Floor Statements

Offered By: Mr. Garrett

Amendment No. 25: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to extend my warmest commendation to Rachel Heath for her nearly 22 years of service to the Borough of Franklin, New Jersey.

For the past 22 years, Rachel has worked for the people of Franklin in various capacities--as Welfare Director, Accounts Payable Clerk, Deputy Clerk, and, for the past eight years, Borough Clerk and Administrator.

Though the job titles varied, all of the positions shared one element in common: service to the citizens of Franklin. As Welfare Director, Rachel aided residents in obtaining much-needed assistance to help them through difficult times. As Accounts Payable Clerk, Rachel helped ensure that the borough's finances ran smoothly. And during her time in the borough Clerk's office--first as Deputy Clerk and then as Borough Clerk and Administrator--Rachel handled everything from pet licenses to marriage licenses, birth certificates to death certificates, voting registration to elections oversight.

While all of these accomplishments are certainly noteworthy, perhaps the most remarkable tribute to Rachel is that she did these things while raising four children and being a wife to her husband of almost 35 years, Thomas. In and of itself, the work of a wife and mother goes well beyond a full-time job, yet Rachel found the strength and ability to serve both her family and her community.

As Rachel concludes one chapter of her life and commences the next, I applaud her past service and wish her a future filled with continued success.

Mr. Speaker, for months now, critics of the war in Iraq have asked the question: Where are the weapons of mass destruction? Recently former Vice President Al Gore said that none have been found in Iraq. Just as he was wrong when he said he was the inventor of the Internet, he is wrong on this point as well.

Recently, Charles Duelfer, the head of the Iraq Survey Group, reported the finding of 12 mustard and sarin gas shells in various locations in Iraq. Intelligence sources say that these are still extremely dangerous shells.

Mr. Duelfer also reported that terrorists in Iraq are trying to tap into the Iraqi WMD intellectual capital. They are keenly interested in developing chemical weapons in there and also in Afghanistan.

So where are the weapons of mass destruction? Where they have always been, in the Iraqi area, within the reach of terrorists, a threat to U.S. troops, the region, and the world community as well.

This amendment, and furthermore any move that would raise taxes on American workers and businesses, is going to reverse the positive effects of the progrowth economic initiatives that this House passed just last year. Those initiatives were the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan. The U.S. economy is strong, it is growing stronger, and it is proving that the Republicans' clear, comprehensive progrowth agenda is working for America.

This Republican-led Congress understands that the best way to expand the economy and further great jobs is simply to leave more money in the hands of the people who earned it.

Now, if the Democrats do not believe this, all they have to do is look at the negative effects that States such as California, the Democrats there have spent with the tax-and-spend policies, it has had on that State.

California's tax and regulatory structure crippled that State. In 1 month alone, California lost 21,000 jobs, more than any other State, more than the rest of the country combined. When you compare that to other States, the once invincible California economy was suffering from competitiveness crisis.

Simply this, when taxes are raised, businesses leave, and jobs and wages are lost, negatively affecting the economy.

This week in my home State of New Jersey, the Democratic Governor, Jim McGreevey, passed what he is calling the millionaire's tax, a tax increase on New Jersey taxpayers. It is set to increase the marginal tax rate by 41 percent, the fifth highest now in the country. It is really a Robin Hood-like grab Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey has taken from these taxpayers, money that the Federal tax relief measures that we passed before restored to them, that were put in place by this Republican Congress to spur the economy along.

The Democratic Governor, Jim McGreevey justified his scheme of this millionaire's tax by saying, ``I will only tax that which the rich have gotten back from the Bush tax cuts.''

Well, now the gentleman from Wisconsin wants to eliminate that Bush tax cut altogether. So I ask, when is enough enough? The Democrats really are speaking from both sides of this argument, and they have shown their true colors: if given an inch, they will take a mile.

The small business owners of New Jersey, they are the ones who have spurred on the economy, and it was due to the tax cuts initiative of last year. And now under this initiative in our own State, they would lose the State tax cuts, and now by the initiatives on the other side of the aisle, they would lose the Federal tax cuts as well.

