Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 973, which supports the goals and ideals of designating the week of October 2-8, 2006 Financial Planning Week.

I want to thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Hinojosa, for introducing this resolution. I want to commend him for his leadership on the important issue of financial education.

In addition to serving together on the Financial Services Committee, Congressman Hinojosa and I co-chair the Financial and Economic Literacy Caucus, which now has 79 members. His commitment to improving financial literacy levels among all Americans is unwavering. I am honored to co- chair the caucus with him and to be the lead co-sponsor of this resolution.

I also want to thank the gentleman from Virginia, Chairman Tom Davis, for expeditiously moving this resolution through the Committee on Government Reform.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 973 calls on the Nation to observe the week of October 2-8, 2006, as ``Financial Planning Week.'' The Financial Planning Association, along with many states and municipalities across the country, have designated October 2-8, 2006, as ``Financial Planning Week.'' Our collective goal for the week is to make Americans aware of their financial planning needs, and encourage them to take the actions necessary to achieve financial security for their families.

Mr. Speaker, proper financial planning is an essential part of achieving one's life goals. Whether saving for a child's education, planning for retirement, or purchasing a first home, virtually every major decision that we make requires comprehensive financial planning.

Financial Planning Week will provide a good opportunity to talk to your kids about their personal finances, to remind your friends and loved ones of the need to plan for retirement, or to seek help with your own financial situation, if need be.

In the last quarter of 2005, the personal savings rate dropped to negative-point-two-percent--one of the lowest since the Great Depression. Studies show that as many as 10 million households in the United States are `un-banked.' They don't even have a bank or credit union account. In addition, 37 percent of workers are not currently saving for retirement. This has to change, and the best way for it to change is for us as Americans to get educated about properly managing our finances.

This October, during ``Financial Planning Week,'' I will join my colleagues, and financial literacy advocates nationwide, to encourage Americans to seek out information about the benefits of properly managing their personal finances.

I ask my colleagues to join me and support the goals and ideals of designating October 2-8, 2006, as Financial Planning Week.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the world's most famous detective, Dick Tracy, on his 75th Anniversary, and to recognize that my home state of Illinois has declared October 4, 2006, ``Dick Tracy Day.''

For the past 75 years, the plainclothes detective, Dick Tracy, has graced the comic pages throughout the country. As a native Chicagoan, I have never known a world--or a Chicago Tribune--without Dick Tracy. As a child, I remember wishing I had a two-way wrist radio and wondering when Tracy and Tess Trueheart would tie-the-knot.

Not only has the comic strip provided daily entertainment for countless Americans, it also loyally has served our nation--in promoting the FBI's ``Most Wanted'' and ``Crimestoppers'' campaigns, and during World War II, when it educated Americans about the U.S. war effort.

Of course, the imaginative man behind the detective was none other than Chester Gould. His passion for crime prevention elevated the

Dick Tracy comic strip beyond pure entertainment to a model for public service. When Chester Gould put down his pencil in 1977, after more than 40 years, he was fortunate to have the very talented and capable Dick Locher to carry on his beloved comic strip. As a fellow resident of Illinois' 13th district, I am delighted to represent Dick Locher here in this body.

I am pleased to recognize Dick Tracy, an icon of American culture, Chester Gould, the creative genius who brought him to life, and Dick Locher, the great talent who both honors and extends Dick Tracy's legacy. Once again, congratulations, Dick Tracy, on your diamond anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2808) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous materials thereon.

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

I rise today to urge passage of H.R. 2808, the Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act. I commend my friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), for its introduction.

Mr. Speaker, in 2009, our great Nation will celebrate the bicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln's birth. To commemorate this event, the bill we are considering today authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to mint as many as half a million silver $1 coins for sale in 2009. Surcharges on the sales will be used to fund the work of Abraham Lincoln's Bicentennial Commission, which is planning various special events to commemorate the occasion of Lincoln's birth.

I fully support this program, Mr. Speaker, because there is so much to learn about this great man. Certainly, he was a tremendous President, perhaps the only man who could have held this country together during the difficult period of his presidency. Certainly, he freed the slaves, and certainly he left us some of our clearest statements of what the United States stands for both as a Nation and as a symbol.

But so much more has been said and written about him, so much that can shed light on different aspects of this man, from his persona to his presidency. As a matter of fact, thanks to the hard work and efforts of my colleague Mr. LaHood and others, an Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum just opened in Springfield, Illinois, in April of 2005 to help Americans rediscover one of their greatest Presidents.

