Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise to offer this straight-forward amendment to the legislation before us today.

Following the attacks of 2001, it is essential that we improve our ability to track and identify terrorists attempting to cross our borders. Chairman Sensenbrenner and Chairman King have drafted legislation to better detect terrorist infiltrators, and I applaud them for their hard work on this important issue.

While most of the illegal immigrants who enter the United States do so for the purposes of finding work and making a better life, there are also those that may take advantage of our porous borders to enter the country and take part in terrorist activities. In fact, recent reports have projected that as many as 4,000 immigrants from countries identified as high risk will be arrested trying to enter the country illegally this year. As we speak, terrorists are using alien smugglers and document forgers to help move people through Iran and Pakistan, and it is only a matter of time until terrorist organizations attempt to use these techniques to enter the United States.

In 2004, the Border Patrol estimated that over 55,000 illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico crossed our borders during a 10-month period. Of the illegal aliens from countries identified by the Secretary of State as sponsors of terrorism who have been ordered deported, only about 6 percent have actually been removed, and these are only the ones we know about.

This legislation takes steps to enhance our border security procedures and improve our ability to identify and remove potential terrorists. As part of this effort, it is imperative that we closely monitor trends in the number of immigrants from noncontiguous nations, other than, obviously, Mexico and Canada, who enter our country illegally. After 2 years of this bill's enactment, my amendment would provide essential oversight on the effectiveness of this system by requiring the Department of Homeland Security to report to Congress on the number of illegal aliens from noncontiguous countries who are apprehended at or between ports of entry and the numbers of such aliens from countries identified by the State Department as sponsors of terrorism.

My amendment would also encourage Homeland Security to develop a strategy for entering the appropriate background information of illegal aliens from countries sponsoring terrorism into appropriate security screening watch lists.

With millions of illegal immigrants flooding over our vastly unsecured borders, there remains a huge vulnerability to terrorist attack. There is no doubt that al Qaeda and other terrorist groups will take advantage of any area that we fail to secure. Illegal aliens from countries known to sponsor international terrorism, in particular, should raise red flags, and Congress and the Department of Homeland Security need to closely monitor these trends.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I agree, again, with the gentlewoman from California. I am worried about her pessimism in all this as to whether we can get these kinds of reports or not.

But I think it is important to do this. I think it is very important that we ask this Department to come forward with this information. This basically is, again, a study after 2 years. They have got to give us the report. But, by God, we have got to hold them to it, too. I just think we have to know how these systems are working.

I do not think there is any question that the systems we have been talking

about tonight on a couple of occasions could work, but they do not work because the Department has not been able to implement very well what they are prescribed to do by law already. We are not asking them to do anything different here except to do some reporting. In that case, we can start to make decisions about what is working or not.

So I understand exactly what she is saying and understand her frustration, as a matter of fact; and in spite of that frustration, she is supportive and I appreciate that also.

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. King), the chairman of the committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, let me just respond for a moment, if I may, to the gentlewoman from Texas. I do not disagree with what you are saying. Part of the reason to get reports is to understand exactly where the problems are, do we have insufficient detainee and foot patrol officers and a whole variety of other things, for all that matter, judicial personnel or whatever it may be, to take care of some of the problems that exist.

It is fine to make the initial detention; but if you cannot do anything with it, you have not really achieved much in terms of perhaps preventing terrorism. So I do not disagree at all, and that is part of my goal.

I do not disagree with the gentlewoman from California. I think there are a lot of holes in all this; and I do not expect immediate, strong, good reports. As a matter of fact, I think we are going to have to prod to get some of these reports. But I think it is going to give us information that is helpful. That is the reason we have come forward with the amendment, probably to underline a lot of what you are concerned about and saying in terms of what we have to improve with respect to this whole situation.

I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I do recognize the problems you have raised, and I do think those are things that we have to consider.

I do appreciate everybody's support for the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 2863, the Fiscal Year 2006 Defense Appropriations Act, offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

There is no question that recent charges of misconduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prisons are obvious indications that there is significant confusion in the field regarding the interrogation of detainees.

