Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I have agreed to reserve my time so the Speaker may be yielded to.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. And I appreciate the remarks of our distinguished Speaker, and also Chairman DeFazio. And I would like to also add my voice to support for this House Resolution 936. This resolution was introduced by Representative Blumenauer and cosponsored by Chairman Oberstar, Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman DeFazio, the subcommittee of which I have the privilege of being the ranking member, and Representative Petri, to honor the 200th anniversary of the Gallatin report on roads and canals, a first-of-its-kind assessment for Federal interests and investment in our Nation's transportation infrastructure.

In 1808, when he presented the report, Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin urged the Federal Government to focus on three basic concepts.

The first concept was that it is appropriate for the Federal Government to finance transportation projects that transcend local needs. Second, only projects that yield a return on investment should be constructed. Third, a nationwide system of transportation is essential in the interest of national defense.

All of these concepts that Gallatin proposed 200 years ago are relevant to the challenges that our Nation faces today and in the future.

I also appreciate that the resolution has incorporated the need for a new national transportation plan. Ranking Member Mica has, for some time, advocated for a new national transportation plan that provides a long-term strategic approach to funding our Nation's transportation infrastructure system so that we can continue to be competitive in a worldwide economy.

I believe that Secretary Gallatin would have supported this type of vision for the future of our transportation system, and I certainly hope that my colleagues will as well.

I have said many times, Mr. Speaker, that the people in Tennessee use the roads in Ohio and California, and people in New York and Michigan use the roads in Tennessee. There is very much a significant and legitimate national interest in our transportation system in this country.

Also, I appreciated the Speaker's remarks about the need to invest in and improve our Nation's infrastructure. I heard someone say about the last stimulus package that what we were really doing was borrowing money from China so that the people could go out and buy Chinese products. If we spend money on our infrastructure, we will be spending that money here and the money will be going to American workers to do these projects. And many of them are very, very necessary.

Mr. Speaker, I think this resolution is very appropriate, and I urge my colleagues to support this.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, and once again I urge support for this resolution.

I will say this: We have had many, many hearings in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee about the need to greatly improve our infrastructure in this country. We attempted, in the last highway bill, to put in some environmental streamlining. These projects are taking about three times as long and costing about three times as much because of environmental rules and regulations and red tape. We have got to speed up these infrastructure projects. The other developed nations are doing these projects in a third or half the time that we are, and that's going to really harm this country in the future if we don't speed these projects up.

Also, if we don't have more domestic energy production, we're going to make ourselves much more vulnerable to foreign energy producers, but we're not going to be able to afford the infrastructure projects that we really need to do in this country. So those are two thoughts that we need to take into consideration when we consider a resolution like this.

But I commend my colleagues, Chairman DeFazio and Mr. Blumenauer and Mr. Petri, for this resolution, and I urge its support.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Knoxville College, a predominantly African-American institution in my hometown.

On March the 6th, Knoxville College will hold its 110th Founder's Day Celebration.

The school was founded by Reverend Joseph Gillespie McKee, a Presbyterian minister who came to the United States from Ireland in 1852.

It was during the American Civil War that Mr. McKee settled in Nashville, Tennessee and organized the school for black people.

East Tennessee was settled primarily by very poor Irish and Scots- Irish immigrants and in 1875 the school was moved from Nashville to Knoxville, Tennessee, where it stands today.

Thousands of graduates have gone on to serve our country and communities well in their chosen fields.

Today, many young people come from all over the United States and several other countries to receive the special attention that Knoxville College can give.

I am very proud to have this College in my hometown, and I am sure they will continue to serve its students well for many years to come.

Madam Speaker, I had the privilege this past Saturday to attend the 100th birthday party for Mrs. Lois Kelly.

Mrs. Kelly is a very special, even amazing, woman. She has the beauty and spirit of a woman 20 years younger. It is simply hard to believe she is 100.

She is still very active, and I was told she recently bought a new Cadillac.

The article below by Robert Booker, describes her much better than I ever could.

Suffice it to say that through her work in education and her church and home, she has helped make this Nation a much better place.

Lois Kelly is a great American, and I was very honored to join many others in her birthday celebration.

