Floor Statements

I thank my good friend and soon-to-be Chair of the Judiciary Committee.

The Republican leadership should be ashamed of itself to be so readily willing to undermine every American citizen's constitutional protection of privacy in order to give some political help to an endangered Republican Congresswoman from New Mexico.

This bill gives the executive branch unilateral powers to operate outside of the law. The FISA court has worked well for the past 30 years. Through the issuance of warrants, it provides our intelligence agencies expedited access to listen in on private communications but while safeguarding our civil liberties.

The FISA court has refused only four requests for surveillance out of 10,000. Four requests refused out of 10,000. And the Attorney General already has the ability to collect information without a court order in emergency situations. But this bill will retroactively approve the President's wiretapping program, one that our judicial branch has held is illegal. It even allows the Justice Department to coerce telephone companies to give up their records.

To date, the administration has never articulated to Congress or the relevant committees why such expansive new authority is necessary. Congress and the American people deserve an answer as to why we should give this President unilateral authority to erode our constitutional rights.

Mr. Speaker, we believe that every communication to and from al Qaeda

should be monitored. In doing so, however, Congress should not give the executive branch a blank check to expose millions of innocent Americans to warrantless surveillance. Let's cast a vote for our Constitution and for our Bill of Rights and reject this bad bill.

Mr. Speaker, one duty we share as Members of this body is a solemn responsibility to make certain that we do everything possible to ensure the safety of the American citizens that we are elected to represent. Unfortunately, when it comes to homeland security and learning from the tragedy of September 11, this Republican Congress has failed miserably.

The independent and bipartisan 9/11 Commission put forth a report with recommendations for keeping our Nation secure. Despite their suggestions, the Bush administration and the Republican Congress have failed to pass or implement all of the recommendations for homeland security. In fact, the commission recently gave the administration and this Republican Congress five Fs and 12 Ds on homeland security.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats have been fighting to pass the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and to ensure the safety of our ports and airports. However, Republicans are preparing to adjourn for the campaign season without taking up these security measures.

So I ask unanimous consent to take up and pass and implement all of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the ranking member.

Mr. Buyer, I have been to Guantanamo, as I am sure you have been, and I was stunned at the fact that the vast majority of people detained at Guantanamo were not in fact caught on the battleground. Many of these people were put there by bounty hunters. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After 5 years, they have very little information to provide us. Those 14 that we are now putting at Guantanamo should not redefine the vast majority of the prisoners at Guantanamo who do in fact deserve a fair trial.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 474, I was delayed in traffic. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Child Custody Protection Act, which purports to ``give parents a chance to help their daughters during their most vulnerable times'' and would require doctors to give 24 hours' notice to a minor's parent before allowing her to have an abortion.

I would like to remind my colleagues that what we are talking about are young girls who are in trouble, young girls who are unmarried, young girls who invariably, according to the statistics, have been impregnated by older men exploiting them. While it should be common for parents to be responsible, to be nurturing and not to be punitive, unfortunately that is not always the case or quite as simple.

In a perfect world, teenagers would be able to tell their parents that they are pregnant, but many are unable to due to fear of rejection at home, threats of physical and emotional abuse, and in the most troubling of situations, because it was a family member, such as a stepfather, that put them in that position in the first place.

These teenage girls should have a right to seek help from a trusted adult, such as a grandmother or a member of the clergy.

This bill will create a complicated patchwork of State and Federal law that will apply differently depending on the minor's state of residence and the state where the abortion is performed.

It will be nearly impossible for teenagers and physicians alike to understand.

This measure would make it a Federal crime for a caring adult other than a parent to accompany a young woman across State lines for an abortion. In addition, the Child Custody Protection Act, goes even further by mandating that doctors be fully aware and knowledgeable of the mandatory parental involvement laws in each of the 50 States, under the threat of fines and prison sentences.

The Child Custody Protection Act would make it a Federal crime for a doctor to perform an abortion on a minor who is a resident of another State unless the doctor notifies the minor's parent, in person, a minimum of 24 hours before the procedure, unless she is accompanied by a parent.

