Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1598) expressing support for the designation of the month of October as National Work and Family Month.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 1598 into the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1598, which expresses support for designating October as National Work and Family Month.

Over the past 40 years, the family dynamic has changed. Women comprise nearly half of the United States workforce. For most working women, their responsibilities do not cease at the end of the workday but continue on at home as most women serve as their families' primary caregivers. Beyond caring for their own families, working women often take on additional caregiver responsibilities by caring for their parents and/or their spouses' parents.

But it isn't just women who face the challenge of balancing work and family, Mr. Speaker. More than ever before, men have taken on a greater share of family responsibilities in addition to their workplace duties.

With working families taking on extra hours to make ends meet during these tough economic times, the need for a work-life balance is more crucial than ever. Employers who afford their employees with policies that help to balance work and family reap substantial benefits, ranging from improving an employer's bottom line, increasing retention rates, decreasing absenteeism, and improving productivity and morale.

A 2008 report by the Families and Work Institute found that workers who are able to balance work and family

are more highly engaged in their work and less likely to look for jobs in the next year. They also enjoy better overall health, better mental health, and lower levels of stress.

Finding a good balance between work and family is important to most people. A 2009 survey of students found that two-thirds of respondents cited a healthy work-life balance was an important career goal. In addition, Mr. Speaker, research by the Radcliff Public Policy Center found that women in their 20s, 30s and 40s and men in their 20s and 30s identified the most important job characteristic to be a job schedule that allows them to spend time with their families.

According to research by the Sloan Center on Aging & Work, a majority of workers aged 53 and older attribute their success as employees to job flexibility, which contributes to an overall higher quality of life. Job flexibility often allows parents to be more involved in their children's lives, and parental involvement is associated with higher child achievement in language and mathematics, improved behavior, greater academic persistence, and lower dropout rates.

Families with working parents face many challenges when it comes to balancing family time with working hard to provide for their families, and it is so important that we recognize this every day, because it is such a challenge; but it is equally important to recognize that the substantial benefits accorded and afforded to parents, children and employers when workers have access to policies of support lead to a much healthier work-life balance.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the author of this resolution, the gentlewoman from New York, Congresswoman McCarthy.

Mr. Speaker, most children are lucky if they have a two- parent family these days, but if they even have one parent or two parents, both of those parents are in the workforce. They work long hours, they commute long distances to put food on the table, and quite often they are not able to sit at that table and share that food with their families because their work-life balance is so unbalanced. So families with working parents face many, many challenges when it comes to balancing family time with working to provide for their families, and it's important that we recognize this as an everyday challenge.

It is equally important to recognize that substantial benefits are afforded to parents, children, and employers when workers have access to policies that support a healthy work-life balance. So I want to thank Representative McCarthy for sponsoring this important resolution, and I thank Congressman Roe for being part of this with us. I encourage my colleagues to join me today in support of House Resolution 1598.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1576) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a National Day of Recognition for Parents of Special Needs Children should be established, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 1576 into the Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1576, which supports the establishment of a National Day of Recognition for Parents of Children With Special Needs.

Parents of children with special needs serve a critical role in the development of their children and in preparing them to succeed in school and in life. Through selfless dedication and sacrifice, these parents work with their schools and communities to ensure that their children are granted equal access to a free and appropriate education that recognizes their individual learning, behavioral, and mental health needs in a healthy and supportive learning environment.

We know that the number of parents raising children with special needs is significant, and it is growing. A National Day of Recognition for Parents of Children With Special Needs not only serves to honor the dedication of these parents, but to highlight resources that they can turn to for information and support.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Representative Burton of Indiana for introducing this resolution and once again express my support for House Resolution 1576, which supports the establishment of a National Day of Recognition for Parents of Children With Special Needs. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.

Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank Representative Burton from Indiana for introducing this resolution and Representative Roe for his support of this resolution. I want to express my support for House Resolution 1576, which supports the establishment of a National Day of Recognition for Parents of Children With Special Needs. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1313) expressing support for designation of May as ``Child Advocacy Center Month'' and commending the National Child Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on their 25th anniversary in 2010.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 1313 into the Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1313, which supports the designation of the month of May as Child Advocacy Center Month and commends the National Child Advocacy Center for 25 years of service and leadership in confronting the epidemic of child abuse.

Tragically, Mr. Speaker, five children die each day as a result of child abuse and neglect in the United States of America. In 2008, a total of 1,740 children died as a result of such abuse. The National Child Advocacy Center provides critical training, prevention intervention, and treatment services to fight this urgent national problem.

In May of 1985, the National Children's Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was founded by a young district attorney from Madison County named Robert Cramer, Jr. Mr. Cramer--who went on to be a Member of the House of Representatives from 1991 to 2009--organized the center to improve assistance to abused children and work to end child abuse.

Since then, the National Children's Advocacy Center has become a national leader for training child abuse specialists since their doors opened. After that, the center has trained more than 54,000 professionals from the United States and 20 other countries altogether. The work of the center has helped many children overcome the emotional distress that results from the frightening experience of abuse. This year, child advocacy centers nationwide will celebrate over 25 years of providing invaluable service to the hundreds of thousands of child abuse victims each year, which is an opportunity for us all to recognize the contributions of child advocacy centers.

Mr. Speaker, I express my support for Child Advocacy Center Month and thank Representative Griffith for bringing the bill forward. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I once again want to thank Representative Griffith for bringing this bill forward, and I thank Representative Roe for his support of this initiative. I support it, and I ask my colleagues to join me in support of Resolution 1313.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, the trip taken by the U.S. delegation to the NATO summit in Lisbon was an expensive one indeed. The decision made there to extend our military occupation of Afghanistan into 2014 and possibly beyond will exact untold, unsustainable, unacceptable costs.

A war that has already tragically cost us 1,400 American lives will now take many hundreds more. A war that has already drained the Treasury of $370 billion will drive us further into debt and stall our economic recovery. And a war that has undermined our national security goals will continue to make us less safe.

Here we are patting down holiday travelers at the airport while we escalate a war that is fomenting, rather than fighting, terrorism. That's the current state of our national security policy. Talk about missing the forest for the trees.

This decision to stay the disastrous course in Afghanistan represents a broken promise plain and simple, a promise that was to at least begin ending this war in July of next year. Meanwhile, as the timetable extends, the tactics seem to grow more violent.

Remember shock and awe in Iraq? Well, we are now engaged in what one American officer called, ``Awe, shock, and firepower'' in the form of enormous tanks now rolling into Afghanistan for the first time during this war. As if Afghans needed another reminder of the 1980s Soviet invasion, which was heavy on tank artillery, and left an indelible mark on the national consciousness.

The optics here, Madam Speaker, are very bad, and the rhetoric is disturbing as well, with one official boasting to the Washington Post, and I quote him, he said, ``We've taken the gloves off.'' And another saying that counterinsurgency, and I quote him, ``doesn't mean you don't blow up stuff or kill people who need to be killed.'' Of course, the problem is that we are killing a lot of people who don't need to be killed, innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.

How exactly are we supposed to win people's hearts and minds when we are destroying their homes and exterminating their families? When will we understand that this kind of warfare, this entire war is the best propaganda tool the Taliban could ask for? And besides, Madam Speaker, tank deployment flies directly in the face of the COIN doctrine that is supposed to be guiding our Afghanistan strategy. We have all heard General Petraeus wax philosophical about U.S. troops moving within communities, helping forge a bond between the people and their government. Except that tanks and night raids are about just the opposite--removing our troops from Afghan communities in favor of launching deadly explosives from a safe distance.

But apparently NATO officials have come up with a creative way out of that contradiction. The Post reports that an Afghan farmer asked a general at a public meeting, ``Why do you have to blow up so many of our fields and homes?'' He was told that when villagers travel to town to submit a claim for property damage it helps better connect them to their government. Can you imagine a response more galling, Madam Speaker? Now we are not only destroying their property, we are insulting their intelligence, too.

