Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, today I introduce a bill to reauthorize and expand Rob Portman's landmark legislation, the Tropical Forest Conservation Act. This reauthorization will help developing countries reduce foreign debt and provide comprehensive environmental preservation programs to protect forests and endangered marine habitats around the world.

Since enacted in 1998, Tropical Forest Conservation Act programs have generated a total of $135 million over 10 to 25 years to help conserve 50 million acres of tropical forests in Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America. But the rate of deforestation continues to accelerate across the globe in all types of forests.

Similarly alarming is the rapid rate of coral reef and coastal exploitation. The burden of foreign debt falls especially hard on the smallest of nations, such as island nations in the Caribbean and Pacific. With few natural resources, these nations often resort to harvesting or otherwise exploiting coral reefs and other marine habitats to earn hard currency to service foreign debt. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 60 percent of the world's coral reefs may be destroyed by the year 2050 if the present rate of destruction continues.

The Forest and Coral Conservation Act will credit qualified developing nations for each dollar spent on a comprehensive reef preservation or management program designed to protect these unique ecosystems from degradation. This legislation will make available resources for environmental stewardship that would otherwise be of the lowest priority in a developing country. It will reduce debt by investing locally in programs that will strengthen indigenous economies by creating long-term management policies that will preserve the natural resources upon which local commerce is based.

Madam Speaker, this legislation has enormous consequences for the existence of critical ecosystems, the health of our planet, and the livelihoods of millions of people across the globe. I am proud to introduce the Forest and Coral Conservation Act, which will help preserve the world's most precious natural resources.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this as the original cosponsor of this legislation. We find that a hate crime can ignite group-on-group violence that would tear a community apart. We have seen it in other countries; we want to make sure it never happens here.

This is especially dangerous when group-on-group violence can overwhelm a small suburban police department, and this offers assistance so that a small problem doesn't become a big problem and doesn't become a national problem. We saw when Rodney King was beaten that a riot broke out in Beloit, Wisconsin, and overwhelmed that police department.

So to be able to make sure that the Federal Government can defend the Nation and to make sure that our country stands not just for freedom and democracy, but also tolerance, is one reason why we should follow enactment of the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, under President George Herbert Walker Bush, to also pass this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I would like to salute Betty Lou Reed from Deerfield, Illinois. Betty has been a part of the community for nearly fifty years, and has served at nearly every level of government. Later this month, she will move to Denver so she can be near her daughter and grandchildren.

Betty Lou started in politics in the 1960's as a volunteer and staffer. She retold stories of serving bourbon and branchwater to Senator Everett Dirksen during the good old days. From 1968 to 1972 Betty Lou was an elected Supervisor serving on the Lake County Board. During that time, she also served as a Field Representative for the Illinois Department of Local Government Affairs. In 1971, Betty Lou was appointed by President Nixon to the Small Business Administration's Midwest Regional Advisory Council.

She was elected by the citizens of her community to the Illinois General Assembly from 1975 to 1982, becoming the Chairman of the Illinois Water Resources Commission in 1980.

After her retirement from the legislature, she became the District Director for our former colleague and my predecessor, John Edward Porter, from 1982 to 1989. After leaving Congressman Porter's Congressional office, she continued serving as his General Chairman from 1988 to 1994.

Recognizing her talent and dedication, Betty Lou received the prestigious Hope B. McCormick Illinois Lincoln Series Excellence in Public Service Award in 1996 for her exceptional work in mentoring women in politics.

Along with John Porter, Betty is a mentor and, as she would say, ``a pro.'' I hope you will join me in wishing Betty Lou many years of happiness as she leaves our community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of the 150th Anniversary of Zengeler Cleaners, a well established family-owned business in my district. The Zengelers exemplify the highest work ethic and the very spirit of achieving the American Dream.

John Zengeler established ``The New York Steam Dye Works,'' a clothing cleaning business, at 208 South Clark St. in Chicago in 1857. He then moved the business to S. Prairie St. in 1866, which was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. He rebuilt on S. Cottage Grove Ave. in Chicago and John's eldest son Arthur W. (``A.W.'') Zengeler joined his father in the business in 1896. They opened a new location as A.W. Zengeler Cleaners in 1906.

