Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Filner motion to instruct conferees.

First and foremost, Mr. Speaker, the House Energy Policy Act does not exempt oil and gas exploration and production sites from environmental regulation. Any claim that it does is simply untrue. Rather, the provision in the legislation clarifies under what conditions EPA should regulate these facilities. This provision simply clears up Congress's original intentions with regard to storm water permitting under the 1987 Clean Water Act's amendments. It should be included in this conference report.

Noncontaminated storm water from oil and gas exploration and production sites was specifically excluded from the new storm water permitting requirements for sites in 1987. However, EPA did not interpret the law that way. EPA decided to subject uncontaminated runoff from these sites to rules designated to regulate runoff from major construction sites, such as shopping centers and subdivisions.

Mr. Speaker, before coming to Congress, I was a land developer. I have moved a lot of dirt in my life. I have prepared a lot of sites to build homes for Americans; and there is a lot of difference between preparing a site for drilling and preparing a site for homes.

Additionally, the cost of making these kinds of nonsense pollution requirements for sites that should not be under this regulation only adds to the cost of housing and it only adds to the cost of oil and gas exploration in our country, at a time where we are a net importer, Mr. Speaker, of substantial amount of our petroleum products.

Oil and gas exploration production sites are not major construction sites and should not be permitted in the same manner. That was Congress's original intention, and we need to restore the intent in the conference report.

While EPA has suspended permitting for these sites in order to reevaluate the regulations, we need this provision to clear up the issue and end the lawsuits and move forward once and for all.

If there is contaminated runoff at these sites, it will be subject to EPA permitting. Oil and gas producers continue to manage storm water when they build on exploration sites in order to prevent contaminated runoff. Exploration sites need to be stabilized quickly in order for development equipment can be brought on to the sites quickly.

Timing is crucial with these projects and unnecessary regulation slows and discourages new development of energy resources we need. Disruption of energy supply development is detrimental to a sound national energy policy. Oppose the Filner motion to instruct.

Mr. Speaker, this is needless regulation that we need to start curbing in our country, and I urge Members to be oppose the Filner motion to instruct.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember a great American and a great man in Texas politics. Former Governor Preston Smith passed away Saturday at the age of 91. His impact on the State of Texas, especially in the area of education, is immeasurable. One of his many focuses during his years in politics was improving education in Texas. He was responsible for opening more colleges and universities than any other Governor in our State. Known as the people's Governor, it was not surprising to call his office and have him answer his own phone.

Just a few of his accomplishments during his tenure include the creation of four new State schools, a new University of Texas Medical School in Houston, the Texas Tech Medical School in Lubbock, Texas, the University of Texas dental branch and a nurses training school in San Antonio, a new undergraduate nursing school in El Paso, and an expansion of the University of Texas medical branch at Galveston.

Governor Smith was married 63 years to his loving wife, Ima, also a Texas Tech graduate, who died in 1998. A kind, caring soul, as her health declined, the Governor would walk into her bedroom each morning with a fresh-cut flower and a note.

Thousands of Tech students each day walk past a 9-foot bronze statue of Smith that stands in front of the administration building. He will continue to watch over Texas and Texas Tech for years to come. Texas, West Texas, and Lubbock are better places today because of the distinguished service of Governor Preston Smith.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today to celebrate Rush Elementary th School in Lubbock, Texas' 50th anniversary, which will occur on October 24th. Rush Elementary has played an intergral role in developin gand nurturing young students in West Texas for half a century. The faculty's contributions to the lives of young people have strengthened the foundation of the community and continue to be an invaluable resource.

The school strives to continue the spirit of connnunity service that was characteristic of George A. Rush, the school's namesake. Mr. Rush was a pioneering citizen who helped lay the foundation on which Lubbock was built. Mr. Rush served on the first Lubbock City Council and originally owned the 9.5 acres of land where the school is now built. By emphasizing community outreach, the facility has fostered in its students a spirit of serving others with dedication. We have been especially fortunate in my home, that my wife, Dana, attended Rush. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's wife Karyn, also benefited from attending Rush during her elementary years.

Rush Elementary School was founded in 1953 and it only consisted of four classrooms in two temporary buildings with combined grade levels. The existing building opened on December 19, 1957. Mrs. Maggie Hammer served as the head teacher of the four teacher staff. In 1959 twelve classrooms were added, followed by a new gymnasium and an air- conditioning system in 1989, as well as technical upgrades to support a new computer system. Rush currently enrolls 580 students.

