Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I certainly understand the politics of petroleum. But I represent Florida, and I represent the coast that we consider a valuable resource for tourism, the environment, the ecology.

Let me remind my colleagues the area that they are proposing to drill both oil and natural gas wells has recently been referred to as Hurricane Alley. The gulf coast, we all know now, after Katrina, is responsible for 25 percent of U.S. production of natural gas. Following Katrina and Rita, almost 75 percent of the natural gas production in the gulf was shut down and not producing.

As of May 3, almost 13 percent of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico was still offline 9 months later. So it begs the question, why would you put more rigs in a vulnerable place?

Now, I understand some States like drilling, like oil and like offshore rigs. And my question, or my statement, to you is, have at it. But I do want to have the opportunity as a Floridian to defend ourselves from having oil drilling rigs off our coastline.

Several Governors are opposed to the provisions, including Governor Schwarzenegger; my own Governor

Bush who sent a letter to the Speaker just yesterday; Governor Mark Sanford, our former colleague from South Carolina; Democrat Governor Corzine of New Jersey; Mike Easley of North Carolina; and Ted Kulongoski of Oregon. Our delegation remains strongly opposed to drilling for oil and gas in this very, very vulnerable area.

Let me tell you the infrastructure problems suffered by our recent hurricanes. A Congressional Budget Office study estimated that gulf energy infrastructure repair costs will be between $18 billion and $31 billion, just from the damages the hurricane created. So let's build some more rigs in this very vulnerable area.

I mentioned the responsibility of natural gas. The gulf has 30 percent of U.S. crude oil production, again another reason we do not want to endanger our coastline. Again, 9 months later, almost 22 percent remain offline.

So I urge defeat of this amendment, removal of the Peterson amendment from this appropriation bill, and let us do something right and not simply succumb to the politics of convenience on energy prices.

Thank you very much, Mr. Putnam, and all the Members who have spoken on this critical issue tonight. I thank you.

Most of those supporting the drilling do not live in Florida. It is interesting, we haven't had many speakers from the Sunshine State who have said, let's go ahead and drill. And I think there is a reason for it.

Let me give you the statistics. NOAA, a very trusted agency, has said we are entering a 20-year cycle of heavy hurricane activity. Since 2004 there have been nine hurricanes that have hit the Gulf of Mexico. One of the reasons there has been a spike in energy prices is because most of it is located in the gulf, exactly where some proponents of drilling would have us build more drills. We simply do not need it. We do have to be more conservative in our approach to fuels and use alternative energy. Sticking pipes in the ground in Hurricane Alley is not a solution.

So I would urge my colleagues to heed the warnings and advice of those who live in Florida and ask you to reject the notion that we should drill there. Support our amendment, support the amendment to strip this provision from the bill, and allow us to continue to talk and negotiate with those parties who are involved.

Mr. Speaker, as of midnight, May 15, 90 percent of seniors had prescription drug coverage, despite the warnings and threats from the other side of the aisle. They threatened, they scared seniors in robocalls, paid for by people who have prescription drug coverage, telling them too confusing, too difficult, not adequate.

Let me tell you something. The very people that were raising a ruckus and scaring seniors are the ones that are on this floor that do have prescription drug coverage paid for by the taxpayers.

Union groups that are paying for these robocalls urging seniors to be panicked, well, these are the seniors that got us through the Depression, World War II, Vietnam. These are the people that have fought for the values of this country. And they are being insulted daily by the rhetoric that somehow they can't figure out how prescription drugs work.

I am embarrassed by the conduct of others. But I am proud that Palm Beach County and people in the 16th District of Florida knew enough to be able to sign up and now are receiving valuable needed coverage on prescription drugs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome our guest chaplain, the Reverend Frank Michael Deerey, Jr., who is currently serving as senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of LaBelle, Florida.

I first met Pastor Deerey during a visit with Governor Jeb Bush after Hurricane Wilma hit south Florida, and we witnessed First Baptist Church of LaBelle's humanitarian operation for the hurricane victims who were in need of a hot shower, meals, clothing and other resources. LaBelle is a small city with a big heart, and that was truly visible under Pastor Deerey's leadership, as his church rallied along with the community to help those who were adversely affected by the wrath of Hurricane Wilma.

