Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I regret that flight delays prevented me from being to vote today. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the motion to close portions of the conference on H.R. 3222, H.R. 513, and H. Res. 744.

Thank you, Mike. I appreciate my friend from Arkansas giving me this opportunity. And I want to compliment you for the untiring hours you've spent in trying to tell this Nation, this Congress, and all who will listen that it is time to be fiscally responsible. It has been for some time.

And I would like to associate myself with my friend from North Carolina in the comments he just made. Very, very germane to what is going on in our country today. In fact, around the world. And as you can tell, Mr. Ross, I am one of the older folks around here. I don't know if that's something I should be proud of. I guess I'm proud versus the alternative. But oftentimes people say to me, You're going to be all right. Why are you worried about it so much?

Well, I am worried about it. Yes, at my age I suppose I'm going to be all right. But you know what? I have children and I have grandchildren and I am very proud of them, and I want them to have the opportunities.

In fact, just like you and you and you and anybody else that's paying attention, we all want it better for our children, that's just inherent. And they're not going to have that opportunity if we don't do something about this. And that's what you display right there on that chart.

That figure of $9 trillion-plus is staggering, and it's growing; it has been for the last number of years. And we went from the opportunity of being in a surplus to this unbelievable deficit situation. And it really ties our hands as to what we can do as we think about our leadership in the world we know today.

This very day I'm quite sure that we've had people from our Treasury Department over in China trying to borrow money so we can continue to run on deficit, and this just won't work. You can't do your business in Arkansas, you can't do it in North Carolina, I can't do it in Iowa, nobody can.

There comes a time when you have to face reality. And Mr. Stenholm used to tell us from time to time that if you realize you're in trouble and going into a hole, the first thing you do is quit digging. And there is something to that. Well, we need to do it, and we need to do it badly.

So, I am pleased to associate with the Blue Dog Coalition, I have been for some time, and the leadership that Mr. Ross and others, Mr. Boyd and others, have given to trying to make this point come to life in the sense that we've got to do it for our country and for our kids and our grandkids. This is something we must do, and there is just no choice about it.

I think there is a lot of hope for us in the world that we're living in today. I have a lot of hope, and I want to keep it that way. At the same time, I'm fully aware from my travels and from my life experience that the world is in a perilous situation. And we won't always be in this leadership position if we don't take a hold and get our arms around this situation. But we've got to do it.

And as we well know, the time is now at hand, I think it's already here, that China is a superpower. They are certainly going to be if they're not; I think they probably are. India, the demands they're putting on us. The big trade deficits we've got, we can't sustain those. And you put all this in line with this tremendous debt we have and what we're paying for interest annually, it equates to something like $250 billion a year. It equates to one of our major line items for our department. We can't afford to do that, and we have to face reality.

So, I really appreciate the efforts being made by you, Mike, and all of us to try to do something about this, and the fact that the leadership of this Congress has accepted our idea of PAYGO. And it's something we have decided upon and we've got to stick to it. There are going to be a lot of temptations to vary from that. And as we went into the farm bill, for example, it was so hard to do it, but we stuck with it, we worked hard and we came up with a viable solution. We've got to do it in all the things that lay before us. We've got to set the priorities and get those things done.

I see the time is about up. So I yield back to you, Mr. Ross, for the closing comment, if you would like. I just want to say I appreciate coming here this evening and sharing some of my concerns for this situation at hand. We have to take it as a real situation. It's here. And if we don't do our job, we're going to leave it on our children and our grandchildren, and we don't want to do that.

Just the last word I'll say is we always want to remember it's the taxpayers' money. It's not Washington's money, it's not the government's money, it's the taxpayers' money, and we want to do everything we can to make sure that everything is honored. That's the Blue Dogs' battle cry, and that's where we stand. And I thank you for this opportunity to share in this.

I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, this is a very important moment for our veterans as we think of their service to our country. Of course, we all wouldn't be here, I believe, I think we would agree with that, if it wasn't for our veterans, who have been willing to put it on the line.

