Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to thank Australia for their continued commitment to the global war on terrorism and to recognize our long and proud history of working together to promote democracy and freedom around the world. Australia is the only country to have fought beside us in every major conflict of the 20th and 21st centuries.

President Bush and Prime Minister John Howard reaffirmed our friendship last week by signing a defense trade cooperation treaty. As a partner in the fight against terrorism, Australia has committed troops and resources to assist our Armed Forces around the world. They have deployed 1,500 troops in Iraq and 970 in Afghanistan.

While our friendship and partnership extends well beyond defense, it is comforting and reassuring to have such a dedicated ally who understands that we must stop our enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect American and Australian families and all those who share the values of freedom and democracy around the world.

In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September 11.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank the brave men and women of our Armed Forces, our local first responders, and our intelligence community for the incredible work they do to protect our Nation and stop the enemy overseas so we will not face them again here at home.

On the upcoming anniversary of September 11th, we must take this moment to reflect on the terrible tragedy that occurred 6 years ago, causing our response to this global war on terrorism. We must maintain our resolve against bin Laden who has declared this struggle the ``third world war'' with Iraq and Afghanistan as the central front.

Independent Senator Joe Lieberman wrote in today's Wall Street Journal: ``In Iraq we are fighting and defeating the same terrorist network that attacked us on 9/11.''

We will succeed by remaining dedicated to promoting the safety of American families by denying extremists safe havens. And we are grateful to our servicemembers, professionally led by David Petraeus, who works day and night to defend our freedom.

In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September 11th.

Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize and celebrate the honor that was bestowed by the Government of Bulgaria and the St. Cyril and St. Methodius International Foundation to Joann DiGennaro, President of the Center for Excellence in Education.

Founded in 1983 and located in McLean, Virginia, the mission of the Center for Excellence in Education is to nurture young scholars to careers in excellence and leadership in science and technology and to encourage international collaborations in the global community. The Center has a 23-year record of achievement in identifying and motivating future leaders in science and technology. All programs provided by the Center are free of cost to participating students.

As co-chair of the Bulgaria Caucus, I would like to congratulate Joann on her philanthropic and educational work benefiting the United States and Bulgaria. Joann's leadership as President of the Center for Excellence in Education has allowed her to secure donations of educational and medical equipment in Bulgaria. She has been pivotal in creating a stronger relationship between the U.S. and Bulgaria. Her hard work should be commended as Bulgaria continues to strengthen its democracy. America is a grateful partner with Bulgaria in NATO, and this year we celebrate Bulgaria's admission to the European Union.

I want to wish Mrs. DiGennaro best wishes and good fortune in her future projects.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the Conference Report on H.R. 2669. As the father of three college graduates and a college sophomore, I am all too familiar with the financial burden higher education poses on families and students.

As lawmakers, our number one higher education priority should be to ensure that college is affordable for any student. Instead of helping students, the conference agreement would require student borrowers to pay thousands more for a college education.

The conference agreement does not contain any language to address the issue of rising college costs. Instead of holding colleges and universities accountable for how they spend taxpayer dollars, the agreement does the exact opposite and throws additional Federal funds at institutions while denying new information to consumers.

The most appalling aspect of this agreement is that it achieves minimal deficit reduction. The conference agreement only produces $750 million for deficit reduction, even though the bill cuts $22.3 billion from the student loan program. Last year, President Bush signed into law a Republican reconciliation measure that achieved a full $12 billion in deficit reduction while increasing benefits for students.

I urge my colleagues to vote against this agreement and encourage President Bush to veto this legislation if it comes to his desk.

Madam Speaker, I am deeply saddened at the passing of a good friend and public servant Jennifer Dunn of Washington State.

Throughout her 12 years in the House of Representatives, Jennifer served with distinction and earned the respect and admiration of her colleagues. She sought to strengthen traditional family values by fighting for reforms in our Tax Code--in particular the elimination of the estate tax. Jennifer believed in recognizing and protecting the contributions and sacrifices made by homemakers, families, and small businesses.

Before coming to Congress, she held the position of chairwoman of the Washington State Republican Party and twice served as delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. As the first woman ever to run for the position of House Majority Leader, Jennifer well understood the immense duty that comes with public office, and it was a tremendous honor to serve with her.

Upon my election in a special election December 18, 2001, Jennifer was one of the first Members to welcome me and provide guidance. Her enthusiasm for service was obvious to all who met her.

My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Jennifer during this difficult time.

Madam Speaker, Congress will soon hear from members of our military as well as civilian advisers about progress in Iraq. Yesterday, the General Accounting Office released its report. This one report tells only a partial account. We should base decision-making on complete information from our military leaders.

