Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Con. Res. 207, a resolution recognizing the 60th anniversary of the United States Air Force as an independent military service.

I am honored that Edwards Air Force Base, home of the Air Force Flight Test Center, is located in my district, the 22nd District of California. I rise today to honor the men and women of the United States Air Force, especially those who have spent part or all of their careers in the pursuit of cutting edge flight technology at Edwards.

The USAF was ``born'' in 1947, but as we all know, our military's efforts to explore air power began in the early part of the 20th century with the Wright Military Flyer. The area now known as Edwards joined the effort in 1933, when LTC Henry H. ``Hap'' Arnold of the Army Air Corps selected a site on the edge of Rogers Dry Lake for a bombing and gunnery range at a place called Muroc, a reversal of the last name of the Corum family, which had settled in the area in 1910.

After World War II, Muroc Army Air Field was alive with activity on the X-plane programs, resulting in great successes such as the Bell X- 1, which broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, with Chuck Yeager at the controls. The base was renamed in 1949 after CPT Glen Edwards, who died in a crash of the YB-49, and the Air Force Flight Test Center was activated in 1951, the same year that the Air Force moved its test pilot school to Edwards. In the 1960s, the X-15 broke record after record for speed and altitude. Over the years, the Flight Test Center has tested and supported the development of virtually every aircraft system that has entered the Air Force inventory and has been involved in more major milestones in flight than any other comparable organization in the world. It has been on the cutting edge of every major development that has transformed the field of flight, from the first American jet plane to the current system-of-systems revolution.

It is a pleasure to recognize and honor the hard work of the men and women of our United States Air Force on their 60th anniversary, although each day we should remember those who sacrifice in defense of our country. As the Air Force moves forward from its 60th year, we can look to the motto of the Air Force Flight Test Test Center--``Ad Inexplorat . . . Toward the Unexplored.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1384, a bill I introduced to designate the United States Postal Service facility located at 118 Minner Avenue in Bakersfield, California as the ``Buck Owens Post Office.''

An accomplished, self-taught musician, Alvis Edgar ``Buck'' Owens, Jr. amassed twenty-one country music hits throughout his career, of which ten were consecutive #1 hits, including ``Act Naturally,'' ``My Heart Skips a Beat,'' and ``Streets of Bakersfield.'' Over his more than 50 years in the music industry, Buck worked with other legendary country musicians including Merle Haggard, who dubbed Buck's band ``the Buckaroos,'' Wanda Jackson, and Dwight Yoakam.

Buck was best known for his signature ``freight train'' musical sound that combined classic country music with electric guitar, a unique rhythm, and rock and roll and honky-tonk influences, and always played his trademark red, white, and blue guitar. Buck was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, both in 1996, for his musical talent and accomplishments. In 1999, Buck received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for one of his #1 hits, ``I've Got a Tiger by the Tail.''

In addition to recording hit country music songs, for almost twenty years, Buck could be seen on Hee Haw, an immensely popular country music comedy show. Following Hee Haw and returning to his country music roots, Buck opened Buck Owens' Crystal Palace in 1996, a concert hall in Bakersfield, California, where Buck hosted other bands and performed live for fans up until the night he passed away, on March 25, 2006.

An astute businessman, Buck owned several radio stations, including KKXX-FM, which was under Buck's tenure for more than a decade the #1 rock-and-roll station in Bakersfield. In addition, Buck also owned KUZZ-AM, which he expanded to FM radio, and, up until his death, was and remains the #1 country music station in Bakersfield. Finally, Buck established his own music production company, Buck Owens Enterprises, which produced records by country music artists.

Buck moved to Bakersfield in 1951, and contributed greatly to the country music industry in Bakersfield and around the Nation and amassed a legion of fans, like myself, across the country. H.R. 1384 is a fitting honor and

tribute to this influential and charismatic Californian by designating the post office in his hometown of more than 55 years in his memory.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read the third time, and passed.

The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 118 Minner Avenue in Bakersfield, California, as the `Buck Owens Post Office'.''

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

I thank the ranking member.

Madam Chairman, I rise today in disappointment. Disappointment, because only 6 months ago I sat in this chair to be sworn into this body, and I listened to our Speaker sit up at that podium and say this body was going to talk about partnership, not partisanship.

When I went onto the Agriculture Committee, I thought I found that partnership. For 6 months, we worked in a bipartisan manner, and I will tell you, I was proud of the fact to work with my colleagues, my colleagues like Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza. We worked together in a bipartisan fashion on bills such as this farm bill. We even looked to the 21st century and putting in specialty crops. We have done tremendous items when it comes to this farm bill.

But I will tell you that that was all taken away this week. That all changed when we now decide to raise taxes, $4 billion. Instead of looking for the future, instead of thinking of our children, who are going to compete for the first time since the 1860s, to have economies that are going to compete in America, to be as large as or even larger when you talk about China and India, now we are going to take away jobs. That is not partnership. That is partisanship.

