Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to support the amendment from my colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Pallone and my colleague from Pennsylvania, Mr. Murphy to the Federal Railway Safety and Safety Improvement Act.

Mr. Pallone and Mr. Murphy's amendment would exclude from the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board the regulation and approval of solid waste transfer and processing facilities near railway stations. This amendment addresses a serious environmental concern in allowing companies to skirt solid waste regulations and I fully support this amendment.

The Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 gave the STB jurisdiction over transportation by rail carriers and authorized the STB to pre-empt Federal, State or local laws in conflict with Commerce Clause. This law was intended to extend the STB's authority only to railroad operations, not to the operation of facilities located by rail services or to businesses which have a connection to a rail company. Unfortunately, confusion about Congressional intent behind the ICCTA has been exploited by some companies to override State and Federal environmental regulations for the sake of profit and have put both the environment and the public health at risk.

It is through a gross misinterpretation of ICCTA that the STB allows companies to seek Federal preemption of a host of environmental and public health laws by simply locating their facilities on railroad property. One of the more egregious examples of this abuse is the building of solid waste facilities along rail lines. In the State of New Jersey, the STB has allowed nine railroad transfer facilities to operate under the supposed Federal preemption supposedly authorized through the ICCTA--at least one of which handles toxic waste.

Many of these facilities are little more than trash heaps which do not have to comply with either State or Federal solid waste regulations. This is unacceptable. We have spent the last decade working to clean up the damage that has been caused by improper waste disposal, and continuing to allow companies to exploit the ICCTA is a step backwards in the progress we have made in regulating this industry. Mr. Pallone and Mr. Murphy's amendment would take a crucial step towards correcting this problem and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased the House is taking action today to help protect reporters from prosecutions simply for doing their jobs.

Over the last few years, more than forty reporters have been subpoenaed for the identities of confidential sources in nearly a dozen cases. Although the Department of Justice has promulgated voluntary guidelines for issuing subpoenas to the media and reporters, these guidelines do not apply to civil litigants in federal court and give unreviewable discretion to special prosecutors.

H.R. 2102 would establish a Federal standard for all parties-- prosecutors, civil litigants, journalists and sources--and send a signal to potential sources that they will be protected in most circumstances when they pass to news organizations evidence of waste, fraud and abuse in government and in the private sector.

The bill requires journalists to testify at the request of criminal prosecutors, criminal defendants and civil litigants who have shown by a preponderance of the evidence that they have met the various tests for compelled disclosure. The bill contains provisions to ensure that the privilege would not impair law enforcement's efforts to identify a person who has disclosed significant trade secrets or certain financial or medical information in violation of current law.

In the case of national security issues, the test is that ``disclosure of the identity of such a source is necessary to prevent an act of terrorism against the United States or its allies or other significant and specified harm to national security with the objective to prevent such harm.'' It is the latter half of this clause that would allow the Justice Department to compel testimony from reporters in national security leak cases.

It is important that we ensure that information that is properly classified be protected from unauthorized disclosure. However, as we've seen repeatedly over the last century, too often government officials will misuse the classification system to hide evidence of their own lawbreaking. It will be important for Congress to carefully monitor how this particular provision is employed by the Department of Justice to ensure it is not abused in a way that prevents Congress and the public from learning about violations of law carried out in the name of protecting the nation's security.

Organizations representing publishers, broadcasters, and journalists agree that this legislation provides a suitable framework for balancing the needs of a free press with the need to uphold our laws, and on balance, so do I. I urge my colleagues to vote for this important legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 3121, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007.

In April of this year, severe rainstorms in New Jersey caused the Delaware River to overflow for the fourth time in the past 2 years. Each of these floods caused substantial damage to the homes and businesses of my constituents in Mercer and Hunterdon counties. After each incident I toured the affected areas and met with local officials, residents, and business owners. Two primary concerns were raised by my constituents in each of these meetings. Residents wanted to know what efforts are being made to prevent future flooding and they wanted to be assured access to the financial resources available to them.

The legislation before us today provides needed comprehensive flood insurance reform. It will address concerns of the residents in my Central New Jersey district by expanding, improving and reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program, NFIP, through 2013. The NFIP is federally backed flood insurance available for purchase to homeowners, renters and business owners in 20,000 communities across the nation. In order to be eligible, these communities are required to adopt floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage.

