Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, most Americans probably don't know that there are military men and women who serve their country right here in the U.S. House of Representatives as liaisons between members of Congress and the Nation's armed forces.

These men and women have a critical role in helping Congress do its job, and today, while America is at war, the importance of their work is clearer than ever before.

It is with great appreciation and sadness that I rise to thank one of our finest military liaisons, U.S. Marine Corps Major William McCollough, for his service to this institution and our country as he leaves Washington to join the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment as Executive Officer.

During my time in Congress, I've had the opportunity to work with Major McCollough--and I know that my colleagues who've worked with him will agree--that his leadership, professionalism, and friendship have enabled us to better represent our districts.

We will miss Major McCollough, but we wish him well in his new assignment.

Mr. Speaker, we have just voted on a bill with many important elements for our troops, and I wanted to say a few words about our men and women in uniform.

Since taking office, I have had the chance to meet with our troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, and those here at home in my State of Tennessee, and I cannot describe a more patriotic, dedicated, and courageous group of human beings.

In the face of adversity, tackling this enormous new war on terror, they have put on their game face and they have gotten to work. Their commitment to, as they like to call it, ``the mission,'' inspires me, and it inspires all of us to be sure that we are working here to do everything we can to support their work.

So today, during Military Appreciation Month, I want to extend to our men and women in uniform the world over a great big thank-you from this American and from every other citizen whose freedom in life depends on their strength and conviction. May God bless all of them.

Mr. Speaker, one of the privileges we have from time to time is to stand and recognize those in our community who do good, who improve the quality of life, who make our communities a better place to live.

And today I have that opportunity to recognize Reverend Douglas Westmoreland, the pastor of Tusculum Hills Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. In June of 1975, 30 years ago, Reverend Westmoreland answered the call and began sharing his ministry with the members of Tusculum Hills Baptist Church.

It is my privilege today to join with those members and to thank him for his appreciation of the congregation, for his guidance he has given the congregation and the inspiration that he has given not only to the congregation but also to our entire community. We thank Reverend Westmoreland for his continued service, and I thank the Members of this body for joining me in honoring him.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our chairman, and also thank the leader.

You know, I believe that everybody engaged in this debate today means well, and this is one of those great debates that we have on this floor. It is full of passion. But this is not a debate about passion. It is not a debate about style. This is a debate about substance. And the substance of this debate is life, clear and simple. You know, there is a fact on this, also, I think we ought to look at.

While we do not know where embryonic stem cell research might lead us, we do know that engaging in this form of research would require ending a human life for the purpose of experimentation. And that is something that I do not think any of us want to sanction. And in my opinion, we would be giving away our humanity, our sense of ethics, for the mere hope, the mere hope that this form of research would someday yield results.

Meanwhile, H.R. 810, the bill that is under discussion diverts funds from research that has proven results, from research that does not require us to look the other way while human life is purposely ended.

Adult stem cell research has made great leaps. We have heard about that today. Cord blood research has made great strides. We have heard about that also today. And we hear that by using islet cells from living donors or adult brain cells instead of embryos, there is a potential to cure diabetes.

I think we should all vote ``no'' on H.R. 810. We should stop and look at the substance of the debate.

Mr. Speaker, it's not every day that I get the opportunity to recognize someone who has demonstrated tremendous dedication to public service. But today I have just such an opportunity.

I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Carl Brown, Tennessee's Department of Human Services Assistant Commissioner, for being one of those people who makes government work better.

Carl has served our State for more than 4 decades and he's done a magnificent job. The thousands of disabled Tennesseans he has helped over the years know exactly what I mean when I say that Carl has lived to serve others. He has always known that there are few higher callings in life than helping those in need. And we are grateful for him.

While I'm thankful for Carl and his service to our State, we will miss his work at the Department of Human Services when he retires this May 2005.

All of us in Tennessee wish Carl and his wife, Mary Frances, a wonderful retirement with their children and grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, you know last year this body passed the 2004 Jobs and Growth Act, and this restored sales tax deductibility to our State.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to rise tonight just to give an update on the good work this is doing in the State of Tennessee. We have a $272 million boost in our State revenues. Now, we are one of those States that does not have a State income tax. We have a State sales tax, and restoring that deductibility that the Republican leadership pushed forward in this House has paid dividends for the State of Tennessee.