Pastor Deerey was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and lived there until 1995, when he came to Florida to serve in LaBelle. He received a bachelor of arts in 1979 from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. In 1982, he received a master's of divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Pastor Deerey was licensed and ordained as a minister and has served as youth pastor, associate pastor and pastor at four Louisiana churches.

Since moving to Florida, Reverend Deerey has been actively involved in the community as president of the local unit of the Salvation Army and is currently serving the Hendry County Sheriff's Office as chaplain.

Pastor Deerey is married and has two children. His wife, Cathy, joins us today, and has taught in public schools for 27 years and currently is a school guidance counselor. His son is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautic University in Daytona, Florida, and his daughter is currently enrolled in Edison College in Fort Myers, Florida.

It is a great pleasure to join our friends in LaBelle in welcoming Pastor Frank to the House Chamber to open our legislative day with prayer and thank him for all his services, not only to LaBelle but all of Florida.

Mr. Speaker, Reuters news recently reported that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is ready for a ``political settling of accounts with history'' provided that historians would prepare an unbiased study of claims that millions of Armenians were the victims of genocide under Ottoman rule during the First World War.

That accounting has already been done. A March 7, 2000 public declaration by 126 Holocaust Scholars affirmed the incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide and urged Western democracies to officially recognize it.

This declaration by foremost scholars from around the world was adopted at the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Scholar's Conference on the Holocaust convening at St. Joseph University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 3-7, 2000. The petitioners, among whom was Nobel Laureate for Peace Elie Wiesel, also called upon Western democracies to urge the government and parliament of Turkey to finally come to terms with this dark chapter of Ottoman-Turkish history and to recognize the Armenian Genocide. According to this renowned gathering, Turkish acknowledgment would provide an invaluable impetus to that nation's democratization.

Monday, April 24th marked the 91st anniversary of the 1.5 million Armenian deaths and countless exiles in 1915 caused by the Ottoman Empire. President Bush commented that ``it was a tragedy and should always be remembered.''

In December 2005, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier announced that Turkey would be expected to recognize the event during EU accession negotiations. ``This is an issue that we will raise during the negotiation process,'' he said. ``We will have about 10 years to do so and the Turks will have about 10 years to ponder their answer.''

If Turkey is prepared to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, then its leaders can proceed immediately to direct dialogue with its counterparts in Armenia to define a common vision for the future. By so doing, Turkey will begin the vital process of preparing its citizens for a more complete and honest assessment of the final acts of the Ottoman Turkish state and embracing the new opportunities available to them by gaining possible admittance into the European Union. Facing history squarely will liberate Turkey.

Mr. Speaker, let me start by suggesting that I know all of us in this room are concerned about the viability of pensions. We want people who have worked their entire life to get the benefit of those investments. What we are also, though, trying to do is ensure that employers, corporations find a way in which to bring about the new realities of the marketplace, providing options.

For years people who worked in America relied on the standard fixed pension provided by, say, General Motors or another corporation. Over the years evolved opportunities to create hybrid plans, plans personally that I enjoy, an IRA account, a 401(k) offered through Congress, Thrift Savings, Keogh plans, and you can go on with all of the acronyms, Roth IRA, all designed to give people options in a marketplace, to give them some degree of certainty and some opportunity to provide these benefits.

Nine million workers today rely on the benefits for safe and secure retirement, which is an important number to note. What we are trying to figure out is how to create plans, cash balance plans, that provide both the liquidity and the opportunity to continue.

Adelphia is claiming bankruptcy. GM is on the verge. Large corporations are all suggesting that they are going to file based on their pension benefit problems that they are experiencing. We have seen it in the airline industry. So I think it is more important now than ever that we come up with an opportunity to both solidify and provide options. Distorting the facts will not help. Painting a misleading, inaccurate picture will not help. Suggesting somehow that we are chasing people out of defined pensions and creating this uncertainty I do not think is a true portrayal of the actions today.

