Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, one of my constituents has written a poem that showcases our Nation's flag in a glorifying manner. Mr. Victor Miller of Madisonville, Tennessee, is the author of a poem titled ``Soliloquy.'' Mr. Miller is the son of Jeanette Miller, who passed this poem along to me. Our country's morale and heritage is strong today because of patriots like Victor Miller. I would like to call ``Soliloquy'' and its interpretation to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

Interpretation of Soliloquy

I pray this poetic edification enhances your respect for

the flag from Memorial Day through Veterans Day, but more

significantly, enamors your appreciations for the risen Son

of God. If reverenced as Old Glory, ``God Bless America''

will enrich all our personal, domestic & international

pursuits exceedingly beyond our imaginations in continual

abundance if, ``In God We Trust.'' The Lord in the USA is a

bipartisan, consuming Spirit of Holiness & Power! In Christ,

``Thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph'' (2

Cor. 2:14).

``Imagine as a flag (Christ) on all folks (souls) passing by

with edifying waves (love) influencing (redeeming)

their lives.''

The essence of duty to God & country He epitomized when his

ascension secured for all, Independence! In Christ are

``opportunities, honor, recognition, patriotism & liberated

freedoms.'' We're told to ``stand fast in the liberty in

which Christ has made us free'' (Gal. 5:1). With Jesus, we're

more than winners, we're ``conquerors'' (Rom. 8:37). The USA

thrives prestigiously, powerfully & prosperously because of

our humility in embracing the risen Intercessor for all

humanity. His triumphant valor extends to whosoever will.

``The Glory in your stripes'' belongs exclusively to Jesus

Christ. May we forever abstain from worshiping entombed

doctrines because if we forsake his sovereignty he will

abandon his favor upon the USA. He tells us in his word, ``No

greater sacrifice exists than to give ones' life for a

friend'' (John 15:13). Emulating this virtue honors our

Savior & rewards us blessings. Our allegiance he is worthy

of, as too our ``tribute'' & service. Let's pray America

``valiantly'' & steadfastly adheres to his ``esteemed''

righteousness so our liberties are preserved. ``The Lord is

that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is

liberty'' (2 Cor. 3:17). The colonists were wise in

understanding & adopting our Constitution upon biblical

integrity. Indigenous to our country it is not but we have

progressively strengthened since its inception as a nation

because of their keen & humble foresight in acknowledging &

incorporating in our executive, legislative & judicial

structures his preeminence. Soliloquy was penned in Luray,

Virginia in April 1999. I worked for the Shenandoah National

Park. On this particular morning while walking to the car I

heard the vigorous, insistent ``waving'' of Old Glory in the

blustery air. The owners of the Cardinal Inn always flew a

large flag from their rock garden. As I turned to ``observe''

the Holy Spirit spoke:

I am your Leader, your Warrior, your Friend & Victor. You are

adopted into the Almighty Army of God.''

America owns patriotism as a majority but is loyalty void

of Christ efficacious or self-promoting? Most citizens defend

the sanctity of their flag tenaciously when affronted by

another. Almost universally, it flies proudly from homes,

schools, parks, libraries, cemeteries, vehicles, courts,

businesses & even dons our clothing. It is a rallying, focal

point of inspiration in times of crisis, mourning &

festivities: Higher than all other flags, it ``reigns!''

Holidays confirm our gratitude for the military dives spent &

lost defending its cause of unanimous liberation around the

globe against oppression & persecution. Membership in our

armed forces always begins at conscription with a sworn vow

of allegiance. Patriotism isn't predicated on military

service but whenever iniquitous aggression asserts itself

against integrity. ``When our cause is just...`In God is our

trust!' '' is how Francis Scott Key so zealously in 1814

proclaimed. Honest defense of righteous liberties is not

immune to costs but ``abiding in the shadow of the Almighty''

(Ps.91) secures for all patriots ultimate victory. Jesus is

not envious or jealous of anything, except his glory. He is

however, deserving & desirous of greater, adulation & duty.

May Soliloquy serve all of God's children with victorious

knowledge & hope from his Holy Spirit so we continue shining

in the world as a beacon of his omnipotent Love, just as a

``rushing mighty wind'' beautifies Old Glory!

Soliloquy

Imagine as a flag

on all folks passing by

with edifying waves

influencing their lives!