And it is not like we bring up a farm bill every year, or we even bring it up every 2 years. We only talk about a farm bill twice every decade. We are missing an opportunity. We are missing a very big opportunity.

That disappointment, when I think back 6 months ago when I listened to our Speaker say that, I listened earlier tonight to our debate when we had our chairman from the Ways and Means Committee down here talking about why he wanted to raise taxes. And I listened earlier this week when we had appropriation bills, and you wonder where does the money go? We build monuments to ourselves, because people think they have served in this body long enough that they should spend $2 million building their own libraries. That is not what the American people are asking for. That is not what the American people are looking for.

I guess I when I think back 6 months ago, the Speaker should have looked at a quote from Dwight Eisenhower, when Dwight Eisenhower said, ``You don't lead by hitting people over the head. That is assault, not leadership.''

Let's send this bill back and have real leadership, and go back to the bipartisanship that the Agriculture Committee has experienced for the last decades, because there is only two chances we have for it for the next decade.

Madam Chairman, I ask for a ``no'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I support the bill, but oppose the process.

Mr. Speaker, while I agree with the intent and substance of the bill, I have to object to the process of bringing this bill to the floor under suspension in the time frame established without committee debate.

There have been three versions of the bill. The committee received notice of the bill intent action by the majority just last Thursday when we all left town. Since then, the bill has been amended twice, and we just received the final version at 11:30 a.m. today when Members were just returning. H.R. 2630 has not been the subject of any debate or questioning by the committee. There is clarification needed as we go through on this debate.

While I would support the bill, and I sit on the committee, I have only been

in this House and this body for 6 months, and already I see we are repeating our old mistakes. As I sat on this floor when we debated H.R. 6, the ethics reform which I fully supported, voted for, passed with 430-1, to my amazement right afterwards we found that when we thought we were doing a good deed, we thought we were changing what we thought was wrong about flying around on these planes, having individuals be able to donate planes to fly around, soon we found out that those who are pilots on this floor, those who had their own plane, we said they couldn't even fly on their own. Why? Because we did not go through the process that we have set up; we did not debate it in committee; we did not have clarification; we did not have light of day.

While I am the first one to stand up and want the reform, I am also the first one to stand up and say going around the process is just as wrong. We should have the debate, we should have a bipartisan bill, we should have common sense, and we should learn from our mistakes.

Our ratings are low, yes. Our ratings are low probably because of this action that we are trying to change. But they are also low because they see inaction. Don't hurt the bill by going around the process. The end does not justify the means.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a community leader, my friend, Dennis Cassidy, on his retirement after over 30 years of serving the people of Paso Robles, CA, most currently as chief of police.

Chief Cassidy began his law enforcement career with the Paso Robles Police Department in 1974. In 1985, Cassidy was promoted to patrol sergeant and in 1988, he became Detective Bureau commander. In 1990, he was promoted to Lieutenant, and was responsible for seeking grants to further the department's Community Outreach Program through the early 1990s. His success led to the establishment of a satellite police office, in cooperation with the Housing Authority, where two officers were assigned to work full-time. The results were remarkable. Criminal activity dropped, community and police relationships strengthened, and a safer Paso Robles gave families increased peace of mind. In 1997, Cassidy was named chief of police, a position he has held since, until his retirement.

During his tenure as chief, Cassidy was instrumental in planning the new Public Safety Center in Paso Robles. This center was put to the test after the San Simeon earthquake in December 2003. This earthquake caused massive damage to Paso Robles and took the lives of two Paso Robles residents. The center immediately served as a staging area as Cassidy and other members of the Paso Robles Emergency Services coordinated initial rescue and recovery efforts. Later, the building was used by many different agencies brought in to assist with recovery.

Chief Cassidy has been in the forefront of exploring new technologies, which has resulted in the Paso Robles Police Department being equipped with innovative technology to help combat crime and ensure the safety of the community and residents. Specifically, Chief Cassidy was responsible for the Department obtaining its Computer Aided Dispatching and Records Management Systems, as well as Livescan fingerprinting and digital in-car video with wireless station-server download capability.

Serving his community is not something Chief Cassidy only does on- duty; he is very involved while he is off-duty. Chief Cassidy is a past commissioner of the Children and Families Commission of San Luis Obispo County, the local agency administering State tax revenue to fund education, childcare, health and other programs for expectant parents and toddlers. He also served as president of the North County Women's Resource Center, which assists women and families against domestic violence and abuse. Finally, he is active as a Paul Harris Fellow in the local Rotary, and a member of the San Luis Obispo Cattlemen's Association.

