Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, yesterday all of my colleagues and I took the oath of office as a Member of this great House of Representatives, swearing to support and to defend the Constitution of the United States of America. I take this responsibility very seriously.

I take my responsibility to my constituents very seriously, and sometimes that means standing up to the executive branch when I believe it is in error, when it has gone too far or is openly ignoring the wishes of the people of America. This is what our founding fathers expected of the Congress, and, quite frankly, this is what the American people expect from the Congress.

Today I stand here and give my 174th 5-minute special order speech calling for an end to this misguided occupation in Iraq and calling on the President and all of my colleagues to support our troops by bringing them home. Already, over 3,000 American troops have been killed in Iraq, at least 44,000 have been wounded. Reports indicate that anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 Iraqis, it is probably more, have lost their lives.

How many more families must grieve? How many more children must be orphaned? How many?

The voters sent a clear message on November 7 that Congress must stand up and say no more. The Iraq Study Group also sent a message. I was clear that the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating. Even President Bush finally admitted last month that we are, and he said, we are not winning in Iraq, although he also said we are not losing.

Enough Washington double-speak. It is time for action. How about a plan for the future of Iraq from President Bush? We have already spent nearly $400 billion on this occupation, and yet he is asking for $127 billion more. We already have 130,000 troops on the ground, and now we hear that he wants to send even more. He is calling it a surge. Let us be honest here, sending in more troops to clean up the mess the President has already made is an escalation. Enough is enough. No more fuzzy math, no more sloganeering, no more troops dying, no more.

Soon I will introduce a comprehensive package to bring our troops home while supporting Iraqi sovereignty. I urge my colleagues, please work with

me to bring this real and workable bill to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, the voters have demanded an end to President Bush's occupation of Iraq. They don't want more talk, they want a real plan. They want a plan that will bring our troops home. This is our mandate, and this is the oath we swore to yesterday.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the businesses in Marin County, California, that have stopped selling tobacco products in order to protect the health of the public.

Recently, I attended an event with the American Heart Association at Mollie Stone's Market in Greenbrae to officially announce the removal of all tobacco products in their Bay Area stores, including two in Marin County. At that time, Michael Stone, cofounder Mollie Stone's, said, ``I don't think there's been a company our size taking this proactive action . . . we did it for health reasons for the community.'' The American Heart Association described this as ``an aggressive, positive approach to help stop the spread of smoking.''

Larry Meredith, Director of Marin County Health and Human Services, added, ``Tobacco is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States today . . . The decision by Mollie Stone's to go tobacco free is another jewel given to the community.'' A survey by this department found that other stores are considering the same move, citing concerns for general public health and youth smoking. Two years ago when United Markets, a small Marin independent chain, pulled their tobacco products, coowner Bill Daniels announced that ``it's just the right thing to do.''

Other Marin County stores that have decided it's the right thing to do are: AG Ferrari Foods, Golden Gate Pharmacy, Golden Point Produce/ Tomales Bay Foods, Good Earth Natural Foods, Cornucopia Gourmet Deli, Elephant Pharmacy, Jack's Drug Store, Kaiser, Marin Medical Pharmacy, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Paradise Foods, Peoples Market, Pueblo Latino Market, Olema Liquor and Deli, Ross Valley Pharmacy, Royal Coach Car Wash, Target, Trader Joe's, Western Sport Shop, and Whole Foods.

The County of Marin is also setting an example in protecting public health. For example, with funding from a tobacco settlement agreement, the Department of Health and Human Services has developed a program to crack down on illegal sales of tobacco products to minors, and the Board of Supervisors recently passed an ordinance expanding smoking bans to outdoor public gathering spaces such as parks and ATM lines.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that smoking is a major cause of diseases that are hurting public health, straining our medical system, and putting millions of individuals at risk. I commend these businesses and the County of Marin for their courage and foresight in responding to this threat by limiting tobacco use and availability, and I honor all businesses that add their names to this growing list.

Mr. Speaker, on December 1, communities around the world came together to remember AIDS' more than 25 million victims and to renew our commitment to the 40 million people currently living with

Mr. Speaker, I always tell people that I am from the most beautiful district in the country, Marin and Sonoma counties, California. We certainly have some of the most beautiful, pristine, and untouched coastline I have ever seen. That's why when I think of supporting an omnibus package today that includes offshore drilling within an 8.3 million-acre plot of the Gulf Coast, I can't help but think of what we'd be throwing away just for a 30-day supply of oil and gas.