This must end, it must end now. And Madam Speaker, we must bring our troops home. Our troops should have come home a long time ago.

Madam Speaker, I rise with pleasure today to celebrate the American Philharmonic-Sonoma County which has been honored with an invitation from the government of China and the Dalian Yuan Concert Production Company to tour northern China over this coming New Year's holiday.

The tour will be sponsored and supported almost entirely by the Chinese government and will include eight concerts in 12 days in Shanghai, Beijing, Yantai, and Qindao.

Known as the ``people's orchestra,'' the American Philharmonic performs free concerts at the Wells Fargo Center in Santa Rosa, California, in keeping with their mission: ``To make the beauty of music and the power of community alive and available for everyone.''

Founded 12 years ago, the American Philharmonic-Sonoma County has been offering a variety of musical performances as an all-volunteer organization, with both amateur and professional musicians, 60 to 75 in all. According to volunteer cellist Brian Lloyd, ``We give our time and talent out of love for the music and belief that the gift of beautiful music is nurturing for the community.''

The program on the Chinese tour will celebrate our cultural connections by including American, Chinese, and European music. Music Director Gabriel Sakakeeny will lead the orchestra, and featured soloists will be Sonoma State University piano professor Marilyn Thompson and French violinist Solenn Seguillon.

``This is an incredible opportunity for American Philharmonic.'' says Maestro Sakakeeny. ``It is such an honor to be invited to perform in the Carnegie halls of China, and we are looking forward to sharing our music and representing our country to the Chinese people. It's going to be an amazing tour.''

Madam Speaker, I am proud to honor the American Philharmonic-Sonoma County on the eve of a major tour that will share our local treasure with the people of China.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the work of Frank Pugh, the outgoing 2010 President of the California School Boards Association. His civic leadership and commitment to education have benefitted students across Sonoma County and California.

Since he began teaching at Santa Rosa Junior College in 1979, Frank Pugh has distinguished himself as a dynamic educator in our community. His passion for electronics and technology has made him not only an effective lecturer, but a respected authority, author of seven textbooks and four magazine articles in his field.

Mr. Pugh has also taken on numerous leadership responsibilities at administrative and advisory levels, contributing a teacher's invaluable perspective to debates on the governance of our schools and the future direction of

public education. He served for two years as the occupational representative to the Santa Rosa Junior College Academic Senate, then went on to serve as the Senate President for six years. Since 1990, Mr. Pugh has also served on the Santa Rosa City Schools Board of Education, holding the office of Board President for a total of four terms.

Most recently, Mr. Pugh has served as President of the California School Boards Association, an organization bringing together California's local K-12 school districts and county offices of education. An active member of the CSBA Delegate Assembly since 1993, Mr. Pugh has worked tirelessly to support the organization's commitment to researching and advocating practices that serve the best interests of students.

During his tenure with CSBA, and throughout his career, Mr. Pugh has remained a vocal advocate for our children. He understands that public education represents a promise to future generations--a promise that knowledge and perseverance can overcome adversity, and that our democratic institutions can deliver opportunity for all--and he has worked to uphold and to strengthen that promise.

Madam Speaker, I ask you to join me in thanking Frank Pugh for his service on behalf of Sonoma County and California. His example reminds us of the value of public education and the importance of continuing to support and protect it.

Madam Speaker, I rise today with my colleague Congressman Mike Thompson to recognize Paul Kelley who is retiring after 16 years as a member of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. Congressman Thompson and I have the distinct privilege of representing Sonoma County and both of our tenures in the House have coincided with Mr. Kelley's tenure on the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisor Kelley represents the northernmost supervisorial district in Sonoma County, which is home to one of the finest wine grape-growing and wine-producing regions in the world. His support of agriculture and agriculture-related industries is deep seated. He grew up on a small farm outside of Santa Rosa and spent his summers as a youth working on neighboring ranches and farms in the area. As a supervisor, his work included helping to bridge the gap between the water needs of farmers and fisheries, in supporting measures that guaranteed that 22,000 acres in his district would be protected under the county's Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District acquisitions and encouraging businesses and farmers to embrace green technology.

