Floor Statements

Offered By: Mr. Brady of Texas

Amendment No. 32: Page 65, after line 2, insert the

following:

``CHAPTER 5A

``DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

``For assisting in meeting the educational needs of

individuals affected by hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in

calendar year 2005, $400,000,000, to remain available through

September 30, 2007, to be available to carry out section 107

of title IV, division B of Public Law 109-148: Provided, That

the amount provided under this heading is designated as an

emergency requirement pursuant to section 402 of H. Con. Res.

95 (109th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget

for fiscal year 2006.''.

Offered By: Mr. Brady of Texas

Amendment No. 33: Page 35, line 20, after the dollar

amount, insert the following: ``(reduced by $400,000,000)''.

Page 65, after line 2, insert the following:

``CHAPTER 5A

``DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

``For assisting in meeting the educational needs of

individuals affected by hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in

calendar year 2005, $400,000,000, to remain available through

September 30, 2007, to be available to carry out section 107

of title IV, division B of Public Law 109-148.''

Offered By: Mr. Brady of Texas

Amendment No. 34: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

Offered By: Mr. Brady of Texas

Amendment No. 35: Page 72, line 22, strike ``the most''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Woodville High School Fighting Eagles on their 2005 2A Texas State Baseball Championship. Woodville, Texas, is a wonderful community in Tyler County and a proud part of the Eighth Congressional District. For any community in America a state championship is quite an accomplishment and one worth honoring.

While the young men and their coaches worked their way through each level of competition, everyone in the community rallied behind the team driving all over the state to cheer them on to a State Championship victory.

Team starting pitcher Casey Beck was named most valuable player at the State Championship Game. The team clinched the championship with a victory over Holliday High School located near Wichita Falls, Texas, by a score of 2 to 1. In a story that belongs in a climatic Hollywood sports movie, Beck, after throwing 134 pitches in his team's semifinal victory the day before was called in as a relief pitcher in the last two innings of the championship game.

The Austin American Statesman quoted Beck as saying ``My arm was really weak. When I was warming up between innings, I had nothing. Coach came over and asked me if I had one inning left, and I told them I'd give it my all. Then that became two innings.''

Mr. Speaker, there is something else that makes the people of Tyler County and the City of Woodville stand out. These families and

businesses first opened their homes to Hurricane Katrina victims, then to Rita evacuees from other areas of the state. Following their awesome display of compassion and generosity, Hurricane Rita with 150 mph winds, unexpectedly made Woodville a direct target.

In light of the recent Gulf Coast hurricane season, and specifically Hurricane Rita that devastated Tyler County and its surrounding communities, the team's victory has helped keep this tight knit community even stronger.

Casey Beck's performance in the championship game represents the attitude and ``get it done'' spirit of the people of Tyler County. Regardless of how tired they are they are going to give it one or two more innings down the stretch, face down one hurricane and then another.

The team was coached on to victory by Head Coach Neil Hennigan and Varsity Assistant Coaches Joe Wilroy, Beau Burnett and Reggie Williams. The members of the championship team included: Casey Beck, Braeden Riley, Reese Winters, Jordan O'Neal, Zack Rigby, Daniel Spivey, Jess Conner, Trevor Rainey, Aaron Hicks, Evan Fortenberry, Logan Alec, Justin Kirkpatrick, Allen Mitchum, Jacoby Williams, Josh Kirkpatrick, Chad Prince, Joel Gentz, Brian MacGinnis, Paul Price, Cullen Williams, and Jack Hickman.

These young men and their coaches have together accomplished so much and made a community and region so proud. Mr. Speaker, I hope the House of Representatives will join me in honoring the Fighting Eagles and the community they represent.

Mr. Speaker, there is actually bipartisan support for reducing taxes in the AMT on American families. If I could go back in time and stop that Congress from ever creating it, I would have because the principle of it has always been so wrong. The principle was our Tax Code is so complex, it is so full of loopholes that it really is not fair anymore. So rather than fix the problem, let us just create a second type of tax, make people create second books, second type of accounts and then try to catch them another way.

It was a terrible principle to begin with; and because it was not put in place, it was put in place for the wrong reasons, in the wrong way and now affecting more and more of our American taxpayers who should never have to fool with this.

