Floor Statements

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

I rise in support of Senate 841. I commend Congressman Towns and Congressman Stearns for their efforts to improve pedestrian safety as the champions of the House companion legislation to Senate 841. They have worked with all the stakeholders to champion the legislative compromise that the Senate passed and which is before us today.

The National Federation of the Blind and the auto industry support the compromise legislation that will ensure pedestrian safety is not compromised by evolving engine technology.

The success of hybrid cars represents technological progress, but the byproduct is a silent engine that has raised concerns they are not audible to pedestrians and can jeopardize their safety. Quiet technology makes it very difficult for the blind and other pedestrians, such as children, joggers, or bicyclists, to evaluate traffic they do not see. The concern is greatest for blind pedestrians that rely on audible attributes of cars to evaluate direction and speed of traffic to ensure their safety. New vehicles that employ hybrid or electric engine technology can be silent, rendering them extremely dangerous in situations where vehicles and pedestrians come into proximity with each other.

The changes required by the legislation will become more important as hybrid technology becomes more and more widely deployed, and so I urge support.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, this week, the Nobel Committee will award its annual Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese human rights advocate Liu Xiaobo, but at the ceremony the chair reserved for Liu will be empty as he is serving 11 years in prison for peacefully petitioning his government for basic human rights.

Earlier this year, I was proud to join my colleagues on the Human Rights Commission in nominating Liu for the Nobel Peace Prize. Even now, the Chinese Government is censoring the news of this award and is calling for a boycott of the award ceremony. Sadly, some nations have bowed to the wishes of the Communist government. I am particularly grieved to hear that Kazakhstan, Morocco, and Iraq will not send representatives to the ceremony. These nations should know exactly what it is like to have basic human rights denied by an autocratic government.

It is not too late to defy the bullying and intimidation from those who have imprisoned a peaceful man. I call on all nations to recognize the peaceful struggle of Liu Xiaobo, a man who has no hatred even for those who have denied him and his people basic freedoms, of this distinguished honor.

Thank you, Congressman Smith, for your leadership on this issue.

Madam Speaker, here is a picture of Liu Xiaobo, a modern-day human

rights hero who is suffering and languishing in prison as we speak.

This resolution celebrates the fact that the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and notes with sadness the fact that he remains in prison because of his commitment to freedom and human rights. He has been a true hero, defending those who cannot defend themselves and lending a voice to those who have no voice.

He has worked tirelessly to protect human rights but has been repeatedly detained, sent to reeducation through labor camps, placed under house arrest, harassed, and monitored by the Chinese Government. For years, he has withstood the brutal intimidation tactics of the Chinese Government and has continued to fight for freedom.

In 2008 he helped draft Charter 08, calling for greater freedom of expression, respect for human rights, and free elections. Because of his role in drafting and circulating the charter, he was arrested and sentenced to 11 years in prison, a term he continues to serve.

Liu's long, arduous, and peaceful struggle for human rights has made him most deserving of this award, and we act today to recognize and honor his life's work. But we also take this opportunity to call on the Chinese Government to respect the basic human rights of its people and to release Liu from prison.

Unfortunately, the Chinese Government's response to the Nobel Prize Committee's decision was shameful. News about the award was censured, and the Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling Liu a criminal. His wife was placed under house arrest, and events commemorating the award were raided.

In addition, China has declined to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for the award, and now it's being boycotted.

The countries of Kazakhstan, Morocco, Egypt, and Iraq are boycotting. That's shameful. It's my hope that, as the resolution says, the Government of China will release him from prison and the President, when the President of China comes next month, will raise this issue vigorously and urge him to be released.

Mr. Speaker, in May, 154 of my Republican colleagues and I sent a letter to the President's Fiscal Commission asking them to reject a new value-added tax as a way to balance the Federal budget. With top White House advisers like John Podesta and Paul Volcker talking about the need for a VAT tax, there was great concern that the Fiscal Commission would look to this tax as an easy way to raise more revenue. Last week, I was pleased to see that the cochairs released a preliminary report that did not call for a new VAT tax.

The ease with which a VAT tax can raise revenue makes it especially dangerous. The government cannot create jobs, and a VAT tax would only further deplete resources from the private sector, the true center of job growth.

Now we need to have a serious debate in Congress about the best ways to control government spending and let the private sector flourish, grow, and create sustainable jobs.

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

Madam Speaker, the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act will improve drug take-back programs where pharmacies and others accept unused prescription drugs and dispose of them safely. Prescription drugs provide valuable therapeutic benefits to tens of millions of Americans, from treating disease to improving people's quality of life. However, a segment of our society does not use these medications for therapy but, rather, abuses them for some sort of dangerous high. Many teenagers get their hands on these medications by stealing unused medications from the family's medicine cabinet.