In fact, the only way the current leadership can attempt to get this 25-year moratorium on offshore drilling lifted is by tying it together with other desperately needed provisions in order to try and sweeten the deal. Research and development tax credits, college tuition deductions, royalty set-asides for the urgently needed wetlands and levee restoration projects in Louisiana, and a package to prevent physician payment cuts next year. These are all perfectly good, bipartisan bills that should have passed on a number of occasions this year. In fact, while I'm happy to see that physicians are being spared a 5 percent cut in payments--I'm nonetheless appalled to see that yet again, we still have yet to improve their reimbursement formula.

But rather than working to ensure these and other important provisions are approved before we adjourn, and rather than creating a real energy policy by providing incentives for conservation and investing in renewable energy technology, we're having it all jammed down our throats at the end of a lame-duck session. What's more, deep within the tax-relief provisions before us today is an increase in the income eligibility level for recipients of federally funded Washington, DC private school vouchers. We ought to focus public funds on public schools, not private school voucher programs. These short-sighted approaches are getting us nowhere.

This pattern of putting politics over good policy has been typical of this Republican leadership and many of America's most vulnerable have suffered for it. Unfortunately Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill today because, while I know of the many good things it includes, I cannot support opening up any ocean to the often- irreversible damages associated with offshore drilling.

Mr. Speaker, we are here to debate the India Nuclear Bill. However, there seems to be something missing from the debate today. It's like the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about. Whatever happened to the United States' own commitment to nonproliferation?

When the House considered its own version, I tried to submit an amendment that was quite simple. It stated that until the President has implemented and observed all of our NPT obligations and revised its own policies relating to them, no nuclear-related item may be transferred to India.

Unfortunately, my amendment was not included.

And yet another closed rule from the Republican leadership precludes any compromise today.

As many of my colleagues have stated, this is not about the deal or our alliances with India. This is about how the Bush administration has made a mockery of the NPT and encouraged other countries to go around the treaty. Basically, the bill says that if a country ignores the NPT, the U.S. will cut a deal with them.

Where is our commitment to nonproliferation?

If anything, with this treaty the U.S. will contribute to global nuclear proliferation.

In a world that is becoming more--not less--violent by the day, we must face the facts: Until the U.S. lives up to its own nonproliferation, obligations, we can't possibly ask others to do so.

Today, I will vote against this misguided bill and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, family abductions are the most common form of abduction, yet receive far too little attention. Every year, over 200,000 children are abducted by a family member and most frequently, by a parent.

We all assume that because the child is with a parent, they are safe, but we have seen entirely too often this is far from the truth.

More than half of the parents who abduct their children have a history of alcohol or substance abuse, a criminal record, or a history of violence.

So not surprisingly, children who are abducted by family members suffer emotional, psychological, and often physical abuse at the hand of their abductors.

We cannot let this continue. It's time we provide law enforcement with the resources they need to treat these child abductions as the serious crimes that they are.

Please join me today in support of this important legislation that will assist States in preventing and responding to family abductions.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor County Supervisor Cynthia Murray on the occasion of her retirement from two terms on the Marin County Board of Supervisors,

Since she was first elected in 1998, Cynthia has been a forceful voice on key issues in Marin County. She has been in the forefront of promoting transportation infrastructure improvements, from fighting for public transit as a member of the Golden Gate Bridge Board to chairing the Policy Advisory Group for widening a key bottleneck on Highway 101.

Cynthia has also stepped up on other important issues, especially emergency services and disaster preparation, seniors' independence, education and workforce, sustainable economic development, the battle against Sudden Oak Death, and wetlands preservation. She has chaired the Disaster Council and the Long Term Care Task Force and served on the Schools to Careers partnership, North Bay Watershed Association, which she founded, and Novato Business Education Roundtable. Regionally she sits on the Bay Area Economic Forum and chairs the Bay Area Water Forum.

Cynthia has been a strong partner to my offices in working for shared priorities such as education--life-long learning, mentorship and internship programs for youth, and increased access to technology in schools; affordable housing--Community Development Block Grants, the Section 8 voucher program, Community Opportunity funds; breast cancer research; the Older Americans Act and expansion of programs for seniors; transportation--car pool lanes, bike paths, the Golden Gate Bridge seismic retrofit, and the acquisition of the railroad right of way; conversion of Hamilton Air Base, and environment--acquisition of Bel Marin Keys V and restoration of over 1,800 acres of wetlands in Bel Marin Keys, Hamilton and Bahia.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Cynthia was the oldest of seven children. This may explain why she so easily handles many responsibilities. She graduated from Rutgers University and moved to Marin in 1978. In 1988 she moved to Novato where she served 7 years on the Novato City Council, including one term as mayor. She has two children, Katie and Mack, who are both in college.

