Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 15, I missed the rollcall vote inadvertently. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this rule change and real Pay-As-You-Go or ``Pay-Go'' budget requirements.

Madam Speaker, the 109th Session of Congress left behind a legacy that is certain to go down in the annals of history as the height of fiscal irresponsibility. Unless you consider an additional $781 billion extension of the debt limit, the fourth of a series approved since 2003 that added an additional $3 trillion in new debt, the 109th Session can boast of no budgetary accomplishment.

In fact, it failed in its most basic responsibility: passing a budget for the Federal Government and failing to enact 9 of the 11 regular spending bills that fund the government's operations.

But, it simply didn't just fail pass a budget, it actually made the Nation's fiscal problems worse. It took what it already knew were large projected deficits and passed legislation that makes them even larger in future years. According to the Congressional Budget Office, legislation enacted last session actually increases the projected budget deficits by $452 billion above what they would have been between 2005 and 2011 had they never been in session.

Over the course of the past 5 years, with full control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Republican leadership inherited an estimated 10-year budget surplus of $5.6 trillion and after 5 years has turned the same 10-year period (2002-2011) into a projected budget deficit of $3 trillion--a disastrous $8.6 trillion turnabout.

This explosion of budget deficits is largely the result of 2 irresponsible budget policies of the former Republican majority:

First, was its decision to waive all budget rules and not to pay for the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan, letting emergency spending bills be enacted within the discipline and restraints on the regular budget process; and

Second, was to make tax cuts its highest priority, enacting a series of tax cuts, targeted primarily at the wealthiest Americans and corporations that need them the least, with no offsets.

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the 3 major tax cuts enacted over the past 5 years cost $1.5 trillion between 2001 and 2014. The actual number is somewhat higher once you tack on the additional costs of debt-servicing.

I don't pretend to have all the answers to solve our fiscal problems. But, one thing we should not do is more harm. We should not increase the amount of debt our children will inherit.

Adopting a real Pay-Go requirement as part of the Rules for the 110th Congress will keep this institution and the White House from digging an even larger budget deficit hole.

The pay-go rule we are considering today is not unlike the original one adopted as part of the 1993 budget agreement that required any spending or revenue measure we consider before the full House be fully offset and not increase the budget deficit.

The first Pay-Go requirements were adopted in 1993 as part of the largest deficit reduction package that Congress ever approved; a package that passed both chambers with a single Republican vote. It included both real spending cuts and real tax increases and placed us on a course toward balanced budgets.

The Pay-Go requirements were subsequently extended as part of the 1995 bipartisan budget agreement and closed the final gap in deficit spending that in 1999 produced the first balanced budget in more than 30 years.

We would be in a much better situation today had the original ``Pay- Go'' rule remained in effect.

Instead, a Republican-controlled Congress allowed the Pay-Go requirements to expire, enabling them to adopt irresponsible tax cuts that are largely responsible for the deficits we face today.

Adopting a true Pay-Go rule today gets us back on track toward responsible fiscal policy. I encourage my colleagues to support its inclusion in the Rules of the 110th Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Rules Committee, my friend, Mr. Dreier.

I am a cosponsor of this legislation because I do agree with the premise, as articulated by Mr. Dreier, that trade liberalization inevitably does lead to political and social liberalization. We tried the other approach in Vietnam and we lost 58,000 people and have very little to show for it. But it doesn't mean that we are going to look the other way when human rights are being violated. In fact, this gives us more ability to intervene and to protect American citizens and Vietnamese citizens.

Let me give you an example. There is a gentleman by the name of Hoan Nguyen. He has been a United States citizen for over 30 years. He has been on the Board of Visitors of George Mason University for 5 years. He is an internationally recognized humanitarian and educator.

He went to Vietnam to open the Hanoi International School for the children of diplomats and corporate executives because he wanted to help his native country to develop and to grow. But under the current regime, without this trade agreement, he is required to accept a local partner that the Vietnamese Government assigns him.

Well, this school worked and it began to make money, and so he started to pay off his American investors who had invested in the school. The local partner, with the assistance of Vietnamese officials, decided they wanted to seize the school. What they did was to arrest Mr. Hoan Nguyen. He is now in prison, without charges, without evidence, without the ability to consult his lawyer, without trial. He can't have an American lawyer.

