Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 11 o'clock and 12 minutes p.m.), the House adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, June 7, 2007, at 10 a.m.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Thirlee Smith, Sr., one of the preeminent role models of our community. A man of great repute and high standing who enriched the lives of so many community members throughout Miami, Thirlee Smith, Sr. lived a meaningful and fulfilling life dedicated to the betterment of our society through acts of good will.

We have lost an outstanding leader, but we are blessed to have been touched by his greatness. It is our collective responsibility to carry forward and continue the good works and deeds that Thirlee Smith, Sr. practiced on a daily basis.

Thirlee Smith, Sr. led voter registration drives throughout the community, because he understood that voting is a civil right. Thirlee Smith, Sr. stood at the forefront of this civil rights voter registration fight. Our democracy is more vibrant, our community is better represented, and our voices are now heard thanks to his tireless efforts.

Thirlee Smith, Sr. was born in Timpson, Texas on June 2, 1912, the second oldest of six children born to his loving parents. In the late 1930s, Thirlee Smith, Sr. married Beulah Finley, and built a three bedroom home in Liberty City which still stands to this day. Together Thirlee, Sr. and Beulah raised three outstanding children, who contributed to our community in their own right: Odessa S. Felder Cook, a retired Miami-Dade County Public School teacher; Thirlee Smith, Jr., a former Miami-Dade County Public School administrator and the first Black reporter for The Miami Herald; and the Honorable Frederica Wilson, my Florida State Senator.

Thirlee, Sr. was a 20-year member of the Revival Tabernacle Assembly of God under the leadership of retired Rev. Selwyn Scott, and served there as a deacon for many years, mentoring children and young adults. Thirlee, Sr. left this world a better place, and now, he returns home to a greater place in God's heavenly kingdom alongside his beloved Beulah Finley Smith.

It is only appropriate that on Friday, March 2, 2007, the city of Opa-Locka held a street naming ceremony in honor of Thirlee Smith, Sr. across the street from the billiard parlor where he registered members of the Black community to vote, led a community drive that resulted in the sanitation workers of Opa-Locka being issued uniforms and pay raises, and dispensed sage-like political and personal advice to friends who were also his patrons.

A husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncie and friend, Thirlee, Sr. was a family man who leaves behind his devoted daughters; Odessa Felder Cook (Carliss), and Frederica S. Wilson; five loving grandchildren, Chandra Stephens (Clyde), Kimberly Emmanuel (Nicholas), Lakesha Wilson-Rochelle (Shelly) and Paul Wilson, Jr. (Farrah); five great-grand children, Cailey and Clifford Stephens, Najee and Chelsey Emmanuel, and Triston Paul Wilson; and nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends in Miami, Milwaukee, California, Texas and the Bahamas.

A man of great faith and spirituality who was the patriarch of a family that continues to serve our community with the highest levels of distinction, Thirlee Smith, Sr. left our world a better place than the world in which he entered.

Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart as I mourn the passing of a friend and fellow member of the law enforcement community, Marvin Jerome Scarlett of Henry County, Georgia. Sheriff's Deputy Scarlett was a patriot dedicated to upholding and defending the rule of law. He was a man of great courage, conviction and passion who lived a wonderfully fulfilling life surrounded by a loving family, close friends and admiring colleagues.

Sheriff's Deputy Scarlett was a college friend and a teammate; together we played beside each other on the football field at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida. Marvin reflected the very best qualities I would hope for in a teammate--he always put the team first and this dedication to his peers and community was a hallmark of Marvin's personality.

I mourn alongside the loving family of Marvin Jerome Scarlett, and honor his wife Latosha, and children Johnnie, Lottrenise, Lottriana, and Shi-Mon. During this difficult time, we will comfort the Scarlett family and pray for their wellbeing.

Like the God he faithfully served, this gentleman came and lived among us that we may have hope more abundantly. True to his faith, Sheriff's Deputy Scarlett would urge us to believe that his death does not represent an irrevocable finality, and he would assure us that he will live on in the good deeds he left behind. Indeed, no life could be more revered for having fulfilled his vocation as God's faithful steward. I will cherish the wonderful memories I have of Marvin Jerome Scarlett, a true friend and defender of our community.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to be here on the floor tonight. It is like old times, Mr. Ryan and Ms. Wasserman Schultz. And we have the gas pump there, and it is just, you, know a wonderful feeling.

Mr. Speaker, just to see you in the Chair there inspired me as an American to continue to be a part of this great democracy of ours. Our good friends from the Clerk's office and the Capitol Police and all the folks that make it possible for us to be here tonight, we are just forever appreciative.

As you know, in the 109th and 108th Congress, this was the trio here. Ms. Wasserman Schultz brought quite a bit of class to our operation. She came in the 109th Congress, and, Mr. Ryan, we started to wear better ties and study more so that we could keep up with an educated policymaker.

Mr. Ryan started wearing his pink ties, which my daughter always says, real men wear pink. That is actually salmon, but we won't talk about it.

Mr. Speaker, in all seriousness, we have an awful lot of business that will be taking place in the next 24 hours. We are approaching Memorial Day, and there have been a lot of reports about the Iraq emergency supplemental. There has been a lot of discussion about lobbying reform. There has been a lot of discussion about the reauthorization of the agriculture bill. But I can tell you one thing, Mr. Speaker: Unlike previous Congresses, the work is being done here by those of us that are under the dome, doing what the people of America sent us up here to do.

As we talk about the war, I think it is important to know that the issues in Iraq and Afghanistan are very, very serious to all of us here, to all of us in Washington, D.C., and Americans throughout the country, and especially the family members of those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. We always give this report. As of 10 a.m. this morning, the death toll in Iraq as it relates to the men and women in uniform is 3,424; wounded in action and returning to duty is 14,073; and wounded in action and not returning to duty is 11,476. I think it is very important that we pay very close attention to those numbers.

The days of six supplementals passing off of this floor, half a trillion dollars spent and no strings attached to any of those appropriation dollars, those days are over. I am very proud of the leadership in the House and the Senate in fighting with the White House and bringing about the kind of accountability that the American people have called for.

You heard me say here on this floor in the past, Mr. Speaker, that there have been bills that in the spirit of the bill, I voted for those bills, but as it relates to the substance of those bills, I have had a few problems with the lack of accountability. That is paramount now in this bill that hopefully will pass the House floor tomorrow. There are benchmarks. There are reporting periods that the President has to report back to the Congress. In September, we will be coming in for a landing and making some real decisions.

The Iraqi Parliament, as you know, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, they have been holding quite a few conversations, as a matter of fact, talking about going on vacation for 60 days. The Defense Minister called his Ministers together to plan for an immediate U.S. withdrawal of troops, because I believe they know with this new Congress in place, the days of the Iraqi Government drawing down on the taxpayer dollars, the U.S. taxpayer dollars, without accountability, are over; and if they are not willing to reform themselves, then we should not be willing to have our men and women on the streets of Iraq fighting on behalf of safety and patrolling the streets, when the Iraqis are not doing what they are supposed to be doing.

With that, I will yield to one of my good friends. I will yield to Ms. Wasserman Schultz, who is a very good friend, and then Mr. Ryan comes in after her in my friendship.

Thank you, Mr. Ryan. Mr. Ryan, you gave one great floor speech when you came down and said these are the same people who told us we will be greeted as liberators. These are the same people who told us oil revenues will be used to pay for the war. These are the same people who told us this will be a sweeping mission. These are the same people that told us there were weapons of mass destruction. These are the same people that told us there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. These are the same people that went on and on and on. You can go on YouTube and watch it. I remembered and watched it, and I thought it was one of your better speeches on the floor. I will reserve comment on how many you have made, but that is one of the better ones.

Mr. Ryan, it is very unfortunate that right now we are breeding terrorists, people that will dislike the United States of America for the rest of their lives. That wasn't our mission in Iraq, and that is the reason why, before the election, a majority of Democrats were saying, and some Republicans were saying, that we should redeploy our troops to the peripheral and not do the street patrols in Iraq.

How are we losing our troops? Going door to door, kicking in doors, riding down the streets. IEDs are blowing up and killing many of our men and women. They are not being killed in the training missions. I haven't heard one casualty, maybe there has been one, but I haven't heard of one casualty of any of our men and women training Iraqi troops in how to protect their country and how to protect their own streets.

Case in point, let me paint this picture because I think it is important as we debate this emergency supplemental. When you look at the fact that the U.S. troops with the flag on their shoulder kicking the door searching for the three that were missing, going door to door, those children, that son, that grandfather, that mother will say that the United States kicked my door in. How do we get to this point, I am innocent and we are laying on the floor at 2 a.m. with semiautomatic weapons pointed at my family? Those individuals end up listening to the rhetoric of radical terrorist groups that are saying, they are not here for you, they are here to terrorize your family.

That is why we have to get out of the position of this door-to-door and street-to-street combat in Iraq when the Iraqis themselves should be carrying out that mission. It is so very, very important.

Like I said, six emergency supplementals, half a trillion dollars of

blank checks to this administration; no more. That is the reason why we are having benchmarks. That is why the White House has to come here and report to Congress.

I heard one of the Republican Members say we are supposed to receive reports. Well, that is a revelation. Here we are in charge of the Federal purse. We are responsible. We are the board members, if you want to put it that way, over the U.S. Treasury, and all of a sudden now many of our Republican Members are saying, yes, we are supposed to receive reports.

That should have been happening from the beginning. Maybe then the death toll wouldn't be what it is, and maybe we may have more coalition partners in this effort if it was run right from the beginning versus send us a blank check and don't ask any questions.

So the President can say what he wants to say. Memorial Day is coming up. We have men and women who have laid down and sacrificed. Many of them have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Many of the men and women that fought with them remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and still we are here playing games with the democracy that they allow us to celebrate today, under what we may call kingdom politics of the President feeling that you shouldn't ask any questions; I trust my advisors, and I trust the generals in the field.

Well, I trust the generals in the field, too. And I have a level of trust for the administration, but the track record doesn't support don't ask any questions; we don't need any strings attached; you are trying to take my power away. We are not trying to take power away, we are just trying to make sure that the Federal tax dollar is spent in an appropriate way and we save as many American lives as possible.

Ms. Wasserman Schultz, no one, Democrat or Republican, should apologize for what is going on right now in Washington, DC. I think many of our friends who believe we should be out of Iraq tomorrow, we should send every plane we can possibly send, take our troops out, redeploy our troops and just leave it as is, there is a process in doing that. We are going through that process right now. A lot of it is very painful.

Some say, why are you giving the President another opportunity to continue this war and continue to fight this war? Haven't you learned over the last 5 years that the strategy they are using is a combat strategy, not a diplomatic strategy, not making sure there are benchmarks on the Iraqi Government, and they had that opportunity.

I encourage, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, when we do get a bill on the floor, we do have a number of Republicans voting on behalf of this next supplemental, and a number of Democrats voting on behalf of the supplemental. And those that feel the war should end tomorrow should understand that this is a major accomplishment in the effort in taking away what the President has had for the last 5 years: a blank check, do as you want to do, Donald Rumsfeld and all of them.

As Mr. Ryan says, as I close on this point, the real issue here is the truth will surface. Some of it has already surfaced, and a lot of it will continue to surface as we learn more about what the Congress was not told and as we learn more about what we were told incorrectly. And as Americans reflect back on this time, they will see some of the worst misinformation and secrecy at a time of war and a time of economic strain on this country.

We have borrowed more from foreign nations than we have ever borrowed in the history of the Republic; and still, we have Members standing here asking what is wrong. Well, the reason we are in the majority on this side of the aisle, we are very busy leading on behalf of the American people, is a perfect example of what is wrong.

The American people know what is going on. I am not talking about a bunch of proud Democrats. I am talking about Independents and Republicans and those who have never voted before in their life, they decided to get involved and vote. If this was just about politics, we would just go home or be in our offices doing the things we need to do for tomorrow, and let the Democratic majority get bigger and bigger because we would lead the Republicans to doing and saying what they have been doing all along.

But this is bigger than politics. This is about our democracy. This is about our finances here in the country, and this is about saving U.S. lives that are in harm's way right now when we can work out a better plan and force the Iraqi Government to take the responsibility of their streets, take the responsibility of their patrols, and make sure that they meet benchmarks just like every U.S. mayor has to meet with Federal dollars, just like every U.S. Governor has to meet when they are spending Federal dollars. Just like every U.S. agency should be accountable to the taxpayer dollars, the Iraqi Government and those in the Iraqi Government should be just as accountable and greater with the U.S. taxpayer dollars.

I don't want to get all emotional, like Mr. Ryan said, but I can't help but do it when I think about Memorial Day coming up and when I think about the veterans' benefits that we have in the emergency supplemental.

We have some folks saying we shouldn't have any domestic spending in here, and we have troops coming back and still waiting a long time to get their service. It was the Democrats that put forth the dollars to make sure that Walter Reed was repaired. That is also in this emergency supplemental. We will talk a little more about that as we move along.

I know we are going to talk about gas prices in the time left. Ms. Wasserman Schultz, I think we should commend every American for being focused on this issue of Iraq and encourage a discourse.

I was out behind the Chamber today on the balcony, and I noticed a person out there on a bullhorn saying, ``Stop the war.'' I wasn't bothered by that because the men and women that we are going to celebrate on Monday fought for that lady to be out there saying what she was saying.

That is right. That is what it is all about. And this is not a kingdom, this is a democracy, we have to tolerate one another now and then, but we have to make sure that we make sound decisions on behalf of the Republic.

Ms. Wasserman Schultz, I yield to you.

I have a question for Mr. Ryan.

We will.

You know what they say. They have Democrats and Republicans and members of the Appropriations Committee, and I happen to be on the floor with two of them. One is a cardinal and one thinks that he's actually running the country, but I would say that as we continue to talk about this, especially in Armed Services, and Chairman Ike Skelton has done an excellent job in the defense authorization bill, getting us to a readiness stage where we can deal with the issues, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, that you outlined.

These are very important issues, especially the Gulf Coast States or any State that has a, Kansas for instance, it has a natural disaster or have a disaster where they need the National Guard to have the equipment that they need, it's in that authorization bill, and I want to thank not only my colleagues on the committee but also Mr. Skelton for all of his hard work on the authorization end.

But I think it's also important for us to note that our mission, we talk about redeployment. We're talking about redeployment and deploying a diplomatic corps to work with the Iraqi Government and have a surge in diplomacy or an escalation in diplomacy. Why can't we get other countries to join us? Well, why would they want to join something that is going to create more terrorism or terrorists in their country? That's what we're doing, and so I think it's important for everyone to understand that.

And I share that with my constituents when I go out to speak to them. We're in here having this meeting here, we're sitting in this living room, and someone kicks in the door and come in and do a security search; how would you feel? Who would be responsible for that? You would be outraged.

Iraq is not the United States, by far, but I want to share with you that many of our men and women are following the duty that we've asked them to carry out, and they trust us that we will ask the questions that we should ask here in Washington, DC and carry it out.

I just want you to respond to that because I know that you have some words of wisdom, especially on that end, in all seriousness, because it's just simple common sense to do the things we should be doing. It does not take a rocket scientist, and you don't have to be a four-star general to understand that what we're doing is not working. And to say let's keep doing it and declassifying information and saying this is the reason why I did this, this is the reason why I did that, it still does not equate to why we're still doing the same thing and expecting different results.

I will use this analogy before I yield to you. It's almost like going to the refrigerator and taking out a carton of milk, taking a smell of the milk and saying, wow, it's sour, I will put it back in and maybe it'll be fresh tomorrow. It works against logic.

And what's happening now is that the strategy that the White House has works against logic, but unfortunately, it would be okay if it was just an individual, but it's dealing with U.S. lives. I know all of us want to save lives, but we have to make sure that we do everything we can to send a message to the White House, and also man up and woman up here in Congress, and be leaders in that direction towards safety and accountability and moving the Iraqi issue in a new direction.

Very good. As we close, I know that we have our Web site that we need to give out. Well, we don't have time, but let me just do this. Mr. Murphy talked about this.

These are another record year for oil company profits, in 2007, record profits, $30.2 billion they have been able to achieve, and $6.5 billion in 2002; and 2007, $30.2 billion. I think those are pretty good years for oil companies. It seems to happen, and I am not a Member of Congress with a conspiracy theory, but, with the Bush administration and the White House, looked like oil companies have done better than many Americans have done.

As I talk to my friends and those that have F-10 pickup trucks, what have you, it's costing upwards of $80 just for a small business to run that truck, which is going to end up costing the U.S. taxpayers even more when they go for goods and services. We do have our Web site, and we will give that real quick, and we will close.

Thank you very much. I want to thank you and Mr. Ryan.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for your time here on floor. It's always an honor for us to address the House of Representatives.

Mr. Ryan, it's always good to be on the floor with you. It's like old times, like the 108th Congress, Tim Ryan from Niles, Ohio, and Kendrick Meek from Miami/Liberty City, Florida.

The good thing I like about doing the work, we are working not only with new Members that appeared in the last Congress, but we have a level of consistency, even in the majority. Mr. Ryan serves on the very powerful Appropriations Committee. I serve on a

committee called the Ways and Means Committee and Armed Services. These are just committees that have an awful lot of work, and there is a lot to do.

