome to the greatest body the world has ever seen, the United States House of Representatives.

Mr. Broun of Georgia. Madam Speaker and colleagues, I am glad to call you colleagues. I am eager to work with you. I am eager to represent the people of the 10th Congressional District of Georgia. It is exciting to me. Just 1 week ago, I was campaigning. Things have been going very quickly ever since then. I am just overwhelmed.

I look forward to working with you and working with this great, august body. I appreciate the opportunity. I appreciate the well wishes and all of the host of welcomes that I have gotten from each and every one of you.

So I appreciate the welcome that you all have given me. I look forward to working with you. Thank you so much. God bless you.

Madam Speaker, during the July 4th holidays with my family, I heard the following inspirational sermon in Denver,

Colorado. I would like to share it with my fellow colleagues:

Landmarks

(By Bill Huth)

I am deeply grateful to be a citizen of the USA and I know

that it is a privilege to be an American.

I love this week and the 4th of July:

Watermelons are juicy

Flags are waving from businesses and homes

Fireworks light up the night sky

Families are cooking hot dogs and dousing them with mustard

and relish

Churches gather to sing patriotic hymns

Apple pies bake in the ovens

There is a sharp crack to the sound of baseball bats

We see old John Wayne movies

There are Parades and we sing ``The Star Spangled Banner''

We pray for the nation and for peace

Everywhere we discover Red, White, and Blue

People and families intentionally come to the YMCA of the

Rockies

These are Landmarks to mark the birthday celebration of the

Madam Speaker, the Appling County Bulldawg BB Gun Team won 1st Place in the International BB Gun Championship Match in Bowling Green, KY this past weekend. Jordan Vaughn won First Place in the Jaycee international BB Gun Championship. Trevor Causey won second and the NRA World Record in the sitting position shooting a perfect 100 with 8 center shots.

The team won National Champion with the most points averaged together. The team won the special BB Gun trophy that is being held at the 4H office, and will be passed to each Donor Business for recognition. There were a total of 33 teams representing 22 different states. They won by a huge margin of 53 points with an overall total of 2382. (As I understand it, you have to sit, stand, kneel, or lay down to shoot for points.) The team members were Jordan Vaughn, Trevor Causey, Dustin Stipe, Brittany Hardwick, Jordan Roberson with two alternates: Wade Edwards and Hallie Hardwick. The team coaches were Tim Toler, Bob McDonald and Daniel Edwards.

The senior members have worked very hard to accomplish this goal. This is the first time a Georgia team has ever won the International Match and we are very proud of these kids!

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I wanted to say, I believe that the chairman of this committee has worked hard on this bill and done a good job, but I also know as a member of Appropriations that often things are thrust upon you as a committee member which may not have originated in the Appropriations Committee. I don't know if that's the case, but I would say here's four areas where we could go to come up easily with over 1 percent of this money. Four specific areas.

Number one is in the regulatory agencies. There have been increases above the request for the FTC, the FEC, the SEC and the CPSC, all agencies in which there is more money than requested. That's number one.

Number two, there's $300 million in election assistance for States, unauthorized. There's already $1 billion in unobligated funds from past appropriations bills. I did not like it when the Republican Appropriations Committee put this money out there for local election assistance because I don't think the Federal Government needs to stick its nose in that tent, because once the Federal Government gets involved in local State elections, it's a one-way street and we will have the federalization of elections.

The third spot. There's $80 million in unrequested SBA subsidy. Now, the particular program has been run unsubsidized. The folks borrow the money. They pay it back. We are now creating a new subsidy for the SBA, $80 million.

But the one that really bothers me the most is actually a presidential request. Now, my friend from New York has said no one has accused the President of being a big spender, but I will say to you, I agree with you. I believe the President has spent more money than the American people want him to and I believe we as Republicans spent more money than the American people wanted us to. And because I'm such a good friend of yours, I want to prevent you from making the same mistake.

