Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, America has always relied on the men and women of our Armed Services to keep us free. Quite simply, without them the greatest bastion of freedom on this planet would not exist. We can never thank them enough.

Today I ask my colleagues to honor two men who have served America with distinction.

Sergeant Dennis Kramer received the distinguished honor of Noncommissioned Officer of the Year for 2004.

Specialist Joseph Delapp was awarded the esteemed Soldier of the Year for 2004.

Sergeant Dennis Kramer of Baudette, Minnesota enlisted in May 2001 and is serving in the 1/187th Infantry Regiment at Fort Campbell as a reconnaissance squad leader. During Operation Enduring Freedom, he served as a rifleman in A Company of the 1/187 and upon redeployment he volunteered for the scout platoon where he served as a sniper and sniper section squad leader during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Specialist Joseph Delapp of Mayfield, Kentucky was awarded Battalion Soldier of the month in August 2004 and Brigade Soldier of the Year 2004. Formerly in D Company 2/327 Infantry, Delapp is now the Commanding General's Driver, and a Noncommissioned Officer. Delapp entered the Army on January 31, 2002 and was deployed in March 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom where he served as a driver and a gunner.

Mr. Speaker, now we owe a debt of gratitude to these men and to their families. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating these outstanding members of our military and thank them for their dedication to defending our country. God Bless the U.S. Armed Forces.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to take a moment to recognize and honor Justice Cornelia Clark.

Justice Clark has been selected for a seat on the Tennessee Supreme Court where she will be only the 4th woman ever to serve. Her wealth of experience and insight will serve her well in this important role and we honor her for such a wonderful achievement.

Justice Clark's professional accomplishments are proof of her dedication to the judiciary. Since her graduation from Vanderbilt Law School in 1979, Justice Clark devoted herself to the law as a litigation attorney and later as an attorney for the city of Franklin. For 10 years, Justice Clark served as a Circuit Court Judge and most recently as the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Cornelia has shown a remarkable inquisitiveness and dedication to lifelong learning throughout her career. Prior to law school she earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from Harvard University and worked as an educator. She served 10 years as an adjunct professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Law. Countless women have been inspired by her example and we all thank her for her work.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Justice Clark and welcoming her to the bench ofthe Tennessee Supreme Court.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor today to acknowledge the achievements of Tennesseans who have made a tremendous contribution to our community.

Savannah resident John Ross has committed a great deal of energy to the conservation of our state's wildlife and natural resources. In recognition of this work, he has been named 2004 Land Conservationist of the Year. John's passionate advocacy work and his effort to educate others on this issue are a great example to the community, and I want to thank him for his involvement.

Dr. Jennifer Stewart-Wright of Fairview was honored by the Harpeth River Watershed with the River Steward Award for her active work on multiple restoration projects and her efforts as a professor at Tennessee State University. Dr. Stewart-Wright has made this a family affair with the assistance of her children, Selah and Jesse, who share their mom's passion for revitalizing and protecting our waterways.

Mr. Ray Bell of Franklin has been awarded the Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award for his years of service to helping those diagnosed with cancer. A cancer survivor himself, Ray has dedicated countless hours not only to cancer patients but to their families as well. Ray's compassion and commitment are incredibly inspiring and a blessing for those facing this disease. We all thank him for his work.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring, thanking and congratulating these outstanding Tennesseans for making a difference in their communities.

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege today to honor McDonald Craig, the owner of a Tennessee Century Farm in Linden, Tennessee. On Christmas Day in 1871, Craig's great-grandparents, Tapp and Amy, purchased the 110 acre farm. Tapp and Amy Craig, freed from slavery after the Civil War, were the first African-Americans to buy property in Perry County.

The Craig family has owned and farmed this land in Perry County for more than 130 years. As a farmer and musician, Craig has not only maintained his family's legacy, but he has also made a name for himself as a country musician performing at local festivals and fairs.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing McDonald, his wife Rosetta, and their family for contributing so much to our community.

Mr. Speaker, there are some days that it probably is a little depressing to be a mainstream media reporter.

In their world, our economy is sinking and the war on terrorism is absolutely hopeless.

