Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak against H.R. 3685, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and the restrictive, undemocratic and authoritarian rule that the majority party has put before us today. Mr. Speaker, I realize that I am one of the newest Members of the House of Representatives, having been sworn in just 3 months ago, but I recognize a totalitarian regime when I see one.

In my short tenure here, the Democratic majority has made a mockery of the democratic process, and today's rule is a perfect example. For you good folks at home, this is what is happening in a nutshell. The Democrats sprung this bill on us that will grant special employment privileges and a protected minority status to anyone who defines themselves by their sexual orientation.

But that's not all. They gave us less than 24 hours, less than 24 hours' notice that this bill will be on the floor, because when the schedule for this week was sent last Friday, it made no mention of this discriminatory bill. And for good reason. They don't want the American people to realize they are undermining America's religious liberties in the House of Representatives.

But they didn't stop there. Then the Democratic majority decided to rig the process to block Republican amendments to even slightly improve this terrible and unfortunate bill. An authoritarian regime, right here in the House of Representatives, otherwise known as the Democratic majority.

I will vote against this rule, and I urge my colleagues to do so.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Chairman, the House of Representatives is debating H.R. 3685, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, today.

As well meaning as the title of this bill sounds, I want my constituents in the 10th Congressional District of Georgia and all Americans to know why this legislation is bad for Georgia and bad for America. Just like the ill-conceived hate crimes legislation that this Democratic majority passed, this bill will increase discrimination, yes, increase, and not decrease it.

I believe in the Constitution of the United States as our Founding Fathers intended. The first amendment to our Constitution expressly protects religious freedom. So while I am opposed to discrimination, I am also opposed to creating special rights and privileges for certain classes, and that is exactly what this bill does. This bill would elevate one person's desire for a particular job over another person's right to practice and honor their religious beliefs.

If H.R. 3685 is signed into law, and I pray that it will not be, it would deny the civil rights of employers, and it would abridge the freedom of association enshrined in our first amendment.

ENDA will force employers, including Christians, Muslims, Jews and people of other faiths to hire individuals that are diametrically opposed to their fundamental belief system. If they stand up for their religious beliefs and refuse to hire those opposed to their faith, they will be sued. In fact, one thing the bill will accomplish is to dramatically increase lawsuits against employers.

Further, while the Democratic majority will argue that religious organizations are exempt, the highly nuanced definition contained in this bill for religious organizations and religious educational institutions is so bad as to make this exemption essentially meaningless. The bill would grant special employment privileges and protected minority status to anyone that defines themselves by their sexual orientation. Further, an employer can be sued for not only making an employment decision based on a person's sexual orientation, but on his perception of their orientation.

Countless individuals and organizations, including Christian and Jewish schools, Christian bookstores and even

religious daycare providers will be forced to either hire a homosexual or transgender individual or face prosecution.

This legislation is unnecessary and is unconstitutional. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the right and courageous thing and to vote ``no'' on H.R. 3685.

Mr. Speaker, 21 years ago in the fall of 1986, I found myself sitting on the couch in my medical office in rural south Georgia.

My wife, Nickie, and I had been married a year and we were struggling. I had been through several broken marriages, several episodes of broken relationships and financial problems because I had been living for myself. I'd been living a prideful, sinful, self- centered lifestyle.

And as I sat there trying to figure out what life was all about, I looked at the table beside the couch upon which I sat, and there was a Gideon Bible sitting there, Mr. Speaker. And as I looked at that, I remembered a few weeks before I was watching a professional football game, and as the cameras panned the crowd, there was a banner hanging over a railing up in the stands. And the big banner was there. The gentleman had this big rainbow-type of hair wig on, and the banner said John 3:16. At that time, it piqued my interest. I asked my wife, Nickie, what John 3:16 said, and she didn't know. She wasn't raised in a religious household either. We didn't even have a Bible in our home to find out.

As I sat there in my office that fall trying to figure out life, I picked up the Bible that was on the table beside the couch, and I opened it up and I read John 3:16: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

I remembered just a few weeks before sitting on a dock and telling my wife that I didn't believe there was any afterlife, that I did not believe that there was a God, that I did not believe that we had anything beyond this life besides just how people remembered us or through our own kids.

But when I read John 3:16 that day, as a scientist, as a medical doctor, my heart was pricked, and I just prayed out and openly and said, God, if you're real, I want you to come into my life; I want you to show me that you're real. And as a scientist, I had to have proof, and God really came into my life and He has changed my life.

He's given me a stability in life that comes from no other source than having the Lord Jesus Christ as one's own personal Lord and Savior, and I accepted Him that day in November of 1986. My wife was saved independently just a few months after that.