Mr. Speaker, as Chairman Filner has spoken here, this legislation came up after a very tragic thing. Joshua Omvig, returning after an 11- month tour, a good young fellow, a member of the Grundy Center Volunteer Fire Department, the Grundy Center Police Reserves, he was concerned about the safety of others, but because of the situation, he took his life.

I can't help but be thoughtful of Ellen, his mother.

She would like to have had more training. She knew there was a problem, and so did his dad. She was with Josh when he went out to his pickup truck that day to go to work to try to talk to him, to try to help. And he took his life right in her presence.

Well, they could have just kind of backed off in their great grief and sorrow and done nothing, but we reached out to them and they reached back. They want to participate in doing something for others. And so out of that came what is now known as H.R. 327. It is pretty simple: Improve early detection for incidence of suicide among veterans, provide those veterans

with the assistance they need, which was not there for Joshua.

This bill also requires the Veterans Administration to develop a comprehensive program to address the rate of suicide among veterans. And it also underscores the importance for further research, peer counseling, family education and involvement, and education for all staff at the Veterans Administration. There is an urgent need for this bill to pass.

You have heard the report that Mr. Filner gave us. The statistics are astounding. Stress disorder has jumped like 70 percent.

Also, I want to thank our two Iowa Senators, Senator Harkin and Senator Grassley, for their support; and I especially want to thank Randy and Ellen Omvig, the mom and dad of Joshua. They have suffered a lot over this, as we all would. But at the same time, they found the courage and strength to want to help others and want to reach out. They want to do anything they can possibly do to prevent this from happening to another individual and another family.

It is almost with relief for me, Mr. Speaker, that we are passing this today and moving it on because we know there are hundreds of other veterans out there who need help, and this ought to set that in motion. There is no doubt there is more we can do, but this is a good beginning. With that, I would like to yield back and let other Members speak to this very important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Filner for yielding and what he is doing here for veterans.

I have to thank John Carter for his attention to this issue. Vandalism is never acceptable. Never. When I learned about the vandalism that took place at the Vietnam Memorial, I was outraged. Outraged.

As a Vietnam veteran, as many of you are in this Chamber, many of our colleagues, for me 20 years plus, I know firsthand, a lot of us do, the sacrifices that servicemembers and their families make.

This memorial does more than just honor the brave men and women who gave their lives for this great Nation. It also serves as a reminder to all Americans the price of freedom.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial serves as a resting place for our brethren who were unable to come home. And I will bet some of the rest of you, as I, have wondered how come our name wasn't on that wall. We know it could have been. And for somebody to desecrate that is just unacceptable. I hope the park service will be able to find these criminals and swiftly bring them to justice.

I would like to give special thanks to all of our troops and all those of them who have given the ultimate sacrifice. We cannot forget them.

With the passage of this legislation today, it is one more example of what Congress has done to fulfill our Nation's obligation to servicemembers, their families, and all veterans.

I am proud to stand here as a cosponsor of this bill, and I encourage the House to pass H. Res. 680 today.

Thank you, Chairman Filner, and all of you who have worked on veterans events this day and these last several months. We appreciate it very much.

Mr. Speaker, as veterans we know the sacrifice that our servicemembers pay each day. Whether currently deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, or wherever they might be around the world, serving on active duty or serving in the Army Reserves or on the National Guard, our men and women in uniform sacrifice for our freedom.

Oftentimes when we speak of our key military assets we are referring to the carriers and the stealth bombers and the tanks or the fighter planes. Well, while those are all impressive, none are more impressive than our brave men and women in uniform. I think, in fact, I know, they are our greatest military asset. The men and women who serve our Nation are the best educated, trained and equipped fighting force in the world. Because of this, I am proud to stand with my colleague (Mr. Baca) and all the rest of you to encourage communities and schools around the country to recognize the contributions veterans have made to our country and to our history.

It is often said, but we will say it again, a grateful Nation will always remember those who sacrifice so much in preserving our freedom. If we are to continue to have the very best of our Nation serve, we must continue to give them assurances that their service will not be forgotten. By granting all veterans who served before them the recognition, care and respect promised, tomorrow's veterans will have the reassurance in knowing their future needs will be addressed.