Our soldiers and interrogators need to know exactly where the line is when engaging prisoners and there should be absolutely no question about what is acceptable behavior and what is not.

It is clear that any treatment that is cruel, inhuman and degrading is unacceptable. Such treatment is clearly prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and these abuses are a direct violation of our government's treaty obligations.

The provisions included in the Senate version of the Defense Appropriations bill simply ensure that persons under U.S. custody or control in facilities outside of this country cannot be subjected to treatment that would be deemed unconstitutional if it occurred in U.S. territory.

I strongly support President Bush's efforts to defeat terrorism and his explicit denouncement of torture is crucial to winning this struggle. Backroom deals to blur the lines or allow exemptions for certain government agencies undermine the very freedoms our soldiers are fighting for around the globe.

It is our duty to provide clarity about the values and standards by which America lives in contrast to our enemies. Now is the time for our government to reaffirm our position as the world's leader on human rights, and establish an unambiguous standard for the international treatment of detainees.

Mr. Speaker, this provision has passed the Senate with broad, bipartisan support and I urge my colleagues to support this very important motion to instruct.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to be able to speak to this bill. Let me just start by thanking you, Mr. Chairman, for expediting this. Sometimes it is not that easy to move along even good legislation. I also wish to thank the ranking member, Mr. Frank, who is on the floor, for his acceptance of this as well.

I cannot thank Carolyn Maloney enough for her exceptional work. You have to get a lot of signatures on these bills. You have to talk to a lot of people. We had a lot of negotiations with respect to some of the changes from Sakakawea to what we are trying to do, and I just cannot thank her enough for her constant support of it. I would bet we talked about this about 100 times in the course of the last couple years, if I had to guess.

I wish it were our bill and not the Senate version of our bill, though, but that is the way things go sometimes. We will still enjoy it.

I would also like to thank particularly Joe Pinder, who knows more about coins probably than anybody in the United States of America, as far as I can ascertain. He talked to me first about the other quarter bill, which I did not think was a particularly sound idea at the time. This was some 10 years ago now, I think. He talked to me about it again. Then he told me Delaware would be first because it was the first State to ratify the Constitution, and then he pointed out it would actually make some money for the Federal Government. By that time, I became convinced after several months of this, and we actually had to convince Secretary Rubin and Deputy Secretary Summers at that time. They thought the same thing I did; it was not a great idea. It turned out to be a very significant and good idea, as we all know now, for all the reasons that Mrs. Maloney and the chairman spoke about, educating a lot of people, and it has been a wonderfully fun program.

What a lot of people do not realize is these programs make money. That particular program has made $5 billion, billion with a ``B'' for the Federal Government so far, on its way to probably $8 billion to $10 billion before it is all said and done. It is a complicated process called seniorage, but essentially, they make the coins for 4 or 5 cents, and they sell them for 25 cents, obviously, when the public buys them from the Federal Reserve. And that amount of money, if the coins are not reclaimed, which they are not in the collectors' case, is money that we can use instead of having to appropriate money.

It is also estimated, I should point out, that this particular program which has multiple higher numbers, although there will be fewer coins distributed, we hope will make in the range of $4 to $5 billion as well. So we are talking about something which has a lot of benefit.

I would also like to thank Emily Pfeiffer, who started on my staff and now works for the committee. The committee, which has all this money and can pay higher salaries, I guess is what it is all about, took her away, but she has done some wonderful work on this as well.

This bill is unique. It has on the side edge incusing, which means on the side of the coin you are going to have what we have above you, Mr. Speaker: In God We Trust and E Pluribus Unum will be on there. It will be gold in color, and it will represent the various Presidents who served our country. It is going to be tremendously educational. There will be a First Lady coin; there will be gold bullion editions of these particular coins for collectors. We think it actually may help bring the dollar coin back into commerce. I see the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy) on the floor, and a lot of our negotiations were with him and he was very concerned about the continuation of the recognition of Sakakawea. My hope is, frankly, this is going to add to that, because it is actually going to get the coins distributed when we revert to that program, and sometime later it will add to it as well.

I must say that I am concerned about what Senator Dorgan did put into the bill, because I prefer what we worked out in the House as a better solution to this, and that is an edition of the third of the coins now still to be Sakakawea, and I am afraid they are going to sit and collect dust and not be distributed.

At this point I would rather have done this differently. But we are working on that, and hopefully we will have a better solution to recognize the great American Indians and what they have done for us in this country before we are all said and done, even while this program is going on. I think there are perhaps better solutions than what the Senate actually did, but that is something we are not going to do unless we all agree. So I think we should pass this legislation, which is very good legislation; and if we can make it even better, we should come back and try to do that at some point in the future. We will continue to work on that.

These coins, the quarters I am referring to now, have been highly successful because of the children's involvement. It is my hope that the children are going to go into the store and ask for dollar coins in change. We think that is very significant in terms of what they might do and in terms of the circulation in the commerce. Four of these will be issued per year, that will be plenty, to make everybody start looking forward to them. Once they collected the one before, they will collect the other one. They will be coined at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints, so they will have the P and the D on them, and people might wish to collect both of them, as a matter of fact.

As a matter of fact, even the National Education Association has sent a letter in support of this bill. It is true, you do not find many bills here in which we actually make money which are educational, which are fun, which are well received by everybody; and that is essentially what this bill does. So I would just like to thank everybody who was involved and urge passage of the legislation hopefully unanimously in the House.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to pay tribute to Brigadier General Ernie Talbert. This amazing man was also the first African American promoted to the rank of general in the 350-year history of the Delaware National Guard. I chose to wait until today to recognize General Talbert's first because today is also another great first--it is Delaware Day, which signifies the birth of our Nation. At his promotion ceremony on December 4, 2005, he was described by Major General Frank Vavala, as

``having a career of firsts . . . a pacesetter, a role model and a champion of change.'' I find Ernie Talbert to be all of those things and much more. He is a distinguished leader, an insightful and honest man, and a true patriot. Recognizing General Talbert on Delaware Day, which signifies the birth of our Nation, seemed a much deserved honor.

A native of Wilmington, Delaware, General Talbert's military career began in 1973 as a United States Air Force pilot flying C-141s out of Charleston, South Carolina. His 26 years of distinguished service with the Delaware National Guard began in January 1979, and today he is a command pilot with 6,500 flying hours. General Talbert's career with the Delaware Air Guard has been noteworthy in the wide variety of positions he has held including Squadron Commander; Operations Group Commander; Wing Commander and Chief of Staff for the Delaware Air Guard.

General Talbert's impact is certainly not limited to the Delaware National Guard. He is actively involved in many professional and community organizations including the John Porter Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen; the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame; the Brig. General Spruance Chapter of the Air Force Association; and the Central Baptist Church.

I congratulate Ernie Talbert for his years of extraordinary service and countless contributions to the Delaware National Guard and the community. General Talbert is an exemplary citizen, and on behalf of all Delawareans I would like to thank him and his family for the many sacrifices they have made during the past 26 years. His recent promotion to the rank of brigadier general is appropriate recognition for a remarkable career.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to pay tribute to Ed Kee, recipient of the 2005 Ratledge Family Award, for his noteworthy service to the University of Delaware and the community. The Ratledge Family Award is given only to those unique individuals who exemplify excellence in public service, and Ed Kee is deserving of this coveted award.

Mr. Kee has served in a variety of positions within the University of Delaware's Cooperative Extension Service since 1978. He has held the position of Kent County Agricultural Agent, State Vegetable Crops Specialist and Extension Agricultural Program Leader. In his extensive work throughout Delaware's valuable agriculture industry, Mr. Kee has played an instrumental role in recruiting two major vegetable processing plants to the State--in the highly competitive vegetable industry this is a noteworthy victory for area producers and Mr. Kee.

Mr. Kee contributions go well beyond agriculture, thanks in part to his many and varied community board and commission appointments and his philanthropic efforts. Especially noteworthy, in 1997 Mr. Kee and his wife Debbie established an endowed scholarship for graduates of a Delaware high school who choose to continue at University of Delaware and major in agriculture. Many University of Delaware agriculture student athletes owe Mr. and Mrs. Kee a sincere debt of gratitude, and I am pleased to join them in their appreciation. It is always impressive to see individuals who are willing to contribute to the education of our State's youth.

I congratulate and thank Mr. Kee on his years of service and numerous contributions to the State of Delaware. Mr. Kee is an exemplary citizen and a proud Delawarean. Thank you Ed, for all you have done for the University of Delaware and your community.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to pay tribute to Carol Vukelich, a recipient of the 2005 Ratledge Family Award. I congratulate her for her noteworthy service to the University of Delaware and the community. The Ratledge Family Award is given only to those unique individuals who exemplify excellence in public service, and Carol Vukelich is deserving of this coveted award.

Ms. Vukelich has devoted the past 32 years as a proud member of the University of Delaware faculty. In addition to her faculty appointment as the Hammonds Professor of Teacher Education, she has served as the founding director of the Delaware Center for Teacher Education. In addition, she is the cofounder of the Delaware Writing Project and the Delaware Reading Project, both professional development programs designed to build teachers' skills as mentors to other teachers.

More recently, Ms. Vukelich has turned her attention to such worthy projects as the enhancement of middle and high school special education teacher content knowledge and the overall strengthening of Head Start teachers. Specifically, she is working to improve early language and reading skills.

Educators serve a critical role in our society, especially those who are as dedicated to improving their field of knowledge as Ms. Vukelich. The University of Delaware and the Ratledge Family deserve much credit for recognizing this dynamic woman.

I congratulate and thank Ms. Vukelich on her years of service and numerous contributions to the State of Delaware. Thank you Carol, for your exceptional career as an educator and for your tireless efforts at improving teaching.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 288) recognizing the 30th anniversary of the enactment of the Education For All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and reaffirming support for the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act so that all children with disabilities have access to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Con. Res. 288.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 288, which I introduced with a bipartisan group of my colleagues. The resolution importantly recognizes the 30th anniversary of the enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, what we all know as the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. Not only does this resolution recognize the act's anniversary but also reaffirms this body's support for IDEA.

For too many years, children with disabilities were denied access to public education. However, with the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, the doors of educational opportunity were opened. Today, more than ever, students with disabilities have an opportunity to accomplish their goals.

According to the Department of Education, about 6.6 million students currently participate in these programs across the Nation. Signed into law on November 29, 1975, the Act established

the Federal priority of ensuring that all children, regardless of the nature or severity of their disability, have available to them what has become the tenet of IDEA, a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.

In 1986 we expanded the program to serve children with disabilities age 3 through 5, and created an early intervention program for infants and toddlers with disabilities under 3 years of age and their families.

The successes over the past 30 years are worth stating. Based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, since enactment there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of children with developmental disabilities who must live in State institutions away from their families.

The number of children with disabilities who complete high school with standard diplomas has grown significantly since the enactment of IDEA. The number of children with disabilities who enroll in college as freshman has more than tripled since the enactment of IDEA. And IDEA has raised the Nation's expectations regarding the abilities of children with disabilities by requiring access to the general education curriculum.

Last December, President Bush signed into law the latest reauthorization of IDEA. The evolution of the Act, its successes and other education reforms played an integral role in the reauthorization. The 2004 reauthorization aligns IDEA with the No Child Left Behind Act by guaranteeing children with disabilities a quality education based on high academic standards. Along these same lines, we strengthened the focus on the educational results of children with disabilities to better prepare these children for employment or an education beyond high school.

I am pleased that we are able to come together to recognize the good that has been done and to recognize the parents, students and educators impacted over the past 30 years. My hope for the future is that we continue to find ways to raise the achievement of students with disabilities and ensure that they have the services necessary to do so.

I ask my colleagues to support my resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, just briefly, first of all, both of the speakers on the other side of the aisle are men with whom I have worked extensively on this program as well as others, and they have the tremendous interests I think of the students, as we heard from their testimony here today, at heart, and I think everybody over here does as well.

I do get a little frustrated I guess at some of the economic arguments here. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) pointed out that over the last 10 years we have increased the funding for IDEA by 360 percent, from $2.3 billion to $10.6 billion, and comparably, before that, the increases had never, ever gotten above 10 percent. We are up to 20 percent now, and we are on a glide path, if you will, to try to get to 40 percent before it is all said and done.

I think it is important to understand that because of the court- ordered aspect and the way IDEA was born, that the States have the responsibility to make up that difference. So, essentially, when we pick up that extra amount of money, we are basically letting the States spend that money on something else, which may or may not be disabilities. Usually it is something else. And we are trying to continue to move that along and give the States fuller funding. But a tremendous effort has been done in a bipartisan way on that in the last 10 years. I just want to make sure that that is recognized.

I appreciate the comments from everybody on both sides of the aisle on this. I think it is an important subject, and I hope that everybody would support it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Texas for the time.

I rise in support of H. Res. 302 and commend the thousands of American businesses for their exceptional support of the employees who voluntarily serve in the National Guard and Reserve. These brave men and women risk their lives to protect our way of life, and the fact that their communities are standing by them and their family is a tremendous statement of gratitude for their service.

In my home State of Delaware, members of the Army and Air National Guard have set an extraordinary example for the rest of the country, with one of the highest national percentages of personnel volunteering for deployment in the global war on terror. These men and women have flown missions and provide support in places all over the globe, spending months away from their loved ones in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf region, I am proud to say that the Delaware National Guard was among the first units on the ground, responding with airlift, security personnel and medical supplies.

On October 15, the State of Delaware was among several employers recognized by the Secretary of Defense for their outstanding support of Guardsmen and their families.

As a former Governor in Delaware, I can tell my colleagues that the vocal and active support from our community for the National Guard and Reserve is a long-standing tradition.

Our loyal Chamber of Commerce has a strong relationship with the Guard, and together they have worked diligently over the years to educate businesses and build employer support for our citizen soldiers.

As Veterans' Day approaches and we honor those who served and are currently serving in missions around the globe, it is essential that we recognize the millions of employers, large and small, who continue to ensure that mobilized employees and their families are taken care of.

Mr. Speaker, American businesses have always stepped up when our Nation needs them the most. Today, I commend them for their commitment to our military families and encourage all employers to support the brave men and women who defend our freedom day in and day out.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 1606, the Online Freedom of Information Act. This controversial bill purports to protect the freedom of speech of Internet bloggers but instead creates a major Internet loophole for soft money in our Federal campaign finance laws. These are exactly the soft money expenditures the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 1992, BCRA, sought to prohibit.

Internet advertising should be no exception and ought to conform to the same rules as those governing other media. H.R. 1606 is the wrong way to address the issue of bloggers and will only lead to new corrupting soft money scandals and campaigns. The Internet has increasingly and rightly been used as a powerful political tool in recent elections, but it is negligent that we would permit it to be a safe haven from our campaign finance laws.

Under H.R. 1606, House members and other federal candidates would be permitted to control the spending of soft money--provided by corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals--to buy Internet advertisements to support their campaigns. State political parties would also be allowed to spend soft money on Internet advertising to attack and promote federal candidates. And, these contributions would never be disclosed in campaign finance records.

If the Congress is really concerned with protecting Internet bloggers, I urge consideration of legislation introduced yesterday by my colleagues Representatives Shays and Meehan, which reaffirms that bloggers communicating on their websites are not covered by campaign finance laws without allowing Members of Congress and other federal candidates to use corrupting soft money to support their campaigns.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote no on the Online Freedom of Speech Act.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Baker for yielding me this time; and to call me a co-contributor, when one considers all the effort he has put into this, is a vast overstatement. I have never seen, during the time I

have been here, which is a number of years now, a legislator work so hard on a particular issue; and I congratulate Chairman Baker for getting it this far.

And I would like to thank the ranking member. The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) has been extremely helpful. I do not know where this is going to come out in the end because of the discussion and dispute over the affordable housing fund. But, basically, I think the underlying bill is a heck of a sound bill. I would like to credit both sides.

We do not have a lot of legislation on this floor which is really done with the best interests of America at heart without any consideration for politics, Republican or Democrat; and I think this is one piece of legislation that does this.

I doubt there are those, other than the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Baker), and maybe three or four other people in Congress, a few on the outside, who can really describe all that this means in terms of the GSEs.

When you are dealing with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Home Loan banks, virtually any mortgage out there is in some way touching on them. They have vast investments. They have vast sums of dollars that they are handling on a regular basis. If there are any organizations that need close scrutiny and regulation in this country, to me it is these GSEs. That is what this bill does.

I am not critical of those who have been doing the regulation before, but the bottom line is there were some problems. We do need the most sophisticated kind of regulation that we can have, because they are participating in some of the most sophisticated kinds of investments that one can make. We are dealing with a housing market; and while I hope there will not be a bubble or anything of that nature, there are problems potentially in that area that we will have to deal with, and we want to make sure that they are closely monitored so they will not contribute to that particular problem.

I appreciate the affordable housing fund. I am sorry there is a dispute over it. I think the concept of the affordable housing fund makes a heck of a lot of sense as well.

I would strongly recommend this legislation. I hope it will pass in the House and we can achieve this as final legislation that the President can sign and all of us can take a great deal of pride in doing something that is constructive for America.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to pay tribute to Dolores Alfano upon her receipt of the Sister Ann Marguerite Gildea Award given by the Ministry of Caring, Inc. Mrs. Alfano's dedication to community and charitable giving make her a more than worthy honoree.

Mrs. Alfano's community service and fund raising career stretches well over 30 years. She has managed the finances of presidential candidate, former congressman and governor Pete DuPont and directed charitable giving at MBNA of America, the largest independent credit card issuer in the United States. Additionally, Mrs. Alfano served as the head of the Republican State Committee throughout the 1980s. In addition to her meaningful contributions to the Delaware political system, Mrs. Alfano is on the United Way of Delaware Board.

Tonight, Mrs. Alfano will be honored by many distinguished friends and family at a function honoring her contributions to the city of Wilmington and the State of Delaware. Mrs. Alfano has served Delaware skillfully and diligently. Throughout her career, Mrs. Alfano has raised well over one-hundred million dollars for various Delaware charities.

Mrs. Alfano recently founded DV Alfano Consulting. Mrs. Alfano will continue to work in her field of expertise, raising money for worthwhile causes. It is truly a pleasure to know that such a motivated and altruistic individual calls Delaware her home.

I congratulate and thank Mrs. Alfano for all she has contributed to the City of Wilmington and the State of Delaware.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise today to remember and honor the life of William M. Rickman. The embodiment of the American Dream, Bill's life was a rags-to-riches story straight out of the pages of a Horatio Alger novel. He was an avid horseman who loved thoroughbred racing and worked to keep the sport alive in my home state of Delaware.

Bill Rickman was born July 9, 1921 in St. Charles, Virginia. During World War II, he served in the U.S Army and was stationed in Italy. In August of 1983, Bill partnered with William G. Christmas to purchase Delaware Park racetrack, which had been closed at the time due to growing competition from other racetracks in the area. The following spring saw the reopening of Delaware Park, which has been an integral part of the Delaware economy ever since.

In addition to being remembered as a savvy businessman, Bill will always be known as someone who loved horses, racing, and all of the people who worked at his track. He took great pride in both owning and breeding his horses. He owned over 100 horses, as well as two horse- training facilities in Maryland.

Bill considered the people who worked at Delaware Park as his family, and will be remembered for his kindness and generosity. He had a wonderful sense of humor, joking around with his entire staff. His good-natured manner will be sorely missed.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, our thoughts and prayers are with Bill's friends and family as they remember the loss of such a great man. His contributions to Delaware will live on, as will his memory.

Mr. Speaker, more than ever in the wake of the recent hurricanes, Congress and the American people are focused on meeting our energy needs. Whether it's the rise in gas prices at the pump or the anticipation of expensive home heating bills this winter, all Americans are feeling the pinch.

We have already signed into law an energy bill that sought to expand domestic production of oil and other sources of energy, but we have done very little to reduce demand. Yet again, we are considering a bill that will only address the supply end of the equation. Even if increasing refinery capacity were to positively affect gasoline prices, as the The Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005 (H.R. 3893) purports, it would do so at the expense of our environment and public health, and by trumping state law.

While I am pleased that the manager's amendment strikes changes to the ``New Source Review'' program, provisions remain that ill hurt taxpayers, pollute our environment, supersede state law, and give unnecessary payments to the oil companies. This bill outlines erroneous solutions to our current energy challenges, and ultimately fails to ``secure'' Americans from energy price surges.

Whereas intended to respond to temporary refinery shortages caused by recent hurricanes and to address high gasoline prices, the bill weakens environmental laws and undermines states' rights by limiting the kinds of

cleaner fuels states can require to meet their clean air targets; federalizing many siting and permitting decisions relating to refineries; limiting the kinds of diesel fuel that can be required and interfering with the low sulfur diesel rule that was championed by the Bush Administration; rewriting the permitting process for refineries to limit environmental reviews without any evidence that current processes are at all a problem; and enabling cities with harmful levels of ozone air pollutants to delay improving air quality.

Adoption of this bill would constitute a major setback for air quality across the nation. The longterm costs for backtracking on important pollution measures will be far greater than the short terms gains from this bill. Our states have worked aggressively to ensure that improvements are made to air quality and it is our duty to support, not hinder, such efforts.

Instead of only meeting our energy needs by increasing supply, we need to continue to improve conservation methods and our R&D efforts in renewable sources of energy like wind and solar power. And, we must take a hard look at automotives, from creating additional consumer incentives for domestic production and purchase of efficient hybrid- electric vehicles to the possibility of increasing fuel economy standards, so cars can go further on a tank of gas. A diversified approach, based on a variety of resources, will truly save consumers money at the pump and help to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

The legislation before us today can only hurt our states and our environment and I urge a no vote on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to pay tribute to Sid Balick for his outstanding contributions to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware. With over 40 years of service under his belt, Sid is the longest serving board member in the history of the organization.

While growing up in Delaware, Sid was a member of the Jackson Street Boys Club. This experience fostered an understanding of the values and lessons instilled by the Boys and Girls Clubs, prompting Sid's longstanding commitment to these important community service organizations.

Tonight, friends, family, and colleagues will honor Sid at a function paying tribute to his contributions to the city of Wilmington as an attorney, civic leader and volunteer. During his distinguished career, he has also served in the Delaware State House of Representatives and as President of the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware.

Always a generous supporter, Sid has asked that the proceeds from his event be donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs' Capital Campaign. These contributions will serve to enhance education and fitness programs at the various Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the State of Delaware.

In closing Mr. Speaker, I would like to once again congratulate and thank Sid for his tremendous contributions to the State of Delaware. Generations of children owe him a debt of gratitude, and I am pleased to be able to vocalize their appreciation. An exemplary citizen and proud American, we all owe Sid a sincere thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time and for his tremendous work on this legislation.

I applaud my colleagues here today for offering this amendment in the nature of a substitute. It goes a long way in making meaningful reforms to the Endangered Species Act without hollowing the fundamental goals of America's flagship wildlife conservation efforts. While there have been successes in species recovery since enactment of the 32-year-old Endangered Species Act, most would agree that it is in need of real reform to make it more effective in species recovery, less demanding on some landowners, and less prone to lawsuits and bureaucracy.

However, pushing the problematic and prohibitively expensive H.R. 3824, the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act through the legislative process has left a sour taste in many of our mouths because it removes the enforceable protections for species recovery and creates the entitlement program for private landowners.

At a time when our country is still coping with the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and most recently with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, one has to wonder why a rewrite of the Endangered Species Act that includes an entitlement program is even a consideration. This substitute will improve the recovery of more species, put back into place needed enforcement of species recovery plans, and it will do all of this and much more without creating an entitlement program.

This bipartisan substitute is a more pragmatic solution, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it.