Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor 10 brave Americans who gave their lives in Afghanistan on October 26. After executing a flawless counternarcotics/counterinsurgency operation in Darreh-ye Bom Bazaar in Badghis Province in western Afghanistan, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agents Forrest Leamon, Chad Michael and Michael Weston were tragically killed when their Chinook helicopter crashed. Seven American soldiers were also lost in the crash and 26 more were injured.

Special Agents Weston, Leamon and Michael were serving as part of DEA's Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Team (FAST), working in conjunction with the U.S. military, the Afghan National Army and counternarcotics police of Afghanistan to take down and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations supporting al Qaeda and the Taliban. The operation took place in a major drug bazaar just northeast of Herat City where known insurgents and opium traffickers frequently operate. Despite taking hostile fire, the operation resulted in the seizure of a very large amount of drugs, weapons, IED materials and pressure plates.

During the extraction of members from the site, one Chinook helicopter with 36 personnel aboard crashed, resulting in the deaths of 10 personnel, including the three DEA special agents. Early reports indicate that several of the survivors performed heroic and selfless acts of bravery to rescue their injured comrades from the downed Chinook.

Early this morning, the remains of these 10 brave men returned to Dover Air Force Base. I want to thank President Obama, Attorney General Holder and DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart for their presence on the tarmac as the caskets of our fallen heroes were carried off the plane by a military honor guard at 3:30 this morning. I also want to thank special agent in charge of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Michael Marsac, for caring for them.

For the DEA, these are the first casualties suffered since FAST team operations began in 2005. For such a close-knit organization, the loss of three agents is devastating. The importance of their mission in Afghanistan cannot be understated. Just a week ago, the U.N. issued a report showing that the Taliban makes more money off the drug trade than it did when they ruled Afghanistan and effectively cornered the market for opium. Today I think it is important that the House take a moment to reflect on these three men who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Special Agent Michael Weston grew up in Pennsylvania and California, earning degrees in computer science and economics from Stanford University in 1994 and a juris doctor from Harvard Law School in 1997. As a major in the Marine Corps Reserve, he served in Iraq, Norway and the Panama Canal Zone. Agent Weston joined the DEA in 2003, serving in the Richmond, Virginia, district office until he volunteered to deploy to Kabul to serve the DEA Kabul country office. The 37-year-old Weston is survived by his wife Cynthia Tidler, his mother Judy Zarit, his father Steven Weston, and his brother Thomas Weston.

Special Agent Forrest Leamon grew up in Ukiah, California. He served in the United States Navy for 9 years as a cryptologic technician, earning awards for his service in Southwest Asia and Bosnia. He joined DEA in 2002, serving in the Washington and El Paso field divisions before volunteering to serve on a FAST team in Afghanistan in 2007. Agent Leamon first served multiple FAST team tours in Afghanistan over the last 2 years. He is survived by his wife Ana Lopez Valdenea and their unborn child, his parents Sue and Richard Leamon, and his sister Heather.

Special Agent Chad Michael grew up in Muncy and Hughesville, Pennsylvania. He graduated from St. Leo University in Florida with a degree of criminal justice. After 3 years with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Tampa, Florida, he joined DEA in 2004. Agent Michael served with distinction in the Miami field division before volunteering to serve with a FAST team in Afghanistan in September. Agent Michael was 30 years old and is survived by his mother Debra Hartz, his stepfather Leo Hartz, his brother, Eric Michael, and his fiancee Paola.

Madam Speaker, our thoughts go with these families. We know we've lost many military personnel, but this is new and heavy casualties for the DEA and their families who have all given their lives in the service of the United States, her allies and our objectives in Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, last December Treasury lent General Motors $13 billion, another $6 billion last spring, and in June, just days before GM declared bankruptcy, the White House gave another $30 billion, just in time to convert taxpayer loans into government ownership.

That's $49 billion given to GM, and taxpayers now own 61 percent of the company.

Last Wednesday, ex-car czar Steve Rattner estimated that the taxpayers' stake in GM has lost $25 billion, a nearly 50 percent loss. While sales of the privately owned Ford Motors fell only 6 percent, the government-owned GM saw a 45 percent decline.