But we are here tonight because it's very, very important to the country. I don't have a family member in Iraq. I don't have a family member on their way to Iraq, but I do have constituents that fall within that circle of individuals.

As we move this conference report, hopefully, it will go through the conference session that's going on to the President, and that the President doesn't veto this bill. Now, I am going to say this, because one may say politically, you probably wanted the President to do it, because he will go down further in the polls. It's not about polls, as far as I am concerned. It's about accountability to the men and women in harm's way.

One may think, well, this has nothing really to do with me. We have a volunteer Armed Forces, and they have signed up and they knew full well, some of them knew full well they would be deployed. We have Reservists signed up. Some of them knew this threat would come one day that they would have to be deployed on a third and fourth tour. You have National Guard men and women that signed up, they were going to be federalized. They had to know they would be federalized at some point to go out and fight on behalf of the country.

I just would like to make this point that if one may feel that this has nothing to do with your immediate family, you have to think about what the war in Iraq is doing to our country right now, our financial standing, our financial security. We have an administration in the last Congress, which was the rubber stamp Republican Congress, that passed everything that the Bush White House called for and asked for. Billionaires received tax cuts that they didn't even see coming, but it was a gift to them from the Bush administration.

Now, we have borrowed more from foreign nations than we ever borrowed in the history of the Republic. I am from Florida. For those of you who are Members from Gulf States and along the eastern seaboard, this is your issue. Even those from the Midwest or even from the west coast, this is your issue, making sure that we have the benchmarks in place, making sure that we have the accountability in place, when you look at the dollars we are spending, how about the billions of dollars, trillions of dollars we are spending on this war. It's your issue. To the small-town mayor, to the big-city mayor, to the county commissioner, or parish or State legislature, this is your issue.

Some folks said, well, in Washington, you all talk about Iraq, Iraq and Iraq again, and then that other issue, Iraq. The reason why on this floor Iraq is uttered every day, almost once an hour, two or three times an hour, is how can we deal with a national health care plan for children? How can we deal with an issue as it relates to helping small businesses? How can we prepare ourselves to take on the wave of veteran affairs that we have to take responsibility for, because we promise our veterans that we will stand with them because they stood with us?

How can we do all of those things when we are carrying on the back an Iraqi Government that I must add is looking at going on a 2-month vacation, and the majority members of the Iraqi Parliament have already said they want a timeline on when U.S. troops are going to be out of Iraq.

When you hear things about building a wall in Iraq, when you hear the reports over the weekend, Mother's Day weekend, as we were celebrating Mother's Day weekend, including myself, on honoring our mothers, my mother and my wife and all, we have to hear the report about our men and women on patrol in Iraq hit by an improvised explosive device as they patrolled at 4-something in the morning, and an Iraqi response team from our military showed up, 40 minutes after that event, and come to find a burning Humvee, burning, and those that died in that explosion, and three of our men that we are still combing the streets of Iraq for right now, along with coalition forces.

These are the very things that we talk about in this bill. We talk about not only the human loss, and, since when I always come to the floor, I just want to say that as of May 15 at 10 a.m., which is the latest, 10 a.m. report, death toll is up 3,393; wounded in action and returned to duty is 13,975; wounded in action and not returned to duty is 11,270. That number continues to go up.

It's very, very important. We pay very close attention to this. So when we have the legislation to make sure the troops have what they need, make sure that our veterans have what they need, making sure we respond to the work that was not done in the last two Congresses, we deal with what happened in the Gulf States in Katrina, doing right by them, doing right by their children, that their health insurance is about to expire, the very children of our country.

Just today I was on the steps talking to an elementary school, Phyllis Ruth Miller Elementary School, in my district. I was talking to over 100 kids that are elementary kids and some of their teachers. They were asking about Iraq, and they were asking about the war. They were concerned, and one of the young men asked, well, Congressman, do you believe when I get of the age that, you know, I would love to be a member, I would love to be a soldier, a member of the Army, do you think I will be deployed to Iraq?

I had to have a discussion with him about how we are trying to work in a diplomatic way. We want a surge in diplomacy. We want a surge as it relates to an escalation and other countries taking part in what we are doing.

If it's about, you know, dropping bombs and all of that, we can do that better than anyone else on the face of the Earth. But when you start putting our men and women into responsibilities when a country should take responsibilities for themselves, then we are talking about another thing.

I think it's also important for us to note that the bouncing ball as it relates to what the President says and what he means are two different things. One minute we listen to the commanders in the field. The next minute we know what's good for the commanders. One minute we say that if the Iraqi Government, and I just happened, I asked staff to pull this up, when the President was asked, and he said, But asked if, as a matter of principle, the United States would pull out of Iraq at the request of a new (Iraqi) Government,'' he said, this is a question that was posed to him, `` Absolutely. This is a sovereign government.''

The elected Parliament, a majority of the elected Parliament have said they want a timeline. Now, in Congress we are saying we want a timeline, and we want benchmarks. The President is saying, I am not going to allow you to do it. We have a Republican minority saying we are standing next to the President. Then we had 11 Members of the Republican side go talk to the President and say, hey, you know something, we can only stand in for so long.

Now, if I was thinking in political terms and thinking about serving on the committees I am serving on and staying in the majority and being a part of leadership meetings and so on and so on, I would say, fine. Let the Republican minority stick with the President. Let the President, let's just sit back, let's be quiet. Let's just let the President talk because as far as I am concerned politically, the gain is going to be to Democrats in Washington, D.C.

But if it wasn't war, if it wasn't the future of our children and our children's children, if it wasn't the amount of debt that has been accumulated with two wars going on and tax cuts that no one asked for, and the super, super wealthy are getting tax cuts, subsidies, the oil companies that Mr. Ryan tried to address in the first wave of alternative energy and alternative fuel.

I am a little glad to see the President talk about an energy plan yesterday, and take our dependency off of foreign oil or energy and focus on America. I am so glad that the President has caught up with the American people and the Democratic Congress and moving in that direction. We have already done that.

So the real issue here is if we just pay attention to what people are saying, I think that we can figure out why they are doing what they are doing. The President, yes, he is going to be President, his term will be up in 2008. We want to support the Commander in Chief as far as we can.

But as a democracy, as a Congress, we owe it to the people of the United States of America to continue to get good and accurate information out to them and to make sure that every Member of Congress knows exactly what he or she is voting on or not voting on.

You heard me say before, it's important that Members of the Congress on both sides of the aisle, that we go see the wizard, that we get a little leadership, get a little courage, okay? Go to the President and say, hey, listen, this is the way it's going to be. This is not going away. The American people are on the side of what's good for America. They are not necessarily saying, you know, we love Democrats or we love Republicans. They just want good government, and good government is making sure we have responsibilities.

Mayors come and speak with me. I had a city commissioner come talk with me today. She was sharing with me about, you know, all of the things that she has to go through to get a Federal grant.

Well, I don't hear the Iraqi Government talking about all the things and the loopholes and accountability measures they have to go through to get the taxpayer dollar. And I think it's important that we pay very, very close attention to that as we move through.

Let me just speak one more second, Mr. Ryan, not one more second, but several seconds.

Thank you, sir.

I mentioned earlier, I'm from Florida. June 1 is a very important date to those of us that are in Hurricane Alley. June 1 is the beginning of hurricane season. Hurricane season will be, this hurricane season has been predicted, Mr. Speaker, to be one of the most active seasons in recent time. And Florida is probably the most prepared State as it relates to response because we've gone through it so much. And the reason why we're able to respond to a number of natural disasters and hurricanes, which we have a number of wild fires that are going on right now in Florida, is that we have one of the best National Guard units on the face of the Earth, period. But 53 percent of the diesel or used equipment that they had to respond to storms, because they're the first responders, they're already staging outside of the hurricane zone to respond as first responders. They don't even have the equipment that they need to respond.

In Kansas, Mr. Ryan, the Governor of Kansas said, you know, our emergency management plan called for a response from the National Guard. Those that are still left in the State of Kansas, but, they're having to use their personal vehicles. They're having to do other things to make up for the equipment that's jammed with sand over in Iraq.

We must have accountability now. We must have benchmarks now. It's almost saying to school age children that it's okay, you can go to school, we won't grade you on anything. There'll never be a test. You just, you know, do your time and everything will work out.

Everything that we strive for to be successful in, even in business or in government, you have to have benchmarks. You have to have accountability. And what the President and some of the Members of the minority side of the aisle, some of them, not all of them, I must add because I know that there are a number of my Republican colleagues that are saying we're headed down the right track and they have voted in the affirmative, in a bipartisan vote to send that message to the White House.

And what the President hasn't come to grips with, including some members of his Cabinet, that this is a democracy, and guess what, the whole cake and ice cream thing, you write it, we just follow you kind of thing is over. It's over. The people of America voted for accountability. They voted for standards. They voted for transparency, and they're going to get it as long as we have the majority here in this Congress to give the American people what they ask for. That's what their vote is all about.

I think it's also important for us to realize that when you look at these States, and this is just Florida, the National Guard was down 500 Humvees, 600 trucks, short 4,000 pair of night vision goggles, and needed 30 more wreckers. This is from Colonel Ron Title, who is brass in our Florida National Guard. He's not talking on behalf of the Democratic Party or Republican Party. Here's a man that said, I'm going to serve in the Florida National Guard, and I'm just talking about preparedness. I'm talking about our ability to be able to respond to a natural disaster.

What are we going to do, turn around and call Georgia? I'm pretty sure Georgia has some of the same issues.

Turn around and call Alabama? Alabama, last I checked, there are a lot of National Guard men and women there, and I guarantee you their equipment, if not more in Iraq, they don't have the ability to come to Florida.

And so when you look at these other States and the response of the National Guard, then you have to get active duty troops involved and you have to fly things in and carry on. If we had accountability in place, and we had proper planning in place, that's what this bill calls for.

Mr. Ryan, this is the last money for Iraq and Afghanistan that will not go through the regular budget process because, Mr. Speaker, when that happens, accountability is paramount. Transparency hearings, everything is accounted for. Not just giving a checkbook to someone in Iraq and say, well, in the early days, giving them cash and just say go to work. That's not good accounting practices and should not be encouraged.

And so the old saying, if we know better, we'll do better, well, you know, by now, 5 years in the war, we should all know better. And we're trying to do better.

We have a majority in place right now, Mr. Ryan and Members, that are willing to do better, have the will and the desire to do it. The good thing that I like about, I was listening to what you were saying before I was recognized. Mr. Ryan, I remember the days that we were on the floor and we used to talk about if we had the opportunity, this is what we'll do. We'll make sure that veterans have what they need to have when they return back, and those that have served in past wars, that we honor their commitment by honoring them, making sure that they have a VA health care system they can be proud of.

We said that we would work to make sure that children have health care in this country, and we've already taken action on that.

We said that we would implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations. We have already done that. Waiting on the President's signature.

We said that we would put rules in place within the House rules to bring about ethics and have an active ethics committee, which has already happened, Mr. Speaker. It's not something that we said, well, if we get around to it. It's already happened.

So when we talk about the functions of good government, those principles are already in place. And so now we just need the help of the President of the United States to work with the Congress and not dictate to the Congress about what we should be doing, how we should be doing it. He's had 5 years. He's had 5 years to say, this is the way it's going to be. So shall it be written, so shall it be done.

And I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, and being a Member of the past two Congresses, serving, Mr. Ryan and I served on the Armed Services Committee. We don't want to leave our men and women without equipment and the things that they need. And supplementals in the past, I didn't like a lot of the language in it, but I voted for it for the greater good, for the greater good.

And we counted on the Defense Department to be accountable with the money. We counted on all of the things that we're being told about the equipment being on the ground when the men and women get there. Now we find out that some of that was not true, a lot of that was not true. And there's been so many things that have been told and so many apologies that have been sent out in press releases.

Those days are over. We must have accountability in place. So when the President, if the President follows through on his threat, Mr. Ryan, to veto it, I'm glad that you talked about the things that he will veto; that he's going to deny the men and women in harm's way. He's going to deny children to have health care. He's going to

deny veterans from getting the veterans services that they deserve, and he's going to deny us being able to hold our head up.

But I'm going to hold my head up because I'm doing my part and I'm doing my part right now on Memorial Day when we commemorate those that paid the ultimate sacrifice. And vetoing the largest increase in the VA history.

I'm just talking about a few things, leave alone the accountability measures at the Department of Defense. They already had the rules in place. They just weren't honoring those rules. We put it in the supplemental, this emergency supplemental. So now, within this law and within the dollars that will be flowing into the field and throughout America, they're going to have accountability measures in it.

So I'm not talking about what the Republican Congress did not do or what they call themselves doing, or what the President did not do or called himself doing. I'm just talking about what we're doing now and the opportunity that's presented before us. And I'm so happy, Mr. Ryan, that we are moving in that direction. I yield back to you, sir.

Mr. Ryan, I don't remember the last story of a state that continued to receive money, have not been accountable to Federal dollars, I mean, haven't been accountable in spending those Federal dollars. News report comes out that it actually took place, and then we turn around and say, oh, well, we know you didn't spend the last billions of dollars we gave you. We're going to give you some more. As a matter of fact, we're going to come down and help you spend this money, and we're going to come down and be a part of this lack of accountability by your government. And then we're going to reward you with another emergency supplemental that has no strings attached.

You can't reward bad behavior or lack thereof. You cannot say, well, it's okay, Governor. It's okay, mayor. It's okay, county commission or city commission. If you're not accountable with the dollars, we're going to continue to send it to you.

I don't know a police department that received Federal assistance from FEMA, okay, who did not do, did not follow the plan of hiring and training and making sure that they can patrol their own streets, and we sent Federal law enforcement individuals down there to do the everyday calls for service. That doesn't happen in America. It should not happen in Iraq as long as our taxpayer dollars are being spent, and dollars that we've borrowed, Mr. Ryan, I must add, from foreign nations.

This country is in a financial situation as it relates to borrowing from foreign nations unlike any other time in the history of the Republic. So as we move in this majority body here to correct those issues, this is a wonderful opportunity for this government to correct itself on the legislative branch and the executive branch, to do the right thing, to be accountable for the taxpayer dollars, and, Mr. Ryan, the dollars that we've borrowed from other countries, that we have to figure out how we're going to pay them back, and at the same time continue to maintain some sort of financial standing within the world.

Mr. Ryan, it's always a pleasure, sir, coming to the floor and working with you and other members of the 30-something Working Group. I know we'll be back a couple of other times this week before we finish on Friday.

But we have to stay the course. I'm going to use one of the administration's words; stay the course on behalf of those who stood for us to be able to talk here in this air conditioned Chamber, saluting one flag. We have to stand up for those who have sent us here to represent them. And there are people who can vote. There are people who cannot vote. They're Republican. They're Democrats. They're independents. The individuals that are watching what happens now, because as we look back 20 years from now, folks are going to ask, who stood up? Who stood up for them? Who stood up for their children? Who stood up for their grandchildren?

It's not about my family. It's about all of our families. If you want to talk about family values, then let's start doing things on behalf of the American people, and let's make sure that future generations have a better opportunity than we have.

When that kid asked me on the steps of the Capitol, Mr. Congressman, I want to join the Army; I want to be a soldier. Am I going to war? That answer shouldn't have been diplomacy and all that. It should have been, we're doing our job and working with the international community and keeping America safe and, yes, if you want to go into the Army, you should go into the Army and serve our country like so many others have done.

But it's a sad commentary when we're here debating the obvious of what we have to do. Accountability with the taxpayer dollars and accountability to those who woke up hearing mortar, hearing improvised explosive devices going off, looking at these vehicles towed in from the streets of Baghdad because we're doing the job that the Iraqi Government should be doing. And we have to stay the course, and making sure that we stand up for those that don't have the opportunity to walk through this door and put their voting card in these machines and vote on behalf of their future and their families.

Madam Speaker, it is an honor to come before the House once again, especially this evening.

As you know, the 30-Something Working Group, we come to the floor to bring forth the truth on behalf of the American people, not just Independents or not just Democrats, not just Republicans, but on behalf of the American people.

I am so glad to be joined once again by my good friend from Niles, Ohio, Mr. Tim Ryan, and I am always excited about being on the floor with him. I am excited by the fact that, Mr. Speaker, today that there was a conference report signed to support our men and women that are in harm's way in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in areas where they are staging to move into theater, one that brings about the equipment and support, going above and beyond what the President called for, but it also had benchmarks to bring about the kind of standards that the American people are crying out for.

It happened today at 3 p.m., and I am very proud of not only the Speaker but Majority Leader Harry Reid over in the Senate, Senator Reid. I think it is also important for us to realize that in both chambers it passed by a bipartisan vote. I think it is also important to note that as soon as we were able to get that conference report signed, that the President, one of his first actions was to announce officially his veto of that legislation, saying tomorrow that Democrats and Republicans will come together at the White House to discuss where we can compromise.

Let me just say this before I yield to Mr. Ryan. I understand that there is a discussion that is going on about who is right and who is wrong, but I think it is very, very important to understand especially on the date that Mr. Ryan is going to address in a minute, some 4 years ago, where there was a great announcement of accomplishment and now to continue to move on under that light of saying trust me, that everything is going to be okay, I think that those days are over. I am not saying they are over. The American people are saying they are over.

One time here on the floor, Mr. Ryan went down a litany of things, and actually I was checking out some of your work on YouTube recently, and it had the one when you came and you said, forgive me for questioning what the President says or what the Republican majority at that time had to say about the fact of liberators and paying for the war and on and on and on.

