Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Monterey Museum of Art for their fifty years of service dedicated to the stewardship and celebration of the artistic legacy of the Monterey Peninsula. On behalf of the whole House, I am honored to extend to the Monterey Museum of Art the gratitude of the Congress and the American people for their past and future service.

Monterey County, in Central California, is a region that has inspired artists since the late 1800s. Artists flocked to the area, which was then and still is a region of pristine beauty. They brought with them the tradition of plein air painting, still in evidence today with artists painting the land and seascapes of ``the greatest meeting of land and sea.''

The Monterey Museum of Art was founded in 1959 in Carmel as a Chapter of the American Federation of the Arts by a group of civic minded individuals who sought to create an arts space for that seminal arts colony. In addition to celebrating pioneers of early California art such as Armin Hansen, the museum collects and exhibits contemporary photography by such renowned artists as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Imogen Cunningham, contemporary artists working locally, in California and nationally.

Now comprising two locations, after the bequest of an historic adobe in the early 1980's by Frank Work, the museum serves nearly 40,000 visitors annually from around the world, including thousands of local schoolchildren. The museum is reaching out to families and children with new activities and programs geared to inspire a passion for the visual arts in accordance with their mission.

The mission of the Monterey Museum of Art is to collect, preserve, and interpret the art of California from the nineteenth century to the present day, within a national and international context. In this way, they expand the appreciation of their evolving artistic legacy and inspire a passion for the visual arts. We look forward to the next fifty years of their endeavors in this area.

Madam Speaker, I want to hold up the Monterey Museum of Art as a model museum and cultural institution, an expression of what makes our nation a worldwide leader in arts unique to our land. May their continued success inspire many more generations to celebrate our nation's artistic heritage and participate in its future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in observance of National Day of Silence.

Last Friday, April 17, marked the 13th annual National Day of Silence, a day where students throughout the country follow in the footsteps of the great civil rights advocates like Mahatma Gandhi and spend the day in civil disobedience. These students remain silent for one day to bring attention to and highlight the discrimination some of their peers endure by speaking out about sexual orientation and their personal gender identity.

When asked to explain why they will participate in a National Day of Silence, some of the young people in my district said, ``We stand up and stand out by not speaking out on that day.''

The Day of Silence is a day to acknowledge the roads already traveled and the ones soon to be traveled to show how far we have come and how much further we have to go. The Day of Silence brings attention to the oppression that queer youth face from their peers and their classroom, and is a reminder that we still have much work to do.

I commend all my constituents who observe the Day of Silence. Though the nationally observed Day of Silence has passed this year, I would ask my colleagues to take a moment of silence

today to reflect what we can do for our LGBT youth to make their lives better, to make their schools safer, and to end discrimination.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the 25th anniversary of the founding of The Performing Animal Welfare Society, PAWS, which continues to valiantly lead efforts to protect all animals and to ensure proper humane sanctuary for wildlife who have experienced the inhumanity of the exotic and performing animal trades.

In 1984, Pat Derby and Ed Stewart founded PAWS, sharing their commitment to develop a pristine sanctuary for abused, neglected and retired wildlife. Throughout the last 25 years, I am proud to have worked with PAWS to ensure improved, humane standards for captive wildlife. An early success for PAWS and animal rights activists was celebrated in 1985 with the passing of California Assembly Bill 1620 which introduced humane standards for the care and handling of wildlife. Following that initial success, more support was garnered which led the California Assembly to pass the Elephant Bill in 1995. This historic statute mandated that elephants be provided minimum adequate space to move freely and prohibited the use of chains for confinement.

Building on previous accomplishments, PAWS forged a bipartisan partnership with Congress in 1997 to pass the Asian Elephant Conservation Act. In another watershed moment for animal protection advocates, this important legislation provided financial assistance for projects intended to protect Asian elephants and blocked funding for captive breeding programs. As a co-sponsor of the original Act, and having twice voted to fully fund the Asian Elephant Conservation Reauthorization Acts of 2001 and 2007, I understand the importance and deeply appreciate the beneficence of PAWS. In addition to protecting elephants, PAWS has successfully implemented solutions to rescue and relocate over 35 tigers and other animals from breeding facilities.

Through The Performing Animal Welfare Society's extraordinary accomplishments, which now includes over 2,400 acres of natural protected sanctuaries, countless captive animals have been rescued from hazardous and inhumane conditions and have been provided with healthy and sustainable environments in which to live quality lives. Without their steadfast support and dedication for the humane treatment of wildlife, our nation's efforts to protect these animals would be drastically impaired.

Madam Speaker, it is with the upmost respect and gratitude that I rise to honor the 25th anniversary of PAWS and especially to pay tribute to Pat Derby and Ed Stewart.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of Dale Skillicorn of Watsonville, California. Dale passed away on March 14, 2009 at the age of seventy-one, leaving behind a city better for his efforts. He was an extraordinary community leader who served as the city of Watsonville's Mayor Pro Tempore and had served as a city councilmember, representing the city's 7th District, since 2002.

