Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word to engage in a colloquy with the gentleman from New York (Chairman Walsh).

Mr. Chairman, as the gentleman from New York is aware, over 75 million Americans suffer serious pain, and over 50 million of these endure serious pain with a duration of 6 months or more. Many of these Americans are being treated in facilities within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Currently, available treatment mechanisms do not cure the pain and usually involve medications that are hardly more effective than a placebo, while introducing the risk of serious side effects. Recent clinical findings are causing widespread concern that pain killers available through prescription and over the counter are placing users at additional risk.

As the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that must find funding to pay for these medications, the gentleman from New York has an important role in directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to use their medical dollars wisely.

I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for his remarks and look forward to working with him as he moves this bill forward and into conference. I would hope that the conference statement of managers would include a suggestion to the Department of Veterans Affairs that they consider doing research in this area.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from New York.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the 2006 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill contains many provisions to protect our troops and give them the services that they need.

Although it is largely a product of the committee's bipartisan work, I am highly concerned by several aspects of the bill. I am extremely troubled by the new restriction against women serving in the military. While the committee-passed bill included far worse language, preventing women from serving in forward-deployed units, the current provision is also not worthy of the brave women who make up 15 percent of the active duty Army, 23 percent of the Army Reserve, and 13 percent of the Guard. And it dishonors the service of women soldiers who are fighting the global war on terror and hurts readiness at a time when our military is facing a recruitment and retention crisis.

I am also deeply concerned that the Committee on Rules did not allow a vote on my amendment stating that it is United States policy not to have a permanent presence in Iraq. My amendment simply codified what the administration has been saying all along, that U.S. troops will stay in Iraq as long as necessary, but not 1 day more. It would have made clear and unambiguous statements that the United States does not intend to maintain a permanent presence.

While this bill takes many small steps towards improving benefits for our Nation's servicemembers, it does not recognize the urgency in responding to the needs of a whole new generation of combat veterans.

I introduced two amendments in committee to improve transition assistance services and preseparation counseling to separating servicemembers. These programs are critical to providing servicemembers with the tools they need to succeed in civilian life. As we prepare to take on thousands of new veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom have been critically injured and will need long-term support, we must expand these programs. The committee did a disservice to our troops when it failed to adopt these amendments.

Finally, I am also troubled by the chairman's decision to ignore the views of his fellow committee members and strike bipartisan language. The committee recognized the need to extend TRICARE to nonactive-duty Reservists by adopting the Taylor amendment.

Our chairman later struck the provision, and the Rules Committee has denied Mr. Taylor the opportunity to bring an amendment to the floor.

I also want to extend a special word of thanks to Lauren Briggerman, my Military Legislative Aide, who is leaving my office in June to attend law school.

In the nearly 2 years Lauren has been with my office, she has proven to be tremendously talented and dedicated.

Lauren has contributed immeasurably to my work on the Armed Services Committee, particularly on Iraq exit strategies, repeal of the military's unjust ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy, transition assistance for returning veterans, weapons non-proliferation, and defense issues affecting Massachusetts.

I wish her the best.

I thank the ranking member for providing me time to speak on this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Woolsey amendment.

This amendment does not say, Cut and run. This amendment does not call it quits. It asks the President for an exit strategy. And since the President declared victory in Iraq, more than 1,500 Americans have been killed. The Bush administration still has not laid out a strategy to win the peace in Iraq and bring our American forces home.

Now, when he was Governor of Texas, this is the advice that George W. Bush gave President Clinton about the war in Kosovo. Victory, he said, means exit strategy, and it is important for the President of the United States to explain to us what the exit strategy is.

Now, that is what Governor Bush said about President Clinton and the war in Kosovo, and the need for an exit strategy is even more apparent in Iraq. In the absence of an exit strategy, the administration continues to pursue the same strategy that has only led to more casualties and less stability. We have killed or captured 1,000 to 3,000 insurgents every month for more than a year. But with thousands of new recruits, the insurgency strengths have quadrupled.

Without an exit strategy to win the peace and bring our troops home, our policy is going in circles.