It continues, but the American people are now saying, Mr. Speaker, that we understand this Commander in Chief but we need the Congress to stand up and be the Congress, asking for accountability.

So, with that, I know that we have a number of things to talk about here this evening, and we also have some fresh quotes from former brass because, of course, if you are enlisted or you are inside, you cannot speak truth to power or speak your mind. This information has just been released not only publicly but to those of us here in Congress. We want to share that with the Members.

Also, I want to add that the death toll in Iraq is 3,351; wounded in action, returned to duty is up 13,875; and wounded in action and not returning to duty is 11,215. That is the latest at 10:00 a.m. today. As you know, when we come to the floor, we give that report of that information because I think the Members need to understand that this is not a political issue. This is a serious issue that is facing the country and also facing the men and women in uniform and their families.

So I do know that the American people are, and a super majority of them are, 100 percent behind accountability and also oversight. I think it is important that we have that, and the President is asking for a blank check.

The thing that I am disappointed about is that the President had an opportunity to share something great with the country about a dialogue, but he decided to misrepresent what is in the legislation. I think that as we continue to talk about this tonight, that we continue to share with the Members, because every time we take a vote, the vote gets greater on behalf of accountability. I am hoping that we can meter up enough on both sides of the aisle to make sure that we hang in there with the men and women in harm's way and those that may be placed in harm's way and not wince to the President on some sort of floating politics that is going on right now.

I hope they have a true dialogue. I am not about the political part of this. I am about the action part of this and making sure that our men and women have what they need.

Mr. Speaker, we have done what we said we would do: make sure that they are funded; make sure that they have the equipment that they need; make sure that the men and women that went over into harm's way, that the Department of Defense regulation as it relates to the downtime that they are supposed to have with their families,

that they will have it and that if the Department of Defense was going to exit from that, then there has to be a reason why they were going to exit, for not holding their end of the deal when these men and women signed up as volunteers.

So it is very, very important that those of us here in Congress make sure that within this democracy that many of these individuals are fighting for and making sure and those before them, the veterans, making sure we can salute one flag, that we honor them through our courage and integrity when it comes down to this very issue.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to Mr. Ryan.

Let me just add to what you just said. Members may be in their office watching, or walk here on the floor and say, what's Mr. Ryan and Mr. Meek talking about, like we are independent individuals that just come to the floor just to say that we are upset.

I must say that a number of Americans live through the people they respect in government, be it Republican or Democrat. Sometimes they lead into this political process. People they get involved in government for different reasons. Some folks say I am going to latch on to this individual, or I am going to latch on to that individual. It might have been John F. Kennedy for someone else. It might have been Ronald Reagan for another lady, or whatever the case may be.

It may be Speaker of the House, who knows. But they get involved in government for whatever reason. We got involved in government because we are the same folks that went and signed up at the supervisor of elections to run for office, because we wanted to do something about what was happening here in Washington D.C. and represent the people, not just Democrats, not just Republicans, not just independents, but the people, and those that are yet unborn.

I think it's also important, when we start looking at these issues, we can just open today's Washington Post, May 1. This is May 1, and this is Tuesday. Front page, April, toll, is the highest of 2007 for U.S. troops, 100 U.S. troops in a month.

I hear what you are saying.

What is so very important for everyone to understand here, that this is above and beyond politics right now. For the President to say, the President is making a political statement, he is making a political statement because he once said, as long as I am President, we are not going to pull back any troops from Iraq. Just because he made that statement doesn't necessarily mean that should be the case.

We live in democracy, last I checked. No one stopped me walking down the street. No one kicked in my door, because I have rights. I think it's important that the President understands that we live in a democracy. So, really, in my opinion, it's hard to talk directly to the President about something when he has made a statement, and he has said, I am going to stick by it.

This is not stick by your guns, you know, stick by whatever, however the song goes. It's not appropriate to use when you talk about the man, but it's stick by whatever statement you made. I think it's important that people understand that we are going to the table of compromise, which the President said we were going to compromise, he didn't sound like someone who really wanted to compromise in this statement at 6:10 today.

He sounded like a person saying I am going to veto this, and they can come to the hill and the bottom line is the Congress is trying to do this, this and this. That is not looking at compromise, that is looking at keeping some sort of word that he has made. If you want to talk about word, I think it's important.

The good thing I like about the 30-Something working group members is the fact that the Congressional Record and past statements are so very, very important to today's reality.

The President said, in his comments, that he didn't believe the time lines, and he spoke out very forcefully against them. Yet in 1990, on June 5, then Governor Bush said about President Clinton, I think it's important for the President to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn, talking about another conflict.

It's good enough for President Clinton. It's not good enough for him. It's one thing for you, it's an old saying, it's one thing for you to ask somebody, you tell someone to do something when you are not willing to do it. I think it's important, after all of this death, after all of the conflict that is going on in Iraq, in the middle of the winter, in the

middle of the civil war, the American people are crying out. If it was political, and men and women weren't losing their lives, and Walter Reed didn't get a plane load of injured soldiers and Marines and airmen and the Coast Guard and sailors, then I would say, well, let's play the political role.

As far as I am concerned, when I talked to my friends on the Republican side of the aisle, I share with them, because I think there is some good Members that are there that want to speak their mind. When they see me in the hall or see in the cafeteria, they say, Kendrick, you know, you were on the floor the other day, you made a lot of sense.

I say, why don't you vote differently. Why don't you vote in the emergency supplemental to send the troops the money? Because the more bipartisan votes we have, the harder it will be for the President to do what they are doing.

Listen, to the Republican minority, you guys are on your way to a permanent minority in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate following the President on this issue of don't ask any questions, just give me a blank check. The American people, unelected a number of Republican Members of the House and Senate last Congress. Why? Because they were rubber stamping everything that the President of the United States wanted.

You have witnessed this. We have seen the difference. Now we have the opportunity to lead in a bipartisan way. We send a bill to the President, he says he is going to veto it because he doesn't like it, and he misrepresents what the bill does. I think it's important, as we go through this whole discourse of how we are going to carry out for the next, how we are going to carry out the mission in getting the men and women what they need, I think it's important that we have a little truth that rises up out of all of this misinformation.

Will the gentleman yield?

You know, a mayor of a U.S. city has to carry out accountability for Federal money; State governments have to account for the dollars and the progress of programs, block grant dollars, that we send to the States. Here on U.S. soil, they have to be accountable to the Federal Government. If they are not accountable, they may very well lose, what? Federal funding.

And what the President is saying, and this blank check; you know, Mr. Ryan, I really think that the President thinks that he has a rubber stamp Congress. I think that is what he is thinks, because that is what he is used to.

It is almost like having a situation if you are a small business owner and you come in and you have a shop in one county and you spend most of your time over in the other county, you come over to your other shop and you notice the way they are doing business and there aren't any accountability measures on productivity, there are no accountability measures on spending. And you are wondering why this shop, the shop in the opposite county that you are very seldom at is running on time or being cost effective, and then you come in and you say that there should be change; but then, better yet, the manager of that shop says, well, why should we change? I know we are not doing things the way you want us to do it and we know that we are spending a lot of money over here. Why should we change? Well, that is what we have right now.

The President is saying that the Iraqi elected officials and the Iraqi government don't have to be accountable and their feet should not be held to the fire. But, better yet, we have mayors, governors, State legislators, county commissioner, parish, what have you, they have to be accountable or they lose their funding or don't get their funding when you are in a war that is costing $500 billion and counting.

When you look at these issues, Members, you can't help but say something is not right here. These are the people that are here in the United States of America, States, cities, counties that have to be accountable through Federal law and Federal appropriations. And over here, we have the Iraqi government. 3,351 of our men and women that have died, over 26-plus thousand that have been injured. And wasted money. And 100 soldiers that died last month alone. And we don't want accountable measures over here. We want to trust the administration on it, and we just want to say don't put any benchmarks there, don't even put any real goals there, don't do anything, don't ask any questions, just send us the money; you don't know what you are doing.

Well, I tell you this much. As long as this majority is here in this House of

Representatives that passed a bipartisan bill, sent it to the White House, that had accountability measures in it, my prayer tonight is going to be for those that will be there at the negotiating table there in the White House come tomorrow morning that, on both sides, that they hold the interests of the American people before you hold the interests of someone that made a promise in Iraq, in a foreign land, to say that we are going to have as much flexibility that we are going to have, and accountability measures don't need to be in place.

It couldn't come at a worse time, Mr. Ryan. The newspaper is full and the media is full of how the American people have not been told the truth. It is sickening. I feel that it is something that I didn't do in the minority. Maybe I didn't understand something in the last two Congresses that I was a part of, of watching all of this lack of information that has been given to Congress and how the administration has gotten away with this, and they have gotten away with saying, ``I am sorry, that is all. What do you want from us?'' We lost e-mails, CIA agents have been outed, clandestine operations abroad have been jeopardized. Men and women, there have been cover-ups. I am talking about testimony before Congress just weeks ago, things have been covered up with friendly fire of certain individuals that signed up to defend this country. Meanwhile, we are sitting here being nice guys and nice ladies and not standing and hold their feet to the fire.

This is the reason why we have a U.S. House of Representatives, the reason we have a U.S. Senate, the reason why there are three branches of government, where we don't have kingdom politics where one just says this is the way it is going to be, like it or not.

Well, I have got a message for the White House and I have also got a message from the American people. The bottom line is we live in a democracy. We would love to sit down at the table of compromise so that we can come out with a work product. But don't sit there saying what you are not going to do and what you are going to do before you sit down at the table. At least the leadership here is saying that we are going to make sure that there is accountability and that there are benchmarks there for progress, and make sure the U.S. taxpayer dollars are being sent, not just some sort of slogan of saying, well, you know, I am trying to command from over here. I mean, it didn't make sense, Mr. Ryan. But the bottom line is, the thing that is good about this whole thing is that if this was a year ago, it wouldn't even be a debate. It wouldn't even be discussed. Accountability? Oh, no. The majority would say, we wouldn't do that. And now we have the accountability, we have the strength of the majority in the Senate and the strength of the majority here in the House.

But if there was a political question, like I said before, and one would sit back and just let it play out and say, well, one day we will get to that point. We cannot afford to get to that one day. We have to do this now. Not several months from now, now. The American people demand it, the U.S. troops deserve it, our veterans deserve it.

There are dollars in this emergency supplemental that fix Walter Reed and start to fix the veterans services in this country. There are dollars in here that help make sure that the men and women have the proper training and the equipment before they get to the field. Wow, Mr. Ryan, there is a revelation there, that we will have equipment and that we would make sure that striker forces have what they need of making sure they have a commander and a gunner and a driver, the essentials, that are trained in those categories before that striker vehicle pulls out of Camp Victory. Wow, there is something, that we are actually going to do what we said we are going to do, and we are going to take the Department of Defense's own regulations, Mr. Ryan, and put it into Federal law in this emergency supplemental; of saying that if you are going to spend these dollars, this $124-plus billion, that you are going to be accountable in these ways, Department of Defense.

The reason why the President doesn't like this, Mr. Ryan, is the fact that it is actually doing what it said that he would do, and he doesn't want his words to actually come to fruition when it comes down to the way he described it. He came here at this podium, Mr. Ryan, we were sitting right out here. He came to that podium and said: We are going to hold the Iraqi government accountable. We are going to make sure that they train the troops. All of these things that he said, we took note as the Congress and put it into the emergency supplemental. And I think it is important that everyone understands what that is.

One other thing, Mr. Ryan. The bill provides $21.1 billion for military health care, more than what the President requested; $900 million of that for posttraumatic stress disorder, $661 million to prevent health care fees increasing on our troops, $20 million to address the problem at Walter Reed. It provides $1.8 billion for more veterans health care, more than what the President has called for. I want to add again, $595 million to address the backlog maintaining the VA health care facilities, $250 million to hire additional personnel for the administration for VA health care, for the health care system, $229 million for treatment for the growing number of Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans, $100 million for mental health care in veterans assistance, $83 million to speed up the processing of claims for veterans returning back from Iraq and Afghanistan. It also provides other additional above what the President calls for as it relates to supporting of the troops.

And I think it is important that people understand, $2 billion for more strategic reserve readiness funds, which $1 billion is for Army National Guard equipment shortfalls. This is very, very important. $1.1 billion for more military housing and $3 billion more for making sure that there is mine resistant ambush protection, what we call MRAPs, for troops in Iraq.

Mr. Ryan, the reason why the President is talking about additional spending, I want to make sure that every veteran in the United States of America understands that he is talking about the money that I just described and then some.

So, Mr. Speaker, I know that the President is used to having bills come to his desk that he can't even wait for it to get through the door before he signs it in tax cuts for the billionaires and those super wealthy. But this time he had legislation that's before him or he had legislation before him that he vetoed it that would have helped everyday Joe and Sue that signed up to serve this country in the way that this country asked them to serve. And, doggone it, if we can't stand behind them, then something is really wrong.

And I am really glad, Mr. Ryan, that I am not just speaking on the behalf of the ``if we could, we would.'' But I can tell you this. What the majority leader is doing when he sits down in the Senate with the President tomorrow and the Speaker of this House what she is doing when she sits down with the President of the United States tomorrow, I want them to feel that they are wearing the breastplate of righteousness to be able to go to the President and say, these are average people, they are not sons and daughters of millionaires and billionaires. And, you know something? They are going to have rights, too. They have rights. And they have the right to be represented, and they will be represented. And I am so happy that we are going toe to toe with the President of the United States, not for politics, but for the country and for the folks that their mom and dad, they may only own one pickup truck, some of them wanted to go to college but couldn't afford to go to college, some might have gone to college and went into the Marines or to the Army or to the Navy or to the Air Force or into the Coast Guard. Those that are serving in theater as officers, we owe it to them. That is the bottom line. They deserve the representation.

I know that the President is used to getting a blank check so Halliburton can spend all the money they want to spend and burn trucks and then get paid by the Federal Government. That will no longer happen, not under this watch, not as long as we have a Democratic majority in this House and a bipartisan spirit that is willing to send him the bill.

I don't want to challenge the President to veto another bill. I want to challenge the President to come to the table and sit down, and let's have a sensible conversation and let's come up with a work product that we can all

live with. It is not going to all be that he wants, it is not going to be all that we want. But doggone it, Mr. Speaker, when they rise from that table and we get the report, the rest of us, Members of Congress, the integrity of what we have sent to the White House when it comes down to accountability, when it comes down to performance, and when it comes down to holding the Iraqi government accountable and assisting our men and women that have served and those that are coming back from theater when they need veteran services, that must be there. That has to be there. And if the President doesn't allow it, then I would say our leadership should not allow him to have his way.

As far as I am concerned, it is a no-brainer; and that is the reason why the American people overwhelmingly support our position, Mr. Ryan. When I say our position, I am not saying the Democratic majority's position, I am saying the position of the bipartisan legislation that we passed through House and Senate.

I want to thank you for your patience, sir, because I thought it was very, very important that we talk a little bit about what the President did veto and what's in the legislation so that folks don't get the misrepresentation that has been given to them over the last hour or so from the White House.

You know, Mr. Ryan, it's interesting. You mentioned Chairman Murtha. Chairman Murtha was fine with the administration as long as he was voting with the administration in the minority, being the ranking member on Defense Appropriations. They didn't have a problem with him. As a matter of fact, he was held up as a hero, decorated veteran, longstanding member of the Defense Appropriations Committee in the House, ally, called to the White House for his advice.

As soon as Mr. Murtha figured out that, not only was the intelligence that the Congress was given was inaccurate, and as soon as he figured out that we could not win ``war militarily,'' and he went through a long assessment in figuring this out, and talking with professionals and talking with generals, talking with those that are still enlisted, going into theater, that's what you're supposed to do as an appropriator, making sure the American taxpayer dollars are being spent appropriately; making sure that what they're telling you here on Capitol Hill is actually reality, is the actual reality out in the field.

A lot of folks look to the Middle East when they think of the war. Well, the

effects of the war are felt right here in this country. You go to the military bases and you talk to these families. It's hard to go to many of these military bases because you see the children, you see the husband or the wife that's left behind. You see those that have lost their loved one, or those that are now, have their loved one coming back without an arm or a leg, or mentally affected by going into theater without the necessary time back home to recover mentally and physically from being in the middle of a civil war. I think it's important for us to realize that and understand that there's great gravity on this issue.

And the President may believe, in his own mind and also within his advisors that are standing around him, that he has to stick to his guns, he has to, you know, it's a fight at the OK Corral or here in the Capitol city. It's not a fight. We're all Americans. We're all on the same side. We salute one flag.

I think it's important for us to understand that there are some folks here, some of them wear blue jeans, some of them wear, you know, shop at big box stores and small stores in the small town, some folk never walked in a mall before, and if they walked in a mall they couldn't afford many of the things that are in the mall. These are a number of our, a super majority of the folks that are represented within the Armed Services. They aren't the only ones that serve their country, but many of them are financial challenged. And their voice is just as strong as the next person, or should be.

And so when we talk about just the simple things on behalf of the men and women in uniform and making sure that we bring some sense to this, because if the President had his way, we would be there, my children's children will have an opportunity to see this war continue.

And I think it's very, very important that we talk about accountability; not talk about it, act on it. And that's what we're doing. We're acting on it.

