Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, over the last 7 years, Dick Cheney has convinced himself that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that the insurgency was in its last throes. Now it seems he's convinced himself that he is not actually Vice President, insisting that he, unlike the previous 44, is not a member of the executive branch.

It's difficult for any American who's taken seventh grade civics to miss the hypocrisy of this claim, especially when it comes from a man who so frequently has withheld information from Congress based on the assertion of executive privilege.

It's time for the Vice President to remove the secrecy, reject hypocrisy, and honor his pledge to support the Constitution. It's time for Dick Cheney to start respecting the citizens who pay

his salary and start leveling with us. Even a child can tell you, you can have special privileges if you obey the rules, and even the Vice President can't have it both ways.

Many of us wish you weren't part of the executive branch, Mr. Vice President, but so long as you accept the executive perks, we will demand executive responsibility and accountability.

Mr. Speaker, this House has repeatedly passed the bipartisan Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act to authorize Federal funds to be used for lifesaving research on embryonic stem cell lines that would otherwise be discarded. This type of research, conducted under strict ethical standards, is supported by an overwhelming number of Americans because of the hope it offers for the potential cures of many diseases, such as diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cancer and

Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the National Athletic Director of the Year, Tom Jurich. While it has taken 10 years at the helm of the Cardinal athletics program for him to be honored as the nation's finest AD, in my hometown of Louisville, this has been a well-known fact almost from the start.

When Tom Jurich first arrived on the University of Louisville campus in 1997, he took control of a program with little to brag about off the hardwood. Today, the Cardinal baseball team will play in the college world series--an amazing achievement for a club that had never played a single post season game prior to Jurich's arrival. Today's appearance makes UofL one of just two schools to have played in the Final Four, a BCS bowl, and the Final Four in the last 3 years.

While these accomplishments are astounding, they are the norm for a leader who regularly achieves the impossible.

Leading a top 10 track program just a few years after the team, in Jurich's words, couldn't ``have finished third in its own intramural meet before.'' Impossible.

Winning the Orange Bowl a decade after the team failed to win a second game. Impossible.

Enticing Rick Pitino to town just 4 years after his historic run at UK. Incredibly impossible.

But, with Tom Jurich, nothing is impossible in Louisville.

This year he fielded new teams in four sports, sent nine teams to NCAA tournaments, and UofL--once a school that struggled to comply with Title IX regulations--now exceeds those regulations.

For all the awards, all the accolades, and all the accomplishments, however, Tom Jurich's greatest calling card is his consistent recognition that he is dealing not just with athletes, but with student athletes. Half of his student athletes receive at least a B average.

His commitment to the whole University has consistently been displayed though his dynamic partnership with President James Ramsey. Their leadership has helped transform the campus's landscape and level of pride, facilitating UofL's shift from a largely commuter school to a top notch higher-learning institution capable of attracting the brightest students in the nation and around the globe. With the openings of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, Jim Patterson Field, Cardinal Park, the most modern practice facilities in the nation, and the announcement of a new basketball arena, the momentum of the Athletic Department has helped spur a decade of unparalleled growth throughout the University.

Today, as the Cardinal baseball team embarks on another new chapter for the University of Louisville, it is clear that under Tom Jurich's leadership more and greater milestones lay ahead for the athletic department, the University, and the city of Louisville. I am happy he calls Louisville his home, awed by his success, and proud to have the opportunity to congratulate Tom Jurich, 2007 Athletic Director of the Year. Go Cards!

Mr. Speaker, it appears that the House Republicans are

operating from the same playbook as President Bush.

Over the first 5 months of this year, this new Democratic Congress has approved more than 45 key measures, most of them with strong bipartisan support. Unfortunately, President Bush has been a stubborn opponent of our efforts to move this Nation in a new direction. He opposes or has threatened to veto 60 percent of the House's work.

The President threatened to veto a Defense authorization bill because he believed it gave our brave soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan too big a pay raise. His administration opposes a bill that would make college more affordable by cutting student interest rates in half. And he has once again threatened to veto legislation promoting life-saving embryonic stem cell research.

While the President has been obstructing our agenda for months, House Republicans have jumped on the bandwagon and are now delaying critical appropriations bills. Rather than obstructing the process, Republicans should join us in passing bills that will help us better secure the homeland and better serve our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to addressing the most important issues currently facing our Nation, the Republicans in this body are once again all talk and no action. Despite overwhelming public opposition to President Bush's open-ended commitment in Iraq, despite thousands of lives lost and hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayers money spent, Republicans still won't actually take action to end this war.