I would like to encourage my colleagues and other readers of the Record to read the column by Mr. Booker, which ran in the February 26 issue of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Lois Kilgore Kelly--A Century of Service

(By Robert J. Booker)

Two years ago while moping around the house suffering from

one of those virus things, I got a delightful telephone call.

I had committed to participating in a program in the city but

had to cancel. Unfortunately, when the word of my illness

circulated, some people had me sicker than I really was.

The phone call I got offering assistance came from a 98-

year-old woman who wanted to make me some soup or go to the

drugstore for me. I had to chuckle at the thought of a woman

of that advanced age running an errand for me. But it was no

surprise that Lois Kilgore Kelly would make such an offer. I

had known her almost 60 years and was very familiar with her

community activities.

She is one of the most outgoing, energetic, enthusiastic

people one can meet. She can be seen attending various

community functions, participating in organizational meetings

and offering sympathy at funerals. She seems to be everywhere

and drives her own car to get there.

Seventy-nine years ago ``The Knoxville Negro,'' a book of

1929 published a chronicle of black life in Knoxville and

noted Mrs. Kelly in its youth section. Under the heading of

``Who's Who Among the Negro Youth of Knoxville 1928-1929,''

the publication said. ``The sons and daughters of today are

the fathers and mothers of tomorrow. This section offers a

view of prospective Negro leadership.''

The 1929 sketch on her said, ``Lois Kilgore is preparing to

make a worthwhile contribution to the educational field. Her

ambitions are to become a good housewife and to teach. She

recites and is an active member of the Church of God.''

I first met Mrs. Kelly in 1947 when I became a seventh-

grade student at Green School. although she was not one of my

teachers, I saw her many times. It seems that she always had

a smile as she does today. I have never seen her when she is

not cheerful.

She was born in Kingsport, Tenn., Feb. 23, 1908, and moved

to Knoxville at an early age and attended the Normal

Department at Knoxville College. She graduated from Knoxville

Colored High School in 1927 and received her bachelor of arts

degree in elementary education from Tennessee State

University in Nashville in 1931.

Mrs. Kelly began her teaching career in 1932 in Covington,

Tenn., before returning to Knoxville in 1934 to teach at

Green School. The principal was Charles W. Cansler who had

been her principal when she was a student at Knoxville

Colored High School. She said it was an honor to have him

select her as one of his teachers. She taught there 22 years.

She later taught at Cansler Elementary School named for

Cansler's mother. She also taught at Maynard and Lonsdale

elementary schools before retiring in 1994 after 60 years of

service in the school system.

Early in her teaching career, she was visiting a friend in

Nashville and met Curtis Kelly, an up and coming young man

who, she said, ``swept her off her feet.'' They married in

1940 when he moved here to take a job with the Tennessee

Valley Authority. After his service in the Army he attended

Meharry Medical School of Dentistry and set up his practice

here in 1951.

Mrs. Kelly and her husband became very active in the

Democratic Party and worked tirelessly to register people to

vote. They worked at the polls and helped to sponsor rallies

to bring out the vote. along the way, she took, time to be

active in the National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People and held various offices at Shiloh

Presbyterian Church, where she has been a member for 74

years. During the sit-in movements of the 1960s, she helped

to transport Knoxville College students to and from the

picket lines.

On Feb. 23, Nu Zeta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority held

a reception to honor Mrs. Kelly on her 100th birthday at

Mount Zion Baptist Church. Hundreds of friends and well-

wishers turned out for the occasion. She has been a member of

that sorority for 74 years and has served as financial

secretary, treasurer and undergraduate adviser she is well

know throughout the sorority's South Central Reigon.

Bonita Gillespie, Nu Zeta chapter president and close

friend of the honoree, says when Mrs. Kelly is asked to

describe her long life, she responds, ``I just lived.''

Gillespie says that, despite Mrs. Kelly's age, ``She still

drives her own car, shops for groceries, goes to the mall,

attends aerobics at the O'Conner Senior Center, watches her

favorite soap operas, plays bridge at every opportunity, and

does whatever else she decides to do. She is glued to the TV

set when Tiger Woods plays in a golfmatch.''

