Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, the laws governing delivery of television programming in this country are outdated, and we have not kept up with emerging new technologies.

I have introduced the Video Choice Act of 2005 to bring these laws into the 21st century.

Current law requires that all companies interested in offering cable service or video service, as it is called in the industry, must negotiate an individual agreement with a local franchising authority. This mandate serves as a barrier to competition, effectively preventing new technologies from entering the market. The Video Choice Act of 2005 will streamline the franchising process for new marketplace entrance and give American consumers choice over their video and cable service at a lower cost.

Our telecommunications services are rapidly changing and expanding. Congress must act to ensure our laws do not crush innovation and competition.

The bill is H.R. 3146. The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Wynn) is the cosponsor on this legislation with me. I look forward to working with him for its passage here in the House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our committee chairman for the excellent work. In my district in Tennessee, our farmers are pleased that we are bringing this conference report to the floor. They understand affordable fuels, and they are looking forward to working alternative fuels. Our small business community is excited about available energy.

Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, I think this sends a message that America, this Nation, this Congress, is serious about a comprehensive plan and is ready and willing to address the future needs of this Nation's energy supply.

Mr. Speaker, they are asking what are we for and what is this bill all about? I will tell you what we are for, what this majority is for, and what this bill is about. It is about preserving access to health care in our local communities, lots of communities, like my Seventh District of Tennessee. It is not about sitting here and saying, oh, we think all it is going to take to address health care is a big, fat Federal Government. It is about access to health care in our local communities.

Americans know that our health care costs are soaring. They also know that trial lawyers many times view our hospitals and our health care providers as a limitless ATM.

That is the reason I cosponsored this legislation. My constituents have had enough. They have grown ill and fatigued with the stories that are out there, with seeing their local doctors run out of town, with seeing practices close up, and with knowing that they have access to less and less available health care. We know that only one in seven OB- GYNs now deliver babies for fear of being sued, and the national medical liability rate has risen almost 500 percent since 1976.

This is an issue that affects our families. It affects women. It affects children. It affects our rural communities. This bill is a way to assist in preserving health care for our local communities.

Mr. Speaker, I am rising this morning to talk about a piece of legislation that I have recently introduced. It is H.R. 3262; and it is called EVAA, the Employer Verification Accountability Act.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things we are hearing in our district that is such a problem is illegal immigration, the impact that illegal immigration has on jobs, on the economy, on our district. And this is one of those pieces of legislation that is designed to help us have another tool to fight illegal immigration.

Very simply, what it does is this: The 1986 Immigration Enforcement Act puts in place fines for employers who knowingly and willingly hire illegal immigrants to work in their businesses. This act would prohibit them from negotiating those fines down and require them to pay the $10,000 fine per violation.

I would like to commend this legislation to the body and invite the Members to join me cosponsoring H.R. 3262.

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise today to thank James R. Parker for more than three decades of service to the Nation.

A dedicated employee of the Federal Government, James will be retiring from the Social Security Administration at the end of July. For years now, we've been able to count on James to help make government work better for all of us.

While I'm thankful for James and his service, we'll miss the knowledge, compassion and tremendous work ethic he brought to every task.

Tennessee is proud of James, and we all wish him and his wife, Patricia, a wonderful retirement.

Mr. Speaker, the Washington Post carries an editorial this morning on illegal immigration, and it talks about the Senate beginning to take up that issue today. I look forward to our discussion and continued work on that issue here in the House. It is an issue that is of tremendous importance to my home State of Tennessee.

I would like to call the body's attention to a bill that I filed that deals with immigration reform, H.R. 2049, the Federal Contractors Security Act. What this does is to require those companies contracting with the Federal Government to use the basic worker verification program to ensure us, the taxpayers, that the individuals working for them are in the country legally and that they are who they claim to be.

Mr. Speaker, this is a national security issue, it is a homeland security issue, it is an issue of tremendous importance. I encourage the body to look at H.R. 2049, and I encourage our leadership to take aggressive action to fight illegal immigration.

Mr. Speaker, increasingly, one of the things I hear from small business owners back in Tennessee is they want Congress to open the way, just to open the way and set the stage for more affordable health care choices.

Over 90 percent of the jobs in Tennessee are small business jobs. It is the largest employer in my district.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we hear is that these employers want to do the best they can for their employees. They feel like they are a part of their family. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson) really should be applauded for introducing the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005. It is one of those things that will help small businesses, as we have heard from so many of the speakers, to pool together and to purchase association health plans through their national trade groups.

I have joined him as a co-sponsor of the legislation, and I believe we do

have that opportunity to extend affordable, quality health care to millions of Americans. Every small business owner knows that providing quality health care is one of the most costly items in running a business. It is a very difficult part, handling the mountains of paperwork and finding the right policies. We have the power to help by passing this commonsense legislation. I ask my colleagues to support the rule and to support the underlying legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) for his work on this amendment and, of course, our chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, who has worked so diligently on this bill and for years has worked to be able to move it to the body.