His wife, with the help and advice of the U.S. Embassy, paid $85,000 in bail for his release on October 14, 2006. The government took the money and wouldn't release him. Now they want more money. It is pure extortion. She can't pay it, and she shouldn't. It is a brazen attempt to take over this school.

Now, my constituents who know Hoan Nguyen say the answer is to defeat the Vietnam Trade Agreement. I think the answer is just the opposite, because that is the kind of situation that exists today for every American investor. It won't exist when we have the kind of transparency that is guaranteed through this agreement.

What we are trying to get is the protection of commercial transactions, the protection of money that is invested in Vietnam. This is a quid pro quo, and there are a lot of Vietnamese Communist officials who are very uneasy about what this will require. They should be uneasy, because we won't allow this kind of situation to continue to occur.

This situation is not fair, in Vietnam or in any authoritarian Communist countries. China is not dissimilar from Vietnam. But the answer is not to engage militarily and I don't think the answer is to turn our back.

The answer is to change the situation, peacefully, diplomatically, legally. And that is what these trade agreements are all about: sitting down, negotiating; coming up with requirements for transparency; coming up with the ability to get insurance, with the ability to protect your investment, with the ability to take your case to court and have a fair trial, to introduce justice into these authoritarian systems.

Now, it is going to be slow, it is going to be frustrating, but it has got to be the way we go in the 21st century. We have got to engage with our competitors, even our former enemies, in this global economy, and this I think is the appropriate way to do so.

I would urge a ``yes'' vote on this trade agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Sydney Tally Hickey, military family advocate and member of the Board of Governors of the National Military Family Association (NMFA)--in recognition of her distinguished service to her country. From 1983, when she joined the NMFA Government Relations staff, until her death on December 1, 2006, she taught an entire generation of NMFA members to be consummate advocates and better the lives of hundreds of thousands of active duty, National Guard, Reserve and retired service members, their families, and survivors. She did this by being smart, detailed, and persistent--armed with the facts, an unblinking perseverance, and a luminous passion.

I had the honor of knowing Ms. Hickey personally. She was a military family member all her life as an Air Force daughter and Navy spouse. She was married to Capt. Dennis J. Hickey IV, who is retired from the U.S. Navy, and has her two daughters and a grandson.

In 1983, she joined the NMFA Government Relations staff and served as the Vice President of the Department from 1987 to 1990. On January 1, 1990, she was selected to become the Association's first paid professional staff member and served as Director of Government Relations until her retirement in October 1999. Mrs. Hickey continued her work with the Government Relations Department as a volunteer consultant on health care issues. She also served on the NMFA's Board of Governors.

Over the years, military families everywhere benefited from Sydney's hard work and foresight. She was the driving force behind the set of transition benefits Congress put in place for service members and families during the drawdown following the first Gulf War. Recognizing that military families overseas deserved the same access to federal safety net programs as those living in the United States, Sydney and NMFA worked aggressively for several years to secure the legislation creting the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program overseas. Thanks to her work, military families stationed overseas also became eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit and Supplemental Security Income.

Frequently invited to provide testimony before Congressional Committees on issues facing military families, she also helped guide the development of many of today's family readiness programs. Thanks in part to her foresight in anticipating the needs of families and her skill in articulating these needs, Congress and the Department of Defense established many vital enhancements to the quality of life of military families.

Sydney Hickey helped to take the voice of the military family from a whisper to a giant roar, forevermore to hold a significant place in any pertinent discussion. She brought stories of military families' everyday experiences to the policy makers and now military family members are routinely represented on Congressionally-mandated advisory panels and DoD working groups and councils that develop and oversee programs and benefits applicable to them. She was one of the pioneers who taught and encouraged family members to get involved in the representative process, by sitting on boards and councils and teaching them how to work with legislators. She helped military family members become their own best advocates.

Sydney's work brought her many awards and recognitions, including the 1992 National Citizenship Award from the Military Chaplains Association, the 1993 Defense Transition Services Award from the University of Central Florida, the 1998 ``Champion for Children'' award from the Military Impacted Schools Association, and the 1999 Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

In that same year, NMFA established an award for exceptional service to uniformed service families, presented it to Mrs. Hickey, and named it in her honor. She also received the Military Coalition's Award of Merit and recognition by the Defense Commissary Agency for her work as a ``legendary champion for the causes of military life.''