So I say to the Democrats in my home State of New Jersey in Trenton, and the Democrats in Washington as well, I say stop killing the Nation's economic recovery. No more taxes.

Mr. Speaker, the Democratic Governor of New Jersey's, Mr. McGreevey, move to take away this tax savings will wreak havoc on the positive economic upswing that is occurring right now in my home State of New Jersey. As a matter of fact, the Center For Policy Research in New Jersey has shown that the tax cuts that we are talking about now will result in 28,000 jobs lost in the next 5 years, proving that this tax hike will only hurt the people of New Jersey.

Today, many of the new jobs that are created in New Jersey are by employers that were fleeing to the other States' higher tax levels. Businesses will flee now out of New Jersey, just as businesses fled out of California.

With this amendment on the other side of the aisle, we will now be raising taxes across the entire country, and the question will be, where are we telling businesses to flee to, then?

I would ask the sponsor of this amendment and Governor McGreevey, the Democrats in New Jersey as well, to take a look at the crippling effects that their policies have had in New Jersey and California and to say let us have some common sense to leave our economic recovery alone and let the people keep their own money. I urge my colleagues to vote against the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment. I agree with the position made from the other side of the aisle when they make reference to a statement on the Statue of Liberty that we are a nation of immigrants and we have an obligation to welcome immigrants to this Nation in the past, in the present, and in the future. But this amendment does not change that at all.

I would ask the other side who says that we should not be thwarting municipalities, counties, or State governments with their own decisions and their own prerogatives on these areas when it is under the Constitution the prerogative of Congress to set immigration policy.

Would the other side of the aisle say that we should allow the municipalities to do the reverse? Some municipalities want to set up sanctuaries. Should we allow other municipalities to thwart all immigration into their town altogether? If we are going to let municipalities rule immigration, I guess you would say that they should have that authority.

What rule of law then should we allow municipalities to decide on their own where Congress has the obligation? Should we allow the Civil Rights Act of the 1960s to be decided by the municipalities and be rewarded by the municipalities if they were to thwart those, even though Congress has clearly set down what the delineations of the Civil Rights Act is? I say no.

The Constitution clearly says immigration is the authority of Congress to set forth. We have set forth in the past, and we shall in the future, and the municipalities shall not thwart them.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to simply begin by associating myself with the comments that the gentleman made earlier, along with those of the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) with regard to the war in Iraq and specifically our brave men and women who are fighting our cause over there.

Specifically at this time, I just want to bring to the attention of this House and this body and also to Americans at home one particular soldier, Army Specialist Kyle Griffin, a man, a hero, who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of this Nation.

Some men will be remembered for heroic acts, others for the type of persons they were. Kyle Griffin will be remembered and treasured for both of these.

In a world that has become a place of hostilities and violence, of terror and fear, the brave men and women like Kyle Griffin are selflessly and tirelessly building and ensuring peace and liberty throughout the globe.

Back on May 30, 2003, one of our own was taken from us. Kyle was a young man that everyone of his Emerson community in New Jersey was proud of; and he will be surely missed by his mother, his father, his sister, and his brother. As an Army Specialist, Kyle was a dedicated soldier and a true patriot.

Since the tragic day of September 11, our country has been at war, it has been a war on terror. Kyle was one of the many heroic Americans who heard the call to defend this Nation and did so by donning our country's uniform.

Kyle made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve and defend the freedom and liberty that every American loves and cherishes. We must all vow now to never forget the price that has been paid in all of our names.

Army Specialist Griffin will always be remembered as a true hero and an American who forever we can be proud of. I pray that God may bless his family.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 9 o'clock and 12 minutes p.m.), the House adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, June 16, 2004, at 10 a.m.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay our respects to one of the greatest leaders that this Nation has ever known, a man who will forever be held as a model for what is great about America.