It is also disturbing that this measure, not unlike the partial-birth abortion ban law, does not include an exception for emergency circumstances where a minor's health would be threatened by this delay. It is no wonder that the constitutionality of this law is being challenged in Federal courts as we speak.

The intent of this measure is not to ensure that caring parents have access to their teenage daughters who are contemplating having an abortion. The true intent is to make it so difficult for doctors to comply with this law that they simply give up.

Instead of debating a bill that may not meet constitutional muster, we should be considering the Prevention First Act which would help to reduce the number of unintended teenage pregnancies by providing annual funding to both public and private entities to establish or expand teenage pregnancy prevention programs.

This measure would also require these entities to incorporate teenage pregnancy prevention programs that have been proven to delay sexual activity or reduce teenage pregnancy, through programs such as comprehensive sexual education.

Why are we not doing more to help the 820,000 teen girls who get pregnant each year?

I urge all my colleagues to vote against the Child Custody Protection Act, a regressive measure, which will have no impact on reducing the number of unintended teenage pregnancies and will do more harm than good.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the courageous actions of employees in the U.S. Capitol flag office.

Last week, an armed intruder evaded security and broke into the Capitol, leading police on a chase spanning four floors of the building. The perpetrator represented a serious threat to the safety of Members, staff, and the visiting public. At the time of his capture, he was carrying a .22 caliber pistol and was high on crack cocaine. But thanks to the sharp instincts, quick thinking, and decisive action of a trio of Capitol flag office employees, Monday, September 18, was not to be a tragic day. According to published reports, these brave employees were able to subdue the intruder, holding him in custody until Capitol Police arrived.

Mr. Speaker, I have got some serious concerns, as I think we all do, regarding how easily Capitol security was breached last week. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on securing the Capitol and increasing the size of the police force since 9/11. But that is a debate for another time and place. Today, I want to use this time on the House floor to recognize individuals from the flag office involved in last week's security breach. They are part of a team who day in and day out ensure that constituents across the country receive their own crisp edition of the Stars and Stripes freshly flown over the Capitol dome. Their actions in a dangerous situation speak volumes, displaying a willingness to put their safety on the line for this institution and for their fellow workers.

Madam Speaker, this week marks a critical time for the people of Darfur and for this administration's role in ending the 3-year genocide in Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have been murdered by the government-backed Janjaweed, and the African Union's peacekeeping mission mandate is set to expire within a couple of weeks.

It has been 2 years since the President declared that genocide was taking place in Darfur, but we are still allowing the Government of Sudan to act with impunity and commit crimes against humanity.

Today President Bush addressed the crisis in Darfur before the United Nations and appointed Andrew Natsios as the U.S.' Special Envoy to Sudan. This is a step in the right direction, but it is not enough. The United States must push to keep an international peacekeeping force in Darfur, and this force must be stronger and more robust, with the authority to use force to protect the innocent civilians who are trapped in this nightmare. This has to happen as quickly as possible.

Would we be this complacent if the genocide was not in Africa? Would the administration act any differently if claims of ethnic cleansing were in Europe or the Middle East? What in the world does it take for us to stand tall against the evil of genocide wherever it is taking place?

We have to act before September 30. We have to require that President el-Bashir stop the indiscriminate killing and slaughter of the helpless and the weak in his country.

Mr. Speaker, in his speech on Monday night, President Bush continued to try to justify the invasion of Iraq by drawing nonexistent links to the 9/11 attacks. The President's misuse of the fifth anniversary of the attacks shows that he will go to any length to divert our attention from his failures in Iraq, which has diverted focus from America's real national security concerns.

President Bush, and most Republicans here in Congress, refuse to admit that things are not going well in Iraq. One has to only look at a report that we requested from the President's own Pentagon showing that the situation in Iraq has greatly worsened. The number of attacks against Americans and

Iraqis has climbed to its highest level since the war began, and in the month of July alone 100 Iraqis a day were being killed.

U.S. troops continue to pay too high a price. To date, more than 2,600 brave American soldiers have lost their lives, an additional 19,000 have been wounded, and we have now spent over $320 billion in Iraq. Do we really need to lose 58,000 soldiers before we stop staying the same course in Iraq as we did in Vietnam?