Oh, they talk a good game. They say they are listening to the retired generals, the soldiers and the American people who want our troops brought home. A few of them even went to the White House a few weeks ago to vent their frustration over the war in Iraq and the President's leadership.

But when it comes to actually moving to send President Bush a message that this Congress is moving the war in the right direction, my colleagues on the other side the aisle do what they always do; they line up and vote with their leadership and with President Bush.

Mr. Speaker, despite their claims, Republicans still want to write blank checks and rubber-stamp the President's policy. While they wait, Democrats are moving forward with our commitment to making serious changes in Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 385) recognizing National AmeriCorps Week.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may insert material relevant to H. Res. 385 into the Record.

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

(Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 385, which recognizes National AmeriCorps Week.

Since Congress created AmeriCorps in 1994, the program has generated numbers that are impressive by any measure. In 13 years, AmeriCorps has mobilized 1.5 million volunteers in every State in the Union, accumulating nearly 700 million hours of service, a value of $12 billion.

In addition, AmeriCorps volunteers have earned more than $1 billion in scholarships for that service. My home State of Kentucky has benefited from 7 million of the service hours from nearly 5,000 volunteers.

Few Federal programs can quantify this type of success across the board, but the numbers would be meaningless were it not for the tremendous impact these hours and all those volunteers have made on countless lives throughout our communities. In my district in Louisville, that impact can be felt throughout the community.

I see it on the optimistic face of a young girl who recently found new reasons to smile, thanks to her mentor from Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Kentuckiana. We feel it walking through a Portland neighborhood, freshly cleaned and painted by volunteers participating in the second annual Martin Luther King Season of Service. You hear it in the voice of a boy proudly reading his first book to his mother, who would not have been able to provide adequate education if not for the AmeriCorps Every 1 Reads program.

There can be no doubt that in our world, the ways these lives have been touched is exceptional. But in AmeriCorps, by providing resources to Court Appointed Special Advocates, Habitat For Humanity, Kentucky Domestic Violence Association, and other educational and non-profit services, these successes are the norm.

They happen every day all across the country over and over again, because this unique and ambitious government initiative provides the catalyst for selfless Americans of all backgrounds to push the limits for our capacity of service, and turn awareness into action, compassion and commitment.

AmeriCorps members live every day with the understanding that when we act as one for progress, we progress together. Yet all too often, these life-changing individuals and community building programs go unrecognized. So I ask all my colleagues to join me for the next 7 days in honoring all AmeriCorps members and alumni, to say thanks for all that they have done and continue to do and to encourage more people to get involved.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the remainder of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentlelady from California, and cochair of the National Service Caucus, the distinguished Ms. Matsui.

(Ms. MATSUI asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Loebsack).

Mr. Speaker, we have just heard many ways in which AmeriCorps has benefited our communities and touched so many lives within them. Still, these are just a few of the many stories that illustrate the spectacular influence that AmeriCorps has had on our Nation in a little over a decade.

The outstanding individuals who have contributed over the years deserve our thanks and recognition.

And so I am proud to stand here today and urge the passage of H. Res. 385 and ask my colleagues to join me these next 7 days in honoring all that AmeriCorps has already accomplished and encourage others to join in their commitment to continue that work in the years to come.

I would also like to commend both Congresswoman Matsui and Congressman Platts of Pennsylvania, the cochairs of the National Service Caucus, for their leadership in these efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 216) commending the Juniata College volleyball team for winning the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may insert material relevant to H. Res. 216 into the Record.

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

(Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Juniata College for winning the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship.

On November 18, 2006, the Juniata College women's volleyball team won the 2006 NCAA Division III championship by beating the Washington University-St. Louis Bears in Salem, Virginia.

I want to extend my congratulations to head coach Larry Bock, assistant coach Heather Pavlik, Juniata College president Thomas Kepple, Jr., and the student athletes on a wonderful season.

The Eagles had an exceptional record of 41 wins with just one loss. They were undefeated in Division III competition, with their only loss coming to a Division I school. The team also had an exceptional player in Stephanie Kines who was named Division III women's volleyball player of the year. Coach Larry Bock also added to his extraordinary record of 1,100 wins and 172 losses over 30 years of coaching, the most wins of any coach in NCAA women's volleyball history.