Supervisor Kelley also helped create new parks and recreational facilities throughout his district, including the Boys & Girls Club in Windsor, and renovate existing youth facilities in Cloverdale, Healdsburg and Larkfield-Wikiup.

He was the key proponent of returning commercial air service to the Charles M. Schulz/Sonoma County Airport. The regional airport now has daily flights to four western cities.

Supervisor Kelley's special assignments on the board included membership on the Sonoma County Transportation Authority, the North Coast Rail Authority, the Water Agency Committee, the Local Agency Formation Commission (Chair), the Eel Russian River Commission (Chair), the Redwood Empire Association, the North Coast Air Pollution Control District, the North Coastal Counties Supervisors' Association, the Public Policy Facilitating Committee, the Sonoma County Advertising Program, the Sonoma County Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Program and the Association of California Water Agencies (President).

Madam Speaker, after 16 years of public service to the people of Sonoma, Paul Kelley deserves to enjoy the riches of this new phase of his life as a water and transportation consultant. We wish him well.

Mr. Speaker, the 111th Congress has been an astounding success, but throughout the last 2 years, when we have failed to pass good laws, it's usually because our colleagues on the other side of the Capitol have stood in the way of our progress, proudly engaging in stubborn obstructionism.

The Senate is where good legislation goes to die. So I guess we shouldn't be surprised that it remains so right down to the final days of our session.

It appears now that there may not be enough Republican votes to ratify the New START Treaty, which would make huge strides towards reducing the threat of nuclear destruction.

This is distressing news, Mr. Speaker. After years of negligence on nuclear issues, the New START could finally put us on a course toward the eventual elimination of all nuclear weapons. It would drastically reduce the size of nuclear arsenals here in the United States and in Russia. It would improve our access to Russian nuclear facilities, which we've been unable to inspect since the expiration of the original START treaty nearly a year ago. And it would put our relationship with Russia on more solid footing, enhancing bilateral cooperation on a host of issues.

In the words of the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Kerry, he said, and I quote him: ``Ratifying New START is not a political choice; it's a national security imperative.''

But apparently, Mr. Speaker, some over in the other Chamber aren't moved by national security imperatives. For them, 1,550 strategic warheads, the level mandated by New START, isn't a sufficient arsenal, even though 1,550 strategic warheads is enough to blow up the world several times over. The only way they know to deal with national security, it appears, is to send thousands of American troops to die in failed wars that carry a combined price tag of over $1 trillion.

New START isn't perfect. I wish it were less incremental and more ambitious. I wish it embraced more of the principles contained in my resolution, which is called ``Nonproliferation Options for Nuclear Understanding to Keep Everyone Safe,'' or ``NO NUKES'' for short. NO NUKES would move more aggressively toward complete nuclear global disarmament, which was exactly the long-term goal we committed to as a Nation when we signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 40 years ago.

But New START is most definitely consistent with the SMART Security platform I laid out from this podium so many times, Mr. Speaker. Specifically, it advances the idea that we make the world safer, not through violence, not through acts of war and weapons escalation, but through diplomacy, cooperation, and conflict resolution.

New START is good enough as a first step. It's good enough for the top military brass, past and present, who have endorsed it. It's good enough for leading foreign policy dignitaries from across the political spectrum. The only holdouts are a minority of Senators who seem more interested in embarrassing the President on the international stage than they are in a major international security breakthrough.

Concessions have been made to these lawmakers. Their opinions have been heard, their concerns addressed. Now it's time for action. For the safety of the American people and possibly for the future of human civilization, it is time to pass New START.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of David Sabsay, father of the Sonoma County Library, who passed away on March 20, 2010, at his home in Sebastopol, California. His passion and leadership strengthened our public libraries not only in Sonoma County, but across California, transforming education and fostering civic engagement for youth and adults.

