Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as a Co-Chair of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus, I rise to urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 378, in recognition of the goals of National Crime Victims' Rights Week.

In 2004, according to the Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, approximately 24 million Americans became victims of a criminal action, including 5.2 million acts of violence.

While I celebrate the fact that this marks the lowest level ever recorded, I remain committed to providing a voice and a helping hand to those whose freedoms have been infringed.

In tribute to the more than 10,000 system- and community-based assistance programs that serve as a vital role in the recovery process, the theme of the 2006 National Crime Victims' Rights Week is ``Strength in Unity.''

Since the passage of the Victims of Crimes Act in 1984, more than $7 billion in fines and other assessments have been collected from those who prey on some of the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.

Each year thousands of volunteers selflessly contribute their time and energy that enables an individual to make the important transformation from ``crime victim'' to ``crime survivor.'' Through various means of advocacy, we continue our work to ensure that no victim, nor family member, is forced to face a legal or medical appointment on their own; or, more importantly, left to face an anniversary alone.

Mr. Speaker, when the salacious interest of check-out stand voyeurs wanes, and the cable news programs turn their cameras to another sensational story, we must remain the crime victims' advocate and ally.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 282, the Iran Freedom Support Act. For more than two decades the Iranian regime has displayed its contempt for the rule of law by willingly and aggressively breaching its international obligations, in pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The incendiary remark made by Iranian President Ahmadinejad, that Israel is a ``fake regime [that] can not logically continue to live,'' underscores the importance of this measure.

H.R. 282 denies technical assistance and financial resources to the regime of President Ahmadinejad, and strengthens sanctions against those who would facilitate the development of a covert nuclear program in Iran. This bill sends a clear and unambiguous message to Iran that their behavior is unacceptable.

The overwhelming 37-3 vote by which this measure passed the International Relations Committee exemplifies the bipartisan nature of the issue.

Madam Speaker, with the proliferation of nuclear weaponry at issue, there is neither room for error, nor for mixed signals. The price to be paid for inaction or indecision is beyond consideration. This legislation is a measured, responsible demonstration of our commitment to ensuring the freedom of Iranians and Americans alike.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4472, the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act.

Unfortunately, there are thousands of reasons why this legislation is so vitally important. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the location of between 100,000 and 150,000 of the 500,000 sex offenders currently registered in the United States are unknown. But the victims are known, and their names are known. And today, we know we are not powerless.

This bill takes commonsense steps towards ensuring sex offenders are not free to prey on the most vulnerable members of our society. We require States to expand the definition of sexual offenders to include juveniles, alert other States when predators seek refuge in another State and make community notification proactive, not reactive efforts.

There are many reasons which cause parents across America to lie awake at night. Our failure to pass this valuable legislation should not be one of them.

Madam Speaker, sexual predators live in darkness but their victims live in vibrant colors of all our memories. In pinks and blues. And in purple.

Prior to her abduction and murder at the hands of a sexual predator in February of 2004, that was the favorite color of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia. It still is.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize five extraordinary women whose diligence and determination have led them to pinnacles of their chosen professions. Despite their numerous successes, it often is the case that their contributions are never recognized.

One goal of my Women In Business Initiatives is to highlight positive role models, engage them in the community and applaud their worthy contributions. To achieve this end, I asked my constituents to nominate a business woman whom they believed deserved recognition.

A woman whose compassion and charity has been invaluable in lifting others to greater heights. These women represent the very best our State and Nation has to offer. It truly is an honor and a pleasure to serve as their Representative in Congress.

Woven from unique backgrounds, their histories share a common thread--a refusal to allow obstacles placed in their way by outdated thinking or unpredictable circumstance to delay the pursuit of their dreams.

A wife, a mother, a medical professional, and an active member of the community, Barbara Jaehne could have found equal success as a juggler if her passions had not led into the field of medicine. Currently, Jaehne serves as chairman of the board of speech language in the Department of Pathology and Audiology at the Florida Department of Health.

Her work managing two offices in Venice and Englewood and her involvement with initiatives to improve the lives of the hearing impaired have not confined Jaehne to professional pursuits. The Republican Executive Committee of Sarasota County, as well as the Manatee Community College, is one of the varied organizations on whose behalf she volunteers her energy and her time.