Dale was born on April 4, 1937 in Watsonville, California. He graduated from Watsonville High School then attended Monterey Peninsula College and San Francisco State University. Dale spent more than twenty years in public service positions. He served on the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission for fourteen years, and then spent five years as Santa Cruz County Parks Commissioner. In 2002, Dale was elected to represent Watsonville's District 7 on the city council. He was reelected in 2006 and in 2008 was selected as the Mayor Pro Tempore by his peers on the city council. Dale brought a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the city council.

Dale Skillicorn's public service career will be remembered for his dedication to green job creation and advocacy for the Pajaro Valley's agriculture industry. He played a key role in bringing the Alternative Construction and Energy Expo to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. In addition, many residents in Watsonville will remember Dale through his work as a volunteer in many organizations located in the Pajaro Valley.

Madam Speaker, Dale Skillicorn touched the hearts of everyone he came into contact with, was a pillar to the city of Watsonville. He lived his life as an active member of the community, who was driven by compassion to help others. I am certain I speak for the entire House in extending our heartfelt sympathy to Dale's wife of 29 years, Jan Skillicorn; his son, Mark Skillicorn; and his two stepdaughters, Valerie Justus-Rusconi and Christina Justus-Garcia.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Chair, I rise in support of this budget. I didn't do it without some reservation, because I've been spending a lot of time listening to the needs of this country as it juxtaposes itself in the world, in Afghanistan and in Iraq, certainly in South America where I served as a Peace Corps volunteer. And what I think is very dangerous about the thinking of cutting the foreign aid, the 150 account, is that is all the humanitarian aid. If the combatant commanders tell us that you cannot win this war on military terms, that you're going to have to use civilian power, that's what we call soft power, smart power, then that's the account that invests in it, the account that invests in foreign aid and extended IMET programs to bring foreign officers to train in the United States, to send Peace Corps volunteers around the world. And I'm a strong supporter of what has been promised to be working that out. And I think that it's a bold budget for

a great new President of the United States, and I look forward to supporting it.

If the gentleman will yield----

Thank you very much for inviting me. I enjoy being part of this tag team that is really trying to give a different message than has been given.

I think the press has really done a disservice in sort of criticizing business travel, because everybody knows we're in tough times, and so they feel like, well, people shouldn't be out recreating with a corporate budget. On the other hand, when you stop and cancel those conventions that have been in your city, in the backlash, we've lost 20 percent of the hotel market. Twenty percent of the hotel market has reported that, just in that 20 percent, cancellations have exceeded $220 million for January and February. Now, when you have a domestic travel industry that employs 7.5 million people, when that industry falls off----

Just in the domestic travel. Just domestic travel.

If you break it down to business travel that we're talking about tonight, it's 2.4 million American jobs. That's $240 billion in spending and $39 billion in tax revenue, which is the TOT--the Transit Occupancy Tax--and sales tax that those folks in their business travel spend at places like we all represent. I don't represent a big convention area. I represent the very small Monterey peninsula, but our little county does $2 billion in travel and tourism, second only to agriculture. It is very important.

Those associations, the small ones like your husband is involved in, have been canceling. So what has also affected the big conventions in your communities that can handle some of the largest conventions in the world trickle down to the smaller communities that handle the smaller ones. This impact, this negative message that got out about domestic travel, is just contrary to what you have just talked about.

This stimulus package was about stimulating jobs, not about losing jobs. It was about keeping and creating more jobs. If there is any industry that can pick up a lot of labor quickly when things are going good, it's the travel and tourism. It's the restaurant workers. It's adding additional workers--dishwashers and people who wait on tables, to pick up the hotel services, to pick up the delivery services, the flowers, all of this. Somehow this is kind of looked at as, well, if you can have that kind of luxury, then you must not be sympathetic to the losses that are going on. We see those losses because those people are unemployed.

Travel and tourism is the largest business in the world, and it is expanding faster than any other business. Every country is trying to do more of it. You see the advertising on our television sets about islands in the Caribbean, about going to Spain or about going to Australia and New Zealand, all of those travel promotion ads. We don't do that. The United States, unfortunately, isn't running any ads in other countries, saying, ``Visit the United States.''

I and the other co-Chair, Roy Blunt, of the Travel and Tourism Caucus have a bill. It is a bill to essentially provide grants to States and local communities to do that kind of destination marketing. We know that a lot of Canadians----

What I just wanted to mention for both of you--because I am very, very sympathetic to the problems of Las Vegas. Las Vegas is the biggest convention city in the United States, and because of the bad press, all of these businesses have canceled. You've pointed out what is happening to the

unemployment. It has also had huge foreclosures in Las Vegas. It is a town that is probably, as a city, more affected by this economic downturn than any other city.

I was home last weekend. It was interesting that people were telling me, if you want to travel now and go by air anywhere in the United States--say I want to go from the West Coast to the East Coast--they said book your travel through Las Vegas. The prices for air travel going through Las Vegas are the cheapest in the United States.

No, absolutely not.

What is very interesting about this is that travel is really educational. I mean this city, I think, is a must for any child in school who is learning about American history. In making it interesting, it comes alive. I mean the city of Washington may be the best family tourism city in the world because most of the things here are free--going to the museums, visiting all the monuments--and you can't help but recognize the Capitol when you see it. You've seen it in books. You've seen the Washington Monument and the Lincoln monument. This city makes it exciting. So you think about how many different ways one gets educated by visiting someplace else, knowing more about themselves.