I also want to extend my congratulations to the Washington University-St. Louis Bears. The Bears had a record of 38 wins and 2 losses. The Bears won the University Athletic Association title for 2006 and had four women receive AVCA All-America honors.

Winning the Division III national championship and finishing the season with a 41-1 record has brought positive national attention to Juniata College, and I know the fans of the university will cherish this moment as they look forward to the 2007 season.

Mr. Speaker, once again I congratulate Juniata College for their success.

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

I thank the gentleman from Louisiana.

With that, I strongly urge my colleagues to pass this important resolution and recognize the Juniata College women's volleyball team for their great achievement. We should all join these great athletes in celebration of a hard-fought 2006 NCAA Division III championship.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have the distinct privilege of rising in recognition of National UofL Day, which honors the University of Louisville for its outstanding academic achievements, tremendous growth in recent years, and exceptional contributions to the Louisville community.

In the last decade we in Louisville saw unprecedented strides for our premier University, as it grew into one of the foremost research institutions in the country.

At Louisville's Jewish Hospital, doctors on the UofL faculty implanted the nation's first successful artificial heart and performed the first three hand transplants, while Louisville scientists Ben Jenson and Shin-je Ghim discovered the first cervical cancer vaccine, and three year-old Chase Ford became the first child to regain the ability to walk after a spinal cord injury using ground-breaking rehabilitative therapy, developed by UofL researcher Susan Harkema.

Due to these and other accomplishments, the school has experienced the most growth in National Institute of Health funding of any institution, and the number of endowed chairs at the University has more than doubled.

UofL's student body has seen their average A.C.T. scores increase by nearly four points and the graduation rate rise by over 10 percent.

The University's commitment to the betterment of our community manifests itself in every facet of Louisville life, from its alliance with Project Women to its work with Partnership for a Green City to the new Signature Partnership Initiative, which will provide resources to areas of the city that need them most.

The landmark Cardinal Covenant program, which made UofL the first public higher learning institution in Kentucky to promise a debt-free education to students from low-income families, reaffirms a commitment that I share with the University: providing a world-class education to all capable, hard-working students.

Though the recent achievements are astounding, President James Ramsey continues to set goals for the future that are loftier still. Under the leadership of Dr. Ramsey, the pursuit of excellence can be seen each day in the students, faculty, administration, and alumni and the competence with which they chart the school's course guarantees many more milestones in the coming years.

And so, for the great distance that has already been covered, and for displaying the vision and capability to excel in the future, I am proud to share the Cardinal spirit by recognizing National UofL Day and thanking the University of Louisville for all it has done for our community.

Mr. Speaker, 4 years ago, President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq were over. To that point, we had lost 139 soldiers. Over the last 4 years, due to the administration's incompetence and lack of planning, thousands more U.S. troops have been killed and wounded, hundreds of billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money has been spent, and now Iraq is consumed by a civil war that the President is asking our troops to referee.

It was way too soon for the President to declare mission accomplished, but 4 years later, the President seems content to tell our soldiers that their mission is not going to be accomplished any time soon.

By vetoing the Iraq supplemental last week, the President ignored the voices of the American people, his own military generals and this Congress. He can no longer afford to be that stubborn. The President must work with the Congress to come up with an agreement on how to move forward. He can't believe that this Congress is going to roll over and rubber-stamp his failed policies like past Republican Congresses have done.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats refuse to allow the status quo to continue. It is time we accomplish our mission in Iraq.

Mr. Chairman, as we pass the reins of our Nation to future generations, we must acknowledge that America's continued prosperity in the global economy will not be ensured unless we equip our children, the leaders of tomorrow, with the tools they need to succeed down the road.

To achieve this, we must cultivate not just the most privileged students, not only our brightest students, but also the students who grew up with disadvantages. Indeed, we must nurture the potential of all our children because it is in the best interest of our country to maximize the contributions and success of every American.

I recently visited a Head Start program at Indian Trail Elementary in my district in Louisville. The veritable beehive of activity there spoke louder than 40 years of studies on Head Start progress, but they said the same thing: The thoroughly engaged children were actively building a solid foundation for their futures, and they were loving the pursuit.

Like their predecessors, the 1,800 Head Start students in Louisville and the 1 million nationwide are making tremendous gains in family literacy, vocabulary, early writing, letter recognition, and social behavior, skills that will pay huge dividends in their future pursuits.