How much should taxpayers expect to lose from the ``Bridge Loan to Nowhere''?

Despite pledges of transparency, the ``Bridge Loan to Nowhere'' comes with none. American taxpayers are in the dark about the basic details of $49 billion given to GM.

Congress, and the American people, should see the financial and operating information for GM. Taxpayers should be treated like shareholders of any other major company.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Richard Reuss of Glenview, Illinois, who recently retired after thirty years as an Advisor to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Mr. Reuss and I share a passion for the Great Lakes and I thank him for his tireless work over the past three decades to protect and improve the fishery.

Mr. Reuss represented the public-at-large on the Commission's Committee of Advisors since he was first nominated to serve in 1980 by Governor James Thompson. The Committee is charged with advising the Commission about all matters relating to fish stocks shared by Canada and the United States, as well as providing an avenue for citizens to be heard on issues that matter to them. Mr. Reuss's responsibility was to consider ways in which all citizens could benefit from protecting and restoring the Great Lakes and then to provide the best advice possible to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission about how the Commission could better achieve its objectives.

As an Advisor, Mr. Reuss was a consistent and strong advocate for the Great Lakes. He stayed in regular contact with boaters, fishers, and elected officials, was constantly up to date on Great Lakes issues, and worked tirelessly to keep the Commission and others informed. For years, he volunteered his time to help educate fishers and citizens about the Great Lakes, the sea lamprey problem, and ways in which we could all work together to improve the resource. He was particularly outspoken about the need for effective invasive species measures, whether they be measures to control sea lampreys, to prevent Asian carp, or to address the ballast water vector. In 2004, the commission honored Mr. Reuss with the C.D. ``Buzz'' Besadny Award for Fostering Great Lakes Partnerships, the Commission's highest recognition.

For the first time in its 50-year history, the Commission has created the position of Advisor Emeritus and has asked Mr. Reuss to serve in that capacity. So, while Mr. Reuss is formally retiring from the Committee of Advisors, the Commission and the Great Lakes community will not lose his invaluable service.

I am proud to honor Mr. Richard Reuss as he retires from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's Committee of Advisors and I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking him for his remarkable service to the Great Lakes.

Mr. Speaker, the rule of medicine is do no harm, and the rule here in the House of Representatives should be to build on the success of some of our States.

What are the Republican ideas for medical care reform? First, the Medical Rights Act, which says Congress should make no law interfering with decisions that you have made with your doctor.

Secondly, no reform is serious unless it has lawsuit reform in the United States.

And third, you should be given a right as an American to buy coverage from any State in the Union if you find a plan that is less expensive or more flexible for yourself or for your business.

We should avoid the mistakes of some States and repeat the successes of others. The smoking hole of health insurance in the United States is the State of New Jersey. No lawsuit reform, incredible administrative burden, it costs $5,500 a patient to insure someone in New Jersey. The best State in the country, California, where they have cut their costs to half of the New Jersey rate, but they have rock and rolling lawsuit reform in their State. What we should do is not pass the bill that is coming up next week, a $400 billion tax increase in the teeth of the Great Recession and a $400 billion cut for Medicare.

Mr. Speaker, the House may attempt to rebrand their $1 trillion government health care plan as something they will try to call Medicare Part E. To save their own brand, they are willing to cheapen Medicare's. Medicare currently cares for seniors, but under this bill, Medicare will attempt to cover millions more with much less money.

Look at CBO's accounting of the Senate bill. It shows what the House plans to do. To fund a new government health care bill, Congress will cut Medicare Parts A, B, C and D. CBO reports they will cut Medicare Part A for hospitals $128 billion; Medicare Part B for doctors, $130 billion; Medicare Part C, Advantage, $133 billion; Medicare Part D, drugs, $20 billion. The bill also raises $424 billion in taxes in the teeth of the great recession.

All of this to fund a new government health care program that will not care for a single senior, but will use their health care dollars to help support a government program Congress attempts to call Medicare Part E.