I was a Peace Corps volunteer, and I was living in another culture and was experiencing all that newness in food, in dance, in music, in language that made me realize the strengths of my culture in America but also some of the weaknesses--the family values issues where people really stick together in families. I find that travel and tourism is an eye opener, and I represent Carmel where I live, which is a small, little town of 4,000 people. Everybody has heard of Carmel. It's just a charming, little town.

The mayor of Carmel, not Clint Eastwood but one of the other mayors, was telling me that, and asked me the question: What do you think is the number 1 question asked for things that people want from the city government? I always say: Well, where is Clint Eastwood's restaurant? He said: No, that wasn't the question. That wasn't it. The number 1 ask from the government of Carmel was for a copy of their zoning ordinance. That just shows that the tourists come and shop, not with just their pocketbooks, but they shop with their eyes and their minds. They looked at why they wanted a zoning ordinance, and so many Japanese asked for it that we had to have it translated into Japanese. The people said: If this city can look so cute, why can't our city incorporate some of these ideas?

So that's what, I think, of travel and tourism. Obviously, businesses use these opportunities to take their associations--the dental association or the plumbers' association--and go have a conference.

Well, I think that we're all in the media. We have to get elected in the media, and we have to go out and take risks. It seems to me that what we need to do is realize, as a country, that we should not be condemning businesses that are doing things to help people have jobs.

The service industry is not always the best paying industry, and these are great jobs for students, great jobs for people coming up with limited skills at the entry level. The wonderful thing about it is that there is no sort of degree requirements so you don't have to have a college degree or Ph.D. to manage a big resort. If you have skills and you are able to deal with people and some business management skills, you can achieve that.

I think that what we're doing by watching people condemn business travel right now is we're just shooting ourselves in the foot.

In January and February, the travel and tourism, the business travel was so far down that we lost $1 billion. Now, $1 billion is a lot of jobs of people that were laid off. And I think, unfortunately, we didn't have anything in this stimulus package precisely for travel and tourism. But if

you want to jump start a lot of jobs in America, this is the industry that has the most jobs when you think of all of the venues that you talk about.

We have a bill that's annually introduced by Neil Abercrombie, the Representative from Hawaii, and it is obviously in Hawaii's best interest to have a lot of tourists. That's what supports their infrastructure. And he's introduced the business travel deduction for spousal travel and also increasing the meal deduction. We have just been unable to get it out of the Ways and Means Committee. Maybe now as part of the stimulus we could encourage things like that.

What I like what both of you really understand--and I think this is the difficulty that the industry has--is that it is the biggest industry there is in the world, and yet it is not looked at as an industry because it is made up of parts. What are the parts? We can name them all night. But you just think about it. It is the rental car business, they have their own association; it is the hotel business, they have their own association; it is the airline business, they have their own association; it is the amusement parks, they have their own association; the restaurants, they have their own association; it is the Federal Government because we have national parks which are destination areas and tourism is essential for us to sustain those parks on the fees collected at the gates and the rates paid for the services.

So we're all in it, but what is more important it is really about America.

What I love about travel and tourism is that it is the spirit of our country. And as I say, I think that we travel within America to look and see what regions look like. We don't just go to see--we don't go to California to see what Californians look like or Florida to see what Floridians look like. It's really not just the people--people are the character. But it is also--and the arts, obviously, the creative arts. But it is these physical attractions: the beaches of Florida, the incredible expansion of ideas.

I think that one of the greatest shows that I've ever seen in my life--I have been raving about it. I saw it last summer. I was driving through Las Vegas on the way to our Denver convention. I stopped in Las Vegas and had never been there. And I went to Cirque du Soleil. That is a show that I think is--it is the epitome of creation, of musical talent and acrobatic talent; and it is something that every child would just love to see. I was just so disappointed--I went late at night-- that I didn't have my grandchildren with me.

If I had enough money, I would rent the whole theater and invite the whole world because I think it is something that everybody should see. It is a tribute to mankind's creativity.

See, I think that's what this is all about. You're not going to get a Cirque du Soleil in every city. You're going to have to travel somewhere. We always say in California that a tourist is anybody who is more than 60 miles away from home. So it makes most commuters in California tourists for a moment, because they are actually spending their money in another city when they go out for lunch, and they might go shopping there on their way home.

The Big Sur coast.

I think it's important to realize that when we wanted to in Congress--we're essentially the one spouse, the father or the mother is serving in Congress, and taking away from the normal--we're not living with our family during the week. We're here in Washington. We go home on weekends.

But in order to get us to bond together with your new freshman class and all the rest of us, we took a retreat. Essentially, that was business travel. We went to Williamsburg. We did that as Democrats, and the Republicans the following week did the same thing.

And so why did we do that? We didn't think of ourselves going on a vacation or going on a boondoggle. It was really about how to do our professional lives better and incorporate our families so that we can incorporate them in our business. And I think that that's real important.