There is no disputing that Lincoln was a great man. One of my favorite stories of his presidency could not happen today. It involves an event on which some claim the entire Civil War turned.

Early on in the war, an inventor presented himself at the White House with a new weapon and was led in to see the President. Lincoln, who had been quite a hunter in his youth, is said to have taken this new weapon out to the south lawn to try it out on a pile of firewood. The President immediately saw the great potential in its accuracy and speed, and his decision to arm the Union troops with a new repeater rifle many claim is one of the reasons the Union side won the war.

Mr. Speaker, the point of this story is not to talk about firearms but to talk about a remarkable man who literally took charge of a deeply divided Nation when he became President. His leadership through such a tumultuous time in our Nation's history certainly qualifies him as one of the greatest individuals to represent the State of Illinois.

It is that great President who will be honored by the minting of these coins and whose memory will be brought to life to a whole new generation in just 3 short years. For that reason, Mr. Speaker, I urge immediate adoption of this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my friend and colleague, the author of this legislation, Mr. LaHood, from the great State of Illinois.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would just like to thank again my friend and colleague, Mr. LaHood, for his introduction of this bill; and I would also like to thank the Members of the Illinois delegation who have spoken so eloquently, and thank Ms. Bean for her managing this bill and Mr. Davis for being here and Mr. Jackson for also working on this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 912, which supports the goals and ideals of designating September as National Life Insurance Awareness Month. I want to thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kanjorski), for introducing this resolution with me for the third year in a row and for his support on this important issue. Mr. Kanjorski serves with me on both the Financial Services Committee and the Financial and Economic Literacy Caucus and has been an outstanding leader on the important issue of financial security.

I also want to thank the gentleman from Virginia, Chairman Tom Davis, for expeditiously moving this resolution through the Committee on Government Reform.

And last, I acknowledge and thank Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Senator Saxby Chambliss for their contributions to this effort. They worked with us on this side of the Capitol to craft identical resolutions that garner both bipartisan and bicameral support. It is my hope that the Senate soon will pass its version of the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, life insurance too often is thought of only when it is too late. How many times have any of us heard friends or loved ones sadly reflect that the deceased had no life insurance or had too little life insurance. Today, only four in 10 Americans own an individual life insurance policy; and among those who do have life insurance, the amount is often too small to safeguard the financial future of their loved ones.

Because of insufficient coverage, family members often have had to work extra jobs or longer hours, borrow money, or move to less desirable housing. In short, these outcomes are only symptoms of the crisis of underinsurance that exists in our Nation today.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 912 calls on the Nation to observe the month of September as Life Insurance Awareness Month. The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers, the American Council of Life Insurers, and a coalition representing hundreds of leading life insurance providers and advocates have designated September 2006 as Life Insurance Awareness Month. Our collective goal for the month is to make consumers more aware of their life insurance needs, seek professional advice, and take the actions necessary to achieve financial security for their families.

Many of my colleagues on both the Financial Services and the Education and Workforce Committees have been working very hard to increase the level of financial literacy and economic education in this Nation. Understanding how financial products work and how they can work to build financial security are two important ingredients in a complete financial education.

This September I will join my colleagues and many others in helping to further educate Americans about the importance of life insurance to a sound financial plan. Losing a family member is painful enough without it being compounded by financial difficulties. It is my hope that recognizing Life Insurance Awareness Month will motivate Americans to seek out information about the benefits of life insurance so that if the premature death of a loved one does occur, they will be spared the economic hardships that often accompany tragedy.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me and support the goals and ideals of designating September as National Life Insurance Awareness Month.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the John H. Harland Company on the 35th anniversary of its production facility in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

In 1971, Harland's corporate leaders made a decision to locate a plant near Chicago. The suburbs were booming, and the workforce was skilled. Not unlike today, the area had so much to offer in terms of its quality of life and great business climate. That decision proved to be a wise one indeed. This year, the company celebrates 35 prosperous years in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

Today, I would like to recognize the men and women of Harland and celebrate with them 35 successful years in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

The John H. Harland Company was founded in 1923. Over the next 83 years it grew and evolved into one of the premier financial services providers, doing business with more than two-thirds of all financial institutions in the United States. Its facility in Bolingbrook has played--and continues to play--a crucial part in Harland's success.