The conclusions emerging from a growing body of independent research by economists and academics at some of the Nation's most respected institutions, and I quote this from Mr. McKeon's opening statement because I think it is important to underscore, including the Federal Reserve Board, the Urban Institute, the Brookings Institute, and the Wharton School, not only are hybrid plans especially advantageous for women and lower-paid workers, but they also comprise the only part of the defined benefit system that is growing. Hybrid plans now provide the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation with approximately 25 percent of its premium income. And I need only remind our Members of Congress PBGC is sliding on thin ice. So if they are actually getting derived revenue from this opportunity, we should not only be encouraging it. We should hopefully be expanding it.

As we know, those that are paying into the system like airlines and others no longer can make contributions because they have specifically filed for bankruptcy to take away those obligations and foist that obligation back on PBGC, which is why I believe we are all working on a solution. We are trying to find answers. And the total number of defined benefit plans has decreased significantly over the last 20 years, so that tells you people are moving away from defined benefits, looking for options. If we foreclose this option, make it more difficult for this option and disparage this option and give people an uncertainty, then fewer and fewer people will have any type of benefit to look forward to after years of work.

The threat of liability is creating ongoing legal uncertainty and undermining the retirement security of American workers. So I think and suggest that the conversions are appropriate, that this bill is appropriate, and I urge my colleagues to focus on the facts. And I think they will agree, as they see the success of hybrid pension plans, that these are, in fact, working for America, for both middle income, middle management, and upper management to find ways to create a secure and safe retirement for people who are investing in those companies, their workplaces, so that they can then take care of their golden years with some comfort.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend the Florida Gators men's basketball team for winning their first ever national championship title. They handily beat the UCLA Bruins last night in Indianapolis by a score of 73-57. This marks the first NCAA men's title in basketball for any Division I school in Florida.

As you may know, the team lost most of its scoring players from last season and many pundits questioned whether this year's Gators would even make it into the NCAA tournament. First, they started the season by winning their first 17 games. Then they went on to secure the SEC Conference tournament championship. And, just when it was thought they couldn't top that, they ended their historic season winning the national title.

During the past month, these young, energetic Gators won the hearts and minds of fans everywhere. Their success came down to a simple formula: they played as an unselfish, hardworking and passionate team.

Head coach Billy Donovan deserves enormous credit for building such a dominant program. His team held to his often professed mantra of ``PHD''--``be poor, be hungry and be driven''--in their pursuit of excellence whether on the court or in the classroom.

I applaud the strong performances by the entire team: Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Lee Humphrey, Chris Richard, Adrian Moss, Walter Hodge, Brett Swanson, Jack Berry, Garrett Tyler and David Huertas.

Again, congratulations to the University of Florida for this impressive and historic win. Today it is truly great to be a Florida Gator.

Thank you, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Madam Chairman. And first let me thank Maxine Waters, my colleague from California, who not only accompanied me to Haiti, but traveled from California on a late-night red eye to meet me in Miami to fly to Haiti, to fly back to California that very day, in a gesture of goodwill, in a bipartisan gesture of goodwill to show Rene Preval that the United States Congress, Democrat and Republican, wish him Godspeed in helping the people of Haiti.

Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen told you the facts. On February 7, 2.2 million Haitians went to the polls and exercised their constitutional right to select a leader. They went by foot, by tap tap and other forms of transportation, traveling hours and standing in line for almost a day to get to their polling places.

Despite some early challenges, things did go very well. Mr. Preval, a populist president, as the only person to ever serve a full term as an elected president in Haiti, brings to his office the hopes and dreams of every Haitian. As we sat with Mr. Preval, I think Maxine and I both felt a palpable sense of hope and optimism.

Mr. Preval understands the challenges that face him in Haiti. Mr. Preval was quick to suggest they don't need an army and waste tax dollars or federal dollars or dollars from other countries in establishing an army. He wants a legitimate police force. He wants a police force free of corruption. He wants health care and education to the provinces of Haiti.

He knows the challenges that lie before him, but as a wonderful man with a cheerful disposition, he is ready to accept those challenges. But he needs our help; he desperately needs the help of the United States, of Canada, of France, of CARICOM, of world leaders who are willing to invest in the plight of the Haitians.