The question today is, how do we do it? Do we do it as proposed in this issue, to raise taxes to pay for it? Or as Chairman Camp has said, this House has voted overwhelmingly to provide tax relief to these families the right way, by just exempting them and not raising their taxes to pay for it. That is exactly the right way to do it.

And another, I think, bad side effect of this proposal that we are debating today is that we take away the tax savings on capital gains and dividends. That is very important to America's seniors, very important to seniors in Texas. And what I especially appreciate is that since this Republican Congress lowered taxes on dividends and capital gains, more and more people, especially seniors, are investing for their retirement, and more companies are not just promoting their stock value. They are actually returning money to dividends to our investors, to our neighbors. And so they are not just saying we have got a great company. They are actually showing it, showing us the money through dividend relief.

That is very important in a time where you just saw last week that America has a negative savings rate, a negative. We are going in the hole more and more each year, American families are. We ought to encourage savings. We ought to encourage dividends. We ought to encourage investment, and we ought not raise their taxes in order to provide relief from AMT. And I respectfully oppose this and urge us to work in a bipartisan measure to do this the right way.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. James T. Willerson, President of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H).

On September 1, 2005, Dr. Willerson, along with UTHSC-H Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michael D. McKinney, M.D, was given the task by Houston Mayor Bill White to transform a portion of the George R. Brown Convention Center (GRB) in Houston, Texas, from a convention center to a medical triage center, adjacent to the shelter created for more than 5,000 Hurricane Katrina survivors.

The UT Health Science Center acted quickly to design, organize and prepare clinic space to serve evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center, which opened as an additional safe haven to Houston's Astrodome, which quickly achieved capacity within a day of opening. Over about three weeks, more than 6,000 volunteers operated the UT Clinic and managed more than 9,000 patient visits. The volunteers included UT physicians, nurses, dentists, public health professionals, students and administrative staff as well as spouses of these professionals. The clinic also included other volunteers and health professionals from Texas Medical Center institutions and individuals from across the country who answered the call to help in the aftermath of this national crisis. These volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure welcome, comfort and care for our neighbors in need. Services provided with expertise and compassion in the UT Clinic included: emergency aid, pediatric care, immunizations, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, pharmacy, laboratory services, imaging and vision components, dental care and mental health services.

Several dedicated professionals from the UT Health Science Center worked to ensure that healthcare concerns at the evacuee sites were communicated with state and local officials. Scott Lillibridge, M.D., the Director of the Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness, provided critical technical assistance and general epidemiology support at numerous evacuee facilities. Faculty and staff conducted rapid health assessments daily at evacuee sites. This information allowed Dr. Ward Casscells, the John Edward Tyson Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Vice President of Biotechnology at the Health Science Center, and Dr. Lillibridge to continually inform public health officials of evacuee health status and coordinate efforts with FEMA, CDC, the Red Cross, the City of Houston, Harris County, and the Texas Commissioner of Health.

Each of the UT Health Science Center's six schools--contributed in one way or another to the Hurricane Katrina response. Dr. Willerson encouraged his deans to seek every possible avenue to help during this time of crisis. He approved of the placement of students from Tulane Medical School and allocated space for the displaced Tulane faculty for their medical education, resident training and research at the UT Medical School. The medical school is also hosting 37 residents from Tulane so additional interruptions to their education will not occur.

Dr. Willerson is an exemplary leader who through his actions in this most recent crisis was able to show compassion in the midst of quick decision-making. With the help of a superb leadership team, headed by Dr. McKinney, the staff performed to the highest standards of professionalism and compassion. With the encouragement, support and guidance of Dr. Willerson, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston responded in countless ways as health professionals, lay volunteers, concerned citizens and caring friends.

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Willerson and the hundreds of UTHSC-Houston professionals who answered the call to aid and assist their fellow Americans deserve the acclaim and gratitude of the Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2830, the Pension Protection Act of 2005. I applaud the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the distinguished Bill Thomas, as well as the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, John Boehner, for their hard work and leadership on this issue. Protecting the pensions of millions of Americans is a top priority for this 109th Congress and H.R. 2830 is strong legislation designed to that end.

I rise today to also thank Chairman Thomas for his inclusion in the Pension Protection Act of legislation I introduced related to the waiver of a 10 percent federal tax penalty for public safety employees--our Nation's firefighters, police officers and emergency medical personnel. People who put their lives on the iine for us everyday deserve our full support and they are receiving that support here today thanks to Chairman Thomas.

