Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 310, I missed the vote because I was talking to military officers from the U.S. Army War College. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, for the people in and around the city of Seattle, home to my Seventh Congressional District, the devastating earthquake in China is very personal and very painful.

For over a quarter century, Seattle and Chongqing, in the Sichuan province, hardest hit by the quake, have been sister cities. I'm proud that I was a member of the 1982 delegation which established the relationship with the people of Chongqing.

It is always difficult to see devastation on a scale like this, but it's especially hard when there are direct and personal ties, as there are with the people in Sichuan province, where the death toll keeps climbing.

The magnitude of this tragedy is hard to comprehend, and we want to help any way we can.

Seattle has a significant Chinese community and people are making every effort to obtain news about family members and friends.

And, as a community, we are involved in relief efforts.

Constituents in the Seventh Congressional District are donating money and supplies to international relief organizations.

Companies and organizations in and around Seattle are helping.

And, people across Washington are involved as well.

I applaud them all for their generosity and willingness to get involved.

I want the Chinese government and Chinese people to know that they are not alone in this time of tragedy.

Geography may separate us, but humanity unites us.

If you want to get involved, world renowned organizations like World Vision and Mercy Corps are leading relief efforts. All that we do will help.

Mr. Speaker, we're here today to take a stand on behalf of low-income and vulnerable Americans who have been left out, shut out, dropped out or forced out of any chance at decent, affordable housing because of the predatory economic policies of this Administration.

Under the leadership of Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, we have bipartisan legislation before us today that finally responds to the needs of the American people.

For too long, too many disadvantaged and vulnerable Americans have been forgotten, ignored or under-served when it came time to provide economic assistance.

For the first time in a long time we have legislation that recognizes and addresses the unique housing needs and circumstances of the working poor, and other vulnerable Americans.

We provide States and cities with incentives to ensure that low- income housing options remain available to those who need it most.

We increase the allocation of Federal low-income housing tax credits and expand the authority of States to issue tax-exempt bonds to help finance affordable housing.

Section 103 includes language to ensure that Federal assistance that helps vulnerable populations, like the elderly, the sick, and veterans, does not reduce the value of the Federal low-income housing tax credits used to finance affordable rental housing.

Section 104 allows for consideration of whether an affordable housing development employs technology and practices to improve its energy efficiency, when Federal low-income housing tax credits are allocated to affordable housing developments.

Section 104 also clarifies that students who were formerly in foster care are not precluded from renting affordable housing financed by Federal low-income housing tax credits.

This legislation touches the lives of real Americans who have been left behind or outright forgotten for too long.

I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

If we fail to meet the needs of vulnerable Americans, then we will fail to live up to our responsibility of governing on behalf of all people.

Mr. Speaker, the President announced that he's open to ideas to lower soaring gasoline prices. That's good news because I noticed gasoline prices began to rise not long after Vice President Cheney held secret meetings with the energy companies. So the first thing the President ought to do is have the Vice President release the transcripts from those secret meetings. The American people still don't know what the Vice President's energy cabal cooked up. The gasoline prices have skyrocketed ever since.

The President's solution is to allow his oil pals to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That keeps us addicted to oil, risks environmental catastrophe but feeds the profits of oil companies. Two of the oil companies, BP and Shell, reported almost $19 billion in profits from the first quarter, and their surrogates in the White House can only meet soaring gas prices with silence and secrecy.

The President claimed he's looking for new ideas. How about an old reliable one: open government. Tell the people what happened in those secret meetings. Maybe then we will find out why I paid $3.75 for a gallon of gas last night. It was $1.90 when the President came in.

Madam Speaker, this past Sunday, April 27, 2008, Margarete Walden of the 7th Congressional District in Washington State, was announced the national winner of the Student Conservation Association and Mazda North American Operation's Conservation in Action multimedia contest. The contest was designed to create new, practical solutions to our Nation's most urgent environmental issues.

Margarete Walden's winning essay, titled The Pen Pal Project: A Kyoto Protocol for the Individual Citizen, develops an action-oriented environmental solution. Implemented on the classroom level, American students would be paired with students from a developing country and would be responsible for lowering their carbon footprint to below per capita 1990 levels by the end of the school year. This pen pal partnership is modeled on the Kyoto Protocol so that the pairs can work together to meet their target while learning about international environmental politics. The project's main goal would be to provide students with a practical opportunity for action on global warming in the short term that would lead to a lifestyle change of great benefit to the environment in the long term.