Born in Waltham, Massachusetts in 1931, David Sabsay came to Santa Rosa in 1956 after receiving his graduate degree in library science at the University of California at Berkeley. At 25, Mr. Sabsay was the youngest head librarian in the state, and he was already envisioning the vibrant, integrated public library system he knew Californians needed.

Mr. Sabsay wasted no time in pursuing this vision, and his skill as a library advocate quickly earned him a place of respect in the community and a record of hard-earned victories. On multiple occasions he served as chair of the Government Relations Committee of the California Library Association, and by 1971 he had become the organization's president. He founded and became the first coordinator of the North Bay Cooperative Library System, a six-county resource-sharing network and the first cooperative library system in the western United States.

In a career dedicated to improving library services in Sonoma County, Mr. Sabsay also brought his expertise to debates on library support in Sacramento. In 1978, in order to secure a sufficient stream of funding for California libraries, he helped author legislation establishing state financing for local libraries and encouraging county contributions. This legislation continues to serve all Californians as a safeguard against the loss of an essential public asset and as a reminder of our stake in its future.

Mr. Sabsay was perhaps best known for his instrumental backing of a unified library system in Sonoma County. In 1975, his work led to the signing of the joint-powers agreement--the first such agreement for a library system in California--that established the institution we rely on today. During his tenure as director of Sonoma County Library, Mr. Sabsay even oversaw the construction of the central library and nine regional branches as his county network expanded to serve one of the strongest per capita memberships in the state. Mr. Sabsay retired in 1992 but remained an active consultant on library development, funding, and operations.

David Sabsay was predeceased by his wife Helen. He is survived by his brother.

Madam Speaker, I ask you to join me in celebrating the life of a man who dedicated himself to serving the people of Sonoma County and California. We have all benefitted from his work on behalf of knowledge and public education, and from his example as a tireless advocate for one of the civic institutions most important in our democracy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a unique institution that operates within the boundaries of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area to provide an educational blend of sustainable agriculture and outdoor education.

A former dairy farm perched on a south slope above the roiling Pacific Ocean, Slide Ranch has welcomed over 175,000 people from the inner city, suburbia and beyond to participate in its summer camps and year-round educational programs. Through the efforts of Marin Attorney Doug Ferguson and Huey Johnson of the Nature Conservancy, the land was purchased and protected from commercial development, and founders Ed and Susie Washington-Smith created a 134-acre hands-on place to learn how to farm and care for Mother Earth. Along the way, the extended family of the famed Grateful Dead, played a big role in building and sustaining Slide Ranch with donations, manual labor and benefit concerts by members of the Dead.

Today, Slide Ranch offers a menu of family outings, summer day camps and group programs. The group programs, offered in spring, summer and fall, are geared toward experiential learning, which is especially suited to help young people appreciate the environment, make good choices about healthy foods and good agricultural practices. Students may learn how to turn compost piles, feed farm animals, milk cows and make cheese. Kids from the inner city may spend the first night of their lives camping under the stars and breakfasting on their own hand- picked berries.

The wild lands of Slide Ranch provide miles of hiking trails and a rich coastal habitat adjacent to the waters of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Here are spectacular tide pools populated by still starfish, waving anemones and scuttling crabs, while offshore, migrating whales display their spouts.

The pride of Slide Ranch is its bountiful one-acre garden, now under cultivation for over 36 years without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Using biodynamic and organic methods of improving the soil and controlling pests, the garden grows over 100 species of plants and vegetables each year. The garden includes several educational features such as a medicinal herb area, an urban-style container garden, a worm box and composting bins.

