Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Rule for consideration of H.R. 3170 making appropriations for financial services and general government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010.

The Financial Services Appropriations bill is a key part of efforts to restore the stability of, and the public confidence in, America's financial institutions. It makes needed investments in strengthening the Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to enforce rules that govern investments and financial markets and to detect and prosecute fraudulent schemes, and it permits the District of Columbia to continue operating in accordance with the decisions and policies established by its own local leadership.

Along with these issues, the bill also supports America's auto dealers. Specifically, it requires automobile companies who have taken federal funding to reinstitute agreements with dealerships they have dropped in recent bankruptcy proceedings. As you know, this country made an investment in General Motors and Chrysler, two of the nation's largest manufacturers. Given the potential impact to workers as well as car dealers, many of whom are in my district in Houston, I supported this government investment. However, in the aftermath, nearly 3000 auto dealers today face extinction. The restructuring with GM and Chrysler have cost these dealers their right to continue selling these cars. This bill simply provides dealers the same rights they would have had before GM and Chrysler's bankruptcy proceedings started.

Previously GM and Chrysler had notified arbitrary dealers that their relationship was ending, essentially immediately, leaving dealers with millions of dollars invested in car stock, no options for consolidation and little leverage for liquidation. There was no transparency to the system that shut down many profitable dealerships that have been local institutions for decades, and no proof from auto makers that shutting down those dealerships will actually be financially beneficial to the makers. This legislation builds on the efforts of Congress in a letter sent to the Treasury Department Auto Task Force on May 19, and a letter sent to President Obama today.

We all recognize that the economy is not favorable to the auto industry right now: we have already seen layoffs from manufacturers and we expect to see many dealerships consolidate and close this year. However, forced, arbitrary closure of dealers by manufacturers will not necessarily be financially beneficial to automakers, and it certainly will not help the local economies where dealers are integral to the business community. These dealerships employ hundreds of people across my district in good-paying jobs, they sponsor our community services projects in Houston and across the country; moreover, these dealers have been household names for generations.

Some may say that auto dealers are standing in the way of change. I say they want change in the industry, and in fact they want only to be a part of that change. Each car dealer represents dozens of employees left without income or health care, and a major hit to the local economies of these towns. At a time when our nation is reeling from the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs each month and struggling to address health care reform, I congratulate Mr. Serrano and his staff in working to craft legislation to prevent hundreds of dealerships from shuttering their doors. Madam Speaker, I support the resolution, the underlying bill, and America's auto dealers and I ask my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, thank you for your leadership.

Just as we thought, when we began to make a historic march towards the civil rights of all Americans for health care reform, we begin to hear noises, wrong noises, about how much we're spending. Well, I will tell you what we're doing, because we're not ashamed of addressing the concerns of Americans: $100 billion a year to fix a $2 trillion problem; the fact that Texas children are uninsured, they will be able to be insured as other children around America.

Sixty years Americans have been waiting and waiting and waiting for health care reform. Family costs are going up $1,800 a year. How many Americans want to continue that? And every single President, including Candidate McCain, wanted health care reform.

We're doing it the right way. We're going to provide for primary care doctors. We're going to invest $1 in fighting for it and save $1.75.

I want you to know this, Mr. and Mrs. America, we're going to take the big step, not for ourselves but for you. Health care reform, not yesterday but today and forever, because America needs it, and they need it now.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado for the time. I thank both the chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Financial Services for what I think has been a holistic approach to the needs that we are having to address and what has been called an economic collapse. As it has been based on the practices of our past administration, we're simply trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. I would hope as we make progress on this bill, that as we fund the Small Business Administration, that we will be reminded of the importance of language to advocate for small businesses. It is very disconcerting to find out how difficult it is for small businesses to actually do business with the Federal Government.

Veterans' businesses, minority-owned businesses, in essence, they don't have an advocate, and our agencies are using ``good old boy'' systems to give business not to our small businesses, but to others.

We need that kind of advocacy in the Small Business Administration, taxpayer advocacy. Americans pay their taxes, and there are people who work and pay taxes and want to do the right thing. The taxpayer advocacy system needs to get teeth because it is dysfunctional. The IRS does what it wants to do and treats taxpayers poorly. And the taxpayer advocacy needs to strengthen its ability to serve. I like the language in the TARP oversight. It is important to ensure that the TARP oversight also includes the ability to make banks lend.

But, lastly, let me say how grateful I am for this language dealing with automobile dealers to restore their civil rights and keep them in this place. Bob Knapp of Knapp Chevrolet in Texas has said, We will lose 10,000 jobs. He is a central city car dealership of some 60 years old. The atrocity of GM to close this longstanding, profit-making, employee-providing institution is a shame. Let us get Chrysler and GM at the table to restore the ownership of these dealerships to their owners and let them sell cars the American way.