We have an opportunity today to extend and improve this program which is so vital to the preparation of today's youth, who in turn are critical to America's future. It is our moral responsibility and I believe our honor and privilege to reauthorize Head Start, and I urge my colleagues to join me in doing so.

Madam Speaker, some years ago I heard someone say that the secret to life is how you handle plan B. That resonated with me because so few things in this world go exactly as planned. Tragically, for the 3,300 American soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq, there will never be a plan B. And for more than 20,000 other soldiers, plan B, sadly, will include a wheelchair, a prosthetic limb, a serious brain injury, or a lifetime of posttraumatic stress disorder. And the even greater tragedy is that the sacrifices of many of those courageous men and women could have been avoided had President Bush had a plan B in Iraq.

Many of us saw this coming back in 2002. It was evident that the President's team was either so brazenly self-confident or so badly misinformed that they never saw the need for an alternative strategy, and certainly not for an exit strategy. And now, 4 years after ``mission accomplished,'' there is still no plan B coming from the White House, only a transparent appeal to the national pride that we must win, without regard to cost or duration, and without the slightest understanding of what a victory might look like.

Last night, this body took an important step in the Iraq tragedy. We set a new direction for our effort because the President has refused to do so. We not only provided the resources requested by the President to ensure the safety of our troops, we added funding needed to fulfill our obligations to those troops who have been wounded in action, and to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for all of us. But more important, we have provided the framework for bringing our troops home.

Like many of my colleagues, I would have preferred a stronger measure. While I have never advocated a fund

cutoff as a way to end our combat activity in Iraq, I would have liked to have forced the redeployment of our troops out of harm's way as soon as reasonably possible. But as our extraordinary Speaker has said, we must not let our search for the perfect become the enemy of the good. And last night we passed a good and reasonable approach to ending the war in Iraq.

The President has said that he will veto this bill, and it is clear to me that after 4 years of refusing help or advice from anyone who has not bought into his policy, he is not about to welcome our assistance now. But he should. This bill provides President Bush with the exit strategy he has never had, but which the American people so desperately want. He would be foolish not to sign it.

Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to stand before you today to honor a fellow Louisville native; retiring Capitol Police Officer Ollie McCoy. Officer McCoy has devoted his career to public service. He served in the United States Army, Airborne Division, for 22 years, including three tours in Vietnam. As a Capitol Police Officer, he has helped protect our Nation's Capitol for 20 years, helping guard the Capitol during such crises as the Capitol shootings in 1998, the anthrax contamination of 2001 and the attacks of September 11th.

Officer McCoy has dedicated most of his life to serving his country. He has demonstrated throughout his career the true meaning of heroism. I ask that you will all join me in giving him the recognition he deserves, and in wishing that his well-deserved retirement is long and fulfilling. On behalf of Kentucky's 3rd District, I thank you, Officer McCoy, for your dedication to our Nation. You have played a vital role in the safety and security of our country, and we are proud to call you one of our own.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, an opportunity to reflect on the need for victims to be treated fairly, commemorate the progress we've made, and acknowledge the work that remains before us. This is a week in which we rededicate ourselves to the challenges that lie ahead in the fight for critical rights for victims of all crimes.

I recently had the opportunity to meet Pat Byron, a woman from my home town of Louisville, Kentucky. Pat's daughter Mary was raped and beaten by her ex-boyfriend as a teenager. He was released from prison without Mary's knowledge, and tracked down the unsuspecting young woman in a parking lot; murdering her on her 21st birthday.

Because of the courage of Pat Byron and the leadership in Louisville, in 1994, the community pioneered VINE, Victim Information and Notification Everyday. VINE could have saved Mary's life, and for the last 13 years, it has saved many like her. This technology is now available in more than 2,000 communities in 41 states and guarantees a victim's right to notification and information.

Today, one week after the most brutal shooting in American history I urge my colleagues to join me and my community in standing up for victims, not only by commemorating National Crime Victims' Rights Week, but in taking steps like automated crime victim notification to ensure that victims' rights are protected.

I thank the distinguished gentleman.

I want to say that all of us came back this week from our first extended stay in our districts. And of course I had to laugh when the President 3 weeks ago said, Oh, the Congress ought to come back from vacation and get to work on the supplemental bill, which we had already passed, of course. And I said, wait a minute, this is vacation? All we're doing is working 12, 13 hours a day in our districts communicating with our constituents.