The GAO report does not assess progress being made on the ground, progress our military commanders have indicated is occurring. The benchmarks outlined in the report are laudable goals, assessed by dedicated officials. Developing democracy to protect American families takes time, as we learned in Germany and Japan. It took America 13 years to adopt our Constitution.

Next week, we will receive a report from our top commander in the field, GEN David Petraeus, and our top diplomat, Ambassador Ryan Crocker. We should remain open and receptive to what these professionals have to say. We must protect American families by making difficult but informed decisions.

In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September the 11th.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 181, a resolution authored by Congressman Solomon Ortiz, a dedicated member of the Armed Services Committee who is a proven friend of servicemembers and their families.

This resolution commends a large group of selfless and dedicated people, many of whom are volunteers, in organizations that provide support to the families and children of deployed Members of the armed forces.

As a 31-year veteran of the Army Reserve and National Guard, and as the proud father of four sons in the military, I know firsthand the rewards of service protecting American families and learning valuable skills.

Our military families face extraordinary demands, stresses and challenges related to the service of their loved ones. Every soldier, sailor, airman and marine understands the challenges they will face as well as the sacrifices their families must also make. These include extended deployments, risk of injury and death, frequent relocations, long and unpredictable hours, and the unfamiliar customs and lifestyles of foreign lands.

Many military families have multiple family members, which substantially outnumber the servicemembers themselves. According to a recent Army report, there are more than 1.8 million family members compared to 1.3 million active duty personnel. Beyond the statistics, however, is the reality that supporting and meeting the needs of military families is a matter of military readiness.

Every branch of the military as well as the Department of Defense provide significant resources to the spouses and children of members of the Armed Forces. Much of the excellent support is provided on and through military installations.

Actually, most military families do not live on military installations. Nearly two-thirds of the active duty Army family members live off post, and for virtually all the families of National Guard troops and reservists who reside in civilian communities, there is the challenge of ensuring access to the support they need, particularly during extended periods of mobilization and deployment.

To ensure that military families get the proper support wherever they live, numerous nongovernmental organizations have sprung up. This extraordinary community of volunteer and nonvolunteer groups seek to ease the challenges and promote the extraordinary opportunities of military life in many ways.

For example, some of their efforts include providing essential extracurricular activities for school-aged children, assisting new parents, building support systems in school districts not located on military installations, building bridges between local communities and military families to improve access to State and local services, and providing emergency and financial assistance.

Today's resolution, introduced by my colleague, Representative Solomon Ortiz, is a fitting way to celebrate and thank such organizations as Our Military Kids, Parents As Teachers, Kids Serve 2, Operation Homefront, American Military Family, and the Citizen Soldier Support Program, along with other volunteer groups who help families and children of deployed members of the Armed Forces maintain as normal a life as possible.

Again, as a 31-year veteran of the South Carolina Army National Guard and having a son, Alan, who served for a year in Iraq as a member of the Army National Guard, I have seen firsthand the many challenges and opportunities our National Guard troops and their families face.

Many members of my former unit, the 218th Brigade commanded by Brigadier General Bob Livingston and currently stationed in Afghanistan, have families and loved ones that can benefit from the types of assistance these organizations and programs provide.

I urge my colleagues to support House Concurrent Resolution 181 and to recognize and commend all the volunteers and others who help to take care of our military families and children. This new greatest generation deserves our support and assistance whenever and wherever we can be of service.

Additionally, with personal sadness, my sympathy to the families of our late colleagues, Paul Gillmor of Ohio and Jennifer Dunn of Washington State.

In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September the 11th.

Mr. Speaker, I yield so much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite).

Mr. Speaker, at this time I have no further requests for time and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 631 and to honor the memories of the miners who lost their lives in the Crandall Canyon mine accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the miners' families and with those miners and the Mine Safety Health Administration personnel killed as well as those injured in subsequent rescue operations.

The Committee on Education and Labor has announced an investigatory hearing for October 3 to begin examining the circumstances surrounding the Crandall Canyon mining accident, including the response to the accident by the Mine Safety Health Administration and other stakeholders. Only then will we be able to determine what steps Congress should take in the aftermath of the Crandall Canyon tragedy to further ensure the safety of our Nation's miners.

As a former member of the South Carolina Mining Council, I plan to continue to track this issue closely. I am committed to maintaining the openness and integrity of this process so that the issue of miner protection receives the fair and comprehensive consideration it deserves.

Coal miners have a very dangerous job, and it is our role to ensure that the conditions in which they work are as safe as possible. We renew our commitment to examining our Nation's mining laws to ensure they are protective for the changing mining environment.

