Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize those who lost their homes, livelihoods and, most tragically, their lives during the most devastating storm ever to hit the Northeast. For the heroic efforts of New York's police, fire department and sanitation workers, who were on the scene immediately, forsaking their own personal interests and safety, and for all of those affected by the hurricane, I ask that the House stand and engage in a moment of silence.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Carolina for introducing this resolution.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3783, the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act.

Last week's events in the Middle East and Africa are a stark reminder of how fragile peace can be. Iran's leaders have not been afraid to let the world know they will attack the United States and our allies, even going so far as to claim that they will wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.

Iran is emerging as a threat much closer to our shores in South America. Earlier this year, Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, embarked on a trip that Chairman Ros-Lehtinen accurately characterized as a ``tour of tyrants.'' He traveled throughout South America, where he met with Venezuela's President Chavez and attended the presidential inauguration of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua before going on to Cuba and Ecuador.

Iran continues to deepen its relations with Latin America through its ties to the international Islamic Shia group,

Hezbollah, a State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization. According to the Congressional Research Center, Hezbollah, along with Iran, has been linked to two bombings against Jewish targets in Argentina--the 1972 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 30 people and the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

While increasing tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran, we cannot simply afford to ignore the threats that are looming in South America. The Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012 will ensure that threat assessments are conducted, that a cooperative strategy is put in place between the United States and her allies in the region, and our borders with Canada and Mexico are more secure. These efforts will allow our country to better protect our citizens and our interests both on our own soil and abroad.

As we have seen, the threat is real and American lives are at stake. We cannot afford to ignore the potential threats to our national security that may stem from this area of the world.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3857) to amend the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to include as an eligible use the sustainment of specialized operational teams used by local law enforcement

under the Transit Security Grant Program, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the passage of H.R. 3857, the Public Transportation Security and Local Law Enforcement Support Act, which helps local law enforcement meet national security demands in a troubled economy.

Today, we solemnly remember the tragedy which took place 11 years ago at the Pentagon, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and New York City.

I am personally reminded when I travel from my home in New York to D.C., I look toward the southern tip of Manhattan where the Twin Towers once stood.

As we also remember the brave New York firefighters and police officers who ran into the inferno of the World Trade Center with no regard for their own safety, we should think about the brave spirit that lives on in every first responder. They are truly our last line of defense in an increasingly dangerous world, and we should make sure they are provided with access to all of the resources they need to keep us safe.

In large metropolitan areas, public transit systems are among the most vulnerable targets. In New York City, the MTA carries over 8 million people daily on its subways and buses throughout the five boroughs. The Transit Security Grant program provides funds to public transit agencies in high-risk areas for various security projects including the hiring of full-time personnel for specialized anti- terrorist teams, K-9 units, mobile screening, and public awareness campaigns.

The program is authorized by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 and administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in consultation with the Transportation Security Administration.

Grant funds are used to create new specialized anti-terror teams, but until recently could not be used to sustain these teams unless the Department of Homeland Security provided a waiver. This forced law enforcement to face the uncertainty of the waiver process or risk losing vital security assets. Fortunately, the Secretary provided some relief last year so that a waiver was not required, but without this bill, there is nothing to stop the Department of Homeland Security from reinstating another bureaucratic waiver or process.

H.R. 3857 streamlines the grant program to make it easier for the specialized security teams to receive funding. It authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to provide transit security grant programs to sustain teams and also eliminate the bureaucratic steps of requiring eligible transit agencies to apply for a waiver. This will help avoid countless hours of request, preparation, and review.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill because there is nothing more important than protecting our citizens.

We must make it a priority to ensure that the brave men and women who work so hard to keep us safe have the resources they need as soon as they need it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers. If the gentleman from Mississippi has no further speakers, I am prepared to close once the gentleman does.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1905, the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012. I would like to applaud Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen's tireless effort on this legislation to ensure that Iran's terrorist regime does not threaten the security of the United States and our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel.

I'm sure many of you remember that Iran was found by a Federal court to have been directly involved in both the 1983 attacks on the marine barracks in Beirut which killed 241 soldiers and the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia where a suicide bomber killed 14 airmen. The victims and their families won a judgment in court against the Iranian Government, but have had difficulty enforcing it because Iran could hide behind sovereign immunity.

I introduced H.R. 4070, which is now part of this bill, to change a specific part of Federal law to allow assets seized from the Iranian Government to be allocated to the Beirut and Khobar Towers families to recover the judgments owed to them. It is time that Iran is held accountable for their involvement in the deaths of our soldiers.

I'm proud to say that this provision is truly bipartisan. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle stand together against Iran. By passing this bill today, we offer the victims' families the justice that they have long been denied.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern that Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, continues to rule over Europe's last dictatorship. Despite continued promises of reform, Lukashenko continues to deny the people of Belarus their basic freedoms and human rights, and runs the country as a authoritarian dictatorship.