Tracy Brainard is literally the ground-breaker of this distinguished group. In her role as office manager, Brainard is an integral member of the team at Coastal Construction Southwest, a construction company owned and administered by women. Coastal Construction President Evelyn Treworgy has made note of her ``most unbelievable work ethic,'' an invaluable quality in any field.

Recognizing the indispensable role she holds within the company, Treworgy has stated that Brainard is ``respected, trusted and absolutely depended upon by not only the principals but also fellow employees.''

It has been said of Cathy Boudreau that she ``works until all of her duties are completed'' and her tasks are ``always handled with complete professionalism.'' If there were a key to Cathy's success, it certainly is the single-minded commitment she brings to every endeavor. From the front desk, where Boudreau began her career at the Palm Island Resort, to the office of the President, Boudreau has earned the high praise and respect of her colleagues and peers.

Another individual not content to limit her horizons, Cathy also functions as event and group planner and assistant to the director of sales and marketing.

In 2000, when Celia Szelwach launched her own company--Creative Collaborations Consulting--there were no surprised faces to be found. After graduating in 1990 from West Point, Celia earned distinction as a senior parachutist and subsequently, her captain's bars while she led relief missions in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.

The skills which served her as a logistics specialist in the Army were an asset in her various roles with the Tropicana Corporation. Determined to positively impact others, Celia shares her entrepreneurial vision through her column for The Maddox Business Report, a Tampa Bay business magazine with a focus on diversity.

More importantly, Celia recognizes the power of her position as a role model within the Hispanic community. This commitment earned her recognition by the Girl Scouts Gulf Coast of Florida branch, which awarded her the President's Merit Award for service above and beyond expectations, particularly in the area of Hispanic outreach. It has been said of Celia that she possesses ``tremendous personal strength and unlimited potential,'' qualities which have sustained her through difficult life challenges.

Kendall Jones. In the words of her business partner, Anand Pallegar, Jones is ``driven by the love of this community and a desire to make it better.'' As editor of the S2 Report, the only free digital daily business news report in Sarasota and Manatee counties, Jones recognizes that the business community is hungry for information, yet starved for time. Her success in reaching a balance is evident in the publication's growing readership, not to mention the first-place award she received from the Gulf Coast Business Review for in-depth writing.

The audience Jones places the greatest priority on reaching is an audience of one--her daughter, whom she single-handedly raises. When she is not keeping the business community up to speed on events, Jones is busily trying to keep up with her daughter's Brownie troop.

As separate and distinct as the stories of these five successful business women may be, all serve to illustrate the power of the individual to reach a goal, the value of hard work and the necessity to never give in or give up.

It is a pleasure to honor these five extraordinary women and to highlight their contributions to their businesses, their neighbors and their communities.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 2669, the Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of this amendment offered by my colleague from Florida. Shockingly, thousands of women who cross the U.S. border illegally from Mexico are promised safe passage in return for sex and money. These women are not given safe passage, but rather become the trophies of criminal rapists as they hang the undergarments of their victims on the border fences.

But human trafficking and sexual exploitation impacts every corner of the globe; and the United States must lead an intensive, multilateral effort to stop it. Last year, an estimated 27 million people were forced into slavery around the world. I have heard the heart-wrenching stories of women and children, young girls, who are tricked, kidnapped, and sold into sexual slavery.

These crimes occur in many forms, from sex trafficking to involuntary servitude. Women, even young girls, are told they will be taken out of the country where restaurants and hair salons need workers. When these girls enter the country, their identification is taken away and there is no restaurant, no salon, only brothels. Furthermore, these girls are commonly told they must pay a debt for their transportation into the country, and they are forced to sell their bodies to pay off this debt. Our borders must not become the avenues for pimps, traffickers to make millions of dollars.

These victims are left with insufficient housing, no access to social services, no education, or job opportunities. Sex trafficking rings are frequently linked to corruption, and law enforcement in some regions are even bribed to ignore these sex slavery rings. This must stop.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment before us today takes the necessary first step not only condemning the exploitation of people along our borders but also strongly urges immediate action to prevent such abuse from occurring in the future. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment and condemn this lawlessness on our borders.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to voice my support for our mission in Iraq and the global war on terror.

We stand at a critical juncture in the history of Iraq and in our own history. Do we ignore the steady progress toward democracy in Iraq? Do we hand victory to the terrorist insurgency on the eve of the historic December 15 elections? Or do we remain committed to the cause of freedom at home and abroad?

