Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was shocked and deeply disturbed by events over the weekend in Burma, the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and the death of the prodemocracy activists there. The Government of Burma should release Aung San Suu Kyi and end its brutal dictatorship of the people of Burma.

The government says that Suu Kyi is in ``protective custody.'' Burma's record of protecting its people is highly suspect. The people of Burma have suffered for too long from the SPDC, from campaigns of systematic rape, murder, forced labor, destruction of villages, food sources, and a myriad of other atrocities, including the deaths of many small children.

The international community, particularly Burma's neighbors, must press the Burmese military government to recognize the fact that the people want freedom. The government must accept the legitimate election of the National League for Democracy. The world community should condemn the dictatorship's actions.

I call on the U.S. Government to take deliberate, serious action to help free Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma. To the people of Burma, we stand with them.

Mr. Speaker, Members of Congress need access to information. The problem is there is so much of it that to process it and use it to make decisions is often difficult. My staff mines through a lot of information, does a great job with limited resources, and they often need help. And that is where the Congressional Research Service comes in.

CRS helps with research on nearly any topic. They are able to track down new stories, books. They can talk through issues, help review legislation. Congress would not be the same without the valuable service they provide. My office has had the privilege of working with CRS quite closely on a number of issues. In particular, Ted Stedman and Wayne Riddle helped update my Dollars to the Classroom Act.

Tim and Wayne and their colleagues at CRS are an invaluable part of what we are trying to accomplish here in Congress. I thank CRS for their hard work, for their dedication in providing Congress with the tools that we need to address the issues our Nation faces.

Mr. Speaker, in January, a beautiful young staffer in my office by the name of Monique Bradley Brown died from a deadly form of kidney disease. Monique was my legislative correspondent.

Some of the symptoms from the disease appear as normal health anomalies, such as higher blood pressure and lower back pain. Often patients like Monique and their families are taken by surprise when discovery of the ailment is made. Regular screenings are necessary to detect the disease before it is too late.

In Monique's memory, we are having a kidney screening for all House Members and staff. The screening is free. It will take place on Tuesday, May 27, from 9 to 5, in H C-5. The National Kidney Foundation of the Capitol area will conduct the screening, and the various tests will take no longer than a half hour.

For more information, Members and staff may contact my office. Act now before it is too late.

Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Sanchez amendment which would force military medical facilities to provide abortions. In recent months, we have witnessed the courage and bravery of our men and women of our Armed Forces, and they have risked their lives in the war on terror and the war in Iraq. They have risked their lives in order to preserve and extend the right to life and liberty at home and abroad.

U.S. military personnel aboard the USS Comfort and in other U.S. military medical facilities have extended hope and healing to the wounded. How do we repay them? How do we thank them for their sacrifice and selflessness? The Sanchez amendment would repay them by forcing military medical personnel to be complicit in the taking of human life. It would divert precious medical resources such as staff time, equipment and facilities away from the front lines of battle. The Sanchez amendment would promote bad medicine and the poor use of scarce taxpayer dollars.

Abortion is the most violent form of death known to mankind, death by decapitation, dismemberment, a horrible, horrific death. We should defeat the Sanchez amendment.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education has had its share of problems with the money this body gives it. Many of us have followed the stories of waste and fraud that have plagued the Department. Some $450 million were recently used for purposes other than educating children. Credit cards were used to purchase products from pornographic Web sites. Several employees were caught buying luxury SUVs and even buildings with money supposed to go to South Dakota schools.

Secretary Paige has cracked down on these activities. For only the second time ever, the Department received recently a clean audit from the GAO, and all of the $450 million has been accounted for.

But this is more than just bureaucrats spending money the wrong way. It is about defrauding our children and our schools. If it expects schools to be accountable, the Department has to be accountable. Secretary Paige must continue to stand up for children and oppose bureaucrats eager to waste money, education money, for their own personal gain. We need to get the money into the classroom where it belongs.

Mr. Speaker, I served with Matt Ryan in the Pennsylvania General Assembly for 24 years.

Having worked with him all those years, never once did I question his dedication to his job or his commitment to making life better for all of Pennsylvania's 12 million citizens.

We worked together on a lot of things, but I'll always remember very fondly the work we did together on the Capitol Preservation Committee.

Time and time again, I've heard tourists who have visited dozens of state capitols say that Pennsylvania's is the most beautiful.

Matt and I shared a vision of restoring that beautiful, century-old building to its original grandeur.

It was a project that took a lot of years, and a project that will never really be complete.

But it was a labor of love for us.

It goes without saying that restoring the capitol was only one of Matt's many accomplishments.

Matt served in the General Assembly for more than four decades, and he seemed like a man who was destined to lead.

He was always fair and always compassionate.

He was good at building consensus, even on difficult issues.

And he was a man of his word.

As the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House since the Republican Party was founded, he left his mark on this Commonwealth as much as any Pennsylvanian since Ben Franklin.

He was a valuable partner, a respected leader, and a very, very good friend.

I'll miss him.

