Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Army Staff Sergeant Esau Patterson, Jr. of Ridgeland, SC, who paid the ultimate sacrifice on April 29th in Iraq while on duty defending American families in the War on Terror. is a true hero and will be remembered as a patriot.

I ask all of my colleagues to join me in expressing our deepest sympathy to his family and friends.

I ask that his obituary and an article from The Beaufort Gazette be inserted into the Congressional Record.

Obituary--Esau Patterson Jr., May 9, 2004

Staff Sgt. Esau Patterson Jr., 25, of Ridgeland, died

Thursday, April 29, 2004, in Iraq.

The family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Sunday at

Bostick Funeral Home.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Mount Carmel Baptist

Center in Ridgeland, with burial in Patterson Cemetery in

Ridgeland.

Mr. Patterson was born May 11, 1978, a son of Carrie Mae

Osgood Patterson and Esau G. Patterson Sr.

He was a member of Mount Gilead AME Church in Columbus,

Ga., where he was a Sunday school teacher. He was in the

Army, SSG Battery C, 4th Battalion, 27 Field Artillery

regiment 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Combined Joint

Task Force 7.

Survivors include his parents of Ridgeland; his wife, Kisha

R. Patterson of Columbus, Ga; two grandparents, Elizabeth

Osgood and Henry Osgood of Ridgeland; a daughter, Kesauna M.

Patterson of Columbus, Ga; a son, Kaven M. Scott of Columbus,

Ga; six sisters, Toneka P. Nelson, Tarsha P. Myers and

Jamesha P. Anderson of Ridgeland, Charvia Watkis of

Beaufort, Shamone Huggins of Whitehall and Marisa

Patterson of Korea.

Bostick Funeral in Ridgeland is in charge.

Mr. Speaker, last week was Cover the Uninsured Week, I rise today to salute an organization which is working to do just that, working to provide assistance to some of the 44 million Americans who can not afford health insurance today.

Dr. Dana Kuhn, President and Co-founder of Patient Services Incorporated (PSI), is a policy entrepreneur who thinks outside the box on how to provide health insurance coverage for those with chronic and catastrophic illnesses. PSI has successfully found a potential solution to this epidemic problem, which affects 44 million of our fellow Americans.

Since PSI was established in 1989, this national non-profit has worked with struggling

families afflicted with such disorders as Hemophilia, Alpha One Antitrypsin Deficiency, Colorectal Cancer and Breast Cancer, Crohn's Disease, and Immune Deficiencies, just to name a few. PSI assists by identifying health insurance policies as well as subsidizing the health insurance premiums and pharmacy co-payments for these families. PSI is financially supported through private donations from individuals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, foundations, and other corporations and uses these donations to ensure affordable health insurance coverage for the uninsured and underinsured.

PSI has a 15-year success rate of putting the uninsured and underinsured back to work by providing a bridge from insecurity and disease to one of accessing affordable duality health care therapies. During its 15 years of existence, PSI has helped about 20,000 Americans. The PSI model works to provide Americans with millions of dollars worth of medical care for just 5% of the total cost of care.

PSI saves middle-class families from becoming financially devastated when they have a family member with an expensive chronic illness. It is the only non-profit of its kind providing health insurance premium assistance and pharmacy copayment assistance. In 2002, PSI received a positive Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Opinion for the work it does with Medicare Part B Copayments, Deductibles, and Medigap Premiums.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to salute Dr. Kuhn and the staff of Patient Services Incorporated for their hard work and resourcefulness in developing a workable solution for the epidemic of uninsured Americans.

Mr. Speaker, this week, one of South Carolina's most beloved educators will retire after 41 years. Maro K. Rogers has

been teaching at the Little Red Schoolhouse kindergarten since 1963, and has personally taught around 1,500 students in the community of Lexington, South Carolina. Maro and her husband, Hugh Rogers, a former mayor of Lexington, built the schoolhouse in their own back yard where it stands today.

