Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as of today there has not been a vote on the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Article II, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states that the President has the power to appoint judges with the advice and consent of the Senate, advice and consent. Those two little words represent the difference between an organized process of judicial nomination and sheer chaos.

President Bush first nominated Miguel Estrada on May 9, 2001, 18 months ago. For 18 long months, we have waited for the confirmation of Mr. Estrada. Time is running out. For the sake of the integrity of the nomination process, for the sake of decency and simple fairness, the process must move forward.

The American people sent us to Washington to get a job done, not to waste time. It is time to vote on Miguel Estrada. The American people do not want obstructionism.

Madam Speaker, nearly a century ago, George Santayana wrote, ``Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.''

This is a big world we live in, but if there are two countries in this world that should remember the consequences of coddling tyrants, they are France and Germany.

But these two countries seem to have forgotten.

The world is watching as Saddam Hussein amasses weapons so powerful they could wipe out whole armies, whole cities and, given time, perhaps even whole nations; and we know he will use them because he has done so before. But France and Germany seem to be doing everything in their power to foil our plans to stop him before it is too late.

Is it because these two countries have seen so much blood that they just cannot stand the thought of another war? Or is it because so much of Saddam's technology has come from Germany? Perhaps it is because France is Saddam's third largest trading partner. France and Germany's recklessness has even risked the safety of an ally and threatened the cohesiveness of NATO itself, although I am glad to say they have come to their senses there.

It is time for Germany and France to decide where they stand. Are they on the side of tyrants, or are they on the side of freedom? There is no other choice.

Madam Speaker, those of us who have served our country in war understand in our hearts what every American understands in his head. We understand what it says--carved in stone--on the Korean War

Memorial down at the other end of the National Mall. We understand that

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the funding for abstinence-until-marriage education in this bill, and I thank the Chairman for his leadership on this important issue.

Today, the results of a landmark Zogby International survey assessing parental attitudes on sex education have been released to the public. The Zogby poll reveals strong parental approval for character-based, abstinence-until-marriage programs and proves that parents soundly reject the goals and content of so-called ``comprehensive'' sex education. The results are available online at www.whatparentsthink.com

According to the Zogby poll, 73.5 percent of parents approve or strongly approve of abstinence-centered sex education. 61.1 percent of parents disapprove or strongly disapprove of so-called comprehensive'' or ``safe sex'' education. 75.3 percent of parents disapprove or strongly disapprove of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) sex education curriculum.

When parents are accurately informed about what ``comprehensive'' sex education actually entails, which includes distributing condoms in schools, they make it clear that they do not want their children to be inundated with ``safesex'' propaganda. Instead, parents want their children to be taught self-respect, self-control and abstinence-until- marriage.

This survey marks the first time parents have been polled using the exact language from comprehensive sex education guidelines. The major weaknesses of previous polls are their misleading questions and fuzzy interpretations. In this poll, Zogby used exact definitions and verbatim wording from the comprehensive sex education curricula developed and endorsed by such groups as the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) and Planned Parenthood.

The Zogby organization also found that: All demographic groupings strongly disapprove of comprehensive sex education--especially non- white minorities (Hispanics and Asians). And, 70 percent of parents strongly disapprove of their teens getting contraceptives without their approval.

Mr. Speaker, America's parents have spoken. They want abstinence- until-marriage education. This bill ensures that the values many American parents hold dear:--the values of abstinence and marital faithfulness are not determined by taxpayer-funded ``safe-sex'' propaganda in schools.

I encourage my colleagues to join America's parents in supporting this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Coalition for Adolescent Sexual Health--Summary of Key Findings

Background

Zogby International conducted the survey on behalf of the

Coalition for Adolescent Sexual Health, an ad hoc association

formed exclusively for the purpose of conducting the poll.

Private foundations that wish to remain anonymous paid for

the cost of the survey.

The random sample survey was conducted January 11 to 15. A

total of 1,245 adult parents of children ages 5 to 18 were

interviewed with an over-sampling of African Americans. The

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the ethnic minorities of Burma, otherwise known as Myanmar. In January, I visited the Thai-Burma border and met with refugees, democracy activists, prisoner-of-conscience groups and others working to help the people of Burma. Sadly, the international community has failed to recognize that there is, under international legal definitions, a campaign of genocide against the ethnic minorities by the ruling SPDC dictatorship in Burma.

We met with victims' groups, land mine victims, orphans, rape victims and others. One little boy I met was an 8-year-old orphan. He had seen both of his parents killed, then he was trafficked over the border into Thailand and there he escaped to the refugee camps. This little boy was so traumatized that he could not even smile. I saw many children like him.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Government and the international community must do something to assist the people of Burma and stop the brutality. Otherwise, we will all be responsible for the successful genocide campaign ethnic cleansing going on by the vicious military of the SPDC.