And what's happened in this economic crisis is the press has made that kind of experience for businesses and even for government, that you shouldn't be doing that; you should feel very guilty.

I feel guilty about the people that are getting unemployed because nobody's going out to a restaurant or to----

I think this last statement about how it's good for our mental health is absolutely true.

And for the Nation. I think we need to be proud of who we are, and you know, going to a ball game is a tourist experience.

And if you went to that ball game out of town, you really would be a tourist. If you go in your hometown, it's something you do because it's a local activity, but it really is an experience. You being in that ballpark, you spent money to get there. You're spending money on food. You're spending money on programs, on the paraphernalia. That's all part of the tourist experience.

That's a very moving story, and just God bless your dad. What a wonderful person he must be.

My daughter said something to me that really touched me just a couple of weeks ago. She said, Dad, I'm so thankful that I have a job. And she used to be a waitress. And she said, I just know so many people that have been laid off, even some of her friends who have been waitresses, college graduates who are coming home but in between finding a job are doing--she said, you know what you and Mom could do, she said next time you go out, tip a little bit higher.

This is my daughter saying this, give more to the people. I mean, when you think about that service and that tipping and that concept of giving, I think it's so fundamental to our American culture that, as we said, travel and tourism isn't a luxury. It's a part of the American culture, the dream, to enjoy oneself.

We've got the dynamic duo here. This is incredible.

Well, welcome. You're a new freshwoman, fresh Congresswoman to this, and it's exciting to see you so interested in travel and tourism, obviously representing Las Vegas, and I'll let you talk.

But I also have to say that from what I've heard, the best deal in America is to take your family to Las Vegas right now. And as you said, they're almost giving away hotel rooms, and air travel, if you go by air, is just dirt cheap. And the experience that one can have, it's probably in some cases cheaper than staying at home.

Smaller businesses, you can come to Monterey peninsula, Monterey----

We have got a lot of great places to visit.

Welcome to this discussion.

You can use your tax refund to do travel, if you get one.

I want to build on your comment about homeland security because as co-Chair of the Travel and Tourism Caucus, we've been looking at Las Vegas, too. One, you have the largest hotel capacity in the United States. I believe that the goal is to have 100,000 rooms.

Well, you think about that. That means, theoretically, 140,000 people could check in and check out in the same day. And so your airport is one of the most sophisticated airports in the United States. And you're starting to--which I think is a marvelous concept-- look at wouldn't it be a lot faster to move people if, when they check in their baggage to go to Las Vegas, that that baggage then is in their room when they check in. When they leave their room, they leave the baggage there and it's at the like baggage pickup when they go home. The idea is that, one, for security purposes. You do this perimeter screening and you don't have to do it in the airport.

Secondly, they find what slows people down is sort of schlepping the bags. You've got to go pick them up and then you've got to lift them and you've got to get into a vehicle. That just slows things down. If people didn't have to carry all that luggage, they could move a lot of people a lot faster.

So there's a lot of lessons to learn here on just how--and, frankly, we've also taken from the hotel industry the way TSA--the agents who are at the gates--could learn much more hospitality treatment of not being rude to passengers. Just have a little bit more of a professional flare while they also do their security business.

So there's a lot we're learning from your city that has applications throughout this United States. I hope that we can model it. I wish that the United States would talk more and the President would talk more-- whomever the President is--but President Obama would really talk about the fulfillment of the American Dream and the realization of the greatness of our country by encouraging people to really see more of it and experience it. His city of Chicago is a big tourist draw and convention draw. He understands that.

Every community has a soul. Every community has something that can build upon that is really great. I think we are still in the developmental stages of trying to pull out the essence of that soul-- what the natives in that community do, the historic aspects of the community. People settled there and built a town, and there's something in that that will attract people to come and see it.

There's so much opportunity to expand in travel and tourism--we just have to take it away from something of being a luxury item. It's not that anymore.

What I've also noticed is that people are very interested in what we call ``watchable wildlife.'' The history is you go to zoos to see animals. But they really want to see them in the out-of-doors in their natural state.

The national parks and the national forest. But I was in Big Sur last weekend and I was talking to one of the hotels there. They were telling me that people--and they charge a lot for their rooms. But people call up and say, If I book a room in this hotel in Big Sur, can I see a condor? Because there are very few condors and we're monitoring them and we have a radio device on them, we know where they are. So the answer is ``yes'' because we know where they are. We can guarantee that you will see a condor. Other people will want to know about seeing sea otters.

So, living on the coast, what you realize is that natural flora and fauna--redwood trees that are native--that people want to come and see the out-of-doors. What I find is that you can't make people an environmentalist, so to speak, in appreciation for a living environment until you have been there and then also had it explained to you. Once you do, you get it.

So this whole issue of why do we need to fight global warming and what is it doing to our natural systems, you can understand that once you get that experience in the national parks or get that experience being out-of-doors.

So it's really all our culture. It's sort of the creativity of what you have done in Las Vegas, plus areas that just have the natural environment preserved in its natural state. Both add to this mosaic of travel and tourism.