Thankfully, in the real world, Americans know that we have drastically impacted al Qaeda's ability to attack us, and our economy is booming. Yes, it is booming.

We are expecting growth this quarter somewhere around 4 percent or more, and that means jobs. We have created almost 5 million new jobs and had 3 years of strong, solid economic growth.

When you compare our economy to Europe, to most nations, we are in an amazing era. Unemployment is below 5 percent. That is outstanding, and it is a shame that the mainstream reporters just cannot get the story right.

Our tax policies reduced the burden of taxation on Americans, and they have responded as they always do, by creating new jobs.

Mr. Speaker, if you get your news from the main- stream media, you probably don't know that our economy is on a roll.

Our tax policies, the tax relief and reform we passed in 2003 and 2005, helped get government out of the way of America's entrepreneurs, and our unemployment rate is now lower than it was in the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s.

Those across the aisle who voted against our tax relief for Americans, and against our tax reform, say that Americans are not paying enough and that the tax relief costs the government too much. Imagine that. They think government has the first right of refusal on your paycheck. Well, they are wrong on that.

Our tax relief generated $160 billion more in tax revenues in 2004 and 2005 than what was anticipated, than what was expected.

Mr. Speaker, the liberals in this body think that tax relief is a gift from the government to the American worker. They are wrong on that. We Republicans know that they are wrong. We know taxes are a gift that the American taxpayer sends to Washington.

Madam Chairman, the National Uniformity for Food Act would actually foster greater cooperation among the States and the Federal Government on an issue that I honestly believe is very important to every American family, and that is food safety. Consumers across the country deserve a single set of science-based food warning requirements, not the confusing patchwork that we have today.

I am a supporter of States' rights, and our friends across the aisle have not stood up for States' rights many times in the past, and I really don't think they are doing so today. They are standing up for what they love most, which is lots of government regulations.

The bill before us, the National Uniformity for Food Act, strikes an important balance between States' rights and Federal responsibility. The bill really enhances the model for a Federal-State regulatory cooperation that already occurs in many areas of food safety. The bill gives the FDA authority where it would have authority and should have authority, which is general and scientific oversight over packaged food safety.

It leaves to the States the fundamental tasks that are best handled at that level, ensuring proper sanitation and making sure that the manufacturing plants, refrigeration facilities, and food transportation all meet or exceed minimum standards.

I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of the bill.

Madam Speaker, our economy is booming. I know that may come as a surprise to some of our colleagues across the aisle, and certainly to some of the mainstream media. But our unemployment rate is now at 4.7 percent, and that is lower than the average unemployment rate in the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. Yes, lower than each of those decades.

And where are the headlines that would praise the smart tax plan that helped to get us there? In January, America created 193,000 new jobs. That is 2 million new jobs in just over the past year.

4.7 million new jobs in the past 30 months. Republicans are not going to play I-told-you-so, but it is pretty obvious that the tax reductions passed in 2003 helped Americans dig out of a recession and get back to work. We will keep on pushing that sort of fair, flatter, simpler tax code that Main Street America needs to keep creating great jobs.

Mr. Speaker, we are hearing a good bit about national security today; and whether it is ports or the PATRIOT Act, we know that there are things that we in this body can do and steps we can take to be certain that America is a safer place for our children, for our families to live, to work, to enjoy our lives.

Mr. Speaker, the PATRIOT Act as it comes back around and as we hear more about this and hear more about the reauthorization of this, I would encourage our colleagues to remember this is a tool that has proven to be successful and useful in our national security. It has proven to be a useful tool in keeping America safe. It has proven to be useful to law enforcement. It deserves reauthorization. It deserves reconsideration, and I encourage all Members of this body to support reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act.

Thank you so much. I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his exceptional work on the Truth Squad and his commitment to this, to being certain that we get the message out.

You know, I, like you, believe in the American dream and believe in the goodness of this great country and

search each and every day for ways that we can all work together to be certain that we preserve freedom and hope and liberty for future generations. I think that is a worthy goal.

We had talked about national security one night on this floor. Yesterday, we talked about economic security. Today, we are back on the national security focus. I like what you are saying, because you are addressing the military efforts that are taking place so that we are fighting terrorists over there and we are not having to fight them over here.