I am very proud to stand here to cosponsor this bill today and encourage the House to pass H. Res. 237. Honor Veterans Day. It's something we have a privilege to do.

Mr. Speaker, first I support this bill. It is a good bill, and it protects the Constitution.

I would like to speak principally to my colleagues who, like me, are concerned about what the bill does and the fact that it does not address fully the issue of carrier liability. As you know, the administration and telecommunication companies have requested that we provide them with immunity from lawsuits or prosecutions arising out of information and assistance they may have provided to the intelligence community.

Now, we don't precisely know what information they have provided. We don't know what they were told by the administration about the legality of what they were doing. I hope and believe those companies acted in good faith with patriotism. They were trying to do their part for national security, and I think they deserve our appreciation. I take seriously their concerns that they might be subject to liability.

That being said, I don't believe it should be the responsibility of the telecommunications companies to prove that they provided the information in a legal way if the Federal Government fails to meet the burden of proof that the demand or request for information is brought forth in a legal manner. If that burden of proof is not met, it should be the government that should be held primarily accountable.

I believe that eventually we should be able to take care of any company who acted in good faith and cooperated in the name of protecting our Nation.

No one who acted out of good faith with a desire to protect America should be punished. But we must know what brought forth their action, and under what circumstances, and what pressure, if any, they acted. As this process moves forward, I expect to get more information from the administration on their generation of the demands or requests for information. Support the bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor South Tama County High School, a school in my Congressional district, for their outstanding achievements in the ``President's Challenge,'' a program sponsored by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

South Tama County High School, in Tama, Iowa, was named one of two President's Challenge State Champion schools in Iowa for the 2006-2007 school year. The President's Challenge is designed to encourage students to find new and exciting ways to integrate fitness

and physical activity into their daily lives. The fitness program at South Tama should be a model for other Iowa schools, and is recognized by the President's Challenge as an exemplary example for its dedication to encouraging students to become physically fit and active, and its success in achieving those goals.

As childhood obesity and the chronic diseases caused by it become an increasingly serious issue in the United States, I would like to commend South Tama on its commitment to instilling the importance of a healthy lifestyle, and for giving its students the tools to make healthy decisions for years to come. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating this Iowa school--we are very proud of your accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, today we celebrate World Food Day, a day to focus on global food security. In the city of Des Moines, a very significant observance of World Food Day will take place--the first Iowa Hunger Summit. Representatives from many hunger fighting organizations from across America will join hundreds of Iowans in a day-long focus on increasing efforts to eliminate malnutrition, poverty and human suffering.

This event will be the first of a week-long series of World Food Prize programs and events that will draw individuals from more than 60 countries for an in-depth discussion of the global challenges facing biofuels and biorenewable energy.

Joining all of these events will be Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Congressional Gold Medal recipient, who is credited with saving a billion lives through the green revolution. Dr. Borlaug is an Iowa native and the founder of the World Food Prize, who returns each October to his home state to present the $250,000 award which has become known as the Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture.

I am very pleased that Iowa's Governor, Chet Culver and our three immediate past governors Robert D. Ray, Terry Branstad, and Thomas Vilsack plan to attend the summit. I am proud to see our Iowa leadership come together for such a worthy common cause--ending world hunger.

That was why I was so pleased to join with other members of the Iowa Congressional Delegation as we worked to get Dr. Borlaug the Congressional Gold Medal, America's highest civilian honor.

I ask members of both parties to join with me in a World Food Day commitment to help reduce hunger both at home and abroad. In doing so, we will be honoring Dr. Borlaug's legacy and supporting the important work that is taking place at the Iowa Hunger Summit in Des Moines.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady for the opportunity to share this resolution that I am a co-sponsor of, and I think it is the right thing to do, to honor those who made the sacrifice that they did in the Vietnam War.

Some of us in this body have served in that war. I would like to associate myself with those who have previously spoken. We are never wrong to take a moment and remind ourselves of those who gave the supreme sacrifice and laid their lives on the line, as so many did.