The President has requested $300 million in the new campus at St. Elizabeth's for the Department of Homeland Security. I want my friends in the RSC to know this is a $3 billion, 10-year request to build a huge campus for the Department of Homeland Security. We did not fund this last year. We should all join together and say ``no'' to the Department of Homeland Security on this $3 billion campus which is sure to become worse than the CVC in cost overruns over time.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

What this amendment does, Mr. Serrano and my fellow Members, it seeks to say that if you are doing business with the Federal Government, if you are a contractor building something or selling something to the Federal Government, then you should have a Social Security verification for your employees. This was inspired by two things: Number one, the fact that the American people have spoken. They do not want comprehensive immigration reform. They spoke so loudly and so well that even the United States Senate eventually heard their voices.

Now, we've heard their voices in the House and we have passed lots of immigration reform measures, such as fences, such as the REAL ID Act, some other things that we have put on all the bills on a bipartisan basis. What this says, though, is that if you're the contractor building the fence on the border, as we have had a real case, then you have to make sure that you have legal immigrants, legal people, working for you.

That's all it is. There are a lot of people who sell to the Federal Government in the school lunch program. There are a lot of people who work for the defense, a lot of people who work for these agencies, a lot of just different contractors who may have illegal aliens working for them on a Federal Government job, and the only thing that this does is says that those contractors have to be involved in the basic pilot program, which is a program in which technology enables these employers to check Social Security numbers for authenticity within about 90 seconds.

It's very simple, it's very clear. I hope that the gentleman will accept it.

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

Point of Order

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman of the committee and the ranking member for the opportunity to offer this for consideration. And I do realized that the chairman has reserved a point of order. I hope he doesn't insist upon it, but if he does, I certainly understand, as we share, I think, the same goal of cracking down on illegal aliens.

What this amendment does, Mr. Chairman, is say that if you sell or contract or do business with the Federal Government, then you need to be part of the Social Security verification project known as the Basic Pilot. And the Basic Pilot program is a tool for employers to verify the Social Security numbers of employees.

We all know that the Federal Government is one of the worst offenders of hiring contractors and subcontractors who in turn hire illegal aliens and do a lot of government work. We also know that since the inception of ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, Julie Myers, the head of it, has stated that there have been hundreds and hundreds of arrests at military installations, power plants, chemical plants, sensitive facilities, and truly this would include a lot of the agencies and a lot of the contractors in work that is done in the Department of Interior for work on our national parks and other land areas.

There was one very high-profile case where a defense contractor had hired illegal aliens to work in a shipyard in Mississippi, another one at an Air Force base in North Carolina, and another one at a Marine base in Virginia. Those are more defense oriented, but this would certainly apply to all Federal agencies.

The success of this program, though, is that 92 percent of the prospective employees have their Social Security number verified within seconds of the work authorization. So this isn't requiring that employers have some cumbersome, unworkable paperwork requirement. In fact, 50 percent of the employers who use this program surveyed have said that it is an excellent, good, to very good program. And 98 percent say that they are likely to continue to use this program. It is a very good tool, I think to crack down on Social Security verification. And as we know, right now the U.S. Senate is debating an enormously unpopular bill which seeks comprehensive immigration reform.

This is a step. The American people have sent a clear signal that they want immigration reform but they would like it in the form of steps rather than comprehensive.

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

Point of Order

Mr. Chairman, I just want to say as a member of the Appropriations Committee now going on 14 years, I remember several years ago when Congressman David Skaggs of Boulder, Colorado, offered an amendment in the committee which reinstituted the War Powers Act, because at that time we were concerned that President Clinton was getting us involved in a war in Bosnia; so we put it on that bill. And I believe last session we put on the continuation of government on an appropriation bill, and I am a firm believer that we do routinely authorize on appropriation bills. We just need to agree with the authorization.

So I want to say to my friend I have seen things accepted and things rejected.

This is a speech and it is a very good speech.

In any case, Mr. Chairman, I understand where the distinguished chairman of this committee is coming from and we will continue to work with him, the Appropriations Committee, and all Members of Congress to try to get Social Security verification done by businesses that contract with the Federal Government.