Sydney Hickey's legacy is greater than a list of awards. Her legacy is seen every day in the dedication and accomplishments of the people she mentored over the years: NMFA volunteers and employees, military family members, leaders of military associations, and countless others. It is in the increased awareness of military families that Members of Congress, their staffs, DoD civilians, contractors, and others gained, thanks to their interactions with Mrs. Hickey. Military families who may never know the name of Sydney Tally Hickey have benefited from her body of work and have an enhanced quality of life due to her efforts. Today, we honor the memory of this tireless advocate, whose life was a tribute to the military families she served.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the career of Dr. Linda J. Furiga, who will retire from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, on January 3, 2007. Her distinguished government career spans 40 years, and her record of achievement during this period reflects great credit upon herself and upon the organizations with which she has served. Her contributions to the National Defense will be missed as she moves on to new opportunities.

Dr. Furiga is a member of the Senior Executive Service and has received numerous awards during her 40-year career. Most recently, Dr. Furiga was recognized for her outstanding service with the President's Distinguished Rank Award.

She began her civil service career as a Secretary Stenographer with the Air Force in 1967. With great drive and determination, Dr. Furiga quickly transitioned to a professional career field in financial management with the Defense Logistics Agency.

Dr. Furiga has since held numerous financial management positions in DLA and was also briefly the Director for Resource Management at the Defense Acquisition University. On July 7, 1997, Dr. Furiga became the DLA Comptroller and served in this capacity until her retirement.

As Dr. Furiga transitions from her role as a key financial leader in the Department of Defense to other pursuits, I am honored to ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Dr. Furiga on her retirement. Her dedication and service to the Federal Government is a model for others to follow, and I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, this year's Republican Congress was dubbed the most do-nothing Congress of all time, because it refused to do its job. Every year, at the very least, Congress is supposed to pass a budget and the 10 appropriation bills that fund the Federal Government. The Republicans never agreed on a budget resolution, and to date only two of the 10 appropriations bills have been signed into law.

Congressional Republicans plan to adjourn this week without passing the eight other bills. It doesn't matter that we are already 2 months into the 2007 fiscal year. It doesn't matter to them apparently that important spending decisions need to be made for crucial health care, education, transportation and environmental programs. Congressional Republicans simply refuse to do the job they were sent here to do.

Instead, they want to punt all of these funding decisions to the next Democratic Congress, giving us only a month to address the 2007 budget before the President sends us his 2008 budget recommendations. This is not the way Congress is supposed to work. The American people rightfully rejected a do-nothing Congress that continues to live up to its name.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which purports to provide

women important information related to their health, but instead will substitute ideology for scientific evidence.

The House of Representatives is again legislating morals and is poking its nose where it doesn't belong.

This bill will require that family planning providers inform a patient seeking a legal abortion after 20 weeks that there is ``substantial evidence'' that a fetus may feel pain during an abortion procedure.

These women would be required to read and sign a form drafted by Congress, which states that ``there is substantial evidence'' that the abortion will cause pain to the fetus and they will be offered medications intended to reduce pain administered directly to the fetus.

There is an ongoing debate in the scientific community on this issue. Many scientists believe that there is too little information on the effectiveness of medications administered directly to a fetus.

In fact, a federal court found in 2004, ``the issue of a fetus feeling pain is unsettled in the scientific community . . . there is no consensus of medical opinion on this issue,'' and ``much of the debate is based upon speculation and inference.''

Proponents of this bill are claiming compassion for the unborn and using biased ``scientific'' information to prove their misguided ideology.

What would be compassionate is for this body to consider legislation such as the Prevention First Act, which would help to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies.

This is what we should be considering.

In reality, the goal of the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act is not one based on compassion.

The goal is to undermine a woman's right to choose and to make what is a difficult decision for many women, increasingly more difficult.

I urge all my colleagues to vote against this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Lucretia Jackson of Alexandria, Virginia, on being awarded the Washington Post's Distinguished Education Leader Award for 2006.

As principal of Maury Elementary School in Alexandria, Ms. Jackson has led the school's dramatic turnaround. In the four years since Maury was ``accredited with warning'' in four content areas, Ms. Jackson has worked tirelessly to improve all aspects of school life. Since joining the school in 2004, she has spent endless hours recruiting a ``dream team'' of teachers for the school, revamping the entire licensed and support staff with dedicated and inspiring new staff who were ready to work hard and turn the school around.