Today, I am proud to welcome Miss Walden to our Nation's capital where she will receive her cash prize and the 2008 fuel efficient Mazda 3 sedan.

Margarete Walden reminds our Nation that every citizen must be leaders in the incessant challenge to improve old models of conservation.

Mr. Speaker, we owe a debt of gratitude to Dana Milbank at the Washington Post and to Hal Bernton at one of my hometown newspapers, The Seattle Times. These two journalists, writing almost exactly 4 years apart, have pierced the veil of secrecy this administration shamefully uses to hide the painful images of U.S. casualties in Iraq and the touching and patriotic farewells by loved ones.

On Sunday, April 18, 2004, Bernton wrote a story called: The Somber Task of Honoring the Fallen. This poignant story included the first newspaper pictures of caskets being loaded into a military airplane. The story, which I will enter into the Record, set off a firestorm, because the administration did not want anyone to see the grim reality of war--rows of flag-draped coffins inside a military plane to begin the last homecoming. And the civilian contractor who took the pictures was fired for sharing them with the media. They were published at a time when the administration was doing everything to make people believe in its May 1, 2003, Mission Accomplished banner.

The administration continues to spin the message from that phony PR event. To do that, the administration continues to hide the grim reality of the Iraq war. Last Thursday, Milbank wrote a story in the Washington Post called: What the Family Would Let You See, the Pentagon Obstructs. Almost 4 years later after The Seattle Times story, the American people are still denied access to the truth.

Behind me is a photograph of Lieutenant Colonel Billy Hall from the Post story. Let me read an excerpt from that story:

``The family of 38-year-old Hall, who leaves behind two young daughters and two stepsons, gave their permission for the media to cover his Arlington burial--a decision many grieving families make so that the nation will learn about their loved ones' sacrifice. But the military had other ideas, and they arranged the marine's burial yesterday so that no sound, and few images, would make it into the public domain.''

They don't want you to see the faces of our fallen heroes, and in my view that's outrageous. Lieutenant Colonel Hall is the highest ranking military officer to fall in Iraq. He went to Garfield High School in Seattle. He deserves to be buried according to the wishes of his family, not hidden from view, because the people running this war only want you to see the images that proclaim Mission Accomplished. I will not accept this disrespect for our soldiers and their families, or the outright distortion of the truth about the war. To honor our fallen heroes, I and many of my colleagues here in Washington have easels outside our congressional offices with pictures and the names of service men and women who have died in Iraq.

Outside my office, there are three boards with the photographs of 94 soldiers from the State of Washington who have fallen in Iraq. Brave fallen heroes, including:

Specialist Christopher W. Dickison,

Major William G. Hall,

Lance Corporal Daniel Chavez,

1st Lieutenant Michael R. Adams,

Specialist Joshua M. Boyd,

Staff Sergeant Tracy L. Melvin,

Sergeant 1st Class Steven M. Langmack, all from Seattle.

I will enter into the Record the Web address where you can see the faces and the names of the fallen from every State:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/search/ Instead of helping to provide closure to these wounded families, the President's surrogates are deepening the wounds for these families. They only want to share their grief and the pride in their loved ones. Who wouldn't be proud of Billy Hall? They want to share that with us.

Today, in full view, let us honor the ultimate sacrifice made by Lieutenant Colonel Billy Hall and the fallen soldiers from Washington and across this country.

Moment of Silence

I ask for a moment of silence in honor of the following:

Sgt. Nathan P. Hayes, 21

Staff Sgt. Juan M. Ridout, 29

Lance Cpl. Cedric E. Bruns, 22

Spc. Justin W. Hebert, 20

Pfc. Kerry D. Scott, 21

Spc. John P. Johnson, 24

2nd Lt. Benjamin J. Colgan, 30

Spc. Robert Benson, 20

Sgt. Jay A. Blessing, 23

Spc. Nathan W. Nakis, 19

Sgt. Curt E. Jordan, Jr., 25

Staff Sgt. Christopher Bunda, 29

1st Lt. Michael R. Adams, 24

Spc. Jacob R. Herring, 21

Spc. Jeffrey R. Shaver, 26

Pfc. Cody S. Calavan, 19

Lance Cpl. Dustin L. Sides, 22

Staff Sgt. Marvin Best, 33

Spc. Jeremiah Schmunk, 21

Capt. Gergory A. Ratzlaff, 36

Sgt. Yadir Reynoso, 27

Lance Cpl. Kane M. Funke, 20

Lance Cpl. Caleb J. Powers, 21

Sgt. Jason Cook, 25

Sgt. Jacob H. Demand, 29

Cpl. Steven Rintamaki, 29

Staff Sgt. Michael Lee Burbank, 34

Spc. Jonathan J. Santos, 22

Staff Sgt. David G. Ries, 29

Lance Cpl. Nathan R. Wood, 19

Spc. Blain M. Ebert, 22

Spc. Harley D. R. Miller, 21

Pfc. Andrew M. Ward, 25

Staff Sgt. Kyle A. Eggers, 27

Pfc. Curtis L. Wooten III, 20

Chief Warrant Officer Clint J. Prather, 46

Maj. Steve Thornton, 46

Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr, 22

Staff Sgt. Casey J. Crate, 26

Sgt. 1st Class Steven Langmack, 33

Lance Cpl. Daniel Chaves, 20

Spc. Christopher W. Dickison, 26

Lance Cpl. Shane C. Swanberg, 24

Sgt. 1st Class Lawrence Morrison, 45

Staff Sgt. Travis W. Nixon, 24

Cpl. Joseph P. Bier, 22

Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Vanderhorn, 37

1st Lt. Jaime L. Campbell, 25

Sgt. Charles E. Matheny IV, 23

Staff Sgt. Abraham Twitchell, 28

Spc. Eric D. King, 28

1st Lt. Forrest Ewens, 25

Pfc. Devon J. Gibbons, 28

Sgt. Justin D. Norton, 21

Pfc. Jason Hanson, 21

Staff Sgt. Tracy L. Melvin, 31

Spc. David J. Ramsey, 27

Master Sgt. Robb G. Needham, 51

Sgt. Velton Locklear III, 29

Staff Sgt. Ronald L. Paulsen, 53

Sgt. Lucas T. White, 28

Spc. Jordan W. Hess, 26

Maj. Megan M. McClung, 34

Cpl. Jeremiah J. Johnson, 23

Spc. James D. Riekena, 22

Cpl. Darrel J. Morris, 21

Maj. Alan R. Johnson, 44

Sgt. Mickel D. Garrigus, 24

Lance Cpl. Adam Q. Emul, 19

Sgt. Corey J. Aultz, 31

Sgt. Travis. D. Pfister, 27

Spc. Ryan M. Bell, 21

Spc. Joshua M. Boyd

Staff Sgt. Casey D. Combs, 28

Staff Sgt. Coby G. Schwab, 25

Spc. Kelly B. Grothe, 21

Pfc. Jerome J. Potter, 24

Sgt. Dariek E. Dehn, 32

Cpl. Llythaniele Fender, 21

Pfc. Casey S. Carriker, 20

Chief Warrant Officer Scott A.M. Oswell, 33

Lance Cpl. Shawn V. Starkovich, 20

Pvt. Michael A. Bologa, 21

Cpl. Jason M. Kessler, 29

Sgt. Bryce D. Howard, 24

Spc. Matthew J. Emerson, 20

Spc. Vincent G. Kamka, 23

Lance Cpl. Jeremy W. Burris, 22

Sgt. 1st Class Johnny C. Walls, 41

Cpl. Christopher J. Nelson, 22

Sgt. Phillip R. Anderson, 28

Lance Cpl. Dustin L. Canham, 21

Spc. Durrell L. Bennett, 22

Lt. Col. William G. Hall, 38

Mr. Speaker, reforming health care in America is not nearly as hard as the special interests would like the American people to believe. The special interests want to protect their profits, but Congress should concern itself with protecting the health and well- being of the American people.

There are two major news stories today that should be viewed side-by- side. On their own, each story is powerful. Taken together, however, the stories offer compelling evidence of what happens when special initiates lobby against meaningful reform in the United States; while in France, people receive universal health care that is ranked number one in the world by the World Health Organization.

A new study conducted jointly by Harvard University and the University of Washington in my district has yielded a startling conclusion. Reporter Tom Paulson has the story in today's Seattle-Post Intelligencer. Let me read an excerpt, ``One of every five American women and one of every 25 men are either dying at a younger age or seeing no improvement in life span. The lead authors told the PI, ``It is what you would expect to see in a developing Nation, not here in the United States,'' according to Dr. Ezzati, a Harvard professor. Dr. Chris Murray from UW called it a complete surprise, and said, ``It's remarkable in the history of the U.S.''