Our troops have won tactical victories, but they have not translated into strategic advances. Any successful strategy in Iraq has to address the fundamental factors that are continuing to fuel the insurgency.

One of those factors is the suspicion that U.S. troops are going to occupy Iraq indefinitely. Those suspicions are being reinforced by the fact that we have three or four times as many troops in Iraq today as the administration predicted we would. Until we lay out a framework for bringing our troops home and replacing them with Iraqis, the Iraqi people will never feel that they are in control of their own destiny.

A clear exit strategy would help splinter insurgent groups who have set aside their own differences in order to unite against the United States. It would send a message to the Iraqi Government that it needs to take responsibility for its own security. And, finally, an exit strategy is that light at the end of the tunnel that our troops need and the taxpayers need.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, to put science and compassion ahead of ideology and fear.

The promise of embryonic stem cells is that they alone have the potential to develop into any kind of body tissue, including blood, brain, muscle, organ, or nerve tissue. Scientists believe that this unique ability might lead to breakthroughs in a number of illnesses that are now untreatable. Over 100 million Americans suffer from diseases and conditions that may one day be treated using stem cell therapies, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, juvenile diabetes, Lou Gehrig's disease, severe bums, and spinal cord injuries.

For the very reason that we do not yet know what kind of treatments stem cell research will yield, it would be unwise not to explore the possibilities.

As one researcher at Harvard Medical School and Boston's Children's Hospital recently wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine, ``the science of human embryonic stem cells is in its infancy.'' Restricting stem cell research now ``threaten[s] to starve the field at a critical stage.'' It's critical to understand the science of stem cell research to weigh the moral and ethical issues involved. This bill allows funding of research on stem cells that are harnessed from fertility clinics.

In vitro fertilization is a technology that has allowed millions of couples to share in the joy of childbirth. It results in the creation of embryos that are never implanted into the womb, never grow to be more than a handful of cells, and would otherwise be discarded. Harnessing stem cells for medical research from fertility clinics is a compassionate, pro-family, and pro-life position.

As one of the world's foremost centers of medical research, Massachusetts has much at stake in the stem cell debate. Not only are our hospitals, research facilities, and institutions of higher learning on the cutting edge of conquering disease, they are also major economic drivers keeping us competitive in the global economy and employing tens of thousands of people.

Massachusetts has over 250 biotech firms. That is more than all of Western Europe combined.

If we continue the current ban on stem cell research, it does not mean that research will stop elsewhere. But it would put America--the world's most powerful engine of innovation and progress--on the sidelines.

Mr. Speaker, America should be leading the world in using our compassion and our scientific knowledge to develop lifesaving therapies. I urge support for H.R. 810.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to applaud my good friend, the gentleman from Michigan, for his commitment to protecting public health and the environment.

Over the last century, the nation's wastewater infrastructure has resulted in enormous strides in improving public health.

I represent the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts.

The Merrimack River was once among the most polluted waterways in the nation.

Moreover, the northeast is ridden with outmoded sewer infrastructure that is designed to overflow into public waterways.

During heavy weather, these combined sewer systems steer raw, untreated sewage into rivers like the Merrimack, and bays such as Casco bay in Maine.

The challenge to control cso's has been both of technical and financial feasibility.

Some treatment plants use a blending bypass during periods of heavy weather so that cso's receive some treatment rather than none at all.

In economically-distressed communities such as Lawrence, Haverhill, and Lowell that have combined sewer systems, it is not currently possible to provide full treatment for all sewage during wet weather.

I seek assurance from the gentleman from Michigan that his amendment would not prohibit cso communities from blending if it is authorized by their permits in accordance with the Clean Water Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the hard work and dedication of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national non-profit organization dedicated to ending the military's failed ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy.

SLDN was co-founded by Dixon Osburn and Michelle Beneke in 1994 as a legal service agency with the mission of providing counsel to service members discharged under ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'' Since that time, SLDN has assisted more than 6,500 gay and lesbian troops and obtained thirty-five improvements to military regulations related to the policy.