Slide Ranch has weathered forty years of changes in education, new environmental challenges and the ups and downs of the economy. It has survived because it not only has kept pace with the need for a greater understanding of our environment and sustainable food production, but because of the passion and unending curiosity of its staff, governing board and donors--all who deserve our thanks and congratulations today. Madam Speaker, in Slide Ranch's greenhouse, seeds from the garden are potted to produce the next harvest. In its classrooms above the surf or under the starry sky, in the thriving garden or in the barn, the seeds of knowledge are planted for an unending bounty of bright minds.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Duane Irving who passed away July 19, 2010, at the age of 75 on Halleck Creek Ranch, his family ranch, on which he established Halleck Creek Riding Club for Handicapped Children. An iconic figure in West Marin, Duane was a hero to hundreds of children and community members who admired his unique blend of cowboy skills, sense of fun and adventure, and big heart.

Born in December 8, 1934, in San Rafael, CA, Duane grew up on his family's ranch in Nicasio. He excelled in athletics, and after San Rafael High School, he turned down an offer to join the San Francisco Giants minor league team to enlist in the Marine Corps where he excelled in both football and baseball. Despite an innate distrust of authority and a tendency for pranks, he was proud to be Marine and remained loyal to the Marines and their ethics his entire life.

After his discharge, Duane returned to Nicasio where he married Nellie Woodard in 1959. The couple had three children, Peter, Jeannette, and Buck, before divorcing in 1985. Duane also coached Little League in Nicasio for twelve years, maintaining the baseball diamond by attaching a length of chain link fence to his belt and dragging it over the diamond.

Duane trained horses and managed several ranches in West Marin as well as working for Marin Municipal Water District for 12 years. Legendary West Marin Rancher Boyd Stewart enlisted his help in establishing the Morgan Horse Ranch in Point Reyes National Seashore, where Duane set up a breeding program and trained young Morgans to become ranger mounts throughout the national park system.

At the Morgan Horse Ranch, volunteer Joyce Goldfield was bucked off a horse named Dill Pickle and spent five months in a full body cast. While Duane was sympathizing with her inability to get out and enjoy the wilderness, he spoke of some of the children who came to the park confined to wheelchairs and were unable to join in tours or mount horses due to insurance issues. The two decided to use their gentle horses to take disabled children riding into the wilderness of Duane's Nicasio ranch. Thus, in July, 1977, Halleck Creek Riding Club for the Disabled began.

Since that time, thousands of youngsters and adults with any and all disabilities have been served, and many have had their conditions improve dramatically. Duane and Joyce expanded activities to include camping, rafting, snow trips, horse shows, parades, sailing, kayaking, and beach trips in which Duane pushed children in wheelchairs right into the surf. Since all this was free of charge, Duane became a prodigious fundraiser as well. Today over 300 disabled riders per week enjoy the benefits Halleck Creek offers--improved self-esteem, greater freedom and mobility, adventurous activities, and the therapeutic effects of horseback riding.

Duane received many honors for his work including President Bush's Thousand Points of Light award, J.C. Penny Golden Rule Award, and Marin County's Volunteer of the Year. He was also active in helping Joyce collect and distribute clothing and bedding for the homeless and in an annual benefit for Heifer International.

Joyce became Duane's beloved companion, and for nearly 24 years they lived at Fairwinds Farm on Inverness Ridge with her children Cindy, John, and Danny. In Joyce's words, ``Duane, the beloved native son of Nicasio and West Marin, shall be ever missed. This handsome, gentle, loving, immensely talented, free-spirited man was part of all our lives and resides in all our hearts.''

Madam Speaker, I echo Joyce Goldfield's words. Duane Irving was a special man who knew how to direct his spirit and generosity when he saw he could make a difference for so many. His legacy is an inspiration to us all.

Mr. Speaker, last week the cochairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform released their draft proposal. I don't agree with all of their recommendations, but I am encouraged to see that they believe wasteful Pentagon spending can and must be a prime target.