Maro has taught the essentials of learning to three generations of children. Students learned their ABCs, sang songs, listened to Mrs. Rogers read stories, and took fields trips throughout the midlands of South Carolina for first-hand education.

Maro Rogers, a native of Baghdad, Iraq, of Armenian heritage, stands as a shining example of how one dedicated teacher can make a dramatic impact in the lives of our children. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in thanking Maro Rogers for her service to South Carolina's youngest students.

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

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the gentleman from California for his leadership, and the ranking member, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), for his participation in crafting a wonderful bill, H.R. 4200.

I had an opportunity last fall to accompany the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) to Iraq, and I saw firsthand the courage of our troops and the difference they are making in winning the war against terror and protecting American families.

I also had an opportunity last year of concluding 31 years' service with the Army National Guard, and I now have two sons serving in the Army National Guard, including one son deployed in Iraq; so this bill has a great deal of meaning to me because of the improvements of the statutes providing for benefits for those who serve in the Guard and Reserves.

These benefits are going to be so meaningful for troops who are protecting our country and are mobilized at this time. First of all, there is the provision for new reenlistment and retention bonuses. As we face future crises, the Guard and Reserve will have that increased protection.

Income supplement is an issue I worked very hard on for 25 years, premobilization and legal counseling; and the greatest concern I saw were the sacrifices that many of our young people made where they had a reduction in income. This will be addressed in this bill. It will be so beneficial to families.

Finally, there is the provision for TRICARE health benefits to be provided for National Guard members and Reservists, and I also thank the chairman for including wording that will provide for the establishment of State defense forces. In South Carolina, we have the South Carolina State Guard. These are volunteers, unpaid like civil defense forces, who stand in to protect our people when there has been deployment of National Guard troops.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) for ensuring our troops have the resources needed to fight the war on terror to protect American families. I urge my colleagues to support

Mr. Speaker, after years of rhetoric and empty promises on improving health care, on June 1 seniors will finally be able to save money on their prescription drugs by choosing a drug discount card that best suits them. This is only possible because the Republican Congress and President Bush passed bipartisan legislation that modernizes Medicare and provided a real prescription drug benefit that means immediate savings for seniors across the Nation.

While some Members are engaging in partisan scare tactics in an election year, they cannot stop seniors from

discovering true savings through the discount cards in less than a month. Seniors can choose with confidence because each card program will be monitored by the Department of Health and Human Services and can expect savings from 10 to 25 percent on drug costs.

Seniors who want more information on the drug discount cards can log into www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for me to be here today to speak on behalf of H.R. 2730, the Occupational Safety and Health Independent Review of OSHA Citations Act. I congratulate the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) who has taken a lead in assisting in regard to education issues and also worker safety. I also thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood), who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.

Indeed, the particular initiatives and reforms that we are considering today are ones that I think would lead greatly to improving worker safety. The way it would yield for greater worker safety is it would encourage voluntary compliance and proactive activity by small businesses with OSHA.

In the congressional district that I represent, I am grateful that we have large employers such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, such as the Michelin Tire factory company. We have three different plants in the district I represent. But the real basis of our economy, in working with the Chambers of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses is the small businesses, and that is who would be helped by the reforms we will be voting on today. These are businesses with 100 employees or less.

In the district that I represent, 99 percent of the businesses have 100 employees or less, and 85 percent of the persons who have employment in jobs are working for these small businesses. That is why it would be so helpful to pass these bills which provide for promotion of workplace safety, and in particular, this specific bill restores the original system of checks and balances intended by Congress when it was enacted as the OSHA law, that it ensure that the commission, which in effect is the court, and not OSHA, which is the

prosecutor, would be the party to interpret the law and provide an independent review of OSHA citations.

This could not come at a better time as the economy is improving, as jobs are improving. With the recent tax cuts we have had, with bonus depreciation to encourage companies to buy new equipment, we also need to have these reforms. I urge Members to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, Americans are rightfully confident that the prison abusers are a tiny few of the over 300,000 American troops who have served in the war on terror to protect American families.