Chief Cassidy exemplifies how one can answer the call of duty to protect and serve his fellow neighbors, and do it with great passion, strength, and devotion to his community. His shoes will be tough to fill as he raised the police department's level of excellence and outstanding conduct, and has forged a relationship of trust with the community his officers serve and protect. I know Chief Cassidy looks forward to his retirement and spending time with friends and family. I commend his service to the city of Paso Robles and wish him the best as he enters into the next stage of his life.

Madam Speaker, I just want to congratulate this Member because I truly believe more people are listening than we've been hearing about. We see Nielsen's ratings out there and we see a number of people that watch C-SPAN. But I must tell you, there must be more because when I was sitting in my office, I was reading headlines, and the headline recently said, Congress has its lowest approval rating to date: 29 percent of the United States approves of what Congress is doing. And that means nothing.

And I believe that a lot is coming from what you're talking about. You're giving people truth and accountability on what's gone on in this new majority and what has happened in this new majority.

And that's really what I want to talk about today. Not much has moved. It's more about doing nothing. You talk about they are talking about putting politics before policies. And what I'd like to talk about today is actually a solution. I'd like to talk about putting people before politics. That's where we have to have a new direction and a new change.

When you look at some of the graphs that are sitting down on that floor, you will see, and it is a direct comparison of what policy the Republicans believe in and the policy the Democrats believe in.

A headline that I read just the other day was the largest amount of money coming in on April 15 in the record of the United States of America. The largest amount. And how did we come about doing that? We lowered taxes. It said, if you let people keep more of what they earn, they will invest. And what happens when they invest? They create more jobs. When you create more jobs, you create more homeowners. When you create more homeowners and more jobs, more people are able to go to college, get a greater education. That's talking about putting the people before politics.

It all goes back to the 2003 tax relief bill, much of what your graph will say. It'll show greater job creation the Republicans went out to do, and it'll show greater investment and, in the end, greater amounts of money to America today.

And what happens? It comes down to tell us that this is not a revenue problem in our deficit. It is a spending problem. But the Democrats look at it all different. They believe they should take more of what you earn. And I know I've said it before on this floor but I want to say it again. When you put people before politics, let's talk about taxes. Let's talk about what the Democrats proposed in their 100 days of increasing taxes which, Madam Speaker, our speaker just said on this floor, increasing taxes in every realm. If you have children, it's going to cost you more. If you're married, it's going to cost you more. If you're elderly, it's going to cost you more. If you're in the lowest tax bracket, it's going to cost you more.

Now, I want to put it in perspective, because this is something that this floor doesn't talk about. What is the day-to-day life of an American? How do they pay taxes? Do they pay enough taxes? Well, I want to give you an average day. A person wakes up, they go in and they take a shower. Do you know, when they turn that water on they are paying a water tax?

They get ready for work. They go out, maybe they stop off at a coffee shop, buy a cup of coffee. They pay a tax on that coffee.

They look at their gas gauge. They go to the gas station. I am in California, paid $3.49 a gallon. A lot of that was in tax.

Then I go into work. For the first 3 hours of work, I'm just paying State and Federal tax. Lo and behold, maybe I'm like most of Americans, I have to move in my job. I have to be able to go to other places to be able to sell because it's a global economy. I buy an airline ticket, I pay an airline tax. I rent a car when I get there. I pay a rental tax. I go and work part of the day. I come home, turn on the TV maybe to see our good speaker here on television. I pay a cable tax.

And lo and behold that I was able to put a little money away after they tax me from morning till night, and I invest. I invest for my family. I invest for my children to go to college. I invest and take the risk and hopefully I got a little reward. And maybe I invest in some property. Maybe I invest in the stock market. And because the Republicans lowered the tax and more people are paying dividends, so I'm getting a greater income and my kids can go to a maybe more expensive college. Then maybe I can afford to send my kids to Disneyland a little more. Maybe I can afford to spend time with my family a little more, and that's what Americans want.

But lo and behold, if I invested and I got a return on my investment, and I wanted to leave some money for my children and my grandchildren, what do the Democrats answer with? They answer they want 55 percent of that. They don't even want half. They want 55 percent. Because you decided to invest in America, they think you owe the government.

What do Republicans say? Keep it and add on. Why? Because we believe that's your money. We believe the capital is good for America, good for the investment. It helps us to be more competitive in a global economy. Yeah, you're becoming more efficient; that you should, if you owned a small business, invest in new equipment because your employees will be able to be more efficient. America will be more efficient, and that's what this Congress has produced.

There is a direct change in this Congress, and I applaud this individual on the floor, Mr. Price, because from the standpoint I believe more people are

listening. If it's rating a 29 percent, your Truth Squad is getting out that accountability is lacking here in Congress today.

And I would like to just talk to you a little longer about this. Maybe you can dwell on a little more, you have a graph down there. Maybe you can talk a little bit about what you see from the 2003 plan to today's plan as well.

