Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for the time. I appreciate being part of this discussion today.

Mr. Speaker, I couldn't help but be somewhat taken by Mr. Rangel's comments about the lack of urgency and the lack of sacrifice in our country because of what is going on with our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I can say to you, whoever is listening or watching, wherever you are, when I go through my communities, my towns, I sense the same thing. Where is the sense of urgency and where is the sense of sacrifice?

I will tell you where it is. When you go to see the troops off, to see their families, to see them, then you know where the sacrifice is. Then you know where the urgency is, to be there when they go back the second or third time, and, as some have said, the fourth.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, a resolution in support of our troops who are serving with distinction in Iraq, and opposing the President's call for escalating the troop levels in Iraq.

As a two-tour combat veteran of the Vietnam conflict, as Ike said, as an assault helicopter pilot, I, like many others in this body, know firsthand of the

everyday sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform serving in Iraq. And, I might add, if I could, I know the sacrifices of their spouses and children. Branded on me always will be the reminder of my children when I had to leave, and they wondered if their dad would come back. You can't forget that. And it is happening to our troops repeatedly. More than 3,100 have given the supreme sacrifice. Over 20,000 have been injured, many of them very severely.

This resolution recognizes our brave men and women for performing their mission to the best of their ability. All Members of this body, all Members of this body stand foursquare behind their efforts.

As one Member of Congress who voted in support of the Iraq war resolution in 2002, I recognize the pretext for going to war was based on faulty, misleading, misinformation. I cannot reverse that vote, but I can no longer acquiesce to a failed and tragic military exercise in Iraq.

Two months ago, Generals Casey and Abizaid stated they did not support the increase in U.S. troop levels in Iraq, and recently President Bush maintained that that military policy with regard to Iraq would be determined by our military leaders. However, last month, President Bush ignored his top military advisers and called for a 20,000-plus increase in U.S. troops in Iraq.

I and others have been pressing the administration to level with the American people on the status of the Iraqi Security Forces being trained and ready to defend their Nation. If the Iraqis are trained and ready, reportedly over 300,000, as we have been told, it is time to begin now a planned phased withdrawal of U.S. troops. Sending more U.S. troops to Iraq does nothing to enhance the Iraqis' training. It only places more U.S. forces into harm's way to become additional targets of the Iraqi civil war. This failed policy must stop. We can support our troops in the field and oppose this escalation of U.S. forces.

The sectarian civil war violence in Iraq is increasing, and U.S. troops are becoming an increasing target of the various tribes and factions. We cannot continue to place ourselves in the middle of this civil war. It is time to insist that the Iraqis resolve their own civil war. We must insist and allow the Iraqis to defend their own Nation. The Bush administration stated that Iraq Security Forces are trained and ready in sufficient numbers to do the job. Again, they stated over 300,000 trained and equipped.

Therefore, I believe now is the time to oppose any further escalation of U.S. troop levels and now begin the planned, phased withdrawal of U.S. forces. I regret today's resolution is nonbinding. We need to begin addressing this matter in real substantive legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution and to work in unison to bring our troops home.

Mr. Speaker, you know what we do best? You know what we do best? I will bet everybody who is paying attention intends to file their income tax April 15. We do best when we are under pressure to get it done.

I think it is time to say to Mr. Maliki, you know what? You have got your government in place. You have got your chance for democracy. It has been given to you. We went in there and Saddam is gone. He is history. You have got your chance. It is up to you. Now, you have got your problems, but you have got your government and it is in place. You have your problems, but you have to work them out. We cannot come in there and settle a civil war. And that is exactly what is going on.

We were, like you were there and I was with you in the White House, 14 months ago when they said to the President, the Vice President, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Rice and General Pace, if you have got at that time, 14 months ago, if you have got over 200,000 troops trained, equipped and in field, then what is your plan to bring our troops home? And just like now, silence fell in the room.

Now, the claim is over 300,000 trained and equipped in the field and we are not bringing ours home. So we should say to Mr. Maliki, you have got to do it, pick something, whether it is oil fields or pick something and say starting next week or the week after you are responsible for their security because we are going to bring our troops out and bring them home and we are going to take them to Baghdad, put them on airplanes and fly them home. You have got to do it. It is yours to do and we hold you responsible to do it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 365, and I associate myself with the remarks just made. Well said. It is a scourge to our country.