A more representative symbol of our troops' efforts is the Old Backpack 4 Iraq Program of the 3-178 Field Artillery Battalion of the South Carolina Army National Guard led by Lt. Col. Mark King currently deployed in Iraq. They are collecting used and new backpacks containing school supplies to be provided to Iraqi children.

The backpacks can be loaded with pencils, pens, notebooks, crayons, rulers, construction paper, a small teddy bear, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, BAND-AIDS, soap, wash cloth, and a towel.

I urge my colleagues to assist in this collection and bring backpacks to the Second Congressional District offices in Washington, West Columbia and Beaufort, along with offices of the Lexington County Chronicle. The first load must be completed by Thursday, May 21, so I can personally take them with me on a delegation to Iraq the next day. We will continue to collect them in the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to Lieutenant General Garry L. Parks, the Deputy Commandant, Manpower and Reserve Affairs, soon to retire and return to private life after more than 35 years of proud service as a United States Marine. The departure of General Parks marks not merely the end of an illustrious career replete with many honors; it also marks the beginning of several initiatives that, by virtue of his strategic vision, will ensure the continued success of the Marine Corps into the 21st century.

A native of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, General Parks graduated from the Citadel with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1969.

After completing The Basic School, he was assigned to the 1st Marine Division in the Republic of Vietnam, where he served with distinction in a variety of positions to include platoon commander and company executive officer with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. For his heroism under fire, General Parks was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat ``V''. Next, General Parks served as a company commander with 2d Battalion, 3d Marines. General Parks' later assignments include Company Commander, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina; the Infantry Officers Advanced Course, Fort Benning, Georgia, where he graduated on the Commandant's List; and company commander, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, Okinawa, Japan.

General Parks was an honor graduate at Marine Corps Command and Staff College; Commanding Officer, Recruiting Station, Raleigh, North Carolina; and the Joint Program and Budget Coordination Officer in the Requirements and Programs Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.

While assigned to the First Marine Division, General Parks served as Executive Officer, 5th Marines; Commanding officer, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines; and Commanding Officer, 9th Marines. While serving as Chief of Staff, Marine Forces Pacific, he was selected to Brigadier General. He next served as Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruit Depot/ Western Recruiting Region; Deputy Director for Politico-Military Affairs on the Joint Staff; and Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

General Parks will continue to serve as the Deputy Commandant, Manpower and Reserve Affairs until his retirement in June 2004. While serving in this position he devoted his enormous personal energy into implementing manpower programs and policies to ensure the operating forces had the Marine Corps manpower required to succeed in Operation Enduring Freedom I and II, and Operation Iraqi Freedom I and II and to also ensure that Marine families had the support they required during these most challenging times.

Throughout his career as a United States Marine, General Parks demonstrated uncompromising character, and a sincere, selfless sense of duty to his beloved Marine Corps and to the Nation. His powerful leadership inspired Marines to tremendous success no matter the task, and achieved results that will guarantee the United States' security into the future.

On behalf of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I would like to recognize General Parks' extraordinary accomplishments and his devoted service to the Nation. Congratulations to him, his wife Earlene, son Garry, and daughter Tammy on the completion of a long and distinguished career.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the world was shocked by a video depicting the savage beheading of an American civilian by Iraq's al Qaeda connection, Abu Musab al Zarqawi.

It is time to put an end to the intentional denial that al Qaeda had no connection with Saddam Hussein. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned the U.N. in February 2003 that after the victory in Afghanistan, al Qaeda operatives set up new camps in Iraq, led by Osama bin Laden's lieutenant, Zarqawi, who was allowed free operation in Baghdad by Saddam Hussein.

Since then, Zarqawi has led al Qaeda within Iraq to bomb the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad and to attempt the killing last month of 80,000 in Jordan with chemical weapons. Additionally, in his letter to al Qaeda leadership, Zarqawi admitted to masterminding the daily attacks in Iraq.