A patriotic stance

of opportunities

advocating feedoms

by land, the air & sea.

Esteemed a lofty reign

& honored to belong

all would offer tribules

in oaths, salute or songs!

Recognition could abound

for victories secured

defending liberties

despite many injured.

In each of fifty stars

& elsewhere when observed

the glory in your stripes

would valiantly be served!

Mr. Speaker, as we have just recently reflected on the loss of President Reagan and have also recently remembered those who have given their lives in defense of this great Nation on Memorial Day, I wanted to also pay tribute to the late Drury Shoemaker of my District in Tennessee.

Drury's beloved widow, Hazel, sent me a nice note in remembrance of her late husband, who served in the United States Marine Corps. Drury Shoemaker was a fine Marine, part of the C-1-28-5th Division that participated in the battle of Iwo Jima. He survived the War, but later took ill as a result of exposure to radiation from the Hiroshima nuclear explosion. Drury went to be with the Lord on December 11, 2001.

Known as Papaw to his special grandson Darrian, Drury often spoke of taking his wife and grandson back to Iwo Jima to share with them such an important place in his life. Unfortunately, his health did not allow for that special trip.

During the many services I attended on Memorial Day, I especially remembered the service of Drury W. Shoemaker to our Country and the love he showed for his family and fellow Marines.

Mr. Speaker, this Nation would be a much better place if there were more people here like Drury Shoemaker. His loving widow, Hazel, composed a wonderful prayer, especially timely as we remember those who have paid the ultimate price and at a time when we dedicate a wonderful new memorial to those who served in World War II. I would like to call this special prayer to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

Dear Lord and Creator: As America is preparing to dedicate

the World War II Memorial in Washington, at a time our Nation

is again involved in a war, Lord, my plea to you this day is

that through your wisdom and power you will help the people

of America truly understand what freedom has cost us.

From Flanders Field to Arlington, from Iwo Jima to

Hiroshima, all across Europe (the world really), our loved

ones have paid the price in full, Dear Lord, either with

their living until death takes them in conditions almost

unbearable for them and the ones caring for them. Our

veterans are dying by the thousands every day Lord, and the

pain and loneliness only you know and understand. Tears,

Lord, that seem to have no end. Long days and worse nights,

torment that never goes away. Lord, please stand by the

widows and the little ones who cannot understand where their

Papaw has gone, they just cry themselves to sleep and ask

why. God, please help us to endure, because that's all we can

do, just endure until we are again with the ones we love.

In your mercy and love please protect my President and the

men and women who are truly trying to bring this war to an

end. Give them wisdom and courage and strength.

The Memorial is beautiful Lord, but only you can know that

the heartbreak the ones left behind endure is not pretty,

it's awful and never ending.

God, please, I pray again, stay close by our little ones

who just can't understand loss.

Help us, Lord, as a Nation to stand firm and faithful and

every day thank you for your Love and Protection.

Thank you Lord for listening. Amen.

Mrs. Drury W. Shoemaker.

Mr. Speaker, almost every Member of this body is pro- military. But we also should be pro-taxpayer too. So all of us should be shocked that the Defense Department lost $100 million on unused airplane tickets over the 6 years between 1997 and 2003. In addition, the Pentagon bought 68,000 first class or business class tickets over this same period.

Members of Congress fly coach class unless they use frequent flier miles to upgrade. Public officials, including those in the military, are supposed to be public servants, not rulers or some elite, special, privileged class.

The Defense Department gets almost everything it asks for, so it just does not seem to care about wasteful spending. But if any high-level officials at the Pentagon have even the slightest concern for the taxpayer, they should immediately eliminate this unused ticket business so we do not lose $100 million or more over the next 6 years.

Also, all members of the military should fly coach, like almost all Members of Congress and almost all our constituents do, instead of buying 11,000 or more first class tickets each year.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for yielding me the time, and I thank him for the great leadership he has provided for many years in this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, NPR News a couple of weeks ago had a report about why gas prices are now over $2 a gallon in some States and very high everywhere. The reporter explained that while demand has gone way up, as everyone has known it would for many years, capacity has gone way down. He said due to environmental restrictions, no new refineries have been built in this country for more than 20 years and the number of refineries in California has decreased from 37 to 13.

The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) mentioned that 170 refineries have closed since 1981. A previous speaker said some refineries are making record profits. Well, if we decrease the number of refineries even more, they will make even higher profits.