I want to thank Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall of the Science and Technology Committee for their hard work on this important piece of legislation. I also want to thank the Meth Caucus leadership, Messrs. Cannon, Calvert and Larsen, who I have worked with.

Meth has wreaked havoc on our communities. Every district in our Nation has in some way felt the impact of what methamphetamine can do to families, the burden it places on local law enforcement and public health, and the toxic effect it has on the environment. In my State of Iowa alone, we had roughly 350 meth lab busts last year. Although this number is significantly down from 1,500 busts in 2004, it still presents a tremendous problem for my State.

I personally thank Marvin Van Haaften of Marion County, our recent drug czar, for his great work and leadership in this cause. In order to effectively continue our efforts to eradicate meth from our communities, we need every piece of information available. This legislation will increase the pool of information that local law enforcement and others rely upon.

Mr. Speaker, I am particularly pleased that this legislation takes the necessary steps to coordinate the development of meth detection equipment with emphasis on field detection equipment. I believe having reliable equipment in the field will not only strengthen meth-related cases, it will increase the safety of our law enforcement officers, enabling them to take necessary steps to protect themselves from the toxic environment caused by the production of methamphetamine.

Furthermore, the study commissioned by the legislation exposes the long-term effects of exposure of meth labs on children and first responders. This help is long overdue. I am proud this legislation addresses the issue.

Mr. Speaker, as a cosponsor of H.R. 365, I strongly urge my colleagues to support and pass this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a former colleague, a great American patriot, and a great friend, of Honorable Lane Evans from the State of Illinois, and to voice my support for H.R. 521, designating the Post Office in Rock Island, Illinois, as the ``Lane Evans Post Office Building.''

Lane served his constituents with great distinction in the House for 24 years. During his tenure in this great and honorable body, Lane was a champion of our Nation's veterans. As a veteran myself, having served 20 years in the United States Army, including two tours-of-duty in Vietnam, I feel fortunate that veterans across the Nation had such a strong and stalwart advocate in the United States House of Representatives. His fight to secure assured funding for veterans' health care and better services for our Nation's veterans will always be remembered fondly.

Lane also serves as an inspiration for many in our Nation struggling with a debilitating illness. When Lane was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, he did not shy away from it. He continued his service to his constituents in this great House. Many can look at Lane as an example that life does not have to end when confronted with great uncertainty. One can persevere, and can continue fighting for what one believes in.

I, along with other veterans across our great Nation will never forget the tireless efforts of Lane Evans--a great American patriot, and a tireless advocate for the beliefs he held so dear.

I, along with many in this House, wish Lane nothing but the best for the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to increasing U.S. troop strength in Iraq. As one Member of Congress who voted in support of the Iraq resolution in 2002, I recognize the pretext for going to war was based on faulty, misleading intelligence. I can not reverse that vote, but I can no longer acquiesce to a failed and tragic military exercise in Iraq.

Two months ago, Generals Casey and Abizaid stated they did not support increasing U.S. troop levels in Iraq. Last month, President Bush maintained that military policy with regard to Iraq would be determined by our military leaders. However, last week President Bush ignored his top military advisors and called for a 20,000-plus increase in U.S. troops to Iraq.

I, along with others, have been pressing the administration to level with the American people on the status of the American security forces being trained and ready to defend their nation. If Iraqis are trained and ready as we are told, we should begin a planned phased withdrawal of U.S. forces; if not, the administration should tell us when they will be trained and ready.

Sending more troops to Iraq does nothing to enhance the Iraqis' training; it only places more U.S. forces into harm's way to become additional targets for the insurgency. This failed policy must be stopped.

We can support our troops in the field and oppose the escalation of U.S. forces. I urge all my colleagues to work in opposition to the President's increase in U.S. forces.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity to say a few words about this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I support it without reservation, in contrast to my colleague from Iowa, another person who spoke a moment or two ago. I really support this. Farmers across Iowa, across the Midwest, across the country, realize that this is an opportunity for us to be more self-sufficient.