She and I have been married 22 years now. We have a relationship that can come from no other source, from being based in God's inherent word and have learned over the years that the Holy Bible is true, it's literal, and it's God's direction to us. I call it the manufacturer's handbook. It directs every aspect of life.

God ordained three social entities. He ordained the family, He ordained the church, and He ordained government. Romans 13:1 is very clear about that. The Bible gives us instructions on how to live our lives, every aspect of our lives. Each one of those social entities God's given its area of responsibility, its area of authority.

And unfortunately, in our Nation, because of this mistaken idea that we're supposed to have a separation of church and State, the family and the church have abdicated a lot of its duties over to government. But, Mr. Speaker, what we're doing in our society is not according to God's instructions.

In my home, I have two sets of machines, both washer and dryer. One set of machines washes and dries my clothes; the other machine washes and dries my dishes. Mr. Speaker, if we take our dishes and try to wash them in our clothes washers, we're going to have problems.

And that's what we're doing in our society today, Mr. Speaker, is we're trying to do things against God's inherent word. We're trying to live our lives according to what seems right in the eyes of man, but the scripture is very clear about that.

In Proverbs, we read that there is a way that seems right now as a man but its path is the way of death, and it's going to be the death of freedom. It's going to be the death of our society. It's going to be the death of our Republic unless we turn back to what our Founding Fathers very firmly believed.

Mr. Speaker, I believe in the Constitution as James Madison and company meant it to be. I carry a copy in my pocket. We've left this document, the great Constitution, as James Madison meant it as how we run our government, how we run our lives publicly.

During this time when we're celebrating National Bible Appreciation Week, I call on my colleagues to read the Bible, to read the Constitution, read what our Founding Fathers who were Bible-believing Christians believed, that every aspect of life should follow the dictates of God's inherent Word.

That's what I believe in. That's what we all should believe in, and I just praise the Lord Jesus Christ who came into my life that November day. And He saved my life for all of eternity, and I'm living an eternal life today, and He's given me a stability.

Our country is founded on those principles. Our Constitution's written on those principles that God gives us in His Word.

So I rise today to support Him first and foremost and support the Bible as the basis of our Nation. I look forward to serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, homegrown terrorism is a very dangerous threat and must not be overlooked. The United States has an obligation and a solemn duty to guard against the violent radicalization of the American population, a radicalization that has far-reaching, devastating implications.

On September 11, 2001, the world saw firsthand the damage that Islamic extremists can do to the American people. As we look within our own population, there are individuals who promote ideologies under the guise of religion, political, and social benefits that are diametrically opposed to the American values and liberties that we hold so dear. Ideologies of any kind, religious or otherwise, that are based on violence, intolerance, and hatred have no place in America.

In the past 18 months, the United States law enforcement and intelligence agencies have stopped numerous individuals and groups that promote radical political, religious, or social beliefs from carrying out terrorist attacks on American soil. I, for one, would like to know how these individuals are operating and how they are funded. Are foreign entities providing the funding for their activities? Are these individuals who promote radical political ideologies registered as foreign agents? Perhaps we need to reexamine the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938. We need to be more proactive and strike at the roots of the problem.

The bill that we are discussing today, H.R. 1955, is proactive instead of reactive. Britain, Spain, France, and most recently Germany and Denmark have all suffered the deadly effects of a small radicalized population that often use religion as an excuse to engage in violence and murder. The United States, thanks in large part to its alert citizenry and professional law enforcement agencies, has prevented the successful execution of several recent domestic terror threats in New York, Chicago, Florida, and elsewhere.

Studying the causes of radicalization and ideologically based violence will better inform all of us how we can prevent terrorists from spreading their messages of hate.

The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act is the work of a solid bipartisan cooperation at the subcommittee and full committee levels. Such cooperation is readily apparent as the current bill includes major aspects of H.R. 1695, Congressman Reichert's PREVENT Act, which was designed to establish a National Commission on Radicalization. The nonpartisan commission envisioned by Representatives Reichert and Harman will be dedicated to comprehensively examining the phenomenon of violent radicalization so that we might better understand its root causes within the United States.

I urge my colleagues to support this important timely, bipartisan piece of legislation.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, Congressman Charlie Norwood was a man of integrity and conviction who made immeasurable contributions to this Nation.

I knew Charlie when he was first elected to Congress in 1994. He was a tireless advocate for veterans, for this district, and for the entire State of Georgia. Charlie and I shared the love of hunting and fishing. When I was an active member of the safari club, I used to come to Washington to lobby for hunters' rights and gun owners' rights. Charlie was always very supportive and very helpful.

I have enormous respect for his unwavering commitment to his principles. Throughout Charlie's illness, I prayed that God would heal him. His passing was a great loss to us all. I hope that dedicating this facility will be a comfort to the Norwood family and for all that they have been through.