H.R. 3121 will improve the NFIP by increasing and expanding access to flood insurance policies. For the first time since 1994, the bill updates maximum insurance coverage limits for residential and nonresidential properties. It will create business interruption coverage policies for business owners to better prepare them to meet payroll and other obligations after a flood occurs. Additionally, this bill makes optional coverage at actuarial rates for basement improvements and for the replacement of items damaged by flooding. It also encourages participation in the NFIP through community outreach programs.

This legislation will help protect consumers and ensure that homeowners who should have flood insurance have it. H.R. 3121 increases the fines on lenders who do not enforce the mandatory flood insurance policy purchase requirement for those who live in a floodplain and hold a federally-backed mortgage. It will also clarify the disclosure requirements for flood insurance availability and require plain language information on flood insurance policies. It removes the current $500,000 per apartment building insurance cap and will allow each unit in the building to be insured for its total value. It requires landlords to notify their tenants of contents coverage availability. Further, the bill makes flood insurance effective immediately upon purchase of a home.

Not only does this bill work to ensure that insurance coverage is available to those who need it, it will help us to find better ways to prevent flooding in the future by requiring the Federal Emergency Management Administration, FEMA, to map the 500-year floodplain. It also makes the updating and modernization of flood maps an ongoing process, and increases funding for mapping. According to the Delaware River Basin Commission which works on issues relating to the Delaware River, updated floodplain maps will allow us to better predict areas that are vulnerable to flooding and identify ways to prevent floods from happening.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3121.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 3567 the Small Business Investment Expansion Act.

Much of the economic success that we enjoy as a Nation is the result of innovation and development by America's small business community. Almost half of Americans working in the private sector are employed by small businesses. They are responsible for over 45 percent of our national payroll and have created 60 to 80 percent of new jobs over the last 10 years.

Since it was created in 1953, the Small Business Administration, SBA, has played an essential role in maintaining and strengthening the Nation's economy by aiding, assisting and protecting the interests of America's small businesses. However, there is an expanding gap between the assistance that the SBA's programs are able to provide and the capital needs of small businesses.

The legislation before us today will help to close this gap by expanding and improving two of the SBA's most successful programs, the Small Business Investment Company and the New Markets Capital Program. As a public-private partnership the Small Business Investment Company program stimulates and supplements the flow of private equity capital and long term loan funds for the sound financing, growth, expansion and modernization of small business operations. This program was able to leverage more than $21 billion to 2,000 small businesses in the last year alone; however more could be done to improve access to this program. This legislation will expand access for early-stage and capital-intensive small businesses by simplifying how maximum leverage caps are calculated and revising the limitation on aggregate investments. H.R. 3567 will also expand access to the New Markets Venture Capital program that provides entrepreneurial expertise and equity capital to small businesses in low-income regions. This legislation not only expands the programs but provides incentives for investors to invest in small manufacturing companies.

Additionally, H.R. 3567 will create a new office within the SBA to help start-up of companies find investors to support them in their early stages of growth, the Office of Angel vestment. This legislation will focus on three main initiatives: providing angel groups with matching financing leverage, create a federal directory of angel investors, and funding for awareness and educational programs about angel Investment opportunities.

Small businesses make up the engine that drives our economy. The legislation before us today will give small businesses the tools that they need to succeed. I therefore encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a cosponsor and strong supporter of the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, H.R. 1400. It is appropriate that we are debating this bill today while Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the United Nations General Assembly.

The current regime in Iran poses troubling security challenges to the community nations and our allies in the Middle East. The hateful and threatening comments made by the President of Iran against Israel cannot be tolerated. Further, the provocative actions taken by Iran to further their nuclear weapons program are not acceptable. A nuclear Iran would destabilize the region and threaten the United States and our allies. Iran must alter its dangerous course, and the United States needs to be fully involved to help bring this about.

My commitment to ending Iran's nuclear weapons program is one of the reasons I was an early cosponsor of the Iran Counter Proliferation Act of 2007. H.R. 1400 is important legislation that would prevent nuclear cooperation between the United States and any country that provides nuclear assistance to Iran as well as support diplomatic and economic means to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem. It would also expand bilateral sanctions against Iran by severely limiting the export of U.S. items to Iran and by prohibiting all imports. Additionally, H.R. 1400 calls for enhanced UN Security Council efforts in response to Iran's continued defiance of the

international community. Finally, it is important to note that the bill specifically states that the administration cannot interpret anything in the legislation as a congressional authorization of a military strike on Iran.