It is time for a new strategy in Iraq, one where the Iraqis themselves, not foreign occupiers, are responsible for their Nation's future

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce for its 100 years of outstanding and dedicated service to the community. The Chamber was established for the purpose of making Alexandria, Virginia, a better place to work and live, and, for 100 years, it has done just that.

In its early years, the Chamber of Commerce fought for the rights and well-being of farmers, ranchers, and the poor, and helped raise money for the Red Cross to assist in the inoculation of residents against typhoid and small pox.

In 1918, the Chamber campaigned to change the city's form of government from a trustee and aldermen system to one run by elected officials and a professional city manager, and in just 3 years, it was successful in obtaining the change. The Chamber has also worked to develop strong leaders in Alexandria, most recently with its Leadership Alexandria program that provides upcoming community leaders with a thorough understanding of the city and the most critical challenges it faces.

Over the years, the Chamber of Commerce has worked tirelessly to promote the city's education system. In 1914, the Chamber successfully petitioned for a new high school. Through its Alexandria Education Partnership, many businesses and professional groups in the city support a wide variety of activities that assist the city's schools and students. And since 1966, the Chamber has sponsored an annual Summer Economic Institute that has provided Alexandria teenagers with a unique internship experiences in the business and financial sectors.

I am proud of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and the significant contributions it has made over the last 100 years to making the City of Alexandria the wonderful place it is to both work and live. I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating the Chamber on its anniversary and to wish the organization and its members all the best in their future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, today I take the time to honor a distinguished veteran from the Commonwealth of Virginia, SFC Melvin Hill. A true patriot for his heroic service to our country, Hill was born on March 26, 1939 in Brooklyn. In 1955 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 18th Regimental Combat Team (Airborne) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. There he was selected to be an instructor at the Airborne School. He was later assigned to Germany, where he was responsible for conducting convoys from Helmstdat, Germany to insure U.S. access to Berlin. On each tour of duty, he also served as a guard at Spandau Prison, which at that time housed Rudolph Hess, Albert Speer, and Baldur von Schirach. In 1964 Hill was accepted for Special Forces training and assignment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After completing this training, he was assigned to the Military Advisory Command in Vietnam.

It was in this capacity that Sergeant Hill was awarded a Silver Star on January 18, 1971 for his fearless actions while serving as Leader of a Combined Reconnaissance Team in November of 1970. In this role, Sergeant Hill courageously led his team from the tailgate of a C-130 aircraft at an altitude of 17,000 feet on the first combat high altitude free fall into hostile territory in the history of the United States Army. His team landed in rugged and dangerous terrain in enemy territory where, despite equipment malfunctions, Sergeant Hill refused to abandon his team. They remained behind enemy lines in the harshest conditions for 5 days where, led by Sergeant Hill, the team gathered sufficient hard intelligence to mark the mission a success. When his transmit voice radio malfunctioned, Sergeant Hill used another device to transmit instructions to his team via Morse code and in this manner triangulated multiple targets for the Air Force. During the extraction from enemy territory, Sergeant Hill was wounded by a bullet to the leg, but due to his courage and leadership, his team was recovered with no losses and no other injuries.

After leading this successful mission, Hill extended his tour of duty to teach high altitude Military Free Fall techniques to other Reconnaissance teams. After retirement from the military, Hill continued to serve his country through a position in the U.S. General Services Administration in Washington, D.C., where he worked for 14 years and was recognized for his innovative approach to Contract Support, winning the Administrator's Meritorious Service Award and a citation from the Governor of Maryland.

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful today to recognize the achievements of SFC Melvin Hill that are so long overdue. His leadership and courage in combat during our nation's time of war require our sincere appreciation. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Madam Chairman, I very much thank the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky for yielding.

I oppose this amendment because it is not about Native Americans. It is about creating one more loophole. And I oppose the other amendments because they would undermine the intent of this bill.

We cannot be a Nation or a society that reduces everything to dollars and cents, that commoditizes everything. When you see an eagle take wing and soar above the clouds, that is not a commodity. It is a source of inspiration. When you see a horse galloping gracefully across the plains, that is not a commodity. That is a source of inspiration.