You make a great point. Numbers don't lie. You see it in a graph. You see it in the facts. You see it on April 15, the highest revenue ever to come in.

Now, why do we continue to have these deficits? Because it is a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Just as when you live at your own house, you balance your checkbook. If you have got more money coming in, how come you are going further into debt? Because of the management and the lack of accountability here. You see the unemployment rate continue to go down from 2003. Why? Because if people are able to keep more of what they earn, they are able to invest.

We want America to be the most competitive, to be able to be the most productive, and you need capital to do that. And do you know what else you want? You want the creation of small business. You want everybody across the board to have the opportunity for the American dream.

Well, if you are taking a savings account that you maybe want to invest in your family, to invest for them in the next 21st century, to invest them in the ability to have a small business, invest them in taking a risk and a little reward, you don't want to give 55 percent to the government. You want to be able to hand it down.

And don't you want your grandchildren to be able to have a greater opportunity, greater education? It is not just the undergraduates we look at.

As I told you before, I have two kids at home: Connor, who is 13; and Meghan, who is 10. And when I look at their education and we sit around our kitchen table, my wife Judy and I, all we do is talk about the future for our children. And I am not worried about our children competing with somebody from another part of California or even somebody in different parts of America. Do you know whom our children are going to compete with? It is a global economy. They are going to compete with the kids in India and China. And I will tell you in India and China they don't have a 55 percent tax rate on the death tax. They don't hold their children back like we are holding ours back. We don't have the opportunity to grow. And this economy is competitive. And for us to stay that way, we need actually a new direction in this Congress where the people are before politics. And the one thing I have seen in these 100 or so days, this November election never ended, that we continue to have politics on this floor in each and every way we go about doing it. We should now start talking about solutions. How do we solve the problems? How do we make America energy independent? Not how we simply fund greater dictators, not that we buy as much oil from Venezuela as we do from America, and you listen to what Mr. Chavez says about America, ``ending the evil empire.'' We want to make America and this world safer, freer, and leave it a better place for our own children. And we are not going to do it with the change in direction in this Congress. We are not going to be able to achieve those goals.

That is why I want to congratulate you on the work you have done because you are bringing accountability to this floor. You are letting the American people see it. And what we want to derive from that are solutions, bringing people back before politics.

Mr. Speaker, tonight we are going to open something new. If you are like in my house, every 3 months if you have kids in school, in my house it is Connor and Megan, they just got their report card, and that is what tonight is about, a quarterly report, what has gone on in this 110th Congress.

Well, tonight we are going to hear from the freshman class of Republicans, and our goal here is to put the people before politics.

Much like what we have seen, we want to find solutions. We want to move America in the right direction. We want to tell you first and foremost what has gone on here for the last 100 days, give us a report card, tell us where we are going, and the most important thing, we want to bring accountability back to America.

So tonight we are going to start off, and we have got an interesting freshman class. We have got people from all walks of life. This is a microcosm of society, just much like America is. So our first speaker is going to be the president of the Republican class. He comes from Idaho. He served in the legislature. From Boise, Idaho, we have Mr. Bill Sali.

Thank you, Congressman Sali, for that update because that is what the American people want to hear. They want to hear about accountability.

As we know, we have been here 4 months; we have cast more than 200 votes. We have something to show where we are going, and pretty much what it is going to be is a report card, a quarterly report for across America.

The next speaker we have tonight, for those that live in Nevada, they know this person well. He has already made a very big name for himself. He was the secretary of State for three terms. He was able to work in a bipartisan manner, bring Republicans and Democrats together. He is still doing it here. He is putting partnership, not partisanship, forth.

The one thing I have seen from this Congressman, Congressman Dean Heller, he represents the largest part of Nevada. There are only three Members of Congress who are serving from there. He represents about two-thirds of the State, even more.

He serves on Natural Resources, he serves on Small Business, something he knows well, creating small businesses, and he also got put on Education and Labor, caring about the education in America.

Let's hear from you a quarterly report on what you have seen in the first 100 days and what you think reflects on your district, Congressman Dean Heller.

Thank you, Congressman Heller. One thing, as constituents know, this is an individual that believes in solutions, trying to find commonsense solutions for problems out there, and just what you talked about today.

I know you tell me many times we serve here Monday through Friday and you fly back home, you will travel 1,000 miles in that car that weekend just because your district is so large. Last night I saw you were late past 10:00 to do a tele-town hall just trying to listen to your constituents. That is what this is really all about, finding accountability and listening to constituents. I appreciate your service.

Now we are going to go across the country and hear from Florida. If you happen to be down in Clearwater or Palm Harbor, you know who this individual is. He is already making a very big name for himself here in the 110th. If you happen to be a veteran in America today, you know him because of his service. He serves on Veterans' Affairs, and he serves on Homeland Security. He has been doing a tremendous job.

