Nancy Pelosi

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to what is happening in Hong Kong, especially to Joshua Wong. As a teenager, he led millions of people to the streets of Hong Kong to speak out for democracy and for freedom in Hong Kong and for the Chinese Government to honor its commitment to the Basic Law, which was the foundation of the transition in 1997 from Great Britain to the Chinese Government having control over Hong Kong.

Speaking out for freedom should not be against the law. Since the Basic Law, the Chinese have passed a security law, which is anything but security. It is a repression law. Under this law, Joshua Wong has pleaded guilty to speaking out for freedom. He said: Yes, I have done that.

He can be sentenced to life for speaking out for freedom.

This House, this Congress, has always been bipartisan in joining together for freedom, whether it is in Hong Kong, whether in Tibet, or wherever in China, and for human rights in China. Let us not forget Joshua Wong at this time and not forget Jimmy Lai at the other end of life. Joshua Wong is a young teenager who is doing this now, or in his early twenties. Jimmy Lai is toward the end of his life in prison.

We must speak out for freedom. We must not let this be ignored. The most horrible form of torture that the Chinese have over these people is to tell them that nobody remembers you or why you are here.

We want to be sure that they know we remember them.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Philip De Andrade, whose joyful spirit, generous heart and deep love of San Francisco enriched the lives of all who knew him, and to express my condolences to his family.

For decades, Philip was a treasured member of our extended Pelosi family. From my first campaign for Congress, his friendship, kindness, and dedication were gifts that we all deeply cherished. Philip served on my staff both in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., always bringing his warmth and generosity to our work on behalf of our constituents, who loved him dearly.

Through his beloved Goat Hill Pizza, Philip helped create a gathering place that became woven into the fabric of both Potrero Hill and our City. May it be a comfort to Philip's family and his many friends that so many join them in mourning during this sad time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise with a degree of sadness because I was present at the birth of this legislation. For 30 years, I was either a Member of the Committee, ranking member on the committee, or the Gang of Eight, for 30 years. I bring extensive intelligence experience to this discussion.

Following 9/11, it was with great care that we worked in a bipartisan fashion to put together the legislation to advance what we are talking about today, this FISA initiative.

In that legislation, we established the Office of the DNI, the Director of National Intelligence. It had certain standards. The Director of National Intelligence, to be appointed by the President, with the advice of the Senate, the individual nominated shall have extensive national security experience. He shall serve as the head of the intelligence community, act as the principal adviser to the President, under the National Security Council, Homeland Security, and the rest.

Mr. Speaker, I have lists, from the legislation, of the criteria establishing the position.

What do we have from the President? Somebody who has no judgment on intelligence matters. What an insult to our brave intelligence community, who serve us so well to protect the American people, to put somebody in there.

If we are expected to vote for FISA, and Patel is at FBI and--what is his name?--Pulte as DNI--Pulte and Patel equals ``no'' on this FISA legislation. It can be done if there is an intention to do it right.