So it is a reminder to us that freedom is not free. I just had the opportunity a couple of days ago in a large group down in Iowa to ask all the veterans to make themselves known and to ask all those in the audience if would you please turn and thank your veterans. Because of them, we can have that opportunity to gather together on that hillside and share the freedoms that we take for granted so often.

So today on this 25th anniversary we are reminded particularly of the Vietnam veterans. Some of us 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 years ago went down and had kind of a picture-taking opportunity with Members in the Congress with Vietnam veterans at the Wall. And for all of us, we had to stop and realize our names could have been there, too.

We recognized names of our colleagues and comrades that fell and paid the price because the country asked them to do that. That is happening this very day, of course, in other parts of the world.

So I thank you, gentlelady, for the time. I appreciate you bringing this forward. I certainly urge its passage.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life works and career of a local Iowa luminary. Born in Grand Island, NE, Dic Youngs-- or ``Youngsy'' to his fans--has become a legend of regional radio in the Des Moines metro area, attracting loyal listeners from every Iowa demographic over his half century of commitment to the air waves. With the announcement of his retirement from 93.3 KIOA this July, it is proper that we should honor a man who has come to be so cherished in the hearts and homes of several generations of Iowans.

Dic Youngs has always had panache, and he has basked in the community spotlight since his youth. As a young man attending East High School in Des Moines, his athletic prowess earned him many distinctions, and he gained substantial notoriety within the greater conference community throughout his athletic career. At the age of 16, Dic's radio career was kick-started as he championed a KSO amateur DJ contest, and was given a position at radio 1460 KSO, Des Moines. Soon after, he began broadcasting the sounds of the sixties from his ``KSO Fish Bowl'' studio, which was originally located in the display window of a downtown shop. He was a ``smash'' with Des Moines area teens, and by charming them with his skillful spins and witty words, he established a loyal fan base from the very beginning.

Dic started his time at 93.3 KIOA in February of 1966, after a brief hiatus from Iowa radio, and remained there for nearly 42 years. During his time at KIOA, he was known for his afternoon broadcasts and the ``Original Saturday Night Oldies Show.'' But Dic did more than DJ during his time at KIOA--he was also an exceptional philanthropist, and was passionately involved in the local community. As a member of the KIOA High Hoopers Basketball team, he helped raise nearly one million dollars for various charitable causes, and he is known in the region for his 50 hour radiothons to benefit the Variety Club of Iowa; the grand total of his personal fund-raising efforts climbing to nearly $500,000. He has orchestrated 26 ``Rock and Roll Reunions'' at the Iowa State Fair, and was responsible for the crowd-pleasing ``KIOA Good Guy Reunions.''

Many Iowans will remember Dic as the man whose voice and musical repertoire filled lazy afternoons and memorable Saturday nights, as the man who first introduced them to the Beatles, and as the man whose steadfastly positive presence in the community has been an inspiration and a blessing to so many. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the life and career of Dic Youngs. We congratulate you and wish you the best of luck in retirement.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a young Iowa woman whose inspired, gymnastic talent has made her a key player on the international Olympic stage. Shawn Johnson, age 15, is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with amongst some of the best female gymnasts in the world. No stranger to media attention, Shawn was honored this week as ABC News' ``Person of the Week.''

A Des Moines native, Shawn began practicing gymnastics at the age of six, as a way to channel excess energy. Originally thought to be incapable of attaining the grace that modern gymnastics requires, Shawn's future as a world-class gymnast looked rather bleak. However, with the right coach, hard work, and a positive attitude, she was recently named ``World Champion'' at the contest in Stuttgart, Germany. This year alone, she has been named the 2007 U.S. National Champion, the AA and Beam Champion in Lisburn, the 2007 American Cup All-Around Champion, and the ``all-around'' gymnast at the 2007 Pan-American contest, among many others.

Aside from her athletic aptitude, Shawn is also an exceptional student, and having just started her junior year at Valley Southwoods High School in West Des Moines, she is interested in her high school football team, horseback riding, scrap-booking, and spending time with her friends and family. Shawn feels that the discipline she has learned from her involvement in gymnastics has helped her to excel in other areas of her life.