We pay more for health care than any nation on Earth, yet life expectancy is declining for millions of Americans.

At the same time, for about half the cost, every French citizen has access to universal health care, rated the best in the world.

ABC News Online carried the story of the French system. It includes data that shows that universal health care coverage works. In France, there is one doctor for every 430 people. In the United States, there is one doctor for every 1,230 people. The average life expectancy in France is 2 years longer than in the U.S. And the French system is one of the most expensive in the world at $3,500 per person, but it is nothing compared to the $6,100 we spend in the United States for every individual. And we have 47 million without any health care coverage, and millions more with less than adequate coverage because it is too expensive.

When the American people face soaring costs for health care, it is time to create an American universal health care system. When millions of Americans face a declining life expectancy, it is time to create an American universal health care system. When the U.S. health care system is ranked 37th in the world by the World Health Organization, it is time to do something.

We don't have one today, because special interests have used their influence to put profits ahead of people by perpetuating a broken-down system, and whenever someone tries to change it, they spend millions of dollars to try and scare people. They are not spending all that money to provide better health care; they are spending it to protect their profit margins. And they will try to scare us into thinking that the Americans can't develop a plan. That is not true.

An American universal system is not only possible, it is imperative. These two stories, which I will enter into the Record, are stark reminders of a crisis that is growing because it is not being treated.

In medicine, it would be as if all the tests showed that a tumor was growing inside a patient and we did nothing about it. It would be malpractice and it would needlessly endanger a patient. Without an American universal health care plan, that is exactly what we are doing to the American people. Ignoring the truth has never worked in medicine, and it won't work for health care in this country. We need an American universal health care system, and we need it now.

[From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

Lifespan Shorter in Parts of U.S.--Obesity, Smoking Cited; State Not

Immune to Trend

(By Tom Paulson)

For the first time since the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic,

life expectancy for a significant proportion of the United

States is on the decline largely because of an increase in

chronic diseases related to obesity, smoking and high blood

pressure.

Although life expectancy for all other Western nations and

for most of the U.S. has continued to improve over the past

several decades, researchers at Harvard University and the

University of Washington say many of the worst-off here are

getting much worse.

One of every five American women, and one of every 25 men,

are either dying at a younger age or seeing no improvement in

life span. Although this deadly trend is mostly centered in

the southern parts of the nation, several largely rural

counties in Washington--Cowlitz, Lewis, Benton and Grays

Harbor--are also on the verge of seeing a decline in overall

life span.

``It is what you would expect to see in a developing

country, not here,'' said Dr. Majid Ezzati, a Harvard

professor and lead author of a study published in the open-

access journal Public Library of Science Medicine.

``This was a complete surprise,'' said Dr. Chris Murray,

co-author of the study and director of the UW's new Institute

for Health Metrics and Evaluation in the Department of Global

Health. ``It's remarkable in the history of the U.S.''

Between 1961 and 1999, life expectancy in the U.S.

increased overall for men from 67 to 74 years and from 74 to

80 years for women.

Most of this improvement is attributed to a decline in

deaths from heart disease and strokes.

Beginning in the early 1980s, however, life expectancy in

some of the nation's ``worst-off' counties (based on overall

health indicators) either stayed the same or declined by 1.3

years for both sexes. For those living in those counties, men

on average die about 11 years earlier and women die 7.5 years

earlier than people in better-off counties.

Nothing like this trend has been observed in this country

since the massive deaths caused by the 1918 flu pandemic,

Murray said, and nothing like it appears to be happening in

any of the other industrialized nations around the world.

``And I don't think you can take any comfort if you happen

to be living in an area today without an overall decline,''

he said. ``It appears to be a problem that is spreading.''

Ezzati, Murray and their colleagues initially performed an

exhaustive analysis of county mortality data between 1961 and

1999 (the latest year for which the data were available)

looking for health disparities. They did not anticipate

discovering that so many Americans, especially women, were

dying at an earlier age.

``We started noticing this period, starting in the early

1980s, where the gaps between the best-off and worst-off were

getting wider,'' Murray said. Not only were the disparities

getting worse, he said, but those with the worst health

indicators were dying earlier.