We noticed a bounce to the steps, and I reported that to my hometown paper, the Palm Beach Post, which wrote a brilliant article and an editorial on our trip to Haiti, because for the first time you could see some optimism in the people's faces. You could see commerce flourishing in the market square.

And I don't want to mischaracterize. There are huge problems in Haiti. But just a sense that we may have finally turned a fresh page, a new chapter, a new opportunity for Haitians, and particularly for Haitians living in the United States who think about their families back there and simply want the best for them. They have arrived on our fabulous shores and have contributed to our community, but they also think back, as all generations of people from other countries do, about those that are back home. Will they be safe? Will they be healthy? Will they be prosperous? Is there a chance, a fighting chance that they will be given an option like most of us to live in peace and tranquility, raise their kids.

What I noticed too was the incredible number of children going to school and wearing beautiful dress uniforms and skipping along the streets. Again, once again, a sense of optimism. And having been there right after 2004, I can assure you there were challenging moments when you felt all was lost and all hope had faded and all optimism was extinguished.

Rene Preval, the president-elect, is here in our Capital tonight. Many of us, including Chairman Shaw of the Trade Committee and Ranking Member Rangel, Chairman Thomas and others are going to greet him and welcome him and talk about some aggressive trade approaches that we hope to launch in our committee. So in the spirit of bipartisanship and goodwill for those here in this Chamber who are willing to go that extra mile, I reach out the hand of friendship to Mr. Rene Preval, soon to be President Preval, as he embarks on a journey that has tremendous impact on all Americans.

And I thank Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, as well, for her steadfast engagement in our conversations on Haiti, on the hemispheres that surround Haiti, because all of us, if we are going to truly solve this puzzle, need to solve it together. We will put the past behind us, the acrimony behind us, the politics behind us and move forward with a new day for Haitians.

Madam Speaker, let me commend the administration, particularly Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, for his investigation that has busted a ring of 27 charged in a child pornography sting. Images traded worldwide on Internet chat room, despicable, disgusting, disgraceful conduct. Agents from the Justice Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and law enforcement authorities in several countries participated in this sting.

This is disturbing news about pedophilia at the youngest, youngest age of children and victims. I urge the Senate to take up the House bill that was sent over in messages to help us rid this society of the scourge of child pornography, sexual exploitation, child molestation and finally get tough with the people that commit these heinous crimes against our most vulnerable. We have sent it overwhelmingly by voice vote to the other Chamber.

I urge Senator Frist to bring his Chamber together to pass this vital legislation so we can continue to crack down on these monsters.

Mr. Speaker, let me first thank my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee for voting overwhelmingly to put the port deal on ice. We are not anti-Arab. We want disclosure. We want certainty of transactions. We want no secrecy on these particular deals.

I also want to thank them for their courageous vote and excellent vote on H.R. 3132, the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act. Overwhelmingly passed by voice vote, that measure is on its way to the other Chamber to set up for the first time a national sex offender registry, getting background checks on foster care parents so we know if we are putting our kids with appropriate individuals, a national database requiring bracelet monitoring for sex offenders.

We track library books better than we do sexual predators. It is time we get this right. This bill does that. It puts in law guarantees that will protect our kids. It is high time we passed this measure. I thank Senator Frist, John Walsh, among others, who have brought this to the forefront of the national conscience, and I urge we get that bill to the President's desk before we lose another child.

Mr. Chairman, let me thank Chairman Souder and Mr. Cummings, and let me draw your attention to a specific section of the bill that I think is troubling not only to most Members of Congress but law enforcement throughout our country, and that is the increasing use and production of methamphetamines. This is a uniquely dangerous drug that is extremely addictive and ruins its victims. ``Methamphetamine suddenly becomes this thing in their life that they cannot do without,'' stated Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. ``In terms of damage to children and to our society, meth is now the most dangerous drug in America.''

Consider the following facts: meth is the number one drug problem for the majority of county law enforcement agencies. According to the National Association of Counties, 58 percent of counties report that meth has become their top anti-drug priority for law enforcement. In many areas, meth cases are swamping hospital emergency rooms. In one NACO survey, 47 percent of hospitals said meth is the top illicit drug involved in patient presentation. The great majority of these patients are uninsured, placing a tremendous added burden on already strained emergency rooms.