Last year, in the wake of the Sago and other mine disasters, Congress worked in a bipartisan fashion to pass the MINER Act. That legislation took significant steps to improve mining safety. It requires the Mine Safety Health Administration to revise its penalties, increase penalties for major violations to $220,000, undertake several studies regarding mining practices, and to work to improve the technology for communications underground.

No law passed by Congress can console the families of those who have lost loved ones as a result of this tragedy. In the coming months, we will thoroughly review what happened at Crandall Canyon and what steps may be considered to prevent it from happening again. But today we are here to mourn the tragic loss of life at that mine in Utah and pay our respects to the families of these brave miners.

Kerry Allred, Dale Black, Don Erickson, Gary Jensen, Luis Hernandez, Brandon Kimber, Carlos Payan, Brandon Phillips, and Manuel Sanchez. We honor these men today, express our condolences to their families, and recognize the important work of the rescuers who volunteered to enter the mine to try to rescue their fellow miners.

I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, the people of Ohio have lost a dedicated public servant and genuine leader today with the passing of Congressman Paul Gillmor. As a colleague and friend in the House of Representatives, Paul was a strong voice for the needs and interests of the people he represented as well as a model of integrity.

In addition to the almost 20 years he served as a Member of Congress and the two decades he spent in the Ohio State Senate, Paul was also a veteran of the United States Air Force serving on active duty during Vietnam.

As a fellow member of the Republican Whip Team, I enjoyed sitting with Paul at the weekly meetings where he always was perceptive and provided insight from his decades of legislative service.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Paul's family during these difficult times.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the President visited our troops in Anbar province, Iraq. Along with his message of continued resolve to stop enemies, he brought with him the thoughts and prayers of a grateful Nation.

We are blessed to have the new Greatest Generation who are sacrificing to protect American families by promoting freedom to millions around the world. Their dedication to duty should inspire us all. We must honor their hard work by ensuring that they have our support and the resources to complete the mission.

In the coming days, Congress will hear from General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker about conditions on the ground. I hope my colleagues will join me in welcoming their recommendations and listening with an open mind.

Just as our soldiers have the courage to stop our enemies, so should we have the strength to make the right decisions that will ensure the safety of our troops and stop additional terrorist attacks on America.

In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September 11th.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I appreciate the gentleman from Michigan for his leadership on this important issue of Gitmo.

I rise today in strong support of the motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 2669. When the other body considered this legislation, the Republican leader inserted language to prohibit dangerous terrorists being detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from being transferred to American soil. I believe it is crucial this language remain in the bill.

The findings of the sense of the Senate quoted threats of Osama bin Laden. Item 8, Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, said in his 1998 fatwa against the United States that: ``The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies, civilians and military, is an important individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it.''

Item 9 in the same fatwa, Osama bin Laden said: ``We, with God's help, call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they can find it.''

These terrorists currently held at Guantanamo Bay are treated in accordance with U.S. and international laws. I have visited the facility two times, and both times I was impressed by the high level of security and the professional management of the detainees.

Importing dangerous foreign terrorists, like 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, into American communities would be dangerous and irresponsible. Terrorists would have the opportunity to recruit and teach their skills. Additionally, I am very concerned that they could potentially escape and harm Americans here at home again.

Since April, American forces have captured two terrorists with strong al Qaeda ties: al-Hadi al-Iraqi, one of al Qaeda's highest ranking and most experienced senior operatives, and Haroon al-Afghani, who has admitted to being a courier for the al Qaeda senior leadership. Both men are currently detained at Guantanamo Bay. Inviting these criminals into American communities would be reckless. Any domestic detention facility would be a prime target for a terrorist attack that al Qaeda could mount within the borders of the United States.

As the former chairman of the Lexington County Law Enforcement Advisory Council of Sheriff Jimmy Metts and as a former member of the South Carolina State Senate Corrections and Penology Committee, I am very familiar with corrections facilities. The Guantanamo detention facilities are world class as to humane lodging and security of the inmates and for the personnel who serve as guards or medical support.

As America continues to fight the global war on terrorism, I am confident that Guantanamo Bay remains the safest place to detain captured terrorists who pose a serious threat to American families. These terrorists have disclosed terrorist cells which have been stopped from attacking Americans and our allies worldwide.

I urge my colleagues to rise with me in strong support of this motion that would ensure Americans are kept safe from known terrorists.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Title V Abstinence Education program, and support its reauthorization. Without action by Congress, this important program will expire on September 30, 2007. This program provides the States that choose to accept these dollars with funding to implement abstinence education programs. In FY 2006, the State of South Carolina received over $750,000 in Title V funding.