Our Nation already knows of the price of victory and how great it is, but the cost of failure would be far greater.

As Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean was engaging in the politics of partisans and the demagoguery of doubters, I was visiting with our amputees in the Walter Reed Medical Hospital. These brave men and women know why we are fighting and why we must continue to fight. They know better than any of us why their brothers in arms have died fighting. Their sacrifices have been made in the name of freedom and in the pursuit of victory.

Not only is victory in Iraq possible, but it is within reach. Faced with long painful recoveries, these soldiers focus on the positive and what can be done and what will be done. We owe them the same.

It is not the time for retreat. It is the time for our Nation's civilian leadership to stand with them. Their sacrifice obligates us to demonstrate the same level of commitment and dedication to this cause of freedom. And each day as a Nation, we are more indebted to these extraordinary men and women with whom I visited.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Venice High School Lady Indians volleyball team, on their recent victory in the 2006 Class 5A state volleyball championship.

The team's 26-7 regular season record and championship victory certainly deserve applause; however, the manner in which they achieved their goal truly makes them champions.

Under the leadership of Coach Brian Wheatley, this band of sisters turned a potentially disappointing season into a modern-day Cinderella story. Runners-up in 2004, the team began the season with only two returning starters, offering little hope for anything more than a ``rebuilding'' season. However, a little hope and a lot of grit and determination was all this team needed.

They saw in each other the desire to succeed, the willingness to sacrifice and the wisdom to work as a team; with perseverance and commitment to each other, they refused to give up.

In the end, the season was a learning experience. And it was an experience in which the entire community shared. The Lady Indians deserve their championship, and they deserve our thanks for a season of inspiration.

The members of the 2005 Venice High School Varsity volleyball team are: Leah Bodi, Marla Cooke, Dana Dumas, Natalie Gaudreau, Ashley Graf, Nickie Halbert, Julie Howlett, Casie Richards, Casey Taylor, Michaela Trimble, and Danielle Witte.

To this collection of Cinderellas, I offer my congratulations.

Mr. Speaker, due to the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Wilma on the State of Florida, I was unable to attend votes on Thursday, October 27, 2005 due to a visit to the State with President Bush and other delegation Members. While I am disappointed I was not able to be present, I am asking, that you include the following intended votes in the Congressional Record.

I would have voted nay on H.J. Res. 65, the Schiff Amendment to H.R. 420, as well as the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 420. I would have voted yea on H.R. 3945, H. Res. 368, Final Passage of H.R. 420, and the Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3047.

Again, I apologize for my absence and thank you in advance for your time and attention to this matter.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, as a Girl Scout, First Class, to congratulate the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida on the recent opening of its new regional headquarters in Sarasota, Florida.

The Searcy S. Koen Regional Girl Scout campus, located on 12-acres, designed around protected wetlands, focuses on conserving energy and protecting our environment. Notably, the facility is Sarasota County's second project certified for Leadership in Environmentally Engineered Design.

The new Wetlands Learning Habitat, plus the Council Headquarters and Gulf Coast Event and Conference Center will create and enhance opportunities for Girl Scouts throughout Southwest Florida. The Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, with over 9,700 registered girls, continues to build character, courage and confidence in girls who will strive to make the world a better place.

Having experienced scouting for twelve years, I well know the extraordinary opportunities offered to these girls, from camping in Florida's beautiful State parks, to earning badges representing a plethora of skills and knowledge acquired. Attaining the Eagle Equivalent as a Girl Scout ``First Class'' was an extremely meaningful achievement for me as a young woman.

In today's world, I believe we would all do well to reflect upon the Girl Scout Promise: ``On my honor, I will try: to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law . . . I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do; and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.''

Mr. Speaker, earlier today I was proud to cast a firm vote in support of the Private Property Rights Protection Act. While this measure will not reverse the Supreme Court's mind-boggling 5-4 decision in the Kelo v. New London case, it will ensure that American taxpayers will not have their hard-earned dollars used in its support.

No State or locality shall be permitted to employ the power of eminent domain to seize private property in the name of economic development. In addition, the bill will grant appropriate access to State and Federal courts for those who seek justice and remedy for any nonmeritorious seizure of their property.