Let's look at what the President is all concerned about. The President must determine that substantial progress, I must add, is made on security, political and reconstruction benchmarks by July, 2007. Well, the President can just say, well, you know, I think that's fine. I think we're making progress.

If the President cannot certify progress, redeployment must start by July with a goal of being completed, and it has to be certified, that if in July, certification is made, redeployment of U.S. troops may begin by August 1 of 2007, with a goal to be complete within 180 days, by March 31, 2008.

This is sending a message to the Iraqi government that they have to whip themselves in shape; they have to make sure that we train the troops. Now, this is combat, this is not cutting off training. Training will continue. The things that will take U.S. troops out of harm's way will continue.

We're patrolling the streets of Baghdad. We're patrolling the streets of Tikrit and other places. You hear reports of security forces, Iraqi security forces, it's very slim. But you hear an uptick in U.S. troops that are taking place, I mean, that are taking place right now. And so I think it's all important that we understand that accountability measures are in place.

Now, Mr. Ryan, when we talk about accountable. It's interesting. On the prescription drug plan there were benchmarks. You had to be enrolled by a certain date. And if you weren't enrolled by a certain date then there would be penalties for not enrolling by a certain date.

It's very, very important that Americans and the Members of this Congress understand that anything, to bring about progress, has to have benchmarks and goals.

To kind of just say, well, hey, here's $1 million. Don't worry about it. We don't care if you provide what you say that you're going to provide. We don't care how you spend it. You use your own discretion. You spend it. We're not going to say anything.

Well, that's been the case for about 4 years in this Iraq war. And now we're saying that we want to march by a different drummer's beat, one of accountability, one of making sure the integrity of what we tell the American people is actually, you actually see it, you actually are able to follow through with that, what you said that you were going to do, that you actually do it, Mr. Ryan.

And the problem is that the President is finding himself having to be accountable. And I can tell you right now that the political question, it's not an issue here, because the election took place last November. The people have spoken, so we don't even need to get on that issue.

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Ryan, I thought you made some very good points when you read the comments from the general, when you talked about the Jefferson backdrop and all today.

General Petraeus, whom I know and I have seen in theater, which I have been to Iraq twice, yes, he is a man that we all feel very good about. We know that he is carrying out a mission on behalf of his country. But we should not ride on the back of his accomplishments as a general and a commander in the field to justify the policy that is being carried out by this administration.

I tell you this, Mr. Ryan, that historians, in the very near future, are going to look back at this time and are going to wonder where the leaders were when this war and this moment right now that we are speaking in was taking place. When I used to play football, we used to have a saying, ``The blind leading the blind and the two shall fall in the ditch.'' The bottom line is if you know that the policy has been wrong, the intelligence has been inaccurate, and that everyone that has left the administration has just about written a book about when the lie was told and how they heard it first and when it was said, I think it is important that people understand and that the Members of this House understand how history will reflect on your vote and your lack of leadership or your leadership. One of the two. If you want to listen to someone else, and I talked to my friends on the minority side, the Republican side. There are some of their former colleagues right now watching us in this debate here on the floor and wishing that they could take their vote back and stand up to the administration. Maybe, just maybe, they would still be in Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I will close on this point: The bottom line is that it is time for leadership. It is time for Members on both sides of the aisle and especially on the minority side of the aisle,

the Republican side of the aisle, to go see the wizard, get some courage, and come back to this floor and back the will of the American people for accountability for our men and women in harm's way and making sure that we hold to the integrity of what the President said he would do and making sure that we hold the Iraqi government's feet to the fire as though we would hold the mayor of Youngstown, Ohio's, feet to the fire or Sioux City, Iowa. We are going to hold their feet to the fire for Federal dollars. Why can't we hold Iraqi government's feet for Federal dollars? And the President is saying don't hold their feet to the fire and don't hold my words, whatever I have said in the past, as though I meant what I said. And the bottom line is that we have a responsibility.

So as we carry out that responsibility tomorrow morning at the White House, I hope that we are at the table of compromise but also holding to the integrity of what we originally sent to the President.

There has already been compromise. The language changed from when we passed it here on the floor and it went to the conference committee. Some language was changed then because the President didn't like it, and then it came to the floor and we voted for that. And now it is to the White House, and the President says he still doesn't like it. Now we are about to sit down again with the President to talk about these issues. And then maybe, just maybe, there may be another vote here on the floor and the President may say he still doesn't like it.

So when it comes down to the speech of who is letting the troops down, I think it is going to become more and more evident to the American people and to the Congress that we have a problem on the executive branch end of not being at the table of compromise for real on behalf of our men and women in uniform. We are doing our job. Let's continue to do it.

With that, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the leadership for allowing us to come here to address the American people in the U.S. House once again. It was a great honor.

Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the Haitian-American Nurses Association of Florida (HANA) for its successful Scholarship and Awards Gala held at Miami's JW Marriott Hotel last Saturday, April 14, 2007. This Annual Gala evoked yet another opportunity for HANA members to renew their sense of purpose and mission to this noble organization.

Established in 1984 to pull together the aspirations and ideals of the many hardworking Haitian nurses, this Association's mission is to enhance its leadership and membership in a manner that represents the utmost commitment and integrity of the Haitian community. It has also reached out to students by offering scholarships to deserving individuals who will join their ranks in the near future.

I want to commend the exemplary efforts of its officers in providing much-needed assistance and moral support to the constituents of the 17th Congressional District in a manner that evokes both the individual and collective nobility and compassion of its membership.

The readiness with which they faithfully continue to extend both their expertise and encouragement to various communities genuinely attests to their immense love and commitment to the welfare of their fellow human beings.

Under the aegis of their ongoing projects from Community Health Fairs to Emergency Response Teams, International Medical Missions, Immunization Drives, Continuing Education for Nurses, and interminable Nursing Research--to name but a few--I am confident that this Association will continue to serve and care for the people of my Congressional District, South Florida and beyond.

It is with the utmost gratitude and appreciation that I congratulate all HANA members, and the scholarship and award recipients for their efforts and dedication to healing individuals in our midst requiring medical attention. The officers and members of HANA truly exemplify the undaunted symbol of strength and resilience in a way that genuinely combines professionalism on one hand, and genuine compassion on the other.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Change of Command of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, and the achievements of its outgoing Commander, Captain James A. Morin.

In a ceremony tomorrow at Ft. Myer, Virginia, Captain Morin will pass the company's guidon to its new Commander, Captain Michael J. Shouse.

The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment is affectionately known as The Old Guard. It was created in 1784, and it is the Army's oldest active infantry regiment. It is also the lead Army unit for all ceremonial activities in and around the Nation's capital, and in many respects its members exemplify the best traditions of both the United States Army and of our Nation.

Captain Morin was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served with distinction in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he earned several important awards and distinctions for his service. He joined the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment in 2004, and he has commanded the Headquarters and Headquarters Company since February, 2006.

Captain Morin has said that, even as a young boy, he wanted to be a leader of men. He has certainly achieved that goal, with honor and distinction. We are fortunate to have men of his caliber serving our Nation.

Madam Speaker, I know I speak for all my colleagues in congratulating Captain Michael J. Shouse on his new command, and in thanking Captain James A. Morin for a job well done.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues and my constituents in solemn recognition of Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day; a special day where we mourn the millions of Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis.

This day has special significance for Jews, the main target of Nazi atrocities. I represent many constituents who are Holocaust survivors and many more that lost friends, relatives and loved ones. We mourn their loss; honor their memory; and unite in opposition to acts of bigotry and intolerance.

We also pause to remember the innocent people of Darfur. The mass killings, acts of rape, and displacement of innocent civilians occurring daily in Darfur is unconscionable and must end. This is a moment in human history when the poignant expression ``Never Again'' must be repeated over and over again, coupled with real action to end this tragic period of human suffering.

This year, as we commemorate Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day on Capitol Hill, we pause to remember one Holocaust survivor, Professor Liviu Librescu, who was tragically killed on the campus of Virginia Tech protecting his students from a gunman who murdered 32 innocent people.

His death occurred on Monday, April 16, the day Israelis commemorated Yom Hashoah.

A native of Romania, Liviu Librescu survived the Holocaust, endured years of communist oppression in Eastern Europe, immigrated to Israel in 1978 and then relocated to the United States where he taught engineering science and mathematics.

Before the tragedy at Virginia Tech, Professor Librescu was known as a passionate, world class educator who dedicated his life to teaching students. Now, he will also be remembered as the hero who saved lives by blocking a doorway from an oncoming killer, allowing students to escape to safety. Professor Librescu sacrificed his life, so that others may live. His selfless action in the face of such terrifying danger epitomizes the heroism and courage that defined Liviu Librescu's life.

May the memory of Liviu Librescu, the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, and the victims of genocide in Darfur be blessed for all eternity.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to address the House. And it is always good to definitely come down to the floor and not only have a good discussion with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle but also all general Members of the Congress.

And I must say that, as you know, those of us that are members of the 30-Something Working Group come to the floor with fact and not fiction about what is happening in this country.

I had the opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to join the Commandant of the Marine Corps tonight at his residence as we had a send-off dinner for the 15th Command Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, the highest enlisted Marine. And I know, sir, that you would have loved to have been there. It was a joyous occasion, and we definitely commend those men and women that are in harm's way, and that even those that are stateside are prepared to do what they need to do on behalf of this great country of ours.

Mr. Speaker, there was some debate earlier today about the legislative action to put forth conferees on the emergency defense supplemental bill, the emergency bill, to make sure that we are able to meet the needs of our men and women in harm's way and also other emergencies in the country. And I think it is very important for the first time in the history of this war, as far as I am concerned, or in this whole war, that we have had an opportunity to have a discussion.

There was great debate going back and forth from the Democratic side to the Republican side and arguments with some folks saying within this Chamber, well, why do we have to have language in the bill that may tie the President's hands?

Well, I must say that in this bill, in this emergency supplemental defense bill, there is nothing tying the President's hands. The President is still commander in chief. The Congress still respects his authority. And I think it is important for everyone to understand that in this emergency supplemental bill, defense emergency supplemental bill, that it is important that Members understand that in this bill the requirements that are there are already requirements that are adopted by the Department of Defense as it relates to the time that National Guard and reservists and active duty Marines, sailors, airmen, seamen and -women, Coast Guard, you name it, are supposed to be in- state with their families or in-country with their families versus deployed. That is one thing.

The second thing is to make sure that they have the necessary equipment and resources that they need. Mr. Murtha speaks constantly about being in a Stryker Brigade and what it takes in a Stryker. The driver, the commander, the gunner, others, you have to be trained in those positions, not just, hey, you come over here, we need you in that vehicle now. The kind of equipment that protects and saves lives is very, very important. And our work is not done; we are still having men and women in theater. When I say ``in theater,'' I just want to break it down and make sure everyone understands those that are in Iraq and Afghanistan still dying.

Last week, there was a great debate about other news issues that were out there; one here in the United States, major news story, and one in the Bahamas, major news story. Meanwhile, back here at the ranch and in Iraq, we had four Marines die on that very day. It was just a blip, and then back to the stories of conversation of that day or of that week. And being inoculated to the fact that we are losing those that volunteer to protect this country and serve this country is something that we cannot get used to and something that we cannot tolerate.

And so having conferees to even have a good discussion, a bipartisan discussion on what we should send to the President representing both sides of this Chamber, and the Senate doing the same thing that we have taken action today to do I think is good for the country. It is not good for Democrats, it is not in place for Republicans, it is good for the country and those that we are sending these dollars towards.

In the middle of that dinner, I left to come back to vote, to make sure that we are able to give the conferees instructions that the majority of the House wish to have given them. And not only the commandant, but Command Sergeant Major Estrada said, Sir, we don't want to stop you from doing what you need to do because our men and women need it. And I was glad to be able to cast a vote in the affirmative.

I think as we begin to look at the politics of the funding of the war and the politics of the discussion, I think we have to remember first we are Americans. We are both members of the Armed Services Committee. There are Members who are not on the Armed Services Committee, but on other defense-related committees and Homeland Security committees. We know that bipartisanship has to be paramount in those committees.

Mr. Speaker, I said in the last Congress, I will digress here for a moment, I said in the 109th Congress that bipartisanship can only be allowed when the majority allows it. And I think under the leadership that we have now and the votes that we have taken, Mr. Speaker, on major issues, it allows bipartisanship. That is not just what I am saying; that's what I know because the Congressional Record reflects that history or that track record, one may say, of how Republicans and Democrats have voted in a bipartisan way with the Democratic leadership allowing those bills to come to the floor, implementing all of the recommendations of 9/11 bill, raising the minimum wage, making sure that we deal with the issues of stem cell research, and also making sure that there are more affordable drugs for seniors, prescription drugs, and cutting student loans, bipartisan vote, creating long-term energy initiatives, bipartisan votes, Mr. Speaker.

So I am not down here talking about what may happen. I heard some of my colleagues on the other side talking about tax increases and everything. You know, that is fiction. I mean, with all due respect, that's fiction. What I do know, Mr. Speaker, because the only thing that the American people, the only thing that really works in my House is the record. And this is before the break, and this is not even now. As a matter of fact, this was through 3/26/2007. Even talking about the votes that we have taken here in Congress, the kind of votes that we have put forth, Mr. Speaker, we had to pass and we had to finish the work of the Republicans in the 109th Congress.

They didn't even pass all of the appropriations bills. We had to pass a continuing resolution to make sure that the government doesn't shut down, to say that we will put aside Member projects and priorities back home. And that is very important to all of us because why are we here? We are here to represent our individual districts, but we put America first. And we said we will pass a continuing resolution. As a matter of fact, while we're at it, we will put $3.2-plus billion in for veterans health care into the system. And guess what? The Walter Reed story broke 2 weeks after that.

I am so happy that the leadership was taken not only by our Appropriations Committee chairman, but by the leadership of this House. And we did it, and it was natural. And it wasn't political; it wasn't a reaction to something. It was the fact that we knew there was a major void there and we needed to correct it after amendment and amendment and the minority and the Republican Congress in last Congress.

So when I hear Members come to the floor and kind of say what sounds good to the American people, I just like to come with the facts, and the facts are this: as of 3/29 of this year, roll call votes, if you look at the 107th Congress. And Mr. Speaker, I want to break this down, when we say 107th Congress, that means 2 years of Congress; 108th Congress, 2 years of Congress. This is something that we call it the ``do-nothing Congress'' because many media outlets called it that because we spent more time doing nothing than here representing the American people.

At that time, as of 3/29 of 2007, at that time 2 years ago, there were only 90 roll call votes. Under the ``new direction Congress,'' which is the 110th Congress, there has already been 189 roll call votes. This is when we are here to

work, when we are here to have committee meetings, when we are here to hear from the experts, when we are here to hear exactly what America has to share with us.

One last point, and then I want to address one more issue, Mr. Speaker.

I think it is important, when we started talking about the budget, we need to take that very seriously because there has been a lot going on in the last 12 years and a lot going on since President Bush has taken the White House and had a ``rubber stamp Congress,'' and those that said, well, you write it, we will pass it, without any questions and very few hearings. And now, Mr. Speaker, here in Washington, DC, we are having a lot of hearings, and it is benefiting the American people. It is not benefiting the Republican minority or benefiting the Democratic majority. It is benefiting this institution which we call the U.S. House of Representatives.

And I think it is very, very important that we allow Americans' dreams to come true. And many of their dreams are around good government, many of their dreams are around accountability, and many of their dreams are around making sure that the people they send to Washington, DC are watching out for their tax dollars and their investment.

I had a constituent visit me today, as a matter of fact, they were young constituents, and I had them in the gallery. They weren't even of the age of 10 yet, but they were happy to see their Congressman. And I was happy to take time. I canceled a couple of meetings and I took the personal time to make sure that those young Americans understood what this institution was all about. And they really appreciated it. They asked a lot of great questions, some that I told them I had to get back to them on. But being a father myself of young children, I know that children have some of the best minds that we have and we have to protect them. But they were asking serious questions not only about the war in Iraq, but about education and about the environment. And I think that is the reason why we have to put in the best service possible.

But let me just share something, since I am talking about children. I heard our colleague a few moments ago talking about the budget. And I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, if I could talk about the budget 23 hours of a 24-hour day, I would, because it needs to be talked about. And something needs to happen to it in the affirmative on behalf of the American people, and something has happened. It has happened in a way that I will assure you that those that run around and say, well, you know, your taxes are going up. Your taxes are not going up. I mean, I am going to tell you that right now. The bottom line is that we have accountability in this budget; we are going to work to take this deficit down.

And let me just talk about what is happening here. The interest payments on the debt, and this is 2008 budget, when we look at what we pay down on the debt, now you have to remember, 12 years of Republican control here in this House, 12 years of borrow-as-we-go, Mr. Speaker. And I think it is important that the Members understand, borrow-as-we- go, not pay-as-we-go, what we passed here on this floor in the majority with some Members of the Republican side, because I do say some of my colleagues on the Republican side first do understand that they represent their constituents, that someone woke up early Tuesday morning at about 7 a.m. to go cast a vote for representation, not casting a vote to be loyal to the Republican conference, and on this side, Democratic conference or what have you. But let's just make sure that we represent the people that we were sent up here to represent.