Many public safety personnel begin their careers at a young age. They will vest in their regular pension plans and, even if they participate in one of the new deferred plans and remain on the job longer, will be eligible for retirement before they reach age 55.

For example, in Houston the average firefighter begins his career at age 23. After 20 years of service, now age 43, the average firefighter is fully vested in the regular pension fund and can retire and begin receiving benefits immediately. Today, the firefighter can participate in the deferred plan for up to an additional 10 years. If the firefighter participates for the full 10 years and then elects to retire, he or she will be age 53 and, in general, will not be able to take distributions prior to the age of 59\1/2\ without triggering the 10-percent penalty.

For distributions to public safety employees that are subject to the 10-percent penalty, section 905 of H.R. 2830 would waive the penalty. This provision has received considerable attention and support during this and previous Congresses. The effort began in 2002, when my Texas colleague, Congressman Gene Green, introduced H.R. 4796. Later that year, Senator Jim Inhofe introduced companion language, S. 3072.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to applaud my House colleagues and, particular, Ways and Means Chairman Thomas, to whom I would like to express the deep gratitude of our Nation's firefighters, police and emergency medical service employees for including section 905 in the House bill and moving the issue forward.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support passage of H.R. 2830, the Pension Protection Act.

Mr. Speaker, people leave footprints on the land, but as most private property owners in Texas know, land leaves bigger footprints on people. The brave families that ventured to Texas when Texas was just bare land left an imprint on the land and in the souls of all who live in or around the legacies they leave behind. This is perfectly embodied in the Historic Y.O. Ranch in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Five generations of the Schreiner family folks have left their indelible prints on the Y.O.

I want to congratulate the Hill Country for taking care of this legend and the Schreiner family for continuing the legacy of the Y.O. Ranch as they join together in their 125th Anniversary Celebration on December 31, 2005.

This legendary ranch sprang from a young man's dream and his family's determination to keep the dream alive. In 1852, 14-year-old Charles A. Schreiner arrived in Texas with his family--18 days later his father died and for the next 2 years Charles helped his family get by. When he turned 16, he enlisted in the Texas Rangers. When he ``retired'' from the Rangers 2\1/2\ years later, Charles took up ranching.

Charles, who was known as Captain Schreiner, began buying up Hill Country property and cattle. During this period, more than 300,000 head of Texas Longhorns bearing his brand trailed up to Dodge City laying the foundation of the Captain's empire. Part of this empire included the present day Y.O. Ranch, which the Captain purchased in 1880.

During his life, the Captain continued to gather land, launch successful enterprises and contribute to his community. In 1917, when he was 79 years old, the Captain divided his holdings, which included 566,000 acres of land, equally among his eight children. Walter R. Schreiner, the Captain's youngest son, was the owner of 69,000 acres located about 40 miles northwest of Kerrville now called the Y.O. Ranch. In 1922, Walter married Myrtle Barton a decision that not only gave the Y.O. a woman's touch, but another leader.

In 1933, Walter died, leaving the Y.O. to his wife, Myrtle and his young son, Charlie III. When Walter died at the heighth of the Great Depression, Myrtle knew nothing about running the ranch, but circumstances forced her to learn quickly and to learn well. She stepped up to the vast challenge of keeping the legacy alive.

Myrtle relied on her brother-in-laws, Gus and Louie Schreiner. By sticking to cattle, sheep and goats, Myrtle kept the ranch afloat and then some. Not bound by convention, in 1943, Myrtle leased the ranch to Petty Geophysical Engineering, not for oil and gas exploration, but for hunting. She pioneered a practice that has been adopted as an income generator on almost every ranch in Texas and has been a vital part of the Y.O.'s economic picture ever since.

Charlie III grew up on the ranch and learned ranching from the ground up, preparing to take on his share of the responsibility. In the aftermath of the drought of the 50s, Charlie III began his relentless pursuit of Longhorns. He had strong feelings for the animals and the role they'd played in developing the West and the Y.O. but the drought drove home the importance of having a hardy, resilient breed of cattle for tough times in tough country. Charlie III not only built the largest quality Longhorn herd in the world, but recruited other cattlemen to the cause and eventually helped found the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association and is widely credited with single handedly saving the longhorn breed from extinction.