Earlier this year, the House passed the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2007, H.R. 2347. This legislation which I also supported would authorize State and local governments to divest from, and prevent investment in, companies with financial ties to Iran's energy sector, or that sell arms to the Government of Iran, and financial institutions that extend credit to the Government of Iran.

H.R. 1400 is logical next step to ensure that the United States does everything in our power to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state and further destabilizing the Middle East. I urge my colleagues to support this vital legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 95) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives supporting the goals and ideals of Campus Fire Safety Month, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may insert material relevant to H. Res. 95 into the Record.

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

(Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express support for the goals and ideals of Campus Fire Safety Month, introduced by the representative from Ohio, Mrs. Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Campus fire safety is an important issue for students all over the country. Since January of 2000, at least 113 young people have died in student housing fires. These unfortunate deaths may have been prevented by better education of fire safety measures and implementation of effective prevention systems.

In my own State of New Jersey, early on January 19, 2000, a fire killed three students and injured 58 others at Seton Hall University. Over 75 percent of these fatalities around the country have occurred in off-campus housing. It should be a priority to make sure that all students are aware of fire safety information, especially those students who do not live in on-campus housing. Fire safety training should be a continuing process so that our Nation's young people practice fire safety throughout their lives.

As we send our Nation's students off to campuses this month to further their education, it is essential that they are in safe environments. Simple steps such as testing smoke detectors and having a working and accessible fire extinguisher can help keep our students safe. By recognizing September as Campus Fire Safety Month, this resolution will help bring awareness to such simple and critical measures to protect students from fire hazards.

Mr. Speaker, the knowledge and skills learned through fire safety training are invaluable for everyone. I would like to encourage administrators and municipalities across the country to provide educational programs to all students during September and throughout the school year.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this resolution.

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

I appreciate the remarks of the gentleman from Minnesota. May I ask if he has any further speakers?

Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman from Minnesota has said, we are safer, students in dormitories and off-campus housing are safer than they were 6, 8 years ago. We have learned things to do. In this case, we know what to do. The education should be carried forward. Designation of this awareness month will help in that educational effort.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support enthusiastically this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 25) calling on the Board of Directors of the National High School Mock Trial Championship to accommodate students of all religious faiths.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may insert material relevant to H. Res. 25 into the Record.

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

(Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 25, a resolution that calls on the National High School Mock Trial Championship board of directors to make provisions in the championship schedule to accommodate the religious faiths of all potential students and participants. This legislation was introduced by Mr. Rothman, my colleague from New Jersey, who has worked diligently on this issue to see that fairness and tolerance prevails.

The National High School Mock Trial Championship is a competition between winning high schools on a national level designed to showcase bright and talented high school students. The event requires intense preparation, skill and dedication for those who reach the high level of competition. The current championship takes place on weekends. There are two rounds on Friday, two rounds on Saturday, and a championship round that occurs later on Saturday.

In 2005, just a couple of years ago, this schedule caused an imposition to a team in that competition. The Torah Academy of Teaneck, New Jersey was scheduled to participate after winning the 2005 New Jersey State Bar Foundation high school tournament. Now, this school, without proper accommodation, would not have been able to compete because of their orthodox religious practice to observe the Sabbath from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. In that instance, the board of the competition made a proper accommodation for the students' religious faiths. The team was able to compete in May of that year. Those who took part in that competition recognized that the adjustment made by the board showed fairness and tolerance, and it was a good way to approach a problem. All participating applauded the board for doing so. However, the board later voted to refuse any future accommodations for students who observe the Sabbath on Friday or Saturday. The vote carried and signified a rejection of participation for all future participants with religious prohibitions, religious practices that may require accommodation.

Well, a number of legal organizations then withdrew their participation and support for the National High School Mock Trial Championship pointing to this act of the board of directors that quite clearly undermines free religious spirit, the kind of spirit on which this country was based. It is not without irony that this was applied in a competition that is intended for legal and constitutional education.

The resolution before us today from Mr. Rothman and cosponsored by a number of us calls on the mock trial championship to recognize the diverse religious views and practices in this country and to restore its rules in order to accommodate excellent students of all faiths. I commend Mr. Rothman for pursuing this. We hope that this can be resolved in a way that is most inclusive and in the spirit, the constitutional spirit, of equality of religious practice in this country.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman), the author of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman).

Mr. Speaker, I wish this resolution were not necessary, but maybe we should welcome this and embrace it as a teachable moment, not only to understand the religious tenets, practices, and traditions of various people in this country, but also to understand what it means to say we are a Nation dedicated to the proposition that all are equal.