Mr. Speaker, Cynthia Murray will remain active and involved in local issues. I have enjoyed working with her as a supervisor and look forward to her continuing participation in issues affecting the people of Marin and Sonoma Counties.

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

I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 484 and thank my colleague from New York (Mr. Crowley) for introducing this bipartisan resolution to commemorate the 175th anniversary of The New York Institute for Special Education.

Since 1831, the institute, located in the Bronx, has been a leader in educating children with visual disabilities.

In the 1980s, the institute expanded its mission to include educating children with emotional and learning disabilities. Today, it educates nearly 300 students with disabilities from age 3 through 21 annually.

The institute also develops educational programs and helps train prospective teachers from many universities. Interestingly, the institute can claim a U.S. President, Grover Cleveland, as a former teacher.

So, Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the institute for its 175 years of service to students with disabilities and their families.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley), the author of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, together with my colleague Congressman Mike Thompson, I

rise today to recognize the outstanding career of Mrs. Eeve Lewis, the County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor-Public Administrator for Sonoma County. Mrs. Lewis has worked for Sonoma County for over 35 years, rising from her starting position of Clerk Typist to win 6 elections and serve a total of 7 terms as the County Clerk, during which time she has overseen and led numerous structural adjustments to the division of responsibilities in the county offices.

Mrs. Lewis was born in West Germany, the daughter of an Estonian woman living in a displaced person's camp. Her family immigrated to the United States in 1950, and she cites the welcome and opportunity they found here as one of her primary motivations to enter a life of public service. She graduated with Bachelor's and Master's degrees trom Chico State and Sonoma State University, respectively.

Mrs. Lewis was hired by Sonoma County in 1971, and transferred to the Clerk's Office in 1974. A swift series of promotions followed. She was appointed the Acting County Clerk 1977 when her predecessor died in office. She won her first election in a runoff and has since won 6 more terms in office. During almost 30 years as the elected Clerk of Sonoma County, Mrs. Lewis has presided over expansion and refinement of the responsibilities and jurisdiction of the office of the Clerk. By always approaching jurisdictional matters with an open attitude and a concern for the relevant statutes, Mrs. Lewis has guided a series of changes that have greatly benefited the government and people of Sonoma. By working closely with court staff, Mrs. Lewis straightforwardly organized the reapportionment of duties and streamlined costs when it became necessary to create a separate office to administer the county's court system. Similar structural adjustments in 2001 saw the Clerk's Office absorb the County Recorder's responsibilities and then the County Assessor's role. Through all of these changes Mrs. Lewis has carefully studied the new responsibilities assigned to her, and maintained the high standard of performance for which the Clerk's Office is known.

In addition to her work in Sonoma County, Mrs. Lewis has been active in professional organizations around the state helping other counties emulate the success of Sonoma in developing and maintaining an effective Clerk staff. She is responsible for the development of a series of workshops to help train staff around the state, with the first of these meetings scheduled to take place this coming March. Additionally, she participated in a legal taskforce mandated to update confusing or outdated portions of California Code related to the duties of County and Court Clerks. All of these activities greatly contribute to a higher quality of governance throughout the State of California and represent a service to the people every bit as important as her work in Sonoma County.

Mr. Speaker, we rise today to congratulate Mrs. Eeve Lewis on the occasion of her retirement after 35 years of service to Sonoma County, including a remarkable 28 years of capably guiding that office as the elected County Clerk. She will leave behind the finest organization in the state and a legion of admirers who valued the insight and care with which she approached her work.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be back in Washington for the final session of the 109th Congress. I only wish that the current leaders on the other side of the aisle had used their final days in the majority to actually exercise leadership and do something constructive for the American people. Instead we are here for the lamest of all possible lame duck sessions.

Just look at what we have done today. With all due respect to my Resources Committee colleague Mr. Simpson, the Southern Idaho Bureau of Reclamation Repayment Act of 2006 really isn't one of the most pressing matters facing our Nation. And what about the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail Designation Act?