While some pharmacies, States, and localities have established prescription drug take-back programs, these programs may not take back controlled substances due a technical reading of the Controlled Substances Act. By passing this legislation, these programs could help further reduce the likelihood of prescription drugs being diverted to those to whom they were not prescribed.

It is important to note that this bill does not require any entity to establish a drug take-back program. But if a drug take-back program currently operates, it only makes sense to allow that facility to take back controlled drugs like oxycontin as well as noncontrolled prescription drugs.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).

I yield back the balance of my time.

I want to first thank the chairman of the committee, Mr. Berman, and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen for moving this resolution so promptly.

It is a privilege for me to sponsor this resolution. The six Americans had their lives brutally taken from them as they served the people of Afghanistan, and they deserve our deepest respect.

From my district, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Glen Lapp came to Afghanistan in 2008, leaving his life in Pennsylvania behind in order to serve as the manager of a much-needed provincial eye care program in Afghanistan. Glen wrote that his hope was to treat the Afghan people with respect and with love as he served them throughout their country.

The others who were killed were just as dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to the Afghans in remote areas.

Aid workers have played a vital role in serving the Afghan public over the last three decades, due to the country's instability. While many aid workers in the past were given safe passage in conflict areas, sadly, in recent months, attacks against them have escalated. The perpetrators are breaking longstanding customs and have resorted to targeting the very people who are trying to supply the people of Afghanistan with the resources necessary to meet their most basic needs.

It is obvious that those who killed these aid workers oppose economic and social progress in Afghanistan, including access to medical care, education, and shelter. These perpetrators must be brought to justice. These terrorists who killed these six Americans and four others are no different from the terrorists who throw acid in girls' faces when they try to go to school. They are the same terrorists who use children as human shields against American troops.

Do we understand that these senseless killings are another terrible reminder of the brutality of the Taliban and al Qaeda foreign fighters? Do we understand that these murderers must be brought to justice no matter where they originated, either in Afghanistan or Pakistan?

The people of Afghanistan suffer every day from the cruelty of the Taliban. Along with the families who lost loved ones, the Afghans suffer from the loss of these dedicated and courageous aid workers. As a result of this brutal attack, critical medical care will no longer be available to many of the Afghans who were served by these humanitarian workers. We in the United States need to understand that, and we need to call for justice. The Afghan authorities must conduct an investigation and find these murderers, no matter where they might be hiding or receiving sanctuary.

From various reports, there are strong indications that the attackers were not local and some were speaking non-Afghan languages. Given the location of the attack, the proximity to Taliban strongholds in Nuristan, a province that borders volatile areas of Pakistan, and given the cross-border nature of the Afghan insurgency, I strongly urge the Government of Pakistan to do its utmost to cooperate in rooting out extremism on its soil, in particular, the safe havens that exist on the Pakistani side that have been the source of many acts of violence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The safe havens for the Taliban, the al Qaeda, and the Haqqani network must be eradicated.

This attack has been called by some the worst attack on humanitarian aid workers in three decades of conflict in Afghanistan. Justice must be served so that it never happens again.

To this end, I hope the U.S. Government is seeking to enhance and dedicate greater resources to establishing law and order and strengthening Afghan institutions to better protect the Afghan people and their partners.

In closing, today we honor the brave and selfless humanitarian aid workers, doctors, nurses who died on August 5. Their efforts to bring healing and care to the Afghans were noble and good.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of these heroes and quiet leaders, as well as with the Afghan people who have suffered so many decades of conflict and loss.

Mr. Speaker, throughout the month of August, I met with small business owners in my district who are anxious about the coming 1099 reporting requirements created by ObamaCare. They see a mountain of tax paperwork in their future, a mountain that will increase their accounting costs and prevent them from growing their businesses.

The 1099 reporting requirement has nothing to do with improving health care in this Nation. It was only included as another revenue raiser to pay for a massive new government health care entitlement program that the American people don't want.

H.R. 5297, the small business bill the House will take up tomorrow, makes a bad situation even worse. Instead of repealing this burdensome requirement, the bill actually increases penalties and expands the number of transactions subject then to 1099 reporting requirements. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this proposal will raise over $2.5 billion. That's $2.5 billion that will go to the government instead of job creators.

How long will it take our friends on the other side to figure out you can't increase the burden on our Nation's small businesses and then expect them to hire more Americans?

Mr. Speaker, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sebelius seemed shocked to find that placing new mandates on health insurers leads to increased costs.

After press reports last week indicated that insurers are raising premiums because of ObamaCare, the Secretary wrote a letter to the health insurance association which is nothing more than bullying. The Secretary called the measures onto the carpet, insisting that there would be ``zero tolerance for misinformation and unjustified rate increases.''