Also, radical environmentalists have successfully fought and stopped oil production in the frozen tundra of Alaska and most other places where it can be safely and environmentally and economically done in the

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the biggest news story concerned a car bombing in Baghdad which killed 13 people. Almost all major news outlets reported that immediately following this bombing there was a large anti-American demonstration by Iraqi citizens. They somehow were blaming the bombing on the U.S. and they burned an American flag.

A few weeks ago, just before the release of the Iraqi prison pictures, CNN released a poll of 3,000 Iraqis. That poll found that only 19 percent of the people of Iraq view us as liberators, while more than 70 percent viewed us as occupiers.

CNN found that 78 percent of Iraqis had an unfavorable view of the

Mr. Speaker, President Ronald Reagan was an inspiration to me and millions of others throughout the U.S. and even all over the world. He saw the American dream come true in his life, rising from humble beginnings and achieving great, great success in almost every way.

He will certainly go down in history as one of our greatest Presidents, but his greatness may have been achieved in large part because, as one of his closest friends said a couple of days ago, he did not worry about how history would view him.

It has been said his greatest legacy will be leading us to victory in the Cold War, but his domestic achievements were great, too, especially in lowering taxes and helping curb the greed of government.

I had the privilege of meeting President Reagan on many occasions, starting when he was Governor of California. He was always so kind to me and to everyone, and possibly one of his greatest attributes may have been in showing us that you can have strong views on important issues, but still treat opponents with kindness, compassion and even good humor.

We are all better people, Mr. Speaker, because of the life and example of President Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Speaker, NPR News this morning had a report about why gas prices are now over $2 a gallon in some States and headed higher everywhere. The reporter explained that while demand has gone up, as everyone has known it would for many years, capacity has gone way down.

He said due to environmental restrictions, no new refineries have been built in this country for more than 20 years, and the number of refineries in California has decreased from 37 to 13. Also, radical environmentalists have successfully fought and stopped oil production in the frozen tundra of Alaska and most other places where it can be safely and environmentally and economically done in the U.S. Environmental extremists almost always come from wealthy, or at least very upper-income, families; but they are really hurting the poor and the lower income and working people of this country, and even our national security, by shutting down so much oil production and refining here and making us overly dependent on foreign oil that is being sold at rip-off prices.

Mr. Speaker, Aaron Tallent, a member of my staff, has written a very interesting and entertaining article for the current issue of the Washington City Paper.

He makes the very important point that just possibly some sophisticated city dwellers should not look down their noses at those millions around the country who live in mobile homes.

There are many good and intelligent people who live in these homes, and I would like to call this outstanding article to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

[From the Washington City Paper, Apr. 30, 2004]

Daily Double-Wide

(By Aaron Tallent)

One night at the Capitol Lounge, after I'd been in

Washington for a few months, I found myself talking to an

aide for a Northern congressman. He was sharing a fact he'd

picked up in a meeting with a housing-coalition

representative that day: ``Trailers are not considered real

housing, because they depreciate in value the minute they are

dropped off the truck.''

Then he added, ``Have you ever been in a trailer? They're

downright trashy.''

I let it slide. He didn't know that I come from Tellico

Plains, Tenn.--population 900, according to the last census.

Many of my closest friends still live in Tellico Plains. And

many of them live in trailers.

My friend Chris, for instance, spent more than three years

living in a single-wide after college. He's a high-school

English teacher now, and his wife is a schoolteacher as well.

He's also an ordained preacher. With the money they saved

living up on blocks, he and his wife are now homeowners at

26.

No one in my group at the Capitol Lounge, freely cracking

trailer jokes, was even close to owning a home. They weren't

even able to take care of themselves. The Yankee

socioeconomics expert ended the night puking on the floor. A

self-proclaimed Southern belle kept talking about how

frustrated she was because the guy she'd been hooking up with

for two months still hadn't taken her out to dinner. I went

out to get cigarettes with a lobbyist for a fiscally

conservative nonprofit; he put Marlboro Lights on his Visa.

You want to talk about trailer trash? Put down your Stella,

turn-off your Blackberry, and listen: You are trailer trash.

Just because your neighborhood is geographically broken

down by blocks does not mean that you metaphorically don't

live up on them. Urban America is full of trailer parks. You

just have fancier names for them.