Do you think seniors will be fooled by this?

Mr. Speaker, as the author of this important resolution, I rise in strong support, and I urge its adoption.

I want to thank the chairman and ranking member for bringing up this resolution on the floor today, and I want to thank Mr. McGovern for helping garner bipartisan support for this effort.

As many of my colleagues know, my district is home to the North American Baha'i Temple located in Wilmette, Illinois. The Baha'i faith was founded in Iran 165 years ago on principles of peace and tolerance. Baha'is are a gentle and nonviolent people. They follow the teachings of Baha'u'llah, who taught respect for Moses, Jesus and Mohammad, teaching respect and tolerance around the world.

Yet, since the Iranian revolution of 1979, the Government of Iran has committed a deliberate campaign of discrimination, harassment, detention, arrests, imprisonment, and the execution of one of their largest religious minorities. Based solely on their religious beliefs, Baha'is in Iran are now denied jobs, are robbed of pensions, are stripped of property rights, and are forced to endure the barbarous desecration of their holy sites as well as forced to watch their leaders being imprisoned and executed.

Last spring, seven leaders of the Baha'i community were arrested and detained in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. Their trial date has been repeatedly postponed as they languish in prison without legal resource. Although no charges have been publicly filed, Iranian news agencies report that these individuals will be charged with ``espionage for Israel, insulting Islam, propaganda against the Islamic Republic, and spreading corruption on Earth.'' Conviction of these crimes carries a penalty of death.

We know what happened the last time the Iranian regime struck the Baha'i community leadership. In August of 1980, all of the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is were executed. We should do all we can to prevent such a crime against humanity from being committed again.

As the President pursues his negotiation policy with the brutal Iranian dictators, we should not forget the kind of people we are dealing with. Iran denies its citizens basic human rights and is persecuting its minorities and executes what they call apostates. If our diplomats ignore Iranian Baha'is and silence the voice of Iranian human rights activists, America will have failed a great moral test in Iran.

Today, the House of Representatives sends a signal to the Iranian regime, and it contains an important message. The U.S. Congress will expose this regime that murders innocent women and children in the streets and denies citizens basic human rights. To the dictators in Iran we say, release your political prisoners, especially release your Baha'i prisoners, and end your ignorant and uncultured persecution of the peaceful Baha'is.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Ken Bowers, the secretary general of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is, and Juana Conrad, the deputy secretary, for their steadfast devotion to their fellow Baha'is worldwide. I also want to thank the Local Spiritual Assemblies in Arlington Heights, Deerfield, Glencoe, Glenview, Northbrook, Palatine, Vernon Hills, Waukegan and Wilmette for contributing to our community and calling attention to this human rights abuse.

Thank you also to Hans Hogrefe from Chairman Berman's hardworking staff and Jeff Philipps and Richard Goldberg of my staff for bringing this to the floor. A special thanks to Kit Bigelow and Shastri Purushotma from the National Spiritual Assembly of Baha'is of the United States for their dedication and pursuit of religious freedom and human rights for Baha'is worldwide.

I cannot for the life of me think of what's going on in Iran that she would commit such crimes against 330,000 peaceful Baha'is in Iran. I am worried that the Iranian intelligence service and ministry has now registered the address of every Baha'i and every Baha'i business in the country. I am worried that they have already labeled Baha'i businesses as ineligible for government contracting.

We have seen the bureaucracy of a new Kristallnacht formed in Iran. I worry that with this bureaucracy now fully formed, we could see a tremendous human rights abuse occur against hundreds of thousands of peaceful individuals. That's why this resolution is so important, not just to call attention to crimes that have been committed, but to a potential crime against humanity, which, in my judgment, the dictators of Iran are fully capable of committing. That's why this institution rises to its fullest potential, underscoring the point that America is not the most powerful, best nation in the world because we are rich or have a large military, but because we represent the moral authority of a democratic people representing the dignity of each individual on this planet.

I urge adoption of this resolution and thank the Members.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I want to praise one of my colleagues from the other side of the aisle, my shipmate in the Navy, Congressman Chris Carney.