With approximately 200 employees, the Bolingbrook facility each year processes more than 11 million orders for checks for consumers in 13 states, including most of the Midwest, from Wisconsin to Kentucky and Pennsylvania to Minnesota and everywhere in between. In the true spirit of its founder, the John H. Harland Company's allegiance to its customers and employees remains strong 35 years later.

Harland also is committed to strengthening our community through service. In recognition of the spirit of service demonstrated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harland employees celebrate the MLK holiday as a day of service, volunteering at local organizations such as Meadowbrook Manor, Lambs Fold Women's Shelter, and the Shepherd Food Pantry.

I want to commend all of the Bolingbrook employees for their commitment to quality, customers, and community. It is their hard work and dedication that has made the Harland Company what it is today--a 35-year success story.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a cosponsor of H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act.

As a mother of four and a grandmother of six, the safety of our children is a priority of mine. When most of us were children, our parents told us to never talk to strangers. Now as parents and grandparents, our message must change with technology to include strangers on the Internet.

We all were horrified by the story of the teenage girl from Michigan who traveled across the world to the West Bank town of Jericho to meet a man she had been communicating with on the networking Web site, MySpace.com. Even worse are stories that involve internet pedophiles preying on children from all over the Nation, including my district.

Naperville, a city that has twice been voted by Money Magazine as the Top City in the Nation to Raise Children, has witnessed two high profile cases in the last three months involving young teenagers and men they have met on MySpace.com.

It is easy to see why networking Web sites are popular among teens. A recent poll by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that 87 percent of those aged 12 to 17 use the Internet on a regular basis. Of this 87 percent, approximately 61 percent report having personal profiles on networking Web sites like MySpace, Facebook or Xanga. These profiles contain photographs, e-mail addresses, hobbies as well as other personal information that would be easy for a child predator to manipulate.

With more than 90 million users, MySpace.com and other networking Web sites have become new hunting grounds for child predators. Something clearly has to be done. This bill is a good start. At least let's give parents some comfort that their children won't fall prey while using the Internet at schools and libraries that receive Federal funding for Internet services. That is why I urge all Members to support H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5068) to reauthorize the operations of the Export-Import Bank, and to reform certain operations of the Bank, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.

I rise in support of H.R. 5068, the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2006. I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Ohio, Chairman Pryce, for her leadership on this bill. It has been a long process of meetings and negotiations, but I believe that we have crafted a solid product that focuses on the core mission of the Ex-Im Bank. This mission is to increase U.S. exports and, most importantly, U.S. jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my colleague from Illinois, the chairman of the Small Business Committee, Mr. Manzullo.

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

Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan bill will strengthen the Ex-Im Bank's ability to help our exporters increase their businesses abroad. During a February roundtable meeting held in my district, many businesses said that they only learned about the bank's tremendous resources by accident. I am pleased that this and other suggestions made by these businesses were incorporated into the bill, including language that directs the bank to increase its outreach to small business.

I encourage Members of this body to spread the word about the bank's export financing opportunities, and I encourage Members to contact the bank to determine what businesses, large and small, directly and indirectly, are being supported by the bank's services.

For example, I learned that Ex-Im financing for one aircraft can translate into work for over 100 small businesses in my district alone. And I received a report issued by the bank last Friday that showed businesses in my district, ranging from a knee guard company to one that makes printing presses, have benefited from about $4.6 million in Ex-Im products over the past decade.

On another note, I would like to take this opportunity commend the bank's new chairman, Jim Lambright and his team for aggressively moving on several important fronts; helping our U.S. businesses to keep a competitive edge in the global marketplace, listening to businesses and implementing bank reforms.

For example, to help them beat foreign competitors, businesses in my district suggested that the bank enhance application transparency and provide electronic on-line processing. The bank has done just that. A business can now register with the Ex-Im Bank online and easily track its application as it moves through the review process.

Mr. Speaker, in our increasingly competitive global environment, we must ensure that we provide every advantage, and remove every disadvantage, for U.S. businesses to ``win the sale'' over foreign competitors. Make no mistake about it: Ex-Im is one of the best tools we have to ensure that our businesses are allowed to beat the competition abroad. More importantly, it is jumper cables to the economy, helping U.S. businesses increase exports and create more and better U.S. jobs.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul).

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly), the vice chair of the Financial Services Committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say that looking at my district, and seeing the value of exports, $4.6 million that our companies have found for export value, and that works down to $295 million for small businesses.