I, some 30 years ago, was stationed as a soldier in Portugal when we had the first oil crisis, and I realized that the chaos that took place, that we are in bondage to OPEC. It was really bad then, but now it is even worse. We are up to 65 percent import.

Here is something we can grow out of ground this year. It is the thing to do. It is environmentally sound. We grow it out of the ground this year. We can turn around and grow it next year and have a great step forward and be independent in our energy production.

I hope that everybody will support this bill. It is a good thing all the way around, not just the farmers, it is good for everybody. Support

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Colorado for yielding me the time. I would also like to thank Mrs. DeGette for her leadership on this very important issue. And I rise in support of H.R. 3, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.

Today, I want to talk about a young girl who I have the honor of knowing, Karle Borcherding from Ankeny Iowa. In 2005, at the age of 10, Karle was diagnosed with juvenile or Type I diabetes. Over the course of the past year she has had to give herself 4 to 5 shots a day. A burden no 10 year old should have to deal with. Karle and her mother, Darcy, have been leaders on the finding a cure for Type I diabetes across Iowa, the Midwest, and all the way to Washington, DC, with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Karle is a vibrant young girl who does not let her disease control her life. When asked why Karle wants to find a cure she responds ``Not just so I will be cured and can be a normal kid, but because other kids will be cured too.'' I am hopeful that, for Karle's sake and every child affected by debilitating diseases, we will pass this vital legislation today.

Opponents of this legislation will argue that we should focus our attention to adult stem cell research. And while adult stem cell research can be useful, embryonic stem cell research offers hope to cure diseases. Some of the leading scientists in the country have stated that adult stem cells would not be able to find a cure for disease such as ALS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or Type I diabetes.

I ask my colleagues to join me today and vote on the side of hope and science, and support H.R. 3.

Madam Speaker, thank you very much. I thank the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for yielding me this time.

I would also like to thank my colleague and friend Congressman Latham for working on this and leading out on this very, very worthwhile tribute to Dr. Borlaug. He is from Iowa. We have known him for some time. As you might reflect, some of you, some years ago he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It was for his work in agriculture. He started the Green Revolution. It was he that led out with the education, the expertise, the research to feed the world. He is credited with a billion people, saved their lives, fed the world--it has been quite a thing.

I happened to be serving in the Iowa legislature at the time. I was appropriations chair, and it looked like the World Food Prize was going to disappear. We saw the opportunity to bring it to Iowa. A great benefactor, which Mr. Latham knows, too, Mr. John Ruan II, saw the need to keep this alive, and so put forth the effort in a hard time in our country, and we called it the agricultural crisis of those days, and was willing to put forth. We started out with a little public-private partnership working together with the understanding that the Ruan family, which they have done, would take it over and run with it. Well, they have.

Dr. Borlaug was the first awardee of the World Food Prize 20 years ago in Iowa, and wow, what an appropriate person to receive this honor. It has been ongoing. Ambassador Quinn, a former ambassador at the State Department for years, serves with distinction as the administrator and CEO of the World Food Prize. It is something we are very proud of in the United States of America. We are very proud of it in our State of Iowa. It is a worthy thing.

We think of our State of Iowa and the surrounding States as the food basket of our country, and so we have a World Food Prize. This is something that we ought to do to identify Dr. Borlaug. He is in his nineties. He is still very vital and vibrant and eloquent in his presentations, and the things he has done to reach out around the world with young people is most impressive. We have a great program and he is right in the middle of it and still providing a wonderful service, a wonderful example of what we would like to see coming from our country.

Of course, we are very proud, Tom and I and all of us in the delegation, of our State. I might add that our new Members, Mr. Braley and Mr. Lobsack, very much if they were able to would be signed on to this resolution as well, and I wanted to make note of that.

So I rise in support of Senate 2250, a tribute to Dr. Norman Borlaug. I would hope that every one of us would make this a unanimous thing, a great American, a great cause, and this is the highest recognition we can give, and we ought to do it.

I am very proud of my fellow Iowan Dr. Borlaug. He is a great humanitarian who has been credited with saving one billion lives. His research and work changed production agriculture, as we know it today. Dr. Borlaug's life has been marked with many accomplishments; one such accomplishment was founding the World Food Prize, which is located in Des Moines, Iowa. The World Food Prize recognizes contributions by individuals who have worked to improve the quality, quantity and availability of the world food supply. I am proud to say the Prize celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.