As we take this time to mourn the loss of one of our Nation's greatest leaders, we should also celebrate his heroic and historic life that he lived. Ronald Reagan exemplified the best qualities that you would ever want in a leader. He was compassionate, he was caring, he was visionary, and he was strong. He took our Nation from a crisis in confidence to a country the entire world would view as a standard bearer of justice and liberty.

Americans, they put their trust in Ronald Reagan and, in turn, Ronald Reagan put his trust in each one of us. He had faith in the American individual, in one's ability to care for one's self. Ronald Reagan knew that we could do more for ourselves than any oversized bureaucratic burdensome Federal Government could ever do. Ronald Reagan believed that doing more for ourselves was really the best way that we could regain that long missing self-confidence in our American pride again.

So today, in the wake of the President's death, we must continue to learn from his teachings. And we must long remember after today the contributions that Ronald Reagan made to this Nation both for this Nation, and his actions, and their meanings.

So may the legacy of Ronald Reagan live on as long as we are all proud to raise up the Stars and Stripes and call ourselves the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, each year, Memorial Day gives us the opportunity to honor the brave men and women who have so selflessly stood in harm's way to protect the fundamental freedoms of our great nation. Our soldiers have made so many sacrifices from the Revolutionary War, to the World Wars, to the modern day engagement in Iraq. All of our military personnel deserve our utmost respect, gratitude and care. The great sacrifices that they have made must not be forgotten.

Army Spc. Kyle A. Griffin of Emerson, New Jersey, is one such brave soldier whose sacrifice we must recognize. He laid down his very own life for liberty fighting in Iraq this past year, while defending the very freedoms and rights Americans enjoy today. He did not die in vain, but with a very noble mission in mind--to protect our nation and our citizens against those who wish to see us fail. We must always remember the valiant efforts of Spc. Griffin and continue to pay tribute to all soldiers who have paid the ultimate price.

In 1868 Major General John A. Logan established a ``Decoration Day'' on May 30 as a day of remembrance for the dead of the Civil War. General Logan ordered his posts to decorate the local cemeteries ``with the choicest flowers of springtime'' to honor the thousands killed during those four terrible years.

General Logan's original Decoration Day proclamation called us to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, ``We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance . . . Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.''

However, the remembrance and dedication General Logan meant to preserve through Decoration Day, seems to have gotten lost over the many years. A recent Gallup poll found that just 28% of Americans are able to explain why we celebrate our modern day version of Decoration Day--Memorial Day.

We may sometimes take for granted the many liberties we enjoy in America, but they have all been earned through the sacrifice paid by so many of the members of our armed forces. Many soldiers have died for our liberty and prosperity. They acted with patriotism and commitment to their country. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

I urge you to take this charge to heart and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country by stopping what you are doing at 3:00 p.m. on Memorial Day to participate in the National Moment of Remembrance. Consider what the world might look like if not for the service of generations of Americans in uniform. Take a moment to remember those who gave their lives, so that you may have freedom. But, don't just stop there.

Take time throughout the rest of the year to reach out to the members of our armed services who are fighting freedom's newest enemies. While we take this day to honor those who have given so much for our freedom in the past, our thoughts should also be drawn on a daily basis to the brave men and women of our armed services who are fighting for the cause of freedom and democracy around the globe today. Tell them that the citizens of our state and nation are grateful for their service, and thank them and their families for the daily sacrifices that allow them to serve.

We must always remember our fallen soldiers, our veterans and our military currently serving as we celebrate Memorial Day. They deserve the highest praise of all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution as we honor both the past and current members of the armed services, and also their families, as we encourage every member of the American public to wear the red poppy on Memorial Day.

To many people, especially the Nation's thousands of combat veterans on this day, history that goes back all the way to the Civil War, it is an important reminder of all those who died in service to their Nation, the brave, the proud, the strong who gave their lives so that so many of us today can have the freedoms that we have.

And it is proper that we honor this today in light of all those men and women who find themselves in harm's way as we speak, risking their lives over in the Middle East. And it is proper also that this House does all that we can do as we continue to work on this side to provide services for our veterans, services of better health care, enhanced housing access, job opportunities, and benefits for their loved ones at home.