As Judge Poe was saying, we have got different fronts in this war, with our first responders and the work they do on our home streets, with our border agents and the work they are doing along the border, and then also with our military operations. I think it is something that we want to keep our focus on as we address this situation in the Middle East and being certain we are addressing taking this fight to the heart of where terrorism has had its breeding ground and addressing it right there on their own soil.

A couple of points, too, I think that we need address as we talk about homeland security and we talk about national security and the war on terror. Things that we want to remember is our President and the leadership, our military leadership, has told us from day one, this is going to be a very long war. It is not going to be easy. But this is going to be a long war, and we need to remember that and use that to keep it in perspective.

We feel like we take two steps forward and one step back so very, very often, and it is going to be a long time. But preserving freedom and the fight for freedom, that is a worthy, worthy goal.

I think another thing we need to keep in mind is that when all of this started in 2003, our President and our military leadership said, basically, it is a seven-step process and told us at that point we would go in, secure the country, they would appoint an interim government, they would appoint a constitution writing committee, they would go through the process of writing that constitution, ratifying that constitution, then they would hold their national elections and install their national government, and then the seventh and final point will be to dissolve the coalition.

Right now, the Iraqi people are in the process of installing that government; and following that government standing up on its feet, then we will begin to dissolve the coalition.

Another thing we have to keep in mind, I love your points, Mr. Price, about what is taking place there and the progress that is being made. One of the things that I have enjoyed talking with my constituents about is how dealing with Iraq has to be an orderly process, and a part of that orderly process is being certain that we do some things in conjunction with other things. We want to be certain we raise up the military at the same time we are raising up the government so that one can support the other.

That is correct, and I thank the gentleman for those comments. That is correct. Going through an orderly process. And now as that government is standing up, and that is the sixth step, and as we move forward, we look at being certain that the military operations and your government operations, and you need that infrastructure. We know in our own Nation it has worked well to have divisions in our government with your executive and legislative and judicial branches. So as we stand the military up and the government with those different branches standing up, we also have an eye on education and what is being done to help lift the people.

We forget many times that many of these individuals did not have access to an education. When I first went into Iraq in October of 2003, one of the things that stunned me and one of the facts that I was really quite amazed to learn was that the country's population was about 65 percent female and, out of that, about 70 percent of that female population was considered to be illiterate. That is so troublesome to know, with the education process for women, the education process for children, the fact that young girls are able to go to school, and putting in place the schools, I think it is 2,800 schools that our U.S. military has helped to rehabilitate and get the doors open. And, of course, USAID has supplied notebooks and backpacks and the things that are necessary to begin to put that quality of life in place.

So it is the ability to go in and assist with those processes and the functions of the military, the government and the community, the quality of life that will enable Iraq to stand up and to stand on their own two feet and to enjoy, enjoy successes, and that is what General Pace was speaking of, with their forces actually conducting more operations than the coalition forces. I think that is really quite remarkable.

You think of how far they have come in 3\1/2\ years. To us, many times, yes, we live in a world where we expect instant everything. We watch a 30-minute TV show or a one-hour TV show, and we want the problem solved within that period of time.

Freedom is a little bit harder. It doesn't move quite that quickly. Three-and-a-half years, look how far they have come in their steps to freedom and their steps to readiness.

I will close with saying my last trip into Iraq over New Year's this year and spending time with some of our troops and then spending time with three women who are each one running a different woman's organization in Iraq was a very touching time. One of the things they repeatedly do is to express thanks to our coalition forces and then to place a reminder with us, don't leave us now. Do not leave us now. Be certain that we are standing on our own two feet before you leave us.

I thank the gentleman again. The freshman class is doing a wonderful job with the Truth Squad. It is always a pleasure to come and stand here in this wonderful hall before this great body and join you in talking about the good work that is being done and the focus of this Republican Conference to address the security of this great Nation.

Mr. Speaker, most of us have been respectful on the issue of security, even though some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle obstruct for reasons that many times we do not discern. But there has been a trend of late of Democrat leaders traveling overseas to deliver speeches bashing America.