We now want to hear from the 9th District of Florida, Gus Bilirakis. Mr. Bilirakis, could you give us an update of the 110th Congress.

Thank you, Mr. Bilirakis.

Promises made and promises kept. You promised to do something about the insurance problem in Florida, and you have introduced legislation to do that.

You brought up a good point about what has happened in the first 100 days. The President asked for a security supplemental, one for our men and women in uniform, to make sure that they are

protected. But what happened when he asked for $100 billion? He got $121 billion. Where did the $21 billion come from? They gave money to peanuts and shrimp. That is pork. That is not what the American people want. They want accountability.

When it comes to accountability and a hardworking freshman Member, you don't have to look beyond Michigan 7 with Congressman Tim Walberg. You serve on the Agriculture Committee and Education and Labor, and you are doing a great job. Can you give us an update on the first 100 days?

I thank you, Mr. Walberg. You raised a good point. It has only been 100 days, and in less than 100 days, the largest tax increase in America has taken place.

During the campaign, you heard from both parties, you heard what people said they would do. In less than 100 days, they were broken.

If you happen to be sitting at home and you are married, you have some children, you are going to pay more. If you are elderly, you are going to pay more. If you happen to maybe seek the opportunity of America, worked hard, made a business, saved, bought some land and went forward, you happened to pass away, this majority party, the Democrats, want to take 55 percent of that. That is the difference.

I appreciate your principled view, let people keep their hard-earned money, and make sure that you bring accountability back.

Now we want to go to another place in middle America because that is where solutions are. We want to get an update from Ohio. In Ohio, you can find a lot of individuals, but you can't find someone who works harder. Congressman Jim Jordan, along with his wife, Polly; I think they hold the American dream.

They are doing a fantastic job of raising their own children. They reach out into this community. They help others and make sure they are able to have a place to stay, a place a work and place for education. But Jim, Congressman Jordan is the only Republican freshman to get placed on Judiciary. Why? Because of his work, not only as an attorney, but his work in the Senate in Ohio, that stood out across this Nation. And I want you to give us an update. Talk a little further more about taxes and what this 100 days have meant to America and how much this Democratic Party is going to reach into your pocket.

Mr. Speaker, one thing we know on this floor, and you brought up a very good point, Mr. Speaker, as we talk, we listen to other Members here, the largest tax increase in American history happened within the last 100 days. And, Mr. Speaker, when we think about is America taxed enough, I simply, and I think about the average American, they wake up in the morning and they take a shower, they pay a tax on that water. They maybe stop off at Starbucks or someone else, and get a cup of coffee. They pay a tax on that coffee. They stop off, fill their car up so they can make it to work, drop their children off at school, they pay a gasoline tax. They go to work, for the first 3 hours they are paying the Federal and State tax. They go home, they turn on the TV, maybe to watch a little C-SPAN, Mr. Speaker, if anybody at home is watching this, they are paying a cable tax.

Maybe their business says they have got to get up and try to find more opportunity because the world is being very competitive, so they have got to get on a plane. They pay an airplane tax. They rent a car. They pay a rental tax. They stay at a hotel, they pay an occupancy tax. Lo and behold, God forbid they get very successful and they save some money, and they put it away and they want to give their children, their grandchildren some opportunity for the future. This majority party wants to take 55 percent of that.

Now, I don't know, Mr. Speaker, if this majority party was on that plane, was working hard to make sure those people earn that money, but I don't think they need to pay them. I think America is taxed enough.

And I will tell you, we need to go firsthand in that Budget Committee to see where the fight was, to see what was said and what went on. And the only freshmen Republican to get appointed to that was my good friend from Nebraska, Adrian Smith. Adrian, can you give us an update on the Budget Committee and where it is going.

Congressman Smith, I appreciate that. And you point out a very good point. During the Republican majority, we lowered taxes, and what happened? We heard from the Democrats that the world was going to collapse because we were going to let people keep the money they earned.

Revenues to the Treasury went up. Why? Because they invest it. More small business, more ownership. The stock market at an all-time high? Why? Because people got the independence. They actually invest and create jobs.

And that is what this House should be about, the power of the idea, the power of opportunity. Not to take. But in these first 100 days, the largest tax increase in history.

And I will tell you, as I walk these halls and I see these marble stairways, and you see as you walk that they are molded out by other feet that have walked before you, you think of how long a history that is. But just in the last 100 days history was broken. Why? Because this new Democrat majority went back to their old ways.

But they didn't just go back. They went further. They broke every record of every Democrat majority in the past. They raised taxes $400 billion. That is not a sound bite. That is exactly what happened on this floor, and that is what this is all about. That is what a quarterly report is about. Just like when I open the report card for Connor and Megan in my house, I want to know how my children are doing.