Some of those other things are to pick up friends to

chauffeur them to activities and to call those not feeling

well to see if they need her to run an errand.

Madam Speaker, I was recently visited in my office by one of my constituents from the second district of Tennessee, Julie Rich. Julie is one of six winners in a nationwide contest for the March for Life Education and Defense Fund of 2008. I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record her winning poem.

One Less Angel Will Cry

A guardian angel looks up from Earth

And prays each day to the Lord in the hope

That one particular baby will survive until birth

The mother does not want it; she is scared

She has by now reached the end of her rope

O Lord! Please let the child be spared!

She throws up her hands and yells, ``I'm through!

I don't want to be in this position

I will abort. It's something I must do!''

The angel wept

What a horrid decision!

Up to heaven the angel and the baby's soul leapt

The gates were wide open and the soul was ushered in

And why not

For one whose lifespan was tremendously thin?

The devastating thought of abortion should be left far behind

It is like a blot

On all of mankind

``Build Unity on the Life Principles throughout America.

No Exception! No Compromise!''

We must be strong with these words, America

Because millions upon millions have died this way

Abortion has claimed too many lives

Babies perish like this every single day

What if it had been you? One of the ones killed?

You would not know

Your body would have been chilled

Mothers please do not tell your infants goodbye

Let the babies live, let them grow!

And one less angel will cry

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to voice my strong support for H.R. 409, and I would also like to commend Chairman DeFazio and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano) for bringing this bill to the floor at this time.

On August 2, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed an earlier version of this bill on a voice vote. I believe that the entire committee agreed with the main objective of this bill, to ensure that our Nation's highway tunnels are safe. But some members had concerns about the new tunnel inspections directly competing with ongoing bridge inspections. This substitute bill addresses these concerns.

This bill requires the Federal Highway Administration to establish a new national highway tunnel inspection program in consultation with State DOTs and other knowledgeable organizations. The new tunnel inspection program is modeled directly on the existing highway bridge inspection program and addresses three major areas: One, it establishes national highway tunnel inspection standards to ensure tunnel inspection uniformity. Secondly, this establishes a national tunnel inventory

to publish the findings of all tunnel inspections. And thirdly, it develops a national program for training and certification of highway tunnel inspectors.

This bill will make tunnel inspection requirements consistent with the current bridge inspection requirements. I think this is a concept we can all agree on.

There are approximately 400 highway tunnels in the United States, and we need to make sure that those tunnels are safe. But there are more than 580,000 road and highway bridges in the United States, including almost 55,000 interstate bridges. I'm pleased that instead of having tunnel inspections compete directly with highway bridge inspections, the substitute bill before us makes tunnel inspections eligible for funding from other highway programs: the Surface Transportation Program, the Federal Highway Administration administrative expenses, or surface transportation research funds.

I hope that if this legislation secures Senate passage and becomes law, we can further fine-tune the tunnel inspection funding source issue so that the different tunnel inspection activities are funded from the appropriate program.

Again, I voice my support for H.R. 409, and I urge its passage.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I simply will urge passage, and yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to also voice my support for House Resolution 772. House Resolution 772 was introduced by Chairman Oberstar, Ranking Member Mica, Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman DeFazio, and myself to recognize the 75th anniversary of the American Highway Users Alliance, a broad national coalition of organizations representing motorists and businesses.

The American Highway Users Alliance is a nonprofit advocacy organization with the mission to promote safe, uncongested highways and enhanced mobility. The group's membership includes over 300 national trade associations, corporations, small businesses, and other State and local nonprofit groups. They represent over 45 million highway users.

Since 1932, the group has fought for road and bridge investments that will save lives, promote economic growth, improve quality of life, and protect freedom of mobility.

The American Highway Users Alliance focuses its campaigns on fair highway use taxation, Federal highway policy and funding, and responsible environmental policy.

The American Highway Users Alliance is an important voice for the interests of motorists and businesses and has been an active participant in every major national highway and traffic safety law passed over the last 75 years.