This past weekend, former Vice President Al Gore gave a speech in Saudi Arabia declaring that America had committed terrible abuses against Arabs after September 11. He said that Arabs had been indiscriminately rounded up and held in unforgivable conditions.

Mr. Speaker, there are some things that you simply do not do as a former American leader, and one of them is to bash your country on foreign soil. His comments are out of line, incorrect, and further proof of his disconnect with reality. He owes an apology to the countless men and women working around the clock trying to keep this country from experiencing another September 11. Our colleagues across the aisle ought to take him to task for his irresponsibility.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia, and kudos to Mr. Price and the other freshmen class members for starting the Truth Squad. I know that each and every one of you are going to do a great job as you take issue by issue that comes before this body, issues that are so important to the American people because we want to be certain that we do a few things while we are here, that we are good stewards of the taxpayers' money, that we are diligent in preserving freedom because we know that our children and our grandchildren deserve the opportunity to have the ability to dream big dreams and, as we said last night, to grow up in a safe, free and secure world. We want that for them, and we want that for every American citizen.

Certainly being certain that we focus on our economic security is important. As I said, last night we talked about national security and that importance, that we have that free, safe world. Tonight we will be looking at economic security. Congresswoman Foxx always speaks so well, and I loved what she was saying about the spending habits of Washington.

Mr. Speaker, some of my constituents remind me regularly that Washington does not have a revenue problem, Washington has a spending problem. This great big bureaucracy that is built up around Washington has a tendency to eat up those tax dollars that come from the local communities in Washington and somehow never get back out there to the programs.

I think one thing we all would agree on is that Washington is never going to get enough of your money. It is never going to get enough of your money. It has an endless appetite for your money. Certainly Ronald Reagan's statement that there is nothing so close to eternal life on earth as a Federal Government program, we see that borne out every single day. We as conservatives keep focusing on that spending problem. We keep focusing on ways to reduce Federal spending.

Certainly we have made some inroads. The gentleman mentioned the Deficit Reduction Act which was and is a plan that is going to yield a savings for the American people. In this, we saw the 1 percent reduction. How we pushed to get those bills in there. Last year, we had bills, and the gentleman from Georgia joined me in sponsoring those bills for 1, 2 and 5 percent across-the-board reductions so that we would begin to prioritize.

That is what the American people want us to do, to prioritize, to make decisions about where is the best way, the very best way for this government to function so that it is continuing to provide the services and the infrastructure that we need to be the greatest Nation in the world. That is what they want to see from us. We were so pleased to see those reductions included in that Deficit Reduction Act. Yes, indeed, we are going to be working to be certain that we do that again this year.

One of the good things about the Truth Squad and what you all are going to do over the next many months is to bring forward ideas, to bring forward ideas. How do we make this government more efficient, how do we make it more effective, how are we certain that we are prioritizing and meeting the needs and desires of the American people, and how do we hold the Federal Government accountable for the dollars that they are going to spend. Because it is not government's money, it is the taxpayers' money.

I know that Representative Conaway is going to speak in a few more moments. I hope he is going to talk about the Federal Programs Offset Reduction Act that he introduced today. I am cosponsoring that bill. That is the type of innovative idea that we need to see brought forward. If you are going to propose a new program, then, by golly, get in this budget and find something that is duplicative, that has outlived its usefulness, that is wasteful and eliminate it. If you are going to do something new, take away something that is not working.

As I have co-chaired the Task Force on Waste, Fraud and Abuse, that has been one of the creative suggestions and one of the recommendations, programs like that that we are looking for. We are looking forward to supporting Mr. Conaway in that work because we know it is our responsibility to be a good steward. We know that it is our responsibility to keep in mind that Washington is never going to get enough of the taxpayers' money, and we know that it is our responsibility to remember that Washington does not have a revenue problem. It gets plenty of money. Washington has a spending problem.

Mr. Speaker, America was built by entrepreneurs. We wouldn't be the powerhouse we are without the millions of people who had an idea, grew that idea, and turned that idea into a business. In America small business owners create the most jobs and drive economic growth.

Today I want to honor someone who has fought for those entrepreneurs. As president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, Jack Faris has been a tireless advocate on behalf of small business owners. He understands the pressures facing our entrepreneurs and he has fought to be certain America doesn't stifle the freedom that gives so many the opportunity to go out and build a business. Jack Faris believes in dreaming big dreams and turning those into reality.