Chris is a commander in the Navy and just completed 2 weeks of active duty. He served as a combat mission operations commander for the Predator and Reaper Hunter/Killer UAVs, as well as the Global Hawk.

Commander Carney was the first sailor to be certified as a mission commander, now with the call sign of ``Big House.'' Over the past couple of weeks, his unit flew dozens of missions over Afghanistan and Iraq providing our troops with intel and reconnaissance. They also took out Taliban terrorists with Hellfire missiles and helped with the search and rescue of Americans.

If you see Commander Congressman Chris Carney back at work today, thank him for his service to our Nation in uniform as one of our citizen-sailors.

Mr. Speaker, as the lead Republican sponsor of H.R. 1327, the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act, I rise in strong support and urge my colleagues to pass this bill.

We know that certain international corporations still invest billions of dollars in Iran's energy sector--in effect, subsidizing the regime's nuclear program. If states and local municipalities want to divest public funds from investments in such companies, the Federal government should support their decisions.

The Iran Sanctions Enabling Act would authorize state and local governments to divest from firms with investments of $20 million or more in Iran's energy industry. Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey, Colorado, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Washington have all enacted some form of divestment laws. The Iran Sanctions Enabling Act would encourage more states and local communities to take similar action.

With Iranian uranium enrichment accelerating--and the recent disclosure of a secret uranium enrichment site at Qom--the window for effective diplomacy is starting to close. To avoid conflict, we must pass effective sanctions and provide our diplomats with greater leverage. H.R. 1327 is a good first step--but it cannot be the last. I urge Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Berman to move H.R. 2194, the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, to the floor for immediate consideration. This legislation, modeled after my Iran Sanctions Enhancement Act of 2007 and Iran Diplomatic Enhancement Act of 2009, would extend current sanctions to companies that supply gasoline to Iran. Iran's dependence on foreign gasoline remains its greatest weakness--and offers the greatest hope for diplomacy to succeed.

In addition, the President must take steps to fully implement current law. The Iran Sanctions Act was enacted in 1996 as an important measure to deny Iran the resources to further its nuclear program and to support terrorist organizations. According to the law, a firm that invests more than $20 million in Iran's energy sector is determined to be a violator, and is subject to a range of sanctions. The Congressional Research Service has identified more than 20 firms that likely violate the Iran Sanctions Act. Nevertheless, no Administration has ever enforced this law. I urge my colleagues to sign the Kirk-Klein letter to President Obama urging him to enforce the Iran Sanctions Act without delay.

Mr. Speaker, in medicine, the rule is do no harm. But look at these Medicare cuts just approved by Speaker Pelosi. The Congressional Budget Office reports that the bill cuts Medicare, nursing, wheelchairs, home health, even hospice. Hospice? Yep. Medicare hospice is cut.

Another principle is this: the right hand of government should know what

the left hand is doing. Just a few months ago we enacted a stimulus bill to put money in the economy, but the bill we are going to consider has a $400 billion tax increase that takes money out of the economy.

In the teeth of the great recession, this is what we are going to do. But you know what? That's okay, because we can still borrow billions from foreign lenders; right? Or, as one British MP correctly said when he summed it all up, you Americans are running out of other people's money.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Chicago Botanic Garden for the opening of the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center. This new

center will serve to provide solutions to plant conservation challenges through research and education.

To accomplish their goals, 200 plant scientists along with students and collaborators will aid the full time scientists and research assistants in the 38,000-square foot building. The space will also house a teaching facility and the country's first doctoral plant biology program.

Additionally the Center utilizes green building practices, including an innovative rainwater glen to collect and filter storm water runoff and a 16,000-square foot green roof. The visitor's gallery will also allow the public to witness the scientific work occurring and various exhibitions.

The Chicago Botanic Garden successfully opened the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center on September 29, 2009. I commend all the students, researchers and scientists who are committing their time and energy to this important project and wish them the best of luck.

Mr. Speaker, Senator Baucus's health care bill is out, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has reported it has 15 major surprises in it. Massive cuts to Medicare.