And as we end up here tonight and we close, Mr. Speaker, I would just like to hear the time report from the Members that are still with us. If we could just go around and they could give final statements just to sum up the first 100 days, this first quarter in this House of Congress.

I will yield to Congressman Jordan.

I thank you for your service. We will just hear the last bit from the Congressman from Michigan, Congressman Walberg.

Thank you, Congressman. We appreciate your principled belief to represent your constituents, those hardworking individuals from Michigan that are trying to create opportunity, trying to put their children through college, trying to have that home ownership, and at the same time taking care of their parents as they are getting older.

But this Congress says ``no.'' They want to take money out of their pocket and pass the highest tax increase.

Congressman Smith, if you could just sum up tonight on what you see the future holding.

Well, Congressman Smith, we appreciate your comments. And we come to a close tonight of the first quarterly report from the freshman Republicans. We will continue, Mr. Speaker, to bring this. We want to put people before politics. We want the people to know, Mr. Speaker, what happens on this floor. When they sit at home, we want them to know about the largest tax increase in history, $400 billion. We want them to know, as generation to generation, that someone who happens to be in my district who maybe wants to continue the ranch and someone passes away, that they have to sell half the ranch to just try to keep business the way it was, because government and this majority party wants to take 55 percent of it.

Mr. Speaker, we feel that is wrong, and that is why we want to tell it directly to the people.

We appreciate the time we have had, Mr. Speaker.

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

I rise today in strong support of H. Con. Res. 66. The purpose of this resolution is to authorize the use of the Capitol rotunda on April 19 for this year's national ceremony to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day. I am pleased that with the passage of this resolution, the Congress will be able to, once again, provide a venue for those who wish to mark this solemn occasion in the peaceful setting that the rotunda provides.

The annual Days of Remembrance provide all Americans with an opportunity to reflect together upon the Holocaust, to remember its victims and to renew our commitment to democracy and human rights.

In order to help focus our reflections on the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum selects a yearly theme. This year we reflect on Children in Crisis: Voices from the Holocaust.

Mr. Speaker, an estimated 1 million Jewish children died at the hands of the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. Being the most vulnerable, children were often the first of the victims to be targeted for death. Many times they were sent to the gas chambers immediately following their arrivals in the concentration camps because most were not old or strong enough to work under the forced labor conditions. But at the same time, this year's theme also recognizes the importance of remembering those children who were able to survive through their own courage and determination and the aid of dedicated individuals risking their own lives to help thwart the horrible intentions of the Nazi Party.

I think it is imperative that we never forget either the horrors of the Holocaust or the incredible courage and humanity that enabled some children to survive such awful conditions.

So, Mr. Speaker, I urge the support of this resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I appreciate the work that he has done.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reluctantly oppose this. As a member of the House Administration Committee, I sat through the hearings that we had, where the chairmen and the ranking members came before us and talked about what they needed in funding, and it was our accountability, our role to oversee that. We went through the committees.

But after this resolution was done and went to the Rules Committee, the Rules Committee created a new select committee, added $3.7 million, going beyond the jurisdiction of House Administration. Where is the accountability? Where is the approval process? Where is the role of this House and this committee to oversee that?

If the Rules Committee felt we had $3.7 million more to spend, I think there would be other places to spend it. For one, when we look at the ethics and the changes in this House and what this House wants to accomplish, I am a new Member, I sat on this floor the day we were sworn in, and I listened to our Speaker when she said she wanted a new House, when she talked about changing partisanship and making it partnership.

I do not see partnership with the Rules Committee overstepping the bounds of the House Administration Committee. I do not see partnership when we have put new rules on this floor, when the Ethics Committee needs to oversee them, when the Ethics Committee needs to be able to interpret them and bring them back to this floor so this floor understands it, is able to live by it and be the House that the people want it to be.

So I stand before you reluctantly, because I voted for the version that went before the House Administration Committee, but I will not vote for the version that came back from the Rules Committee. I believe it is overstepping its bounds. I believe the jurisdiction, the accountability, rests in the House Administration Committee, just like every other individual when they were the chair or ranking member and had to stand before us and had to justify the money they were going to spend.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. Con. Res. 15, which authorizes the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for the ceremony to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Tuskegee Airmen.

I would like to thank the distinguished chairman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for sponsoring the House version of this resolution. I would also like to thank my Chair of House Administration for her work as well.

All of our men and women of the armed services deserve our praise and recognition for the contributions they have made in defense of our country. It is notable that in the case of the Tuskegee Airmen they were fighting not one but two battles. As they bravely flew and maintained combat aircraft in World War II, these men also fought against the notion that somehow the color of their skin would affect their ability to courageously protect our Nation.

In 1941, the formation of the all African American squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, a group that would come to be known as the Tuskegee Airmen, was largely regarded as an experiment of the U.S. military to test the combat readiness of the all-black fighting squadron. Sadly, there were some at the time who expected or perhaps even hoped that the experiment would fail. Instead, the Tuskegee Airmen became one of the most highly regarded units of the war, fighting bravely with distinction.