No one said that the freedoms we cherish need be convenient. They do require from each of us, from time to time, accommodation, even inconvenience. This is a teachable moment, an important lesson in tolerance, equality and, yes, accommodation.

I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman) for bringing this forward, and I urge my colleagues to support this.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill of 2007, H.R. 2881.

This summer's record delays at many of our Nation's airports have made it evident that our air traffic control system is in desperate need of reform. According to the FAA, 25 percent of flights arrived late, nearly 3 percent of flights were cancelled and customer complaints doubled since last year. My central New Jersey constituents who use Newark Liberty International Airport suffer from the worst delays in the country with only 55 percent of flights arriving on time.

The legislation before us today will give the FAA the tools it needs in order to reduce these delays and help increase flight safety. It will provide the much needed funding to modernize our aging air traffic control system and to strengthen and rebuild airport infrastructure. It will require the FAA to meet with airport officials and airlines to ensure flight reductions in areas where over-scheduling is causing chronic delays. This bill will make sure that there are the adequate consumer protections in place to protect our Nation's airline passengers.

Few of us have forgotten the February 14, 2007 and December 29, 2006 incidents where hundreds of airline passengers were held on tarmacs for up to 10 hours in appalling conditions. These passengers were held in planes with foul air, backed up toilets, little food and water, and no information. The legislation before us today will ensure that these situations will be avoided in the future.

H.R. 2881 requires airlines and airports to have emergency contingency plans to take care of passengers that are involved in long tarmac delays. Through these plans it will mandate that these passengers have access to food, water, clean restrooms, medical care and requires that passengers are allowed to deplane. It also requires the Department of Transportation to enact regulations that will require airlines to fairly compensate passengers whose flights are cancelled. These commonsense protections will make sure that the airlines respect the basic needs and rights of passengers.

The Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill of 2007 contains a number of other provisions which will improve the way that our aviation industry operates. It will help protect our environment through requiring the development of more efficient engines that release less greenhouse gases into the air as well as directs the FAA to develop more energy efficient routes. Our Nation's air traffic controllers work long and stress-filled hours to ensure that we have the safest air travel in the world. This bill ensures that the FAA will be forced to come back to the contract negotiating table. It will also increase the number of aviation safety inspectors by one third, require the FAA to be more accountable, and improve the security of aircraft repair stations.

I urge my colleagues to support the FAA Reauthorization bill of 2007.

Madam Speaker, it is fitting that we are pausing to honor the memory of those who died on that terrible day and to reaffirm our commitment to bring to justice those who perpetrated these heinous acts. Today is also a time for us to remember that we can best honor those who perished by learning the right lessons from 9/11, including the heroes of United Flight 93 like Todd Beamer, whose actions that day prevented further loss of life in Washington, DC.

Over the last 6 years, we have made it harder for the reconstituted al Qaeda to mount a similar operation against the United States. And last month, the Congress passed and the President signed into law a bill (H.R. 1) that will implement the balance of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations. These are tangible achievements, but we must guard against the kind of complacency and false sense of security that prevailed before the attacks on our Nation.

Because al Qaeda's leadership--Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri--remains at large, America is still vulnerable to future al Qaeda attacks. Moreover, our involvement in Iraq has caused us to waste lives, resources, and time that should have been spent in finding and neutralizing bin Laden and Zawahiri, and dismantling the rest of their network. We know that our involvement in Iraq has made it harder for us to rally the world in the common struggle against al Qaeda and its murderous ideology. The sooner we disengage militarily from Iraq, the sooner we will be able to refocus ourselves and our allies on the larger and far more important struggle against bin Laden and those like him.

We must also do what is necessary to care for the first responders of 9/11--those who have developed debilitating illnesses as a result of their exposure to the multiple toxins unleashed in the aftermath of the attacks. I'm hopeful that a bill to provide for the long-term monitoring of affected first responders (H. Res. 128), offered by my colleague Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York, will be brought to the floor of the House for a vote very soon.

Finally, we must ensure that America does whatever is necessary to take care of the men and women of our armed forces who are engaged in the hunt for our terrorist enemies. Traumatic brain injury, life- changing physical wounds, and post-traumatic stress disorder are all conditions that are affecting veterans in record numbers. I'm gratified that this Congress has provided major funding increases to deal with the needs of the veterans, but we must do more than provide one-year increases in funding--we need to structurally increase the VA health care budget to cover these injuries and their treatment throughout the expected lifetimes of these veterans. To do less dishonors them and our Nation.