I would also like to recognize the Ruan family. When the World Food Prize was in trouble the Ruan family created a trust that would support the World Food Prize, patterned after the Nobel Peace Prize. This happened and I am pleased to report that the Ruan family, now under the leadership of John III, has fulfilled their pledge and the World Food Prize is a vital entity that we are very proud of.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Southeast Polk High School's football team, which made a run for the Class 4-A Iowa State Football Championship. With an 11-2 record for the season, this football team placed second in the State championship. This was the first time the Rams had ever advanced to the State championship. All of central Iowa is very proud of the team's achievement.

In addition to this achievement, four young men on the team received the First Team All State Honors while the head coach, Denny Muller, was named Coach of the Year in the Central Conference.

As Vince Lombardi once said about teamwork: ``The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.'' This great season was undoubtedly the result of tireless dedication by the coaches and the players.

Congratulations go to each member of the team, the coaches, the managers and the cheerleaders for an outstanding football season:

Players: Zach Ballard, Ethan Bass, Drew Behrens, Josh Bell, Jacob Bergeson, Kenny Berry, Jon Bianchi, Travis Bos, Jake Boston, Drew Bower, Taylor Bowie, Sam Bricker, Tony Burrows, Ben Burzacott, Seth Churchill, Adam Davis, Tanner Farley, Andy Fisher, Chris Foster, Avery Gaston, Dustin Hickman, Mike Hoburg, Andrew Host, Brett Hughes, Kody Ingle, Brian Johnson, Kyle Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Andrew Khounchanh, Ty Knowler, Brad Lamberti.

Brian Lathrop, Kevin Leffler, Scott Lusk, Jordan Mallicoat, C.J. Massey, Kyle McClain, Nick McGinn, Ryan Medina, Mike Medina, Chris Medina, Seth Negrete, Andrew Rojas, Stephen Saunders, Cody Shepherd, Jacob Slings, Stephen Smith, Nate Snead, Jeremy Snead, Billy Sowder, Jake Stewart, Tyler Underwood, Jared Vandewall, Jake Viggers, Tyler Walsh, Jordan Wells, Brett Wilkin, Harrison Williams, Tyler Wilson, Shane Wong, Jeff Woody, and Zoran Zailac.

Managers: Lexi Armantrout, Amanda Backous, Beth Denning, Amanda Johnson, Jen Larson, and Tommi Music.

Coaches: Nate Ballagh, Jake Bartels, Adam Booth, Eric Hendricksen, Bob Knipp, Kelly Knowler, Mark Martin, Randy Mehrl, Lou Mooney, Denny Muller, Troy Schwemm, Don Starcevich, Craig Wilkin, Pat Wilson, and Brad Zelenovich.

Cheerleaders: Caitlin Bair, Marissa Brehm, Callie Buck, Cassey Guldner, Kris Kaufman, Macie Kingery, Chelsea Kisner, Samantha Lynn, Mindy Roney, Marissa Rouse, Chelsea Sigmund, Ashley Sowder, Kim Sparks, Whitney Stewart, and Abby Vance.

Mr. Speaker, as a proud Graceland University alumnus, I rise today to honor the Graceland University Students in Free Enterprise, or SIFE, Team, who recently took home the second place trophy in the SIFE World Cup Competition in Paris, France.

SIFE is a global non-profit organization, with activities in more than 40 countries. SIFE strives to teach market economics, success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and business ethics to students. SIFE teams use their knowledge to work to create economic opportunities for their communities.