Offered By: Mr. Kingston

Amendment No. 23: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

Madam Speaker, I wish to commemorate the 45 years of dedicated service City Manager Jackie Wilson has given to the community of Douglas, Georgia.

From the beginning, Jackie Wilson has raced out of the gate full speed with a pragmatic approach to community development. She started as Executive Secretary to the City Manager of Douglas in 1962. In 1972, she transferred to the Urban Renewal Department as Assistant Director, and in 1974 became the Director of Urban Renewal. In 1975 when Urban Renewal was phased out, she became the Director of Community Development. In 1995, she was named Assistant City Manager. In January of 2002, when the former City Manager resigned, she was appointed City Manager.

During her time of service she has received numerous outstanding awards. In 1985, she received the Douglas-Coffee County Outstanding Leadership and Service Award. In 1992, the Georgia Municipal Association Eighth District Community Leadership Award. In 2006, she received the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Authority Women In Leadership Award. This award will now be given annually and has been named the ``Jackie L. Wilson Women In Leadership Award''. In 2007 she has been selected as an Honored Member of the Heritage Registry of Who's Who 2007-2008 Edition.

On June 30, 2007 Jackie Wilson will retire and spend time with her five grandchildren. Through her hard work and dedication she has been a great example for the community of Douglas, Georgia.

Madam Speaker, I want to point out that this discussion is interesting, and, as Mr. Dreier has said to Mr. Cardoza, it is worthy of debate.

I want to ask my friend, were you here during the anthrax threat?

I yield to the gentleman.

Well, it is important because there is a little history here, Madam Speaker, but during the period of time in which much of the Longworth office was shut down and evacuated right in the wake of 9/11, I don't know how many Members, and perhaps Mr. Dreier knows, but we all had temporary offices in a building downtown, and I do not remember which building that was. But it was interesting. That was a direct threat to the United States Congress, and some of the offices were closed down for maybe a couple of months.

I moved my entire staff off premises. And so to say now that we have to construct expensive, unnecessary swing space just to fill in a gap is ridiculous.

I want to point out that I think it's important for newer Members to realize there is a history, there is a precedent. And because of the Rules Committee shutting down this amendment and free speech, most Members won't know that we are trying to prevent something that we've already gone through before, and that is temporarily locating elsewhere in a secure premises.

I wanted to commend Ms. Wasserman Schultz, the Chair, and the ranking member, Mr. Wamp, for what they have done on the CVC, the Capitol Visitors Center. It is a monstrosity; something we're all very disappointed in. When I was Chair of this committee, we tried our best to get our arms around it. One of the things that we all discussed is unfortunately it's kind of a bicameral problem. You don't have one head of the snake, one committee, one Chair who was fully responsible from alpha to omega.

I commend the committee on what they've done on this. I do think that with this FDA building we are creating another CVC boondoggle, as already outlined and debated in the committee. Since 2002, we've been debating this unnecessary additional office space, this swing space. And at the same time, the committee of the same government agencies are involved in it that have given us the CVC. So not to allow that amendment on the floor is something, in my opinion, is worth voting ``no'' on the whole rule debate.

The other amendment that I offered, among the many amendments that were turned down by the Democrats, it's very important to say the people who talked about sunshine so much are now denying it on the bill that tells this institution and the public so much about ourselves. No one gets elected or unelected on leg branch politics, except it does show what your culture of leadership is. If you don't allow sunshine, if you don't allow an open rule, if you don't allow open debate on your own piece of legislation that governs the House, then how can you go around and pontificate from coast to coast what an open government you're going to bring the United States people?

I know that the members of the Rules Committee and the members of the Appropriations Committee have somewhat been under a mandate, maybe even a gag order, by the leadership, but I would say there is huge hypocrisy and irony in this.