Standards of Learning test scores at Maury have improved drastically due to Ms. Jackson's work. Every student at Maury passed the science SOL in 2006, compared to only fifteen percent in 2003. Similar improvements have been seen in math and reading SOL scores: Ninety- three percent of students passed their reading SOLs compared to only forty-five percent in 2003, and eighty-three percent passed the math portion compared to only thirty-eight in 2003. Ms. Jackson encouraged teachers to work closely with students to improve these scores, even instituting a ``Secret SOL Supporters'' program to help encourage students through difficult study periods with notes and gifts hidden at students' desks.

Maury Elementary is now a model example for underperforming schools thanks to the hard work of Ms. Jackson and her staff. Despite an early drop in enrollment after the poor test scores of 2003, enrollment has risen right along side test scores at Maury. I am sure that under Lucretia Jackson's leadership, the school will continue to see immense improvements in the years to come. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Ms. Jackson on this award and her tremendous success.

Mr. Speaker, no issue that Congress deals with is more important than our national security. As Democrats prepare to take control of the Congress this January, we are ready to move forward with an agenda that I believe will better secure our homeland and help us finally to restore our credibility abroad.

Today our Nation is actually less safe than it was before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. According to our most professional experienced intelligence analysts, the number of terrorists attacks and recruits are up worldwide. Many of our enemies are stronger. Their reach is greater. Their weapons of mass destruction are more developed, plentiful and available.

Democrats have an agenda for real security at home and overseas. It is time that we require the Iraqis to take responsibility for their country, and to begin the phased redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq. At the same time, we Democrats believe that we need to double the size of Special Forces to destroy Osama bin Laden and terrorists networks like al-Qaeda, we need to rebuild a state-of-the-art military capable of projecting power wherever necessary. That is an agenda that will better protect our Nation and is worthy of strong bipartisan support.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. Richard P. Hallion, who is retiring as Senior Adviser for Air and Space' Issues at the Directorate for Security, Counterintelligence and Special Programs Oversight at the Pentagon. His distinguished career and record of achievement reflects selfless commitment to our country.

Dr. Hallion graduated from the University of Maryland in 1970, and completed the Kennedy School of Government's National Security Studies Program in 1993. His career spanned a variety of offices, including the working at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Andrews Air Force Base, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Air Force Centennial Flight Office, and the National Air and Space Museum. His experience and education has afforded him the opportunity to author numerous articles and books on the evolution and history of airborne warfare. Tirelessly, Dr. Hallion continues to write to this day.

Dr. Hallion has been recognized numerous times for his hard work and dedication to military aviation. In 2005, he received the Annual Award of the Conference of Historic Aviation Writers, and was recognized as a Distinguished Lecturer and Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has received similar recognition from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the Aviation Space Writers Association, the Air Force Association and the Air Force Systems Command.

His contributions to the Air Force will be missed as he moves on to new and exciting opportunities. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Dr. Richard P. Hallion and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

I thank my very good friend from Massachusetts, who has done such a fine job in succeeding Mr. Moakley on the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, we are about to adjourn, and yet we are going to leave the American people without the resources and the legislation they need to provide the kind of security that the bipartisan 9/11 Commission said was necessary. Five F's and 14 D's on the Commission's scorecard, yet we can't act on the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, we have the greatest gap in compensation between the rich and the poor that we have ever had since the days of the Great Depression in this country, and yet we can't even see our way through to raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. Shame on this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, there are hundreds of thousands of senior citizens who are being dumped into the doughnut hole as we speak, who are going to have to pay 100 percent of the cost of their prescription drugs. And do you know that there are hundreds of thousands of additional senior citizens, Mr. Speaker, who are going to be stuck with a penalty of paying an extra 7 percent premium for the rest of their lives because we couldn't fix the Medicare prescription drug program to eliminate the monthly penalty and the prohibition on the government's ability to negotiate lower prices? It was written for and passed for the benefit of the drug companies, not the senior citizens of America.

Mr. Speaker, the average college student is graduating from college with a $20,000 debt. They can't afford to go into public service because they have to go into a job that is going to give them the maximum compensation so that they can spend the first few years after graduation in order to pay back their debt.

We have thousands of students who have worked so hard to become eligible for a college education, to become all that their parents want them to be, all that we need them to be, but they can't afford college. Yet we have seen massive cuts in college tuition assistance imposed by this Congress, a Congress that has refused to provide the kind of size and availability of Pell Grants that would have enabled these young people to get to college and to afford college.