Today, SLDN is the Nation's leading advocacy organization dedicated to repealing ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' and ensuring open service in our armed forces. Through tenacity and strong leadership, the organization has made significant steps forward in breaking down the barrier that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community looks to SLDN as a model for accomplishing policy change.

2004 was a groundbreaking year for the organization. SLDN filed a monumental lawsuit on behalf of twelve veterans of the War on Terror, challenging the constitutionality of ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' in federal court. SLDN's legal expertise also paved the way for two victorious cases before the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, overturning military sodomy convictions. And the staff mobilized veterans and supporters from twenty-two states to meet with 90 Congressional offices on their annual ``Lobby Day.''

I have had the pleasure of working with SLDN since my freshman term in Congress.

Most recently, we came together to draft the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, historic legislation to repeal ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' and replace it with a nondiscrimination policy. Because of SLDN's staunch efforts to win support in Congress, I introduced the bill with more than fifty cosponsors on March 2, 2005. We now have more than eighty cosponsors of this bipartisan bill today.

As SLDN celebrates its national dinner on May 7th, I commend the staff, board, and supporters for their commitment and perseverance. Just as the advocacy of civil rights groups paved the way for desegregation in the military, I am confident that SLDN's hard work will soon lead to the demise of the discriminatory and counterproductive ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act.

With this bill, the Republican Congress once again reaches inappropriately into the private lives of American citizens.

H.R. 748 would make criminals out of doctors, nurses, and family members who help young people who are seeking legal abortion services. It will not prevent abortions--but it will force young women to make that decision alone, without the help of adults they can trust. It may even force them into seeking unsafe abortions that put their health or their lives at risk.

Most minors seeking abortions involve their parents in the decision. But all too many young women live in emotionally or physically abusive households. Some have become pregnant as a result of rape or incest. For them, it is unrealistic and cruel to make it a crime for them to seek the help of other adults they can trust, such as a clergy member, older sibling, or grandparent.

H.R. 748 is blatantly unconstitutional. It restricts interstate travel and prevents young women from exercising their legal rights. It imposes undue burdens without making exception for emergencies where the young woman's health is threatened. It requires minors seeking judicial bypasses to go to court in not one but two States, even though this option is not even available in some States. Finally, this bill is another assault on federalism, usurping the laws of 27 states that have no parental notification laws or more reasonable laws.

Once again, the Republican Congress is attempting to legislate family relationships and restrict the constitutional rights of American citizens. I urge the defeat of H.R. 748.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children who lost their lives during the Armenian Genocide.

April 24th marks the anniversary of one of the darkest tragedies in human history--one that must be properly commemorated as the first genocide of the 20th century. On this day ninety years ago, the Ottoman Turk regime began rounding up hundreds of Armenian intellectuals and political leaders to be deported or executed. Thousands more Armenians were killed in their homes or on the streets. For five years, the brutal regime carried out the systematic destruction of the Armenian people through forced labor, concentration camps, and death marches, until millions were dead or exiled.

As we look back on the bloodshed and atrocities committed against the Armenian people, we must publicly acknowledge the weight of this human tragedy. I am disappointed that President Bush failed to characterize the brutal massacre of the Armenian people as a genocide in his annual commemoration address. To deny this truth is to

dishonor the memories of the millions of Armenians who lost their lives to ethnic cleansing.

The April 24th remembrance of the Armenian Genocide is also a reminder of the responsibility of all nations to stop these human tragedies from reoccurring. Today, a genocide is taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan. It has resulted in the murders of at least 70,000 innocent civilians, the internal displacement of 1.9 million, and the forced exile of 200,000. The international community must act now before Darfur reaches the scale of the Armenian Genocide.

Massachusetts' Armenian community, much of which I have the honor of representing, is committed to raising awareness of the tragedy that befell Armenians of the Ottoman Empire. Every year, survivors and their descendants participate in commemoration services across the Merrimack Valley to shed light on this dark tragedy. In my hometown of Lowell, the Armenian-American Veterans Honor Guard leads a procession to City Hall for a flag raising ceremony. Through these observances, we will never forget the truth.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the American Legacy Foundation for being selected as a final winner in the Environmental Protection Agency's Children's Environmental Health Awards.