Horses have been part of the strength of this country for 400 years. We depended upon the horse. We explored this continent. Our commerce was heavily dependent upon the horse. So many major battles where we prevailed were on horses.

Look at our monuments. Look at the monument in front of the Capitol. It is a horse. And when the horse has one leg up, it means that that person was wounded in battle. But there has been an intrinsic relationship.

Everything cannot be reduced to economics. We need to be inspired by some things, and these amendments would gut a bill that says there is no reason to be slaughtering horses. Three major slaughterhouses owned by foreign nations. Americans don't want to consume meat. Listen to the mayor of the city in Texas. It has ruined her economy. It is a stench. No one wants it. This is not about economics. This is about doing the right thing. And we have been tied to the horse, the eagle. These symbols of American strength, of American greatness, are sources of inspiration.

My very good friend Mr. Whitfield understands what this is really about. This is about preserving a symbol. We cannot allow the kind of slaughtering that takes place. More than 100,000 horses. Imagine. And the fact is they are slaughtering the healthy, fatter horses that have been well taken care of. They do not want the infirm, the old, the lame horses. That is not who they want to slaughter. So many of these arguments have been false arguments.

This amendment is doing the right thing. The Department of Agriculture circumvented the right thing that we have already passed. I support Mr. Whitfield. Let's pass this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, the City of Falls Church, Virginia has lost a steady hand, sure-footed manager and good friend this week, with the passing of Daniel E. McKeever.

Dan McKeever joined the Falls Church community as City Manager in 2000, after an accomplished career in both law enforcement and local government. Thoughtful, genial and very well-liked, Dan helped guide Falls Church through a period of rapid transformation. He oversaw development of a number of mixed-use projects that revitalized downtown Falls Church and will increase the City's taxable real estate value by $336 million.

During his 6 year tenure, Dan McKeever helped implement the City Council's vision for Falls Church as a pedestrian friendly, urban community with small town charm. He worked for more affordable housing, improved the City's building permit process and spent significant time reorganizing the City's public safety system. As City Manager, Dan placed a premium on efficiency, team work, transparency and communication. Sheparding a $25 million bond referendum for new school construction and protecting the City's AA+ bond rating were among his most noted accomplishments.

In his spare time, Dan was an avid baseball fan, attending as many Washington Nationals games as his busy schedule would allow. He was even a part owner of a minor league baseball team in Pulaski, Virginia, where he served as Chief of Police and town manager in the 1980's.

Never one to wilt in the face of an obstacle, no matter the challenge presented, Dan was intimately involved with the City's management throughout his nine-month battle with cancer. While Dan left us far too soon, his good works, cheerful demeanor and practical advice will long be remembered by the citizens of Falls Church.

Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 5337, and I would like to applaud the floor managers of the bill for their efforts on the legislation. The CFIUS process is in need of reform, and this bill provides reforms that effectively balance the country's need for strong national security protections with its need for continued foreign investment.

While our national security objectives must be paramount in this area, I do have some concern about the time CFIUS could take under the bill's provisions to review an acquisition that it ultimately determines presents no national security issues. The bill allows for a CFIUS review period of up to 30 days, followed by an investigation of up to 45 days when certain conditions specified in the bill are determined to be present. The investigation period can then be extended under certain circumstances. Notably, there is a mandatory investigation of all acquisitions by state-owned companies even in the absence of any showing of a possible national security concern.

I would prefer to see the process shortened where it is apparent at an early stage that national security is not an issue, and I urge my colleagues to consider changes in this regard in conference. It would be unfortunate if CFIUS resources were diverted from acquisitions with real national security implications to those with no such implications. I am comforted on this point, however, by the fact that the review and investigation provisions would not preclude a person from petitioning CFIUS to dispense with the initial review period and to go directly to the investigative stage, thereby shortening the process in situations that do not present significant security risks. My understanding is that such a petition could be filed under the current CFIUS regime, and I do not read the bill as changing the law in that regard. I would assume that CFIUS would consider any such petition on a case-by-case basis and would decide whether or not to grant it depending on various factors affecting national security. Such factors, I assume, would include whether the acquirer had established its national security credentials in previous CFIUS proceedings or otherwise, whether in the case of a government-owned acquirer the government was a U.S. ally, and many other factors bearing one way or another on national security. I am also encouraged by the fact that the bill's review and investigation provisions prescribe a maximum, not a minimum, number of days.