So I encourage all Members and the constituency back in the district in the great State of New Jersey to wear a poppy on this day, and also to honor those men and women by going to the cemeteries, visiting memorials, and also by participating in the National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. to pause and think on the true meaning of this day.

Mr. Speaker, I rise now to speak on a double standard. Yesterday, the world learned of a young brave man from Philadelphia named Nick Berg. Nick Berg was a 26-year-old man who was in Iraq looking for work with the reconstruction and helping to lend a hand to the people in that country.

But a gruesome video, posted on a radical fundamentalist site, shows this young man, Nick Berg, bound in an orange jumpsuit with five hooded al Qaeda operatives standing behind him. One of those operatives read a prepared statement, pulled a large knife from his pocket, proceeded to push his head to the ground, and then with five strokes of the knife, decapitated Nick Berg and then held the head up to the camera.

I tell you, Mr. Speaker, my thoughts and my prayers go to Nick Berg's family and friends.

I honestly cannot imagine what the family is going through right now and how they must feel, but this act by al Qaeda is a reminder of the evil we face in this world, and it should reinforce this country's determination to win this war against terror.

Yet another concern in the tragic death of Nick Berg is the lack of any forceful response and condemnation from the European nations or the Arab community over this incident.

The worldwide broadcast of the photos of Iraqi prisoners has brought forth outrage by Americans and Iraqis alike, but not surprisingly, the anti-Americans who are already on the radio exploiting that incident as an opportunity to condemn America and Americans, further promoting this double standard of which I speak. Yes, a small number of American soldiers committed crimes against Iraqi prisoners. Those soldiers should be and will be tried and punished accordingly.

However, while explaining our anger over these crimes and our will to punish these people rightfully when found appropriately guilty, calling for the resignation of a Secretary or even appearing over-apologetic for actions at the prison, I think it is a mistake and plays into the hands of the double standard.

The anti-American left, in this country and elsewhere, forever remembers every single American misdeed while forgetting every anti- American and every anti-human atrocity that the terrorists have taken against those who oppose any one of their causes.

Mr. Speaker, what of the media outlets? They detail the outrage of Iraqis based on the images of a few soldiers' crimes against prisoners. They are the same media outlets that showed no remorse, no outrage whatsoever a few years ago, for the thousands of lives that Saddam Hussein killed using his mass graves, nor when the Iraqi crowds in Fallujah burned and mutilated four American contractors and then hung their corpses from a bridge, there was no outrage or remorse.

A while back in an article, Eason Jordan from CNN, he admitted that his network had deliberately covered up and ignored Saddam Hussein's atrocities and they did that just so they

could stay on TV. This policy of caution by CNN is not reflected in their current coverage of the charges against American soldiers.

Although the actions against the Iraqi prisoners are unacceptable, they are not part of the standard procedure here in the United States or in the military treatment of our prisoners. Although al Qaeda states that their actions against Nick Berg are in retaliation for the crimes taken against these prisoners, their actions by al Qaeda in reality are typical of al Qaeda and all their affiliates. Their previous acts of violence against Americans serve as a testament to that fact, such as the attacks of September 11 and the slaying of a Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl.

Mr. Speaker, make no mistake, the slaying of Nick Berg was about a war against the West in general, and America in particular, and we should firmly stand on our commitment to our American morals and values and denounce anti-American acts. However, while we publicly uncover crimes committed by some members of our military against Iraqi prisoners, we should not play into this double standard set by various media outlets, the European community and the Arab community, and the American left where America is condemned and the brutality, terror, and the cold-blooded acts of murder of innocent people by terrorists is left unreported and without condemnation.

As these recent actions show, the terrorists are not bound by any moral conscience. America must maintain its strength and its resolve to win this war on terror.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a man who's selfless and tireless dedication has been a tremendous service to the community where he lives.

Bruno Bettega has dedicated fifty years of his life as a volunteer firefighter for the Northvale Volunteer Fire Department in Northvale, NJ. Even more amazingly, at age 92, Bruno still plays an active role in the department and is their oldest active member.