In 1930, A.W.'s sons, Ralph, Art and AI, became active in the business, with Ralph becoming the third generation of leadership in 1948. Following that tradition, Ralph's son Robert became the fourth generation to lead the family business; and three of Robert's six children--Robert, Jr., Michael, and Thomas--became the fifth generation of the Zengeler family to join the business. Six years ago, Thomas Zengeler became President and the fifth generation leader of the family-owned company.

Over the years, Zengeler Cleaners has grown to seven stores in Lake and Cook Counties, with an eighth store planned to open later in 2007. The business is now home to 145 employees, 27 of whom have been with the company for 20 years or more. It is a strong contributor to our local economy in the 10th Congressional District of Illinois.

This year we pause to celebrate the company's 150th Anniversary and a proud history in which it overcame the Great Chicago Fire, the Civil War, two World Wars and the Great Depression, emerging as one of the premier fabric care specialists in the United States.

I commend the Zengeler family for successfully passing down their proud work ethic and commitment to quality for 150 years and through five generations.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Conyers-Kirk Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. We know that a hate crime can ignite group-on-group violence that can completely overwhelm a small suburban police department.

In 2005, the FBI recorded 7,000 hate crimes in our country, 168 in the State of Illinois, and two in my congressional district, one in Wheeling and one in Palatine.

For us, we remember a tragic night in 1999 when Benjamin Smith, a member of a white supremacist group, gunned down the Northwestern University basketball coach in front of two kids. Why? Because he was black. Smith then continued his hunting spree, shooting Orthodox Jews coming home from synagogue, and spraying bullets at an Asian couple driving home in Northbrook.

These were hate crimes, crimes designed to tear a community apart, crimes designed to commit and isolate and stigmatize others because of the color of their skin or the religion they practice.

I urge my colleagues to back the Hate Crimes bill.

I thank the gentleman, one of the only working scientists serving in the Congress.

I had intended to offer an amendment to this legislation with regard to the mercury issue, but working with the committee, I understand the better place I am talking about is in the EPA Office of Science.

So I would like to say that I strongly support investment in scientific and mathematical research, but I would like to engage in a colloquy with the chairman, especially to emphasize how essential it is for comprehensive and frequent research on mercury levels in one of our Nation's most treasured ecosystems, the Great Lakes.

Mercury pollution is now a serious problem for my district in northern Illinois, as well as across the Nation. The Great Lakes are particularly vulnerable to exposure, as 36 percent of mercury emissions are generated in the Great Lakes region.

In fact, there are currently 18 fish advisories for mercury contamination in the region, yet the Great Lakes are a source of food and especially drinking water for over 40 million Americans. This undoubtedly contributes to the recent estimate that the U.S. Government has seen more than 300,000 American babies born each year with a risk of mercury poisoning.

It's critical that we begin to take an annual inventory of mercury levels in the Great Lakes to understand the sources of this pollution and especially the trend to see whether this danger is growing. With this information the Congress would be able to provide more effective and comprehensive regulation of mercury pollution and mitigation of its harmful effects.

I would like to thank Chairman Baird for agreeing to engage in this colloquy on this important matter, and I appreciate all his support in working to ensure that we have the most comprehensive, scientific, accurate and timely information on mercury contamination. I look forward to working with the chairman on this issue.

I thank the chairman for that. I look forward to seeing the committee's letter, because I think it will move the ball significantly to help this Congress redress a growing danger.

To the gentleman from Michigan, a leader on Great Lakes protection, and removing environmental contamination, I thank him for working on this issue.

Offered By: Mr. Kirk

Amendment No. 12: At the end of the bill, add the following

new section:

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida, and it has been a great partnership.

I rise in support of H. Res. 240, calling on the European nations to grant open access to the Holocaust archives in Bad Arolsen, Germany.

