Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, HIV/AIDS is a pandemic that has affected more than 60 million people worldwide. Today, 70 percent of the people in the world who are afflicted with HIV/AIDS reside in Africa. Thanks to the leadership of President George W. Bush and bipartisan leadership here in Congress, tomorrow we will consider the Lantos-Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS bill.

The Bible tells us to whom much is given, much is expected. I believe we have a moral obligation to rise to this global crisis. Because the United States can render timely assistance, I believe that we must. But it is imperative that we not only send our resources, but we also send them in a manner that is consistent with our values.

It is my hope, Madam Speaker, that when the bill comes tomorrow, it will preserve the careful balance between American resources and American values that we forged in the Foreign Affairs Committee. We cannot permit PEPFAR to become a mega-funding pool for organizations that are anathema to millions of Americans.

I urge the Speaker and the Rules Committee today, preserve the careful bipartisan balance in PEPFAR and bring that compromise to the floor.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. America is at war. We have to do all we can to protect ourselves from those who seek to do us and our communities and our families harm. But for the past few weeks, we have unilaterally disarmed, because this House has failed to pass an acceptable long-term extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and it will fail again today.

The United States Senate passed a workable bipartisan compromise by a vote of 68-29 that extended FISA for nearly 6 years. The Senate bill provided necessary immunity to communication providers who aided the government after 9/11, and they are now facing numerous frivolous lawsuits as a result. It also closed a massive loophole in our foreign intelligence surveillance laws that prevents us from listening to terrorists in one foreign country who are talking to a terrorist in another foreign country; yet the Senate bill is not before us today.

It is extraordinary that a bipartisan compromise and accomplishment in the United States Senate is not being considered before this House today.

Last August, Republicans and Democrats on the Judiciary Committee came together in the Protect America Act and we forged a compromise, but it was only embraced in the short term. And, sadly, the Senate will not pass this bill, even if it passes the House today, and if it did, the President will veto it. So what we are involved in here is a futile attempt at compromise that will fail.

Speaking less as a Congressman and more as a father and as an American who was here on September 11, I urge my colleagues to take a breath, to step back, to examine the spirit of compromise evidenced by our colleagues in the Senate, and find a way to give our foreign intelligence gathering the tools they need to protect our families.

Mr. Speaker, YouTube is an amazing thing. As the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq will be commemorated across the country in recent days, the statistics tell the tale.

Because of the military surge and Sunni cooperation, we are making significant progress towards stability and freedom in Iraq. Violence is down more than 60 percent last year. But as the saying goes, ``seeing is believing.'' And thanks to this miracle that is called youtube.com, Americans can join me for a walk down the streets of al Anbar province in Haditha, Iraq.

On March 2, with a military security detail, our bipartisan delegation walked the streets of this war-torn city and I posted 15 minutes of unedited interviews with local Iraqis on youtube.com.

The fight is far from over, but we are making significant progress in Iraq. I hope many of my colleagues and many Americans will go to youtube.com, type in ``Mike Pence,'' and take a look for themselves at what Sunni cooperation and the American military have wrought in Iraq.

Madam Speaker, on this fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq being commemorated in the Capitol today, the statistics tell the tale.

Because of the military surge and Sunni cooperation, we are making significant progress towards stability and freedom in Iraq. Violence is down nationwide by more than 60 percent in the last year.

But as the saying goes, seeing is believing, and thanks to the miracle of youtube.com, Americans can join me for a walk down the streets of Haditha, Iraq, in the heart of al Anbar province. On March 2, with a military security detail and our bipartisan delegation, we walked the streets of this war-torn city, and I posted 15 minutes of unedited interviews with local Iraqis on youtube.com.

The fight is far from over, but we are making significant progress in Iraq. Thanks to youtube.com, the American people can hear and see that progress for themselves.

I thank the ranking member for yielding, and I thank him for his extraordinary leadership on this budget. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of fiscal responsibility, and my conscience therefore demands that I rise in support of the Republican budget.

Now, the American people deserve to know the truth. We have a $9.3 trillion national debt, but that is not the whole story. The American people also deserve to know that we have some $53 trillion in unfunded liability in Social Security and Medicare over the next 75 years. Frankly, if this government were a business back in Indiana, it would have to file bankruptcy.

Republicans are offering an alternative budget to deal with this fiscal crisis at the national level based on spending restraint and entitlement reform. It balances the budget without taxes and without earmarks.

But the answer from the Democrat majority? Get this: The largest budget in American history, $3.1 trillion. The largest 1-year increase in the public debt in American history, some $646 billion. Higher taxes and nothing to reform earmarks or the very entitlement spending that threatens the economic vitality of our children and our grandchildren's future.

In 2006, the American people voted for change in Washington, D.C., but they weren't referring to what would be left in their pockets after the Democrats took control. We must balance the Federal budget with fiscal discipline and reform, not with more spending and more taxes. We must reject the policies of the new liberal Democratic majority in Congress and reject their budget.

I urge my colleagues to vote for fiscal discipline and reform, to end earmarking as usual, and to stand for fundamental entitlement reform in Washington, D.C. Vote for the budget priorities of the Republican minority in Congress. They are, I believe with all my heart, the budget priorities of the overwhelming majority of the American people.

Madam Speaker, two recent events make it clear--the time has come for Congress to enact a Federal media shield.

Yesterday, the House passed legislation to create an independent ethics panel with the stated purpose of holding Members of Congress accountable to the highest ethical standard. Our Founders would have scoffed at the notion that a political panel, appointed by politicians, could hold the national legislature accountable. Our Founders knew the only agency in society with the power to hold the national government accountable is a free and independent press.

Last year, the House acknowledged this fact and passed the Free Flow of Information Act, creating a Federal media shield, with overwhelming bipartisan support. That bill now awaits action by the full Senate. The need for action by the Senate is also evident with the news that another reporter is facing court sanctions based on her unwillingness to disclose confidential sources.

Former USA Today reporter Toni Locy is facing financial ruin as the result of a ruling that she must pay fines that will escalate to up to $5,000 per day unless she discloses her confidential sources for stories she wrote about the 2001 anthrax attacks. Her case and the need for greater ethics scrutiny in Congress argue forcefully for the need for a Federal media shield statute.

The one, time-tested way of holding the Government accountable is ensuring the free flow of information to the American people. Threatening reporters or creating an ethics panel of politicians to police politicians will not do it.

Congress must enact a Federal media shield to ensure that those charged with the duty of holding Government accountable have the freedom and independence to do just that.

It is time for the Senate to vote on the Free Flow of Information Act.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of fiscal responsibility, and, therefore, conscience demands that I rise in opposition to the budget of the liberal Democratic majority in Congress.

The American people deserve to know. We have a $9.3 trillion national debt. They also deserve to know that there are some $53 trillion in unfunded obligations that this government has committed to in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that our children and grandchildren will have to find some way to resolve and to fund. Frankly, if this government was a business back in Indiana, we'd have to file bankruptcy.

Now, tomorrow Republicans will offer a budget to deal with this fiscal crisis at the national level that's based on spending restraint, entitlement reform. It balances the Federal budget without taxes and without earmarks.

But the answer from the Democrat majority in Congress: The largest budget in American history, $3.1 trillion. The largest 1-year increase in public debt in American history, some $646 billion. More earmarks, higher taxes, and nothing to reform the entitlement spending that threatens the vitality of our economy and the very future of our children and grandchildren.

In 2006, the American people voted for change in Washington, D.C., but they weren't referring to what would be left in their pockets after the Democrats took control. We must balance the Federal budget with fiscal discipline and reform, not with more spending and more taxes. We must reject the policies of the new liberal Democrat majority in Congress and reject this budget.

I urge my colleagues to vote for fiscal discipline and reform and join me in voting against the budget priorities of the liberal Democrat majority in Congress.

Mr. Speaker, on February 28 through March 4, just this past weekend, I participated in a bipartisan congressional delegation to Iraq and Afghanistan. I have written about this extensively on my Web blog, which my constituents should know is located at MikePence.house.gov. But I wanted to excerpt portions today by way of reporting back to the House on our findings in these two countries in which American forces face a war every day.

It was a bipartisan congressional delegation, Mr. Speaker, to both Iraq and Afghanistan. In 4 days we took off and landed 20 different times in four different aircraft. We flew to Kuwait in a military jet. We flew into Iraq on a cargo plane. We flew around Iraq and Afghanistan in helicopters and Ospreys. We convoyed in military vehicles throughout both countries. It was a rare opportunity to meet with leaders and locals in both theaters of combat. I am personally grateful to the people of Indiana and our military for making it possible.

Our visit also took place against the backdrop of several major events. The Iraq Government announced that Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as ``Chemical Ali,'' a brutal military henchman of Saddam Hussein, was to be executed later this month. We arrived in the Kurdish region as that news was breaking and as Turkish forces were announcing their withdrawal for military operations in the north.

And on the second day, our trip to Iraq coincided with the first official visit by a President of Iran to Iraq since 1952. It was a time of great significance for the people of Iraq in several respects.

During our time in Iraq and Afghanistan, one inescapable conclusion emerged. After years of difficulty and setbacks in varying degrees, freedom is making progress in Iraq and Afghanistan. In northern Iraq, known as the Kurdish region, there is security, political process, and economic growth.

And even in central Iraq, after years of insurgent violence, following the military surge, al Qaeda and the insurgency are in steep decline and political progress is beginning to take hold.

As I saw firsthand in Baghdad and in the al Anbar province, the military surge and Sunni cooperation have resulted in extraordinary progress and security. But those gains are fragile. Violence in Iraq has declined by more than 60 percent since the beginning of the surge and has remained at relatively low levels since November of last year. The Iraqi Parliament has passed legislation that makes further political progress possible.

Our visit was, Mr. Speaker, characterized by cautious optimism by American military leaders and ordinary Iraqis on the street.

Afghanistan was also equally encouraging; and with President Hamid Karzai, we saw the determination of a leader devoted to his people and to defeating a resurgent Taliban effort to overturn their progress with terrorist violence this spring.

In the Kunar province particularly, we convoyed out and witnessed really the greatest threat to the Taliban terrorists who operate on that border with Pakistan, a bridge. A bridge is being built by local Afghanis with American resources. Seeing locals waving at our convoy, greeting laborers at this remote construction site showed me the depth of American generosity and the resilience of this proud people.

My summary on my Web site is simply an effort on my part to report point by point, moment by moment on my trip. We speak about each of the days, from the Kurdish region to our time in Baghdad, to our time in Fallujah and our team even on the streets of Haditha, through Afghanistan and through a stop at Ramstein military base to meet with injured soldiers at Landstuhl Medical Center.

And again, Mr. Speaker, my Web site is mikepence.house.gov. And my constituents could access that by visiting my blog and gaining that information. I would be grateful for any constituent who availed themselves of our writing.

The message that we got from Iraq is clear. The surge is working, but the battle is far from over. Violence is down significantly in the past year. The enemy's abilities have been downgraded in both degree and type of attack. U.S. forces have made measurable progress against terrorist elements in Baghdad and al Anbar province, due to both the military surge and extraordinary expanded cooperation among the civilian population.

And while the military surge is working, the good news is the Iraqi Parliament seems to have gone to work too. The adoption of a budget, the passage of a law permitting Ba'ath party members to work for the government and the plan for provincial elections that may well occur by October of this year represent exactly the kind of progress that many in our diplomatic team and many in this Chamber have hoped to see.

Well, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the courtesy, especially at the opening of this time on the House floor.

I would be grateful if any of my constituents went to mikepence.house.gov, visited our blog and availed themselves of our firsthand account of what we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The progress is real. The progress of freedom is happening. It is fragile. And it is my hope that, by bringing back the information from this bipartisan delegation, that we will be able to find that bipartisan consensus necessary to see freedom win in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Indiana State Senator David C. Ford.

I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Senator David Ford. Senator Ford's passing is a loss to the entire State.

David Ford was a tireless advocate for the families and communities of Senate District 19. During our last visit, just weeks before his passing, Senator Ford still took time to advocate his optimistic vision for technology benefiting all Hoosiers.

The four-term Republican senator was not only a leader for the people of his district, he was a recognized leader across the State of Indiana. His stature was recognized last year when Senator Ford was named Government Leader of the Year by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. Senator Ford also served as Assistant Majority Floor Leader and chaired the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Technology.

David Ford was a role model to me. His humble example of honest and visionary public service was an inspiration to all of us who had the privilege to know him. I will miss his example, his counsel and his friendship very much.

May God comfort Joyce and his entire family with the assurance of his grace and with the assurance of the gratitude of the people of the State he served and loved.

Mr. Speaker, I got a sense of what we have to show for it in Iraq this weekend. I joined a bipartisan delegation that toured the metes and bounds of Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the course of 4 days, we took off and landed 20 different times in four different types of aircraft. The one inescapable conclusion, after years of difficulty and setback in varying degrees, is freedom is winning in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In northern Iraq, we saw firsthand the Kurdish region where security, political progress and economic growth are taking hold. In central Iraq, following the military surge, al Qaeda and insurgent violence are in steep decline. Violence across the country has been reduced in the last year by more than 60 percent. It is truly extraordinary.

And the political progress is taking hold. There has been a surge in optimism in Iraq due to the passage of a de-Ba'athification law, and provincial elections could well be just around the corner this fall.

Later today, in words and pictures, I will detail our trip on my Web log at mikepence.house.gov. And I hope many of my constituents will take time to read it.

As we practice freedom here at home, Americans of good will should be encouraged to know freedom is winning in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, I was detained during a vote on March 5, 2008. Had I been present, I would have voted in the following manner: Rollcall No. 93 (On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree, as Amended-- H. Res. 951)--``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, I don't need to tell you the HIV/AIDS pandemic has infected more than 60 million people worldwide, killed more than 25 million people, orphaned 14 million in its wake, and today, nearly 70 percent of the people in the world who are afflicted with HIV/AIDS reside in Africa.

In 2003, President Bush called on Congress to create a program to address the worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, was an extraordinary bipartisan achievement of compassion, and unfortunately, the majority in Congress has put forth a reauthorization drafted to this bill that will be considered tomorrow that puts at risk America's commitment to HIV/AIDS efforts.

The Democrat proposal will take a successful bipartisan achievement, do away with funding requirements for abstinence, and also mandate the integration of family planning services into PEPFAR, which would transform the program potentially into a mega funding pool for organizations with an abortion promotion agenda.

PEPFAR must not be hijacked in partisanship or domestic public policy issues. We owe the world a bipartisan remedy to meet the global AIDS pandemic that meets the crisis with American resources and values, and I urge my colleagues to work on this legislation in a bipartisan and compassionate manner.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 5349, a bill to extend the Protect America Act of 2007 for 21 days.

Now it's hard for me to come to this floor and oppose an extension of a bill that I support, and supported in a bipartisan manner, Mr. Speaker.

It was this summer, I believe last August, that Republicans and Democrats came together on the Judiciary Committee and worked out a solution for an extension that came to be known as the Protect America Act. And we've heard in the course of this debate, eloquently stated on both sides, what the issues are here. We have antiquated foreign intelligence surveillance laws. The technology that has exploded across the globe in the last 25 years has occurred without a significant updating of those laws that govern the means and the manner and the technology whereby we can collect intelligence. And so we find ourselves, essentially, as the hub of communications in the world in the United States of America. You've heard the percentages, the enormous amount of communications that pass through the United States of America. And yet we have this massive loophole in our intelligence surveillance laws that does not permit us to listen to a terrorist in one foreign country talking to a terrorist in another foreign country.

When we worked out the compromise this summer, it was built, Mr. Speaker, I believe, on an understanding between Republicans and Democrats that that ought not to be, we ought to solve that problem in an equitable and bipartisan way. And I was pleased to support that extension and legislation for a period of 6 months.

But what I struggle with today is now, in the aftermath of that, the contrast between the work in the House and the Senate is rather startling. Yesterday, the Senate approved a bipartisan bill supported by nearly 70 percent of the Senate to close the terrorist loophole in our intelligence laws. It represented a strong bipartisan compromise between Congress and the administration. And yet here in the House of Representatives we passed a 6-month extension. A few weeks ago we passed a 15-day extension. Now I believe we're passing a 21-day extension. And yet the American people, I believe, know in their heart of hearts our enemy does not think in the short term and, therefore, our solutions must occur in the long term. And when it comes to the ability of our intelligence community during this administration or whomever will be the next administration charged with protecting this country, I believe it is imperative that we call the question.

I believe it is imperative that we rise today, respectfully to my colleagues on the other side, most especially the chairman whom I esteem, and say enough is enough. We need to modernize our foreign intelligence surveillance laws today. We need to find a bipartisan compromise as we did last summer. We need to find a bipartisan compromise as the United States Senate did yesterday.

And I say again with a heavy heart, our enemy does not conspire to harm us in the short term. Our enemy conspires to harm us in the long term: to harm our people, to harm our families, to harm our children and our interests around the globe. We must, in this Congress, find a way beyond politics, as we did last summer, as the Senate did yesterday, to repair those holes in our foreign intelligence surveillance laws and give our intelligence community the legal authority and tools that they will need to protect us in the long term.

I urge my colleagues to reject the bill to extend the Protect America Act for 21 days and call the question on this floor. We need a long- term solution to what ails our intelligence laws.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because the American people are tired of spending-as-usual here in Washington, DC, especially when it comes to earmarking. Now, earmarking, for the uninitiated, is a process in Congress which has expanded greatly over the last 15 years under Republican control of Congress and, as we saw last year, under Democrat control of Congress. It is where Members of Congress oftentimes, for perfectly meritorious and honorable reasons, request specific projects for their districts. But the American people know that something has gone wrong with the Federal budget process system, and the time for earmark reform has arrived.

This past weekend I'm pleased to report, Mr. Speaker, that House Republicans gathered in West Virginia and came together around a bipartisan challenge. We called on Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats to join us in a timeout on earmarking in Washington, DC.

House Republicans united behind a challenge for an earmark moratorium and the establishment of a new select committee that would engage in the kind of thoughtful analysis and hearings where we could truly change the way we spend the people's money.

When you are flying an airplane and the gauges start to tell you something is wrong with the engines, the first thing you do, Mr. Speaker, is put the airplane on the ground. Then you get under the hood and you figure out what is wrong.

Well, I have to tell you that the explosion of earmarks under Republican control in the past years and the inclusion of hundreds of unexamined earmarks in last year's omnibus bill, dropped in at the last minute under the color of darkness, are evidence that the gauge lights are going off.

We need to call a timeout, have a moratorium on earmark spending here in the Congress while we can come together, men and women, Republicans and Democrats, and figure out how we restore public confidence in the way we spend the people's money.

By challenging Speaker Pelosi and the House majority to join us in ending earmarks as usual in Washington, DC, House Republicans have thrown down the gauntlet of reform.

And I believe that while I still think our side should embrace an immediate moratorium on earmarks and lead by example, I applaud my colleagues for finding that common ground among Republicans wherein we can challenge, in a spirit of bipartisanship, our colleagues to join us.

Now, I still maintain nothing short of a full moratorium followed by public hearings and reform will be sufficient to restore public confidence in congressional appropriations.

But as those debates have gone on, it is amazing to me, Mr. Speaker, to look at the morning headlines here in Washington, DC. It shows you the difference between the Muncie Star Press and newspapers out here. Earmarks are page 1, the focus on the ``President's sudden severity is drawing bipartisan criticism.'' Roll Call says, ``Earmarks Still Roil GOP,'' and the Politico, not to be outdone, repeats the exact same headline: ``Earmark Debate Roils GOP Ranks.''

It is only in Washington, DC, where one party engages in a vigorous debate about how we restore public confidence in the Federal budget process that the focus then is on the debate of the party that wants to bring about change because the sound of silence from the Democrat majority is deafening.

Now, while Republicans are having a vigorous debate, and I'm still one of the people that believes that our party should even go farther, that we should embrace a 1-year moratorium, I have advocated that among my colleagues and will continue to. But nevertheless, it is remarkable to me that the Washington press corps is more interested in discussions among Republicans who

have arrived at a consensus challenging the governing majority to join us in an earmark moratorium than they are interested in the response of the majority who hold the reins of power.

I mean, headlines attest to a vigorous debate among the minority and dead silence among the majority.

And I must tell you, it has to be frustrating, Mr. Speaker, to millions of Americans who long for a Congress that will put integrity and the restoration of public confidence in the Federal budget above partisan differences.

So I say to my colleagues on the other side, what is your response to our challenge for an immediate moratorium on all earmark spending? What will Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats decide at their conference retreat this week?

My hope is as our challenge sits now on the table and is met with stark silence from the Democrats, that as your party meets, Mr. Speaker, as you consider how we can restore public confidence, that Democrats will join Republicans in an immediate earmark moratorium so we can put our fiscal house in order and restore public confidence.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

One year into the liberal Democrat majority in Congress, the economy is struggling. In the wake of more government spending, threats of tax increases, and energy legislation that did nothing to expand our access to domestic reserves, this massive American economy is slowing down. The time has come for Congress to act to stimulate the economy and stave off the possibility of a Democrat recession. This stimulus bill that will come to the floor today, while welcome, will not do enough to stimulate this economy.

Congress must do more. The Recovery, Rebate and Economic Stimulus Act is a shot in the arm for a patient in need of major surgery.

I will support this bill because I believe the American people are overtaxed. Putting money in the pockets of American families is a good thing. I never met a tax cut I didn't like. But this one comes close. Showering the landscape with government rebates is no way to truly strengthen the foundations of a free market economy. If we are serious about bolstering this economy and helping America's working families, we must make the President's tax cuts permanent and implement other tax reform focused on capital formation.

Congress should do more. But this is a small move in the right direction. For families struggling to make a mortgage payment or meet a college loan, for families ready to invest in a new car or a home, or for families simply fighting to keep food on the table, this relief is needed and welcomed. With this rebate, the American consumer will do their part to revive this economy, but I challenge Congress and all of our colleagues in both parties to do our part and demand that this legislation ultimately include tax relief for the wage payer as well as for the wage earner.