I think that the Ex-Im Bank is one that is, the mission is so important that we increase U.S. exports and more importantly U.S. jobs. I think that is exactly what this bill is set up to improve and to make sure that that happens.

We are in a global economy. We are in competition with countries from all over the world. If we are to maintain our high standards, we have got to compete in the export market. I think this bill will help to do that. I would urge all Members to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss not to thank Chairman Oxley for all the work that he has done on this bill, again Chairman Pryce and Ranking Member Maloney for all of the work that they have put into this.

Mr. Speaker, I would urge an ``aye'' vote.

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Watt Amendment, which would restore the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over questions related to the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Pledge of Allegiance is an important expression of our shared values, and it should be preserved in its current form. I fully support the Pledge of Allegiance and urge my colleagues to do the same.

The intent of this bill is good. In fact, I was a cosponsor of this bill in the 108th Congress. However, that was before the provision was added to restrict the Supreme Court from hearing cases involving the Pledge of Allegiance. The bill we vote on today again strips the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over this important constitutional issue.

I recognize that Congress clearly has the authority under Article III of the Constitution to define the jurisdiction or the federal district and appellate courts. But constitutional scholars say there is no direct precedent for making exceptions to the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

I would caution my colleagues to think twice before tampering with authorities clearly granted in the Constitution. The issue today may be the Pledge, but what if the issue tomorrow is Second Amendment rights, civil rights, environmental protection, or a host of other issues that members may hold dear?

I would also ask my colleagues, do we really want 50 different versions of the Pledge of Allegiance? I certainly don't think so.

The Watt amendment would restore to the bill the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over questions related to the Pledge of Allegiance, changing the bill back to the way it was originally introduced in the 108th Congress when I was a cosponsor.

I revere the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance. I believe that ``Under God'' are two of the most important words in the Pledge. I also believe that the Supreme Court should be the final arbiter of all federal questions. That's why I urge you to support the Watt Amendment to the Pledge Protection Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res. 88, the Marriage Protection Amendment. Passage of this resolution will not protect marriage, and I am concerned it will create the opposite effect of what its proponents seek to accomplish.

Let me first state that I believe that marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman. I strongly support the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed by Congress and signed into law in 1996.

Second, marriage is an issue that our Founding Fathers wisely left to the states. The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution states, ``The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.''

No Congress ever has seen fit to amend the Constitution to address any issue related to marriage. No Constitutional Amendment was needed to ban polygamy or bigamy, nor was a Constitutional Amendment needed to set a uniform age of majority to ban child marriages.

So why do proponents argue that we must take this unprecedented step now to ban same-sex marriages?

They claim that without the Amendment, states will be forced to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Yet the Defense of Marriage Act not only prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriages, it allows individual states to refuse to recognize such unions performed in other states. And in the nearly 10 years that have passed since its enactment, DOMA never has been invalidated in any court in the country. The authors of DOMA took the greatest pains to write a law that is constitutional and will withstand judicial challenges.

Proponents also claim that amending the Constitution is the only way to prevent so-called activist judges from legislating matters of same- sex marriage. Yet amending the Constitution to address marriage could invite federal judicial review not only of marriage, but of divorce, child custody, inheritance, adoption, and other issues of family law. Not only would this violate the principles of federalism, it would create very bad public policy.

Mr. Speaker, no legislature in the country has established same-sex marriage in statute. In fact, 45 states, including Illinois, have adopted laws limiting marriage to one man and one woman.

I urge my colleagues to have faith in our system of government, keep marriage out of the Constitution, and allow the states to continue to exercise what is best left to them.

Mr. Speaker, today the House Energy and Commerce Committee will take up H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006, sponsored by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick).

As an original cosponsor of the measure, I urge my colleagues to give it their strongest support. As a mother and grandmother, like other parents, I am horrified by the statistics.

Mr. Speaker, 20 percent of young people have been approached online with unwanted sexual advances. Naperville, Illinois, a city in my district that has twice been voted by Money magazine as the top city in the Nation to raise children, has witnessed two high-profile cases in the past 2 months. Thanks to the Naperville police and the Illinois State Police, the two crimes were uncovered before the predators met the children.

In Michigan, one minor had traveled halfway around the world to meet a man in the West Bank town of Jericho that she met on the networking Web site MySpace.com.