The widespread use of tobacco and devastating effects of secondhand smoke contribute to a serious environmental health risk for America's children. Since its inception 5 years ago, the American Legacy Foundation, a non-profit health organization dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit, has implemented several innovative outreach initiatives and programs to discourage adult and youth tobacco use and reduce the effects of secondhand smoke.

Passive exposure through secondhand smoke puts children at risk for a range of health consequences including asthma, ear infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, reduced lung function, respiratory infection, and other chronic respiratory symptoms. According to current population survey data, 13.8 million kids ages 0 to 17 are exposed to secondhand smoke and 22 percent of middle school students and 24 percent of high school students are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home.

The American Legacy Foundation has launched key initiatives to address the negative health effects of tobacco. The Foundation has designed public awareness campaigns and initiatives to educate and empower youth to take action against the environmental health threat from smoking and secondhand smoke.

Some of the Foundation's most successful programs include truth', the Youth Speakers Bureau, the Youth Advisory Panel and the Statewide Youth Movement Against Tobacco Use (Youth Empowerment) Grants.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I encourage my colleagues to join with me to congratulate the American Legacy Foundation for their progress in successfully reducing youth smoking and for receiving the Environmental Protection Agency's Children's Environmental Health Award.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this imbalanced energy bill, which allows big energy companies to exploit our natural resources at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.

The bill would repeal the Public Utilities Holding Companies Act-- PUHCA--which prevents big energy firms, like Enron, from driving smaller utilities out of business and monopolizing the energy market.

The bill includes a safe-harbor provision for MTBE manufacturers even though the chemical has been detected polluting groundwater sources across the Nation, including in Massachusetts.

The bill's authors included a variety of special-interest favors for oil and gas production despite the fact that producers are already reaping profits from record high energy prices. And yet President Bush himself admitted that it will do nothing to lower the price that consumers pay for gas at the pump.

And the bill would open the door to oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a pristine habitat that would yield less than three-tenths of a percent of world oil production by 2015.

The California energy crisis and today's high fuel demands are evidence that the Nation needs an energy strategy that is focused on clean energy technologies and energy independence. The United States needs to become less reliant on foreign energy sources. We cannot drill our way to independence. The only effective strategy will balance increased fuel efficiency with renewable energy technologies.

Instead of using the technology we already have and could achieve to increase the fuel economy of new fleets of vehicles, the bill does little more than order a study.

Unfortunately, this bill will only worsen our Nation's dependence on fossil fuels imported from the Middle East. At current production levels the U.S. supply of oil will only last another 20 years, while the oil supply in Saudi Arabia is estimated to last another 75 years. Our reliance on Saudi oil is harmful to our environment and our values.

Fossil fuels like oil and coal provide the vast majority of energy for the United States. That was unlikely to change for the near future no matter what bill we had a chance to vote on. Unfortunately, this bill does little to put this Nation on a path to greater energy independence.

This bill does not represent a national energy policy--it is 1000 pages of shameless special interest giveaways. I urge its defeat.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to S. 256, which clearly is a payback and payout to the credit card companies.

Mr. Speaker, this bankruptcy bill is but the latest attempt by the Republican Congress to undermine the economic security of the middle class. Health care costs, not spending sprees, are the single largest causes of bankruptcies in America. Health care costs. Medical bankruptcies have gone up by more than 2,000 percent in the last 25 years. Why are we here trying to increase the profits of credit card companies while doing nothing to lower the cost of health care for middle-class American families?

It is disgraceful that this bill is being considered under a closed rule, with just an hour of debate, with no opportunity for amendment.

Supporters of this bill claim to have exempted service members who become disabled on active duty, but to be exempted you have to go into debt while on active duty.

A veteran who returns home from Iraq or Afghanistan and then goes into debt because of the injuries sustained on active duty is still subject to the punitive means test. What a way to treat the men and women in uniform fighting on behalf of the United States. It is an unfair loophole that we should have had the opportunity to close here on the House floor.