Mr. Speaker, not to provide the resources for our students when we will spend over $400 billion on a misguided mission in Iraq is unbelievable, and yet we are ready to recess.

Mr. Speaker, I will conclude with this. I mentioned four reasons why this Congress shouldn't even think of recessing, but there is another one. There is billions of dollars that the large oil companies are getting in tax breaks. They have had more revenue than at any time, more than they could have ever imagined. In fact, in the last quarter, they showed $47 billion of profit, all coming out of the pockets of hard-working Americans, and yet we continue to give them tax breaks. Unbelievable.

Mr. Speaker, this Congress has no business recessing, and this martial law rule certainly should be defeated.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be a supporter of H.R. 3858, the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act. I was disappointed to miss the original rollcall vote on this important bill. Had I been present I would have voted ``yes'' in support of allowing people to save their vulnerable pets in the event of an emergency.

I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation. It will require local governments to include in their emergency plan options to accommodate people with pets or service animals. One of the most heartbreaking elements of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath was seeing the number of pets that were abandoned throughout the gulf coast and the number of people who stayed to care for their pets rather than leave them behind. People should not be forced to choose between their own safety and leaving their beloved pets. There is also

a health and safety concern created in a disaster area when a large number of animals are stranded.

People have a connection with their pets. They know that animals trust their caretakers to take care of them and not leave them abandoned. It is important that we give people the choice to bring their animals with them in an emergency, especially since they can serve as a source of comfort during a troubling time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remind my colleagues that October 1-7 is Nuclear Medicine Week. Celebrated annually during the first full week of October at hospitals, clinics, imaging centers, educational institutions, and corporations around the world, Nuclear Medicine Week encourages members of the molecular imaging and nuclear medicine community to take pride in their profession by recognizing their colleagues for their hard work and to educate the public about molecular imaging and nuclear science.

I am proud to note that the Reston, Virginia-based Society of Nuclear Medicine is in my District. The Society of Nuclear Medicine represents over 16,000 physicians, technologists, and scientists specializing in the research and practice of molecular imaging and nuclear medicine. Since the organization's founding in 1954, the Society of Nuclear Medicine has been dedicated to promoting the science, technology, and practical application of molecular imaging and nuclear medicine. I commend the Society and its members for their outstanding work to ensure that the 20 million people annually who rely on molecular imaging and nuclear medicine procedures to diagnose and manage diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's receive quality care.

Nuclear medicine is an established specialty that performs noninvasive molecular imaging procedures to diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer and to determine the effectiveness of therapeutic treatments. It contributes extensively to the management of patients with cancer, including cancer of the brain, breast, blood, bone, bone marrow, liver, lungs, pancreas, thyroid, ovaries, and prostate. Nuclear medicine treatments such as positron emission tomography (PET) scans are crucial in effectively identifying whether cancer is present or not, if it has spread, if it is responding to treatment, and the cancer is in remission.

Molecular imaging also continues to provide critical information to help doctors, technicians, and other health care personnel manage abnormalities of the heart, brain, and kidneys. In fact, recent advances in the detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease can be attributed to nuclear medicine imaging procedures, These advances-- which were made possible by research performed by nuclear medicine professionals--helped lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to extend Medicare coverage to include PET scans for some beneficiaries who suffer from Alzheimer's and other dementia- related diseases.

From advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment to recent breakthroughs in Alzheimer's and dementia research, nuclear medicine is improving lives. I applaud the Society of Nuclear Medicine and its members for their efforts to educate others on these major healthcare innovations during Nuclear Medicine Week, and I urge my Colleagues to join me in supporting policies that will keep our Nation on the cutting edge of molecular imaging and nuclear medicine research.

Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the ``Civil War Artifact Authenticity Act'' that will curb the proliferation of fraudulent Civil War artifacts and memorabilia entering the legitimate market place.

Since the last shot fired in America's Civil War, countless numbers of people across the Nation have become fascinated with this monumental conflict. From the battlefields of Virginia and Louisiana's Red River to the hallowed ground of Antietam, Gettysburg, and thousands of other places that saw brother fighting brother, this war touched virtually every part of this country and every home and hearth. More than 600,000 combatants died from battle, disease, and imprisonment.