The SIFE World Cup Competition brings together SIFE teams from all over the world, and I am proud that the Graceland team represented not only its university honorably, but represented our great Nation with distinction. Mr. Speaker, the following students comprised the team that beat out 44 other national championship teams from around the world: Richa Acharya, Francis Ambrosia, Pooja Ananthanarayanan, Brittany Atwood, James Bailey, Andi Barber, Misha Barbour, Shara Barbour, Ben Berning, Karin Blythe, Tyler Bridge, Emily Brock, Kris Brown, Calee Bullard, Landon Burke, Ariana Bytyci, Curtis Calloway, Ashley Campbell, Sabina Curovac, Leatha Daily, Leonard Dalipi, Joe John De La Cerda, Stephen Donahoe, Cassie Eskridge, Allison Forth, Lindsay Garret, Tyler Garrett, Nicholas Gay, Shaw Geldreich, Shannan Graybill, Heather Gunn, Alexis Haines, Brieanna Hattey, Clayton Hines, Allan Hughes, Travis Hunt, Doug Hunter, Mercedes Jenkins, Kasey Johnson, Cooper Jones, Tyler Jones, Olga Khrentsova, Erik King, Kendra King, Colin Kohler, Andy Lavender, Hava Maloku, Garet Manuel, Jacqui Everett, Flora Ferati, Abe Forth, Lauren McClain, Michaela McCoy, Amanda McLead, Ethan Mechling, Barett Miller, Amy Morgan, Aaron Nugent, Toks Olushola, Terra Paialii, Maria Prieto, Ryan Richards, Charlie Rogers, Regan Russell, Guillermo Sanchez, Katherine Say, Michael Say, Reed Manuel, Sarah Marolf, Colin McClain, Jennifer Shumacher, Lauren Seaman, Jessica Serig, Andrea Stuck, Gelila Taddesse, Lora Toncheva, Lora Topourova, Eric Van Kuiken, Leah Webb, Cara Wildermuth, Briana Williams, Shelby Williams, Stuart Williams, Sarah Wouters, James Young, and Zana Zeqiri.

As a proud alumnus, I join Graceland University, and all of Iowa, in congratulating them and commend them for their great achievement.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, before I begin, I too would like to thank the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Mollohan for their hard work and leadership in these very challenging times and these issues.

Once again, we find ourselves faced with a budget that is less than favorable, and they both have done a tremendous job in funding priorities when faced with this reality, and I thank them for that.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to amend something similar to what I did a year ago. I offered this amendment and it was accepted by the chairman and ranking member when the House considered fiscal year 2006 Science, State, Commerce, Justice appropriations bill.

Last year I requested an increase in funding for the Criminal Records Upgrade Program by $2.5 million. This year, considering the budget we are dealing with, I am asking for even less.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment proposed to increase the Criminal Records Upgrade Program by $1.5 million, offsetting this increase with a reduction in the Department of Justice General Administration Salaries and Expense Account by the same amount.

Mr. Chairman, the goal of this program is to ensure that accurate records are available for use in law enforcement and to permit States to identify, among other things, persons ineligible to hold positions involving children. This program helps States build their infrastructure to connect to the national record check systems, both to supply information and to conduct requisite checks.

I firmly believe that having accurate criminal records are essential in a State's ability to protect children from those who wish to do them harm and those who have histories of causing such harm. We must continue to provide law enforcement agencies across the Nation with as much information as they need to stop sex offenders and others who have a history of violence and exploitation of our children.

Mr. Chairman, there will be other amendments offered during the course of debate on this bill asking for tens of millions of dollars. But my amendment is not one of them. Times are tight when it comes to spending, and I am not asking to move the mountain. But anything we can spare to ensure that our States and our communities can have access to information that can be used to protect the children of our Nation must be spared.

With that, I urge the adoption of the amendment.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, first off, I want to say to Mr. Murtha, I salute you, sir. We both served in Vietnam. I had two tours. I never told you this. I don't go around talking about it much. You don't either. But Charlie Beckwith, you remember that name, don't you? In the Iron Triangle? Sometimes we had those assaults and sometimes we had to go bring them out. When we had to bring them out, there were lots and lots of casualties. We did not like to do that.

So this exercise we went through a few months ago, saying that you wanted to make an immediate withdrawal, that is not what you said. I know that, and we all know it because that would be chaos. It needs a plan.

So I come today to share that little bit with you. I finished up my tours in the military as an instructor at the Command Staff College, Department of Tactics. We rewrote 101-5. We might want to talk about that sometime. You might find it interesting. And I would say without reservation, Leonard Boswell, Jack Murtha, and probably everybody in this Chamber support our troops, absolutely, 100 percent. That is not on the table, as far as I am concerned. They are in a difficult mission. They are performing superbly. And we are very, very proud of them. That is not the question.