``It was pretty shocking to us,'' Ezzati said. And contrary

to what might be expected, he said the observed declines in

life expectancy did not seem to correlate with race or

income. Ezzati emphasized this wasn't just a trend affecting

poor minorities.

``This appears to be something beyond race and income,'' he

said. Most of the worst-off counties were lower-income in

comparison with other counties, Ezzati said, but the decline

in life expectancies did not simply correlate with income.

``For example, the data for low-income whites in northern

Minnesota looked quite different than low-income whites in

Appalachia,'' Ezzati said. ``The geographical differences

here are capturing something significant.''

The researchers found that the diseases most closely

associated with the observed declines in life spans appeared

to be related to smoking, obesity and high blood pressure.

Women probably have suffered more significant declines,

Murray said, because of increased rates of smoking and

obesity, compared with men.

``But that's still just speculation,'' he said. ``We really

don't know all the reasons for this.''

Both Ezzati and Murray said it would be wrong to simply

conclude these declines in life expectancy in certain regions

are attributable to poor lifestyle choices--smoking, poor

diet or lack of exercise.

``If this was just a matter of bad individual choices, you

would expect to see these declines in life expectancy evenly

distributed around the country,'' Ezzati said.

``I don't think it's as simple as lifestyle,'' Murray said.

Having high blood pressure or diabetes isn't really a matter

of choice or lifestyle decisions, he said.

In the 1960s, when traffic deaths were increasing, Murray

said the nation launched a safe-driving campaign that failed

to reduce deaths or accidents. When policymakers instead

began treating that as an engineering and regulatory

problem--requiring cars to have seat belts, later air bags

and improving the safety of the roads themselves--``that's

when the deaths started to go down,'' Murray said.

Likewise, he and Ezzati said they hoped their findings will

spur policymakers to both improve chronic disease

surveillance and explore methods aimed at curbing this

disturbing, deadly trend.

in washington

Over the past four decades, life expectancy in the U.S. has

increased overall for men from 67 to 74 years and from 74 to

80 years for women. But in certain locations, starting in the

early 1980s, researchers say life expectancy began to stall

or decline--especially for women. In Washington State, four

counties (Lewis, Cowlitz, Benton and Grays Harbor) are among

those places where life expectancy has not declined, but also

has not improved much since the early 1980s.

Madam Speaker, on April 8, 2008, I was inadvertently delayed and unable to vote. Had I been present I would have voted ``aye'' on the following: rollcall No. 161 on passage of H.J. Res. 70, congratulating the Army Reserve on its centennial; rollcall No. 162 on passage of H.R. 2464, the Wakefield Act; and rollcall No. 163 on final passage of S. 793, the Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act.

Madam Speaker, on the occasion of the honoring of her lifetime achievement, one of Seattle's great historic organizations, the Rainier Club, the People of the State of Washington would like to hold up as a national inspiration the special record of one of our State, Nation, and world's most notable landscape architects, the distinguished and virtually peerless Kathryn Gustafson.

I have supported and honored the arts as a unique vehicle for personal growth and community enrichment. Landscape architecture in particular has the capacity to elevate the daily experiences of people from all walks of life while promoting harmony and balance between people and nature.

Ms. Kathryn Gustafson's significant contributions to the discipline of landscape architecture are as impressive as they are vast in geography, style, theme and dimensions ranging from 1 acre to 150 acres.

As the BBC noted in a 2002 article, Ms. Gustafson's work ``is about harmony between the land and the mind, body and soul, she says, and harmony between the site's past and how it can be adapted for the future.''

My home city of Seattle has been the beneficiary of her fine touch with projects such as Seattle's City Hall Plaza and the McCaw Hall Opera House.

From Seattle to London and Paris to Beirut, Kathryn Gustafson's work in designing landscapes for complex, high-use spaces has enriched the lives of countless people. A sampling of her works include The Square of Human Rights in Evry, France; the Square Rachmaninov in Paris; the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park, London; the Museum of Art at the University of Michigan; and countless others.

While Ms. Gustafson's awards are too numerous to list, she has been honored with the prestigious 2007 National Heritage of the 20th Century Award, bestowed by the French Minister of Culture; the 2003 Design Merit Award of the American Society of Landscape Architects for her work on the Arthur Ross Terrace at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City; and in 2001 the esteemed Chrysler Design Award, which is described by Chrysler as honoring the ``achievements of individuals who have consistently championed seminal works of architecture and design, and significantly influenced modern American culture.''