We are fighting al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq as part of the global war on terror. Yet, despite our enemy's savagery, our brave troops will fight and win this war to protect American families.

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

Mr. Speaker, while we are all appalled and outraged by the actions of a few soldiers, let us not forget there are 135,000 honorable American troops, along with 23,000 courageous coalition partners, working day and night in Iraq to improve the Iraqis' quality of life. These fine men and women in uniform have built and repaired schools, reopened thousands of run-down hospitals and clinics, restored and improved electricity and water supplies, and put a new currency in place.

The positive progress which I saw firsthand last month in Iraq has been astounding, despite daily terrorist attacks that seek to prevent democracy from taking root. The terrorists know that if freedom prevails in Iraq that it will spell the beginning of the end of their quest for tyrannical hold on the Middle East. Yet their desperate attempts will fail, and the American military will continue their noble work to make sure that Iraqis live in a free Iraq to protect American families from future acts of terrorism.

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

Mr. Speaker, this weekend I had the honor of joining the nonprofit Armed Forces Foundation in Columbia, South Carolina, for Military Appreciation Day. There I met with hundreds of military and family members who gather to enjoy a day of recreation, fishing and appreciation for their service.

Led by President Patricia Driscoll, along with fundraiser Wyatt Smith and founded by Jim Gorab, the Armed

Services Foundation works to support the American military community. President Driscoll knows personally the sacrifice these men and women make, as her husband is on active duty in Iraq today, fighting to protect American families in the war on terror.

Along with military appreciation events held throughout the United States, the Armed Forces Foundation coordinates care packages for troops deployed and offers travel assistance for families visiting wounded soldiers. Additionally, they give away thousands of turkeys every year for Thanksgiving and gift certificates for military children at Christmas time.

I ask all of my colleagues to join me in thanking the Armed Forces Foundation for their service to those who defend freedom.

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

Mr. Speaker, this week we will vote on H.R. 4227, the Middle-Class Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2004. We need to pass this important bill, sponsored by the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), to avoid 11 million taxpayers being hit with an average tax increase of $1,520.

The AMT Tax Relief Act will ensure that this bipartisan tax relief will continue through 2005. As our economy continues its strong recovery, we must make sure that middle-income families keep more of their own money.

Without the AMT Tax Relief Act, millions of middle-income families will face a tax increase next year by being forced into paying the alternative minimum tax. Married couples will see their AMT exemption drop from $58,000 to $45,000. Single individuals will see their AMT exemption drop from $40,250 to $33,750.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting continued tax relief for American families. Vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4227.

In conclusion, may God bless our troops. We will never forget September 11.

Mr. Speaker, today's all-volunteer military protects Americans every day by bravely fighting the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, Iraq, and wherever terrorists attack. Despite the sacrifice and commitment service in our armed service requires, and despite the enemies of freedom who are attacking America and its allies, troops are reenlisting at rates exceeding our expectations.

September 11 changed America's psychology. Americans know there is a real and visible threat to our life and liberty. The troops who are signing back up for service know better than anyone how important this fight against terrorism is to the future of our Nation and to freedom throughout the world to protect American families.

Mr. Speaker, we have 1.4 million men and women who are on active duty, along with 1.2 million who serve in the Guard and Reserves. These volunteers and their families are dedicated individuals who have chosen a life of honor and duty to our country. I ask all my colleagues to join me in thanking servicemembers for their service.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California, and we appreciate greatly our colleague's past military service, we appreciate his service now as chairman of the Committee on Armed Services, and we are very grateful for the service of his son, who is currently in Iraq. We are just so pleased that the gentleman is leading the effort to explain to the American people the significance of the war on terrorism.

Mr. Speaker, I will be providing for the Record a prepared statement, but I would like to give a brief synopsis, and it really relates to earlier this month my having had the opportunity to serve on a bipartisan delegation led by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Rogers) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge).