You can see here that the bill cuts $133 billion out of Medicare Advantage, forcing 3 million seniors out of their choices; $128 billion is going to be cut for Medicare for hospitals; home health is cut, part D; skilled nursing is cut; hospice is cut; medical imaging, wheelchairs are cut.

So we now see how this is so-called paid for, on the back of senior health care.

I urge seniors to read this Baucus bill and learn about its massive Medicare cuts.

The United States revealed a secret underground uranium enrichment facility near Qom, Iran. U.S. officials told us they were carefully observing it for ``several years.'' But earlier this year, the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, provided written congressional testimony that the intelligence community has ``no evidence that Iran has yet made a decision to produce highly enriched uranium.''

There is a glaring contradiction between the administration's revelation and Blair's testimony. I urge Members to cosign the bipartisan Kirk-Berkley letter calling on Director Blair to account for contradictory testimony on the growing Iranian threat.

The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran downplaying the threat now appears to be a glaring Intelligence failure. According to the Wall Street Journal, the main authors of that NIE, Van Van Diepen, Tom Finger, and Ken Brill, should be accountable, too.

Congress should ensure that key officials get this right, especially on Iran.

Mr. Speaker, foreign assistance works best when we accomplish with treasure what we would have otherwise had to do with blood. We have 68,000 Americans in uniform in Afghanistan. And they are helping our NATO allies and the Afghan Government to fight al Qaeda and the narco-Taliban. The narco-Taliban rests and rearms in Pakistan, in Quetta and the frontier area. This legislation gives us leverage and resources to encourage Pakistani resistance to the Taliban, the murderers of their own prime minister. By weakening the narco-Taliban, we improve chances for the Afghan Government to expand its authority on both sides of the border.

Now last year I served with ISAF's Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and we had regular reports of men and material moving from Quetta and Spin Boldak into Afghanistan to attack Afghan and NATO positions. This legislation enables us to work on both sides of this border against the narco-Taliban.

I commend our ranking member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and Chairman Berman for making this a bipartisan bill, because that's the way our troops would want it. When the Taliban shoots at our guys, they are not shooting at Republicans or Democrats. They are shooting at Americans. And we are responding with unity.

We have no failure option in Afghanistan. If we ignore this problem, we risk repeating the mistakes so clearly described in the 9/11 Commission Report. And with North America's tallest building located in Chicago, I believe it's our duty to absolutely prevent an attack from Pakistan or Afghanistan from ever happening again to the people of the United States. And I thank both of our leaders for bringing this legislation to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Libyan dictator Qaddafi spoke to the U.N. for almost 2 hours.

Here on the Hill on the same day, we received a State Department notification proposing $400,000 in U.S. taxpayer money for the foundations of Qaddafi's son and daughter.

You heard that right.

After the murders of 189 Americans aboard Pan Am flight 103 and after watching the bomber being welcomed home from Scotland, the administration is proposing donating $200,000 to Saif Qaddafi's Qaddafi Development Foundation. Recall that Qaddafi's son, Saif, organized the ``welcome home'' ceremony for the Pan Am bomber.

The administration also is proposing donating $200,000 in taxpayer funds to the Waettasmeno/UNDP foundation, which is run by Qaddafi's daughter, Ayesha. She is also conveniently the head of Libya's UNDP.

This is part of a $2.5 million grant proposed for Libya by the Obama administration--U.S. funding for an oil-rich OPEC nation which is responsible for U.S. national security problems across Africa.

Mr. Speaker, during the vote on H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009, I was unavoidably detained--had I been present I would have voted for this legislation.

Americans are struggling to make ends meet in this economy. Retirement savings are disappearing, families have seen their portfolios drop, and according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the unemployment rate in Illinois is at 10 percent--.3 percent higher than the national average has been in 26 years.

I support giving unemployment benefits to people who lost their jobs. In tough economic times, the federal government should offer additional assistance and H.R. 3548 does that by extending unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks for individuals living in States with unemployment rates above 8.5 percent.