Today, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rush Elementary School in Lubbock, Texas, I thank them for their service to the area. I am proud to join the citizens of Lubbock, and others who have benefited from the elementary school, in extending my deepest thanks and appreciation for all of their hard work. Our community would not be the same without the unparalleled contributions of the school and its dedicated faculty and staff.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because of the serious concerns I have about wasteful spending practices by the United States Government. Waste, fraud and abuse is rampant.

Financial management, for instance, at the Department of State is a problem. Although it accounts for billion of dollars annually in appropriations and possesses over $20 billion in assets, it usually cannot determine how much its programs cost or how much money it has. An audit revealed that the State Department owes $3.5 million on past orders that have never been delivered, a revelation which the Department's accounting books failed to reflect. One contract billed the Department for $92,000 in insurance premiums for a policy that never existed.

The financial management service at the Department of Treasury could not produce details on many outstanding checks, and in one case, caused a $3.1 billion overstatement of its cash position. The Inspector General reviewed 24 individual cases of government purchase on credit cards at the same department. The investigation revealed that purchases were unsupported and unjustified, and while none of those were large, had large price tags, they concluded that the system is more than moderately subject to fraud, waste and abuse.

Last November, the GAO investigators created a fictitious graduate- level school they called Y Hica Institute for the Visual Arts, purportedly located in London, and received student loans on behalf of fictitious students, including one name which was the same as the chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Senate Government Affairs Committee.

Employment Training Administration's accounting system for grants is consistently poor. For example, transfers of Workforce Investment Act funds are not even noted on the agency's books.

The Department of Labor Inspector General estimates that the IRS overcharged the Unemployment Trust Fund by $174 million in fiscal years 1999 through 2002.

$238 million in funds were found that the States no longer needed on projects that should have been redirected to other projects. Of this amount, $54 million was idle for 16 years on a freeway project in Connecticut that had never even started.

The Environmental Protection Agency awarded $700,000 on a contract without knowledge of the work the recipient was going to perform. The work plan did not have clear objectives, milestones, deliveries or outcomes.

The Inspector General of the EPA audited a sample of 116 assistant agreements awarded by the Office of Air Radiation and the Office of Water. In 79 percent of these projects, using over $100,000, project officers could not document the costs or document cost reviews of the proposed budgets. In 42

percent of these projects, the EPA did not even determine the environmental outcomes. For example, EPA awarded a recipient $200,000 to regulate costs charged by power companies. The work plan contained no environmental outcomes and stated that specific projects would be identified at a later date.

These are just a few examples of the waste, fraud and abuse, a problem which is decades old. Republicans, led by the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), the Committee on the Budget chairman, and President Bush and those of us here tonight are working hard to eliminate the culture of waste that exists today, and I believe we have a chance. I urge my colleagues to join this effort because waste, fraud and abuse within the Federal Government not only steals from the taxpayers, but the beneficiaries so desperately in need of quality services.

This is not a debate about which programs should be funded. This is about bringing accountability to the money that is spent. As Members of Congress, we have a responsibility to do make sure that the American families do not get ripped off.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to show my support for the partial-birth abortion ban. On June 5, I stood in these very Chambers and took the oath of office to be sworn in to the 108th Congress. I said at that time while I was on the floor that the only regret I had was that I was not here the day on June 4 when this body passed the partial-birth abortion bill and sent it to the Senate. I said that day I was looking forward to tonight and tomorrow when we are going to have an opportunity, I will have an opportunity to cast that very vote, that very important vote.

Mr. Speaker, we have been at war in this country for many years. Americans are working hard today to stop the killing fields in Iraq, and tomorrow we are going to stop the killing fields in America.

These cultural wars have divided our country. Yet our desire for respecting life will win out tomorrow.

The issue of abortion is a very personal and emotional one that requires considerable reflection. I believe the sanctity of human life must be honored and the rights of the unborn need to be protected.

I believe that some women are not ready for the enormous responsibility of motherhood, and that is the reason that we need to make sure that we make other options available to them. And the parents should play a very active role in helping, sometimes, children make these very important decisions.

I know that during the Clinton administration, the President vetoed this bill twice, and I am happy to be working with a President who once and for all will sign this bill into law. I know my constituents would certainly like to see this practice banned, and I intend to watch this happen on this floor tomorrow.