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating this impressive and determined young lady. We wish you the best of luck as you continue to represent your community and your country in all of your athletic endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, due to personal business in Iowa, I was unable to return to Washington for votes on Monday, September 17, 2007. If I had been here, I would have voted ``yea'' on H.R. 3246, H.R. 1657 and H.R. 3527.

I thank the gentleman for yielding his time on this issue we have just mentioned here.

I would first like to thank the Agriculture appropriations committee for their hard work on this legislation. It's a thoughtful piece of legislation, and I do plan to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I do need to express my concern and disappointment on an amendment I was planning to offer along with Representatives Costa, King, Salazar, and Radanovich that was not made in order.

Even though Representative Spratt's amendment, which replaced section 738 dealing with horse slaughter, was accepted by the Ag appropriations committee and addresses some of the large issues, including transportation and animal health inspection, it fails to address one major issue. With 100,000 horses abandoned each year in the United States, and animal adoption facilities overflowing, how, how are we supposed to deal with these animals?

Having spent most of my life involved in animal agriculture, I understand many of the issues firsthand. I have worked with a variety of animals, dairy cows, feeder pigs, to my current cow-calf operation, and we have always had horses on the farm, even today. In fact, I can share with you that on the 4th of July, this past 4th in my hometown of Lamoni, Iowa, I was awarded first place in the horse hitch category, a beautiful horse and buggy.

Mr. Spratt's amendment that was accepted by the committee does not address this issue of what to do with the additional 100,000 unwanted horses with nowhere to go and no one to take care of them. The burden will fall to the American taxpayer. Just housing and fitting one horse costs around $1,900 per year. Mr. Spratt's amendment will cost $127 million in just the first year alone for these animals.

I want to be very clear: I love horses. I have owned horses my entire life, and they have been some of the most loyal companions over the years.

But I do have major concerns to the fact that we are making it illegal for

horses to be slaughtered for human consumption, but not addressing what we are going to do with these horses and how we are going to care for them. We all should have a major concern and do something about it. This problem is not simply going to go away. I thank the gentleman for the time.

I would again like to reiterate my disappointment over not being allowed to offer my amendment, but I do support the bill.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time to speak on this very important occasion.

As an original cosponsor of this resolution, I join with my good friend and colleague, and many others, Representative Braley of Iowa, as we celebrate the great service this unit has given.

They are brave people. You have heard the time they served. They returned home with the distinction of being the longest serving Iowa National Guard unit since World War II. I want to personally thank them for their service to our country. The brave men and women who make up the unit are something that we are very proud of, and I feel some relation to them, as others do in the Congress, because of my own past service in another war. So I appreciate it very much.

And I am also aware of the sacrifices made by the families. And I think you should know that as the troops were coming up the highway, as they passed under bridges, there were VFW and American Legion and other services and families who were on the bridges with flags walking them home, making them know how much they were appreciated and how much they were missed. Those families play a very important role, which we should all appreciate, in ensuring freedom and liberty.

So I want to thank the mothers and fathers and the spouses and the sons and daughters who had and have loved ones serving around the world.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak here tonight, and hope that we can raise up and give recognition and appreciation to all of our men and women who serve our country and do it with distinction. We should be very proud. I am, and I know all of us are

Mr. Chairman, I must recognize Mr. Arcuri and Mrs. Gillibrand for their great work. The farmers of their State ought to be very proud that they have spoken out, and we have listened and we want to make things better.

I want to thank them for this amendment that he has agreed to withdraw, and to say the following: that the moving renewable industry and its impact on feed cost has been something that the House Agriculture Committee has monitored closely. The Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry even held a hearing on this issue earlier this year.

As the United States moves toward energy independence and a stronger renewable fuel base, the cost of production has increased for our producers. This issue affects my district especially, since it is one of the largest and a major ethanol producing area.

We must work together, and we will work together, to find the balance between feed and fuel, and ensure that one important industry is not hurt by the other. So I encourage my distinguished colleague to withdraw his amendment, with the understanding that I will work with him in conference or wherever to make sure his concern about the cost of feed and fuel is incorporated in the final version of this bill for dairy producers.