Jack knows our prosperity and our freedom are tied to a thriving small business community and he's never shied away from making certain policymakers understand that fact.

Even though Jack is retiring as president and CEO of the NFIB, we know he'll continue to support our small businesses. We thank him for his work on behalf of such a worthy cause.

Mr. Speaker, our constituents expect us to not only guard the economic and national security of this Nation; they expect us to preserve the moral security that has made this Nation great. Just the other day, I had the chance to deliver the keynote address at an event for the Tennessee Boy Scouts.

Mr. Speaker, in this job we do as Members of Congress, there are times when you speak to a group and you can just feel that they are doing the right things. The Boy Scouts fit in that category. They are teaching our boys what it means to serve their community.

We are a Nation built on shared moral values. Families across the country know that our communities are strong and that this country is strong when those values are respected and protected and preserved for future generations. House Republicans know this, and we will be working here each and every day to protect this Nation's security.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to come before this body this evening and to talk for a few minutes about some things that are very important to us here in the House.

You know, we stand here many times, many evenings, and we debate the role of government here in this body. We certainly have heard it here tonight, as our colleagues across the aisle have talked about their desire to see things done differently as we look at our budget process.

Certainly there are those of us like me who think that government is overgrown. While there are others in this body that think that government cannot do enough, there are those of us who want to prioritize and reduce the budget, and there are those who do not want to prioritize or reduce the budget. They feel like something to do is to keep the status quo and raise taxes and approach our responsibilities in that way.

A couple of points I did want to touch on, as they have talked about the budget and talked about the deficit and talked about the concerns that we have for that, is we look at the overall economic security of this great Nation.

One of the things that we did when we passed the Deficit Reduction Act, which was a plan brought forward by the majority in this House that would reduce what the Federal government spends and yield a savings for the American people, what happened with that Deficit Reduction Act was, yes, we did achieve a reduction in what the Federal Government spends. This is the first time in about 20 years that this has happened. We had a reduction in our discretionary spending.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is noteworthy that we received not one Democrat vote for that bill for reducing spending. While it is easy to say, and certainly makes for great discussion and conversation, that the deficit is too big, and that we are spending too much, the proof is in the pudding.

The proof is, when it comes time to vote, are you going to vote to raise taxes and spend more and keep the status quo, or are you going to vote to make some reductions, to get in there and prioritize that budget and decide what is going to be the best way to allocate the resources of the Federal Government, because we have to bear in mind it is not our money, it is not this government's money. It is the taxpayers' money.

The taxpayers are overtaxed. They are paying too much. They want Uncle Sam to get his fingers out of their pocket, off their paycheck, and leave that paycheck to them.

I will remind my colleagues across the aisle also, they talk about we have to raise taxes to pay for this. Well, 2004, 2005, the U.S. Treasury received $274 billion more than they had estimated in revenues.

Mr. Speaker, there is a reason for that, and it is because tax reductions work. We know that they work. You lower those rates, and the economy, this great, wonderful engine of the U.S. economy, works. It works. We certainly have seen that happen. The reductions that were passed in 2003 have certainly paid off.

There is another point I would like to address that did come up. A couple of the colleagues said, we need to have some honesty as we look at this budget process. I am not going to disagree with that. I certainly think as we get ready for Presidents' Day and thinking about President Lincoln and the moniker Honest Abe that he carried with him, we certainly need to remember that and have honesty. But part of that honesty is looking at this and reminding the American people one of the reasons we are faced with the budget we have is because of this huge, enormous bureaucracy, huge bureaucracy that grew out of 40 years of Democrat control of this body, a bureaucracy that basically is a monument to them.

It is so difficult and people have such a tough time working through the bureaucracy, whether it is paying your income tax, figuring out that process, figuring out that Tax Code; whether it is the local university, trying to get over here and get the bureaucracy to help them with some program that is needed for that university; whether it is our local community and county governments trying to figure out how to work with different agencies and comply with different regulations.