Mr. Speaker, again I want to compliment the floor managers on a bill that puts national security first but that also will allow our continued need for foreign investment to be satisfied rather than ignored.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Cutler Dawson, a constituent of mine, on his recent election to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU). Mr. Dawson is the president and CEO of Navy Federal Credit Union, located in Merrifield, Virginia.

Mr. Dawson only recently took over at Navy Federal Credit Union after a 35-year career in the Navy, retiring as Vice Admiral. Mr. Dawson held numerous commands, including service as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations and Chief of Legislative Affairs. While on active duty, Mr. Dawson also served as a Navy Federal volunteer official on the Supervisory and Credit Committees, and as a board director. Mr. Dawson has been very active since taking over at Navy Federal Credit Union, testifying before Congress twice and joining the Board of the Consumer Federation of America.

Mr. Dawson and Navy Federal Credit Union are working hard to ensure that the Nation's sailors have access to high quality, low cost financial services wherever they may be deployed. Such service is the hallmark of the

credit union movement, and Navy Federal Credit Union has exemplified that philosophy for decades. I wish Mr. Dawson good luck in his new role as a member of the NAFCU board of directors.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 921, which expresses the United States House of Representatives' support for the government and people of Israel at this most difficult time, and also extends its condolences to the families of all the innocent victims of the ongoing violence. I further wish to express my condolences to the Americans who are stranded or trapped in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza amidst the crossfire between Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas. My thoughts are with them at this time.

Though I support this resolution, I feel it falls short in failing to call for an immediate cessation to the ongoing hostilities, for an end to the loss of civilian life and the destruction of property that is occurring in Israel, Lebanon and the West Bank and Gaza. Violence, death and destruction are the unfortunate consequences of war. But, here, these consequences are especially unfortunate because they have been experienced almost entirely by innocent civilians from all sides of the conflict, rather than its actual combatants. Over 200 innocent Lebanese civilians have been killed, with at least a thousand more injured. This destruction of innocent lives must immediately come to an end.

It is the responsibility of our government to protect Americans everywhere and lead them to safety during times of war. It's estimated that approximately 25,000 Americans are in Lebanon. Yet after 7 days of fighting, the government has only managed to evacuate a few hundred. It is now reported that 7,000 more Americans are scheduled to be evacuated by naval ship to Cyprus by week's end, but this is still not enough. I urge the administration to increase the pace at which it is evacuating Americans from Lebanon.

The administration must play a different, far bolder and more balanced role in resolving the current Middle East hostilities. When it comes to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the administration has been disengaged for more than 5 years. Over the past 3 weeks, we have seen the disengagement.

Starting now, the United States must be willing to again engage itself, directly and forcefully, in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. We have played an important role in the prior progress that has been made toward peace and stability in the Middle East. We must resume this role. Secretary Condoleezza Rice must immediately lead the efforts for a multilateral diplomatic return to the peace process, and hang in there until real fundamental reconciliation is achieved.

Finally, I am deeply concerned about the impact the current crisis will have on the long-term prospects for peace in the Middle East and upon future generations in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and Lebanon. A continuation of the violence and hatred will only serve to harden feelings and widen the gap now separating the people of this historic and cherished part of the world, and to make the securing of a real and permanent peace in the region more difficult and elusive than ever. Israel must learn to get along with its neighbors and vice versa.

Sometimes conditions need to hit bottom in the short term before they can get better in the long term. My fervent hope is that a decade from now, we will look upon these times as the bottom of the descent, and the beginning of a wondrous ascent, led by people of good faith in the Middle East and throughout the world, that ended the hatred and enmity between Israel and its neighbors, and produced the lasting peace that the peoples of the region pray for.