I have tremendous appreciation for Charlie's wife, Gloria, for the unwavering support that she gave to Charlie. Without her help he could not have accomplished so many wonderful things and touched so many people's lives.

Charlie gave a lifetime of public service to the people of this Nation. After giving so much to his country, it is only fitting that we honor Charlie today by naming this medical center after him.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my fellow colleagues in strong support of H.R. 1808, To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, as the ``Charlie Norwood Department of Veterans'' Affairs Medical Center.''

Congressman Charlie Norwood was a man of integrity and conviction, who made immeasurable contributions to this nation, and I can't think of anything more appropriate than to name the Augusta VA Medical Center after Charlie.

Before serving in the House of Representatives, Charlie volunteered for the Army, serving in the Army Dental Corps. In Vietnam, he served bravely as an Army captain under combat conditions, providing dental and emergency care to American soldiers, civilians, and prisoners of war. For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Combat Medical Badge and two Bronze Stars. After returning from Vietnam, Charlie continued to serve in the Army Dental Corps at Fort Gordon in Augusta, GA. When he was discharged in 1969, he began his dental practice in Augusta.

I have enormous respect for Charlie Norwood. I knew Charlie when he was first elected to Congress in 1994. Throughout his 12 years in Congress, he was a tireless advocate for veterans, for the district, and for the entire State of Georgia. He championed the Patients' Bill of Rights, worked to reform health care for veterans, and fought to secure our borders.

Charlie and I shared the love of outdoors, of hunting, and fishing. When I was an active member of the Safari club, I used to come to Washington to lobby for hunters' rights and gun owners' rights, and Charlie was always very supportive and helpful. I've always admired his unwavering commitment to his principles. Throughout Charlie's illness, I prayed that God would heal him. However, it seems that God had a different plan. His passing was a great loss to us all.

I hope that dedicating this facility will be a comfort to the Norwood family for all that they have been through. I have tremendous appreciation for Charlie's wife, Gloria, for the unwavering support that she gave to Charlie. Without her help, he could not have accomplished so many wonderful things and touched so many people's lives.

Charlie truly cared about people. He gave a lifetime of public service to the people of this nation. After giving so much to his country, it is only fitting that we honor Charlie today by naming the VA Medical Center in Augusta after him.

I would like to thank Congressman McCarthy for yielding me time to speak on the floor this afternoon.

This afternoon, it was reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sought permission from the City of New York and the United States Secret Service to visit Ground Zero, the site of the September 11 attacks. This is an outrage, that this person would request to go to the place that he and his terrorist brethren have caused such destruction in this country.

President Ahmadinejad is coming to the United Nations as the representative of a country, Iran, that the State Department has declared the ``world's most active state sponsor of terrorism.'' His presence at Ground Zero would represent a slap in the face not only to those who were lost in the attacks on September 11, 2001, and to their families, but to all Americans.

Make no mistake about it, Iran is a rogue nation that views America and the Americans as their enemy. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker just spent a significant amount of their time recently here on the Hill detailing the Iranian efforts to come against our troops and kill our boys and ladies in Iraq. To allow Ahmadinejad to abuse his status as a diplomat to visit this site would send a signal that we fail to take the threat that he and his country bring to this Nation and to our people in a serious manner.

What kind of man is Ahmadinejad? Please let me read you some of the public policy positions as compiled by the Jerusalem Post.

He denies the Holocaust. ``We ask the West to remove what they created 60 years ago; and if they do not listen to our recommendations, then the Palestinian nation and other nations will eventually do this for them.''

``The real Holocaust is what is happening in Palestine, where the Zionists avail themselves of the fairy tale of Holocaust as blackmail and justification for killing children and women and making innocent people homeless.''

``The West claims that more than 6 million Jews were killed in World War II, and to compensate for that they established and support Israel. If it is true that the Jews were killed in Europe, why should Israel be established in the East, in Palestine?''

``If you have burned the Jews, why don't you give a piece of Europe, the United States, Canada, or Alaska to Israel? My question is, if you have committed this huge crime, why should the innocent nation of Palestine pay for this crime?''

His quotes about threats against Israel: ``Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury.''

``Remove Israel before it is too late, and save yourself from the fury of regional nations.''

``The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land. As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map.''

``If the West does not support Israel, this regime will be toppled. As it has lost its raison d'etre, Israel will be annihilated.''

``Israel is a tyrannical regime that will one day be destroyed.''

``Israel is a rotten, dried tree that will be annihilated in one storm.''

Late this afternoon, this very afternoon, the New York Police Department indicated that they would not issue a permit to Ahmadinejad. I hope they stand firm on this decision, and I applaud that decision. However, we should go one step further. This despotic, Holocaust denying madman should not be allowed in this country. I call upon the State Department and the President to do the right thing; refuse Ahmadinejad an entry visa.