Let's just talk here for a minute what we pay on the interest rate on the debt. And this is in the billions. This is what we pay on the debt. That is a little bit over $200 billion. And I just want to point this out, Mr. Speaker, here in this light blue box here is education. You would assume this would be education. No, this is education. We actually have to pay down more on the debt because of the out-of- control debt. And we had surpluses as far as the eye can see after the Clinton administration, after the Democratic Congress, without one Republican vote, balanced the budget, and everyone made money and everyone had money just about. Welfare reform took place. States had dollars to be able to invest in areas, and some areas were able to give tax cuts to the American people in their State.

But, no, after that we decided, well, the majority, the Republican majority, decided to borrow all they could. And now they are upset because they can't borrow anymore. But this is what we are investing, well under $100 billion. Veterans, right there, below education, that is in the green. That is what we are investing in veterans health care. Not only health care, but veterans period as it relates to their benefits.

Homeland Security, down there in the purple, we are talking about protecting the homeland. That is what is invested in the homeland.

So you really have to look at this for what it's worth. And all of this is verified with third-party validators when we look at these numbers.

Mr. Speaker, where is the money coming from? Well, that is another good question. These are the dollars of what has happened under the amount of foreign-held debt, more than doubled under the Bush administration. Look at the numbers: here is 2001, 2002, 2003. Keep going. We are just borrowing money, foreign nations. We never owed this in the history of the Republic. I am not saying, well, this administration did it or that administration. In the history of the Republic since we have been a country, this has never happened.

And these numbers are in the billions. Someone may look at this and say, well, 1, 849, that's not bad for foreign debt. No. Why don't you try in the billions. And in 2005, up again. In 2006, up again. Foreign nations giving this country money to pay down on irresponsible spending, not worrying about it, but putting it on a high interest credit card.

This is my last chart on the debt. And I think, Mr. Speaker, this comes down to what I was talking about earlier when I said in the Democratic Congress without one Republican vote, and the Clinton administration, what took place. This surplus declined by $8.4 trillion under the President's policies. And we had a surplus of $5.6 trillion, and now we are under $2.8 trillion under the Republican policy.

So when we have Members come, and I encourage Members to come to the floor. I always say, Mr. Speaker, on both sides of the aisle that it is important that we have accurate information when we come to the floor. Take the time out and reflect, take a look at the Congressional Record, ask staff to pull together numbers and give you third-party validators. I think that's so very, very important.

This other chart makes it even clearer, Mr. Speaker. We love charts. I mean, the people that are in the chart business, I know they are happy because we love charts. But we had to break this down because we had to communicate with the Members. I don't want Members going back to their district saying, well, Ms. Johnson, if Ms. Johnson was to ask a Member of Congress, either he or she, well, why did you vote against such a thing that would decrease the debt that we have and no longer allow us to continue to borrow money? Why did you vote against something like that? Why would you vote against the emergency supplemental to send money to the troops? Why would you do these things?

I just want to make sure Members understand. I always share with Members, don't worry about what someone in this Chamber may say about your vote. You need to worry about what the people in your district will say about your vote when it comes down to these very, very important issues.

This even goes further, Mr. Speaker, and it really highlights the countries that we are borrowing this money from. Japan at the lead of the pack, this is in the billions. $644.3 billion. China. Think about it. China, $349.6 billion. China. Red China.

Now, what is going to happen when we get off a plane in China and start talking to the Chinese government about what they are doing to their currency, how they are using their currency against U.S. companies to be able to devalue their products so that they can sell it for a cheaper price and take away American jobs. And we go there with a great case. Meanwhile, while we are talking, I am pretty sure

the Chinese government will be looking at the U.S. Government, including the President of the United States, and say, wait a minute, you owe me money. You are going to get off the plane and start telling me what to do? We are lending money to you. We are giving you money. We are giving you money because you mismanaged.

I am smiling while I am saying it, but is a sad testimony to the management of this country, and I think it is very, very important if we say we are patriots, we have to make sure those children, and I was walking around this Capitol today, can have their chest out even further out than I have my chest out being a Member of Congress and being in this country, without having other countries being able to say we own a piece of the American apple pie.

We want to make sure that everyone feels good about what is happening here. But I can tell you right now, we must, not ``we should'' or ``we need to do,'' we must reverse this chart. We must no longer allow countries, and I am just talking about China, Taiwan, OPEC countries. Who are OPEC countries? They are countries that we have conflicts in right now. Iraq is an OPEC country. We have other countries that are of concern to this country that are OPEC countries.

I filled up my truck just the other day, $3.07 here in Washington, DC, leave alone other parts of the country. I hate to start getting e- mails about, that was cheap, Congressman.

So you have to think about these issues. We have only been here, we haven't even had 6 months to be able to manage this government, to be able to say let's have the discourse, to be able to say, well, it is important, Members, that we owe the American people the opportunity for a debate.

This is the first time that the President has actually had to negotiate. And we live in a democracy. Some people forgot.

Wait a minute. What do you mean they are sitting down at the White House to talk about the emergency supplemental? That just happened. What is the discussion? Then you have some Members coming down saying, how dare you disagree with the President?

The last time I checked, I was emancipated long ago, and I think it is important when George Washington's face at the top of the Rotunda, as his image looks down to the bottom of the Rotunda where you have a white dot here which is the center of this democracy, Washington, DC, we have to remember there are individuals that died, individuals that are in wheelchairs, that have allowed us to have the kind of platform to be able to have the discussion with the President of the United States and other Members of Congress about emergency supplementals, especially when we are in the fifth year of a conflict with over $500 billion of U.S. taxpayer money invested.

I have mayors coming to me and saying, Congressman, this is what I need in my district. Meanwhile, we are sitting here looking at discretionary spending, saying it is not there. We have two wars going on, and the President doesn't want us to ask any questions. Meanwhile, I have cities that have to have an office of accountability to respond to every Federal grant that they get. They have to check off more than the folks in Baghdad have to check off. Something is wrong.

So when we look at these issues, that is the reason why we are on the floor at this time of night, not only sharing with the Members, but also sharing with the American people. Regardless of your party affiliation, you must be concerned and focus on what is happening here in Washington, DC.

Yes, we are all tired, and, yes, we all have other things to do. But while we have this issue of accountability, making sure that we move in a new direction, like the American people have said, I think it is very, very important.

So I came down to the floor, Mr. Speaker, just for a moment, just to share with the Members that you have to pay very, very close attention to the debate and what is taking place.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the leadership for allowing me to have the opportunity to come to the floor. As you know, we always come to the floor, week after week, to share good information with the Members and the American people. It was a pleasure addressing the House.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 11 o'clock and 35 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Friday, April 20, 2007, at 9 a.m.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor one of Miami's great ladies, Mrs. Naomi A. Adams, who on April 19, 2007, will celebrate her 90th birthday. I know I speak for all of my colleagues in extending to her our congratulations and best wishes on this important occasion.

In so many ways, Mrs. Adams exemplifies determination, strength and service. She grew up in a segregated Southern city and was educated in a segregated school system. However, she overcame adversity, and thrived in every facet of her life.

Determined to develop her talents and make the most of her abilities, Mrs. Adams was admitted into the prestigious Tuskegee Institute, which was and still is one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the nation. She worked in campus jobs in the dining hall and in the registrar's office to help make ends meet.

It was at Tuskegee that two very important events occurred: Mrs. Adams studied under the instruction of Dr. George Washington Carver, a distinguished American of genius, and she met Mr. Nelson L. Adams, Jr., the man who would later become her husband.

Mrs. Adams graduated in 1940 with a degree in Home Economics, and when the couple moved to Miami, she put her knowledge to good use by teaching others. She taught home economics and science for more than twenty years at Miami's George Washington Carver High School. When the Dade County Public Schools were desegregated in 1966, she was transferred to Robert E. Lee. Jr. High School, where she worked until her retirement in 1977. Mr. Adams, also an educator, was principal of Dunbar Elementary School for nearly 25 years.

Mrs. Adams and her late husband had an overwhelming commitment of faith to St. John Baptist Church in Overtown. She has served as a Girl Scout troop leader; as a volunteer with the American Red Cross; as a member of the board of directors of the Dade County Teachers Credit Union and on the board of directors of the Dade County Retired Teachers Association. Even today, she is an active member of the Optimist Club, AARP, the Tuskegee Alumni Association and the Tuskegee University's Presidential Associates Club.

Mrs. Adams is the mother of two children, Sceiva and Nelson, III, the grandmother of five and the great-grandmother of two. Mrs. Adams is the embodiment of the ultimate matriarchal figure, and I wish her continued happiness as she celebrates her 90th birthday.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to address the House. As you know, the working group, we come to the floor to share good information with the Members and make sure that we are all informed on what is happening in this new-direction Congress. Also, for us to understand our future, we have to go into our past. We try not to dwell on that too much, but when there are examples of leadership and courage, we want to identify and illuminate the leadership that many, that the majority of the Members of the House have already taken.

Today's vote with passing this budget resolution by the House is a perfect example of our priorities as we move through the process. As you know, there will come a time when the Senate and the House will get together in conference and we will send our budget to the President, and hopefully we can all come to common ground on behalf of not only domestic priorities, but also international priorities and how we are seen in the world.

This is a Friday for us here in Congress because this is now the close of legislative business, and we are going to be off for the next 2 weeks from Washington, DC. But we will be back in our districts working very hard, talking with our constituents.

Many Members will take this opportunity to share with the members of their community and their district the accomplishments that they have been able to make in the last 2 weeks, and they have been quite historical. I think with the emergency supplemental, even going back to that, since that is a week old and something we have already voted in the affirmative in a bipartisan way, I think that is a testimonial to what this 110th Congress is going to be about and what we continue to work very hard in making sure that the American people have a chance to see exactly how hard we have been working.

I think I am going to have to get my chart that talks about the days we have worked, the resolutions we have passed, the suspension bills we passed compared to previous Congresses. I think it is important when people look at their Members of Congress and they say, well, are you actually working on my behalf. I am hearing from the 109th Congress that there were times that you spent more time out of Washington than you spent in Washington. And many of our Members are hungry to see their constituents because we have been here the majority of the weeks working on a 5-day workweek.

Out of that 5-day work week, there has been a lot that has been accomplished.

So I am going to talk about not only the resolution, but I am going to also talk about the effort of bipartisan votes that have taken place here on the floor and on the accomplishments of being here in Washington, DC, and having hearings. I think that is important, and I think that the American people need to be fully aware.

We talk about Iraq in the same light that we talk about the work. On the 29th, which is today, the total deaths in Iraq, 3,243. That's as of 10 a.m. That's 10 a.m. numbers. Wounded, returned back to duty, 13,473. That number continues to change, Mr. Speaker. And wounded not returning back to duty is 10,841.

Why do I give those numbers out? I give those numbers out to make sure that all of the Members understand that this work is very, very serious.

This number is changing because just today in the Armed Services Committee we had a hearing on Guantanamo that has a connection to the efforts against terrorism throughout the world. But oversight accountability hearings on Iraq are at 104. That is the last documented number I know. When we get back from the break, this calendar will be updated.

Also, we had issues of cleaning up Washington, DC, and making sure that

America is safer; hearings that we've had making sure the American dream is possible for everyone. We have had a number, Mr. Speaker, of bipartisan votes here on this floor that really meant a lot to Americans.

When we started looking at the issue of minimum wage, when you have 82 Republicans voting under the ``New Direction Congress'', under a Democratic-controlled Congress voting for an increase in minimum wage, that means that there has been a will and a desire to do so over the years, but they haven't had the opportunity to do it, and it took leadership to move in that direction. Also, making college more affordable. When you look at votes that have taken place, 124 Republicans have joined Democrats in voting in the affirmative as a unit, and I think that is very, very important.

When we start looking at the Iraq resolution, we have to look at the courage and the insight and the vision of this ``New Direction Congress'' in allowing Members of this Congress to vote on something that will be beneficial to their constituents but also meets emergency needs of the country and Iraq and Afghanistan.

I think it is very, very important that we understand that when we go on break there is going to be a lot said because we won't be here in Washington, we won't have the opportunity to come to the floor. Of course, the administration will have 2 weeks of an opportunity to speak from a podium without a response, an official response, outside of Members sending press releases out. But when you look at this resolution, it makes sure that, in dealing with the veterans issues, we have in place making our commitment as it relates to defending the homeland.

I used to be on the Homeland Security Committee, and we started talking about making sure that the levees are in place and that we never see another Katrina in our lifetime, not under our watch; and holding our commitment to the men and women in the gulf coast. I think that is very, very important, and something that we have to continue to work on.

Another piece of legislation we passed within the last 2 weeks is the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act, a response not only to the scandal at Walter Reed but also to make sure we can ensure the troops and veterans that they will receive quality care. This is a bipartisan piece of legislation, something that we should be very proud of and the American people should be proud of. We will continue to move in that direction of being aggressive on these issues.

When you deal with the issue of U.S. troop readiness, I met with the command sergeant major of the Army Reserves just today, Mr. Speaker, in my office. He talked about the number of issues that are still not being addressed on behalf of reservists. But I can tell you that the refreshing part of that conversation was that I could go to the Wounded Warriors Assistance Act of 2007 to say that help is on the way. I was able to point to the concurrent resolution that we passed, our first action in January, that we put $3.6 billion into veterans health care so that when he goes out in the field to speak to the soldiers, he can say a new day is coming.

I talked about the budget resolution prior to this budget resolution passing here on the floor, the largest increase and investment in veterans assistance, health care assistance in the history of the VA. I was able to talk to him under those terms and under that flag of accountability, oversight and making sure that we are accountable to the men and women that serve our country. I can tell you that it was received with great appreciation from him.

I think it is important that as we start looking at the action of growing the economy that is in this budget that it is going to be very, very helpful to us all, making sure that our economy is moving in the right direction and will be here for all levels of economic classes.

We start looking at children that are being assisted through this budget. As we continue to march through this process, as you know, there will be a House and Senate conference, there will be Members pulling in different directions to make sure that the priorities are met, but when it is all said and done, children are being protected. I know the Speaker will be having a summit on children that is coming up pretty soon that will allow us to even further look into the needs of children in the United States of America.

What does this mean to the economy, Mr. Speaker? It means an awful lot. It means if you have healthy children you have fewer days of parents having to take off work and take them to the doctor, or to stay home to try to, what I call, drugstore medication, going to see what they can buy over the counter to help their children rebound from whatever health ailment that they may have.

With this budget that we passed, we are making sure that every child in the United States of America has an opportunity at universal health care, something that is very, very important. I come from a State where over 12 percent of the kids are without health care. I think it is very, very important that we focus and stand behind our commitment to America's children in making sure that we provide the funding to make sure they all have universal health care. It is going to be good for our economy, it is going to be more days that children will be in school. We will have healthier children, we will have healthier families, and we will have a healthier economy in our society. I think it is important that we move in that direction.

When we look at the State Child Health Insurance Plan that we have here, we call SCHIP, you look at the investment of what we have just made on this vote here on the floor. In 2008 to 2012, you will see in the billions of dollars that the President's budget is a $2 billion increase up until 2012. But then, if you look over a little further, you look at the budget resolution we just passed, and that is with a $50 billion increase as we move into 2012.

So we have already laid out that we have the will and the desire to do so and that we are ready to do it; and we will be finding the necessary resources to do it without going into deficit spending. That is something that we have passed in the pay-as-you-go. If you are going to propose it and you are going to pass it, you are going to definitely have to show how we are going to pay for it.

I think it is also important, as we look at the agenda, and we have a number of third-party validators that have endorsed this budget. We even have committees outside of the budget. But we have a Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, a panel created to inform Congress and the public on energy independence, climate change as well as developing policies and initiatives to assure progress made to reduce dependency on foreign oil. This is so very, very important, Mr. Speaker. Not only do we have this select committee out there, in this budget it reflects our values in investing in the Midwest versus the Middle East. It is a lot cheaper, believe me.

And those numbers that I read out at the beginning of how many men and women will never come home to their loved ones, how many of our men and women that won't be able to return back to battle, I think it's important for us to understand that we not only have to conserve but at the same time make sure that we put our money where our mouths are when it comes down to protecting our Earth, because we only have one.

I think it is also important, Mr. Speaker, just for us to step back for a moment and just reflect on what not only happened just a few minutes ago but what happened last Friday. I continue to come back to that since the President is saying that he wants to veto the emergency supplemental. I think it's important that we just look at that just a moment.

I was on the floor last night, and Mr. Ryan was here. We had an opportunity to talk about what the President really meant when he said that he wanted to veto the emergency supplemental for our men and women in uniform. I couldn't help but reflect on the President's history on vetoes, and I started looking. I would ask my staff, and then I started just kind of doing a personal evaluation. Have I ever heard the President say he is going to veto something?

In 6 years of him being President, since I have been in Congress, now going on 5 years, I have never heard the President say I am going to veto something. I wonder why.

Well, we just left the 109th and the 108th Congress, which was better

known as the ``rubber stamp Congress.'' The President sends it to the Hill, it will be followed to the T, and that it will be ``so shall it be written, so shall it be done.'' Members will make other Members vote for the President's priorities. The majority was on the Republican side. And in November, the American people said, I no longer want that kind of democracy. I no longer want the President's original thoughts to be carried out by the Congress without review.