Another blatant unfairness is that this bill allows millionaires to shield their assets in estates in Florida and Texas, but no such homestead exemption exists for middle-class families who suffer serious medical expenses. We tried to offer an amendment allowing a limited homestead exemption for families with crushing medical debts. Unfortunately, no amendments were allowed.

It is an outrage that we cannot debate these issues here on the House floor. This bill is simply an attempt to reward credit card companies by removing a last resort available to middle-class families who fall on hard times.

I urge Members to oppose this terrible bill.

Mr. Speaker, I did not say the bill did not pay for service members' medical expenses who are injured in Iraq or Afghanistan. I said if they incur debt after they come back from serving this country and are forced to bankruptcy, they get the punitive means test. That is wrong. We should not do it to people serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor our nation's youth today on the 10th annual Kick Butts Day, an annual celebration of youth leadership and activism in the fight against tobacco use.

Over the past 10 years, our nation has made significant progress in reducing youth smoking rates. Young people themselves have played a major role in this success. We should be proud that we've reduced smoking rates among high school students by 40 percent since 1997, when smoking rates among youths peaked at an alarming 36.4 percent.

But we have more work to do. About 22 percent of high school students still smoke. Tobacco is still the leading preventable cause of death in our country, killing more than 400,000 people every year. On Kick Butts Day, we should commit to finishing the job of protecting our kids from tobacco addiction by supporting science-based tobacco prevention measures, strong deterrents to youth smoking, well-funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs, smoke-free air laws, and FDA authority over tobacco products and marketing.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert in the Record the attached report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids entitled ``Ten Years of Kicking Butts: Reducing Youth Smoking in the United States.'' It is a valuable summary of the progress we have made in reducing youth smoking, the evidence that common sense solutions work, and the need still to redouble our efforts.

Ten Years of Kicking Butts: Reducing Youth Smoking in the United

States--Kick Butts Day 10th Anniversary Report

On May 7, 1996, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids held the

first annual Kick Butts Day to focus the nation's attention

on the serious and growing problem of youth tobacco use in

our country. At that time, youth smoking rates had been

rising alarmingly for several years, fueled by cigarette

marketing campaigns such as Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man

that appealed to youth and deep price cuts that made

cigarettes more affordable to kids. In 1997, smoking

rates among high school students reached an all-time-high,

with 36.4 percent of high school students reporting that they

were current smokers.

As we celebrate the 10th annual Kick Butts Day on April 13,

2005, the picture is much improved. After nearly 10 years of

hard work, our nation has turned the tide, and we are making

unprecedented progress in reducing youth tobacco use in our

country. By implementing scientifically proven solutions like

tobacco tax increases, well-funded tobacco

prevention programs and smoke-free air laws, we have

reduced smoking rates among high school students by 40

percent since 1996.

Still, there is much work to be done. Tobacco use remains

the leading preventable cause of death in our country,

killing more than 400,000 people and costing the nation more

than $89 billion in health care bills every year. A quarter

of all high school seniors still smoke, and another 2,000

kids become regular smokers every day, one-third of whom will

die prematurely as a result.

Perhaps most troubling, a survey released March 31, 2005,

by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found

that our progress in reducing youth smoking has slowed

considerably or stalled completely. The survey found no

statistically significant change in either high school or

middle school smoking rates from 2002 to 2004.

Public health experts have pointed to several reasons for

this leveling off in youth smoking rates: While states have

cut tobacco prevention funding by 28 percent in the last

three years and the American Legacy Foundation has also had

funding reduced for its effective, national truth'

youth smoking prevention campaign, the tobacco companies have

increased their marketing expenditures to a record $12.7

billion a year--more than $34 million a day. More than two-

thirds of all tobacco marketing dollars is spent on cigarette

price discounts and free cigarette giveaways that make

cigarettes more affordable to kids, who are very price-

sensitive.