Be healthy. Explore more.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a great American and community servant, Edwin E. Bliss of Carmel, California for his lifetime of achievements and service above self. Edwin is a highly respected long time resident of the Monterey Peninsula. All of us who have had the good fortune over the years to befriend him, know that Edwin always exhibits his core values of respect, truth, and goodness.

Edwin Earl Bliss was born in Ridgefield, Washington near Portland, Oregon on March 19, 1919. The son of a successful dairy rancher and respected school teacher, Edwin displayed uncommon leadership skills early and often. Editor in high school, fraternity president in college and manager of the Charlton Hotel in Cannes, France while serving as an Army officer during World War II, Edwin led others by example, humility and compassion.

After the war, Ed moved his small family from rural Washington State to quiet Carmel. Called back into the Army to serve in Korea he moved his wife and three children back to Washington to be near family and friends. Upon his release from the military, Ed returned his young excited family permanently back to the Monterey Peninsula.

Here Edwin lives the American dream, raising a wonderful family, building a beautiful home and selflessly serving his community. Edwin Bliss's sense of honesty and respect has guided and propelled him through a successful career in the insurance industry and

community service. Leadership with the Pacific Grove Kiwanis, the USO, YMCA and the Life Underwriters Association are just some of the many boards he has served on. But his greatest community love is the Monterey History and Art Association. As a long time board member and President from 1964-65 he was instrumental in laying the early groundwork to establish the Monterey Maritime Museum. While a board member for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Edwin helped place the Cooper-Molera Adobe in Monterey on the National Registry of Historic Places. In addition, Edwin served on the first board to insure the preservation of Robinson Jeffers' Tor House.

Perhaps Edwin's greatest social love has been the Ancient and Honorable Society of Buckeye. Founded by close friend and then State Senator, Fred S. Farr, Ed has been its guiding light for over fifty years. This annual gathering of ranchers, fishermen, politicians, musicians, doctors, lawyers, educators and businessmen has given rise to local legends and many community events.

Madam Speaker, Edwin Bliss's accomplishments are distinguished and numerous. Edwin has lived an exemplary life grounded in truth, goodness and respect for others. I know my fellow members join me in congratulating him on his 90th birthday.

Well, without a doubt the way we have been spending and putting the war efforts into just an emergency supplemental doesn't make any sense, because there has never been an accounting for it. The new administration has said they are bringing us in their budget the cost of Iraq and Afghanistan, so there is going to be some fiscal responsibility, and everyone knows there will be a day when we will not be spending that much money, which is a lot of money, and therefore those costs can be cut.

I think that there is no way that we cannot. As we try to balance this budget or get it into sense in the outyears, the largest increase over the years has been the Defense Department, and therefore they are going to be the one that is the most dramatically reduced. I think all of us feel that the plan is to have a smaller military, but without a doubt it has to be a smarter military, and the investment in smartness is not the kinds of things you see on that board.

I am very excited about upgrading the skills of American military, particularly because my background in the Peace Corps is that you find in Afghanistan and Iraq what is missing now is what we call soft power, which is that we have learned to kick down the doors anywhere in the world at any time, but we have not learned to win the hearts and minds of people. If indeed we are going to have peace and stability, we have got to do a lot more work on the soft power side, which is

less expensive and probably more effective. So, obviously there is room for reductions. As we argue the cost of health care, we have to also argue the cost of defense.

You have the expert on health care here with Dr. McDermott and the American leader on single payer plans, and certainly he can give a lot of that.

But I think what I see missing in the dialogue here is that a lot of people, conservatives who would not agree with us would argue that government ought to run itself more like a business. You don't hear businesses talking about costs and expenditures. When they spend money, they talk about investments.

Indeed, if America is going to grow and strengthen itself, then it has got to talk about these things as investments. And if you really analyze the investment in education, the investment in health care, not costs in, but investments in, obviously you want to run them well, and if you really look at the military and talk about an investment in peace operations and stability, which is what it is all about, I think you come up with different numbers than just costs. You come up with different priorities.

Well, the difficulty you have is, again back to that investment, if indeed the contracting purpose is to build infrastructure, it is nuts to think that a company from the United States has a vested interest in the outcome and survivability of that project. We learned that with the ``ugly American,'' where we would go and build things in other countries and leave and they would fall apart, because in the process we never got the host country nationals involved in building it, in owning it, in wanting to run it and keep it up and learn how to, as we saw with generators in Iraq that we installed and nobody put oil in them and they all burned out, because they said it doesn't matter, they will wait until they come back and replace them.

So I think this dialogue is really important, because the first line of our national security is investment in a well-informed electorate or well-informed public. So the first line of our national security is investment in education. That is our biggest defense system, security system, and we have to make that investment equal to or greater than obviously it has been historically if we want to build a stronger America.

You know what is interesting about your comment? I sit on the Military Construction Appropriations Committee. That is the military quality of life. We interview the soldiers, have them come in and ask them to prioritize what they want. Never in my 15 years have I ever heard them ask for a weapons system. What they ask for, their number one issue is quality of housing. The number two issue is childcare. Childcare. That is what the soldiers want. It is quality of life, because they are raising their families in the military. They are getting deployed and they are coming back.