We have another chart, and I want to make sure that we get that chart, the one that talks about how many bills we've passed. I had it here last night. It may be in the back or something, if staff can grab it for me. It was from the Clerk's office. It talked about the days that we've worked to this point and the bills that we've passed until this point, because I think it will be very, very revealing.

The Congress last session did very little. And when I say very little, they had very few hearings on many of the issues that are before the Congress. We are taking a lot of time, not only Members of Congress but also the staff here in the House of Representatives on both sides of the aisle, because the days have been accelerated and the fact that we are actually having two or three committee meetings in a given day, leave alone subcommittees. And I think it is important, if we are going to have an active and functional and informed government, that we have to go through the steps and making sure that we are making sound decisions. That's okay when you are looking for others to tell you what you should be doing.

This is my new favorite chart, Mr. Speaker, because, as you know, in the Working Group, we love third-party validators; and we love to give accurate information out. I personally love to give accurate information out. I don't ever come to the floor and share with staff or a friend, ``How can I go to the floor and give inaccurate information? Please help me do that.''

Some of the debate that took place here on the budget, I was really shocked by the fact that some Members would come to the floor and say something that we all know is not true. But this is true. This comes from the Clerk of the House. This is the Record. Bipartisan office, it's the Record. I love everyone in the office, and I appreciate the work that they do.

But this is the 107th Congress, the 108th Congress, the 109th Congress, and this is the 110th Congress. This was known as the ``do- nothing Congress.'' That was what the media called it. And the ``New Direction Democratic Congress'', that's what we call it. It has nothing to do with the third-party validator.

When you look at roll call votes to this date, March, 2005, during this month, as we close out this month, there were only 90 roll call votes that were taken. As we close out this month, there will be 189 roll call votes that were taken under this Congress, under this working, very functional, very informed Congress. Because the fact is, Mr. Speaker, that we have taken the time to go to a committee, to have staff research and to have witnesses come to us and share with us where we're going wrong and what we're doing right, and that is important.

We look at suspension bills, another form of bills that we vote on, 26 in the 109th Republican-controlled Congress, 72 that we voted on Democratic-controlled Congress. And then it goes on and on and on. And I think it is important even days in session, 26 compared to last year under the Republican-controlled Congress, 48 under the Democratic- controlled Congress.

Why is this important? We have two wars going on. We have children without health care. We have veterans that are waiting 6, 7 months to be able to see a specialist at a VA. We have VA clinics that are open only once or twice a month.

Why is this important? This is important because we have small businessmen and women in America trying to find a Congress that is going to stand on their behalf as it relates to free trade. And I believe that trade is good, but not when it is at the cost of U.S. jobs and the outcome measures of building our economy are based on hypotheticals.

It is important for us to be here, Members, to understand these issues. So as I speak on the importance of what we have done and what the President is talking about in vetoing the emergency supplemental bill and saying that, oh, well, it is those folks in Congress that are holding it up, no, we have done our work. You will have the bill on your desk, and I urge you not to veto it on behalf of the people that are counting on us to stand for them.

It is not us and them; it is all of us. We are all Americans. And if there are some things in the emergency supplemental that the President disagrees with, then that is fine. State those disagreements, but don't hold up the necessary resources from the men and women that are in the forward area, especially in Afghanistan.

If this was a political conversation, I would say, Mr. President, veto it. You have to lie in that bed; and those that voted against the emergency supplemental would have to lie in that bed, too. But I would be speaking as some sort of hard-core partisan, which I am not. I am a Member of the U.S. Congress, and I think it is important that we look at it, Americans look at it the same way. It is not an issue of if you are a Republican or an Independent saying, well, the Democrats. No, no. The people that will suffer the most by the President saying that he is going to veto are going to be the men and women in uniform, the veterans that have been waiting on accountability out of this Congress and it is at an emergency level.

Those Americans that have been waiting because of natural disaster, they are an emergency state. They are ready for their economy to kick in so that they can start providing for their families. It is going to be those individuals that are going to suffer. So let's take the personalities out of it. You have to be for the emergencies that are facing this country.

Emergency supplemental is very, very important to this country and should not be allowed to be used as a political football. So I would ask for the President to reconsider his original thoughts vetoing the emergency supplemental.

I think soon that there is going to be a discussion, Mr. Speaker, as it relates to the budget resolution we just passed. There will be threats and rumors of threats about what the President won't stand for. But there has to be a paradigm shift, because the American people have made a paradigm shift in November. You had Republicans and Independents voting for Democrats because they wanted accountability, they wanted oversight, they wanted to move in a new direction, and they wanted to make sure that they had a government that was going to balance with the present administration. But apparently that message has not gotten to the White House yet.

And I am so glad that the leader of the Senate and also the Speaker of the House sent the President a letter saying, you know, it is not personal, let's just calm down and let's work together in making sure that the men and women of our Armed Forces and the veterans, I have the letter right here. This letter is from Senator Reid and also Speaker Pelosi. And it talks about both House and Senate bills contain important provisions rejecting the present policy that has been pursued for more than 4 years.

Now, let's just say this very quick. And this is the closing of this letter because we can go on from the beginning. But we entered this into the Record last night and there is no need to do it today, but I think it is important that everyone understand where we are headed and where we have been.

We know the past 4 years that there has been, not one, two escalation levels of U.S. troops in Iraq, and we know a third one just took place recently, an escalation in troops. And every last escalation has shown the same, very little as it relates to making sure that Iraq is a safer place to be. And it is still a very dangerous place. The President is asking for more time. But usually when you have three strikes, you are usually out.

But as we start looking at this, it is important that the Members pay very close attention to this and the American people. And it goes furthermore to say that the provisions are based on statements by General Petraeus and

other senior military leaders that there is no military solution in Iraq. No military solution in Iraq. So to say that 140-plus thousand troops, 200,000 troops, we are going to get to the bottom of this; the more, the more the better, that is not necessarily what the military commanders have said.

What did the Iraq Study Group say? They said that we have to find a diplomatic solution and that we have to find some sort of redeployment plan of U.S. troops. Great Britain has already said that they are pulling out. Others of the coalition of the willing, that I must add you would assume that Great Britain would be the second largest coalition in Iraq right now.

No, it is actually U.S. contractors that is almost being led by Halliburton who said that they are going to move their headquarters overseas to Dubai. The U.S. taxpayer dollars are all intertwined in the Halliburton Corporation, and there are several investigations on Halliburton as it relates to their accountability of making sure that they billed the American taxpayers appropriately.

This goes on to say that their collective judgment leads to the conclusion that U.S. forces should not try to contain a civil war, but rather a bipartisan majority in the House and Senate believe strongly that the U.S. mission should be transitioned to a counterterrorism force protection, and training and equipping the Iraqi security forces and phased redeployment of U.S. troops should commence.

That is what this letter is saying, and that is what we must do.

And I think it is very, very important that this message is loud and clear. And I don't think that the will or the desire of the majority of the Members of the House and the will and the desire of the majority in the Senate will change on this issue, because polls have indicated, not only the poll that was taken in January because that was all about Iraq and some other issues and accountability and ethics, but the poll that was just taken over the weekend of how the American people felt about the action of this Congress, they are with us. They are saying, what took you so long? Well, the thing that took us so long was not necessarily this Congress. It was the rubber-stamp Congress.

So someone, please, I implore you and beg you, call the White House and tell the President, just because you say it, doesn't necessarily mean the American people are going to follow you.

I was watching the President on the television just the other day, the press conference after the Senate took its action, and you would have assumed that something really bad happened. The President was saying, You know, I am going to veto it. He kept saying this, And they are holding money. Do you think the American people are going to believe for one minute when you have an emergency supplemental with accountability measures in it, of following what? The Department of Defense deployment rules and regs of men and women when they circulate out of theater. You have bureaucrats right now in the Pentagon that as soon as enlisted Reservists and in some instances National Guard return back home, they are returned back home within 150 days and going back into theater for another 12 or 15 months if they are a soldier, 7 to 10 months if they are a marine. If they are in the Air Force, it may go from 3 to 4 to 5, or maybe up to a year, not because someone believes that that is the case. And here is the President on the front page trying to play the blame game and point fingers. That is not what this is about.

And the reason why I am speaking in a very firm voice on this issue is that this is not politics. This is saying, let's work together, let's make sure that this is not about a stare-down, who is going to flinch first. It is not about flinching, it is not about who tucked their tail under their legs and who won. Because we all win when we give the men and women what they have to do.

So this has accountability measures in it saying that troops will not be deployed outside of the Department of Defense's own rules and regulations. Obviously they have been bending those rules. How do you say to a soldier or a marine, an airman or a sailor that we are going to bend the rules when it works to the benefit of the Pentagon or the administration, but when it comes down to what you are supposed to do we are not bending anything? We are going to hold you to the nine of what you are supposed to do. That is not American. That is not fair.

So this Congress has stood up on behalf of those individuals and said that we are going to hold not only the Department of Defense's feet to the fire, but also the administration's feet to the fire on this issue in law in this emergency supplemental. If you are going to spend the money, these are the rules you are going to live by.

It also goes on and talks about the whole issue of readiness, making sure that our men and women have what they need when they go into theater. Well, some may say, well, Congressman, why are you talking about readiness? We are not sending anyone over there unprepared. The real issue is there is training that is involved that needs to happen.

Again, I told you that I met with the sergeant major, the highest enlisted man or woman in the Army Reserve just this morning, and he was sharing with me the level of training that his men and women in the Reserve units have not received because of the fast rotation and the lack of emphasis on training and readiness. This is fresh information. This is not fresh. We already knew this, but he just validated it even more by just coming and saying this is an issue.

We just passed this budget. So if the President doesn't want to move in a new direction in making sure that our men and women have what they need and they are trained, that is something that we need to talk to him about. We need to talk to him about it. We don't need to say you are wrong or do it, we want to watch, we want to see you do it; because if you do it, it is going to cost you politically. We are far beyond politics right now.

It goes further into increasing the VA and assisting those men and women that are coming back. And it also looks at, states, that kids, the children, we reflect in our budget what we want to do. But with children, the money will run out for children's health care in certain States here in this country if this emergency supplemental doesn't go through. And I think it will happen prior to the next budget act when the bill is up.

I know Mr. Ryan came down and he was getting ready to join me, and I don't want to move into the segment that he shared with me that he wanted to share with you. But as we start continuing to look at the present and hopefully moving into the future, I want to make sure that the Members know exactly why this budget was very, very important. The budget that we passed doesn't raise any taxes whatsoever, and I know Mr. Ryan is going to talk about that and I am not going to take his thunder.

But as we start to look at the interest payments on the debt, of what has happened in the past and where we have to have the paradigm shift and where this budget resolution starts to move the numbers and the reality of what has happened in the past, what was the reality in the 109th and 108th Congress.

Here is the interest that is paid on the debt right here, in the billions. And this is what Congress invested in education. Interest, education.

Next to that investment in veterans in the billions, the very low billion, under a hundred billion versus the debt.

Homeland security. You have a lot of chest beating going on down here on the floor about homeland security, protecting the homeland. That is one of those things that comes in behind ``I love the troops.'' Protect the homeland. Previous Congresses and previous budget chairmen and committees did not set their priorities there, but they made good speeches.

Look down here, homeland security, that is the investment that is made in homeland security versus paying down the debt. Why is this chart important? It is important because our priorities are now changing to no deficit spending, pay as we go. That is going to be painful.

Mr. Speaker, I already feel the pain. It is going to be painful. But if we are going to make sure that we do what we are supposed to do as Members of Congress and we hold to our word as Members of Congress, I am talking about all

Members of Congress, we will pay. Because the foreign debt that this administration and the Republican rubber-stamp Congress previous to this Congress put on the backs of this country will have other countries looking at us in a different light.

Mr. Ryan, I probably borrowed $20 from you every now and then.

Let's say I was to say hypothetically, Mr. Ryan, can I borrow $100?

Sure, Kendrick.

And I will pay you on Friday, payday, at the end of the month. And I see you 2 weeks after that payday and I come up to you. You are thinking, hold it, you owe me money when you see me next. You're not thinking about what I want to talk about.

Where is my chart on foreign debt held? We love charts here. I can tell you, on the foreign debt held, there are countries like Japan, China, OPEC countries, Mr. Speaker, that we borrow money from. Iran is in that number. So how are we going to be viewed on the world stage and how do we rebound from that?

Here is my chart. We keep the chart people in business.

China, Japan, leading the pack there. The U.K., the Caribbean, OPEC countries that include Iraq, Iran, Venezuela. You look at Korea, Hong Kong and Germany.

Again, Mr. Ryan, how do we look these countries in the eyes and say we want you to do this a certain way when we owe them money? How do we get out of that? We get out of it by passing this budget resolution that we passed today.

You are making a point, and I just want to slingshot that point in.

Here's the issue. The President is now saying, I am going to veto the emergency supplemental bill for Iraq and Afghanistan and for our veterans. I'm going to veto it.

That is something he has never said before, Mr. Speaker. All the while all of this debt was being built up on the future generations of Americans and our children and grandchildren that are children of Republicans and Democrats and Independents and those who are thinking about voting, the President never once said I am going to veto it.

As a matter of fact, every bill that was passed in the rubber-stamp Congress, the President was saying, I'll sign it. I am going to sign that bill. Record spending, I am going to sign that one.

Mr. President, that bill will run the debt up. We will have to borrow money from foreign nations, some that we have issues with. I'm going to sign it.

As a matter of fact, he signed so many bills, can I have another pen? I ran out of ink.

Now to say I am going to veto something that has accountability measures in it, the problem is not additional dollars for the emergency needs of Americans, the problem is the fact that the Congress has said, after 4, now 5 years in Iraq, that we are no longer going to be the say-nothing, hear-nothing, do-nothing Congress, that we are going to have a say in it, and we are sitting here and federalized by the people of the United States of America to make sure that they have a voice and we have accountability.

Did you say the Congress or did you say The Tonight Show?

Okay. I thought you were joking.

I yield back.

Mr. Ryan, I am glad you are here to make that point, because we talked about it earlier.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important for us to understand exactly, and I can see if it was a different President, Mr. Ryan. I can see if the administration has changed from the last Congress to this one. But it is the same President that celebrated a Congress that was willing to follow through his original thoughts.

During our watch on the 109th Congress and the 108th Congress, the President signed bills with billions of dollars in special interest tax breaks and subsidies to big oil, to a number of other high-level, connected, plugged-in, I-know-them kind of folks, and direct access to the Capitol and direct access to the White House, signed a bill and didn't even blink an eye.

And in this emergency supplemental which is a true emergency, our men and women need what they need now in the field, not in 2 or 3 weeks, now.

The real issue is we are helping and correcting the lack of oversight, the lack of will and the desire to correct the issues at Walter Reed Hospital which, when our troops are injured in the field, some of them, and Mr. Ryan and I have been through the whole track of what happens to our men and women that are injured in the field. They are dealt with in the field hospital, then shipped over to Germany. They spend some time over there, and then they are medevaced over here to Walter Reed Hospital. The last thing they need to see is a broken- down, lights-out, insect-infested Walter Reed Hospital. We responded.

As a matter of fact, it makes me feel so good with this new Democratic Congress that we have here now, prior to the Walter Reed story coming out, and I need to get my chart on Walter Reed, prior to the Walter Reed story coming out, this Congress, through the continuing resolution that we passed at the end of January, because the rubber stamp worked on some days, the 109th Congress did not finish the appropriations bills, we reprioritized their priorities and put $3.6 billion in into VA health care.

Here is a specialist here. She lost her legs. She lost her legs because this country asked her to go and fight in a foreign land, in Iraq.

This whole story here, the Newsweek cover, and Newsweek comes out every week, but I actually saved this. I save a number of Newsweek, Time and other periodicals and dailies so we can archive what has happened in the past so we can have a better future.

Right now what we are doing in the emergency supplemental is a better future for the very people we are trying to help. For the President to say, well, I am concerned about other things that are in the bill.

Well, he wasn't concerned when it was okay for big oil. He wasn't concerned about that. I am so glad we live in a democracy, and I am able to say this. I am very concerned. You know why I am concerned? Because there are some American people who woke up early one Tuesday and stood in line and voted for some representation.

Mr. Speaker, as sure as my name is Kendrick Meek, they are going to get it from this Congress. They are going to get representation from this Congress. We are going to make sure that their values are turned into not only law but to action.

Mr. Ryan, when you talk about this issue of what is in the bill, what is actually in the emergency supplemental, when we talk about the accountability measures, you can't help but get passionate about it.

Mr. Speaker, if I was an intern working in a congressman's office and if he or she voted against the emergency supplemental, my American spirit would have to come out. I would say I love the congressman or congresswoman, but it is the right thing to do.

So what is the problem? Maybe they need to send an e-mail. Maybe they need to send out an e-mail under the name John Doe or something saying, Mr. President, I love you and all of this, but please don't veto this bill. That is where we are now.

It is very interesting, my grandmother used to say sometimes, I am so glad that I lived long enough. She used to say sometimes, even as I go from day to day, you know they say thank God for life. That is what she used to say, I am glad God allowed me to live long.

I am so glad that God allowed me to live long enough to see the paradigm shift that is now taking place here in Washington, D.C.; see accountability;

see a new direction; see oversight and see us sharing in that accountability, us sharing and making sure that we are making cuts and having reform ourselves so that America can be better.