The recent CDC survey is a wakeup call to elected leaders

at all levels that we cannot take continued progress in

reducing youth smoking for granted and must redouble efforts

to implement proven measures to reduce tobacco use, including

tobacco tax increases, well-funded tobacco prevention

programs, and smoke-free air laws. It is also critical that

Congress enact legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration authority to regulate tobacco products,

including the authority to crack down on marketing and sales

to kids. If we take these steps, our nation will continue to

achieve significant reductions in youth tobacco use. If we

fail to do so, the progress we have made is at risk and could

even reverse.

This report summarizes the progress we have made in

reducing youth smoking in the United States and the

challenges that remain.

Progress in Reducing Youth Smoking, Saving Lives and Saving Money

High school smoking rates have been reduced by 40 percent

since reaching an all-time-high in 1997--in 1997, 36.4

percent of high school students smoked; today about 22

percent smoke (source: CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey and

Youth Tobacco Survey).

Youth smoking rates have been reduced among all vulnerable

age groups. Since smoking rates peaked in 1996-1997, we have

reduced smoking by 56 percent among eighth graders, 47

percent among tenth graders and 31.5 percent among twelfth

graders (source: National Institute on Drug Abuse Monitoring

the Future Survey).

These declines mean that there are roughly 2 million fewer

high school kids smoking than there would have been if

smoking rates had remained constant.

These reductions in youth smoking will prevent 600,000

premature deaths due to smoking.

These reductions in youth smoking will save $32 billion in

tobacco-related health care costs.

Succeeding by Implementing Scientifically Proven Solutions

Our nation has succeeded in reducing youth smoking by

implementing scientifically proven solutions, including

tobacco tax increases, tobacco prevention programs funded

with tobacco settlement and tobacco tax dollars, and smoke-

free air laws that require all workplaces and public places

to be smoke-free. We are making significant progress in

implementing these solutions:

Cigarette Taxes--Forty-one states and DC have increased

cigarette taxes since 1995, some more than once for a total

of 79 separate cigarette tax increases. The average state

cigarette tax has increased from 30.3 cents per pack on June

30, 1995, to 84.7 cents a pack (once all already approved

cigarette taxes take effect July 1, 2005).

Smoke-Free Air Laws--In 1998, California became the first

state to require all restaurants and bars to be smoke-free.

Today, 10 states and 234 communities across America have

strong smoke-free workplace laws. Seven states--California,

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and

Rhode Island--have smoke-free laws that require all

workplaces, including restaurants and bars, to be smoke-free.

Three states--Florida, Idaho and Utah--have smoke-free laws

that include restaurants, but not bars. Such laws now cover

more than a third of the nation's population.

State Tobacco Prevention Programs--In 1996, only three

states--Arizona, California and Massachusetts--had well-

funded tobacco prevention programs. Today, 13 states do.

National Public Education Campaign--Another key factor in

youth smoking declines has been the American Legacy

Foundation's national truth ' youth smoking

prevention campaign. A study published in the March 2005

issue of the American Journal of Public Health found that

declines in youth smoking accelerated after the launch of

this campaign in 2000 and that there was a significant dose-

response relationship between exposure to the truth

' campaign's anti-smoking advertising and declines

in youth smoking between 2000 and 2002, the period of the

study.

Despite Progress, Challenges Remain

While our nation has made significant progress in reducing

youth smoking, our work is far from done:

Tobacco use is still the nation's leading preventable cause

of death, killing more than 400,000 people every year and

sickening millions more.

Tobacco use costs our nation more than $89 billion in

health care bills and $88 billion in productivity losses each

year.

About 25 percent of high school seniors still smoke.

Every day, another 2,000 kids become regular smokers, one-

third of whom will die prematurely as a result.

The tobacco industry is spending record amounts to market

its deadly and addictive products. Since 1996, total tobacco

marketing expenditures have increased by 144 percent to a

record $12.7 billion a year--more than $34 million a day,

according to the Federal Trade Commission's most recent

annual report on cigarette marketing (for 2002). The

tobacco companies spend more than $23 to market cigarettes

and other tobacco products in the U.S. for every dollar

the states spend on programs to protect kids from tobacco.