Last December Ike Skelton and, I do not know, 12 or 15 of us, and I do not know how I got invited, but we got invited to the White House to meet with the President, the Vice President, Mr. Rumsfeld, Ms. Rice, General Pace. And the whole conversation was everything is going really, really good in Iraq. And I got a chance to engage in conversation with the President, and I said it seems to me what I am hearing here is we have got 90-plus battalions, at that time, and now it is over 100, 20-something brigades, several divisions, armed, equipped, and in the field. And I have been to Iraq. A lot of us have. I am not sure about that, but if that is true, then why don't we start a withdrawal program carefully?

Do you know when we do best? We do best when we are under a little bit of pressure, when we know we have got to perform, we got to get the job done. And I think that applies to everybody in my life experience, Iraqis included. Under pressure, we went through the liberation from Saddam, regardless of how we decided to make the decision. We can debate that if you want to, but I do not want to do that. I supported the resolution based on what information I had. But regardless of that, if we would look at it in this sense: we have liberated the people from Saddam. He is in jail. He is on trial. Now we are occupiers. We want to help them get settled. They had a great election. We all understand that. They have established a government. And it is pretty tough. They got it done, I am told.

You know, it is kind of like putting the team on the field. You haven't seen them play yet together. Maybe they will do well, or maybe they won't. I don't know. We don't know. But we wish them well. We want them to succeed absolutely.

My point is this: they need to take some responsibility and the pressure is on to do it. They have got 254,000 troops trained, equipped, and in the field. We have a right to start, orderly, with a plan, bringing our troops home. We ought to do that. Not run, but an orderly withdrawal.

And I salute you for that, Mr. Murtha.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the outstanding results achieved by Iowa students at the Iowa High School State Track Meet held at Drake stadium in Des Moines this past weekend.

I congratulate the Des Moines Valley High School 4 by 400-meter relay team for topping a 36-year-old State record on Friday, May 19. The team of Bryan Collins, Zac Sandvig, Ryan Keairnes, and Brandon McSkimming set the new record finish in 3 minutes 13.8 seconds, crushing the old record of 3 minutes 16.6 seconds. I am proud to say this time is the fifth best high school mark in the Nation for 2006.

Special recognition. also needs to go to Brooke Dinsdale from North Tama High School. Brooke, a sophomore from Traer, broke the State's 25- year-old 800 meter record in 2 minutes 9.6 seconds. Only one high school girl in the United States has run a faster 800 meter race this season.

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely proud of the athletic and academic excellence of these young people from my district. Perhaps Paul ``Bear'' Bryant, the late, great coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team said it best: ``If you believe in yourself, have dedication and pride, and never quit, you'll be a winner. The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards.'' These students have felt victory on the track, and I am confident they will continue to feel victory as they go through life.

Madam Speaker, today we will authorize the largest intelligence budget in our history. I am pleased to be part of this authorization, because I believe we have no higher purpose than to support the brave soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and the civilian intelligence officers of the front lines of our national security.

However, I am sad to say this. There is a lingering threat, spoken to by Ms. Harman, that we have not addressed, which we should have. Last night the Rules Committee dealt a blow to our ability to gather intelligence on Iran's nuclear and missile capability by denying an amendment that I had offered.

Now, if somebody else would like to offer that amendment, it is okay with me. We have got to do what is right. I would ask you, Mr. Chairman, if you are listening, that you might even think about doing that. But it would require the Director of National Intelligence to provide us quarterly written reports.

You know, people do best what we check. And if we were checking this, and they were coming to us in our committee, and it is a classified environment, it is safe, they could come there and we would have a chance to see if they are actually doing the job. We should have done that.

So it appears to me, and I am very disappointed to say this, that it appears to me that it was pure politics that my amendment was denied. And I am disappointed. When I joined this committee 5 years ago, I was under the impression that politics would not interfere with our intelligence work. But, apparently, not so.

If I might quote from the President's bipartisan, if you will, WMC Commission, cochaired by Judge Lawrence Silverman and former Senator Charles Robb: ``Across the board, the Intelligence Community knows disturbingly little about the nuclear programs of many of the world's most dangerous actors. In some cases it knows less now than 5 or 10 years ago.''