Madam Speaker, as we mark this solemn day, let us remember that so long as we remain united as a people, we will weather this struggle successfully--just as we weathered the fights against fascism and communism in the last century.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2669 the College Cost Reduction Act. I would like to thank Chairman Miller and his staff for this bill that will provide New Jersey residents an additional $262 Million in loan and Pell grant aid.

Once signed into law, this legislation will ensure that more Federal student aid money gets to the students who need it, and in New Jersey, the need is great. Over 61,000 students in New Jersey take out need- based loans for 4-year schools each year and incur an average of over $14,000 in debt. Under the legislation, the maximum value of the Pell grant scholarship would increase by $1,090 over the next 5 years, reaching $5,400 by 2012. This increase would fully restore the purchasing power of the scholarship, which in recent years had been frozen at $4,050 until Congress boosted its value to $4,310 earlier this year.

I am pleased that the committee included several initiatives that I have been working on, including provisions from my bill H.R. 2017, the Part-time Student Assistance Act. We have raised the income protection allowance in the College Cost Reduction Act so that working students can work more without having that count against their student aid. Further, we were able to eliminate the earned income tax credit from calculations so that working families do not have to bear this burden.

The bill also provides upfront grant aid for those who are becoming math, science, and foreign language teachers. The bill would create grants providing upfront pre-paid tuition assistance of $4,000 per year with a maximum of $16,000 for elementary or secondary school math and science teachers and critical foreign language teachers. Our classrooms have an increasing shortage of teachers for these vital subjects. This problem is most severe in school districts were students come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Without qualified teachers in these areas, we are endangering the competitiveness of our children in the global economy.

Students who take out loans or receive Pell grants will now find it easier to finance their education. By investing in foreign language and math and science education, we'll enhance both our economic and national security. Part-time students will have an easier time balancing the need to care for their families and improve their education. This is public policy at its best--it lifts up Americans from all walks of life.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is an investment in our future. Without providing access to a college education we will not be able to compete with nations that have already made the investments in providing a quality education for their own children. The United States is a dominant world economy because of our educated workforce. With this bill we will take a larger step toward maintaining this edge and I ask my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk made in order under the rule.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I shall be brief.

Suppose you are driving to work. Now, today you can listen to the radio and avoid some delays. But what if you had real-time information in your car that would instruct you to turn now and save 10 minutes on your commute? What if you could use that technology every day? What if millions of Americans used that technology every day? You would save time, fuel and money.

Mr. Chairman, this is not far-fetched. The technology exists today, but it is not widely implemented, although it could be. Information technology is becoming cheaper and cheaper. Electronic systems are now relatively inexpensive and easy to install, but we've really not looked at using them systematically. My amendment would mandate a study of this new technology, such as web-based real-time information systems, freight route management, congestion information systems, car pool information systems, parking information and so forth and would examine the fuel savings.

This amendment, which is supported by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, simply calls for a study of the energy savings from intelligent transportation systems. It, indeed, I would argue, is an intelligent amendment, and I believe Mr. Oberstar from Minnesota would agree.

I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from Minnesota.

I thank the gentleman.

Again, this is very much in line with what the gentleman and his committee have authorized. The amendment just goes a step farther to require a study of the energy savings. I expect we will find that they are great, but let's do the study.

I urge support of this amendment.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, this tonight is about how our government treats its people. One of the characteristics of oppressive governments that we detest throughout history is that they spy on their own people. The chilling intrusion into people's lives, effects, and relationships must be controlled even if the government officers think that the intrusion is necessary to preserve safety, security and order. Indeed, civil protections are necessary, especially if the government says they are trying to protect safety, security and order.

Courts must establish that there is a probable cause to believe an American is a threat to society, and it must be the courts, not the Attorney General, not the Director of National Intelligence, who determine that the standard is being met.

Let me correct some points. There is not a huge gap. FISA is not broken. Do not believe these scare tactics. Legislation should not be passed to respond to fear-mongering. Of course, we need

good intelligence to protect Americans, but we are being asked to enter a ``just trust us'' form of legislation. Just trust an Attorney General who has provided demonstrably false or misleading testimony before Congress on this very issue. We are being asked to just trust this Attorney General with unlimited authority to authorize spying on Americans through this legislation without oversight of the courts, even after his own Inspector General has revealed massive abuses of civil liberties through his department's unchecked use of national security letters.