Why are these rate increases unjustified? Because government bureaucrats thought that all the new rules and mandates would only lead to increases of 1 or 2 percent. Now insurers functioning in the real world are increasing premiums by up to 9 percent.

Bullying and threats aren't going to make ObamaCare work. This unprecedented expansion of government power is only making health care more expensive.

The solution is to repeal this law and replace it with real market- based reforms that take power away from unelected government bureaucrats.

Madam Speaker, I am profoundly saddened by the recent killings of humanitarian workers in Afghanistan on August 5, 2010.

We've seen many acts of terror by the Taliban, starting in the 1990s with public executions in soccer stadiums, brutal attacks against girls attending school, attacks against Afghans who did not live exactly as the Taliban dictated, and many other terrible actions. These terrorists have now escalated their brutality by burning down schools, engaging in suicide attacks, attacking civilians, and attacking humanitarian aid workers.

Many knew the lifelong service of Tom Little and Dan Terry, the two men heading the unarmed delegation of mostly medical workers returning from their humanitarian work in Northeastern Afghanistan. These two men were deeply dedicated to serving the health needs of Afghans, particularly those in remote areas, who had no access to medical care. These two men made their lives in Afghanistan, raised their families there, spoke local languages fluently, and knew the local culture. These two men, and the other members of this brutally murdered delegation, were committed humanitarian workers.

Many Afghans and non-Afghans who have known their work for years and have interacted with members of the delegation have come forward to talk of their passion for helping the Afghan people.

From my district, in Lancaster, PA, Glen Lapp came to Afghanistan in 2008 for a short-term assignment, but decided to remain, leaving his life in Pennsylvania behind, in order to serve as manager of a much- needed provincial eye care program in Afghanistan. Glen wrote that his hope was to ``continue to help this country work towards peace on many different social, ethnic, and economic levels.''

Sadly, there have been accusations by some against this delegation regarding their humanitarian work. And, unfortunately, the Taliban's false accusations against them have been repeated by some who clearly do not know the facts. It is important for the world to note that the organization that sponsored these humanitarians signed the ``Principles of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent for NGOs and Disaster Response Programmes'' which states that ``aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint.''

It is deeply disturbing when a horrific attack against humanitarian workers, such as this one, is used for propaganda purposes by the Taliban and is then reinforced by some of their apologists.

Afghanistan's precarious stability means aid workers have played a vital role in serving the Afghan public over the last three decades. While in the past many aid workers were able to assist the Afghans and were given safe passage in conflict areas, sadly, in recent months, the Taliban have escalated their brutality by breaking this long-standing custom and resorting to targeting even those that are conducting humanitarian assistance programs.

It's obvious that the Taliban in Afghanistan are not only against progress for the Afghan people, but have also decided to attack anyone assisting the Afghans in achieving progress and bettering their lives, whether that be related to medical issues, education (especially for girls), the economy, or even Afghans expressing their culture, such as kite-flying competitions.

In light of this violent attack, there must be a joint investigation with the Afghan authorities so that those who perpetrated this horrific execution of innocent aid workers are brought to justice, no matter where they might be hiding or receiving sanctuary. From various reports, there are strong indications that the attackers were not local and some were speaking non-Afghan languages.

Given the location of the attack, the proximity to Taliban strongholds in Nuristan, a province that borders volatile areas of Pakistan, and given the cross border nature of the Afghan insurgency, I strongly urge the government of Pakistan to do its utmost to cooperate in rooting out extremism on its soil, in particular the safe havens that exist on the Pakistani side that have been the source of many acts of violence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The safe havens for the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and the Haqqani network must end. And, the U.S. government must finally add the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban, and the Haqqani Network to the Foreign Terrorist Organization list. This attack, which has been called by some observers ``the worst attack on humanitarian aid workers in three decades of conflict in Afghanistan,'' as coupled with numerous other horrific acts of terror perpetrated by these groups against Afghan and American civilians and military personnel, warrant the addition of these groups to the Foreign Terrorist Organization list.

In addressing the wider context of these brutal attacks against humanitarians, we must not forget the tragic impact on the families of those killed. I would like to thank Tom Little, Dan Terry, Glen Lapp, Thomas Grams, Cheryl Beckett, Brian Carderelli, Karen Woo, Daniela Beyer, Mahram Ali, and Ahmed Jawed and their families, as well as all the other aid workers in Afghanistan who have been so committed to serving the Afghan people.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of these heroes and quiet leaders, as well as with the Afghan people who have suffered so many decades of conflict and loss.

Madam Speaker, this weekend, we received sad and disturbing news from Afghanistan as 10 humanitarian aid workers, six of them Americans, were killed in a barbaric Taliban attack.