Let's stop by your studio apartment, shall we? You're proud

of the location, naturally. In Dupont Circle, on Capitol

Hill, in Georgetown--so sophisticated! So many urbane

attractions: Now let's go inside.

Whoa! Almost tripped over your futon. Didn't expect it to

be so close to the doorway! It seems your futon is the center

of your place. Sitting on it, you can reach over to the bed

and fluff your pillows with one hand, while you pop a DVD

into your entertainment center with the other. How

convenient!

Of course, I caught you at a bad time. Normally when you're

expecting company, you put the room divider up to hide the

bed from the ``living room.'' That's about as concealing as

hair in a can. In the kitchenette, you have a two-burner

stove and a counter with just enough room to make a peanut-

butter sandwich. Is there a dishwasher? I think not. We could

go into your bathroom, but with the clothes hamper, there's

no room to move.

Your mini-estate, like a trailer, is simply the compromise

you make to live on a lower income. And yours isn't

necessarily the nicer compromise. Climb up on the porch and

I'll take you inside a Tennessee trailer.

How about that! There's a living room with enough space for

a couch, love seat, and recliner. Stick your head in the

kitchen--the separate kitchen--and you've got a four-grill

stove and a counter big enough for preparing dinner parties.

Still convinced your prison cell is nicer? Walk down the hall

and see, not one, not two, but three bedrooms! Then to top it

off, we have a bathroom that can hold a hamper, a magazine

rack, and two people. If you want to upgrade, there's room

for a Jacuzzi.

On the inside, a well-kept trailer could hang with any nice

apartment in the D.C. metro area. Step out the back door and

. . . oh, look, it's a yard.

Most efficiency apartments don't even have a back door. But

that's not your real home, you say. You're not planning on

living there forever. You've just come to Washington to work

for a politician or a nonprofit that stands for everything

you believe in. The efficiency is just a stepping-stone, a

place to lay your head until you figure out where you want to

go with your life and career. Or until you buy a condo in

Arlington.

Welcome to Tellico Plains. My college-graduate friends,

starting out in nursing, physical therapy, or factory work,

were able to buy or inherit pieces of land. They just

couldn't build houses right away. So they bought trailers.

Yes, their purchases depreciated fast. But not as fast as the

$12,000 you threw away in rent last year.

Now, some of the folks I went to school with may spend the

rest of their lives in trailers. They've got low-income jobs

and no means to find better ones. They can build a house now,

or they can guarantee that their children will always have

clothes on their back and three meals a day. It is no

different from an urban family living in a cramped apartment.

I have received an e-mail no less than 10 times titled

``Tennessee's Latest Lottery Winner.'' It contains a picture

of a trailer with a limousine parked out front. Like most

jokes based on stereotypes, it has some truth behind it.

Growing up, I saw my fair share of broken-down trailers with

new Corvettes in the driveway or satellite dishes in the

yard.

But for every trailer owner who blows a third of his modest

paycheck on lotto tickets, there is a D.C. studio-dweller

running up a $300 tab at McFadden's or Cafe Citron, then

putting milk and bread on his credit card the next day. For

every trailer with a brand-new, souped-up Ford F-150 in the

driveway, there is a Washington efficiency with Brooks

Brothers suits and a Burberry coat in the closet. And for

every one of you who thinks a mobile home is the end of

existence, trust me, there's someone who'd take one look at

your one-room wonder, shudder, and thank the stars for his

comfortable double-wide.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for investment in the infrastructure that provides our citizens with clean and safe water. Our Nation's communities are facing enormous needs in their effort to safeguard human health and the environment and to comply with Federal environmental mandates. The wastewater investment needs in our cities, counties, towns and townships are far greater than the amount of money now being made available at the local, state, and federal levels. The GAO, the EPA and the Water Infrastructure Network have all found shortfalls in wastewater infrastructure funding over the next 20 years in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

It is critical for the federal government to do more to help meet these needs. Local ratepayers already pay 90 percent of the burden and face rising water and sewer rates every year. The federal government must once again become a partner with local and state governments to provide the necessary funds to protect our watersheds and citizens.

Additional investment in the Nation's water and sewer systems also creates jobs for Americans. For every $1 billion spent on water and wastewater construction, 42,000 jobs are created. Billions of dollars are needed to help keep our water infrastructure strong and sound. The President requested $3.7 billion for water and sewer projects in Iraq, highlighting its critical importance to a working society. Yet we are neglecting our own wastewater systems here at home.