I urge my colleagues to recognize this for the historic importance it has and vote down this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bill, which will provide our men and women in uniform with the tools to defend America and its people. Overall, this bill provides $459.594 billion for the operations of the Defense Department for fiscal year 2008, which is more than $43 billion above last year's level.

This bill keeps faith with our troops and their families in three key areas. First, this bill provides $2.9 billion ($558.4 million above the President's request) for programs including childcare centers, education programs and the family advocacy program which provides support to military families affected by the demands of war and episodes of child or spouse abuse. Second, the bill addresses the health care needs of military families and retirees by providing $22.957 billion ($1.7 billion above 2007 and $416 million above the President's 2008 request) for their care. The bill rejects the President's proposal to inflict $1.9 billion in TRICARE fee and premium increases on our troops, their families, and our military retirees. Finally, the bill provides $2.2 to cover the cost of a 3.5 percent military pay raise, as approved in the House version of the Defense Authorization bill.

This bill also prepares our forces to meet future needs. The bill provides $7.548 billion, a 13 percent increase for all home-stationing training, so that our troops are well prepared for any eventual deployment. The bill also supports DoD's plans to increase the size of the Army and Marines by providing $4 billion to cover the equipment costs of adding 7,000 Army troops and $2 billion to cover cost of adding 5,000 Marines. These force structure increases may reduce the number of deployments individual servicemembers may face in the years ahead.

The bill also addresses Guard and Reserve equipment shortfalls by providing $925 million ($635 million above 2007 levels) in order to help forces meet the demands of overseas deployments and respond to natural disasters here at home. This amount meets the requirements identified by the Chief of the National Guard Bureau in the ``Essential 10 Equipment Requirements for the Global War on Terror.''

To help America maintain its technological edge in the military arena, the bill provides $76.229 billion ($1.112 billion above the President's request and $508 million above 2007 levels) for research, development, testing and evaluation programs, including military medical research.

Funding for production of the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter was zeroed out because they are not ready to go into production. Research and development will continue. Regarding ballistic missile defense programs, the committee cut some $298 million from the President's $8.498 billion request. I continue to believe that this is the single most wasteful, technologically impractical, and politically shortsighted programs in the entire Pentagon budget, and I hope that further cuts to this program will be forthcoming when the House and Senate conferees meet later this year.

The bill also cuts $406 million from the President's $3.157 billion request for the Future Combat System, the Army's projected next generation of armor, artillery, and related vehicle programs. This is another example of a Cold War legacy program that continues to receive massive funding despite its complete irrelevance to the wars we've been waging since 9/11.

If we've learned anything from our experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's not that our soldiers' greatest need has been additional firepower from new tanks and artillery pieces--it's been their need for translators and cultural specialist who could help them bridge the language and culture gap with the Iraqis and Afghans who want to help us find the insurgents and terrorists who are destroying their societies. I'm glad the committee has taken this initial step in reducing expenditures on this Cold War legacy program, but I hope that it represents only the beginning of a fundamental reevaluation of this program and the eventual reprogramming of its funds towards more productive ends.

Finally, I wanted to take a moment to address a structural change that was made to the committee at the beginning of this Congress, one that has significantly enhanced this body's oversight of intelligence programs. Earlier this year and under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, the House passed H. Res. 35, which created the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, which I have the honor of chairing. This step was in direct response to the 9/11 Commission recommendation that Congress take steps to reform how it conducts oversight of the intelligence community.

Our panel contains a mix of members from both the Appropriations Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Our charter is to review the operations of the intelligence community and to recommend policies and funding levels where necessary. The bill before you incorporates our recommendations. The majority of these recommendations are detailed in the classified annex to this bill and cannot be discussed in open session. However, one specific recommendation can be outlined for this body and the public, and it involves those critical foreign language programs of which I spoke earlier.

Our panel recommended a more than $10 million increase in funding for the National Security Education Program, or NSEP for short. NSEP was established by the David L. Boren National Security Education Act (NSEA), as amended, P.L. 102-183, codified at 50 U.S.C. 1901 et seq. It was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on December 4, 1991. The NSEA mandated the Secretary of Defense to create the National Security Education Program (NSEP) to award: (1) scholarships to U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad in areas critical to U.S. national security; (2) fellowships to U.S. graduate students to study languages and world regions critical to U.S. national security; and (3) grants to U.S. institutions of higher education to develop programs of study in and about countries, languages and international fields critical to national security and under-represented in U.S. study. Also mandated in the NSEA was the creation of the National Security Education Board (NSEB) to provide overall guidance for NSEP.