I strongly support this resolution and congratulate the American Highway Users Alliance on its achievements and on its 75th anniversary. Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I have no other speakers, and so I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, Bruce Fein is a nationally syndicated columnist who was a high-ranking official during the Reagan administration. He does not support a neocon, globalist, world policeman-type of foreign policy for the U.S., a foreign policy that used to be considered as the policy of liberals.

Last week, Mr. Fein wrote a column describing the traditional conservative view. He wrote: ``Non-intervention and global neutrality should be the national security creed of the United States. Every soldier deployed abroad should be returned to deter and defend the United States at home. Non-intervention and neutrality everywhere, coupled with the threat to annihilate any United States attacker would make the country safer, freer, and more prosperous. Foreign adventurisms create more enemies than they destroy.

He also quoted George Washington's farewell address, in which President Washington warned against ``overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.''

In other words, Mr. Speaker, the traditional conservative view is what was expressed by President Bush during the 2000 campaign when he came out very strongly against nation building and said the U.S. needed a more humble foreign policy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a true great American family. The Gettelfinger family has been one of the leading families of Knoxville, TN, for many years. The senior generation of this great American family now consists of Andrew, Earl, and Herman Gettelfinger and their wives Frances, Marianne, and Nancy.

We have heard and read much about the Greatest Generation of Americans, deservedly referring to World War II and Korean veterans and those who have raised the so-called Baby Boom Generation.

The senior Gettelfinger family generation has put their children and grandchildren in a position to generate over $500 million for our State and local economies. They and their families have been leaders in the petroleum industry, food and beverage industry, and commercial and residential development.

The Gettelfinger family, through all of its business and economic development, has created many lucrative jobs and has helped untold numbers lead more comfortable and convenient lives.

The Gettelfinger family has also taken a leading role, and has generously donated to

numerous charities, including the Helen Ross McNabb Center, Empty Stocking Fund, United Way, Catholic Charities, and many others.

The three Gettelfinger families whom I am honoring have raised 18 children, who are successful in their own right, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Andrew and Frances Gettelfinger, Earl and Marianne Gettelfinger, and Herman and Nancy Gettelfinger are being honored by their families and friends in Knoxville on December 16. 2007. I would like to join in paying tribute to those wonderful people. This Nation is a much better place today because of the Gettelfinger family and the senior generation that is being honored at this time.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I urge my colleagues to join me as I salute the Gettelfinger family of Knoxville, TN.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Bookwalter United Methodist Church of Knoxville, Tennessee.

On November 4, many people from East Tennessee will join together to recognize Bookwalter United Methodist Church as they celebrate 125 years of ministry.

Bookwalter United Methodist Church has an exciting history that started back in 1881 when Dr. Lewis Bookwalter moved his family to Knoxville, Tennessee. Dr. Bookwalter contacted another minister by the name of Louis Bookwalter and a man by the name of John Worth. Together they learned that many people had a great interest in establishing a church in the area. In 1882, Reverend Scott Moore held a revival in a school house, in which Reverend Bookwalter assisted. As a result of this revival, Bookwalter United Methodist Church came to be.

Since then, Bookwalter United Methodist Church has continued to grow as believers commit themselves to spreading the word of God. As a result of Louis Bookwalter's call to minister a group of believers, thousands have come to know the thriving community of believers that is Bookwalter United Methodist Church.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I urge my colleagues to join me as I salute Bookwalter United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Teneessee, and wish them another 125 years of successful ministry.

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

First of all, I want to commend my good friend, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay), for his remarks and his work on this legislation.

I rise today to urge passage of H.R. 1236, to extend the authority of the U.S. Postal Service to issue a stamp to support breast cancer research.

Those of us in Congress received a tragic reminder of the need for continued research into this disease with the passing of our beloved colleague, Jo Ann Davis; and we thank the majority, in particular Mr. Clay, for taking the opportunity to honor her memory.

Nearly 180,000 people, mostly, but not all, women, will learn that they have invasive breast cancer this year alone. About 40,000 people will die from this disease. Women who are white and over the age of 40 are more likely to suffer from breast cancer, but its victims run the gamut of age, race and socioeconomic background. We have made some progress in recent years thanks to early detection and increased awareness and availability of mammograms.

But in the past 3 years, both mammograms and incidence of breast cancer have decreased. This doesn't mean things are getting better. It means ominously and unfortunately that fewer cases are being detected.