As children, many of us were taught never to talk to strangers. As parents and grandparents, our message must change with technology to include strangers on the Internet.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute Joel M. Carp on the occasion of his retirement from the Jewish Federation of Chicago. For more than 30 years, Joel has devoted his life and considerable talents to helping the disadvantaged in our community and across the country.

As the Senior Vice President for Community Services and Governmental Relations of the Federation, Joel was the voice of the Federation, both in the community and in the halls of the capitals in Springfield and Washington, D.C. Many were the times that he was a source of guidance and advice for me and my colleagues there, and for that I am grateful.

Joel's contributions to the social service network in Chicago have been enormous. His work with the poor, the sick and the homeless ensured that countless members of our community had access to health and human services in their hour of need.

As a public policy advocate and a writer, Joel has helped to steer local, State, and Federal Governments toward greater social responsibility. He has served on numerous task forces to address the needs of both the homeless and underprivileged children. In addition, he has supervised the Illinois State refugee and immigrant programs. Finally, through his writing and teaching, he has advanced the study and practice of social work.

Mr. Speaker, Joel Carp is truly an outstanding individual whose lifetime of work will continue to benefit communities throughout the Chicago area for generations to come. So, once again, I thank Joel Carp for his service, his humor and his humanity, and I congratulate him on a well-earned retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution and in strong support of our troops. They are far away, waging the war on terror so that we can be safe here at home. In particular, I want to congratulate not only those who directly were involved in the demise of Al-Zarqawi, but all of those troops whose mission each and every day is heroic and brave and appreciated by us all.

Every building they secure, every Iraqi troop they train, every vehicle they service, potato they peel, or small mission they accomplish is a blow against terrorism and a boost for our freedom.

Many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle voted for this war. But within months they started dissembling, claiming they'd been misled and clamoring for troop withdrawal.

President Bush always warned that the war on terror would not be won easily or overnight. He asked for patience.

We are an impatient people, always in a hurry, often seeking the quick success. But our troops do not work on the 24-hour news cycle or a two-year campaign cycle or any timetable other than to execute each mission as it builds toward the larger objective.

That patience is paying off. Already we have seen in the information seized at Al-Zarqawi's hideout that the terrorists feared that time was working against them. I shudder to think if those on the other side of the aisle had their way where Al-Zarqawi would be today.

In closing, let me just say that when I visited Iraq with my colleagues to thank our troops for all they are doing, it was they who thanked us for caring enough to visit them over there. We owe them such a debt of gratitude, and yet their spirit of service and commitment to their mission led them to thank us.

Mr. Speaker, no American troop should ever have to thank a member of Congress. They should know that we are with them, that we support them, and that our support and thanks are there for them and with them always.

Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. Speaker, a free and prosperous Iraq is one which is no longer a breeding ground for terrorism, no longer a wealth of support for radical Islam, no longer a source of destabilization in the Middle East. The simple truth is that an Iraqi people with hope for the future is an Iraqi people with whom we can work for peace.

And, nobody knows this better than the terrorists themselves.

They know they win only if they can maintain a strong, divisive, bloody insurgency in Iraq. They know they only win if they can keep the Iraqi people feeling despondent for their future.

Let me be clear: The litmus test for whether or troops should stay or withdraw or on what timetable is not about nation-building. The U.S. should not be in the business of nation-building, now or ever. There is nothing in the Constitution which grants this Congress the authority to engage in nation-building, nor does the American public wish that we do so. Instead, the nation which we must always remain steadfast engaged in protecting and building up is this nation--America.

The future of the Iraqi people is in their hands and left to their imagination.

But, the truth of the matter is that life for the Iraqi people-- despite the ongoing war on their soil, has been more hopeful than it was before wasting away in the shackles of Saddam Hussein's tyranny. And, it is only getting better.

For those Iraqis who survived Saddam's policies of genocide, political imprisonment, and near-constant state of war, they went without jobs, food, and medicine. All the while Saddam and his cronies pocketed billions in illicit oil profits and grew fat from Oil-for-Food program kickbacks.

The Iraqis have had increasingly broad and successful elections. They have developed a constitution and established a government. Just last week, the Iraqis appointed key ministers for defense, national security, and interior. Now that the Iraqi people are free to direct their own economy, their own policies, and their own destiny, there is hope for a brighter future.

Just last year, in 2005, the Iraqi economy grow by 3 percent. This year economists predict that the economy will grow by 10 percent, with a GDP that will have almost doubled since the fall of Saddam Hussein. As freely elected economic officials begin to work for the benefit of all Iraqis, the future of the Iraqi economy is bright.