NSEP's mission is to build a broader and more qualified pool of U.S. citizens with foreign language and international skills. It consists of five initiatives that represent broad strategic partnerships with the U.S. education community designed to serve the needs of U.S. national security and national competitiveness. NSEP focuses on the critical languages and cultures of Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, and is unique in the commitment of its award recipients to proceed into public service upon completion of their academic studies. Each NSEP award recipient must demonstrate a commitment to bring his or her extraordinary skills to the Federal Government through employment within one of its many agencies and departments.

I'm pleased that our panel has placed such bipartisan emphasis on closing the foreign language and cultural literacy gaps that still exist within our national intelligence and defense agencies. However, it is clear that our deployed forces still do not have anything approaching the number of qualified linguists and cultural experts to help them effectively interact with the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and most of the other countries of the Arab and Islamic world that are the critical battlegrounds in the war of ideas, hearts, and minds against al Qaeda. I will work with Chairman Murtha in the coming year to address this issue.

Mr. Chairman, on balance, this is a good bill that provides our armed forces what they need to protect our citizens, our allies, and our vital interests, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for it.

Mr. Chairman, I commend the subcommittee for bringing this bill to the floor. Let me also take a moment to commend the outstanding staff of both the Defense subcommittee and the staff of the Select Intelligence Oversight

Panel for their hard work and expert contributions to our final product. I also want to thank the Panel's ranking member, Mr. LaHood, for his many thoughtful contributions to our work this year.

Speaker Pelosi is a leader of vision and boldness. Under her leadership, the House passed H. Res. 35, which created the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, which I have the honor to chair. This step was in direct response to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission that Congress reform how it conducts oversight of the intelligence community. Specifically, the Commission said ``Congress should create a joint committee for intelligence, in with combined authorizing and appropriations powers.'' The Speaker created a panel consisting of appropriators and authorizers .

Our panel contains a mix of members from both the Appropriations Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Our charter is to review all aspects of the intelligence community and report to the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Defense. The bill before you contains our first such set of recommendations, which have put everyone on notice that real Congressional oversight of intelligence activities has resumed after a long and dangerous lapse.

This panel--unprecedented in Congressional history I believe--appears to be making a difference. Chairman Obey and Chairman Murtha have taken the Speaker's proposal and made it succeed. Working in a bipartisan manner, the panel has made numerous recommendations ranging from increased funding for foreign language programs to restructuring of major intelligence programs. Those recommendations are incorporated into this bill.

I think almost all Americans now know that our national intelligence agencies activities around the globe affect their safety and prosperity at home. What I hope they will now also know is that we in the House have made the oversight changes necessary to help keep them safe and their liberties secure.

Let me close by saying that our Panel's work is just beginning, and that I look forward to reporting to the House occasionally on our activities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our Nation's children, a strong and secure Medicare program, and for passage of the Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007, CHAMP Act, H.R. 3162.

More than 6.6 million children today have health insurance because of the creation a decade ago of the State Children's Health Insurance Program SCHIP. However, these children will lose their access to good, affordable

health insurance if the Congress does not act to reauthorize the SCHIP program by September 30, 2007.

Today, the House will vote on the CHAMP Act, H.R. 3162, which will reauthorize and expand the SCHIP program to ensure even more children have access to the health care their parents cannot afford or who work in jobs that do not provide health care benefits. The CHAMP Act will provide 11 million children with health care, by expanding SCHIP to include an additional 5 million children who currently have no health insurance.

The CHAMP Act also provides the tools needed and creates incentives for States to reach the millions of children who are eligible but not currently enrolled in the SCHIP program. The bill ensures that children have 12 months of continuous eligibility, so their parents do not frequently have to complete a complex renewal process. Additionally, dental coverage and parity for mental health will also be provided to children under the CHAMP Act.

According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 44 million Americans lack health care coverage, including more than 14 percent of New Jersey's residents. Many of these Americans are children. It is simply unconscionable that in our country millions of children are uninsured.

The SCHIP program is strongly supported by our Nation's governors who have managed the State-run programs over the past decade and understand that SCHIP allows States to cover low-income children who lack health insurance in families of the working poor.