And I think that from what I have gotten from talking with all of us among our colleagues is that when we were home, we found out what the American people are saying about our track record so far. And just before we came to the floor this evening, one of the Members from the opposing party tried to minimize what we had done over our past 100 or so days in office. And I thought it was amusing because it was, oh, well, they haven't enacted anything. Of course this Congress acted. It acted very expeditiously to raise the minimum wage for our low-wage earners, to cut the interest rate for our students in college who have loans outstanding; and, as Dr. Kagen said, to take action to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, and so forth and so on.

When I was home, I met with people from the health care industry, and I met inside the health care facilities and I met with people from our educational institutions. We had a forum of higher education, and everybody was so grateful not just that we had taken the action that we did, but we were finally dealing with problems that have faced these various segments of society and had been unaddressed for the last 6 years.

So what I sensed when I was home in my district, and I know many of you and our other colleagues have sensed it as well, is that there is a new sense of optimism, there is a new sense of hope, and there is a spirit that we can deal with the serious problems that we face in this country because we have people who are not interested in dogma, we are not interested in ideology. We are interested in solving problems for the American people.

That is why I am so proud to be a part of this Congress and this great freshman class because I know that the American people are responding to what we have done already, and I know that they are responsive to the great agenda that we are going to be pursuing for the rest of this Congress.

I thank the gentleman from Minnesota. And I would also like to echo my great respect and admiration for our colleague from Pennsylvania who has spoken so eloquently on various occasions about the costs being paid and the sacrifices being made by our great men and women overseas, and how much that means to them. And I think this Congress has responded to those sympathies and those emotions in what we have done to actually support our men and women, our veterans, our wounded warriors who have come back from these very troublesome spots in the world. And we have done it with more than words, and that is what is important.

In the continuing resolution, as we all know, the prior Congress did not pass many of the appropriations bills. They left it up to us to try and fund most of the government, and we responded in the best way possible: we passed a continuing resolution. But we didn't just pass a sustaining fund because we recognized that we needed to embellish those funds to take care of our veterans and the increased costs that are being incurred by this war we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. So what did we do?

On January 31 when we passed the continuing resolution, we added $3.6 billion to take care of veterans health care. $3.6 billion. We recognized not only our moral obligation to our veterans but also the promise that we made to them. This government, the people of this country made a promise to those people who volunteered to fight for their country that we would take care of them after they left the service, we would take care of their health care. This Congress recognized and realized and responded to that commitment that we had made to them. Unlike prior Congresses, we increased funding by $3.6 billion.

But we weren't finished yet. When we passed the supplemental, we didn't just give the President what he wanted to perpetuate this war, which many of us want to leave, but we said we have men and women who are coming back who are wounded, who are seriously wounded. As we have seen in Walter Reed, we weren't taking care of them adequately, we weren't responding to our commitment to them, our moral obligation to them; so we added $1.7 billion more in this supplemental to take care of our veterans, to take care of our wounded warriors.

We understand what supporting our troops means, not just when they are under fire when they are in the battlefield, but also when they come home after they made that sacrifice. We have a commitment to them. We have realized that; we have responded. And I think that the American people can be confident that our veterans are being well taken care of by the 110th Congress and by subsequent Congresses, too.

Mr. Speaker, we are all still numb from yesterday's heart-breaking tragedy in Blacksburg, Virginia. I want to take a moment to extend my thoughts and prayers and those of my constituents in Louisville, Kentucky, to the students and faculty, friends and family at Virginia Tech University. We stand with you today in outrage and mourning, seeking answers and sharing your loss.

I rise today in strong support of the Taxpayer Protection Act. Our tax system is tailor made for accountants and those who can afford to hire them. For those who must tread tax season alone, a dearth of regulation opens these citizens up to Internet scams and identity theft. A lack of easily accessible information ensures that money- saving provisions like the earned income tax credit go unnoticed and unutilized, costing Americans hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

The Taxpayer Protection Act changes that, turning a bureaucracy designed for accountants into a system made for Americans. This bill will ensure that Americans who benefit from the earned income tax credit are those who deserve it, not only those who are shrewd enough to find it.

Over the last 6 years we have seen a tax system that has worked very well for the extremely rich. I urge my colleagues to pass the Taxpayer Protection Act.