Abstinence education is working in South Carolina. A sharp decline in teen pregnancy began in 1996 after the South Carolina law established a policy that all the Title V, Section 510 dollars were to be used to implement a statewide strategy that stresses the importance of abstaining until marriage. Additionally,

South Carolina set a goal to create a replicable plan with intense evaluation and feedback to be used statewide. Since the initiation of abstinence education in South Carolina, 9 years ago, South Carolina teen pregnancy rates have been reduced by 35 percent, falling from 53 (per 1,000) in 1996 to 34.3 in 2005 among 15- to 17-year-olds.

Parents nationwide prefer abstinence education over so-called ``comprehensive'' sex education by a 2 to 1 margin, regardless of political or religious affiliation, according to a recent Zogby poll. Abstinence education is defined by its exclusive purpose of teaching the social, psychological and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity until marriage. Abstinence education permits an age-appropriate discussion of contraception, but within the context of promoting abstinence as the healthiest choice.

I am concerned that the program as reauthorized in the SCHIP bill contains new requirements for medical accuracy and proven effectiveness. These new requirements apply only to abstinence education. Placing accountability on all adolescent health programs funded by the Federal Government is an appropriate standard for the spending of Federal tax-dollars and the protection of children's health. These funds must be based on health outcomes and equally applied to all federally funded adolescent health programs.

Reauthorization of the Title V Abstinence Education Program and funding is critical in supporting the majority of communities who wish to promote the optimal health message for our Nation's youth. Title V Abstinence Education is working in South Carolina, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting a reauthorization of the program as it was originally designed.

Madam Speaker, it has only taken seven months, but this new Democrat majority has brought back Washington's favorite pastime--tax and spend.

In their short time in the majority, Democrats have all but openly pledged to raise taxes on the American people by an incredible $392 billion. That's on top of $23 billion in new domestic spending. This is real money. It comes from the wallets of American families. Unfortunately, Democrats believe they know better how to spend the hard-earned money of America's workers than the workers themselves.

Republicans are working to restore fiscal sanity to this Congress. We have staunchly opposed the out-of-control spending, and brought some much needed sunshine to earmarks. When taxpayer dollars are being spent, we owe it to each and every American to create transparency and accountability. I hope my colleagues will join me in honoring our duty to the American people to remain good stewards of their hard-earned money.

In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September 11th.

Mr. Speaker, two nights ago, I joined over 160 Republicans in protesting an unfair power play by the majority. Democrats chose to overturn a vote that would have stopped American taxpayer dollars from being given to illegal aliens.

Republicans tried to amend a funding bill so illegal aliens did not receive Federal money under the legislation. Democrats had already extended taxpayer health insurance to illegal aliens. Republicans want to put a stop to this practice which will limit services to American citizens and benefit illegals who break our laws.

I have had the honor of legislative service for 23 years in the State Senate and Congress, and I have never seen such an abuse of parliamentary rules. Republicans support strong border security and not new benefits for people who break the law.

In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September the 11th.

Thank you, Mr. McKeon.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to this legislation. We have heard from many of our colleagues this morning about the flaws of this legislation across a range of policy areas. I would like to focus on one in particular that concerns many Members of the Committee on Education and Labor, and particularly the subcommittee on which I serve as ranking Republican, the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. That issue is, of course, that the application of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements, which is expanded no less than five times in this bill.

I submitted an amendment to the Rules Committee which would have conditioned the effective dates of the Davis-Bacon expansions in this bill on the completion of a study by the GAO to determine how effective the Davis-Bacon wage system is, and in particular whether progress was being made on improving its known flaws. I will give my colleagues some background.

In 2004, the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General examined the Wage and Hour Division's attempt to update the Davis-Bacon wage-gathering system, a system that the Department of Labor spent $22 million updating. The results were troubling.

The IG report stated: ``Wage and fringe benefit data supplied wage and hour, and used in its surveys continue to have inaccuracies and may be biased. Further, prevailing wage decisions developed from the data are not timely.''

Indeed, the problems identified are dramatic. My amendment simply would have required the Government Accountability Office to examine the status of the Department of Labor's efforts to remedy these identified flaws and make progress implementing the IG's suggested reforms before we expand Davis-Bacon wages and its associated costs in the wholly new areas of law.

That is why I submitted my amendment to rules and why I am disappointed we are not debating it today. The Wilson amendment may not have solved all of the problems in this bill, but it would have at least made an effort to correct one significant issue that we know sorely needs fixing.

As the Democrat Congress endeavors to expand Davis-Bacon into unprecedented areas under this bill, states and private parties receiving loan guarantees, grants and bonds will now be required to comply with the act. That is an unprecedented expansion beyond the original purposes of the act. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''