Another important amendment that I offered has to do with the Basic Pilot Program. And I'll ask you this: Do you think that people who do construction for the Federal Government should have legal employees, or should they be allowed to have illegal aliens? Well, we know and the Chair would be interested to know about the situation in California, because it's been such a hot debate out there, and the folks who have been building the fence, that the folks who are constructing the fence were busted for having illegal aliens to build a fence to keep illegal aliens out of the country. That is absurd. Similarly, we see this all over the place on Air Forces bases and Federal institutions, where contractors come in, and after close scrutiny we find they are hiring illegal aliens.

What the amendment would have done, which I believe would have wide bipartisan support, simply says that you need Social Security verification if you're going to do business with the Federal Government. No big deal, except for in this town and in this Chamber somehow that might offend some of our K Street friends, or should I say some other people's K Street friends. Because folks I know back home, they want Social Security verification. Unless you attack the job magnet, you're always going to have the attraction for illegals to come into the country.

This would give us an opportunity to lead by example to say we're not going to let you do business with the Federal Government unless you have verified Social Security. And the program is run by ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. It's called the Basic Pilot Program. Nothing controversial whatsoever. However, the Rules Committee is not even going to allow us to have a vote on it.

I cannot believe that the people one year ago, indeed, 7 months ago, were campaigning out there, telling Americans the Democrats are going to deliver open and honest government, because this rule is anything but that.

Madam Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

I just want to know, is it in the Democrat budget?

Thank you, Mr. Wamp. And I thank the Chair and congratulate both of you on your work for this bill.

I want to say, however, I do not support it. I am very disappointed that after the bill left the Appropriations Committee and went to the Rules Committee, a funny thing happened. All this transparency and all this promise of open government and open rules seemed to fade away in a dark corner room up on the third floor of this building, because there were 23 amendments offered, and yet only three of them were accepted.

We talk about bipartisanship and we talk about sunshine in the process, and yet this is the very bill that basically funds and perhaps even governs our own body, our own congressional branch, and yet it has the closed rule. And 20 amendments won't get the sunshine, will not get the debate because of the Rules Committee under Democrat leadership. I would say you need to go back to your campaign brochures and look at all the promises that you made before you pass another rule like this.

One of the casualties of this closed process was an amendment that I offered that deals with contractors who deal with the Federal Government, who work for the Federal Government. I'll give you some examples. December 2005, 22 Mexican nationals were found illegally working in Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. January 27, 2001, illegal aliens were found working at Fort Benning, Georgia. March 2007, the Golden State Fence Company was actually fined because, in building a border security fence, they had hired 10 illegal aliens.

It doesn't stop there. In Louisiana, December 2005, a local company was busted working on a Veterans Administration hospital because they had illegal aliens. This is absurd. Now, I've heard from many people the theme of ``leading by example.'' Perhaps one thing we could do and absolutely should do is require that if you are contracting for the Federal Government, that you have a Social Security verification process going in your business, more than the sham, more than the, Yeah, but we have an I-9 kind of approach that we're seeing. And this would actually say you need to be in the ICE, which is the Customs and Immigration Enforcement Service, you need to be in the ICE Basic Pilot Program, which is a way to know that your employees have correct and legal Social Security numbers. That's all the amendment would have done.

I would predict that this amendment would get lots of bipartisan support because we see that the biggest issue facing America, besides Iraq and perhaps energy, is the issue of illegal immigration. And here was an opportunity for us to make a definitive statement, to have a significant amendment added to the bill, and the Democrats said no.

I hope they'll reconsider on future legislation.

Madam Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.

I am in its current form.

Madam Speaker, I offer this amendment to bring something to the Members' attention that I think is very important.

We are about to create a fourth building for the House of Representatives. We have Cannon, we have Rayburn, we have Longworth. We are about to put on another 200,000-square-foot building. I think you should know about it, and I think we deserve a vote on it.

Number one, this is an earmark. Now, we have been talking weeks and weeks and months and months about transparency and ending earmarks. Yet if you will look in the report on page 20, there is a $16 million earmark for a new House office building. There is no explanation of the project, no total cost, there have been no hearings and no oversight, and it is not in the Democrat budget. It was not requested by the Architect of the Capitol, and, yet, it's in the bill.