Mr. Speaker, the dictatorship Government of North Korea is a menace to world peace. It continues to produce nuclear material, violating its agreements. They want to use these weapons to blackmail us for more assistance. And in reports this week, it looks like this rogue regime is using the international drug trade to fund its terrible activities. We cannot negotiate with a regime like this.

In 1985, North Korea signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Eighteen months later it stalled in implementing the treaty, demanding that we remove nuclear weapons from South Korea. As we negotiated, they made nuclear weapons. In 1991, we withdrew our weapons from South Korea. In 1996, President Clinton tried to bargain

again, giving North Korea more assistance to stop making nuclear weapons.

This time we should not be intimidated into making concessions to a rogue regime because they want to extract more assistance. Kim Jong Il uses whatever money he can get to terrorize his people and threaten the security of the entire region. China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea all should make an effort to contain this rogue dictator and help put an end to his blackmail games.

Mr. Speaker, Brenda Nichol has taught for the Armstrong- Indiana Intermediate Unit in western Pennsylvania for 8 years now. But on April 4, Brenda was notified that the small cross necklace she was wearing around her neck would have to be concealed by clothing or removed when she was in school. School officials claim that wearing the necklace in school violates the unit's policy as well as Pennsylvania school code regulations that prohibit school employees from wearing religious clothing or symbols in school. When asked to remove the necklace, Brenda refused. On April 8 she was suspended. On April 16 she was notified that the suspension would be for a year without pay.

Mr. Speaker, this is outrageous. School personnel, just like students, do not check their constitutional liberties at the schoolhouse door. Brenda is a dedicated teacher who has a constitutional right to wear her little cross pendant around her neck at school. I hope the court will overturn the intermediate unit's harsh punishment for their ridiculous decision.

Mr. Speaker, General Douglas MacArthur once said, ``Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that, upon other fields on other days, will bear the fruits of victory.''

Mike Kamon has played on those fields of friendly strife at West Chester Henderson High School and now at West Point. In high school he was a star lacrosse player and could have gone anywhere to college, but he chose West Point. Through his first 3 years at West Point, he distinguished himself as a potent offensive threat. But this year he is a defensive midfielder because that is what his team needs. He is willing to do whatever it takes to see his team succeed, even if it means less glory for himself in his senior season.

On May 31, Mike will become a second lieutenant in the 4th Infantry Division because that is what his country needs. He will train to be an artillery officer, and by February will be deployed to Iraq or some other front in our war on terror. Thank you, Mike, for defending our freedom.

Mr. Speaker, right after September 11, France voiced its support in the war on terrorism. Lately, we are hearing a different story. It has been reported that the French Government secretly supplied fleeing Iraqi officials with passports in Syria to allow them to escape to Europe. The French passports allowed the wanted Iraqis to move freely among 12 European Union countries.

There are also reports which indicate that a French company covertly sold spare military parts to Iraq in the weeks before the war and that a French oil company was working with a Russian oil firm to conclude a deal with Saddam's government in the days before military action began March 19.

All of this has undermined our efforts to root out terrorists in Iraq and capture members of the brutal Iraqi regime. If France wants to be an ally in the war on terrorism, it is time it started to act like one.

Madam Speaker, several weeks ago Cuba was reelected to the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Given the U.N.'s record, that is not surprising. But more shocking is the Human Rights Commission's treatment of the Sudan. From its northern perch in Khartoum, the Sudanese government has conducted a self-declared jihad against the country's Christian population in the south.

The government has killed 2 million, allowed the enslavement of tens of thousands, and displaced nearly 5 million, and the death toll keeps rising. Somehow the U.N. is willing to ignore these facts.

It has pulled all human rights observers and appears to have declared Sudan slave-free. But we cannot turn our back even if the U.N. has turned theirs. Sudan continues the enslavement and massacre of its Christian population. Sudan's complete disregard for human life and eager support of the slave trade deserve our condemnation.

The Human Rights Commission should reverse its decision, and this Congress should continue to pressure Sudan to end the massacre of its own citizens.

Mr. Speaker, today, I introduced the Essential Air Service Eligibility Fairness Act of 2003, a bill to provide much needed financial relief to the Lancaster Airport and other airports throughout the United States that are adversely impacted by the existing law.

Under current law, if an airport is located fewer than 70 highway miles from the nearest large or medium hub airport, the airport is ineligible to receive a subsidy from the Essential Air Service Program.

However, current law allows the Department of Transportation to determine whether or not a given airport meets the criteria for receiving the EAS subsidy.

State and local officials are better able to determine the most commonly traveled routes in their communities.

In my own Congressional District, the Lancaster Airport has been affected by this debate.

On March 21, 2003, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Department of Transportation's decision to deny Lancaster Airport an EAS subsidy because Lancaster Airport was deemed to be located within 70 highway miles of Philadelphia Airport.

The Lancaster Airport and my constituents were dismayed at this decision.

The route that the Department of Transportation used is not the most commonly used highway route and would take over three hours to drive. The most commonly traveled route is located 80 highway miles from Philadelphia Airport, but takes only one and a half hours to drive.