In fact, after Mr. Lukashenko's fraudulent election in 2010, 700 political opponents and activists were arrested during demonstrations. This is just one example of the type of persecution the people of Belarus have been subjected to in these past 18 years. Lukashenko's total disregard for the people he swore to protect is appalling, alarming, and should not be tolerated.

I'm here today to draw attention to this matter and publicly condemn Lukashenko and his regime for their continuing oppression of the people of Belarus, and offer my support for the country's civilians and pro- democracy forces.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5958, which recognizes Senator James L. Buckley for his service to our country and for his efforts to create the Gateway National Recreation Center in New York and New Jersey by renaming the visitors' center in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge of the Gateway National Recreation Area in his honor.

Senator James L. Buckley has been a true public servant, who served at the highest levels of all three branches of government as well as in the United States Navy during World War II. Along with his fellow New York Senator, Jacob Javits, Senator Buckley had the vision to create a national wildlife refuge center in an urban area, accessible to millions of people in New York City as well as to millions of other residents in the metropolitan area.

In 1970, during his first days in the Senate, Buckley joined Senator Javits

in introducing legislation to create Gateway, a more than 26,000-acre area spanning three boroughs and stretching all the way to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. This year, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, Gateway welcomes more than 8 million visitors annually.

From the historic aircraft at hangar B in Floyd Bennett Field to America's oldest lighthouse that was established in 1767 in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Gateway offers a unique piece of history for its visitors. Gateway National Park has also provided ornithologists--birders and birdwatchers--like Senator Buckley and myself, a glimpse of the more than 325 species of birds that stop over as part of the Atlantic Flyway, which stretches from the north of Canada to the Caribbean.

Senator Buckley's environmental interests were not limited to New York. He cosponsored the 1972 Clean Water Act, which is the seminal law governing water pollution and contamination. He also cosponsored the Grand Canyon National Park Enlargement Act, which protected the majesty of one of our Nation's greatest national habitats.

Senator Buckley was also prescient and eloquent by pointing out how technology and the environment can evolve together. He stressed that we can concentrate on developing environmental programs at achievable rates and costs. He said, ``We must learn how modern technology can coexist with the natural world.''

So I hope you will join me in honoring someone who has served to protect his State, his country, and the environment. Passing H.R. 5958 would be a fitting tribute to a man who spent most of his life sharing his intellect and talent in the service of others.

Madam Speaker, fellow Members, I am privileged to have had the honor of inviting Rabbi David Algaze here to lead us in the benediction. Rabbi Algaze serves as the senior rabbi of Havurat Yisrael Synagogue in Forest Hills, Queens, a position he has held since founding the congregation in 1981.

Rabbi Algaze has always held a commitment to academics both as a student and as a teacher. He holds multiple master's degrees and has served as a professor in all levels of academia. He is a former president of the Association of Sephardic Rabbis of America, and is the founder and president of the World Committee for the Land of Israel.

He has always been a strong advocate for the Jewish community in Queens and throughout New York. An ardent supporter of the State of Israel, Rabbi Algaze continues to fight to ensure its safety, security, and well-being. A prime example of these efforts is his work to educate the world about the current situation in Iran and the threat it poses to Israel and the United States.

A scholar, educator, and pillar of religious leadership in our community, he has been a terrific friend to me and has always been there for all those in need.

I thank you, Rabbi Algaze.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor my friend and neighbor Martin J. Ingram, who is retiring after more than 34 years of federal service.

Marty spent 30 years with the Air Force on active duty and with the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. He was a rescue helicopter pilot in the USAF Air Rescue Service, served as mission commander on multiple types of rescue aircraft and held key management positions as Instructor Pilot, Helicopter Flight Commander and Wing Chief of Safety. In May and June of 1996, he also flew combat support operations for Operation Provide Comfort in Turkey and northern Iraq.

In his civilian career, Marty flew as First Officer aboard Sikorsky S-61 helicopters for New York Airways, which included rooftop landings at the famed heliport atop the Pam Am Building. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot Rating in multi-engine and rotary aircraft, including the Boeing 747, Grumman Gulfstream G-II and Sikorsky SK-61 and SK-58 aircraft. He is a certified flight instructor in single and multi- engine aircraft and instruments, and is a certified Dispatcher and Flight Engineer with a Turbojet rating.

Marty began working with the Federal Aviation Administration in 1978 as an Air Traffic Controller at New York Center in Ronkonkoma, Long Island. In 1984, he launched his Flight Standards Service career by becoming an Aviation Safety Inspector (Operations) at the Farmingdale Flight Standards District Office (FSDO). He later served as a General Aviation and Air Carrier Safety Inspector, Principal Operations Inspector, and was Manager of the Charlotte FSDO and Executive Officer for the Southern Region Flight Standards Division. He is retiring as the Assistant Manager for the FAA Eastern Region Flight Standards Division at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.

I would like to offer a heartfelt ``Thank You'' to Marty for his military service to our country, a public service career well spent and all that he has done to keep our airlines and passengers safe over the years. I wish him many successful, happy and healthy years to come.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment today seeks to limit funding for the surface transportation inspection program.