It is like a lot of the other economic news that we are hearing: 274,000 new jobs that were created in the month of April; employment ranks grew by 598,000 jobs this last month, pushing it to over 141 million Americans who are working. These are the right decisions, the right steps to promote positive economic growth in our great Nation, and I thank the leadership for their work on that issue.

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to honor Mark Morgan of Laurel, Mississippi today. Mark was returning home one evening when he passed a vehicle that had pulled to the side of a bridge. Despite the dark and his own exhaustion, Mark pulled over to be sure the woman who sat in the car alone did not need any assistance. Little did Mark know he had just answered the prayers of a worried family and community.

Louise Martin had left church to drive home; she'd become confused and lost. Eventually her car ran out of gas, leaving her stranded along a rarely traveled stretch of highway. After Mark stopped, he called Mrs. Martin's family and told them he was going to bring her home. Nearly twelve hours after Mrs. Martin left her church, she was reunited with her husband and family.

Mr. Speaker, Mark Morgan is a shining example of the spirit of concern and the willingness to aid others.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to praise America's small business owners. They really are our Nation's economic engine, and these small business owners and our Nation's employers are doing a great job with this free enterprise system that we enjoy.

Mr. Speaker, there is good news about the economy that is out. In April, this economy created 274,000 new jobs. Also in April, we saw that retail sales exceeded projections. We thought we would have a .7 percent retail sales growth; in fact, we had a 1.4 percent retail sales growth.

Mr. Speaker, it just shows that manufacturing numbers are up. Capital investment is up. Manufacturing investment and output is up. The economy is at work, and it is working for America's families.

America's small businesses are doing their job, and I salute those small business owners.

Mr. Chairman, given the evacuation yesterday that we had here at the Capitol, it is so appropriate that we are taking this bill up today. We all know that there is always room for improvement in our Nation's security. I want to congratulate the gentleman from California (Chairman Cox) and his committee. They have done a great job in taking on a serious problem in our homeland security funding process.

The Faster and Smarter Funding For First Responders Act recognizes that, while we are sending significant funding out to the States for emergency preparedness, that funding and support is not always used in a timely fashion. In Tennessee, my home State, we found that between 2002 and 2004, there was nearly $85 million in Federal homeland security funds that had been unspent and not allocated.

And there is a problem when states like mine have the Federal funds but are not disbursing them as quickly as is needed by our local communities. We have appropriated Homeland Security dollars to the States in order to ensure that funding is flexible and can be targeted to the specific needs of our local communities, and we need to work to be sure that those funds are being used appropriately.

Mr. Chairman, this bill really clarifies the appropriate uses for Federal Homeland Security grants and evaluates and annually prioritizes pending grant applications, and it is great that our local communities and our States are going to have the support they need in the communities, the guidance that they need to appropriately use the funds and put it to work, put it to good use in our communities.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding me this time, and I want to commend the gentlewoman from Illinois for her fine work on this piece of legislation, and I would like to encourage my colleagues to all join me in supporting House Resolution 142 and honoring the goals and the ideals of Rotary International and Rotary International Day on their hundredth anniversary. It is a wonderful organization.

Growing up, I learned that giving back to your community should be a goal that each and every one of us would have. And with its ``Service Above Self'' motto, Rotary International truly is living up to that

standard of giving back. As an active Rotarian, I have had the opportunity to participate in so many events, programs, and projects that have been carried out by my Rotary club and by other Rotary clubs in my congressional district in Tennessee.

The gentlewoman from Illinois spoke a little about some of those projects, and it does not matter if you are in Nashville or Memphis or Clarksville, or anywhere in the Seventh District of Tennessee or around our great State, you are going to see that Rotary clubs are making a difference in each and every kind of project, from immunizations for children, which is a worldwide project for Rotaries, and then to things like the National Rotary Club, supporting the Boys and Girls Club and Second Harvest Food Bank, and providing scholarships. Also, in Memphis, they have awarded thousands of dollars in small grants to teachers who are working to improve literacy in that great city.