To date, the United States and Israel, Poland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, even Germany, ratified the amendments to the Bonn Accords, amendments which would finally give survivors real-time digital access to millions of Nazi records, and provide researchers access to all of the archives.

But for some reason, France and Italy, Greece, Belgium and Luxembourg are dragging their feet. One year after agreeing to these amendments, these five European nations remain silent on ratification. Mr. Speaker, silence on this issue is unacceptable and reprehensible.

We stand at a crossroads of history, at a time when Iran, a member of the United Nations, sponsors official conferences to deny the Holocaust, we need to act here. At a time when the President of Iran calls for the murder of another 6 million Jews, we need to act on this issue. At a time of resurgence of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial throughout Europe and the Middle East, this is the time to act.

Sixty years ago the United States Army, when we liberated the camps, we made a solemn promise of ``never again.'' And today, as President Ahmadinejad says he wants to, quote, wipe Israel off the map, we must say clearly to Europe, open these archives now to show the world that we stand behind this pledge.

I want to thank my longtime friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), for giving me the privilege of working with him on this issue. I also want to thank Chairman Lantos and Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Wexler) for their work.

I also want to thank Richard Goldberg, of my staff, and Eve Lieberman from Chairman Hastings' staff and Kay King from Chairman Lantos' staff for this, as well as action by outside experts, Paul Shapiro at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, Rick Hirshaut at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, Rabbi Alan Cooper at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Lonnie Nasatir at the Anti-Defamation League, and Jay Tcath of the Chicago Jewish Federation, who have all come together on an overwhelmingly bipartisan issue to send a clear message, open the archives. Make sure the message goes forth that the Holocaust deniers and especially the Iranian Government are wrong. We need to open the record, set it straight and make sure that the record is clear, especially to the survivors that are still among us.

Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted as follows: on rollcall No. 245--``yes''; 246--``yes''; 247--``yes''; 248--``no''; 249--``no''; 250--``yes''; 251--``yes''; 252--``yes''; 253--``yes''; and 254--``yea''.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment concerns removing small dams from rivers, especially in my congressional district; and working with the chairman and the minority, what I would like to do now is ask unanimous consent to modify the amendment as agreed to by both sides.

Mr. Chairman, the scope of this amendment now is focused exclusively on Lake County, Illinois, and mainly the watershed of the Des Plaines River. This is a river in which several outdated and unused dams are preventing the return of higher-end predator fish, specifically pike and walleye, through the upper Des Plaines and Fox River Valleys.

Now, I have worked on this amendment and consulted with my colleague, Congresswoman Melissa Bean, and we both agree on a bipartisan basis that the return of these high-end predator fish will not only help restore the environment of upper Lake County and its Fox River and Des Plaines watersheds, but also will be a help to sports fishing and boating in these areas.

For these reasons, the removal of these very small but damaging structures will go a long way to restoring the ecosystems along the lines of the Chicago Paddlers Association and the Nature Conservancy and their recommendations.

I want to particularly thank John Mica and his staff, especially Amy Steinmann for her work on this, as well as Chairman Oberstar for his help on this because this is going to make a big difference in the ecosystem of Lake County, Illinois, and we hope to invite all of you, maybe Mr. Baker as well, to come for a day, hopefully 5 years from now, of exciting sports fishing in northern Illinois.

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

I would just like to state to the gentleman that I thank you very much for your senior leadership on this bipartisan legislation. I would hope that we could all agree that pike and walleye fishing should not be reserved for those citizens of only Wisconsin and Minnesota and can now return to the citizens of northern Illinois, who will see this ecosystem restored.

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

Madam Speaker, today I introduced the bipartisan Small Business Securities Protection Act with my colleague, Representative Steve Israel. This bill follows the recommendations of the SEC's own advisory committee to help small businesses with the costs of implementing just one section of Sarbanes-Oxley--Section 404.