The Iraqi people are rebuilding their capability to care for their own medical needs. Last year, 98 percent of children under the age of three were vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella. Basic care has been provided for 1.5 million new mothers and their children, ensuring that a new generation of Iraqis will grow up strong and healthy.

Over 110 medical facilities have been renovated and 600 centers have been equipped with basic clinical and lab equipment. By providing training for 2,500 health care workers, Iraqis will build a structure for living longer, healthier lives far into the future.

Iraq once boasted one of the most educated female populations in the Middle East. Under Saddam Hussein's iron fist, they fell to near perfect illiteracy. Working together, we have helped the Iraqis provide for 2,800 rehabilitated schools and 8.7 million math and science textbooks. And, young girls can look forward to careers as engineers and scientists, instead of looking forward to legalized honor killings.

The preamble of the Iraqi constitution reads: ``We the people of Iraq . . . are determined to respect the rule of law, reject the policy of aggression, pay attention to women and their rights, the elderly and their cares, the children and their affairs, spread the culture of diversity and defuse terrorism.''

This is a statement rarely seen in the history of Middle Eastern nations. Iraqi legislators are determined to create a free society on par with our own. The future of Iraq is one in which men and women are free to practice their religion and speak their mind without fear of imprisonment or death.

Every one of us feels for the parents and loved ones of the brave men and women who are serving in Iraq. Every one of us wants to see those young heroes quickly and safely return home.

I would like to read from a message I received from one of those brave young men who is serving in Iraq. He said: ``There is a tough war going on here, but we can either fight the enemy here or back at home. If we were to withdraw, there would be a bloodbath of epic proportions that would only encourage the enemies of civilization.''

Now is the time that the Iraqi people may build a bright future of freedom, opportunity, and peace upon their rich cultural heritage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the efforts of Kimberly Burnitz, and college student from Lockport, Illinois. Earlier this month, Kimberly and her team from Eastern Illinois University, came to Washington to compete in the P3--People, Prosperity, and the Planet--Student Design Competition.

Sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, the P3 design competition gives college-level students a chance to grow their technical and scientific skills by working on projects that address sustainability challenges faced by the developing world. After reviewing over one hundred proposals, the EPA provided grants to 41 of the most promising student projects that addressed these challenges while preserving the environment.

Among the teams chosen to develop their project, the students of Eastern Illinois University worked on a unique initiative to increase drinking water supplies in rural Haiti and other developing nations. Through extensive research and testing, Kimberly's team devised locally feasible methods for Haitians to improve water cistern designs and repair cistern cracks.

While not among the final winners of the contest, their innovative project truly embodied the objectives of the competition--to find environmentally friendly ways to raise living standards and foster economic growth in the developing world.

Mr. Speaker, these are goals we can all agree on. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I thank Kimberly for all her hard work, congratulate her team on their success, and wish them great success in all of their future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to congratulate the Downers Grove South High School Speech Team on capturing the 2006 Illinois State Championship. On February 18, 2006, they bested 8 other teams to finish in first place and claim the championship title.

Even more impressive is the fact that this is the school's 11th state speech championship, making Downers Grove South the ``winningest'' high school in state speech team history. In addition, the members of this exceptional team provided Downers Grove South with its third state championship in the ``Performance in the Round'' event.

Today, our hats are off to team members Liz Adamski, Kyle Akerman, Joel Bennett, Jaclyn Bernard, James Courtney, Jeff Danziger, Cullen Deady, Meghan Deady, Stephanie Gilbert, Geysha Gonzalez, Eric Jensen, Sean Liston, Justin Matkovich, Tess Mody, Dan Nelson, Chris Nichols, Colleen O'Neill, Cauley Powell, Anne Quiaoit, Alex Safranek, Eileen Schroeder, Becca Seale, Shobana Shanmugum, Tara Smith, Adam Tanguay and Danielle Tannenbaum--for continuing their school's tradition of hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence.

I also would like to congratulate the coaches--Head Coach Jan Heiteen, Elighie Wilson, Kim Pakowski, Chris Blum, Justin Ashton, Tiffany Bruce, Aggie Valenti, Bridget Frodyma, Katy Gaby and Kavi Chawla--teachers, and parents for providing the guidance and support that helped the speech team achieve this great accomplishment.

Once again, congratulations to the Downers Grove South High School Speech Team on their state championship. I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.