We used to say, Mr. Speaker, all the time in the 109th Congress, we have the will and the desire to lead; give us the opportunity to lead. And now that leadership is happening. So, Mr. Ryan, keep pointing it out. Let us keep sharing good and accurate information. Let us continue to go to the Congressional Record. Let us continue with our third-party validators because we love third-party validators, and the credibility and the integrity of the 110th Congress will live on in a bipartisan way.

Mr. Ryan, it is always a pleasure coming to the floor.

Well, I just want to say that the past will speak to the future, and I want to leave you with this closing comment: remember the field mouse is fast, but the owl can see at night. It is a pleasure being on the floor with you.

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honor to address the House.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to come to the floor. Mr. Ryan and I have spent a long time, Mr. Speaker, when it was just Mr. Ryan and I on the floor. This goes back to the 108th Congress and a little of the 109th Congress, and I am so glad we are having the opportunity to come to the floor to talk about not only the budget but what we were able to do last week, last Friday, moving in a new direction as it relates to the emergency supplemental.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, the 30-Something Working Group comes to the floor to not only share facts but to also do away with the fiction that many of the Members on the other side of the aisle come to the floor many times sharing information that I guess someone gave them some information and said, go on the floor and say this, or what have you.

I can't help but watch some of this debate on the floor and question where some of the information comes from.

The good thing about the 30-something Working Group, we actually have third-party validators for information that we share here on the floor. We want to make sure that every Member is able to make a sound decision and that the American people are able to get great information from what we share here on the floor.

As you know, every time we come to the floor, we talk about a number of issues. But tonight, again we are going to talk about the budget. We are also going to talk about the ongoing issue of Iraq and the courageous step we took just last week, and the Senate has taken a step in that direction also in accountability measures within the emergency supplemental.

Mr. Ryan, I don't know if you had an opportunity to see the President's press conference today, but it was quite interesting. It was like he was trying to sell something to the American people. He was speaking to the Cattlemen's Association, and he took that opportunity not to talk about beef, but to talk about what the Congress is doing in the area of making sure that we bring about accountability.

He was saying he is going to veto what we actually passed. What he is trying to do, and there is a word on the street that is used, flipping the script. He is trying to flip the script and trying to fake the American people out in saying that the Democratic Congress is standing in the schoolhouse door of the funding getting to our troops.

Mr. Speaker, I beg to differ and I think we have prima facie evidence here to show that the emergency supplemental, everything in the emergency supplemental is a true emergency, making sure that we fund our troops beyond what the President has called for, making sure that we stand up on behalf of our veterans, an unprecedented commitment to Veterans Affairs and to the VA in the history of this country.

Because we already had a system that needed work and needed funding, this Congress stepped forth and put forth, the 110th Congress, the Democratic controlled Congress stepped forward and made sure we did what we needed to do for the veterans, and we are just getting started.

At the same time, Mr. Ryan, we have to look at the issue of Hurricane Katrina. The President said there is other funding in there. We are doing things in the emergency supplemental for the people on the gulf coast that have been waiting on the President. They don't want lip service, they want action. If the President wants to veto that, that's on him. But I guarantee you that the American people will see through what our President is saying as it relates to and as he continues to explain how he is going to veto an emergency supplemental.

He is saying if the money runs out, and it is on the back of the U.S. Congress. Well, I can tell you this: The American people are on the side of the U.S. Congress. They have asked us to lead, and we are leading. They didn't ask us to balk at the first threat that the President makes. Or I am going to veto. Well, okay, that is something that you are going to have to live with. That is something you will have to explain. But we are going to continue to do what we need to do here in providing the kind of leadership necessary.

America said in November they want to move in a direction. They said they want accountability. They no longer want a rubber stamp. They want a do-something Congress and not a do-nothing Congress. We will talk about that tonight.

Mr. Ryan, I am so glad you are here as we continue to share this information with the Members so they can make an accurate decision tomorrow when we vote on the budget, on our priorities, making sure that we give every child in the United States health care, and making sure that we move in the direction that the U.S. mayors have asked us to move in, making sure that we move in the direction that governors have asked us to move in, and giving the necessary dollars to homeland security to protect the homeland.

We are going to make sure that the Members know exactly what they are voting on so when we go on a 2-week break, Mr. Speaker, Members can't go home and say, I didn't really understand what was in the budget.

I yield to Mr. Ryan.

Mr. Ryan, they don't say 10 percent match for the special interests. When it comes down to big oil and some other big guys and gals here in this town, Mr. Speaker, they don't say you have to match us halfway. They say just, we will give you what you need. As a matter of fact, we will give you technical assistance to be able to take the U.S. taxpayer dollar and do what you want. And guess what, we will not even look. We will cover our eyes. We won't even have hearings.

Get my hearing chart, Mr. Ryan. I want to get down to the nitty- gritty here.

Mr. Speaker, we come to the floor 10 minutes past 10, 12 minutes past 10, and there are some things that we could be doing, but this is serious business.

We come with the facts. These numbers are from the Clerk of the House of Representatives. It is not from the DNC, and it is not from my cousin back in Miami that said hey, this looks good, maybe you want to take that to the floor and talk about it. This comes from the Clerk's Office. I actually like the Clerk's Office. These are the facts. The 107th Congress, 108th Congress, this is the 109th Congress that many media outlets have called the do-nothing Congress.

At this point in March of 2005, compared to March of 2007, the new Democratic Congress, the new direction Democratic Congress, the Congress only had 90 roll call votes. We have already had 189 roll call votes and counting for this month.

When you look at suspension bills that are coming over from the Senate what have you, kind of agreed upon, 26 votes that took place by this time; 72 we have done here in this new direction Congress, Mr. Speaker.

When you look at bills passed under a rule, 11 votes by this time in the last Republican-controlled Congress; 24 in this Congress.

We are here to do business. Days in session, 26 days in the Republican-controlled Congress; 48 days under this new direction Congress, Democratic-controlled Congress.

We bring these facts to the floor to make sure that not only Members, but the American people understand we are here to carry out the business of the American people. Mr. Ryan has some numbers when it comes down to accountability on Iraq because some Members would lead you to believe, a small number, would lead other Members to believe that there was some backroom decision that was made about accountability in Iraq, and all of the things that we are learning about Iraq, all of the accountability measures that we come up with as it relates to Iraq and policing the U.S. taxpayer dollars and all of the protection measures that we have in for the troops and men and women in uniform, they just think it happens in some backroom here in the capitol.

If the gentleman would suspend, is this the company where the CEO is moving to Dubai?

One last point before we recognize Ms. Jackson- Lee because I know we want to get to our next discussion, get into the budget.

Mr. Speaker, to hear the President say even the word ``veto'' is something we have never heard since he has been President of the United States. He has never vetoed anything. Spending out of control, foreign debt, record numbers, passing tax cuts for the superwealthy and for the special interests, President never said a mumbling word. Cricket sounds of special interest subsidies and tax breaks, rolling through this floor, Members held hostage here on the floor, voting for special interest legislation for hours upon hours, the board is left open, not a mumbling word out of the President, not a mumbling word.

And now legislation happens to pass that he no longer has his rubber stamp Congress, he no longer has a Speaker who says, hey, this is the way I want it or no longer has President, this is the way we want to do it over in the Senate, so shall it be written, so shall it be done, his original thoughts are not followed through here in the Congress. Since that no longer exists, now all of the sudden, the President wants to get animated when it comes down to I am going to veto what they send and they are blocking money.

We are not blocking money for the troops. Matter of fact, we are giving them more than what he asked for. We are dealing with the issue of the VA. We are dealing with the issue of the crisis that we have here in the United States of America. It is an emergency. The children do not have health care. This is not an emergency for Iraqi children. It is an emergency for kids in Alabama. It is an emergency for the kids in Georgia, and it is an emergency for the kids in the Midwest and in Florida.

This chart here, and I am going to leave it alone and I am going to recognize Ms. Jackson-Lee, I have over 12 percent of uninsured. This is my State here in Florida. Over 12 percent of the children in the State of Florida, more than 12 percent are uninsured. That is my State. Texas, hello, President of the United States, he has a house there. It is where the West White House is. Over 12 percent of the children in that State do not have health insurance. This is an emergency to the American families. This is an emergency here in this country. It cannot be Iraq, Iraq, Iraq, and that other issue, Iraq.

We have to care about our own country, and if we cannot put that in an emergency supplemental without the President threatening a veto, if he vetoes that bill he is denying U.S. children, need it be Republican, Democrat, Independent, concerned citizen thinking about voting in the next election, yes, your children, too; yes your State, too; yes, your community, too, will be without health insurance because the last Congress decided not to do it. They decided not to do it, and I think it is important when you look at this, as we move into the budget, if we were to follow what the President wants to do as it relates to vetoing this emergency supplemental, $2 billion for what we call the State insurance plan for children. In the budget resolution that we have, $50 billion to make sure that we cover the costs of that as we look in the projection as the years go out.

So I am glad that Mr. Ryan is bringing these issues up, and as we now segue into the budget, the next thing you know, Mr. Speaker, I guess when we pass this budget tomorrow, we will probably end up being a bipartisan vote just like the emergency supplemental was a bipartisan vote in the House and Senate, that the President will probably have a press conference tomorrow and say I am going to veto the budget, too. So, if he now believes in vetoes, after 6 years of being President of these United States, out-of-control spending, record borrowing from foreign Nations, and now there are accountability measures in the budget and in the emergency supplemental, I do not even want to tell the President to have at it because, as an American, I am going to do everything I have to do to stop him from doing it.

I yield to Ms. Jackson-Lee.

Mr. Ryan, it is very good, interesting, because I have a lot of veterans in my district. As a matter of fact, I was just talking to a group of veterans yesterday that came to this capital. We had an opportunity to talk. You know, veterans, why are you giving the President a hard time about funding, the President loves us. The President loves veterans. We all do. Who doesn't? Who is running around here saying I don't like veterans? No one.

But it is not what you say, it is what you do.

Mr. Ryan, I think you pointed it out. I just want to share this information and the sources from the House budget committee, and also from the Office of Management and Budget, and the Congressional Budget Office, and this is from the president's budget office and the Congressional Budget Office, and it is from the House Budget Committee. So you have three, third party validators to these numbers.

As we look at the President's budget as he proposed for the United States of America, when you look at the veterans, the Democrat budget is $32 billion above what the President's budget over the next 5 years. You can see the numbers going across. But let's just get all the way over to 2010. The President's budget is $39.7 billion. We have $48.3 billion.

All right, what do these numbers mean? It means shorter waits at VA hospitals. It means better care for our veterans. It means that we will have a system set up for when these men and women come home, and those that are in the system now. Doctors will be able to receive the kind of training they need. Medical professionals will be able to receive the training. VA medical facilities will better. There will be oversight because we have made an investment there. It won't just be the same old thing over and over again. These are the facts.

Politically, you know, if someone just says, I am with the President, that is fine. But have the facts, have the facts.

Thank you so much, Ms. Jackson-Lee. Thank you so much for coming down and sharing information that you shared with us. I think it is also important to note in the budget resolution that we have, it

will not change the tax structure that the taxes, the President's tax cuts will sunset 2010. It doesn't change that.

So as we start to move along. But I just want to make this point. I think it is very important. I am just going to ask the question, since we have three Members on the floor, and I know, Ms. Jackson-Lee, you are about to leave. Here at the Capitol, when we are walking across the street to come over here to vote, and even when we have groups come up to visit with us, and even in my district office, in the 5 years, 5, going on 5 years that I have been in Congress, Mr. Ryan and I have been here 5, you have been here longer than us, that not one millionaire or billionaire came to me and said, please protect my tax cut. Not one billionaire wearing Polo shoes walked up outside of the Chamber and said, Congressman, I am a billionaire, you know, with a pinky with diamonds and everything on it. Please protect my tax cut. Done give my tax cut to kids without health insurance, not one. Not one.

I am just trying to figure out, but I can tell you, people from the State of Florida, that is in government, say please help insure our children. There have been veterans running in here saying, I can't wait 6 months to see the ophthalmologist any more. Can you help us?

Back in the District, Congressman, have you been to the VA hospital recently, or the clinic? Do you have to pin your nose when you walk in because of the conditions there?

I have seen that. I haven't seen a billionaire or millionaire run up and say, please, fall on your knees, Congressman, whatever you do, do not take my tax cut away that I didn't even ask for.

Just stop right there, Mr. Ryan. Brookings Institute.

Would not.

Third party validator.

Don't get too far from the rhythm here. Don't go anywhere.

I think it is important that we continue to say this. Mr. Ryan, you said something that I thought was very interesting, very interesting.

You are welcome. Again, third-party validators, and I have here Congressional Budget Office numbers here, there is nothing it is nothing like the truth, and it is nothing like the Congressional Record. I can tell you when we look at, these are the same individuals in the White House, and some of the same Members on this floor that were left over from the days of just spend, spend, spend, borrow, borrow, borrow, don't worry about it, we are not going to be here to fix it, but here is the truth, $5.6 trillion surplus was here when the President got here, President Bush.

We have had an $8.4 trillion swing, deficit, from a $5.6 trillion surplus, which means, projection, we had money, and these numbers were based on 2002 to 2011 projections, to now, a $2.8 trillion deficit. Republican policies and this, you know, that got us there, $8.4 trillion.

Let me just share this with you. The amount of foreign debt held more than doubles under the Bush administration. He didn't do it by himself, that is why we have a Democratic Congress, because the American people caught on to what he was doing and what the rubber stamp Congress was doing last Congress. We are talking about accountability. We are talking about being responsible with U.S. tax dollars, foreign-held debt. Look at it skyrocket, going straight up.

Trillions of dollars. Trillions of dollars. We have kids now, growing up, can't even get to the trillion part. Who are we getting the money from? That is interesting, a list of countries. Mr. Ryan has been to a few of these countries.

Japan has $644.3 billion of our debt. They bought that debt because of Republican policies and because of the rubber-stamp Congress. We have to have a paradigm shift here. We want to change.

China, $249.8 billion, I think it is important to also understand that. The UK, $239.1 billion. You can see it goes across, and all of these countries have a part of American apple pie now.

This is the same group, the same folks that are saying that we are going to continue to raise taxes and we don't manage. We are the party and we are the majority, back when we had the majority 12 years ago, that balanced the budget and took us into surpluses. So who has the track record as relates to doing the right thing on behalf of the country?

Budget resolution reaches balance by 2010. The numbers come from the Congressional Budget Office. And this is the House resolution, our bill. The Bush budget is projected to be $31 billion under, still in deficit. We are going to be at a surplus. These are the projections by 2010, $1.53 billion. These are the facts, Mr. Ryan. And I know they hurt for some Members, but they are educational to others, and they give them what they need to be able to come here and make sound decisions.

Mr. Ryan, the bottom line is this. We are not by ourselves. Let's talk about why we are not by ourselves. And I just want to read a couple of the folks that are with us on this issue. And I think it is important, and there are so many, I had a list here, Mr. Ryan, that kind of a little cheat sheet here.

Tell you what. You start naming off a few, and then I will name off. Because we need to make sure the Members know that this not just something that came out the back room.

Oh, I have my list here now. There is so much information, Mr. Ryan, that we have to share.

The Members who are in their offices, those that may be on the floor, I don't want them to have to wait to read the Congressional Record tomorrow, the next day or what have you. I just wanted to name a few of these folks. I think it is important.

Military Officers Association of America wrote a letter in support of this budget. The National Child Support Enforcement Association, the National Low Income Housing Association, the National Women of Law Centers Association, Fight Crime, Invest in Kids.

The National Association of Counties. Who are they? These are counties throughout the country and parishes that are saying enough is enough.

The National Association of Police Organizations, Inc. Who are they? They are our law enforcement community that is looking for the COPS program to come back.

The National School Board Association, the National Head Start Association, the Ohio Child Support Enforcement Agency Directors Association. I thought I would mention that, Mr. Ryan, since you were here.

The Trust for Public Land and Conservation Fund endorse. The Trust Alliance endorse what we are doing here. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group endorse what we are doing here. Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States endorse what we are doing, because they are seeing the largest increase in commitment that so many Members of Congress have talked about over the years.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. These are the folks that work every day. These are the individuals that come in before we get here and leave after us. These are the works folks that know what it means to punch in and punch out.

The Audubon Society, Catholic Charities, the Committee for Education Funding, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, Catholic Health Association, Defenders of Wildlife, Disabled American Veterans.

These are the individuals, Mr. Ryan, and that is just, I can't go through all of the letters. We have the letters right here. I am not just reading from a sheet, just saying, well, I am just going to read. Anybody want to see this, they can stop by 1039 Longworth, and I will give them several copies of this. And, Mr. Speaker, they can run and take a look at them.

My Republican colleagues, some that I believe that will vote with us on this budget resolution, since it is so good and it is doing the right thing and it is not just about Iraq and Iraq and the other issue, Iraq. It is about domestic priorities. It is about making sure that our children have health care. It is about protecting the homeland. It is about all of the things and all of the reasons why we came to Congress. Not just to hear from the President and say, so shall it be written, so shall it be done.

So, Mr. Ryan, for you to get passionate about this, not that I am not passionate about it, but I think it is important that we share this accurate information with the people, with not only Members of Congress but the American people. So I am glad that you entered it into the Congressional Record. Those that may be able to get on-line or even get a copy of the Congressional Record will be able to see these great American organizations that will endorse.