Section 404 requires publicly traded companies to document all of their internal controls, While this is helpful with 90 percent of the companies offering stock in America, it has cost the average small company half of its profit margin. America has lost 90 percent of its foreign securities business as markets in Hong Kong and London advertise themselves as ``Sarbanes-Oxley-free.'' SEC Chairman Cox warned that Section 404' s implementation on small businesses has led to an instinct to ``go for the capillary,'' focusing millions of dollars on micro-accounting issues rather than expanding employment. The Chief Finance Officer of Whole Foods recently said ``. . . we spent even more time drilling into insignificant details . . . spending millions on accounting research--not on new stores, new products, and new jobs.''

Our bill follows the recommendations of the SEC's Advisory Committee to clearly define key accounting terms like ``material,'' ``reasonable,'' ``significant,'' and ``sufficient''--terms that if left undefined lead to millions spent in pointless litigation. The bill would allow consultants advising on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance to actually talk to accountants so differences could be resolved. Finally, the bill provides relief to small enterprises and companies less than one year old to revive the business sector hit hardest by Section 404.

Much of the new foreign securities work has already left our country. Many publicly-traded companies are going private to eliminate millions in Sarbanes-Oxley costs. Our reforms would keep 95 percent of companies under full Section 404 rules. It would relieve the burden on only the newest and smallest companies--who are the most dynamic and innovative parts of our economy.

While other bills offer more far reaching proposals, this one is soundly grounded in the work of the SEC's own Advisory Committee.

Madam Speaker, Commander John A. Hayes relinquishes command of Electronic Attack Squadron Two Zero Nine on April 14, 2007 and leaves behind a legacy of honor, courage, and personal contributions to his shipmates and our Nation.

Commander Hayes was raised in Avon, New York, and entered military service in 1986 from the University of Notre Dame Reserve Officer Training Corps. He was detailed to flight training and received his designation as a Naval Aviator in November 1988.

He reported to Attack Squadron Forty Two (VA-42) for fleet replacement training in the A-6E Intruder, and upon completion was ordered to Attack Squadron Thirty Five (VA-35) assigned to Carrier Air Wing Seventeen onboard USS Saratoga (CV-60). Commander Hayes deployed to the Red Sea in August of 1990 in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, completing an 8-month deployment and flying 30 combat sorties.

In 1996, Commander Hayes was selected for affiliation with Electronic Attack Squadron Two Zero Nine (VAQ-209) assigned to Carrier Air Wing Reserve Twenty. While assigned to VAQ-209, he has deployed three times to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, in support of Operation Northern Watch, to Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Southern Watch, to Aviano Air Base, Italy for

Operation Allied Force, and has completed numerous other land and sea- based detachments.

Commander Hayes assumed command of VAQ-209 in October 2005. During his command tour, he led the Star Warriors on a 3-month combat deployment to Al Asad Air Base, Iraq for operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Under his leadership, the squadron also earned the 2005 Department of Defense Family Readiness Award and the 2006 Noel Davis Battle Efficiency Award, and received the 2006 Commander, Naval Air Force Reserve nomination for the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Excellence Phoenix Award.

Commander Hayes received numerous military decorations and awards. They include the Air Medal with Combat ``V,'' the Strike/Flight Air Medal (8), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat ``V'' (2), the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (4), and various campaign medals and unit awards.

On a personal note, it is my honor to have served with ``Woody''--his call sign. I have deployed with him many times, including to Operation Allied Force, which ended the nightmare in Kosovo, to Operation Northern Watch which enforced U.N. mandated No Fly Zones over Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and many other smaller detachments. I have flown with him. Professionalism and consummate skill are the hallmarks of this Naval Aviator in combat. Courage and inspired leadership are those of this naval officer in command.

I thank the gentleman from Texas.

Madam Speaker, the budget coming before this House does more than approve the largest tax increase in American history. That is what it includes. But what this budget is notable for is what it also does not include.

The leaders of the Republican Tuesday Group and the study committees came together to outline reforms to help the government spend less. And why should we do that? Let's note that in 1961, when President Kennedy took office, the Federal Government spent just $98 billion. We didn't hit our first trillion until 1987. We broke the second trillion in 2002, and in 2010, we will go above the $3 trillion level.