The language in this bill is the right language. I thank those who have helped to offer this language, but now we have to implement the language. Get these car dealers back doing their jobs. And to GM and Chrysler, accept these appeals, recognizing the large number of jobs that will be lost. Create a job or save a job, there are jobs here. We can save a job.

Madam Speaker, I rise today because we had a very important step in the history of America today. The House leadership announced a major initiative on health care reform: the 47 million-plus and growing number of uninsured Americans, the small businesses who get up every day and create the economic engine, the hardworking laborers who work every day, the children of America, just plain America is looking forward to a health reform package that gives a robust and vigorous public option without decreasing quality that says to hardworking Americans, No pre-existing disease or ailment in your family will ever break you again.

That allows for the strength of the integrity of the Federal Government to be a partner in working with those who wish to choose their own insurance which they already have. It is a fair balance, and it is paid for.

And so as we begin this debate, I'm excited to be able to announce that there will be savings, elimination of fraud and abuse, the opportunity for real health care reform.

Madam Speaker, I support H.R. 1511, the ``Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2009.'' This bill was sponsored by Representative Christopher Smith of New Jersey. The bill's purpose is to amend the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations for FY2010-FY2011 which will provide assistance for domestic and foreign programs and centers for the treatment of victims of torture. I

support this bill and I urge my colleagues to support this bill as it provides needed rehabilitation treatment to those who have been impacted by the effects of torture.

H.R. 1511, the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2009, authorizes appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants to programs in the United States to cover the costs of services provided by domestic treatment centers in the rehabilitation of victims of torture (including treatment of the physical and psychological effects of torture). It will also allow the centers to provide social and legal services as well as research and training of health care providers outside of treatment centers or programs to enable them to provide such services. It authorizes the President to provide grants to treatment centers and programs in foreign countries that carry out projects and activities specifically designed to treat victims of torture for the physical and psychological effects of torture. In addition, it provides grants to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.

This bill is not only important, it is necessary. The Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and the myriad of consequential allegations of prisoner abuse across both Iraq and Afghanistan have cast a heavy shadow over our role in Iraq and our country as a whole. Under the Bush Administration, evidence indicates that torture was conducted on prisoners which included methods such as: waterboarding, weeklong sleep deprivation, forced nudity, use of painful positions, belly- slap and the exploitation of prisoners' fears of animals or insects. President Obama has since denounced these inhumane integration practices and has vowed that the United States does not condone torture. H.R. 1511 supports the President's vow by providing treatment to victims which is designed to enable the victim to step back from the trauma, learn to identify and accept it and gradually become reintegrated into society and/or the working world. This treatment will also serve a social purpose in that it will enable the victim to restore ties that were severed by an array of clinical symptoms caused by being tortured.

In the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal, the U.S. has gone to great pains to persuade the world that U.S. policy does not condone torture. If Congress enacts this legislation, it would reaffirm America's commitment to a world without torture and show the rest of the world that the U.S. is committed to rehabilitating those who have suffered at the hands of torture.

We as a nation must set a clear example that we do not support torture, nor do we condone such practices. For the benefit or our troops, for the good of Iraq, for the good of America, and for the safety of the World, we must heal the wounds caused by torture to those victims domestic and foreign. A strong bipartisan message of support needs to be displayed by this body to right the wrongs and send a message to the world that America is committed to ending what President Obama called a ``dark and painful chapter in our history,'' by providing treatment to the victims of torture. I invite my colleagues to stand with me today and support this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking Congressman Bart Stupak, for introducing this legislation. Every year on July 1st, I look forward to officially celebrating the establishment of Canada and all of her wonderful accomplishments. Canada has proven to be one of this nation's most trusted allies and as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I personally work closely with Canadian officials to ensure the 5,500-mile border that we share remains secure. In this era of heightened security, the United States and Canada have renewed cooperative efforts to safeguard the movement of people and goods, improve information-sharing, and strengthen border infrastructure and technology across the border.

In a world in which too many nations still choose conflict over cooperation, and erect barriers instead of bridges, the U.S.-Canadian partnership has been and must ever be a model for others, and the foundation on which to build a common future. Indeed, our relationship is centered on a shared continent, shared values, shared aspirations, and real respect for our differences.

Over the years, our nations have forged the most comprehensive ties of any two nations on Earth. They bind not only our governments, but also our economies, our cultures, and our people. From NORAD to NAFTA, Canadians and Americans have seized opportunities to provide for our common security and prosperity. We've tackled tough problems from acid rain and water pollution to differences over beer and grain in the spirit of friendship and in pragmatism.