Among the honors bestowed upon them, they were awarded 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 744 Air Medals, 14 Bronze Stars, and 8 Purple Hearts. I proudly support authorization of the use of the Capitol rotunda where they will be recognized once more for their bravery and for blazing a trail, not only in the sky, but in the history as well.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from the great State of California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren).

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

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlelady for yielding and for her service to the country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in a different position than the majority of this body. You see, I am one of the 54 newly elected Members of this Congress. We did not have the opportunity to debate and vote on the authority to use military force in Iraq.

Madam Speaker, I want to have an honest debate, not for political gain and not one that questions anyone's patriotism, because I believe everyone in this body wants to move this country in the right direction.

But I believe the right direction means that we move forward, not backwards. On this floor today is a nonbinding resolution that I believe moves us backwards. This resolution offers no hope to the American people. It offers no plan of action, no new strategy with the prospect of achieving success.

A lot has changed since last November's election. We have a new Defense Secretary, recommendation from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, and a new general, General David Petraeus. He will lead our troops on the ground in Iraq.

We have a new plan, a new way forward that addresses the problem of security in Iraq through a strategy that requires more ground power. This reinforcement of troops is recommended by the study group, and we will also hold the Iraqi Government accountable to establish and preserve the peace.

Our Commander in Chief, the military commanders, and our troops believe we can still achieve stability in Iraq.

But this resolution would be the first step in gutting the very resources necessary to achieve success. This resolution offers nothing.

The Commander in Chief, the bipartisan study group, and General Petraeus offer a new way forward. This resolution offers the status quo. The status quo is a mandate to fail and begins the chain of events that lead to a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq and all the consequences that would inevitably follow.

And what would those consequences be?

Withdrawal makes the young Iraqi democracy vulnerable to takeover by extremist elements that hate America.

What would withdrawal mean for the stability in the Middle East?

What would generations of Iraqis believe, that Americans will quit before the job is done?

Who will fill the void of our strength, al Qaeda, Syria, or a country like Iran that threatens regional stability through an aggressive nuclear program, that supports terrorist groups like Hezbollah, and that possibly supplies weapons to insurgents killing our troops?

Withdrawal only strengthens terrorist groups fighting the United States and demoralizes our American troops.

I may be new to this House, but I recognize when a simple, nonbinding resolution has potential to do great damage to our Nation and to our men and women in the military.

I believe that, by voting for this resolution, the House will send a demoralizing message to our service men and women who are courageously implementing this strategy. By voting for this resolution, the House will strengthen our enemies and tell them that the end is near; that the Congress will continue to undermine our Commander in Chief, our military commanders, like General Petraeus and our troops, by cutting funding or demanding further retreats.

By voting for this resolution, the House will snuff out the hope of democracy that millions of Iraqi people have. By voting for this resolution, the House will begin a process that leads to the creation of a dangerous power vacuum in Iraq to be potentially filled by those who mean America great harm.

I ask the Members to join with me in voting ``no'' on this resolution.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today actually for two reasons, to congratulate Mrs. Miller, rightfully so. She was selected, rightfully so, that the Speaker was able to appoint her. But today I actually rise in disappointment, disappointed in this resolution.

As the Member said, I am a new Member from California. But I am not new to this House. I had the pleasure of serving Mr. Thomas, who had served as the chairman of House Administration in 1995.

I know the work that was done and the respect for this House on both sides of the aisle. I never questioned the respect for this institution on either side. But to go about in bringing an audit to this House I knew the work that needed to be done. I worked as a staffer, and I found out in 1995 when we went to do the first audit, we did not keep enough books to even have an independent audit.

And what has transpired, in the last 8 years, we have had a clean, independent audit. And how were we able to achieve that? This body was able to achieve that by being bipartisan in the selection of the chief administrative officer, and to do this resolution today is actually a step backwards.

Transparency in this House, both sides will agree, is the best thing for the House of Representatives; and my question today is, I do not question the credentials of Mr. Beard. Will he make a great CAO? I do not know, quite frankly, because he has never come before us. We have never had the ability to go for the search, and we have actually done a disjustice to him, because we have gone through to select and not even empower him, when both sides of the aisle could go by and make a selection. That would empower that office in a bipartisan manner, much like we have done in the past.

My biggest disappointment is this side of the aisle was ready to work. I know the ranking member had sent a letter to the new Speaker to ask about doing it just like we did in 1997, where somebody from the Democrats and some from the Republicans got together and agreed unanimously. That is the respect of this office.

On my first day on this floor, I listened intently. I came with no animosity. I came to work together. I came to find common ground. And up in that top, I listened to the Speaker when she said, this is about partnership not partisanship.