I just came across this thing from the Washington Times that our chairman was quoted as: We really do not know. We really do not know the status of Iran's nukes. We are getting lots of different messages from their leadership.

Well, maybe I should just rest my case there, but we may have lost the chance to offer this amendment. But I cannot overstate the seriousness of this threat to global security, which could come from a nuclear armed Iran. I wish we would have been able to address this issue in the bill, and I hope my colleagues will support my efforts to do so in the future.

Maybe somebody over there would like to offer the amendment. I do not care. It needs to be done. It should. We in Congress must be a better consumer of intelligence. It is a lesson we learned the hard way with regard to Iraq. It is a sham that this amendment was denied. It is a good bill, but it could have been better.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for yielding me the time. I appreciate it very much, and I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) for his willingness to work with the cochairs of the Meth Caucus. It has been exhilarating that we can get something done; and the Meth Caucus, with your help, is making strides. I appreciate it very much.

I would also like to thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) for his strong leadership on this issue.

Mr. Chairman, I represent Iowa. Sometimes we have referred to it as the Belt Buckle of the Heartland. Iowa is a small State, one that prides itself on a shared sense of community and responsibility, one that values a solid education and a hard day's work. When one thinks of Iowa, they might imagine vast fields of corn or soybeans, or they might imagine a small-town Main Street.

Unfortunately, they might also imagine meth. A couple of years ago, the meth epidemic in Iowa was highlighted in a documentary by HBO called ``Crank.'' This detailed the meth problem of three Iowa families and showed the complete destruction this drug causes. This documentary shows how meth had taken hold in Iowa, but it just as easily could have been filmed in Missouri, Illinois, California, Washington, Oregon, Oklahoma, Nebraska, or any other State in the Union that has seen meth steadily infiltrate our communities.

I am sure everyone in this great House has heard the stories from their districts about meth. Meth does not care how much money you have, what kind of education you have, where you live, what color your skin is, how old you are, how young you are. Meth is quite simply an equal- opportunity destroyer. I am sure all of my colleagues here have seen all the pictures repeatedly shown by the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) which have shown the life of this young woman and how she deteriorated so fast.

I rise today in strong support of the Chabot-Boswell-Calvert-Cannon- Larsen amendment. This amendment will strengthen the ONDCP reauthorization bill by highlighting the continued commitment of this House in our national fight against methamphetamine.

Meth presents unique challenges to law enforcement, social services, and public health agencies. As such, the Congress must have extensive information on this epidemic from across the Nation. I believe this amendment will move us in that direction. By commissioning the reports outlined in this amendment, the Congress will be able to increase the information available to it on a wide range of issues, from the differing State precursor control laws to the Drug Endangered Children programs that have become all too valuable to the people we represent.

Furthermore, we must have the ability to quickly share information with Federal, State, and local governments. The National Methamphetamine Information Clearinghouse created by this amendment will provide us with the one-stop shop we need to share information on best practices in areas such as law enforcement, treatment, prevention, and social services.

The proposals in this amendment before you were crafted with close bipartisan cooperation and consultation. When dealing with the issue of meth, I have found this is the only approach to take. This drug does not care what side of the aisle you are on.

Mr. Chairman, I ask my colleagues to support this important amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Jerry Bradley, who has been named the Ivan D. Livi Aviation Educator of the Year by the Aviation Technician Education Council. The Aviation Technician Education Council is an organization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) founded to further the standing of FAA approved schools. This award recognizes outstanding achievement of an aviation maintenance technology instructor.

As a general aviation pilot and member of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Aviation, I am greatly impressed by the work Mr. Bradley, his colleagues and his students perform on a daily basis. The Aviation Technologies Program, which Mr. Bradley chairs, provides students in the Des Moines area with a unique opportunity to gain valuable skills and lessons, which they can carry forward throughout their careers. I commend Mr. Bradley for leading a program, which continues to be a model of success for schools in Iowa and throughout the United States.

Again, congratulations to Mr. Jerry Bradley for earning the Ivan D. Livi Aviation Educator of the Year Award. This honors his work, the Des Moines Public Schools Aviation Technologies Program, and his students.