My friends, we are in the middle of a war, a failed war, which a majority of the American people no longer want any part of; a war which, by the admission of the President's own choice for Secretary of Defense, we are not winning. More than 2,900 of our best and brightest American troops are dead because of this failed policy. At least 46,000 have been wounded, severely wounded. And it is not as if they have sacrificed for a noble cause. Iraq, which was supposed to spontaneously blossom into a democracy the minute our troops arrived, has instead been plunged into a civil war as a direct result of the American occupation. In fact, a lot of people are saying that ``civil war'' is really too generous a term for what is happening in Iraq. It is actually much worse. ``Civil war'' implies two sides battling it out for state control. What we have here is many factions of thuggish militia and vigilantes terrorizing the streets and killing indiscriminately. The director of the CIA recently referred to the violence as ``Satanic.''

So why then are we spending the people's time and the people's money deliberating on naming a room in the Capitol? It is no wonder people have lost confidence in Congress to do the Nation's work effectively. Instead of doing what we were elected to do, we are waiting with bated breath for the findings of a blue ribbon commission to tell us what to do in Iraq. Mr. Speaker, this is political cowardice, pure and simple. The Congress doesn't want to confront the problem and doesn't want to challenge the President. So we pass the buck to a group of unelected so-called wise men who appear prepared to

offer a watered-down compromise that will satisfy actually no one. I think it is appalling. What are we here to do if not to address the issues of national security, war and peace, and life and death?

And the White House, meanwhile, persists in a stubborn state of denial. The President continues to say he will not leave until the mission is complete, but at this point there is no clear mission nor how to know when it is complete. As he consistently has, the President is leaving open the very real possibility that our troops will be in Iraq for as long as he occupies the Oval Office.

The White House obviously wasn't listening to the message that was sent on November 7. But we are a co-equal branch of government, and we owe it to the American people to push for a course correction in Iraq. Obviously we won't make any progress on that front this week, but I look forward to the new year when the quacking stops and we will have a new Congress with a mandate and the fortitude to bring an end to this disastrous occupation and to bring our troops home.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of order.

Mr. Speaker, last week the American people voted for a new direction in the Nation's Iraq policy. If anything, with the mandate this Democratic majority received, we can be more unapologetic than ever about demanding an end to the Iraq occupation and insisting that we bring our troops home.

But I believe Iraq is a symptom of an even larger problem, that is, a foreign policy that chooses saber rattling over diplomacy and negotiation.

We need an entirely new national security paradigm. For too long, we have equated national security with war and with conquest. It is time we used less brawn and more brains to protect our people and our interests.

Iraq is exhibit A in the case that hawkishness does not necessarily make America safer.

That is where a SMART security plan comes. SMART stands for sensible, multilateral, American response to terrorism.

At its core is a belief that war is a very last resort, that peacekeeping and diplomacy, not invasion and occupation, must be the guiding lights of our foreign policy.

SMART also focuses on stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Not by deposing regimes that do not have them, but with diplomacy, with vigorous inspection regimes and regional security arrangements.

SMART calls for a renewed commitment to the cooperative threat reduction program and calls on the United States to set an example for the world by living up to our own commitments to draw down our nuclear arsenal.

Because, Mr. Speaker, what moral authority do we have to pressure Iran or North Korea about their nuclear ambitions when our government consistently undermines the nuclear and ignores our multilateral obligations in this very area?

Being smart about national security means dramatically rearranging our budget priorities, which in turn means fewer obsolete Cold War weapons systems and more investment in strategies that actually address the security challenges of a new era.

Any smart approach to national security must include an ambitious international development program for impoverished nations, debt relief, democracy building, schooling for women and girls, human rights education, environmental programs, infrastructure development and more.

Think about this, Mr. Speaker. With the money spent on the invasion and occupation of Iraq, we could have fully funded global antihunger efforts for 14 years or provided basic immunization to children around the world for 113 years or fully funded worldwide AIDS programs for 34 years. We could have spent hundreds of billions of dollars to save lives, instead of destroying them.

For the sake of the next generation, the only future that we have got, before we have destroyed civilization itself, we should strive for nothing less than the end of all wars.

Because of the insanity of war and its disproportionate impact on children, I am pledging never again to cast a vote in Congress in favor of any military action, barring an attack on the United States or protecting against genocide and/or ethnic cleansing, and then only with multilateral humanitarian intervention.

Nor will I pick sides in violent global conflicts, except to condemn all acts of war and terror regardless of ideology, regardless of national interests or religion that motivates them. I refuse to decide who is less wrong.