As the meth epidemic spreads, other crimes are bred. Wherever meth gains a foothold, substantial increases in property crime are seen as addicts desperately seek cash to fund their addiction. In affected areas, a 62 percent increase in domestic violence due to meth has been reported.

Meth is a major cause of child abuse and neglect. Domestic meth labs create environments hazardous to children. A nationwide survey of child welfare officials has reported an increase of out-of-home placements because of meth just in the last year alone. In California, the figure is 80 percent.

Many States, and now the Federal Government through the Methamphetamine Epidemic Control Act, have taken decisive steps to strangle domestic meth production by cutting off the supplies of essential precursor chemicals like pseudoephedrine.

And with the passage of this law, we will also implement the following: require greater diligence on methamphetamine. The bill will require future installments of the National Drug Control Strategy to place greater emphasis on identifying emerging threats and properly preparing strategies to respond to such threats. This applies the lesson learned from the meth epidemic, which was allowed to spread from a regional to a national problem before any Federal response was made.

In this bill, we will target meth production through HIDTA. No less than $15 million will be specifically set aside for law enforcement initiatives against meth trafficking.

Those provisions alone show why this bill is so critically important in its reauthorization. This will help law enforcement and counties, and we pray it will help families, because if you have seen any of the articles about the abuse of methamphetamines, you see how a thriving human being became addicted to this drug and has devastated their life and their future.

So we work together in a bipartisan way to see if we can help local governments eradicate this scourge among our society. I thank Chairman Souder and the ranking member, Mr. Cummings, for their team effort on solving some drug problems that face this country.

Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 36 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``No.''

Amendment No. 13 Offered by Mr. Rehberg

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of collateral issues being discussed today, but the fact remains that the will of the House is not a mandate on the Senate. The Senate was unwilling to accept some provisions. Let us acknowledge that.

But let us talk about what we are here for today, and that is to protect the vulnerable children. You have heard the names repeatedly in this debate. I do not want to read about another one for our failure to act.

This House did overwhelmingly approve this bill because there are a lot of good legislative initiatives in this bill to protect our children. I have said repeatedly on this floor that we protect library books better than we do our children. We have a better system of accountability than we do for our children.

This is about the kids that have perished because they were at the hands of despicable child predators.

Mr. Sensenbrenner has crafted a bill that gets at the heart of this matter. I want to thank John Walsh, who lost his son Adam, as a tireless advocate who went and asked Senator Frist to bring this base bill to the Senate floor, and Senator Frist has agreed to that request, along with the other parents of the children who have lost their lives.

These brave parents have come to this city to urge Congress to not let the tragedies that have happened to their families happen to another child.

I thank Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite, an outstanding advocate who had a resident in her district who died at the hands of a pedophile. We can do better.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mike Volkov, Bradley Schreiber and others who helped craft this important legislation, and I urge passage of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, last September the House overwhelmingly passed H.R. 3132, the Children's Safety Act.

This bill will, among other things, overhaul and strengthen our Nation's sex offender registration and notification laws.

Over the past few years we have lost too many children to the hands of these pedophiles: Jessica Lunsford, Jetseta Gage, Sarah Lunde, Megan Kanka, Jacob Wetterling, just to name a few.

While it may not be on the national news, there are still stories every day of children being hurt by these predators.

We still have over 150,000 offenders missing, and those numbers are growing.

Mr. Speaker, the House did its job last fall by passing that bill. Now it is time for the other Chamber.

I applaud the Senate majority leader's recent decision to cosponsor the Senate version of the sex offender bill and his commitment that he made the other day to victims' parents to move the bill soon.

We must pass this bill, and we must do it now before another victim is killed.

Madam Speaker, I salute Mr. Farr on his work with the Peace Corps, and I rise too as well to salute that 45th anniversary.