Addressing the Canadian parliament 50 years ago, President Truman declared that the success of the U.S.-Canadian relationship was due to ``one part proximity, and nine parts good will and common sense.'' Good will and common sense remain the foundation of our friendship.

In Texas, the territory of the Consulate General in Dallas and the Canadian Consulate in Houston encompasses five states with over 36 million people. Bilateral trade with the region is over $30 billion each year; therefore I am very aware of how important a strong trade relationship is for both countries.

Specifically the cities of Alberta and Houston share a number of distinguishing features which make them sister cities. Over the past 10 years Alberta has had the strongest economy in Canada, with an average rate of growth of 3.7 per cent per year, while Houston continues to thrive as the energy capital of the United States. Canada is the U.S. most important trading partner, with over $570 billion dollars in goods and services being traded between the two countries in 2006. Canada and the U.S. enjoy an interdependent energy relationship, trading oil, natural gas, coal, and electricity. Canada has a reported 178.8 billion barrels of oil reserves as of 2006, second only to Saudi Arabia. Over 95% of these reserves are in oil sands deposits in Alberta. Moreover, Canadian oil sands in Alberta have made Canada the largest exporter of oil to the U.S. and have helped alleviate our dependence on foreign sources of oil from parts of the world which geopolitically face much more risks than our neighbor to the north. Recent proposals by Canadian companies such as Enbridge and Altex to build oil pipelines from Alberta to Houston seem very promising, and I look forward to the progress they make. These 2,000 mile pipelines, which are targeted to be in service by 2010, will send over 500,000 barrels of oil per day.

I would like to congratulate Canada on its many accomplishments over the years and remain appreciative to the people and Government of Canada for their long history of friendship and cooperation with the people and Government of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support of H. Con. Res. 127, which recognizes the significance of National Caribbean-American Heritage Month.

As a child of Jamaican parents, I understand the importance of recognizing the influence Caribbean cultures continues to have on all facets of these United States. Growing up, my parents, who hail from Jamaica, instilled in me a strong appreciation for their Caribbean values. As a result of my upbringing, I have adopted a strong work ethic arid tremendous pride in my heritage. As a parent, I have passed on these same values to my own children, so they will develop a sense of pride in their Caribbean heritage and acknowledge the many roles Caribbean people play in shaping this nation. I whole-heartedly support this resolution that commemorates Caribbean heritage, history, culture and contributions to the United States.

In her 1970 autobiography, Shirley Chislom, the first black woman elected to Congress, credited her success to the education she received while attending school in Barbados. She wrote, ``Years later I would know what an important gift my parents had given me by seeing to it that I had my early education in the strict, traditional, British-style schools of Barbados. If I speak and write easily now, that early education is the main reason.''

This is a nation built by immigrants. From as early as the 17th century there have been individuals from the Caribbean Islands, working here in the United States as indentured servants in the colony of Jamestown, Virginia.

They worked in fields picking cotton, tobacco and crops just as the slaves.

Caribbean immigrants have been contributing to the well-being of American society since its founding. Alexander Hamilton, the First Secretary of the Treasury was from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. We count among our famous sons and daughters, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Cicely Tyson, W.E.B. Dubois, James Weldon Johnson, Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier to name a few.

H. Con. Res. 127 recognizes the significance of Caribbean people and their descendants in the history and culture of the United States. Our nation would not be what it is today without these significant contributions of the Caribbean people and we should honor these accomplishments with the passing of this legislation. The contributions of Caribbean-Americans are a significant part of the history, progress, and heritage of the United States and play an important role in shaping the ethnic and racial diversity of the United States, which ultimately enriches and strengthens our nation.

By passing this legislation we continue to honor the friendship between the United States and Caribbean countries. We are united by our common values and shared history, and we should celebrate the rich Caribbean Heritage and the many ways in which Caribbean Americans have helped shape this nation.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution to pay tribute to the common culture and bonds of friendship that unite the United States and the Caribbean countries.

Mr. Speaker, today I speak in strong support of H. Con. Res. 135, and thank my colleague Congressman John Lewis, for authoring this important resolution which designates a marker in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center to acknowledge the role that slave labor played in the construction of the United States Capitol. We have already taken the first step in recognizing the slave labor that was used to construct this great Capitol building, by naming the hall Emancipation Hall. Now, we must complete our promise by educating visitors to the Capitol about the enslaved African-Americans who worked tirelessly to build the Capitol.