And I know, Mr. Speaker, as this budget resolution, when we start moving through the process and the Senate product and we go into conference and we send it to the President of the United States, there will be a true momentum of the American spirit that will be rolling over to the White House on Pennsylvania. It will go right down the street here.

If the President wants to veto domestic priorities and things that are going to help Americans every day and be able to make sure that our military is strong and make sure that our veterans get better service that we promised them when they signed up as volunteers to protect this country, then we have to continue, Mr. Ryan and Members, to persuade the President to do otherwise. If he wants to veto it, we have to persuade him not to do it.

I am not going to say have at it. It would be okay if it wasn't the budget of the United States of America. It would be okay if it wasn't an emergency supplemental to make sure that our troops and men and women have what they need and accountability measures are in that emergency supplemental to hold the Iraqi government's feet to the fire, and what the administration has said, and making sure that our troops have what they need when they are sent into harm's way and make sure when they come back home that they are able to even go to their son or daughter's school without coming back in 6 weeks and 2 months being shipped back to Iraq for another 14-month tour. Because the administration, it takes them so long to admit that they have a problem. They just admitted 2 weeks ago, the Defense Department just called the conflict in Iraq a civil war after a year of the media and Members of Congress saying it was a civil war. They just got there, Mr. Ryan.

So the good thing about it is that, and in the last Congress we used to talk about if we had the opportunity to do. Now we have the opportunity, and we are doing, and I would just want the majority of this House to join us in the leadership opportunities that the American people have provided us. And I am not just talking to Democrats, Mr. Speaker, I am talking to my Republican colleagues.

Because, guess what? Maybe not this November but next November is going to be another opportunity for the American people to stand in judgment. And I guarantee you this: People are going to vote their personal priorities over their politics.

The President got out there today. They are going to get us. Terrorists are coming. We have to fight them there so we don't have to fight them over here. Well, guess what? When we passed and fully implemented the 9/11 recommendations, we are ready to protect America. That is what this budget reflects, and that is the way we protect the homeland, not continuing to stay in the middle of civil war.

Very quickly, while you get the chart to give the Web site, Mr. Ryan, I just wanted to say in this letter that Senator Reid, the leader in the Senate, and also the Speaker here in the House wrote to the President saying that we will no longer move in the old direction but, rather, a bipartisan majority of the House and Senate believes strongly that the U.S. mission should transition to a counterterrorism force protection and training equipment of the Iraqi forces. Phasing redeployment of U.S. troops should commence.

So this is the stage that we want to move in now. It won't be a total withdrawal but definitely will be making sure that there are accountability measures there, that their troops get trained and that we get our men and women back home more sooner than later.

Thank you so very much, Mr. Murphy. It is an honor to be here on the floor with you. I look forward to having a discussion not only with you, but also other Members of the House about what is coming up this week. I know that you alluded to last week's action that took place here on this floor. Democrats and Republicans and the majority were able to pass an emergency supplemental war bill that would not only put benchmarks in to make sure that the Iraqi Government is doing all that they should do to make sure that they carry out their responsibility since the U.S. taxpayer will be spending over $100 billion and counting over in Iraq in this piece of legislation, this supplemental, but also the $400-plus billion that have already been spent.

And also security for the troops, making sure that Department of Defense regulations, Mr. Speaker, that have been put forth to protect our troops, that they have what they need: the up-armor that they need, the training that they need, the equipment that they need, the personal equipment that they need.

And also making sure that our troops, as it relates to their rotation into theater, that they actually get an opportunity to have a Defense Department that has to do what they said they would do, and making sure they have enough time to be with their families, make sure they are able to maintain a job, those that are Reservists and National Guard men and women back home. And to also make sure that their families have an opportunity to be a part of their father or their mother's lives, or their parents having an opportunity to enjoy their son or daughter. And I think that is so very, very important as family values, and it is also standing by our word.

If we can't stand by our word while they are enlisted or federalized to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, then how do they expect for us to stand next to them and behind them when they are veterans and they are out in the world of veterans health care?

I can tell you also, Mr. Speaker, that I am very pleased with the fact that we did put something in the legislation that will hopefully point towards redeployment of our troops. This war will continue and continue and continue if left up to the President of the United States. But before I start talking about the action really that we took, passing that legislation, seeing the voice vote that took place in the Senate last week, moving on legislation even with a closer time line and different benchmarks, which, Mr. Speaker, you know we will come together in conference to talk about a little further and iron out and be able to get a work product to the President.

But as you know, today, March 26 of 2007, the number stands at 3,235 U.S. servicemen and women that have died in Iraq; some 13,415 of U.S. troops have been injured and returned back to battle. You have to think about it, injured and then returned back to battle; 10,000 U.S. troops have been injured and have not been able to return back to battle.

Hearing those numbers and hearing how they continue to move up, Mr. Speaker, even speaks further to the kind of oversight that this Congress must have in this conflict in Iraq, this civil war in Iraq, I must add, that we are officiating.

We know that the President had a press conference after we took our action here on the floor. I want to commend the Members again who voted in the affirmative to make sure that we were able to take action, the first time the U.S. Congress has taken action with benchmarks, even against profiteering with U.S. contractors that are the third largest, you may call it coalition partner, or the second largest outside of U.S. servicemen and women in Iraq. You would assume that there are other countries in the world, since this is such a world issue that the United States is involved in, you would assume that there would be a number of countries before U.S. contractors, but U.S. contractors are the second largest number of individuals that are there.

Mr. Speaker, when I talk about these numbers and when we talked about the action last week, the President, then he sprung into action. He had a press conference talking about how the Congress is now holding dollars back from our men and women in theater and asking us to please stop. Well, I am glad that I lived long enough over the weekend to come back here to the floor, Mr. Speaker, to not only share with the President, but those that may think that by us standing up on behalf of veterans health care, by us making sure that Walter Reed Hospital gets the necessary dollars they need to be able to take on the influx of men and women coming back from theater that are injured of the 10,772 that cannot and will not go back to theater and the 13,415, when that number continues to increase, that when they get their care in the field and then they move on to Germany and they get even further care, and some of them have to come back here to Washington, D.C. to even get physical therapy and all the things that they need to get back to the theater, if that is stopping the dollars from getting to the troops, then I think that we need to go back to a civics lesson of what this is all about.

We are putting dollars in what the Republican majority did not put in. Anything that the President asked for, the Republican majority rubber-stamped it. As a matter of fact, the Republican majority in the last Congress

was so loyal to the President of the United States that whatever he said, whatever he wanted, they did it. And guess what, Mr. Speaker? I am here to report that that is one of the big reasons why we have a Democratic majority right now in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the Senate. Some 30-odd seats were lost living under that philosophy. And all of the hours that we spent on this floor, all of the hours that we spent in committee saying that if you give us the opportunity to lead, we will lead. Democrats, Republicans, Independents and some Americans who never voted before in their life went out and voted last November.

Now, the President can have a press conference, that's fine, he is the President of the United States. I can go out and have a press conference. The bottom line is let's not have the people of the United States of America feel that the U.S. House and the Senate are holding money back from the troops. As a matter of fact, we have given more than what the President called for as it relates to armor. We've given the troops more as it relates to troop safety and force protection. We've added three new brigades to the Marines. We've added 36,000 more soldiers to the Army to make sure we are at the readiness level. Under the Republican majority of the 109th and the 108th Congress, as this war started and continued to escalate to the numbers of where it is now, our readiness levels, and when I speak of readiness levels, Mr. Speaker, I speak of the fact that if we had to go into another conflict, we are not ready.

There is not a National Guard unit right now that is ready to go to battle. Now, what do we mean by readiness? Making sure that they have the equipment, making sure that they have enough personnel to be able to rise to the occasion, all the specialists that are needed, all the striker brigades that are needed. We have 100 of them, but we are not at the readiness level that we need to be, and we haven't been at this low level that we are now since the Vietnam war. I am not giving out any national secrets. Everyone knows that this is the case. So if we know the obvious, why not take care of it?

We are doing more than what the President has asked for. The President just has a problem. Do you know what the problem is? It is the fact that the Congress has said: Guess what, Mr. President. I know you have been saying a lot over the last 4 or 5 years of this war, now within its fifth year, the third escalation of troops that you have sent over to Iraq; and we pass a nonbinding resolution in the majority and Republicans voted for that, too, saying that we disagree with that philosophy. The American people are far beyond the President on this issue. So we are here to represent the American people.

The second point, when you look at this issue of the binding resolution, it says that if the Iraqi government does not meet the benchmarks set by who, the President of the United States, George W. Bush, then the redeployment of troops will start. The clock will start at that point for a redeployment of a number of troops within 6 months.

What else took place? The President said that it is important that we are not there forever. Well, still living under going in the old direction, the President wants the prerogative to be able to say, well, they are going to be there as long as they need to be there, and there is not necessarily a plan, and you haven't given an opportunity for the plan to work of the new escalation of troops.

Well, guess what? We saw plan one, and the violence did not go down. We sat here and watched plan two, and the violence did not subside. They weren't using Vice President Cheney's, the enemies are in the last throes of their insurgency, later to find out that that is not the truth.

So I guess we are just are supposed to continue to go on and on and on.

So, Mr. Murphy, I guess when we start looking at the benchmarks, that is the problem. Why doesn't the President say, that is my problem; I have a problem with the fact that the U.S. Congress is saying they no longer want to go with my original thoughts? There is nothing wrong with that. He is an American. He can say it.

But the bottom line is every last one of us sitting in these seats here in Congress and across the hall in the Senate, our obligation is to the individuals that have sent us here. Our constituents that have Federalized us here to make decisions on their behalf.

We are not generals. Some of us served in the military, some of us did not serve in the military, some of us never wore a uniform in our lives, but I can tell you this much. We have been sent here to watch over the U.S. taxpayer dollars, have the well-being of our U.S. troops that are allowing us to salute one flag, and to make sure that our number one obligation is to be loyal to the American people, and not one person.

So I speak very firmly and I stand very firmly on this point. Because I sat here the last 4 years in the minority not having an opportunity to be a part of the decisionmaking, not even being able to agenda a bill in committee or subcommittee, not able to bring a bill up here on the floor that the Republican majority did not allow me to. I mean, under the rules, they didn't allow me to. To now say, well, the President says that we are holding up dollars, emergency dollars for the war in Iraq?

Let me just share a few other things, and then possibly we can go into an exchange.

In the summer of 2005, there was a shortfall as it relates to veterans' health care, $2.7 billion.

In March of 2006, the President's budget cut funding by $6 billion over 5 years that was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress. And the first time, Mr. Murphy, that we had an opportunity to do anything, when I say the Democratic majority, the first action, and it was because of the inaction by the Republican Congress that did not pass the appropriations bills on time, that we passed a continuing resolution to keep this government running, and what did we do?

Well, we went into that bill and we made sure some of the special interest tax breaks and all of the things that the Republicans had in place, being loyal to individuals that had great influence in this House, and I am not talking about Members, I am talking about outside forces. We took $3.6 billion of the U.S. taxpayer dollars to increase the VA health care program and to make sure that their budget was in place so that our veterans would have somewhere that they can get care and their families.

That was our action. The President didn't ask for that. As a matter of fact, the President didn't even want it. But we did it because it was the right thing to do, and that was prior to the Walter Reed.

I keep saying that because that is so very, very important. People think that politicians and some folks do things just because somebody was looking or somebody said that you should do it or you are under some political pressure. That was a natural thing for the Democratic majority to do, and we did it.

And for the President to stand and say, well, you know, there is things in there that should not be in there and things that I didn't ask for. Well, guess what, we have to ask for it. I am even going to go down memory lane again.

January of 2003, the same administration, President Bush cuts veterans' health care for 164,000 veterans.

March of 2003, Republican budget cut $14 billion from veterans' health care, passed by the Congress, with 199 Democrats voting against it. That is House Concurrent Resolution 95, vote number 82.

March, 2004, Republican budget shortchanged veterans health care by $1.5 billion. It was passed by the Congress, 201 Democrats voting against it. That is House Concurrent Resolution 393, vote number 92.

March, 2005, President Bush's budget shortchanged veterans' health care by more than $2 billion for 2005 and cut veterans' health care by $14 billion over 5 years. That was passed with 201 Democrats voting against it. That is House Concurrent Resolution, vote number 88.

I think it is very important that we outline that.

Just like I said here earlier when I talked about the 2005 shortfall, after Democrats pressured the Bush administration and finally acknowledged that the 2006 shortfall for veterans' health care totaled $2.7 billion, Democrats fought all summer to make sure that

those dollars were placed back in the right direction as it relates to veterans' health care.

Also in March, 2006, President Bush's budget cut veterans' funding by $6 billion over 5 years, passed by the Republican-controlled Congress and, like I said, at $3.6 billion.

Mr. Speaker, we come to the floor and we mean business. We are not coming here to have a press conference and talk to some folks that may not quite understand exactly what is going on day to day in Congress. That is why we are here. We are here to make sure the American people know exactly what is going on here.

The reason why we speak very passionately about, you may say, well, it is Iraq, Iraq, Iraq, Iraq and, guess what, that other issue, Iraq. The reason we speak very passionately about that is that we have seen so much on this floor and so many words that Mr. Murphy talked about earlier, Members going on passing out inaccurate information every now and then, or the spirit of the information, whichever way you want to frame it, and to see the hard-core reality of these issues are still not addressed.

I had something here where all of the veteran groups, I must add here, Mr. Speaker, ``This much-needed funding increase will allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to better meet its needs for the men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as all veterans who have served in the past.'' That is from the National Commander of Disabled American Veterans. That press release was March 21, 2007. ``The American Legion and its 2.8 million members applaud the Budget Committee for the budget resolution recommendation for $43.1 billion in discretionary funding for veterans. Your recommendations are close with the views that are estimated, that was estimated by the American Legion earlier this year.'' That is by the legislative director and the lead on the American Legion.

I think it is very, very important that Members understand that. Veteran groups are 110 percent, 110 percent, Mr. Speaker, about what this Democratic-controlled Congress is doing; and we are just getting started. This is Monday. We are talking about the things that we need to put in place to make sure that our men and women need to have what they need to have when they are in theater and when they are out of theater.

I challenge the President to think within his heart and within his mind that he would turn a new leaf, and making sure that when we send this emergency supplemental to his desk, if he vetoes it, it will be his action that will be delaying the dollars to go to our men and women in harm's way.

I have said once before last week, Mr. Speaker, I voted for two emergency supplementals, a lot that I did not agree with, but the last thing I wanted to do was to leave our men and women in harm's way without the necessary funding that they need. So if I, someone that has a different opinion than the President and the old Republican majority as it relates to this war in Iraq, we are all Americans first and, guess what, life is not perfect and everything is not going to come the way you want it to come when you want it to come.

There are other people in this democracy that have something to say about it, and I know there are Republicans in America that feel the way the way that we feel. I know that there are Independents in America that feel the way we feel, and I know that there are Democrats and those that are looking to vote in coming elections to be a part of this democracy.

So I come very proud of the work that has been done and the work that will continue to be done here in this House.

If I may, and then I will yield and you can share all the great information. And Ms. Wasserman Schultz happens to be in between us today, so all we need is Mr. Ryan down here, and she will have a real challenge. But I can tell you from past experience of serving with her for 12 plus years now that she is very capable of rising to the occasion here.

Let me just point out, just today, Mr. Murphy and Ms. Wasserman Schultz, we took a vote. We took a vote saying that we would like for the appointed U.S. District Attorneys to come and be confirmed before Congress. Something that is very, very important, giving the chief judge an opportunity to appoint a temporary U.S. District Attorney, for that opportunity to take place because of what is happening now in the Justice Department. And I think it is important. I saw Ms. Wasserman Schultz earlier talking today about this very subject.

But, on the Republican side, you have some Republicans that are saying it is just horrible of what is happening. Because if what we think or believe what happened, these political appointees and then they got taken out because they were either going after someone that the administration did not want them to go after or they weren't going after certain individuals as it relates to political motivation. And under what we may call regular order in the 109th Congress or the 108th Congress or beyond, the kind of grip that this administration had over the House and the Senate, the chokehold that they had over the House and Senate, this would have never been an issue. It never would have been followed up on. There never would have been a hearing.

Guess what? Now, Mr. Speaker, there are hearings in both House and Senate, and now the Attorney General is getting caught in his own words. One minute he had nothing to do with it, and he didn't know what anyone was talking about. Now we understand that he led a meeting even talking about this issue.

So when you look at it, and Mr. Murphy and Ms. Wasserman Schultz, 329 Members of the House. It goes to show you, with the right leadership in place, we have a Democratic majority, Republicans will vote, some Republicans will vote and move in the right direction. Only one Member of the Republican leadership voted for this commonsense approach. There are still Members on the Republican side that are in the leadership that are still holding on to what used to be. The election took place last November. You would think, well, maybe the American people are not with this.

So I am just saying that this issue is continuing to evolve, and I bring these examples up so that the Members can see that we have a lot of work to do. It is not about partisanship. This is about leadership, and we are providing the leadership here.

I know Ms. Wasserman Schultz who serves on the Judiciary Committee can speak more eloquently on this issue. But this is one example amongst many. You called out those bipartisan votes at the beginning of the hour. We have to continue to embrace bipartisanship because that is what the American people want. They don't want us to be Democrats and Republicans. They want us to be Members of Congress watching out for the better good.