Charlie III also undertook another notable conservation project providing a home to exotic wildlife a business that other ranchers later entered. The first animals released were blackbuck antelope and Aoudad sheep, which proved that higher fences were necessary. Today, the Y.O. is home to more than 60 exotic species, many of which are available for hunting.

Charlie III didn't introduce exotics with the intention of establishing a hunting program, but as the animals thrived and reproduced the numbers had to be managed. Plus, hunting is another source of revenue and is a vital part of the ranch's newest undertaking the people business. Other wildlife includes white-tailed deer, wild hogs, wild turkey, axis deer, eland antelope, sika deer and fallow deer.

Charlie III and his sons, Charlie IV, Walter, Gus and Louis, over the years, diversified into photography safaris, Y.O. Adventure Camp for children, corporate retreats and the Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse in Dallas's West End. But perhaps the biggest foray into this area came in 1986, when the Schreiner family set aside 11,000 acres to be sold as home sites for people who weren't born on the Y.O., but wanted to get to the Hill Country as soon as possible. The Schreiner family has worked hard to make it easy to for people to call the ranch home. Inside the high fence that surrounds Y.O. Ranchlands, buyers can choose from tracts ranging from 50 acres to 125 acres, all of which showcase the Hill Country's rugged beauty.

The ranch, then and now, survived strictly on the skills, creativity and determination of the owners. Fighting off Indians, outlaws, Wars, The Depression, Droughts, Estate Taxes, Divorces and Mother Nature, generations of Schreiners--and now landowners who've ``joined the family''--continue to care for the beautiful Hill Country of Texas and preserve Texas's proud ranching heritage.

I wish Charlie IV and the rest of the Y.O. Schreiner family (all 17 of them) the best of luck in the future and am proud to congratulate the Y.O. Ranch on its 125th Anniversary.

I appreciate my colleague from Michigan, his leadership in helping boost our economy, extend this tax relief. I strongly support the original bill over the substitute. The substitute takes a step backward in how we treat our soldiers and how we treat our families, small businesses that are affected by the alternative minimum tax, compared to legislation that this House passed just yesterday, we treated soldiers better, by providing them immediate cash refunds on their tax treatment. I do not want to step back from that today in the substitute. We help 2\1/2\ million more families and small businesses with their alternative minimum tax yesterday, again, almost nearly unanimously.

I do not want to step back from that with this substitute. And the original bill provides three provisions that are really helpful for a lot of families in this country. It extends for 1 year the sales tax deduction, which provides every family in the country a choice to deduct either their state and local income taxes or their State and local sales taxes. What it means is sales taxes, as you know, add up a great deal, add up fast for families. This tax relief just stretches the family paycheck a little farther and prevents hundreds of millions of dollars of tax increases on families that would start right after this Christmas holiday. That would be unfair. The original bill extends this. This also provides help to universities that receive dollars, higher education from the public higher

education utility fund that extends a provision that helps provide more higher education dollars for certain universities. And then it also, for 10 states, allows more veterans to get low interest home loans in order when they come back from the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism to get an opportunity to get that first home. That is very important to a state like Texas. I strongly support the underlying bill as very important tax relief for this country.

Mr. Speaker, it is, I think, a terrible mistake to leave out tax relief for dividends. These are the usually small amounts of money that go to people, many seniors, who have invested in a company; and these are the dividends that help ease their retirement.

Back a few years ago, we saw a number of Wall Street companies go under, the Enrons, the WorldComs, all those dot-com technology companies. They had big stock prices. They had great pieces of paper saying they were wonderful companies, but the fact of the matter is they were built on thin air. What we did under this legislation is we said to the companies, prove that you have a solid profit-and-loss statement, you have real assets, show us the money; pay it out in dividends, we will lower the cost, lower the taxes on those dividends.

Since we created this tax legislation, now Fortune 500 companies, one out of four that did not provide dividends in the past, are now providing real money to real people who have invested in them. In other words, we have changed the culture from what is good this quarter and what is good for my stock price to what is the best long term, real growth, solid businesses in America. We have changed the culture of Wall Street because of this dividend tax relief.