Mr. Chairman, you know, we are hearing a lot about the military benefits. From my service on the Committee on Government Reform, I think I remember that there was in 2003 $103 billion overpayment in pension benefits that was refunded to the Postal Service, and as a part of that agreement they were made responsible for the military pension costs of the employees. And this bill would reverse those provisions.

I think it is also worthy to notice that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) has pointed out in 1971 the reform efforts put in place at the Postal Service, it would be a self-financing agency, and with that mandate they were given certain exemptions and advantages such as tax and anti-trust. And they are obliged and obligated to manage their finances in a manner that covers its full costs.

We must continue to encourage the Postal Service to be self- sufficient and not be subsidized by the taxpayer. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday the Chattanooga Times Free Press ran an op-ed that I wrote about the READ ID Act. They also ran an op-ed by a college professor who disagrees with the READ ID Act.

I want to thank the editors of that paper for being sure that both sides were represented on this issue. That is what every newspaper should strive for: equal time and let the readers decide.

As I pointed out in my op-ed, illegal immigration is clearly a matter of national security, and for too long States like Tennessee have known and done nothing about the ease with which illegal aliens are obtaining valid government IDs. I believe it is unacceptable. I think most Tennesseeans agree with me.

When I was in the State Senate in Tennessee, I fought to fix the problem, and now I am pleased that Congress and this Republican leadership have supported the READ ID Act. We are taking critically important steps toward tightening our licensing and identification policies to fight illegal immigration and terrorism.

Mr. Speaker, when I am back home in my district in Tennessee talking with a lot of small-business owners, which are the primary mode of employment in my district, there are a lot of things that always come up. I can always count on hearing about taxation, the need for deregulation, the effects of illegal immigration, and health care.

Increasingly I am hearing from these owners that they want Congress to open the way for more affordable health care choices. Last week in Roll Call there was a great article talking about association health plans, and I am glad to see some attention is on that idea, and that legislation is going to come before the House.

The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson) really should be applauded for introducing the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005, which will help our small businesses purchase association health plans through national trade groups. I have joined him as a cosponsor of this important legislation because I believe we have a wonderful opportunity to extend affordable quality health care to millions of Americans.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans and this leadership are fighting to help the engine of economic growth in this country, our small businesses, helping them gain access to the sort of health care typically we only see provided by large corporations.

Small businesses feel like their employees are family members. They want the best for them. Every small-business owner knows that providing those employees with health care can be costly, and it can be a difficult part of running a business. Costs are rising, the paperwork never seems to end, and we have the power to help in this situation. We have the power to provide a vehicle for extending health care to millions of Americans. This does not require a big government program. It will not require spending billions of taxpayer dollars. It is common sense. It is providing an opportunity.

The Small Business Health Fairness Act has the potential to be very effective, to be pro-health care, to be a great effort for our communities across the Nation. The bill is going to reduce costs for entrepreneurs and their employees by letting small businesses band together to pool their purchase power, to work cooperatively and to dilute the risk to the insurers. It will lower premiums, and we believe it will give millions of uninsured Americans the access they want to quality health care.

We have debated this issue for years on end, and it is time for action. It is time to listen to America's small businesses and to their employees. I want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson) for his work on this. I want to thank the leadership for their efforts, and I ask all of my colleagues to strongly support this important effort.

Mr. Speaker, this evening we have addressed our Nation's homeland security with the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act, putting the focus where it should be, keeping this Nation safe.

My constituents talk with me not only about homeland security and economic security, but about our health care security.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson) for the Small Business Health Fairness Act that he has filed. We talk about small businesses buying association health plans, being able to group together to buy health insurance to provide for their small business employees. This is a good idea. It helps bolster our Nation's economic engine, those small businesses.

I commend the gentleman from Texas. I cosponsored his legislation. I look forward to supporting it as he begins to move that to the floor and we keep the focus on security in this great Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Iowa. He has done such a wonderful job on the Committee on the Judiciary. I had the opportunity to serve with him on that committee last Congress, and I appreciate his wisdom, his expertise, and just his common sense way of approaching legislation.

So often he will say that he was out on his tractor thinking about this, that, or the other, and let me tell you what I think. I think there are many of my constituents in Tennessee that certainly relate to how he goes about that thinking process, and we appreciate that.

Mr. Speaker, we did pass the PATRIOT Act today and reauthorize that. We did this with bipartisan support. I would remind the body this is one in a continuing string of items of legislation that have been passed with bipartisan support in this body. Whether it be bankruptcy reform or extension of the death tax, the energy bill or the highway bill, I could go on and on. Supplemental budget, the REAL ID Act, we have done it with bipartisan support.

I think there is a reason that the minority votes with the leadership of this House and the majority on our agenda, and it is because the leadership of this House is in touch with what the American people think, what is on their mind, what they are focusing on.

One of the things that we know that they are focusing on is security, whether it be moral security or economic security or health care security or homeland security; and our focus today has been on homeland security.

The gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) is right, today with bipartisan support we reauthorized the PATRIOT Act. We did it with good reason. We did it because it is a cornerstone and an important part of fighting and winning the war on terror. And winning is something we have to be certain we do.