But perhaps the most enduring honor of all is to lay claim to the translation of one's talents and vision into works that lift the spirits of millions of world citizens each and every day, and for decades and perhaps centuries to come.

We in Washington's Seventh Congressional District give thanks to Kathryn Gustafson for her unique abilities and for sharing them with so many of her fellow citizens in the public sphere. We are proud to have such a distinguished architect among us.

Madam Chairman, we know what needs to be done. The PEPFAR reauthorization bill is it, and we're doing it.

This bipartisan bill not only reauthorizes PEPFAR but also dramatically strengthens the programs. H.R.

5501 elevates the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria from an emergency to sustainability. In so doing, we declare that HIV is no longer the death sentence that it was only 5 short years ago. We can hope and strive for a generation free of HIV and AIDS.

I want to thank the chairman and the subcommittee chairman for including provisions in the legislation that Representative Granger and I introduced, which strengthens the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. We must ensure that women and children have access to early screening and lifesaving drug therapies. We can do this by providing greater training and education on effective prevention. We also must ensure that they integrate these services with other maternal health efforts.

Every day more than 1,000 children around the world are infected with HIV. An estimated 90 percent of those infections occur in Africa. But a single dose of an antiretroviral drug given once to the mother at the onset of labor and once to the newborn during the first 3 days of life reduces transmission by 50 percent. Fewer than 10 percent of pregnant women with HIV in resource-poor countries have access to these prevention services. But I'm proud that this bill includes prevention provisions to strengthen our commitment to prevention and save lives in the process.

Perhaps the most important provisions are those that recognize the importance of expanding access to screening and treatment of women and children. H.R. 5501 also provides my provisions to establish two 5-year targets that will bring us closer to a generation free of HIV/AIDS.

The first goal is to increase the percentage of children receiving treatment under PEPFAR from 9 to 15 percent. Treatment allows the greatest hope for giving a child infected with HIV the chance to an adulthood free of the disease.

The second goal is for 80 percent of pregnant women in the most affected countries to receive HIV counseling and testing and, where necessary, antiretroviral treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

The biggest limitation on reaching these goals is the availability of trained personnel. This bill sets a goal of 140,000 people to be trained by 2015. In South Africa, where my wife is working on the ground in this epidemic, they are closing pediatric hospitals because there's no pediatrician to run them. Now, the 80 percent goal is a down payment on our hope of achieving 100 percent by the time this authorization expires.

We have a chance today to send a message that America cares enough to lead the world in fighting these deadly diseases. We should speak loud and clearly. The legislation gives more people the chance to be survivors instead of statistics.

I urge my colleagues to support this important bill that strengthens our commitment to fighting the global HIV/AIDS/TB and malaria epidemic.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, any voice of reason inside the current administration is a voice in the wilderness, a voice that will be silenced by the President, all of which should be a matter of grave urgency for the American people.

The administration has set its sights on military confrontation with Iran. Just like Iraq, any voice of reason will not be merely muffled; it will be silenced.

Remember Colin Powell? Where is he? Remember General Shinseki? He was drummed out for speaking truth to power about what it would really take to win in Iraq.

Now Admiral Fallon, the Secretary of Defense, wouldn't return phone calls until the Admiral got the message to turn in his resignation because he questioned the President's policy toward Iran.

The President's foreign policy is open hostility and a finger on the trigger looking for any provocation for a military strike against Iran. That's what the neocons want; that's what co-President Dick Cheney wants.

Their thirst for oil is matched only by their thirst for war. They think the U.S. will dominate the world with military confrontation. They are the only ones who believe that. We must keep the pressure on to ensure the President does not launch another war. Four thousand have already died.

That's enough.

Mr. Chairman, the President's proposed budget can mean only one thing, the lights are on down at the White House but nobody's home. He has the House Republicans carrying the water, but their budget is his will,

make no mistake about it. If the President gets his way, lights will go off across America and people will suffer because of the President's complete disregard of the state of the economy, the plight of the American middle class and the domestic casualty from his irresponsible war in Iraq, that is, meeting the critical, unmet social needs of this country.

For instance, the President proposes slashing the Social Services Block Grant Program by $500 million this year and eliminating it altogether next year. In my home State of Washington, these funds are critical for providing child care for vulnerable families, Meals On Wheels and services to prevent child abuse.

But the President is more interested in helping the rich get richer and leaving the rest of America down and out. The President is willing to feed their greed by starving the U.S. economy and hurting the American people.