No compassionate person wants to see a woman suffer the personal tragedy of abortion. Women deserve better than partial-birth abortion. The argument that partial-birth abortion provides some benefit, even in tragic cases, is false, and women should not have to bear the psychological burden that is the result of such flawed reasoning.

Women who experience abortions also experience the psychological pain of being present at the destruction and disposal of their babies, suffering that is virtually incomprehensible to anyone who has not experienced it. What is more, many women look for a way out at the last moments before an abortion, by whatever method, but their appeals are sometimes disregarded. This is especially true when many of those are sedated during this procedure.

We stand on the precipice of a great victory for the pro-life movement tomorrow. By committing to our children, we are investing in the future of America and the future greatness of our proud country. I appreciate this opportunity to speak on behalf of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and acknowledge my Chief of Staff and friend, Ms. Lynn Cowart on the occasion of her retirement. Through the course

of my career, working in the business world and as a public official, rarely have I been so privileged to work with such an extraordinary person that gives unselfishly and wholeheartedly to the interests and welfare of other people.

Lynn was born in Virginia to Molly and Andy Cowart and is the middle sister to Ms. Nora McCormick and Ms. Chris Cowart. Daughter of a Captain in the U.S. Navy, Lynn moved all around the United States, attending both public and Catholic schools, and graduated high school in Alexandria, Virginia. She then attended the University of Hawaii and business school in Hawaii.

Lynn's lengthy and impressive career began as a temporary employee for the Department of the Navy in Pearl Harbor. In 1968, Lynn moved to Washington, D.C. and worked in the Pentagon until 1972. Then, in 1973 she moved across the Atlantic Ocean to England where she worked in the United States Embassy in London under the auspices of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Lynn moved back to the United States in 1980 and worked for an attorney here in Washington, D.C. In 1982, she began working for Senator John Tower from Texas until his retirement. She then moved from the U.S. Senate to the U.S. House of Representatives to work for Representative Larry Combest where she worked for 18 years. In May of 2003, Representative Combest retired. On June 3rd, I was elected to fill the seat for the 19th District of Texas and Lynn accepted the position of Chief of Staff in my office.

Lynn's dedication to public service will continue after she retires from politics. This fall she will begin work at Island Creek Elementary School, serving the people of Fairfax County in Virginia's public school system.

Her career is impressive not only for its duration and the intriguing posts she has filled but more so for the integrity and strong work ethic she brings to each job. For over 30 years, Lynn has been a model of devotion, stability, fairness, and attentiveness that is nothing short of amazing. Her loyalty and passion for the 19th District is evident through her nearly 20-year commitment to the area. The Permian Basin and South Plains of Texas is a unique area where hard-working people are faithful to their roots in the oil and gas industry and agriculture. Lynn's integrity and personal attention to these people is astonishing. She has always taken time to listen and act upon any complaints or concerns that farmers or the hard-working folks of Texas had. When I was sworn in on June 5th, I know I would have been stranded and lost without Lynn's incredible capability to maintain patience with me. Six days out of the week, Lynn kept an incredible schedule and put in extended hours in order to keep the office running. Thanks to Lynn, who is the glue which holds my staff together, the offices in Washington D.C., Odessa and Lubbock stayed in business leading up to my election and my first hectic week as a U.S. Congressman. Her ability to remain positive in tough situations only proved to me that Lynn possesses confidence beyond anyone I have ever known. Without her I would not be as I am today: sure that my transition could not have gone any smoother. Over the years, Lynn has made a powerful impression upon people here on Capitol Hill and back home in Texas. Anyone in public service would do well to emulate her example if they truly desire a career that makes a difference and leaves a legacy.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in extending my sincere thanks to Lynn Cowart. I am truly honored to recognize her accomplishments. She will certainly be missed.

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. Only the people sitting on this floor understand what I am feeling right now. It is a privilege and an honor to be a part of history and to be with this body today.

I want to recognize my wife and my partner of 33 years who is up in the balcony there and my family. There is a scripture in Corinthians that says, ``I am what I am by the grace of God.'' I am here today because of the grace of God. I understand that, and I look forward to working with you.

I have one regret. I would have really liked to have been here yesterday and voted on the partial-birth abortion. I would have voted an affirmative banning the partial-birth abortion. I am glad to see that you did that. It is a pleasure to be here.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to working with you. I am the new kid on the block. I am the 435th ranking Member of the House of Representatives. I bumped some people up today, and I know they are glad of that. We certainly appreciate the Texas delegation and other Members being here today. We look forward to doing good work for the American people.

Thank you and God bless you.