It is a cumbersome, overgrown, bloated bureaucracy; and certainly as we address the issues of oversight through the ratings tools, through the President's management initiative, through the CFO act, those are all accountability measures that have come into play since Republican control of this body took place in 1994.

So there is plenty that we can discuss and we will look forward to discussing over the next month as we look at the budget, look at the process, look at the need to put those parameters in place that will help us get the budget under control and still address the areas of responsibility that we have.

One of those areas of responsibility that I think we all can agree on and certainly should be agreeing on is that of national security. There is truly a reason that our founders included the words ``provide for the common defense'' in the preamble to the Constitution. They knew that national security was an imperative in order for this Nation to be able to survive. They knew

that in order for children to dream big dreams, in order for small businesspeople to be able to go out and take that idea that they have and grow it into something that is wonderful, that creates jobs for their community, that yields back and gives back to that community, that security was an imperative. It is an imperative.

Tonight, several of my colleagues and I are going to take a few moments and talk about guarding this Nation and talk about the issue of national security, because we as a party, we as a majority, are focused, first and foremost, on that issue. Mr. Speaker, I cannot think of a single better time to do this than on Valentine's Day, because there is nothing more important or caring that we can do for our children, our grandchildren, our neighbors and those we love than to fight to be certain that every child has the opportunity to grow up in a safe, a free and a secure world. It is one of those foundational building blocks. And we Americans are free today because of the sacrifices that our parents and our grandparents chose to make for them, for us, and on our behalf. Until this world is a far different place, it is very clear that we must continue our support for a strong military and defense presence. That is the only way that we are going to be able to be certain that our kids inherit the America that we know today.

Mr. Speaker, we are going to look at some issues, as I said, of national security. We are going to look at the border security issue; we are going to look at the war on terror and how important it is for us to win in this war on terror and how important it is for us to realize that it is going to be a long war, that it is about freedom, and it exists not only in faraway lands like Iraq and Afghanistan but it is something that we have to address on our border, our Nation's border, as we look at the issue of border security.

The first Member who is joining me tonight, Mr. Keller from Florida, has just returned from spending several days down on our southern border working with some of the border guards and the security agents that are there. Mr. Keller is going to talk with us about some of the activity that is taking place on our Nation's southern border.

I thank the gentleman from Florida; and I thank him for reminding us of the importance of protecting that border so that we do provide for the common defense, we do have a secure Nation, and we are alert and watching. As he has mentioned so well, his State of Florida, the area that he represents, their estimated cost of dealing with illegal entry into this country is $2 billion a year, and that is for those that choose to enter this country illegally.

The gentleman mentioned some of the things that we have done, employer

verification, looking at continuing to secure the border, whether you are looking at a wall or whether you are looking at technology, but putting that surveillance into place.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I am going to yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), who is on the International Relations Committee and the Terrorism Subcommittee. Judge Poe likes to remind us that it is just the way it is time and again as he comes to this floor and reminds us of the importance of viewing immigration and appropriate and proper immigration, abiding by those laws and what an important component that is to this Nation's security and how important it is that we abide by those immigration laws as we are right now battling in this war on terror.

With that, I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

The gentleman from Texas is correct. That is the way it is. That is the duty of government. And as the gentleman stated so well and so eloquently, the business of government is protecting this country, as well as that being a duty.

And one of the things, Mr. Speaker, that we have altered is the way that we do business here in America by tightening some of our immigration rules. Looking at drivers' licenses, tightening our drivers' license requirements to prevent those documents from being used in ways that they are not supposed to be used. The Judiciary Committee has led on that issue, and Chairman Sensenbrenner has done a tremendous amount of work on strengthening our border, taking steps to strengthen that.

Certainly our party as a whole is focused on the national security issue as one of the central issues that we must address. That is one of the reasons that we as a party fought to get the PATRIOT Act passed. We know that on 9/11 our security net had significant holes in it and it had to be fixed and addressed, and we now hope that our colleagues across the aisle will join us in supporting the reauthorization of the bill. It has been successful, and there are things we need to do to continue that focus on this issue.

A gentleman who is spending a good deal of time working on our homeland security issues and looking at the global war on terror and America's response there is the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Carter), or Judge Carter as we do like to refer to him. He is on the Homeland Security subcommittee, on the Appropriations Committee, and he is going to speak with us for just a few moments about what is being done to address some of our homeland security issues.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his comments. He is so correct in talking about the importance of the PATRIOT Act and being able to protect our families.