More than two-thirds of all tobacco marketing dollars is

spent on cigarette price discounts and free cigarette

giveaways that make cigarettes more affordable to kids,

who are very price sensitive.

While the tobacco companies have increased their marketing,

the states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs

by 28 percent in the last three years (from $749.7 million in

Fiscal 2002 to $542.6 million in Fiscal 2004). These cuts

decimated some of the nation's most successful tobacco

prevention programs, including those in Florida,

Massachusetts and Minnesota. While more states have well-

funded tobacco prevention programs today than 10 years ago,

the bad news is that 37 states and DC are funding prevention

programs at less than half the CDC's recommended minimum

amount or providing no funding at all.

The progress of the past decade has shown that we have

proven solutions to reduce tobacco use, including cigarette

tax increases, well-funded tobacco prevention programs and

smoke-free air laws. These solutions are the equivalent of a

vaccine that protects kids from tobacco addiction and its

deadly consequences. But like other vaccines, this vaccine

must be administered to every generation of children.

Otherwise, the tobacco epidemic will explode again, at great

cost in health, lives and money.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the 184th anniversary of Greek Independence Day.

On March 25, 1821, the people of Greece launched a long, but successful revolt against 400 years of oppressive rule by the Ottoman Turks. Greece's eight year struggle for independence is a testament to the strength of the human spirit in its pursuit of freedom.

As Americans, we share with the Greeks their longstanding commitment to democracy and the rule of law. Our Nation's founding principles of freedom and democracy were influenced by ancient Greek philosophers just as the Greek revolution of 1821 was inspired by the American fight for freedom in 1776.

Our common struggles against totalitarianism and fascism have forged a bond between our nations. Greece has stood by the United States throughout modern history's major world conflicts, including World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and now, the war on terror.

Last summer, the Olympic Games returned to their ancient birthplace. Greece accommodated more than 10,000 athletes from 202 countries. Greece proudly displayed its culture and civilization, and hosted people of all nationalities to participate in noble athletic competition.

I am proud to represent a large and active Greek-American community in my congressional district. I have worked with my constituents to support the return of the Elgin marbles, U.S. participation in negotiations over Cyprus, the inclusion of Greece in the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, and the presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal to His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew.

I congratulate the people of Greece on their Nation's 184th anniversary of independence and freedom.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1059, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, bipartisan legislation to repeal the military's senseless Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

With our troops spread thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, our military is having serious problems meeting personnel requirements. The Army missed its February recruiting goals by 27 percent. Yet under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell, we are discharging thousands of experienced, dedicated servicemembers simply because of their sexual orientation.

Hundreds of people let go under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy have skills that are critical to the war on terror, including translators and linguists. These soldiers have the courage to fight and the skills our military needs. There is no reason we should not allow them to serve their country. It is time for Congress to put national security interests first. It is time to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy so we can keep the United States military the strongest in the world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the people of Nagomo Karabakh, who recently celebrated the seventeenth anniversary of their National Freedom Movement.

On February 20, 1988, the courageous people of Nagomo Karabakh officially petitioned the Soviet government to reunite their homeland with Armenia. They sought to correct the injustices of the brutal Stalin regime, under which the ethnic Armenian population of Nagomo Karabakh was involuntarily placed within the borders of Azerbaijan.

Despite the peaceful request by the Nagomo Karabakh Freedom Movement, the

central Soviet and Azerbaijani leadership responded with violence, which escalalated to a brutal campaign against the people of Nagomo Karabakh. These brave citizens refused to give up their right to live in freedom on their ancestral land, fighting for the principles of democracy and human rights upon which our own country was founded.

Today, the unwavering strength of the Freedom Movement can be seen in the democratically-elected government of Nagomo Karabakh. As a member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenia Issues, I congratulate the people of Nagomo Karabakh for their steadfast commitment to promoting freedom, democracy and economic development over the past seventeen years.

It is my hope that the past efforts of Nagomo Karabakh to achieve a peaceful secession from Azerbaijan will help bring a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan.