Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Alticor Incorporated, on being honored with the 2005 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. This is an honor bestowed to employers who have gone above and beyond in supporting their National Guard and Reserve employees.

Alticor's communication with its military employees when in action, covering pay differential during deployments and their Military Leave Program are just a few of the many ways the company has demonstrated support for the Guard and Reserves. Alticor has also donated numerous products which have been distributed to deployed units worldwide.

I commend Alticor's contribution to military families. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I respectfully ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Alticor Incorporated, for being honored with the 2005 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the accomplishments of Dale Sherwin of Lansing, Michigan, who is retiring this month as the Michigan State Director for U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

Dale Sherwin has dedicated his career to improving the quality of life for America through its agricultural community and the citizens who work to feed America and the world.

Prior to starting his successful service with USDA Rural Development in April 2003, Dale worked six years for the Michigan Department of Agriculture, serving as director of agriculture policy and guiding policy on National Association of State Departments of Agriculture issues.

During the administrations of Presidents Nixon and Ford, Dale served in the U.S. Department of Agriculture: as chief legislative liaison to former Secretary Earl Butz; Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs; and as assistant director of legislative affairs for the Foreign Agricultural Service. Dale also worked as a staff director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Prior to service in the U.S. Senate and USDA, Dale spent more than a decade working with the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Michigan Farm Bureau. His career in agriculture began as a farmer in Michigan's Genesee County. His degree in animal husbandry was earned at Michigan State University.

Dale's service at USDA Rural Development has proven to be a shining capstone for a career focused on the very mission the agency embodies: supporting increased economic opportunity and improved quality of life for rural American citizens. Across Michigan's counties and communities, his legacy will be realized long into the future. I am pleased to have worked with Dale, to call him friend, and to share his story with my Congressional colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this very special person, Dale Sherwin, a citizen and leader who is truly deserving of our respect and admiration.

Mr. Speaker, I am a little surprised by the discourse from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, very 1960s rhetoric for a 2005 problem. You cannot regulate and put hurdles and tell the oil industry that is really global these days that you cannot build refining capacity in America. It is bad.

Most Americans, when they saw the hurricane strike, realized that 30 percent of our refineries were at risk, 30 percent. They understood that you cannot concentrate our refineries in one place and that you have to have more capacity.

The reason it is expensive is because we import refined product. Americans understand that. Your rhetoric today, the old-fashioned ideas of regulate and hinder and put hurdles up, will not solve these problems. It took 20 years to get here because we would not allow them to build refineries across this country to meet public demand.

I tell you, I have working families in my district that pull up to that pump and talk about mortgaging their house in order to get it completely full. This is a serious problem, and it needs serious solutions.

This bill goes a long way. It says we are going to protect the environment, we are encouraging some conservation, and we are going to build capacity so that we do not have to have this foreign dependence on refined product. I thank the chairman for doing this. This is the responsible thing to do, moving this country forward, and putting us in a place where we are not foreign-dependent and we have the ability to lower the prices and give stable prices in the future in this great country.

Mr. Speaker, as September 21, 2005 is National School Backpack Awareness Day, I would like to recognize the many occupational therapists that live and work in my district. Each September, the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA) members, students, and other health professionals join forces to alert the public, particularly teachers, parents, and children about the dangers of overweight backpacks and improper use.

Occupational therapy is a health, wellness, and rehabilitation service provided by qualified professionals whose expertise includes anatomy, physiology, psychology and other disciplines. Thousands of occupational therapists work with children in school systems, pediatric hospitals, and other health care facilities everyday to improve skills that will help them perform daily tasks at home, at school, and at play.

The AOTA is sponsoring its fourth annual National School Backpack Awareness Day to promote healthy backpack use among students. The goal of the National School Backpack Awareness Day is to reduce the load being carried to fifteen percent or less of a child's weight, to educate them on the risks of carrying too much weight and the proper ways to pack and wear their backpacks.

Over 700 participants in schools, stores, health fairs, and other areas from all fifty states will take part to ``weigh-in'' over 200,000 children and ensure their backpacks are fifteen percent or less of their weight. As part of the 2005 Healthy Families Community Fair in Clinton, MI in October, children and their families will be able to learn about the importance of loading and wearing backpacks the right way to avoid back and shoulder pain or strain, stooped posture, musculoskeletal pain, and aching heads.

In schools, occupational therapists use their unique expertise to help children to be prepared for and perform important learning and school-related activities and to fulfill their role as students. Additionally, they play a critical role in training parents, other staff members, and caregivers regarding the education, health, and success of students with diverse learning needs.

Please join me in support of all the school children, occupational therapists, and participants of the 2005 National School Backpack Awareness Day.

Mr. Speaker, nothing tears at our hearts or bruises us emotionally as much as the pain and suffering of people trapped by the horrific natural disaster in our southern Gulf States this week.

Each of us watches helplessly from our living rooms, as TV screens fill with the faces of young and old, and we hear the voices, all beseeching us for the very basics of life: water, food, shelter, and safety.

These images and sounds fill us with pain, frustration and dismay. Our voices blend with those of our American brothers and sisters who need a helping hand: ``Do something.''

Like every other American, I wanted to load up my car with food and water and drive to New Orleans or one of the other cities so badly damaged and be there not only to give them sustenance, but also to tell them that we care about them and what has and is happening to them.

But the truth is that if we all did what we want to do, we would just magnify the problems.

And so we do what we can: we send donations of money and supplies, we send our National Guard and local law enforcement and emergency workers. And we yell at the government because we believe that in America, we ought to be better equipped to deal with such emergencies.

You know what? We should be better prepared. That is an issue we will deal with in the weeks and months ahead. The victims of Hurricane Katrina need us today, and our initial focus should be to meet their needs. Congress. by approving this major financial aid package, is responding with the rest of America to the immediate need.

Our first priority is saving lives and making sure these American citizens have their basic needs met. Once that occurs, we can move forward with long-range planning for these citizens who lost so much, and communities struggling with recovery.

Mr. Speaker, there is a time for campaigning and a time for governing, a time for leadership and compassion and a time for congressional hearings. Today is a time that we pull together with love of our neighbors and the love of our Nation to bring relief, safety and security to our fellow Americans in need.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to Dan Schab on his selection as Michigan's 2005-2006 Teacher of the Year.

Over his 24 year career, Dan Schab has helped to inspire and enlighten students across mid-Michigan. He has worked tirelessly to help his students explore the concept of mathematics and learn both the importance of education and the power of knowledge. In addition to his work in the Williamston School District and at Lansing Catholic Central High School, Mr. Schab has also served on the national level. He assisted in developing meaningful national education strategies through his work as an Einstein Fellow with the U.S. Senate Education Committee in 2003.

Dan Schab has been consistently recognized as one of the best teachers in America. Over his career, he has been recognized time and time again for his dedicated service to his school, his students, and his community. In

2000, he participated in the prestigious Toyota International Teacher Program. In 1987, he received the Excellence in Education Award from the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce, and in 1987 he was chosen as Lansing Catholic Central High School's First Teacher of the Year Professional Excellence Award Winner. But despite these many recognitions, Dan still believes that the work he does with his students is his greatest success. His dedication to teaching can be seen on a daily basis when he stays well after school hours to offer additional assistance or develop new ways to show his students the significance of math in daily life.

Mr. Speaker, education is the cornerstone of our economy and great teachers lay the foundation for greater prosperity. I wish to extend my gratitude to Dan Schab for his many years of service to his students. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mr. Schab for his years of dedication to teaching and his recent selection as Michigan's Teacher of the Year.

Mr. Speaker, George Washington in his Farewell Address warned of some of the problems that would be created with two strong party systems, and today I see it. It is unfortunate that my colleagues would spend so much of their time both yesterday and today debating about how they did not have time to debate the issue that is so important.

This bill for the first time will change trade policy toward somebody like China, who is cheating our economy and stealing our jobs. We have the ability today to make a statement, to stand up for every worker in America who gets up, plays by the rules, goes to work and tries to build the best products in the world, and they do. Given a level playing field, we will compete with any Nation on the face of the Earth. Our workers are that good. You should have the faith and confidence in them to stand up today and say, we are going to help you by leveling the playing field.

Trade is important. It is the engine of prosperity. Commerce is our best diplomat, and today we send that very clear message to places like China that are cheating. It is amazing, and I want to talk just a minute about counterfeit goods, because in this bill for the first time we say you have to have a trade enforcement officer who gets up in the morning, and her whole job for the whole day is going to make sure that countries like China are living up to their WTO and the world trade arrangements and agreements and the rule of law, the protection of intellectual property.

Mr. Speaker, 750,000 jobs are lost every year to counterfeit products, mainly from China. This product right here, you cannot tell the difference in these two products except what is on the inside. This product steals one job. It steals the opportunity for a company here to compete. It takes tax revenues away from us. This is our chance to give our workers the ability to do this. But is not just about an oil filter. This puts our jobs at risk, cheats our economy and puts Americans at risk. The FAA estimates that 2 percent of all airline parts are counterfeit.

This is the day that we stand up for America and say, We will not take it anymore.

Windshields in China, a group of auto companies went together and said you cannot counterfeit these things, it puts Americans at risk. There are no safety factors in your glass. After three convictions in China, that company is still producing automobile glass.

Brake pads, there was a woman killed in Saudi Arabia because they put formed grass in brake pads and sold them as a counterfeit part; and, unfortunately, took her life. This is awfully important stuff.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to get over the partisanship and get over the debate about debating, and for the first time send a very clear message that we will stand up for American workers, we will stand behind their products, stand for the future of trade and prosperity, and we will not allow countries like China to cheat our economy and steal our jobs.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English) for yielding me this time, and I thank the chairman for working on this bill.

Quickly, one of the things that my mother used to tell me is self- pity never solved one problem. We know how to fix this bill. I should not feel sorry for them; they should not feel sorry for me. We should vote on the bill that will make a difference.

These are counterfeit parts made in China. They are robbing and stealing from the American economy. We have the chance today for the first time to put a law enforcement trade officer in charge so that when they get up in the morning, the first thing they do is work on how to stop China from doing exactly this and stealing jobs from our economy.

There is a town in China, 80 percent of the parts, over 30 outlets, were counterfeit. If we do not step up to the plate with this bill, we are going to lose and continue to lose $12 billion a year just in automobile part counterfeiting.

This is our chance. I plead with those on the other side, if they truly care about labor, if they care about the individual that gets up in the morning, plays by the rules, and is trying to compete in a world market, they will vote for this bill. They will send a message to China that American jobs are worth fighting for. Give us a fair, level playing field, and we will compete; we will win.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the ongoing conflict over the Bakassi Peninsula of Cameroon.

Three years ago, the International Court of Justice ruled that the Bakassi Peninsula belonged solely to the Republic of Cameroon and President Obsanjo of Nigeria promised to abide by the court's ruling and remove his troops. However, I am concerned with the fact that this has not occurred. I support continued progress in Cameroon, both economically and politically. America must continue to remain active in the support of democracy and the rule of law around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate being able to bring this important situation to your attention and I look forward to working with my colleagues on a solution.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time and for his great work on this, and I want to thank my friends on the Democrat side of the aisle for the work they have given for the PATRIOT Act. Thanks for at least bringing this debate up.

Mr. Chairman, as a former FBI agent, I had occasion to work some pretty bad folks in the City of Chicago in working organized crime and public corruption. I developed the sources for wiretaps and applied wiretaps for things like murder and extortion, gambling, prostitution, racketeering, child pornography.

There was a case of a child pornographer who was producing child pornography tapes where we used the legal system, a legal instrument, through due process of law, to get records that we needed from businesses, from his home, from other places to make sure that we could find the entire network of distribution of criminals who were preying on our children. America said something interesting. The people of America said, you know, Agent Rogers, at the time we trust you, but we trust our Constitution more, so you have to follow the law. You have to follow the Constitution even to go after these child molesters and people who are promoting child pornography, people who are involved in murder and racketeering. And we did, and we used the law as we knew it to put somebody in jail.

We said if a child molester goes into the library and sits down next to your child, there is going to be no safe haven in America. We are going to use due process according to the Constitution and make sure our children, our libraries, our personnel are safe. We used that before the PATRIOT Act got here.

I worked a bombing case where they were trying to sell bombs to individuals who were blowing up other gangsters; gangsters blowing up gangsters and gangsters blowing up strip clubs and other things to gain influence over them. We used all the processes, including a delayed search warrant, because we needed to know who they were getting their materials from. We used due process under the Constitution and we brought them to justice. And America is grateful for that, and it made an impact. And we never, ever, ever once deviated from the Constitution.

This whole debate is almost ridiculous, Mr. Chairman. All we do in the PATRIOT Act is say, look, if we can go after child molesters sitting in the library and bombers who we need to sneak and peak on a warrant, we ought to be able to go after terrorists. That is all the PATRIOT Act did. There is no subversion of the Constitution, no suspension of the Constitution.

Mr. Chairman, it is maddening to me that somebody in America and in England and around the world is getting up in the morning thinking, I am going to kill somebody in an act of terror, and that we somehow fiddle while Rome is burning and argue should it be 10 years or 5 years on a renewal or a sunset. This is ridiculous. We have people who are committed to killing Americans today. We are at war. This bill helps protect America and does not suspend the Constitution of the United States.

For those who argue there are some emergency powers in here, you are wrong. You should get up and argue against the criminal code every day on this floor, and you should put in bills to remove our ability as agents of the FBI to do that. You do not because it is legal and it is proper under our Constitution.