And I appreciate so much that he and the other speakers tonight have talked about the implications of what happens here on our homeland and the importance of keeping that homeland safe, keeping that homeland secure, and have talked about the great work that is done by our first responders, by our local law enforcement members, that community that works so diligently; the work that is done by our border guards and those who are patrolling our borders. Because, yes, indeed, national security means that we secure this great Nation. Because this is a war on terrorism; it is going to be a long difficult war. And it is the reason, Mr. Speaker, that we have taken military action in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and it is the reason that we are working to reshape that region of this world. And we are making progress. And I know it is frustrating sometimes when we feel like we are taking two steps forward and one step back. But, indeed, there is a mighty work that is being done, a very good, consistent and productive work that is being done by the members of this great Nation's military.

And tonight we are joined by the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Drake). The thing that is so wonderful about Mrs. Drake's district is the presence of the military that is there, whether it is our men and women of the naval forces that are out there working or those in the Air Force who are flying.

So from land to air to sea, you have it all covered, and we appreciate your constituents. And, Mrs. Drake, I join you in wishing the families of all of those men and women who are deployed a wonderful Valentine's Day. And I join you in standing here tonight to say ``thank you'' that they are working to be certain that these children grow up in a safe, free, and secure America.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Virginia.

I thank the gentlelady from Virginia. I appreciate her comments about the QDR and the review that the Armed Services Committee, a committee on which she serves, is conducting.

I would think for those who are watching tonight, if they want to follow that process and learn a little bit more, they could go to the House.Gov website and then go to the Armed Services Committee and could get a bit more information about that process.

I thank the gentlelady for her comments and for mentioning the good work that is taking place over in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

One of the things, Mr. Speaker, that we are learning more and more about every day is the fact that, as the military raises up over there, at the same time we are raising up and working to raise up the economic underpinning of that nation, the governmental underpinning of that nation, the educational underpinning of that nation, and working to be certain that they are indeed ready to take the reins and ready to succeed as they step toward democracy.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina, Ms. Foxx. She does such a wonderful job as she works with her constituents and works with us. Education is her forte, and I love listening to her stories about how she educates and works with her grandchildren and how special and how important they are and the lessons that she teaches them and how privileged they are to grow up in a safe, free land and their responsibility to be good stewards of that citizenship and that opportunity that is presented toward them.

I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina for some comments on addressing the global war on terror.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from North Carolina, and thank her for reminding us that this is a global war on terrorism.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway) for some additional thoughts on the global war on terror.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for reminding us this is an elusive enemy. It is not an enemy that is located in one place or an enemy that is stationary. It is an enemy that you will find spread out all across the globe.

As he mentioned, several of the attacks, whether you are talking about the Cole or the Saudi bombings or Khobar Towers or the World Trade Center, both of the bombings there, this is a very vicious enemy, and the global war on terror is a war that is being fought around the globe. The activity is centered in Afghanistan, it is centered in Iraq, and it is important that we keep our Nation safe.

Our final speaker this evening is the gentleman from Georgia, Dr. Price, who has certainly put a tremendous amount of attention on what it takes to keep this Nation safe and having the tools. Being a physician, he knows the tools of the trade are important, and it is important that our men and women in uniform, our men and women in our intelligence services, our first responders, having the tools they need to fight this war and be successful in this war. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

I thank the gentleman from Georgia. I too remember singing that song: freedom is not free, you have to sacrifice for your liberty. I think that we all have sung that at camps as we were growing up. And how true and how meaningful it is as we talk about the men and women, whether they are working here domestically as first responders, as local law enforcement, as border security guards, protecting this homeland that we have, or whether they are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, around the globe. Whether they are deployed and away from their families, we know that they are doing this because they want to be certain that future generations grow up in a world that is free, is safe, is secure.

And we thank them for loving all of us enough to make that sacrifice and be willing to put their lives on the line. And we wish each of them a happy Valentine's Day. We wish their families a happy Valentine's Day, and we hope that they all know that we love them too.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.