President Kennedy, as was mentioned, started the Peace Corps and asked his brother-in-law, R. Sargent Shriver to command, and appointed him as the first director. As the year progressed, the program continued to grow, sending volunteers to Ghana, Tanzania, Colombia, the Philippines, Chile, and St. Lucia. More than 5,000 applicants took the first exams to enter the Peace Corps. It has grown significantly in numbers.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with a number of volunteers who were currently working in Guatemala and appreciate the hard work that they are doing in the destitute regions of that country. I would also like to salute and commend the following constituents from my district who have been serving in the Peace Corps in those various countries: Benjamin Andrews in South Africa, Megan Chodora

in Moldova, Pat Koester in Thailand, Michael Kreidler in the Ukraine, Merril Miceli in Kazakhstan, and Patrina Ngo in Kyrgyztan.

Thanks to those volunteers and the others in our Nation who help make the Peace Corps fulfill its international humanitarian mission. My hat is off to President Kennedy on its 45th anniversary and all of those who have served.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the House's attention a transaction that is being contemplated on five of our major ports, five important ports of entry in the United States. New Orleans, Miami, Newark, Philadelphia and New York are all being considered as an asset to be transferred to the United Arab Emirates soon after review of the transactional details.

I am concerned about this transaction for several reasons. First and foremost, it has occurred under what is called Council for Foreign Investments, as it is known, chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Snow, and multiple agencies of the United States Government to review transactions launched by foreign entities to purchase assets here in the United States.

Why am I concerned about the United Arab Emirate's ownership and potential management of our ports of entry, these five strategic ports? For many reasons.

Just yesterday, it was reported that the United Arab Emirates was in negotiations urging a more robust trade relationship with Iran. Just yesterday, they were making a decision to move forward with a more robust trading platform with Iran.

I am sure most of our colleagues realize that in recent days we have gone to enormous lengths to convince our allies and our friends around the world to put pressure on Iran in order to reduce the likelihood of their using nuclear weapons or building nuclear capabilities. So at a time when we are trying to get our international partners to put pressure on Iran, the United Arab Emirates is doing the exact opposite by encouraging and engaging in trade debate with Iran.

The United Arab Emirates has worked with us since 9/11 on helping us fight the War on Terror, but it has always been well known and documented that a number of the terrorist activity planning and financing was taking place in these very countries that would now have control of our ports.

In this country, if we were asked to turn over our airport security to another foreign national, people would be rightfully outraged. But in this particular transaction, we cannot seem to get any information as to what are the requirements of security, what are the requirements for people and personnel who would be employed there, what are the kind of safeguards of inspection of cargo.

I have long stated my concern on port security. I feel we have failed to adequately secure cargo coming into this country. Now I am told in my inquiry to Secretary Snow that they couldn't really answer any of my questions yesterday in the committee because it was a more secretive or at least private transaction that could not be commented on.

As a Member of Congress, it bothers me that we have a transaction being considered and contemplated where we have no information provided to Members of Congress.

Tomorrow, President Bush travels to my home State of Florida, and he will visit the port of Tampa, not a port being considered for sale, but a port nonetheless, a very important port of commerce in the State of Florida.

I hope the President as he flies to Florida will contemplate the utilization of the law known as Exxon-Florio, which allows the President to intercede and stop a transfer of assets if it is reflected to be of some national security concern.

We have recently seen, because of the outpouring of opposition to the Chinese Government's acquisition of a United States domestic oil producer, we have seen that deal unravel because of domestic pressure on not allowing the Chinese Government to take ownership of a domestic refinery operation.

Now, I hope the same outrage is expressed by our constituents in trying to figure out what is involved in this transaction. How can we bring to fruition, at least we hope, a termination of these engagements, and continue the

operation of the ports as they currently are conducted.

Again, they are the largest seaports in the United States on the eastern seaboard, including New Orleans, so the potential threat to our country is not imagined, but is real. We have heightened security, as I mentioned, at the airports. We are trying to heighten security at the seaports, but I believe we will be impeded if we do not look at this transaction.

It is not a foreign entity; it is a foreign government that seeks to have controlling interest in these six ports on the eastern seaboard. We again inquired of Secretary Snow yesterday. We inquired yesterday of Ambassador Portman. I hope some answers are forthcoming as to how they strategically thought through this transaction

But it is my fervent hope that as we continue to debate and discuss this issue that the President again will use the authority granted to him by the Congress and intercede and not allow the transaction to take place.