The weapons system, those are all Fortune 500 companies that make those. That is Wall Street. So you have a different lobbying effort between the personnel, the human factor in the military, and the weapons systems or the procurement side of the military, and that is what is incredibly remarkable. And I am really pleased that you are pointing out if we are going to make proper adjustment, we have got

to really scrutinize these expenditures to really make them essential to a new global world order.

We are not fighting conventional wars. We are fighting asymmetrical wars, and I don't know what a ballistic missile system is going to do in an asymmetrical war in fighting people that are using the Internet and public transportation to move their weapons and ideas around.

Thank you for your time tonight. I really appreciate it.

Mr. Speaker, I am a proud lifelong member of the NAACP, and today, I join my colleagues in celebrating this 100th anniversary. I am especially proud of my local moderate county branch of the NAACP where our chapter was created in 1932, and I believe this chapter ranks as one of the largest per capita branches in the United States, and has been active in education and law for all of these many years. I can tell you we are all better off for it.

Our chapter's proudest member is Ben Jealous, now the youngest and, in my opinion, the most dynamic president of the NAACP. As we recognize the great achievements of one of America's best organizations, let us not forget that the struggle continues. We still face discrimination in our communities, in our schools and in the workplace. It is a struggle that requires continuing education and legal action.

The NAACP offers us many examples as we continue on our path towards solving our racial troubles. Even the founders of the NAACP offer an important lesson on how such a diverse group can accomplish so much. The men and women--black and white, from different backgrounds and from different careers and from different religions--these people came together to create a force for good.

I want to thank the NAACP for 100 years of hard work. God bless your president and his family as he leads us into the next century of fighting for human and civil rights. We congratulate you on this historic day.

I'm a proud lifelong member of the NAACP, and today I join my colleagues in celebrating its 100th anniversary.

I am especially proud of my local Monterey County Branch of the NAACP, where our chapter was created in 1932. My chapter ranks as one of the largest per capita branches in the United States and has been active in education and law--and we're all better for it.

The Fort Ord Army training base in Seaside, Calif., was the first military base in the United States to be integrated in 1947. It was one of the largest bases in the United States to conduct training for Korea, Vietnam and many other conflicts. Now that base is closed, it's site is home to the newest campus of the California State University system--due in part to the fine work of the NAACP.

And our chapter's proudest member is Ben Jealous, now the youngest-- and in my opinion the most dynamic--national president of the NAACP.

As we recognize the great achievements of one of America's best organizations, let us not forget that the struggle continues. We still have discrimination in our communities, in our schools and in the workplace. It's a struggle that requires continuing education and legal action.

Luckily, we have the rich history of the NAACP that offers us so many examples of how to proceed. One of the best is the group of individuals who founded the group. It shows us how such a diverse group can accomplish so much.

Along with a life of activism, W. E. B. Du Bois was a noted professor and writer. Archibald Grimke, the son of a slave owner and slave, was a journalist and lawyer. Henry Moskowitz was a Jewish physician. Mary White Ovington and Oswald Garrison Villard spent their lives writing. William English Walling, born into a former slaveholding family, once served as a factory inspector. And Ida B. Wells was also a noted women's rights activist.

America is the country where dreams come true. Certainly the world has seen such with the election of Barack Obama. But the work will never end until peace and justice are available to everyone.

I want to thank the NAACP for 100 years of hard work. You've made America a stronger and better nation.

And your work continues. God bless your president, Ben Jealous, as he leads us into the next century of fighting for human and civil rights. We congratulate you on this historic day.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of Diane Young of Pajaro, California. Diane passed away on January 28, 2009 at the age of sixty-five, after leaving the Pajaro community a better place to live and work. She was an extraordinary community leader who needed no official title to make a significant difference in the lives of every resident of Pajaro.

Diane was born on November 25, 1943 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated from Southwest High School in Minneapolis. After meeting her late husband Pete, they both embarked on a path that would lead them to a small Central Coast community that could greatly benefit from their generosity of heart and tireless commitment to helping others achieve their dreams, particularly the youth of Pajaro.

In 1983, she launched Young's Tire Service with her husband and son in Pajaro, California. Diane Young prided herself on the family business, which she maintained and participated in throughout her illness. Her old school business habits were rooted in an unshakable work ethic. Because she did not rely on computers for her business operations, Young's Tire Service was able to continue serving the community through the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and a massive flood in 1995. There was never a shortage of customers congregating at the shop, and the influx of well wishers following her death speaks to how Diane touched the hearts of everyone she met.

It was Diane's business that became the catalyst for her lifelong community activism. After three violent killings, one of which occurred right outside her store, Diane decided she wanted to see a safer community, one filled with happiness and pride, not fear. She organized Together in Pajaro to accomplish this goal. TIP is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to community improvement and safety. Diane, along with her late husband Pete, founded Boy Scout Troop 505 15 years ago, to provide constructive alternatives for youth in Pajaro. These two organizations are just a small measure of Diane's dedication and contributions to making her community, as well as the lives of those who live in it, not only better but more meaningful.