Among those killed was one of my constituents, Glen Lapp of Lancaster, as well as Brian Carderelli, whose family I have worked with on humanitarian aid projects. The team leader, Tom Little, served with his wife and daughters in Afghanistan for over 30 years. They were ambushed while traveling from an isolated village where they provided eye care and other medical assistance. The group they were working with, International Assistance Mission, has been working in Afghanistan for decades, reaching out to heal the sick and restore sight.

Because of the barbaric actions of the Taliban and these senseless killings, the people of Afghanistan will lose the valuable assistance of individuals with special medical skills to help those living far away from modern medical services.

I know that Glen, Brian, Tom and all of the volunteers will be dearly missed and we honor them for their courage and love for the Afghan people and their service to them.

Mr. Speaker, the United States competes on a global level for businesses and jobs, and when international investors look at our Nation, they have some concerns about the future.

Our country has the second highest corporate income tax rate in the industrialized world; and come January 1, we will see the largest tax increase in our Nation's history as the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, all taxes, snap back to the old higher levels. There's uncertainty with on- again/off-again tax cuts and increases.

Starting today, our financial regulatory agencies will write hundreds of new rules governing investment. And

we're now completely remaking our health care system with extensive government oversight, taxes, and thousands of pages of new regulations.

With all of these things together, it's perfectly understandable why we have weak job growth. Uncertainty about the United States business climate is directly caused by what Congress is doing to the American economy. We need to stop harming our economy with new taxes and complicated regulations and opportunity for new litigation and, instead, free American entrepreneurs and businesses to be able to compete on a global level to create jobs.

Mr. Speaker, as the American people ask where are the jobs, the President's economic advisers reply with weak statistics about the wasteful government stimulus program. All the while, we're losing billions of dollars to tariffs that could have been eliminated years ago.

It has been 1,337 days since the U.S. and Colombia negotiated a free trade agreement. For over 3 years, the Democrat leadership in Congress has refused to consider the legislation to ratify that treaty. In that time, American businesses have paid an estimated $2.8 billion in tariffs. This is $2.8 billion that could have gone to good American jobs, and this number grows higher every day. You can see it on the Republican Ways and Means Committee Web site.

We need to stop wasting our time, hoping that more government spending and borrowing will revive the economy. Instead, we need to unleash American businesses and entrepreneurs to expand into new markets. Passing the Colombia, South Korea, and Panama Free Trade Agreements would give real, tangible benefits to American workers and create jobs.

Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago, there was ethnic violence occurring in the emerging Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Today, there is good news about how that nation is progressing towards democracy. On Sunday, the people of Kyrgyzstan held a referendum on the new constitution. Ninety percent voted to establish a new parliamentary government. This would make Kyrgyzstan the only nation in the region to shift its balance of power from an authoritarian style of government to representative democracy.

Despite the recent violence, the interim government was able to conduct the referendum as scheduled and undertook heroic efforts to include as many citizens as possible, with two-thirds of the eligible voters participating. Election officials visited hospitals and refugee camps to ensure that the injured and displaced were not denied the right to a ballot.

The government faces many challenges before the general election this fall and much to be done for Kyrgyzstan to establish a stable government that protects the rights of all its citizens. But the referendum is a good start, and the United States should stand by with assistance and support.

Madam Speaker, you may remember that the American people were told that Congress had to pass the health care bill so they could find out what was in it.

After 3 months, the American people have found out what was in the new law, and they still don't like it. The latest Rasmussen poll from just this week shows that 55 percent oppose the law. And they have good reasons to be upset.

New HHS rules published just a few weeks ago will mean that many companies and individuals will be forced to change to plans that meet the government's new standards. So much for ``if you like your plan you can keep it,'' as the President said.

For seniors, CBO reports that half of all Medicare Advantage plans will end in the coming years. Seniors who were receiving vision and dental coverage on these plans will now be forced to buy costly supplemental coverage. The more layers we peel away, the less there is to like about ObamaCare.

Mr. Speaker, we've heard a lot lately about the need for a European-style value-added tax in the U.S. to solve our budget problem. And just yesterday, the ruling coalition in Britain announced that it wants to raise their nation's value-added tax from 17.5 percent to 20 percent. It's estimated that this increase would cost 163,000 jobs and reduce consumer spending by $5.3 billion in the United Kingdom.

It's not a surprise that the VAT tax is creeping up in Britain. The average rate in Europe is now around 20 percent, and Greece raised their VAT rate to 21 percent as part of their bailout agreement. This is yet more evidence that the VAT taxes are easy for countries to raise during times of fiscal crisis.

With so much discussion about an American VAT, we have to be aware of what the true cost of such a tax would be to our own job growth and consumer spending. Early proposals might call for a 5 percent VAT tax, but in truth, the seemingly easy revenue would make it all too easy for the U.S. Government to quickly raise taxes to European levels. This seemingly easy tax revenue would have a great cost--American jobs. The VAT tax is one tax we can't afford in America.