The Federal debt held by the public has climbed to over $3 trillion in 2006, a 300 percent increase in the last quarter century. This year, interest payments on our debt alone will top over $200 billion.

Now, last night I offered an amendment cosponsored by Congressmen Dent, Pence and Hensarling. We laid out some commonsense reforms that this budget should include, like statutory discretionary spending limits, like the kind approved by President Clinton that helped us spend less; like provisions to slow the growth of entitlement spending by requiring offsets for any new benefits allowed; like enforcement tools that restricted the definition of ``emergency spending'' that would have helped us not declare a spinach farmer bailout last week as a national security emergency, which we did in the supplemental appropriations bill; like accrual accounting, to show what the taxpayers' long-term obligations are, and to clearly lay out for the American people our financial position.

And finally, periodic audits and summaries updating the accounting rules we use so the American people always have the most transparent view of what their government is doing.

Unfortunately, last night the Rules Committee rejected this amendment. We will not even be allowed to vote on these commonsense reforms. Ironic because most of these reforms were taken from the Democratic Blue Dog group that has advocated strong financial controls, but somehow backed this effort to deny this amendment from even a vote.

I urge this House to reject this rule and allow these commonsense reforms to go through. If the past is our guide, even the budget that the Congress will consider today and tomorrow will be waived shortly because when the supplemental appropriations bill comes back from Congress, it will include a provision that says the budget act is entirely waived and $125 billion, $23 billion over the President's request, will be passed, waiving the budget that we even approve tomorrow.

Madam Speaker, today I introduced House Resolution 267 with my fellow Iran Working Group co-Chair Congressman Rob Andrews (D-NJ) and Iran Working Group Vice-Chairs Dr. Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Ron Klein (D-FL). This resolution condemns the Islamic Republic of Iran for seizing 15 British sailors and marines in the Persian Gulf and calls for their immediate release. These sailors and marines, based on the HMS Cornwall, had finished a routine search of a civilian vessel in Iraqi waters at the time of the kidnapping. The Iranian regime now says it may charge the sailors and marines for illegally entering Iranian- controlled waters.

The British soldiers were captured a day before the UN debated additional sanctions for Iran's continued efforts to enrich uranium. The sanctions were unanimously approved, and include a ban on arms sales from Iran as well as freezing assets of 28 people and organizations involved with the nation's nuclear programs.

Our resolution also asks the Security Council to explore new economic sanctions against Iran, including a restriction on gasoline imports. Despite its status as a top oil producing nation, Iran is highly dependent on foreign gasoline due to severe mismanagement of its domestic energy supply. An international restriction on foreign gasoline is the most effective economic lever in our diplomatic toolbox to prevent further Iranian hostility, deny Iran's ability to militarize the Persian Gulf and enforce Iran's nonproliferation commitments.

The Iranian regime defied international law by seizing sailors in waters outside of its jurisdiction. Our resolution sends a strong message of condemnation from the House of Representatives.

I want to thank Reps. Andrews, Boustany and Klein for leading with me on this resolution. I look forward to working with them and the more than fifty original cosponsors on this important initiative.

Mr. Speaker, today the House passed a bill claiming to be the U.S. Troop Readiness Act that included billions in pork barrel spending unrelated to the needs of our troops. The funding restrictions included in the bill were so unpopular that the congressional leadership loaded a $25 million bailout for spinach farmers, a $74 million payment for peanut storage, and a $283 million subsidy for milk producers, all to attract votes for the unpopular bill.

As USA Today stated: ``Votes were won for peanuts, or to be more accurate, for peanut subsidies.'' The bill also declares all of this spending, for spinach, for milk and peanut subsidies, as emergency wartime supplemental appropriations.

This bill passed $23 billion over budget. It only passed by four votes. Calculating a pork-to-vote ratio, that means that the Congress spent over $5 billion in pork spending per vote just to win passage for this legislation. And it is only March. How much more will the taxpayer be charged to pass other unpopular bills?