New Jersey uses its SCHIP funds to run a program called FamilyCare. Our State is a leader in extending FamilyCare eligibility and currently 125,000 children as well as 85,000 low income-parents are enrolled in New Jersey's program. Without SCHIP all of these residents of New Jersey would again be uninsured.

The CHAMP Act will allow States, like New Jersey, to continue set income eligibility for the SCHIP program. Because the cost of living is so high in New Jersey, it is important that our State has the flexibility needed to establish realistic eligibility guidelines.

Additionally, the CHAMP Act will allow New Jersey to continue to enroll parents along with their children. According to research by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences, one highly effective way of boosting coverage among low-income children is to broaden health insurance to their parents. Currently, New Jersey is one of nine States that covers low-income parents.

Because the new Democratic majority is committed to balanced budgets and opposed to deficit spending, this bill pays for this historic commitment to our Nation's children with an appropriate increase in the Federal tobacco tax and reductions to the overpayments that have been paid to the privately run Medicare Advantage plans. Contrary to their euphemistic name, these plans have not been so advantageous for our Nation's seniors.

According to the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, the 45 cent-per-pack increase in the tobacco tax that is included in the CHAMP Act will result in 1,381,000 less children who will become smokers. This will improve their health and result in long-term healthcare savings of $32.4 billion, 669,000 fewer smoking related deaths and 171,800 fewer newborn children harmed by smoking over the next 5 years.

Further, by reducing overpayments to the privately run Medicare Advantage plans, the CHAMP Act increases Medicare's solvency, and helps protect Medicare beneficiaries from higher premiums.

For our Nation's seniors the CHAMP Act makes much needed improvements to Medicare. I am pleased the CHAMP Act contains a provision I wrote when I introduced the Helping Fill the Medicare Rx Gap Act, H.R. 2058, to include costs incurred by AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, ADAPs, in calculating a Medicare Part D beneficiary's true out-of-pocket, Troop, costs. Medicare Part D pays 75 percent of a beneficiary's drug costs until their expenses reach $2,400. Part D then stops paying and individual beneficiaries must pay for all of their drugs until total expenses reach $5,451. This leaves a coverage gap of $3,051--the ``donut hole.'' ``True out-of-pocket'' costs, Troop in the donut hole determine when a beneficiary becomes eligible for catastrophic coverage.

Individuals suffering from HIV and AIDS need help. By including ADAP costs in calculating out-of-pocket expenses, we make them eligible sooner for help with their prescription drugs and we fix a loophole in Medicare Part D that discriminates against HIV and AIDS victims.

Additionally, under this bill the Medicare Part D late enrollment penalty for beneficiaries eligible for the Low-Income Subsidy program is eliminated and our Nation's seniors will be allowed to change their Part D plan during the year to meet their prescription needs. It also reduces the discriminatory copayments that Medicare charged for mental health services to the standard 20 percent copayment and adds additional mental health providers to Medicare so services are more easily available. Under this legislation, Medicare beneficiaries will have increased access to preventative services. The CHAMP Act also ensures that seniors have access to world class doctors by blocking a devastating cut in Medicare physician payments over the next 2 years.

The CHAMP Act is supported by the AARP, the American Medical Association, the Catholic Health Association, the National Rural Health Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association, Families USA, the National Partnership for Women and Families, Children's Defense Fund, Child Welfare League of America, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. All of these organizations understand that the CHAMP Act will ensure more American children have health insurance and that Medicare remains strong for decades to come.

There are 11 million reasons to vote for this bill, each one a child who will move out of the ranks of the uninsured with the health care provided in the CHAMP Act. Medicare beneficiaries will also see important improvements to their benefits. A measure of a Nation's greatness is how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. By making health insurance available for 11 million children, we live up to our moral obligation to keep children healthy and we make our society stronger. The CHAMP Act is historic legislation and I implore the President to drop his objections to this bill and join us in ensuring more Americans are healthy.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman of the committee for yielding.

One of the characteristics of oppressive governments that we detest is that they spy on their own people. The chilling intrusion into people's lives, effects, and relationships must be controlled even if the government's officers think the intrusion is necessary to preserve safety, security, and order. Indeed, civil protections are necessary, especially if the government officers say they are trying to protect safety, security, and order.

Courts must establish that there is a probable cause to believe an American is a threat to society, and it must be the courts, not the Attorney General, not the Director of National Intelligence, who determine that the standard is met.

The issue here is not about foreign-to-foreign intercepts. It is about how our government treats its citizens.