Mr. Chairman, we must support this act. We must do it today for the future safety of the United States of America.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I think this is an important day for the Great Lakes and an important amendment to tell the rest of the country how really important they are--about 94,000 square miles of fresh water, beautiful lakes, beautiful not only in the summer but beautiful in the winter. What we have done over time in the Great Lakes is come to the realization that the people best suited to make the decisions about the Great Lakes are not bureaucrats from Washington, DC, whose only experience with Lake Superior might have been an article in the National Geographic, or our friends from Texas or Arizona or California that certainly have an interest in diverting some of our water but do not understand the environmental impact that that may make to the States that count so dearly on our water. And we have made progress.

After the 1986 annex bill that allowed the States to work together to solve issues of common interest, issues that Wisconsinites and Michiganders and folks from Ohio and Indiana understand are so important, this really reaffirms that. It says we believe that

these folks, including Canada, the provinces that touch the Great Lakes, should have the ability to control water diversion. It is working. We have gotten progress. We have come together. It was really the first piece of legislation that brought Canada to the table to talk about the issues important to all of the Great Lakes States.

Mr. Chairman, there are 18 Great Lakes Members that support this language. The chairman supports this language. Why? Because we understand that 20 percent of the world's fresh water is worth fighting for. It is worth protecting. But it is worth protecting in the sense that we give the authority to Great Lakes Governors and Great Lakes legislators for the purpose of protecting what they know. If you want our water, you really should have to live there in February. It is a beautiful place. Beautiful lakes. Beautiful fresh water. And it is worth protecting. Let us not diffuse the issue. Let us not stop the progress of the Great Lakes Governors and the Great Lakes legislators and the provincial leaders in Canada. We have made huge progress. The lakes are starting to turn around. We have identified mutual areas of interest where we can make even more progress to keep those Great Lakes alive.

This is the amendment, Mr. Chairman, that says we will and we do understand the importance of the Great Lakes Governors and the Great Lakes legislators making the determinations in accordance with law that has passed these bodies several times before.

Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).

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

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

It is horribly unfortunate to see partisanship creep into this amendment. Nowhere in this amendment does it talk about oil drilling. This is about the stewardship of the Great Lakes. This recognizes current law that we passed in 2000 by over 300 votes and in 1986 by over 300 votes.

This is about stewardship of the Great Lakes and recognizing the successes of those Governors and those legislatures and the progress that we have made. It is disappointing that we have reached this point. I urge support of this amendment. The Great Lakes Governors and the Great Lakes legislatures deserve our praise.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, on the legislative day of June 16, 2005 the House voted on an amendment to H.R. 2862, the Fiscal 2006 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Act. On House rollcall vote #261, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Chairman, the amendment is well-intended but horribly misguided.

If you have spent time in Colombia, then you know that incredible progress is being made. This is absolutely the worst time to turn our backs on the great efforts that these folks are making against narco- terrorism, the FARC, the AUC, other militia groups. They are making progress.

Let me tell you a little bit about it. Kidnappings from 2002 to 2004 are down 52 percent. That is because they are on the offensive. President Uribe, 18 assassination attempts and maybe even climbing, has stood tall for democracy and said he will not tolerate the FARC, and the AUC, and narco-terrorist groups trying to control Colombia and sending death to America by cocaine paste and cocaine kilos and everything that we know is bad and killing our children in the streets of America.

We have a true partner who is willing to take and literally risk his life and his presidency to stop this in Colombia. This is the wrong time, Mr. Chairman.

Right now, we have three United States citizens hostage to the FARC. What message would we send to our friends in Colombia who are risking their lives to rescue these citizens from the FARC and other AUC groups by cutting this funding. This is not the time, Mr. Chairman.

This is the chance that we stand up and say, We are making progress. We will support an aggressive attitude toward narco-terrorist trafficking in not only Colombia, but all of Latin America and make that difference, not only for the three United States citizens that deserve our support, but every American who fights to keep drugs out of their family, out of their schools, out of their community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the retirement of Dr. Stanley Caine, president of my alma mater, Adrian College. During his tenure at Adrian College, Dr. Caine has been, first and foremost, an advocate for his students. His open door policy has always provided an avenue for the students at Adrian College to seek his wisdom and advice. Outside of the classroom, Dr. Caine can be seen at many athletic and other campus events, a testament to his interest and dedication to the students at Adrian.

Providing a world class education requires the resources to recruit the finest faculty and provide the best facilities. During Dr. Caine's tenure, the Adrian College endowment has increased significantly and two major capitol campaigns have been completed. Several new construction projects have provided students

with new facilities that offer more current technologies and student- centered spaces.

Mr. Speaker, today, more than ever, students are seeking advanced degrees, and the most successful institutions have leadership that is focused on success of their students. As President of Adrian College, Dr. Caine has been committed to that goal. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Dr. Caine's commitment and wish him all the best on his retirement.