I am introducing this legislation today, to empower a Governor or a local Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to determine eligibility for local EAS subsidies.

Having worked with local MPOs in my district, I am confident that these determinations should be made at the state and local level.

A Lancaster County rank seventh in the state for air service demand and generates over 876,000 annual originating air trips. Additionally, these air travelers pay more than $20 million per year in aviation taxes.

Lancaster County with over 11,000 businesses and a population of over 472,000 needs and deserves commercial air service.

This legislation will ensure that communities like Lancaster County continue to receive quality local air service. I urge Congress to support this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to support this conscience protection amendment. Faith-based organizations are often the most effective in preventing the spread of HIV; and despite their effectiveness in caring for millions with the disease and working to prevent the spread of it, many relief organizations continue to disregard the right of faith- based organizations to object to condom distribution.

In the hearing we had, we cited the quotations from the U.N. representatives in this regard. This amendment will provide protection for faith-based groups, like the Catholic Church, who apply for Federal funds but who object to distributing condoms as a form of HIV prevention. It is meant to make sure that we do not arbitrarily disqualify any organization from one part of our strategy because they do not participate in another.

We should have the best organizations working within our overall plan on parts of the plan that they do best. We should not discriminate against organizations that are saving lives. I urge Members to support the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes.

Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1298 endorses Uganda's ABC model that focuses on abstinence, but it does not ensure that money is actually directed to abstinence programs.

Abstinence works. In Uganda, which has been cited as the ABC model, ``A'' for abstinence first; ``B'' for being faithful to one partner; and ``C,'' condom use, and this focus on abstinence first lowered HIV infection rates from 21 percent in 1991 to 6 percent in 2000. The ABC model saves lives, and this amendment will ensure that these funds save more lives by moving taxpayer dollars to life-saving strategies that have been proven to work.

It mandates a percentage: 33 percent of the prevention funds disbursed under the bill for abstinence. Now that is not all of the bill, that is just prevention funds, and one-third of those.

Other countries have begun implementation of the ABC model and are already showing great success, as they did dramatically in Uganda. But countries like Kenya, which have stuck mainly to the social marketing of condoms, are experiencing huge increases in HIV prevalence rates, and this amendment takes that fact seriously.

It makes sense to guarantee that this money will fund what works. This amendment makes sure that there is sufficient flexibility for the AIDS coordinator. It only mandates 33 percent of the prevention funds to go to abstinence. It leaves the remaining 67 percent of prevention money to be disbursed as the coordinator sees fit.

Opponents claim that abstinence just is not possible. Dr. Edward Green, a researcher at Harvard University was an opponent of the ABC model, in particular abstinence, until he saw what happened in Uganda. He testified before the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and he said, ``Many of us in the AIDS and public health communities did not believe that abstinence, or delay, and faithfulness, were realistic goals. It now seems we were wrong.''

In Uganda the proportion of young males age 15 to 24 reporting premarital sex decreased from 60 percent in 1989 to 23 percent in 1995. For females, the decline was 53 percent to 16 percent. The program actually changed the behavior in women and men, a fact I hope my colleagues take seriously.

This amendment will make sure that funds get to what works. It maintains

flexibility, makes the bill better. It will save lives. I urge Members to support this amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, the Uganda model was developed by Ugandans themselves.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Musgrave).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence).

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Akin).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde), the cosponsor of this amendment, to close.

Mr. Speaker, 84 percent of Americans say they think Scott Peterson should be held responsible for the deaths of his wife, Lacy, and their unborn son, Connor. I agree. Criminals who kill an unborn baby in the act of a crime should be held accountable.

On January 1, 1999, Deanna Mitts was 8 months pregnant. And after celebrating New Year's with her family, Deanna, her 3 year old daughter, Kayla, and her unborn daughter, were killed by a bomb explosion in their Connersville, Pennsylvania home.

Joseph Minerd, the father of the unborn child was arrested for Deanna and Kayla's murders but is not being held criminally liable for the death of the unborn child. That is not right.

If Scott Peterson should be held accountable, so should Joseph Minerd. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act would make sure that Joseph answers to all 3 of these deaths under Federal law. The bill would protect the innocent and defenseless against crime, and it would hold accountable the Scott Petersons and Joseph Minerds of this world. I urge the House to support the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.

Madam Speaker, on March 23 the Federal Department of Transportation decided to yank funding from the Lancaster Airport in my district, denying the airport of its ability to provide commercial air services.

The Department operates a program called the Essential Air Services Program which provides subsidies to airlines that serve smaller markets that would otherwise go without commercial service. But the Department of Transportation is wrong in this case.

The 68-mile route it chose between Route 30 to Philadelphia International Airport takes 3 hours to drive or more. The route most commonly used is 80 miles and takes about half that time to drive.

This week I am introducing a bill to remedy this wrong. The Essential Air Services Eligibility Fairness Act will make sure the highway mileage between a place and the nearest hub airport will be determined by the most commonly used route between the two airports. It will protect, in my case, 876,000 air trips that originate every year in Lancaster; and it will protect the other small market airports around the country that provide convenient air service for millions.