The intent of our trip was to visit Iraq. On the way, though, we had several stops. First, it was to Qatar, then Iraq, then Jordan, and then Hungary. What I found out at every place that we stopped is that the war on terror is coming into place, and we have thousands of allies, professionals, working together to provide in the war on terror protection for the American people.

When we first arrived in Qatar itself, we visited with the Iraqi Survey Group, and we found that there are hundreds of linguists putting together 32 million pieces of evidence, paper, video tape, computer disks, and computers themselves to put together the whole story and history of the Saddam Hussein dictatorship. This can be used for the later situation of a war crimes trial. Additionally, it can be used for putting together identification of criminals who are in the country of Iraq, in order to protect American soldiers.

Then we visited Iraq itself, and I was very pleased at the airport to visit with the FBI command post and found the very dedicated FBI agents who are working to uncover the different bombings that have occurred in Iraq in order to protect the American citizens who are in Iraq.

We also helicoptered to Kirkush to visit with the North Carolina Army National Guard. While we were there, we of course met with troops from our home State, from my situation in South Carolina. It was a 2-day visit. At each stop we would visit with enlisted personnel, junior officers, and in meeting with them, it was so encouraging. When I was there in September, the young service members told me that 70 to 90 percent of the people that they met on the streets, and that is how they patrol. It is not by speeding Humvees. They walk the streets. Seventy to 90 percent are supportive of the liberation of their country and the ability to develop a democratic Iraq. Now when I was there just this month, the number is 90 percent. I kept stretching and asking them, are you sure? They told me that indeed the people are supportive of the efforts made by all of our allies. We have got 32 countries with 25,000 troops in Iraq working to build a democratic country.

We also had the opportunity to visit with personnel who had helped reestablish the Ministry of Health in Iraq. Currently there are 240 hospitals in Iraq which are open and 1,200 primary health care clinics. This is extraordinary because traditionally that has not been available for the average citizens. Health care was for the elite of the Baath Socialist Party.

Additionally, we visited Jordan. In visiting Jordan, I found visiting the International Police Training Center that there are professional police from 20 countries who are training in classes of 500 Iraqi police. Ultimately by the end of next year, 32,000 police officers will be trained to serve in Iraq. That night I visited with the chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AmCham, in Jordan, who told me that there have been two business conferences where there are in place contracts to establish hopefully over a million new jobs in the country of Iraq. This is extraordinary, the progress being made.

Finally, we came back through Hungary. We visited the International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest, where since 1995 law enforcement officers have been trained to fight organized crime and they are preparing for police officers from Iraq to fight organized crime which works with terrorism. I am so encouraged by the visit to Hungary. It was symbolic. Fifteen years ago, Hungary was a totalitarian police state. Today it is a democratic member of NATO. Nobody would have ever dreamed this could occur in 15 years. That is the vision that our President has for the Middle East, that it be democratic, that it be peaceful and that it protect the people of the United States from terrorist activities.

I thank the gentleman again for his efforts.

Thank you Mr. Chairman, we appreciate your past military service and now chairmanship of Armed Services Committee, we are grateful for your son serving in Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, during the first week of April, I served on a bipartisan delegation led by Congressmen Mike Rogers and Bob Etheridge to visit Iraq, but I found every stop in Qatar, Iraq, Jordan, and Hungary to be a crucial part of the Global War on Terror.

I saw first hand courageous coalition forces of dozens of nations working with determination to stop terrorism from destroying modern civilization. Without fanfare or attention, American families are being protected by professionals who are making every reasonable effort to keep the terrorists on the defensive overseas and deter further attacks on civilians in North America.

As the media correctly reported the violence of the week in Iraq, the global interrelation with terrorism was evidenced by another bombing in Madrid while terrorist cells with truck loads of explosives were arrested in England and Jordan. The worldwide conflict is not solely war in Iraq. The Jordanian explosives yesterday were revealed to include chemicals which could kill up to 80,000 civilians.