Now, looks like a duck, walks like a duck, could be an earmark. That's where we are on this.

Number two, I think Members have the right to vote on a fourth office building. As former chair of this committee, one of the big frustrations I have about the Capitol Visitors Center is none of us owned the project. There wasn't one person that you could say it's his or her fault. It was all diluted and by committee. We never had a vote on it.

Indeed, when I was a chairman of this committee, a staffer put in $18 million to renovate the House floor, which none of us knew about. I took the money out of it, as did Chairman Lewis last year.

But things get stuck in the bills that we don't know about that we deserve a vote on. This gives you an opportunity, unlike the CVC, which started out as a $260 million project, with partial private funding, and now is up to $600 million.

This motion to recommit gives you the opportunity to vote on something and say no to something that has already cost this House $140 million. This is a 200,000-square-foot building. That's the size of 15 House floors. It's the size of four White Houses. It's five football fields big. This isn't incidental swing space.

What is this needed for? In case we renovate the Cannon House Office Building. Now, don't you want to vote on that? I haven't had a debate on renovating the Cannon Office Building, but I want to know about it. This is a big building of substance, and you deserve a vote.

Incidentally, this isn't going to be the only new building. We are adding 580,000 square feet in the form of the Capitol Visitors Center.

This building is huge. To move forward, it's going to cost us not the $16 million that's in the bill, but actually $56 million, and then another $12 million to lease it, plus $18 million for furniture for it.

Think about it. How many times have we heard from some Members in a rather preachy fashion, we need to control our carbon footprints? Ladies and gentlemen, all of those of you who want to reduce our carbon footprint, here is your opportunity. Say ``no'' to a 200,000-square- foot boondoggle which we are about to put in.

This has not had the proper oversight, it has not had the proper hearings. The contracts have all been verbal. That's why we are all in the situation.

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

Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, in 2004, we spent $103 billion buying oil from nondemocratic countries, countries such as Iran, Venezuela and Russia, and the list goes on and on. Indeed, we are funding both sides in the war on terrorism, because every time we send money to these folks, the money winds up in the hands of somebody, some group, who doesn't stand for what we stand for and often is overtly anti-American.

That's why we should pass the DRIVE Act, which I have co-sponsored with Democrat Congressman Eliot Engel. The DRIVE Act seeks to reduce our oil consumption by 20 percent, which is roughly the amount of oil we buy from the Middle East.

We do this through tax incentives, putting people in hybrids and flex-fuel vehicles, getting gas stations to convert to flex-fuel stations so that they can sell ethanol and biodiesel and giving a tax incentive for automobile manufacturers so that they can work with lightweight material to make cars more fuel efficient.

Please co-sponsor the DRIVE Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an exceptional officer of the United States Army, Colonel James F. King, Jr., upon his retirement after more than 20 years of distinguished service to our Nation.

I came to know Colonel Jim King in 2001 when he was selected as an Army Congressional Fellow, and became my Military Legislative Assistant during the historic year following the tragic events of September 11th. Our Nation was still recovering from the attacks, and we were thrust into the war against terror in Afghanistan. Jim handled all my National Defense matters during this very challenging time in our Nation's history, and he did an outstanding job.

Prior to becoming a Congressional Fellow, Colonel King had a long and distinguished career in the Army. After graduating from Georgia State University in 1985, he attended the United States Army Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. After his initial assignment as a Second Lieutenant, he was selected to attend Flight School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and was the Honor Graduate of his class.

Following flight school in 1988, Colonel King served in many command and staff positions worldwide. He served in Korea where he flew helicopter missions in and out of the DMZ. Later he served in Germany where he flew aerial reconnaissance missions along the former East German border, and directly contributed to our Nation's Cold War victory. Upon return from Germany, Colonel King served at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia and supported Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, and flew reconnaissance missions against Cuba.