It is very important we not go back to the bad old days of high stock prices but built on thin air. We need businesses that are in it for the long term, that pay cash to real people, that when my mom or your mom or some other senior invests they know they are going to get a chance for a solid dividend that they can actually keep because they invested. This dividend relief, Mr. Speaker, is vitally important.

I oppose the Democrat substitute. I support keeping in dividend relief, both for our seniors and our investors, and to keep Wall Street honest.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman McCrery and Mr. Jefferson for their leadership on this bill. I am proud to be from Texas, a State that when victims fled the wrath of Hurricane Katrina we had communities and churches and homes that opened their arms to take them in. Later, in Hurricane Rita, those same communities were devastated as well. And I just want to tell Chairman McCrery that the relief that we are providing today in this bill is critically important to the families of east and southeast Texas.

We, like you, need this relief today. What this will do is help families cope financially, encourage companies to keep workers on their payrolls during these tough economic times, and help rebuild the important Texas timber industry which suffered devastating losses. In some communities today, almost half of the homes still do not have even the temporary blue tarp to keep the rain out. We need families to be able to dip into their savings without penalty, fully deduct all of the personal property losses. And for the working poor, we want to make sure that their child and earned income tax credits are not impacted by Hurricane Rita.

This also permits unlimited cash donations by companies, which is very important to the communities, and provides up to $2,400 per worker for small businesses to keep employees on the payroll through the end of the year. And then finally, to address our devastating timber and economic losses, we help small property owners reforest their crop, and we help them spread their losses across the past 5 years. This is important relief to Texas. We are proud to join with the other Gulf Coast States in moving this forward and the sooner we get this on the President's desk, the better.

Mr. Chairman, in Washington everything looks perfect on paper and people hate to admit they made a mistake; but the truth of the matter is how it works in real life is completely different, and we have a responsibility to make those changes.

I strongly support this recovery act and thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) for his leadership and the gentleman from California (Mr. Cardoza) for his hard work. My east Texas district, which was hit very hard by Hurricane Rita, is jam packed with trees. The piney woods are our heritage. They are our economy; and they provide habitat for the red cockheaded woodpecker, among other endangered species.

But for decades, responsible landowners have been afraid that the Federal Government would swoop in and take their livelihood away for the sake of this bird due simply to the outdated and unsubstantiated burdens of the Endangered Species Act.

America's farmers and ranchers and private property owners in east Texas have spent long enough fearing the Federal Government. Unfortunately, current law has created incentives for landowners to destroy species habitat to rid their properties of liability. I strongly support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the tenth anniversary of the opening of Montgomery College, part of the North Harris Montgomery County Community College District, NHMCCD.

The beginnings of Montgomery College started long before August 14, 1995 when Governor George W. Bush presided over the grand opening of the 315,000-square-foot campus nestled in 100 acres of pine forest between The Woodlands and Conroe, TX.

Residents of Montgomery County who dreamed of having an institution of higher education in their midst had sought unsuccessfully in the 1970s and 1980s to establish a branch campus of an existing institution. But it was not until 1991 that voters approved a plan to join the nearest community college district, North Harris County, and to build Montgomery College.

Dr. Bill Law, the founding president of Montgomery College, led the college from its first days with a mere 1000 students meeting at local high schools. By the time the new campus opened in 1995, Dr. Law could say, ``The sun is always shining at Montgomery College. It shines because we have the tremendous opportunity to help people improve their lives.''

As Montgomery County experienced rapid population growth and business expansion during the 1990s, it found itself one of the fastest-growing community colleges in Texas, as well as the entire U.S. As the college grew, so did the number of programs and services that it offered. In spite of the rapid growth, the college maintained its focus on the hiring of excellent faculty members, ensuring that students' classroom experience would prepare them for the next level--whether it be a new career or transfer to a 4-year university.

During the college's third year, a partnership between NHMCCD and six area universities, The University Center, debuted, offering bachelor's and master's degrees to area residents who desired to pursue higher education closer to home. The University Center, located on the Montgomery College campus, only served to strengthen the college's role in providing an avenue toward a higher degree for its students.

The college enhanced its continuing education program during this time by kicking off an annual summer camp for youth and establishing the Academy for Lifelong Learning, which provides educational programs for the burgeoning senior population in the area.

In 1999 and 2000, the college was the recipient of several large Federal and State grants designed to move welfare recipients into the working world through a variety of career-oriented programs. By the fall of 2001, the college's enrollment approached 6,000 students and showed no signs of slowing down.