For years I have been calling for substantial cuts in the kinds of defense systems and programs, many of them left as relics from the Cold War, that are doing absolutely nothing for modern-day military preparedness.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus has outlined specific cuts totaling more than $600 billion. I am pleased, for example, that the Commission shares our contempt for the V-22 Osprey, which has been notorious for cost overruns as well as safety problems that have led to the accidental deaths of 30 servicemembers; billions of dollars over budget for a weapons system that is killing our own people. Not a good deal. Not a good deal for the taxpayers, to say the least.

Likewise, I am inclined to support the Commission's proposal to eliminate one-third of overseas military bases, and I agree that it is time to pull the plug on the Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, which breaks down every 8 hours on average and doesn't steer well in water.

On the other hand, I don't agree with the Commission that any kind of salary freeze is the way to go. The last thing we should do is take out our fiscal woes on the men and women, civilian or uniformed, combat or noncombat, charged with protecting the country.

My hope instead is that this body will consider some of the other Congressional Progressive Caucus recommendations. For example, has our military defense system really justified its enormous expense? And what about our nuclear weapons stockpile? We could save $15 billion a year by reducing that number of warheads to 1,000, which is still enough, Mr. Speaker, to blow up that world many, many times over.

There has been much noise made on the other side of the aisle about the size of government and supposedly out-of-control Federal spending. But many of the same folks using those talking points haven't exactly shown great restraint when it comes to the defense budgets. So I will be curious to see when they take over the majority in January, will they move to cut bloated defense programs, or does their zeal for spending cuts extend only to those domestic programs that are helping struggling families get through a recession?

That bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is this: You are not serious about closing the deficit unless you are prepared to put military spending on the table. By recommending specific cutbacks on the defense side, the Deficit Commission has at least started the conversation.

Of course, the Commission doesn't really address the elephant in the room, the ongoing war in Afghanistan and our continued military commitment in Iraq. Together their cost has already exceeded $1 trillion over the last decade. And what have we gotten for the expense? A foreign policy blunder of epic proportions, one that has cost thousands of Americans their lives without truly stabilizing the countries we invaded, without combating terrorism in a meaningful way, without advancing our national security interests.

Fiscal responsibility, Mr. Speaker, and enormous cost savings; yet one more reason to bring our troops home and bring them home now.

Madam Speaker, I rise today with my colleague, Rep. Mike Thompson, to honor the Benziger Family, whose economic, environmental, and philanthropic contributions in the Sonoma Valley have earned its businesses due recognition as 2010 Sonoma Valley Business of the Year. Both Benziger Family Winery and Imagery Estate Winery have pioneered a sustainable approach to agriculture and a humanitarian approach to business. Their active presence continues to strengthen and enrich Sonoma Valley communities.

Starting in the mid-1990s, Benziger Family Winery began its transition into biodynamic agriculture. They eliminated chemicals and other artificial elements in favor of a more holistic and organic method that capitalizes on the vitality of a vineyard that is allowed to thrive in a natural state. Benziger Family Winery has even been recognized by the National Resources Defense Council for its water conservation strategies. Imagery Estate Winery was founded in the same tradition, and the result is not only a greener footprint, but richer and more distinctive products that embody their unique places of origin. Indeed, Benziger Family Winery and Imagery Estate Winery have earned reputations as producers of exceptional quality not only in California, but worldwide.

The Benziger Family has brought the same care and commitment to its active role in Sonoma Valley communities, supporting local charities and volunteerism. It has been particularly instrumental in supporting Becoming Independent, a North Bay nonprofit dedicated to empowering people with developmental disabilities, and its wineries are a regular presence at the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction. Earlier this year, Benziger Family Winery also joined with the local Red Cross to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti and in Chile.

Madam Speaker, I ask you to join us in thanking the Benziger Family for its contributions to Sonoma Valley, and in congratulating its wineries on their success and well deserved recognition. Benziger Family Winery and Imagery Estate Winery are powerful examples of the value of community-minded business, and Sonoma Valley is stronger because of them.