Madam Speaker, Diane Young touched the hearts of everyone she came into contact with, and was a pillar of her community. I am certain I speak for the entire House in extending our heartfelt sympathy to Diane's two children, her son Pete Young of Pajaro, California and daughter Sheliah Young of Oakley, California.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Jean Booth Mitchell of Carmel, California. Jean was a remarkable woman who enlivened everybody and everything she touched. Jean passed away on January 19, 2009 at age 91, leaving the world a brighter and better place.

Jean was born in 1917 in Oakland, California, and was raised in nearby Piedmont. She received her education at the prestigious UC Berkeley, where she was a member of the sorority Delta Gamma. The university is also where she met William F. Mitchell, who she married in the Piedmont Community Church garden in 1940.

Jean had the greenest of green-thumbs. She was a member of the Piedmont Garden Club, Piedmont Beautification Foundation, and Garden Club of America. Jean was also a founder of the Carmel-by-the-Sea Garden Club and its first president. She found great fulfillment in the Club's campaign to ``save'' Carmel's Piccadilly Park, home to a host of rare and unique plant species. Jean's personal garden was also one of the earliest featured on the Garden Club of America website at the Smithsonian.

Though gardening was her passion, Jean also involved herself in high- end real estate. She and her family established a real-estate firm in Carmel known as The Mitchell Group. In real estate sales, Jean was described as ``dynamic, convincing, and indefatigable.'' Before being sold to Sotheby's International Realty in 2005, the company had expanded to five offices and 140 agents.

Madam Speaker, Jean Booth Mitchell planted seeds not only in soil, but in the hearts of everybody who had the good fortune of knowing her. I am certain that I speak for the entire House in extending our heartfelt sympathies towards Jean's three children, three granddaughters, and six great grandchildren, including Bill and Vicki Mitchell of Pebble Beach, Sheri Mitchell of San Francisco, Shelly and Dan Lynch of Carmel, John and Karen Mitchell of St. Helena, Sarah and Chris Hansen of Napa, and Hallie Mitchell Dow and Brad Dow of Carmel.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Gabilan Chapter of Kinship Center for their fifty-three years of service dedicated to children in need of foster and adoptive families. On behalf of the whole House, I am honored to extend to the Gabilan Chapter of Kinship Center the gratitude of the Congress and the American people for their past and future service.

San Benito County, in Central California, is a region of rich farm and ranch land that has generously served the families of the area for generations. But perhaps the most valuable resource of that community is the people themselves, as represented by the women of the Gabilan Chapter of Kinship Center. For fifty-three years, this group of philanthropically-minded women has raised critically needed funds to help the most needy and at-risk children in the county--the neglected, abused and abandoned children who need a safe, permanent home through foster care and adoption.

In 1989, the Gabilan Chapter partnered with the Monterey County based Kinship Center which shared their mission to create permanent homes for the area's most vulnerable children. Through this twenty-year partnership, the Gabilan Chapter women have continued to dedicate themselves to their mission as the Gabilan Chapter of Kinship Center. Each year, funds raised by the Gabilan Chapter support vital services to children in transition and new families struggling to meet the needs of children in their care. Kinship Center celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary this year--success due in no small way to the steadfast support of the Gabilan Chapter.

Each year the dedicated Gabilan Chapter volunteers organize one of the oldest wine tasting festivals in California, as well as a historic home tour. They sell cookbooks, aprons and hand crocheted quilts. They award an annual post-secondary scholarship to a local student from a foster, adoptive or group home. Their efforts are a year-round operation run with professional effectiveness by women who also have full-time careers managing businesses, ranches, farms, vineyards and households.

The women of Gabilan are more than a group of hardworking volunteers. They represent the best of our Nation. They are an icon of the American spirit of caring and hard work forged by the pioneers who settled this land. After three generations, they have created a tradition of active philanthropy that is an institution in their community.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I want to hold up the Gabilan Chapter of Kinship Center as a model of public service, an expression of what makes our Nation a worldwide leader in strong and compassionate philanthropy. May their continued success inspire many more generations to become involved in their communities here at home and throughout the world.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of a great woman and model citizen. Mary Reese Green, of Monterey, California, lived her life to make the world a better place. She was many things: civil rights activist, mother, wife, political campaigner, and friend. On January 9, 2009, Mary passed away at the age of 81. Mary was a fearless fighter during the civil rights movement and an active advocate for art throughout her life. She held a passion for politics and played instrumental roles in numerous political campaigns over the years. She was a real spark plug whose personal motto was ``Yes, we can!''

Mary was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, where she developed a lifelong love of art. She went on to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and to teach art at George School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. There she met her husband, Ross Green, a fellow teacher. Her first brush with politics came when she and Ross moved to Berkeley. Mary campaigned for the right of students to post political flyers on university bulletin boards. When she and her husband moved to Atlanta, she fought for civil rights alongside her friends, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, and Vernon Jordan. A notable story from Mary's life centers on a public meeting held in Atlanta to discuss voters' rights after the enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Despite death threats and the hostile presence of the Ku Klux Klan at the meeting, Mary bravely spoke as scheduled, while many others backed out and retreated.