We should not allow another Earth Day to pass without making a firm commitment to our citizens and our communities. The federal government must become a full partner and provide its share of the billions of dollars that are needed to safeguard the integrity of our Nation's water and wastewater infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, the people of Taiwan have been some of the best friends this Country has ever had, and I would like to commend them on their longstanding friendship with this Nation. I also want to commend Taiwan for its continuing efforts in developing and sustaining a free democratic society and free markets.

The people of Taiwan are to be further commended for their efforts seeking greater international recognition, including an increasing role and participation in the World Health Organization and the United Nations. Quite simply, Taiwan is too important an economic force and democratic ally to be shunned to the political backwaters of global isolation.

I am encouraged with Taiwan's new administration's stated goal of pursuing better relations with the People's Republic of China. Taiwan's cross-strait dialogue with the PRC is crucial for resolving misunderstandings between Beijing and Taipei and Washington, which, Mr. Speaker, is the foundation for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and, indeed, for all of Asia.

Mr. Speaker, congratulations to Taiwan, which has the support and best wishes of the United States Congress and the American people.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this very important legislation, which will improve our transportation infrastructure and create millions of jobs, and I want to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin, (Mr. Petri) for yielding me this time.

I especially want to commend the chairman, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young); chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri); and the ranking members, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski), all very close friends of mine, who are to be commended for their great leadership on this bill.

Mr. Chairman, this is the biggest jobs bill that we will vote on in this Congress. I am sick and tired of seeing millions of American jobs go to other countries. All over this Nation there is tremendous concern about this. We are spending hundreds of billions in other countries. This bill is one that puts our own people first once again.

But it is more than just a jobs bill, Mr. Chairman. This is a safety bill. I chaired the Subcommittee on Aviation for 6 years. Unfortunately, there are more people killed on our Nation's highways in just a little over 4 months than in all U.S. aviation accidents combined since the Wright Brothers flight of 1903. This bill is one that will make our Nation's highways much safer and will save many thousands of lives.

We need to take terrorism very seriously, Mr. Chairman; but we are spending hundreds of billions on terrorism, when we count up all the military and Federal, State and local spending, and what all the private companies are doing on security. Yet, as the very respected National Journal magazine pointed out a few months ago, people are thousands of times more likely to be killed in a car wreck than by a terrorist. Surely we can spend $45 billion a year on our Nation's highways and our National Transportation System.

This is an efficiency bill. One leading national magazine said recently, ``Congestion costs the Nation about $67 billion a year. Americans waste 3.6 billion hours and 5.7 billion gallons of gas sitting in traffic, all at an average cost of $1,160 per commuter per year.''

This bill will save huge amounts of tax dollars by speeding up the time in which projects can be completed. Everything in our economy, Mr. Chairman, everything in our personal lives depends on, or is affected by, a good transportation system.

I am especially pleased that in this bill there is language promoting technology to decrease or cut down or eliminate the time that trucks have to idle at truck stops. I also want to work on the language, though, that is in the bill concerning parking areas for trucks along our Nation's interstate highway system so that those parking areas do not compete against companies in the private sector.

No one on our committee, Mr. Chairman, wants to pave over the entire country, but vehicle miles traveled keeps going up at three to five times the rate of our population growth. This means we have to improve and widen our highways.

Paul Craig Roberts, the nationally syndicated conservative columnist wrote recently: ``Before we can reconstruct the rest of the world, we need to stop deconstructing our own country.'' I have nothing against any other Nation, but this is one bill that is pro-American. It is not only pro-American, it is pro-jobs, pro-environment, pro-safety; and I urge its passage because this is one of the best things we will be able to do this year in this Congress.

Mr. Chairman, vicarious liability laws in 3 states (NY, ME, CT and DC) impose unlimited liability on car and truck renting and leasing companies for injury and property damage solely because they own the vehicles. Eight other states have some limited form of vicarious liability. Vicarious liability is ``liability without fault'' in that these companies have no involvement in or ability to prevent the accident. They cost consumers an average of $100 million annually. Companies nationwide are affected, not just in the few vicarious states, because the laws apply based on where the accident occurs, not where the car or truck is owned or registered. As a result, a car registered and rented in a non-vicarious state that gets into an accident in a vicarious state is subject to that state's vicarious laws. Companies have no way to protect themselves against these laws.