In Qatar, we were immediately taken to Camp As Sayliyah for a briefing by the Iraqi Survey Group. Hundreds of linguists and analysts are cataloging 32 million documents retrieved from Iraqi Government ministries, terrorist sites, Saddam Hussein's many palaces, and dual- use laboratories to recreate a paper, computer disk, and videotape history of the Hussein dictatorship.

The evidence of war crimes will be presented at upcoming trials and the recovered individual criminal records can now be used to protect American troops from violent criminals released by Hussein prior to Iraq's liberation.

Visiting troops from South Carolina was a highlight of my trip, and I enjoyed seeing personnel of all ranks enthusiastic with high morale. It was especially meaningful to meet with Columbian Major David G. Ellison who still has a will I prepared for him when I was a mobilization JAG officer with the S.C. Army National Guard.

With 2 days in Iraq at the height of renewed violence we found morale high, and the South Carolina troops who patrol by walking the streets said 90 percent of the Iraqis were

grateful for liberation, which is higher than the estimates I learned in a September visit. My appreciation for the troops and their families is profound. My oldest son is now deployed in Iraq, and I was able to speak by phone with him as he begins his year of active duty.

In Baghdad, we visited the FBI Command Post where experienced agents from across America lead investigations of identifying terrorists, uncovering terrorist financing, and analyzing bombings and murders of Americans. This came to life with Congressman Rogers, a former FBI agent, and by the accompaniment of Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Tom Fuentes who has an extensive career of professional investigation.

We helicoptered to Kirkush to visit with the newly arrived troops of the North Carolina Army National Guard. Their morale was high as it was explained that the local Iraqi security forces were making a real impact establishing order. Proof of the local forces' effectiveness is that Hussein loyalists are brutally attacking them with the Iraqis fighting back with a new resolve to build democracy.

In concluding our briefings we met with Jim Haveman, formerly Community Health Director of Michigan, who explained the upgrading of Iraqi healthcare. The previous system, which was totally focused for the Baath Socialist Party members, has been expanded for all citizens and the Ministry of Health was among the first to be transferred to Iraqi control. All 240 Iraqi hospitals and more than 1,200 primary care clinics are open.

Visiting Jordan was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. Jordanians are enthusiastic in helping the coalition rebuild Iraq because a stable Iraq protects Jordan's growing economy.

At the Jordan International Police Training Center, professional police from 20 nations are training classes of 500 Iraqi police trainees with a goal of producing 32,000 graduates by December 2005. Without notice or preselection our delegation interviewed four Iraqi students who told of their heartfelt desire to play a role in building a democratic Iraq.

That evening I met with the Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Jordan. The AmCham had recently hosted in Jordan a second business conference on Iraq, together with Amman World Trade Centers. The conference was attended by many Iraqi business people during which it was suggested that contracts that are either in place or soon to be awarded to hopefully create more than 1 million new jobs in Iraq. The AmCham is promoting Jordan for the value it offers as a launching pad for doing business in Iraq.

Hungary is home of the International Law Enforcement Academy at Budapest where since 1995 police officers from formerly communist nations have been trained to detect and fight financial and organized crime. Iraqis will soon join the classes to learn of the relationships between organized crime and terrorism, which work to acquire financing and provide munitions.

In the former totalitarian police state of Hungary, which is now a dynamic member of NATO, it is a dream come true to see freedom flourish in just 15 short years of democracy. President Bush has this same vision of democracy for the Middle East, which he knows will benefit the people of the region and is the best way to protect American families from future terrorist attacks. Just as in Hungary, the road is bumpy, but the benefits are crucial for peace and freedom. After World War II we rebuilt Germany to deter it from being a breeding ground for communists and now in Iraq we can stop it from being a breeding ground for terrorists.

September 11 confirmed we are in a global war we did not seek, but we clearly now have a choice of fighting terrorists overseas at their homes or we will fight them in America at our homes. From Qatar to Iraq to Jordan to Hungary competent and dedicated patriots are making a difference.

In conclusion God Bless our Troops, we will not forget the attacks of September 11.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California.