Mr. Chairman, at a hearing held by the Transportation Security Subcommittee of Homeland Security, of which I am a member, industry witnesses raised serious concerns about the efficacy of the surface transportation inspection program. Here are some of the concerns raised at the hearing:

Most surface inspectors have no surface transportation experience or surface security background whatsoever. Many surface inspectors were promoted from screening passengers at airports;

These inspectors report to the Federal security directors at local airports who commonly also do not possess any surface transportation experience.

At least one local TSA official indicated he is always looking for things for his inspectors to do to occupy their time;

Most surface inspectors have two things to look for in a typical day: whether a transit system is reporting incidents to the TSA and a box is checked on their clipboard, and whether there is a security person on duty, another box to be checked on a clipboard;

The work of these inspectors is redundant, performed by employees of other agencies, such as the Department of Transportation, OSHA or EPA, and on and on. What they do is ultimately slow down commerce on our Nation's rails and highways.

Since 2008, TSA has more than doubled the size of the transportation inspection workforce and quadrupled the program's budget. Yet, according to the majority of stakeholders we heard from, there has been almost no tangible improvement in security as a result of these investments.

Last year, TSA's entire surface transportation security budget was $126 million. Of this amount, surface inspectors cost taxpayers $54 million, which does not even include headquarters, administration, oversight, and staff associated with the program. This means that the surface transportation inspection program, which has been labeled as ineffective by a number of freight, rail, passenger service, bus, and mass transit agencies, is consuming more than 40 percent of the entire surface transportation security budget.

Millions of Americans rely on surface transportation every day. More than 8 million people use public transportation in New York City alone. Despite this need, less than 2 percent of the TSA's nearly $8 billion budget goes toward securing our Nation's surface transportation systems, and a large

portion of that limited budget is being squandered on this ineffective inspection program.

Surface transportation security is too important to our national economy and receives too small a portion of homeland security funding to waste a single dollar. Opponents of this amendment may argue that it will result in Federal inspectors being put out of work. It will not. We are transferring money to implement more productive security measures within TSA. The question is simply: Why should taxpayers, especially those who rely on surface transportation every day, have to fund a program that has no proven ability to enhance security?

My amendment today seeks to limit the inspector program budget to $20 million, which would substantially reduce its size, and allow the saved money to be put forward in other more effective surface programs, such as canine detection units, particularly at bus and rail stations. This amendment strengthens security. It addresses concerns raised by the very transit systems the program is designed to protect.

Today, I ask you to join me in supporting this measure.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 295 I was away from the floor due to a memorial service for first responders at the World Trade Center Memorial in New York. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 296 I was away from the floor due to a memorial service for first responders at the World Trade Center Memorial in New York. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 294, I was away from the floor due to a memorial service for first responders at the World Trade Center Memorial in New York. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, there are no greater reminders of how dangerous Iran is to America than the Iranian-backed 1983 Beirut and 1996 Khobar Towers bombings in which 260 Americans lost their lives.

There was no military or economic retaliation towards Iran for their involvement in those bombings. The only type of recourse the families had of those who died was a financial reward given to them by the Federal courts--an award they still have not seen.

This is why I have introduced H.R. 4070, a legal necessity which revokes sovereign immunity from the Iranian central bank and allows a Federal court to attach frozen funds. Thus, the families who have been impacted by those bombings can receive the financial compensation they deserve and were previously awarded.

Today, 15 family members who lost their loved ones are on Capitol Hill, asking for two things: that we do everything we can to prevent Iran from killing more Americans, and that we hold them accountable for their actions.

I would like to say that I stand with them. I will continue to remind Americans about what Iran has done and what they continue to do.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 111, I was returning to Washington, DC, from my district in New York. As I was in transit at the time of the rollcall, I was unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker and my fellow colleagues, it is a distinct pleasure to stand before you right now, not only as a Representative but as a fan. I would like to take a few moments and acknowledge the New York Giants for defeating the New England Patriots on Sunday night, 21-17, in Super Bowl XLVI.

Some believed them to be underdogs, but our beloved G-Men didn't let people's lack of faith or doubt distract them from their end goal. Instead, they showed New York's resilience by fighting back to regain the lead in the fourth quarter, earning their second Super Bowl title in the last 5 years and their fourth Super Bowl title overall. The Giants have won eight world championships and rank as one of the most successful football franchises of all time.

As Giants' head coach Tom Coughlin said after the game: All things are possible for those who believe, and these guys believed, and they came together and trusted each other and believed in one another.

I think this is a terrific message for everyone to think about, especially those of us holding the distinct honor of being Members of the House of Representatives. There is still a great deal of work to be done on behalf of the American people. We must come together for a joint purpose. We must give our constituents a reason to believe we can work together on their behalf. Just as the members of the Giants team played hard for the people of New York, we must work hard for our constituents.

Again, I would like to congratulate the New York Giants, Head Coach Tom Coughlin, Super Bowl XLVI MVP Eli Manning, and all the great fans in New York.