If I could be persuaded that taking up arms actually builds enduring stability, I would reconsider my position, but this notion that war begets peace is as illogical as it sounds. Our preemptive strike on Iraq has, in fact, been a catalyst for increased violence and higher rates of terrorism. Our continued occupation is emboldening the insurgents rather than defeating them. Instead of liberating a nation, the Bush doctrine has ripped it apart, ripped it apart at the seams, and instead of protecting America, it has dealt a blow to our very security.

``War,'' said Martin Luther King, Junior, ``is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow.'' Tomorrow belongs to our children. So for their sake, Mr. Speaker, let us protect America by relying not on our basest impulses, but on the most honorable and humane of American values, and let us bring our troops home now from Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my constituents James and Carol McDowell on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary, October 27, 2006.

Jim and Carol were high school sweethearts in Petaluma, CA, where they met when Jim was a senior and Carol was a sophomore. Recently, the couple's 17-year-old granddaughter learned that they had been married when Carol was right out of high school and exclaimed, ``Gram, you got married at 18! How could you?''

Jim was the third generation to operate the family dairy ranch just outside of town. His son Michael, ``Mike,'' now runs the operation as an organic farm, adding strawberries and tomatoes to the dairy operation. Mike and his wife Linda have two children, Ryan and Shannon.

Patrick, ``Pat,'' the couple's other son, is Asian editor for the Associated Press, covering 34 Asian countries. He and his wife Solzck live in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mr. Speaker, 50 years together is a wonderful testament to Jim and Carol's love and commitment. Jim summed up what makes it work when he told me, ``Carol has always been special.'' Congratulations to them on this happy occasion.

Mr. Speaker, I, along with my colleague Congressman Mike Thompson, rise today to honor Roberta Hollowell of Santa Rosa, California, who passed away on August 10, 2006, after a two-year battle with cancer. We know that, though she has left this earthly plane, she will be continuing her work as a feminist activist elsewhere. Hers is the kind of voice that will never be silenced, and her spirit lives on in the many she inspired.

Born 77 years ago in Brooklyn, NY, Roberta moved to California as a teenager when her father took an engineering job in the Bay Area. She graduated from UC Berkeley (where she met her husband Ellis Hollowell) and later earned a master's degree from Mills College. The couple had three children before divorcing in 1962.

In 1962 Roberta and the children moved to Sebastopol and later to Santa Rosa. At that time, Roberta began teaching English at Healdsburg High School, a position she held for 23 years.

As an activist, Roberta was a leader and member in many organizations, and as a retired teacher, education was one of her passions. She was active in the California Teachers Association (CTA), National Education Association (NEA), the Sonoma County Educators Council, and the Healdsburg Area Teachers Association. Other affiliations included National Organization for Women, Sierra Club, NAACP, Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, and California State Democratic Central Committee.

Her union work and liberal politics probably started as a family trait, but Roberta blazed her own path and was a mainstay of the Sonoma County Democratic Party. Throughout her life she was active till in a host of issues that benefited from her skills and contacts.

But it is Roberta's personal contacts and example that we remember the most. Stories told at her funeral attest to her unique ability to bring others into the fold. She insisted that since we all have voices we should use them. Her humor and warmth as well as her determination, leadership, and sense of organization were all key to her success. And fond nicknames, like The General and La Jefa, were also marks of respect.

Roberta was very proud of her wonderful family. She is survived by her daughter Mardi, her son Tom, grandchildren Ryan and Danielle, and great-granddaughter Melody Ann. Her son David preceded her in death in 1995.

Mr. Speaker, we are honored to have been counted among Roberta Hollowell's many friends. We will miss her support and inspiration and will carry her legacy with us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in great sadness. It's the run-up to the fall elections, and what has the Republican Majority pushed through the Congress?

Torture, a subversion of the Geneva Conventions, and domestic spying. The Administration claims to be spreading democracy throughout the world. How about some democracy and freedom here at home?

Shame on this Congress for trampling civil rights at home and abroad. We are supposed to stand up for freedom and liberty and the rights of the most vulnerable. Instead we are spying on Americans?

Mr. Speaker, this is not the country our Founding Fathers dreamt of. And it certainly is not the country I want to hand down to my grandchildren.

This bill is not making us safer--it is making us less free.

I urge my colleagues to stand up for freedom. I urge my colleagues to vote no!

Mr. Speaker, on September 21, I inadvertently voted ``aye'' on rollcall 470, the Appalachian Regional Development Act Amendments of 2006. Please let the Record reflect that I enter a ``no'' vote on this rollcall.