Mary continued to play an active role in politics throughout her life. She served as the central California chair for Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign, the northern California co-chair for George McGovern in 1972, and worked on the presidential campaigns of Gary Hart in 1984 and 1988. Back in Monterey County, she promoted the arts. She helped raise funds to revitalize the Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art's La Mirada wing and took the lead in founding the Pacific Street branch's sculpture garden. Mary also helped produce two award-winning documentary films: Time Captured in Paintings: The Monterey Legacy and The Roots of California Photography: The Monterey Legacy.

Madam Speaker, I know that I speak for the whole House in extending our deepest sympathies and condolences to Mary Green's daughter, Alice Green, son Mitchell Green, her three grandchildren, and many friends.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the career of a great public servant on the occasion of his retirement. Daniel M. Ortega has served the City of Salinas as Chief of Police for nearly a decade, working hard to provide its citizens with a sense of peace, safety, and security. He retired this week after an exemplary 42-year public safety career.

Chief Ortega began his career in his hometown of Stockton, California, as a patrol officer. He then moved to San Jose, where he spent 28 years ascending the ranks of the San Jose Police Department. His assignments included 12 years as a hostage negotiator, 3 years as the Executive Director of the Police Activities League, and as the Captain of the Special Operations Division. In June 1999, Chief Ortega left the San Jose Police Department as a Deputy Chief of Police and Chief of Detectives.

In Salinas, Chief Ortega championed community-oriented policing. He created a police substation on Salinas' east side to ensure increased community access to the police. Moreover, he coordinated with business leaders to develop strategies to increase the safety of local businesses. Chief Ortega was also instrumental in creating a Community Services Coordinator position within City Hall. Additionally, he revitalized the School Resource Officer program to polish the image of police amongst the city's youth. Seeking to staff the department with ``homegrown'' police officers, Chief Ortega established a cadet program, which mentored youth from ages 16 to 21. Furthermore, in conjunction with the County of Monterey, he was integral in developing the highly successful Joint Gang Task Force.

In addition to his community-oriented approach, Chief Ortega improved the Salinas Police Department in other ways. He increased the force from a strength of 150 to 187 and expanded the Hostage Negotiation Team. He also established a horse-mounted unit, added a ballistic identification system, and acquired command and crime scene investigation vehicles.

Chief Ortega has served on the Board of Directors of various organizations, including the California Police Chiefs Association and the United Way of Monterey County. He is also a past president of the Monterey County Chief Law Enforcement Officers Association. His memberships include the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Latino Police Officers Association.

Madam Speaker, Chief Daniel M. Ortega leaves an indelible legacy and a shining example to his officers, peers, and successors. On behalf of the House, I wish Chief Ortega, his wife Donna, and their family continual happiness and prosperity as he progresses on to well-deserved retirement.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the distinguished military career of United States Army LTC Richard W. Skow. On behalf of the whole House, I am honored to extend to Lieutenant Colonel Skow and his family the gratitude of the Congress and the American people for his service on the occasion of his retirement after 24 years in uniform.

During his long and decorated career Lieutenant Colonel Skow made enormous contributions to the success of the U.S. Army's worldwide mission. Most recently, he served for the last year and a half as the Defense Language Institute's, DLI's, Chief of Staff where he had previously studied Portuguese. He built a reputation for an outstanding work ethic, sound judgment, and proactive leadership--a true example for the junior officers under his command. As chief of staff, he played an instrumental role in helping his commander fulfill the DLI's complex mission. His duties included, but were not limited to, personnel and budget management, special

projects, congressional inquiry review and response, and primary command briefing responsibilities.

Highlights of his service prior to DLI include:

Defense and Army Attache, Uganda, July 2005-July 2007. In this role, Lieutenant Colonel Skow advised the ambassador on Uganda's continually shifting security situation. He coordinated with the Ugandan Army in dealing with the Lord's Resistance Army and reported on the activities of this group in neighboring countries. Notably, he was instrumental in the recovery of five citizens from the UK, Australia and New Zealand after an attack by LRA insurgents.

Army Attache, South Africa, January 2003-July 2005. Lieutenant Colonel Skow regularly reported on military issues in South Africa where he coordinated a joint training exercise between a U.S. Ranger company and the South African airborne regiment. Additionally he coordinated the procurement and transportation of South African mine resistant armored personnel vehicles, NYALA, and mine detection and IED detection vehicles, HUSKY, for deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Defense and Army Attache, Rwanda, October 1998-December 2001. Lieutenant Colonel Skow served as the primary military/political advisor to the ambassador during a violent insurgency in northwest Rwanda. He monitored the security situation in northwest Rwanda and advised the ambassador regarding travel restrictions for U.S. citizens. He was responsible for routine interface with Rwandan military personnel and interviewed insurgent prisoners of all ranks. In addition to providing current combat intelligence and information from the POWs, Lieutenant Colonel Skow also created a list of insurgents that were responsible for the murder of U.S. and UK tourists in Bwindi National Forest, Uganda. He then coordinated closely with the FBI to ensure they received all necessary support.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I want to extend the gratitude of the House to Lieutenant Colonel Skow and his wife, Janice, for their service to the Nation and to wish them the very best in the future.