Now, there are a couple of points that I did want to make, and I appreciate the gentleman yielding me this time. We heard quite a bit of bravado today about abuses, and we have a poster here. The PATRIOT Act, section 223 of the PATRIOT Act allows individuals to sue the Federal Government for money damages if a Federal official discloses sensitive information without authorization. Number of lawsuits filed against the government: zero. And the source on this is the Department of Justice.

One of my colleagues earlier said let us look at the PATRIOT Act by the numbers. This is a pretty important piece to remember. This is there for a reason, and it is important.

Here are some more PATRIOT Act facts by the numbers. One of the things that I would like to call attention to is the third point. Since the attacks on 9/11, the people arrested by the Department of Justice as a result of international terrorism investigations, 395; convictions, 212. This is so important for us to keep in mind because this shows the PATRIOT Act is working. There is a reason for this. There is a reason that we have that.

The gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) has talked about, and the gentleman from Texas talked about, the libraries and the importance of having access to the library records. The other night as we were discussing the PATRIOT Act, we talked about you had to have a court order. It is not just the ability to go in and say let me look at So- and-So's records. There is a process. It is the same process which has been in place for years. When we were looking at drug kings and racketeering, our Federal agents would use those powers at that point, always going to a judge, always receiving that permission.

But we know and we have had testimony given that some of the suspected 9/11 hijackers actually went in and used public libraries. We do not want our public libraries to become safe havens for terrorists. Those are the reasons for those provisions.

All in all the PATRIOT Act is one of those items that will add to achieving the security that we want here in our homes, in our communities, in our schools, in our public places and gathering places. It is another tool that can be used by our intelligence community, our defense community, and our law enforcement community to be certain they gather information and have the ability to share information that is necessary to keep this Nation safe.

I again thank the members of the Committee on the Judiciary, and I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) for the excellent work that was done on this bill, bringing it to the floor; and I thank the members who voted and supported and worked in a bipartisan manner to see this finished today.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to call the body's attention to a sheet of paper that the Committee on Ways and Means has produced for the membership this morning. It is the top 10 reasons the economy is strong.

The late Alex Haley used to say, find the good and praise it. Mr. Speaker, this morning I would like to pause and praise the free enterprise system and the wonderful men and women, the small business owners who have put their energy into building a strong economy. It is their work. They create the jobs, not us. It is government's job to create the environment and get out of the way and let free enterprise do what it does best.

The items, the 10 items on this list are so encouraging. Unemployment, near historic lows, 5 percent; 4.4 percent average GDP growth since June of last year; 3.7 percent growth in manufacturing output since June of last year.

The economy is strong. Free enterprise is doing its job. Mr. Speaker, let us celebrate that success.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) for his excellent work on this amendment and to join him in saying to the body, yes, indeed, Guantanamo Bay serves a very valuable purpose, a strategic purpose when we talk about the war on terror, and the importance, the absolute necessity that we have to win this war on terror.

This is one of those situations where losing is not an option. As the gentleman was just saying, the detainees, all 520 individuals that are there, all 520 detainees have been found to be a terrorist. They have been through not zero, not one, not two, not three, but four different hearings, and they have been found to be terrorists. These are people that do not wish us well. They wish evil, and they carry out evil. We need to keep them locked up.

We found that Guantanamo was a safe, secure facility. It is there for the protection of the individuals as well as for intelligence gathering. And our intelligence community is doing a tremendous job gathering information that has continued to keep this Nation safe and will continue to keep this Nation safe.

They have gathered intelligence that helped lead to the capture of Saddam Hussein. They have gathered intelligence that has helped break up terrorist cells all around this globe. That is important. Why have we not seen an attack on American soil since September 11? Because of intelligence that is being gathered.

I will tell my colleagues, for far too long we treated terrorism as a law enforcement issue. I would recommend to the body that in my opinion it is not just a law enforcement issue. Law enforcement is necessary, intelligence is necessary, defense is necessary if we are going to win.

Mr. Chairman, while I am here for a moment, I would like to say thank you to the men and women in uniform and to the families that are deployed and serving there. We have had about 10,000 Americans serve at Guantanamo Bay. They are doing a stellar job. We thank them for their work under very difficult, very difficult situations, and we are grateful for their commitment to the war on terror, and we are grateful for their commitment to freedom, preserving freedom in this Nation and around the globe.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things we have learned since September 11 is that legislation like the PATRIOT Act is absolutely necessary, so I want to commend the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), and the committee itself for working to prepare legislation reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act.

I was disappointed to learn that many of the Democrats opposed the legislation in committee, especially in light of the London bombings. Prior to September 11, this country did not have the legal and intelligence infrastructure necessary to pursue terrorist cells operating on our own soil. Republicans in Congress said never again, and we took action to be sure that our police and intelligence agencies were working together to prevent terrorism. The PATRIOT Act should be reauthorized with overwhelming bipartisan support.

I hope Democrats will finally realize we cannot afford to be soft on terrorism here at home and will join Republicans in supporting this bill when it comes to the House floor.