I propose adding to H.R. 3550 (TEA LU) a provision to eliminate vicarious liability nationwide. Under this provision, only a company that is at fault or negligent in an accident could be held liable for damages. T&I Chairman Young, Highways Subcommittee Chairman Petri, and Highways Subcommittee Ranking Member Lipinski all support this provision; Ranking Member Oberstar is non-committal at this point.

The amendment eliminates liability under state law for an owner of a motor vehicle who is engaged in the business of renting and leasing motor vehicles provided there is no negligence or criminal wrongdoing on the part of the motor vehicle owner; the owner must maintain the required state limits of financial responsibility for each vehicle in accordance to the state where the vehicle is registered; elimination of vicarious liability commences on the date of enactment; and defines ``motor vehicle'' and ``owner.''

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order at any time to consider a conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 3108) to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to temporarily replace the 30-year Treasury rate with a rate based on long-term corporate bonds for certain pension plan funding requirements, and for other purposes, that the conference report be considered as read, and that all points of order against the conference report and against its consideration be waived.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to assume the time of the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to speak about two separate issues but both related to the economic well-being, the pocketbooks of the American people.

First, the trade deficit. The Washington Post reported on February 16 that our trade deficit reached a record $489 billion in 2003. The story said that ``while the trade report showed the robust growth in U.S. consumption, it also provided a stark reminder of problems on the economy's productive side. In particular, the lack of employment growth which is attributable in part to the loss of jobs to foreign competition.''

At a hearing before the subcommittee I chair, the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, the head of the World Shipping Council said ships were coming to the U.S. full but leaving empty.

We cannot sustain this type of deficit for many more years. By far the largest trade imbalance is with China and will probably be around $150 billion this year. With a tiny bit less than 4 percent of the world's population, we buy 25 percent of the world's goods. This means that every other country desperately wants into our markets. We have tremendous trade leverage that we have not used as we should have. It has been used mainly to help large multinational companies which have had great influence, too much influence, in our government.

However, our trade agreements have been detrimental to the majority of American small and medium-sized businesses and to our workers. I believe other countries are probably amazed that we have not been tougher in trade negotiations.

We should tell any nation with which we have a large trade imbalance, starting with China, that we want to be friends, that we want cultural and educational exchanges, tourism, and especially trade; but we want that trade to be both free and fair. We should tell the Chinese and others to start looking for products they can buy from us because if they do not start bringing down the trade deficits within a reasonable time, we will have to renegotiate some of our trade agreements.

William Hawkins, Senior Fellow, at the U.S. Business and Industry Council, summed it up best in a recent column in the Washington Times: ``Commerce is driven by competition, making trade rivalry a part of the larger struggle of nations for independence, security, and prosperity.''

Mr. Speaker, I am sick and tired of seeing so many millions of American jobs going to other countries, and there is tremendous concern about this all across this Nation.

Secondly, Mr. Speaker, gas prices. Gas prices have risen to some of their highest levels ever, primarily for two reasons: one, we are being robbed by foreign oil producers; and, two, extreme environmentalists oppose any oil production in the U.S. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a 19.8 million acre site, 35 times the size of the Great Smokey Mountains. Yet some left-wing extremists oppose drilling on some 2,000 acres in the Arctic Nation Wildlife Refuge, about \1/100\ of 1 percent of the refuge, in a part that is a frozen tundra with no trees or bushes for many, many miles. We have not opened a new oil refinery since 1975, and something like 36 have been forced to close since 1980 due to too many rules and regulations. If we do not, Mr. Speaker, we will become even more vulnerable to foreign nations and damage both our economy and our national security.

These environmental extremists almost always come from very wealthy or upper-income families, and perhaps they do not realize how much they are hurting the poor and the lower-income and the working people of this country, but we need to produce more U.S. oil to bring down these gas prices.

Mr. Speaker, a few days ago, Curtis Williams, a great and patriotic American, passed away in Lenoir City, Tennessee.

Mr. Williams, or Curtis to almost everyone, was a City Councilman in Lenoir City and a former member of the Loudon County Commission. He served on many boards and committees and worked with numerous civic and charitable organizations. He loved people and obviously wanted to help as many as he could.