But today is a step backwards. This was the opportunity to move forward in a partisanship much like we have done in 1997, much as history has shown. And I will tell you, in the end, the respect for this House has to come from both sides of the aisle that we have, and we have to do it when it comes to the resolution.

I thank the gentleman for yielding the time.

I do come from California and I am a new Member, and I think as is only fitting we are talking about how letting people keep their hard- earned money, how jobs grow, revenue grows, and individuals can spend the money on what they desire, like putting their kids through college. But we would be remiss if we didn't mention this day, because I think it is rather ironic. Today is the 96th birthday of Ronald Reagan, and nobody finer than that talked about taxes and talked about which way they went. And President Ronald Reagan was actually Governor of California at one time. That is where I come from prior to serving in this House; I served in the State assembly. And when I got elected to the State assembly, we had a $36 billion deficit.

And much like the other side of the aisle here, the other side of the aisle there, their answer was to raise taxes. We sat down, the Republicans, and crafted a bill that actually proposed a budget that didn't raise taxes. It gave incentives that let people keep more of what they earned. We have seen revenues continue to grow. We are now about out of our deficit, which was fundamentally the biggest one they have ever had, and it has continued to move forward that we were able to bring more revenues in.

But I want to put forth really the graphs you have been talking about, put it into everyday life, put it into where people understand it. Where you saw that graph continue to take off, that is when the tax cut happened.

Now, what does that mean to the millions of Americans? Well, more than 100 million Americans have now had more than $2,200 of tax relief. That may not sound like a lot of money to Washington where they spend trillions of dollars, but that is $180 a month. Do you know what that means? That means day care, that means you can take your kids maybe to Disneyland, that means you can go and invest for your kids' college future. That is what it means when you send more than $1 trillion back to the taxpayers that actually earned the money.

Now, to put it in a much broader perspective where a person can understand day-to-day life, I always like to see what I did today and what did it mean about taxes and what did it take out of my pocket on my money.

When I woke up this morning, I took a shower. Do you know what? I paid a tax on that water. When I got out, a friend of mine needed a cup of coffee, I bought a cup of coffee. I paid a tax on that. We had to stop at the gas station and put gas in the car. We paid a tax there. When we got to work, most Americans work the first 3 hours just paying the taxes before they earn any money. When I go home, I am going to turn on the TV. Hopefully, I made C-SPAN. I am going to pay a cable tax just to watch the government at work. Then when I go out, somebody is going to have to travel for their work. They are going to buy an airline ticket; they are going to pay a tax on the ticket. They are going to rent a car; they are going to pay a tax on the car.

They check into the hotel; they are going to pay an occupancy tax. And, God forbid, if the other side of the aisle gets their way and we are successful in individuals earning money, the death tax is going to come back. We are taxed from the morning we wake up to take a shower to the night we go to sleep. It is tax, tax, tax.

And I am here to say, just like Ronald Reagan said: ``We don't have a tax issue when it comes to that, we have a spending problem.''

Our revenues are coming in and coming in very strong. So I would proclaim and what I would like to see happen is we actually reform so that we can compete. I will tell you, I have two small kids, Connor and Megan who are just 12 and 10, and every day I call home when I'm back here and we talk about their education, we talk about if they have

done their home work. Because I am not concerned with my kids from Bakersfield, California competing with kids with Sacramento, California or even competing with kids from Georgia. Do you know who I am concerned with my children competing with when they grow up? Kids from China and India. And we need a system that allows us to be competitive. We need a tax system that creates jobs, we need a tax system that creates entrepreneurs. And the way we do that is let taxpayers keep more of what they earned.

That is why I applaud you today for your truth, and I applaud you for coming down and doing this work.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 33, H. Res. 58, ``To honor Muhammad Ali, global humanitarian, on the occasion of his 65th birthday and to extend best wishes to him and his family.''

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk of the severe damage that the recent freezing weather in the Central Valley and Central Coast has had on our crops.

Mr. Speaker, Congress must do what we can to help the hardworking farmers and workers who were hit this past week with freezing weather and are predicted to have lost almost all their crops which feed our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, California's fresh citrus industry is valued at over $1 billion and provides 95 percent of the country's fresh citrus. Kern County alone, which I represent, produced over $350 million worth of citrus in 2005. While we do not know the full extent of the damage yet, over 75 percent of our citrus crops may have been lost.

Also in my district is San Luis Obispo, where over $7 million worth of avocados were grown last year, this freeze could have ruined the next year's crops as well.

My heart goes out to all my constituents who have spent sleepless nights trying to save their crops. I applaud Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has already declared a state of emergency in Kern and San Luis Obispo and eight other counties. My California colleagues and I have already sent a letter to the Agriculture Secretary.

Mr. Speaker, I ask this Congress to speed all Federal disaster assistance they can to California farmers and workers.