In 1995 Colonel King was assigned to the Army's Operational Support Airlift Command where he served in numerous leadership positions coordinating operations and training for over 80 subordinate units throughout the globe, and orchestrating uninterrupted airlift support for Theater Commanders in Saudi Arabia and Bosnia. He was then selected for C-20 Gulfstream jet training in Savannah, Georgia, before taking Command of the Army's elite jet detachment in Hawaii. While in command, Colonel King successfully managed a complex split-based operation, providing Humanitarian support in East Timor, while simultaneously providing worldwide airlift support to senior military and civilian leaders throughout Pacific Command (PACOM).

Following his command in the Pacific, Colonel King returned to Washington where he served as an aviation staff officer, and helped develop the Army's fixed-wing doctrine and future cargo airplane requirements. Colonel King was then selected for the Army Congressional Fellowship Program where he served as my Military Legislative Assistant. Following his Fellowship, Colonel King served as the Deputy Chief of Legislative Liaison at National Guard Bureau, and then as Deputy Chief for Reserve Affairs at Army Congressional Liaison in the Pentagon.

During his time as a Congressional Legislative Liaison, Colonel King provided outstanding leadership, advice, and sound professional judgment on numerous critical issues of enduring importance to both the Army and the Congress. Jim's counsel and support were invaluable to Army leaders and Members of Congress as they considered the impact of their decisions on these important issues, and it is my privilege to recognize his many contributions. I commend his superb service to the United States Army and our great Nation.

On behalf of Congress and the United States of America, I thank Colonel Jim King, his wife Cindy, and his entire family for the commitment, sacrifices, and contributions that they have made throughout his honorable military service. I congratulate Colonel Jim King on completing an exceptional and extremely successful military career, and wish him blessings and success in all his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, you know, one of the questions that I never hear asked and certainly don't hear answered by those who want to pull out of Iraq, like Harry Reid, who says the war is already lost, I have a question for him and others who say that the war is lost. As soon as America pulls out, the people like al Maliki, or Deputy Prime Minister Saleh, who was here in the Capitol last week, it would be a death sentence to them. All those folks who stepped forward who bought into the American and international concept of freedom and self- government and democracy, they will be executed.

Now, what are we going to do? Are we going to give amnesty to political refugees, 50,000, 100,000? Maybe those on the left have an estimate of how many people we would open our border to.

But I can say this: There is no question about it, these folks who stepped forward to try to build a new government will be executed. Their children will be executed. Their spouses will be executed. Their grandparents will be executed. So inevitably we will open up the borders to them as political refugees. My question is, how many of those will we let in, and can we do that now on a bipartisan basis?

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and recognize Bill Golden, an outstanding Georgian who has dedicated his life to the betterment of society through his involvement in higher education and public service. Bill has been a friend and ally in working towards a brighter future for my constituents and the people of Georgia.

For the past sixteen years, Bill has served as the Director of Governmental Relations for the University of Georgia in Statesboro, Georgia. During most of this time, he also served as Georgia Southern University's Foundation President as well as the Director of Development. During his tenure there, Bill helped obtain over both public and private funding for many initiatives and spearheaded a government relations program between the university and Georgia's congressional delegation.

Before coming to Georgia Southern University, Bill worked at the University of Georgia's Cooperative Extension Service, providing administrative support for the development and implementation of a statewide program in international trade and development and provided leadership for all counties in Georgia. He also served as an Assistant County Agent for Twiggs County, Georgia and worked to improve the county's 4-H and youth program. In addition, Bill aided in the development of the consulting firm Economark, Inc. which was developed to provide technical assistance in the area of economic and community development.

Bill's extensive leadership ability has also translated into his community involvement. For instance, he has served as the Director for Bulloch County Chamber of Commerce, President of the Alumni Society for Middle Georgia College, and chair of the 13-State Advisory Committee for the Southern Rural Development Center. He has also served as President and Board Member of the Certified Public Managers Association, a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia Industrial Developers Association, and the Vice President, representing the first congressional district, Board of Managers for The University of Georgia Alumni Society.

In light of Bill's outstanding record of commitment to others and dedication to excellence, it is with great pleasure that I rise in his honor. As Bill enters retirement I wish him continued happiness and success.