As I am sure Jo Ann Davis would tell us if she were still with us here today, early detection, early treatment, constant vigilance and public awareness are key to putting this disease in its place. For example, incidence rates of both invasive and in-situ breast cancer rise and fall with the percentage of women who receive mammograms.

After two decades of progress, both the use of mammograms and the rates of detection have begun to slip in recent years. As early detection increased, so did survival rates; but they will fall, too, if we can't improve public awareness of the importance of early detection.

That's where the measure that is before us comes in. This bill would reauthorize the Postal Service to issue the 55-cent stamp for first class mail, with 14 cents of each stamp going to breast cancer research and awareness programs for an additional 4 years. Since the program began in 1998, the Postal Service has sold more than 785 million of these stamps and raised $54.6 million for breast cancer research.

This disease preys on women such as Jo Ann Davis and on so many others, women on whom others have come to depend. They are mothers, grandmothers, business owners, teachers, researchers, even Members of this great body. We need these women and the invaluable contributions they make to our life and society. We need this measure to help save their lives.

I have had the privilege of attending every single Race for the Cure for the past 11 years, every single one that has been held in my hometown of Knoxville.

This is a very worthwhile cause that I am sure all of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle can support very enthusiastically.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I urge passage of this legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise today to join my fellow Members of Congress in recognizing Dennis Collins and his extraordinary contributions to Bayonne, New Jersey. Fortunately for Bayonne, Mr. Collins missed his trip on the Titanic to visit family members back in Ireland. If it were not for this fortunate coincidence, the rest of Mr. Collins's biography most likely would not be possible.

Mr. Collins was born and raised in Bayonne, where he attended St. Vincent De Paul Grammar School and the Holy Family Academy. As a young man, he served in World War II, including time in the China-Burma-India theater of operations. Upon his return, he went to work for Tidewater Oil Company, General Motors, Edward F. Clark Real Estate and Insurance Agency, and Bayonne Water and Sewer Utility.

Ultimately, it was his interest in the community that led Mr. Collins to seek political office. In 1962, Mr. Collins was elected to his first of three terms on the municipal council, two of which he served as council president. In 1974, he was elected to serve as mayor of the City of Bayonne. His popularity in the

community was so immense that he served for the next 16 years. He currently holds the record for Bayonne as the first individual to serve seven consecutive 4-year terms in elective office and four consecutive 4-year terms as mayor.

Mr. Collins retired in 1990 as mayor, but he continues to be an active and committed leader to the citizens of Bayonne.

Mr. Collins's reputation as a public servant was forged by his compassion and interest in helping his fellow citizens. His legacy and service to others is a wonderful example to his children, grandchildren and to the citizens of Bayonne and beyond.

With gratitude for his devotion and service to the Bayonne community, it is particularly fitting that we name the United States Postal Service building located at 570 Broadway in his honor.

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

Mr. Speaker, I simply rise to commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires) for introducing this very appropriate and fitting legislation, and I urge its support by all of our colleagues.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, Michael Schragg grew up on his family's farm in Ceresco, Michigan. In 1967, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in Germany for 3 years. After this period, he returned to Michigan and began his career in the postal service in 1970. Within 5 years he was promoted to postmaster for the Olivet office, and in 1979 became the postmaster for Marshall, Michigan. During his tenure, the Marshall office was named the All-American Post Office.

Beyond the postal service, Mr. Schragg has always been active in his community. He is a past president of the Marshall Rotary Club and continues to serve on the Marshall Historical Society.

However, his most noteworthy accomplishment is the creation of the Marshall Postal Museum. The Marshall Postal Museum is the second largest in the U.S., behind the Smithsonian Postal Museum here in Washington, D.C. The museum is now one of the cornerstones of the immensely popular Marshall historical home tour. In fact, in 2003, the New York Times called the postal museum the town's piece de resistance. The article went on to say, ``If you think you have no interest in postal history, a tour conducted by the ebullient Mr. Schragg will change your mind.''

Beyond the New York Times, Mr. Schragg and his museum have also been featured in Michigan magazine. Mr. Schragg even drove a vintage 1931 Model A mail delivery truck in the 2001 inauguration parade.