According to records, local farmers rented out their slaves for an average of $55 a year to help build the Capitol. While this may not seem like a lot of money today, the physical, mental and emotional cost this backbreaking work had on the slaves cannot be overlooked. Slaves cut trees on the hill where the Capitol would stand, cleared stumps from the new streets, worked in the stone quarries where sandstone was cut and assisted the masons laying stone for the walls of the new homes of Congress and the president.

It is estimated that over 400 slaves were used to perform the backbreaking work of quarrying the stone which comprised many of the floors, walls, and columns of the Capitol. Enslaved African-Americans also participated in other facets of construction of the Capitol, including carpentry, masonry, carting, rafting, roofing, plastering, glazing, painting, and sawing.

We have already taken steps to acknowledge the role slaves played in building the Capitol; now we must place a marker in Emancipation Hall so that all visitors to the Capitol Visitor's Center are aware of struggles and contributions of our ancestors to helping establish one of the most fundamental institutions of our great country.

Approximately 4 million Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and the colonies that became the United States between 1619 and 1865. I know that many would think it a non-issue to address the events of over 135 years ago, but the scars from over 400 years of slavery in this nation still ache for a balm that is sufficient to the injury to the minds of this nation's people. After slavery there were still many difficult journeys for former slaves to overcome. Placing this marker in the Capitol allows us to give a voice to those slaves who were never heard and to tell their story.

I thank Congressman Lewis from Georgia for your leadership in sponsoring this important legislation. I know that you are a firm believer in our nation and that we as a nation should recognize and take great pride in the contribution of all Americans to the creation of this great nation.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Let me thank the distinguished chairman and ranking member. Thank you very much, Mr. Edwards, for the grand work that you have done over the years in helping our soldiers. I rise today to support the underlying bill but to particularly focus on the medical services, the $34.7 billion; the mental health services, $4.6 billion; and the assistance for homeless vets, $3.2 billion. In my congressional district I work with these populations in particular, visiting them, listening to their situations; and as well, in my own community we have had a high number of suicides among active duty soldiers. I am very glad to announce that because of the legislation of this particular appropriation and the leadership of Chairman Edwards, we are now looking forward to having an offsite opportunity for a PTS treatment center; and as well it will be able to secure funding in the future for prospective TRICARE recipients. I am proud to have worked with Riverside Hospital. We need to be able to provide more services for PTSD, for the soldiers that are coming home. Believe it or not, Houston has been cited as the city that has the largest number of returnees or active duty soldiers who have been in Iraq and now, subsequently, will be coming from Afghanistan. Today as I speak, Madam Chair, we are burying a young seaman in my district. It is tragic, but we realize that we have to provide for these soldiers. I am very glad to support the rule and the underlying bill.

Mr. Speaker, I missed the vote on the amendment to H.R. 3082 of Mr. Flake because we were detained in a hearing on the Honduran coup. Had I been present on the floor of the House, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise with great pride and a deep sense of sadness. Pride because I'm honoring Hazel Hainesworth Young, 103 years old, who passed just a week ago in my own hometown of Houston, Texas.

I am honored to say that she was an educator all of her life, a school teacher. She, in essence, set the standard for our famous Jack Yates High School and Phillis Wheatley High School. Phillis Wheatley High School was the school that Congressman Mickey Leland graduated from and Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.

Hazel Hainesworth Young was a magnificent soul, someone who nurtured the leaders of today, who was the dean of girls at Wheatley High School, whose daughter, Maryann Young, followed in her footsteps as a teacher. She was a Soror. She was a wonderful icon of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. But she was a public citizen.

Her brother, of course, part of the, if you will, the intelligentsia and the excellence of legal prominence in the civil rights movement, but she brought about the civil rights movement by teaching to young Negro children--yes, Negro children--the opportunity to go forth and to shoot for the stars. There were no barriers to her teaching.

She was honored in her lifetime because so many were guided and inspired by this wonderful, beautiful woman. I had the chance to be mentored by her, and I will go home to honor her, but she is honored today on the floor of the House. What a wonderful woman. Hazel Hainesworth Young, 103. She passed, but she will live on forever.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mourn and to salute August Provost III, a seaman at Camp Pendleton in California and to recognize the tragic way in which he lost his life in the line of duty. August Provost III was a young man, a constituent of the 18th Congressional District and coming from the famous Acres Home community. It was only a few days ago that his mother received the terrible news that he was shot dead on the base of Camp Pendleton, shot in the chest, shot in the back of the head and his body burned.

We cannot seem to find any definite information, Mr. Speaker. The allegation is that this is a hate crime. The reason why I rise today is that he will be funeralized tomorrow as a hero. We, as an American people, must stand against hateful acts on the basis of someone's difference. And to the United States military, for which I hold in the greatest respect, there must be a thorough, in-depth, full and broad investigation, not a cover-up, to find out why this valiant, young African American died on this military base in his uniform by being shot by an alleged fellow sailor.