Mr. Speaker, about a year ago, the President of the United States quite clearly laid out a plan to begin redeploying troops out of Afghanistan in July of 2011. It was not soon enough for me, but it demonstrated at least the recognition that this could not go on forever and a commitment to do the right thing, the thing that the majority of Americans want, bring our troops home was on the table.

But now top officials are telling us not to start planning our welcome-home parades for our soldiers, that U.S. combat troops would actually be on the ground in Afghanistan until 2014.

The Commander in Chief has said that this war will begin to end next July, and it appears that the generals who work for him are actively trying to undermine that deadline by painting a rosy picture of conditions on the ground, often in direct contradiction of intelligence reports.

The most galling moment and the most galling comment of all came from Lieutenant General William Caldwell,

who leads NATO's training of Afghan security forces. He not only talks of the 2014 date as it's established policy; he says he needs more resources and more military trainers just to get Afghanistan ready to provide for their own security by that date.

So we've gone from the military saluting President Obama and saying they could get it done by July 2011, to saying that current levels of personnel aren't adequate to get the job done in four more years' time.

Lieutenant General Caldwell also echoed what other officials have said, that the 2014 date comes not from the Oval Office or the Pentagon or the situation room, but was initially put forward by Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.

But since when, I ask you, Mr. Speaker, does a foreign head of state set our goals? I thought U.S. foreign policy and decisions about our national security were made by the elected representatives of the American people.

The truth, Mr. Speaker, is that things have gotten far worse in Afghanistan since we committed more troops. Our troops are dying at a greater pace than at any other point in the 9 years of war. Civilian casualties are also on the rise. The Afghan people have little confidence in our mission and its ability to improve their lives. The insurgency remains as nimble and sophisticated as ever. Effective local government is barely in existence.

We've heard all the arguments before about why accelerated time tables supposedly don't work; that they embolden the enemy; that the insurgents will simply wait us out until the date of departure. But they're not waiting us out now. They effectively control vast swaths of the country, and the one thing that is giving them greater strength and moral authority is the continued presence of our combat troops on Afghan soil.

How much more do we have to fail before we change strategies, I ask? How many chances are we going to give this military occupation? How much patience are we supposed to have? I say, not a minute more, Mr. Speaker. I say it's time to bring our troops home.

Madam Speaker, I rise today with my colleague, Representative Mike Thompson, to honor the Benzinger family, whose economic, environmental, and philanthropic contributions in the Sonoma Valley have earned its businesses due recognition as 2010 Sonoma Valley Business of the Year. Both Benzinger Family Winery and Imagery Estate Winery have pioneered a sustainable approach to agriculture and a humanitarian approach to business. Their active presence continues to strengthen and enrich Sonoma Valley communities.

Starting in the mid-1990s, Benzinger Family Winery began its transition into biodynamic agriculture. They eliminated chemicals and other artificial elements in favor of a more holistic and organic method that capitalizes on the vitality of a vineyard that is allowed to thrive in a natural state. Benzinger Family Winery has even been recognized by the National Resources Defense Council for its water conservation strategies. Imagery Estate Winery was founded in the same tradition, and the result is not only a greener footprint, but richer and more distinctive products that embody their unique places of origin. Indeed, Benzinger Family Winery and Imagery Estate Winery have earned reputations as producers of exceptional quality not only in California, but worldwide.

The Benzinger family has brought the same care and commitment to its active role in Sonoma Valley communities, supporting local charities and volunteerism. It has been particularly instrumental in supporting Becoming Independent, a North Bay nonprofit dedicated to empowering people with developmental disabilities, and its wineries are a regular presence at the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction. Earlier this year, Benzinger Family Winery also joined with the local Red Cross to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti and in Chile.

Madam Speaker, I ask you to join us in thanking the Benzinger family for its contributions to Sonoma Valley and in congratulating its wineries on their success and well deserved recognition. Benzinger Family Winery and Imagery Estate Winery are powerful examples of the value of community-minded business, and Sonoma Valley is stronger because of them.