I want to send my thanks to the 1.2 million Rotary club members who are working to make that difference in communities around the globe, and I want to commend our international Rotarians who are now in 165 different countries for their commitment to service above self and improving the quality of life for each and every man and woman.

Mr. Speaker, before we all leave town for the weekend and to celebrate Mother's Day, I wanted to say just a little bit about the President's judicial nominees. They deserve an up-or-down vote in the Senate. That really is a matter of common sense here in Washington and something that needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, right now, common sense does not seem to be prevailing.

For more than 200 years, the Senate deliberated and voted on judicial nominees that were sent up by the President. During those 200 years, the process has not been circumvented by a minority political party in the Senate. Yet today we have a first--judicial nominees that are being held hostage by misuse of a rule preventing the full Senate from voting either to accept or to reject them.

Mr. Speaker, it is not fair, it is not right, and it is not in keeping with our system. The liberals over in the Senate know this. Yes, the Constitution grants the Senate the ability to make its own rules on procedure, but to twist that right in order to subvert the Senate's constitutional role is wholly inappropriate.

Mr. Speaker, America is on a really great economic track right now. Since 2000, Congress and this great Nation both have had to contend with a recession, with terrorism, but we have dealt with this by enacting tax relief and working to decrease regulatory burdens on America's workers. What we are seeing is real growth.

Now, the first quarter of this year we have seen a 3.1 percent growth in the GDP. It is good and solid. To put it all in perspective, going back to October and December of 2004, the fourth quarter of last year, look at what we had going on here. Germany, 1.5 percent growth, Italy and Japan both at eight-tenths of one percent growth. During that time, America had 3.9 percent GDP growth. Do we know why? It is because we have fought to lower taxes and reduce burdensome regulation both together, while other nations have kept raising their taxes and imposing more regulation.

What does this show? It tells us that if we want more of something, we tax it less, we regulate it less.

Madam Speaker, this has been quite a week here in the House. And I think that so many of my colleagues have noted how we hear from constituents about how feistily we come to the floor and how we debate and how we discuss the issues and the policies of the day and even tonight as we have stood to honor one of our colleagues who is taking on a new challenge. And I think it is so appropriate, Madam Speaker, that we recognize the fact that we do this because we are free. We are a free people. And we do it because we live in a Nation where men and women choose to sacrifice their lives, their time, their talent to preserve that freedom.

I noticed in The Washington Post today there is a great article about the Iraqi Army, now over 150,000 strong, being trained by American men and women in uniform who have chosen, who have chosen, to serve their Nation.

Madam Speaker, in Tennessee we have the 278th regiment that is on the Iraq-Iran border training many of these new Iraqi military men. And I want to honor them in their service and all of our men and women and say ``thank you'' and God speed for the good work they do in preserving freedom.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Jim Foglesong on his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Jim grew up singing with his family and then after serving in the U.S. Armed Forces used his G.I. Bill to attend Eastman School of Music.

Later Jim Foglesong not only developed talent but also mentored legendary music performers. He nurtured the careers of Country Music superstars Garth Brooks, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, The Oak Ridge Boys, George Strait, and Tanya Tucker, among others.

Now at age 82, Jim remains an important part of the Nashville music community.

His induction is the most prestigious honor in all of Country Music. I thank Jim for the tremendous contributions he has given to the business, the artists, and the fans of country music.

Mr. Speaker, after 15 years of devoted service to the North Tennessee Workforce Board, Edgar Ray Groves is stepping down and I wanted to take a moment to thank him for his service.

In 1990, Groves was first appointed to the position and began working to reorganize the way services were provided. Within two short years improvements were already noticeable, and in 1992 the NTWB received the Governor's cup for its outstanding accomplishment.

By 1996, the NTWB was leading the State in all Workforce Development services and had won national recognition by the U.S. Department of Labor. And that same year, NTWB began operating a Career Center on post at Fort Campbell, delivering dislocated worker services to soldiers exiting the Army.

Although Groves will no longer be serving as chair, he will continue to serve as a member of the local workforce board and the Tennessee State Workforce Board.

I join with our community in offering Ed Groves our sincere appreciation for his years of service.