With the war's end, soldiers who fought in that conflict returned frequently, often with families in tow, to the places of the most stirring moments of their lives. They revered the fields on which they fought and established numerous associations, North and South, commemorating those who served. These veterans created strong links to their service and sacrifice, through their memoirs and other writings and the personal items and artifacts they carried on the battlefield and brought home to rest in conspicuous places on the mantles of their homes in recognition of the soldiers' service and sacrifice.

Over the ensuing decades, as the soldiers and families who owned and cared for these artifacts died away, many of these heirlooms began to scatter, particularly as later generations forgot the importance of these historic belongings, failed to care for them, or sold the items to augment their incomes.

With the arrival of the 100th anniversary of the Civil War, and the deaths of the last Union and Confederate soldier, respectively, in 1956 and 1961, people began to consider the importance of these relics, personal items, letters, diaries, and other memorabilia that the soldiers took home. Scholars and researchers, collectors, museum curators, and others who knew the historic importance of these artifacts have renewed the connections to the conflict and have sought to protect and preserve the Civil War's tangible heritage that the soldiers cherished. From the day the guns fell silent up until this moment, these artifacts and other memorabilia have helped us define and understand our Civil War.

The personal artifacts of the Civil War have spawned a large and growing interest in the Civil War. Probably more books and articles have been written about the war than any other era in our history. Researchers, writers, curators, and many average Americans have felt the need to own, study and preserve what that long-gone generation once owned. These artifacts which now populate the homes, shops, museums, schools and any number of other venues have great meaning for many of us today. As a result, entrepreneurs have opened commercial establishments to trade these relics in honest commercial enterprise.

The fascination with the Civil War has grown a new generation of sellers and collectors. Original artifacts and memorabilia have skyrocketed in value among collectors and others. A ``belt plate,'' which most people know as a buckle, sold for $5 in 1960, and now cost as much as $200 to a $1,000 depending on the particular item. Sadly, unscrupulous people have opened new markets in fraudulent items that never saw the Civil War.

As a result, the entry of fake items into the market for relics and artifacts not only cheats people financially, but also disrupts historical scholarship and the legitimate display in museums and other venues. Internet trade makes it easier for people to sell fake items to unschooled and unwary buyers because the con artists are unknown, many working overseas to flood the market with costly junk. To protect the true artifacts of the Civil War era, I propose new legislation designed to interfere with the manufacture and sale of fraudulent items, and increasing the awareness among sellers and buyers of the large trade in these fake items.

My bill would add a second title to existing Federal law, the ``Hobby Protection Act,'' which requires that fake political items and memorabilia, and numismatic items must have the words ``copy'' or ``facsimile'' clearly stamped on them to ensure that they are recognized as replicas or non-authentic items. Because original Civil War artifacts and

memorabilia are highly prized and can reach into the thousands of dollars depending on the particular item, those determined to make a dishonest dollar, can easily replicate an original item, or worse, produce an item that is a pure fantasy piece--an artifact that never existed during the Civil War.

While this legislation will not end the trafficking in fake Civil War items, it will provide sanctions through the Federal Trade Commission for manufacturers who purport to offer authentic Civil War relics and artifacts, when they are in fact fake junk.

I know that the House will adjourn soon, and I have little expectation this bill will be considered. It is my hope that bill will serve as a marker and a starting point for what the House may consider next session and these artifacts and memorabilia of the Civil War era will retain their historic importance for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association for its 10 years of outstanding and dedicated service to the Alexandria community. The Association was established as, and remains, the City of Alexandria's official marketing agency for tourism on what is known as ``The Fun Side of the Potomac.''

Since ACVA's founding in 1996, annual tourism spending in Alexandria has more than doubled to over $600 million, and the city's annual revenue from tourism has increased similarly. The direct marketing program created by ACVA has yielded a 58-to-1 return for the city, a number that continues to grow today.

Alexandria's tourism industry employs over 9,000 people who work in the city's hotels, restaurants, attractions, retail shops and related tourism businesses. The tourism industry has helped improve the overall quality of life of all citizens of Alexandria, who enjoy the same amenities enjoyed by visitors to the city.

I am proud of the accomplishments of the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association and the contributions it has made over the last 10 years making the City of Alexandria one of the most desirable places in America to visit. I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating the ACVA on its anniversary and to wish the organization all the best in its future endeavors