Curtis was not rich or famous, but much more importantly, he was a kind and good man. He loved his family first and his community and his Country next, and this shone through in everything he said and did.

This Nation is a better place today because of the life Curtis Williams led, and I want to commend and praise the work he did.

I want to also call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record the article about Curtis that was published by the Knoxville News Sentinel.

[From the Knoxville News Sentinel, Mar. 31, 2004]

Councilman's Death Leaves Big Hole in LC Community

(By Ann Hinch)

Monday's presentation of a $215,000 FEMA grant at Lenoir

City Fire Station No. 1 promises all the hallmarks of an

event Curtis Williams Sr. would've loved: his little city and

his firefighters benefiting from much-needed federal funds,

politics and old friends.

Sadly, the famously cheerful councilman will attend the

April 5 presentation only in memory. Williams, 77, died of

congestive heart failure at midnight March 15.

He'd been absent from most of the semi-monthly council

meetings in the months preceding his death, wanting to attend

but ultimately too ill and tired to do so. He would have

especially enjoyed Monday's event, as he was also the city's

fire commissioner and helped snag the FEMA grant.

``He'd get ready to come to the meetings, but at the last

minute, he'd just be too tired,'' daughter Debbie Cook

explained.

Cook, one of Williams' and wife Tiajaunia ``Ty's'' three

children, said her father's doctor told the family in January

that Williams didn't have long to live. In typical fashion,

rather than mourn his mortality, she said her father asked

frankly about funeral plans, regaled with old stories and

made the most of time with family during his last weeks.

``I remember telling him that last weekend, how when I was

growing up I remember him always helping the `little man,' ``

Cook recalled, adding with a laugh, ``and he answered, `Well,

I was the little man!'

``He saw himself as a true public servant. If someone

called him asking for help to get a job, or a place to live,

or food, he'd help them as much as he could.''

Williams served on the city council from 1997 until his

death, but was hardly a political neophyte. He spent 11 years

on the Loudon County Commission until a heart attack forced

him to leave in 1980 and also retire from his job as

assistant plant manager with the local Charles H. Bacon Co.

textile plant.

Taking a break from political office didn't mean a break in

politics. An avid Democrat all his life, Williams volunteered

for at least six boards, not including the committees he

chaired and served on during his 18 years of elected office.

And he even counted the occasional Republican among his

political comrades, including Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., and

his father, the late Rep. John J. Duncan.

``It seemed almost every time me or my dad came to Loudon

County, we would see him,'' recalled Duncan, whose father

began campaigning for office there while the younger Duncan

was in high school. ``He was a real strong supporter of both

of us.''

``I think that he set a good example for anyone in public

office. He had a heart for service and liked to help

people.''

Duncan will make the grant presentation.

Loudon County Attorney Harvey Sproul was county mayor while

Williams served on the commission. He recalls the projects

they worked on to modernize thle county, including being one

of the first Tennessee counties to institute planning and

zoning in 1972.

``He was supportive of trying to get things done and trying

to establish a foundation for future county growth,'' Sproul

said. ``He was almost unequaled in public service; he served

on so many boards, and was very progressive.''

Duncan had the most contact with Williams through veterans'

organizations. Williams was proud of his three-year tour of

duty in the Navy during World War II; Cook said Williams was

proud to serve his country, to the point of having his legal

guardians (he and his siblings were orphaned young and lived

with relatives) help him lie about his age at 17 so he could

join the Navy in 1943.

``They didn't ask for anything (age proof) back then,''

Cook said. ``They just said, `Do you want to fight?'''

Williams helped storm the beach at Normandy on D-Day and was

a gunner in the Pacific.

After the war, Williams returned to his job at Bacon, where

he'd worked since he was a boy; he would work there 36 years.

He married his childhood sweetheart, earned his GED, and

attended classes at the University of Tennessee not toward a

degree, but simply to learn more. Two of his three children--

Cook and Curtis Williams Jr.--followed him into local

politics (daughter Bernita Gamble did not). He left behind a

large family, including seven grandchildren and five great-

grandchildren.

He also left a hole on the city council, where his term

would have ended next April. Mayor Matt Brookshire, who is

now responsible for appointing the position, said, ``His

presence here was missed for a long time, and he'll continue

to be missed. He did enjoy (his work).''