There is no question that Americans do not wish to shirk their responsibility to take care of their community through support for measures which serve the public good. However, most do not view fulfillment of this obligation as necessitating a forfeiture of their fundamental rights. Few rights are as central to the foundation of our great Nation as is the right of control over one's private property.

As James Madison laid out in the Federalist Papers, private property rights lie at the foundation of our Constitution: ``Government is instituted no less for the protection of property than of the persons of individuals.''

Madison's declaration was echoed by Justice William Paterson in Vanhorne's Lessee v. Dorrance (1795) when he asserted: ``The right of acquiring and possessing private property and having it protected is one of the most natural, inherent, and inalienable rights of man.

This does not require one to have expertise in constitutional law to conclude from these statements that the Framers did not intend for citizens to cede their ``natural, inherent, and inalienable rights'' in the name of expanding the local tax base or in the development of one of our favorite Starbucks or Wal-Marts.

As Justice Clarence Thomas noted in his dissent, the text of the fifth amendment permits the taking of property ``only if in the public right to employ it.''

In response to the public concern of the Kelo decision, the Ohio State legislature recently passed a measure prohibiting cities from seizing unblighted land for economic development in 2006. And Ohio is not alone. Excluding bills prefiled for the 2006 legislative session, the National Council of State Legislatures found that 12 States have already taken legislative steps to prohibit in some form or fashion the use of eminent domain in private property seizure.

Today, we join in the fight on behalf of all Americans who own or aspire to own their small piece of paradise and, more importantly, to own it without fear from unwarranted, unjustified, and unconstitutional seizure.

Mr. Speaker, today much attention is focused on our ability as a Nation to respond to the events, natural or unnatural, which have emerged on a visibly grand scale. Mother Nature's naked fury, clothed in hurricanes Katrina and Rita, exposed our vulnerability to her indiscriminate forces and its cruelty, but also its charity, exhibited by thousands of citizens who reached out to the victims' grasping hands. We also continue to respond to terrorism by engaging in a vigilant battle against religious and ideological extremism at home and abroad.

No less vital to the security of our society is our response to the perniciously pervasive scourge of domestic violence. In 1994, this Congress recognized the threat posed by violence against women to the fabric of our society when it passed the Violence Against Women Act,

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 485, I was inadvertently detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, sometimes numbers paint a dramatic picture. According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, one in five children 10 to 17 years old are recipients of unwanted sexual solicitations online. One of every seven victims of sexual assault is under the age of 6. One in five girls will be sexually exploited before they reach adulthood.

And one in 10 boys will become victims before they become men.

According to the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children, the whereabouts of 100,00 to 150,000 of some 500,000 sexual offenders currently registered in the United States are unknown.

What is known is that we are not powerless. I fully support the measures included in the Child Safety Act. The passage of this bill will do nothing to bring about the safe return of children like Carlie Brucia, a Sarasota Girl Scout who was brutally victimized and murdered by a sexual predator. However, it will save other families the most undeniable anguish of losing a child to the most unthinkable acts of violence.

This bill takes commonsense steps toward ensuring sex offenders are not free to prey on the most vulnerable members of our society. H.R. 3132 will require States to alert other States when sexual offenders seek other locations.

There are many, many things that keep parents awake at night. Passage of this bill should not be one of those.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which we observe this week. This landmark piece of legislation continues to make a daily difference in the lives of the American people--not only in the lives of those with disabilities, but in all of our lives.

The Americans with Disabilities Act laid the groundwork to direct our nation toward equal opportunity for all. Today, the National Council on Disability, working with their federal partners, keeps up the hard work of striving to meet this vital goal. I am proud to have one of my Florida constituents serving as an appointee to the United States Access Board, which helps ensure accessibility in the design of Federal facilities. I applaud her commitment and dedication.

As Florida Secretary of State, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to apply the mission of the ADA to the cause of election reform. In Florida, we worked to remove the obstacles that were preventing individuals with disabilities from participating fully in the political process. With this legislation, Florida became the first state in the Nation to enact a law to secure the voting rights of individuals with disabilities.

We have fought hard to live up to the promise of our founding and to honor the dignity of every individual, and to extend the rights, privileges and opportunities of that promise to all our citizens. The Americans with Disabilities Act was part of a long line of landmark achievements that have expanded freedom and opportunity in the United States. Let us continue working toward the goals of this law--to remove the obstacles that prevent persons with disabilities from enjoying the full rights that too many Americans take for granted.