Considering his devotion to preserving the past and his work to develop the future of the Postal Service, it is fitting that we name the building where he toiled for so long in his honor. This is especially true since the Marshall Postal Museum is housed in

the basement of the same Marshall Post Office.

I ask my colleagues to join me in support of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge passage of this resolution honoring and recognizing the heroic efforts of the firefighters and other first responders to the fires in Southern California.

Mr. Speaker, I think we should take a moment to ponder what happens when a situation like this occurs. A disaster occurs and people appear, seemingly out of nowhere, to offer every type of help and assistance. They are organized and disciplined and effective and precise. They are heroic and swift and knowledgeable and kind.

But who are they? Who are these men and women who drive toward the disaster when the rest of us drive away? Who leaves behind his home and family for perhaps weeks on end and goes to help others? Who sets up the shelters and the medical aid stations? Who helps seniors and the infirm evacuate? Who rushes to save Los Angeles and Ventura and Orange and Riverside and Santa Barbara and San Bernardino and San Diego?

In the case of California, about 2,500 citizen soldiers, we call them National Guardsmen, have raced to the rescue. So have countless numbers of firefighters, law enforcement, and medical personnel.

We owe these people and their families a debt of gratitude. We couldn't do what they do. Thank God they can.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier).

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Imperial Beach, California, my friend, Mr. Bilbray.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), a member of the committee.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to our colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter), who represents some of the City of San Diego and much of San Diego County.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, so I will simply close for our side by saying these were fires and evacuations of historic proportions. They were handled in absolutely the best way possible, and I commend everyone involved in responding to these disasters and urge passage of this resolution. I think it is something that all of our colleagues can enthusiastically support.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my fellow Members of Congress in recognizing the 40th Anniversary of the Mass Movement for Soviet Jewish Freedom and the 20th Anniversary of the Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jewry on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

As with many other peoples of faith, Jews suffered under the oppressive yoke of communism in the Soviet Union. Their struggles inspired American Jews to establish the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry in 1964 in order to campaign on behalf of their fellow Soviet brethren.

After the Six-Day War in 1967, the Soviets intensified the persecution of the Jewish community through state-controlled media and by reducing Jewish autonomy. Soon a mass exodus, a mass emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union began. These developments helped to galvanize the advocacy movement within the U.S.

Over the following years, this mass advocacy movement helped spur the U.S. Government to achieve much. Perhaps most notably, in 1975 President Ford signed into law the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974. This amendment prohibited the extension of trade benefits to countries that limited immigration and otherwise infringed human rights. It was drafted specifically with the plight of Soviet Jews in mind. Later, President Reagan signed a law drawing attention to the hardships imposed on the Jewish community of the Soviet Union.

In 1987, an estimated 250,000 people demonstrated on the Mall before a Reagan-Gorbachev summit. This rally increased the issue's national visibility. Partly due to these efforts, the Soviet Union finally opened the doors of emigration to its Jewish population in 1989. Two years later, the Soviet Government codified the right of every Soviet citizen to emigrate, prompting massive flows of Jews to Israel and to the United States.

This serves as an example of the great American tradition of citizen involvement for the greater good. I ask my colleagues to join me in support of this resolution.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, we have no other speakers on this side, so I will simply urge support for this resolution and yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, we all want to do what we should to fight

terrorism, but the Federal Government has to do many other things, too. The Wall Street Journal editorial said: ``We would like to suggest a new post-September 11 rule for Congress. Any bill with the words ``security'' in it should get double the public scrutiny and maybe four times the normal wait, lest all kinds of bad legislation become law under the phony guise of fighting terrorism.''

More significantly, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff testified in front of a congressional committee: ``We should not let an overexaggerated threat of terrorism drive us crazy, into bankruptcy, trying to defend against every conceivable threat.'' He went on to say: ``We do have limits, and we do have choices to make. We don't want to break the very systems we're trying to protect. We don't want to destroy our way of life trying to save it. We don't want to undercut our economy trying to protect our economy, and we don't want to destroy our civil liberties and our freedoms in order to make ourselves safer.''