In early 2002, Dr. Tom Butler, a native Texan, took over the presidency of Montgomery College and put into place a strategic planning process to manage growth. This included a 72,000-square-foot library and classroom building. Program expansion included a tripling of the college's capacity for nursing students and other programs designed to meet the tremendous needs in the health care industry. Other new programs included teacher certification track as well as the opportunity for students to receive college credit for internships with elected officials, including my office in Conroe, TX.

The college also found new ways to engage the community through the Lyceum speaker's series, a classic/independent film series, and diverse artistic performances and shows.

The innovative style that characterized the early years of Montgomery College have continued to keep the college focused on providing students and the community with a world-class learning environment. By the fall of 2004, enrollment for credit stood at 7,400 students.

According to Dr. Butler, ``a successful community college is always listening and responding--whether it be to its own students, the community, or the businesses in the area. That, more than anything else, provides us with unlimited potential for the future.''

Mr. Speaker, it is institutions of higher education such as Montgomery College that make American communities strong while making the American dream of a higher education available to all. It is an honor to represent the citizens of Montgomery County, including the students at Montgomery College, in the U.S. House of Representatives and I urge you to join me in honoring the tenth anniversary of the College's campus.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Corporal

George Allen Alford, Jr., USMC, who was killed in action on July 31, 1968.

Corporal Alford joined the Marine Corps at age 18 in 1966 and served on the U.S.S. Galveston as a Captain's Orderly. He left the Galveston in May of 1968 after volunteering for active duty in Vietnam. By the time he was 20 years old, Corporal Alford was a Squad Leader of the 3rd Platoon of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division. He participated in numerous operations in Vietnam including Operation Houston III, Houston IV and Mameluke Thrust II. It was during Operation Mameluke Thrust II that Corporal Alford was killed in action on July 31, 1968.

In the words of his Commanding Officer,

``George was a singularly fine Marine noncommissioned officer. His enthusiasm, courage and complete devotion to duty won for him the respect of all who knew him.''

Corporal Alford's sister, Brenda (now Brenda Alford Kaiser), wrote the following poem at the time of her brother's death:

Late on a hot evening,

In a rice field in Viet Nam,

My brother gave his young life,

For the cause of liberty.

Marines like my brother are no cowards,

From their foes they do not hide,

For their courage always has been

America's cause to live or die.

They trudged the marshes of Viet Nam,

In the mud thick and black,

And never once did they complain,

When Charlie was on their backs.

America can be proud of those,

Who are United States Marines,

For they still die for us today,

Just to keep our Nation free.

Mr. Speaker, it is heroes like Corporal George Allen Alford, Jr., and the family members and colleagues keeping memories of him alive, who make America strong. It is an honor to represent his community in the U.S. House of Representatives and I urge you to join me in honoring his service and the ultimate sacrifice he made for the country he loved.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. In recent years, a bipartisan Congress, Republicans and Democrats together, has extended our trade hand to the Muslim people of Morocco, the sub-Saharan nations of South Africa, our Asian allies in Singapore, and Arab friends in Jordan. Why would we now refuse to extend the same hand of trade to our Hispanic neighbors in Central America?

This ought to be larger than raw partisan politics. This is a test of American leadership in a changing world. We

cannot claim to be fighting for American jobs yet turn our backs on 44 million new customers in Central America, already the tenth largest buyer of America's goods and services, when much of the world has firmly posted ``America need not apply'' signs on their markets.

We cannot claim to be serious about winning the textile war against China if we turn our back on the partnership with Central America where our textile workers in America and Central America can compete and win against the surge of China's imports.

And we cannot claim to be the world's beacon of freedom if we turn our back on Central America, a region which 20 years, amid civil war, chose the values of freedom and democracy, and, to their credit, have made absolutely remarkable progress in free and fair elections, rule of law, human rights, labor rights, and environmental protections.

Central America has painfully pulled itself up the ladder of democracy. Rather than kick them back down as opponents suggest, we ought to continue to extend our hand of trade to help them pull themselves up even further.

America must not retreat or disengage. We must not abandon our commitment to democracy and human rights in our hemisphere. We must continue to stand for economic opportunity at home and abroad. This Central American trade agreement is a test we cannot fail.