Madam Speaker, those of us who have served our country in the war understand in our hearts what every American understands in his head. We understand the words carved in stone down at the Korean War memorial, the words, ``Freedom is not free.''

Thousands of Americans have died in a war, but of those who did not die, few have gone through what our friend and colleague Sam Johnson went through in Vietnam. For years he suffered torture, imprisonment and solitary confinement. They worked on him relentlessly to break his spirit, but the spirit of Sam Johnson could not be broken. He refused to betray his country. He refused to give up his faith in God.

I had the privilege of visiting in that prison where he was in solitary 2 weeks ago. It was a horrible place. Sam is a living hero. He is an example to us all. He is living proof that what America stands for is right and just and good.

I thank Sam for his service to our country, and as a fellow vet, I salute him.

Madam Speaker, those of us who have served our country in war understand in our hearts what every American understands in his head. We understand what it says--carved in stone--on the Korean War Memorial down at the other end of the National Mall. The words ``FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.'' Thousands of families have died in war. But of those who did not die, few have gone through what our friend and colleague Sam Johnson went through in Vietnam.

For years he suffered torture, imprisonment, and solitary confinement. They worked on him relentlessly to break his spirit. But the spirit of Sam Johnson could not be broken. He refused to betray his country. And he refused to give up his belief & faith in his God.

I visited that prison 2 weeks ago in Hanoi. Sam is a living hero. He is an example to us all. Thank you Sam. Sam, I salute you.

Mr. Speaker, last year, we in the House of Representatives voted to ban all cloning of humans. Tinkering with human life the way some propose to do is unethical, immoral, and wrong. It would treat little human beings as commodities to be created, experimented on, used, and destroyed.

Of course, some people, like the Raelian cult, want to create clones and let them grow up. That too is wrong. There should be no cloning of humans at all.

Let me read what Ronald Reagan had to say about the sanctity of life: ``Every legislator, every doctor, and every citizen needs to recognize that the real issue is whether to affirm and protect the sanctity of all human life, or to embrace a social ethic where some human lives are valued and others are not. As a Nation, we must choose between the sanctity of life ethic and the quality of life ethic.''

Soon, Congress will be asked to choose between protecting some human lives and protecting all human lives. I pray we do the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, for 12 years we have amassed a mountain of proof that Saddam Hussein has both weapons of mass destruction and the missiles he needs to launch them.

Right now, Saddam Hussein is violating a long string of binding U.N. resolutions. He continues to repeatedly violate the terms of the 1991 ceasefire, which amounts to a resumption of war.

As we heard last evening, our President is determined to stop Saddam Hussein before it is too late by disarming him of weapons of mass destruction. But over and over we hear the President's critics say that he should not act without the United Nations.

Now, President Bush agrees that the U.N. can be very helpful, but sometimes the U.N. does the wrong thing. Last year, the U.N. placed some of the world's worst human rights abusers on its Commission on Human Rights. Now, of all countries, Libya is going to chair that body.

If that is not bad enough, Iraq, Iraq is in line to take over the U.N. Conference on Disarmament. Could anything be more ludicrous?

President Bush should do the right thing with or without the United Nations.

Mr. Speaker, just last week a beautiful young woman named Monique Brown died and went home to be with her Maker. Monique worked in my office as my legislative correspondent.

A month ago Monique was released from the hospital just in time to get married, giving her husband Christopher the opportunity to love her and care for her at home. He did so with amazing integrity and dedication. But then Monique returned to the hospital, where she fell into a coma and soon passed away.

Mr. Speaker, Monique was only 23 years old. She had a strong faith, and, though she wanted to live, the prospect of dying did not frighten her at all.

In Psalm 39 David wrote, ``Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.

``You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You.

``But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in You.''

Monique's hope was always in the Lord, but she does not need to hope anymore. She is now with her Lord.

Mr. Speaker, recently a religious group called the Raelians announced that they had cloned a human being, and despite all the press coverage they have received most observers are convinced this is a hoax. But true or not, this episode underscores the fact that human cloning is no longer limited to B movie science fiction. The technology exists. It may take hundreds of tries and it may result in dozens of horribly mutated human embryos and the violation of every standard of ethics and decency, but human cloning is very close to happening.

Congress must act before it is too late. We need to pass a comprehensive human cloning ban into law immediately. The House did its job last year, passed a bill that died in the Senate. Now both Houses of Congress need to pass a comprehensive cloning ban. We need to stop this horror before it happens.

The bill is being introduced today by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon). I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this important bill, and I urge the House to pass it as soon as possible. It is still not too late for us to act.