The American people deserve a budget that recognizes reality, and that's what the Democrats have offered. We provide tax relief to the middle class by demanding tax fairness for everyone. We include extended unemployment benefits, but I proposed a separate legislation this year because the American people expect their government to respond when an economic downturn hits and hurts them. They don't want any more New Orleans experiences.

We provide a budget based on reality, meeting the defense needs of the Nation, and meeting the unmet social needs of the American people.

In other words, the lights are on here, and the Democrats are home working for the American people.

The President has offered a budget that shouts it's all about funding a hopeless Iraq war while the Democrats have offered a budget that says it's about the economy and hope and help for the American people.

Vote for the American people and vote for the Democratic budget.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, when Katharine Lee Bates wrote ``America the Beautiful'' in 1893, I believe her poetic lyrics were intended to express the goodness of the American people as much as the natural beauty of our great Nation. America was founded on the concept of helping one another, and that selfless spirit expresses itself in countless acts of goodness by ordinary Americans every day.

I want to harness that American spirit, and I want to make it a part of the American experience. Mr. Farr, Mr. Walsh, and Mr. Shays have joined me in putting this amendment together, and we had a bill previously, because we believe that making this possible for every American is really where we ought to be.

We all benefit in countless ways from a Nation that is our home. I believe we owe something in return. But there are countless ways for every American to serve and give back to America, and America certainly could use their help. That's why we put this together as an amendment to establish a Congressional Commission on Civic Service.

We want this commission to investigate ways to create a broader commitment to national service in order to strengthen our common sense of responsibility to our community, our Nation, and to each other.

The commission would hold hearings around the country to engage the American people and get their own ideas. Whether it's in schools or nursing homes or prisons or mental hospitals or in the forests or cleaning up beaches or whatever, we want to talk to the local people. The commission would report to Congress with recommendations on how to harness the power of one, that is, the power of American people to improve our Nation.

Our amendment is a first step. It is simply an authorization, and the Congress will need to follow up with an appropriation. It mirrors the legislation we introduced last year, H.R. 1819.

Throughout the process, we have worked closely with some of America's best organizations: Voices for Service Coalition, the National Peace Corps Association, Corporation for National and Community Service, and the State AmeriCorps Administrators.

President John Kennedy once said: ``Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.'' From that came the Peace Corps and other organizations similar, and we want to recreate that sense of American expectation in this time. With this amendment we want to help America answer that question and the call.

Today America needs the American people like never before to meet the challenges of a slowing economy, health care, education, conservation. The government can't do it all, and ordinary Americans can and in many cases already do much of it.

It's time to build on the success of our national service programs like AmeriCorps by considering bold proposals that compel, inspire, and enable us to tackle the challenges, big and small, that will always confront us. There is no shortage of ideas.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy).

Mr. Chairman, I am waiting for Mr. Farr, but we will see if he gets here in time.

The recommendations produced by this commission would be a plan of action because it will look at three key areas: to improve the ability of Americans to serve, to improve our community here and abroad. It will also identify and offer solutions to the barriers that make it difficult to perform national service and volunteer. And, finally, we will look at ways to build the foundation of service opportunities that are currently available.

According to the data collected from the Census Bureau, Americans over the age of 16 are volunteering at an historically high rate with 61.2 million, giving their time in 2006 to help others by mentoring students, beautifying neighborhoods, and restoring homes after disasters.

Mr. Speaker, even before the Air Force announced its decision on a new tanker, serious questions were being raised about the fairness of the process and the justification of the outcome. Barely a week later, it is becoming increasingly clear that the United States Air Force has called an air strike on U.S. jobs, U.S. companies, and a level playing field. That is grounds for a reduction in rank. You can't tell Boeing you want a 767-size tanker, then change your mind, and then deny them the ability to fairly compete with the Triple-7. As it stands, the Airbus won't even fit in our hangars. Maybe the biggest reason the Air Force has an aging tanker fleet is because it has a prehistoric process that ought to be rendered extinct like the dinosaurs.

This is about fairness, this is about selecting the right company to keep America strong, and it so happens the right company is Boeing. Boeing offers the best people, the best plane, and the best deal, but the Air Force shot them down with a botched decision that outsources our national defense to foreign companies. If they won't admit their mistake, Congress should do it for them. The U.S. tanker decision should be grounded because it is unsafe to fly.