During Mr. Bettega's half-century of service he has participated in numerous supportive roles. Bruno is also a member of the Northvale Fire Department Exempt Fireman's Association.

Volunteer fire departments perform a sometimes thankless, but absolutely imperative service to the communities they protect. The lives of our family and friends are in their hands and they do a truly commendable job keeping each and everyone of us safe.

Bruno Bettega should be regarded as nothing less than a hero to his community. I urge all my colleagues to join with me in celebrating his achievements and thanking him for all that he has done.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remind my colleagues that our constituents at home continue to struggle with the loss of jobs to both cheap foreign labor; where employers pay just a fraction of what is paid here, and also provide no paid benefits of any sort. They are losing jobs here at home to illegal immigration.

Illegal immigration has risen to a staggering rate. Nearly 1/2 million illegal aliens enter this country every year. These law- breakers, are taking the jobs that are held by and needed by our citizens.

They also drain the much needed and limited social services that would normally go to American citizens, who either themselves, or their families came to this country legally.

No nation can consider itself a sovereign nation if it cannot define where its borders begin and where they end. And it certainly cannot consider itself sovereign if it cannot determine who is and is not allowed entry into that nation. Without such control, a nation loses its ability to protect the rights and liberties of its people.

Our founding fathers were no less certain in this respect, when Governor Morris stated at the constitutional convention: ``every Society, from a great Nation down to a Club, had the right of declaring conditions on which new members should be admitted.'' Congress should be no less adamant. American citizens are struggling for work. They should not be the victims of a system that turns its back to illegal immigration.

Mr. Chairman, I just wish to address the two concerns that have been raised by those who are critical of this amendment. Those issues are time and money.

They raise the suggestion that all we need now is more time and more money. I simply remind them of the fact that this committee has had, quite honestly, literally months, over a year, to work on it. I would ask for a show of hands. Who would ever expect we would get a better bill out of committee on this? I do not think time will solve the issue.

The other portion is money. Those on the other side also object, all we need is more money. I would remind them of the fact, if we could get more money, where will that money come from? All those people who are donor States please raise your hand, because it will be coming from us, the donor States.

Time and money is not the solution.

Mr. Chairman, the real issue here is who pays and who is hurt? Americans at home are looking for fiscal responsibility from this House. Whether they are taxpayers, workers, whether they are people that are relying on essential services from this government, they are looking for this House to provide them with some degree of fiscal responsibility.

As I said just last night, we come into this budget process knowing that we are in dire financial straits with a $521 billion budget deficit, which simply means, as I said before, we are spending out $521 billion more than we are taking in.

And how does this Blue Dog budget address that? Well, they certainly do not address it by trying to rein in spending because look at the spending side of the equation. They are actually saying that even though they are in a hole, they want to stop digging. They are not stopping digging at all. They are still digging. They are spending more. They are spending upwards of $2 billion more in the 2005 budget.

So where is it on the other side that they want to get to the balanced budget that they speak of? They do it by raising taxes to the tune of $10 billion in the 2005 budget alone. Back in my State of New Jersey, $10 billion when I was in State government, that would pay for almost half of our entire State budget for the year.

They go even further. They want to raise taxes by almost $200 billion over the life of this budget. So it comes back to the question again, who pays, who is hurt?

We have already heard that 90 percent of small business pay taxes at the individual tax rate and that more than 80 percent of an increase in taxes for the top tax rate would be borne by small businesses. What does that mean? That means that the tax increases that they are talking about in the Blue Dog budget will impact upon Main Street USA, on small businesses, on small manufacturers, on farmers. Those same manufacturers that we debate in this House over and over again that are already having a hard time competing overseas with manufacturing and production are now going to have, under the Blue Dog budget, to see their taxes go up.

So who pays? Small businesses, mom and pops, farmers.

And, finally, who is hurt by this budget? Besides those people, who is hurt by this budget are all those people who work for small businesses, mom and pops, farmers. The workers out there in America, lost jobs, the family. Who pays? Small businesses. Who is hurt? The workers of America and families.