The uniform of the United States military must be what it is, upstanding and respectful. And we cannot tolerate violence against fellow military personnel because of difference and should not exist in the United States of America military.

I mourn with the family. I pay tribute to him as he is laid to rest as an American hero. He will be forever an American hero in our hearts and in this Nation.

August, we thank you for your service. God bless you, and God bless the family.

Let me thank the distinguished chairwoman and the ranking member.

I rise today to support the underlying bill and to particularly focus on the question of hunger in America.

Madam Chairwoman, this past weekend I joined one of the more well- known constituents of mine, Beyonce, who is engaged in an online opportunity to ensure that food banks of America are taken care of. We realize that in this economic recession, although we are working very hard with stimulus funds, that many people are in need. Families who work are in need of extra assistance, and so I am particularly interested and concerned that this legislation, the appropriations, will be supportive of the works of the Nation's food banks and help the various food banks through a number of provisions that may ensure that food banks are a viable part of our economic food line.

We know that there are about 900 million, 923 million people-plus, that are hungry around the world or are

lacking in what we call food security, the inability to secure the right kind of food. We know that developmental concerns occur in children who are not, in essence, able to participate or to have the kind of food security they need to have.

So I am very pleased that again the McGovern-Dole legislation has been supported as International Food Aid, providing some $1.69 billion as requested and $464 million above 2009. I am also very glad that this is able to meet emergency and nonemergency humanitarian food need in countries stricken with natural disasters and political strife, $199.5 million food for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, the same as requested, and $99.5 million above 2009 to support education, child development and food security to some of the world's poorest children.

Might I also say that I am also glad that this legislation continues to support the Congressional Hunger Center, which many of us have been supporting over the years in terms of its funding. And, likewise, I would like to emphasize the importance, in conclusion, that hunger has not been overcome.

This bill deals with many issues, nutrition, Women, Infants and Children, the WIC program that is so very important, the commodities, the supplemental food program all again focusing on the large need from hunger, not only internationally, but domestically.

I want to thank the chairwoman again and would like to continue to work with her as this bill makes its way through the Congress.

I think you are well aware of the work that my former colleague, Mickey Leland, has done on hunger. And I want to continue to work to ensure that these programs are there for the continuously hungry and that we will be able to distinguish it.

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1016, ``Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009.'' I would like to thank my colleague, Congressman Bob Filner, for introducing this bill, and providing leadership on this important issue.

Today I will defer to Thomas Jefferson who so auspiciously stated, ``The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.'' We must call attention as both the House and Senate discuss health care reform. Today, in the midst of two wars and an economic crisis, I know in this 111th Congress and with the 44th President of the United States, our government is now in the position of necessity where we must work to ensure comprehensive health care reform to all citizens.

The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009 will ensure that one community who gave the ultimate measure for their country will have a quality health care system. I urge members of Congress to put away the partisan bickering and come together to support those who have given their lives for the country they love. There should be no reason why our veterans should not receive the adequate health care they deserve.

For 19 out of the past 22 fiscal years, appropriated funds for medical care were not provided to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the commencement of its new fiscal year, causing the Department great challenges in planning and managing care for enrolled veterans. Appropriation levels for health care programs in the Department have too often proven insufficient over the past decade, requiring the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ration health care and Congress to approve supplemental appropriations. Medical technology available on the battlefields and in U.S. medical facilities are saving the lives of a high percentage of severely wounded soldiers, but they then often face long-term recovery and rehabilitation challenges.

By providing sufficient, timely and predictable funding we would ensure that we meet the vital obligation to provide health care to all veterans. Congress must take action in ensuring our veterans who return home sick, injured, or even healthy will receive the quality health care they deserve. As Congress begins to swiftly act in an unprecedented time, I urge my colleagues to put away partisan bickering and act as a single non-partisan government to ensure our citizens' happiness in a quality health care system.

Madam Speaker, I support H.R. 1511, the ``Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2009.'' This bill was sponsored by Representative Christopher Smith of New Jersey. The bill's purpose is to amend the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations for FY2010-FY2011 which will provide assistance for domestic and foreign programs and centers for the treatment of victims of torture. I support this bill and I urge my colleagues to support this bill as it provides needed rehabilitation treatment to those who have been impacted by the effects of torture.

H.R. 1511, the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2009, authorizes appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants to programs in the United States to cover the costs of services provided by domestic treatment centers in the rehabilitation of victims of torture (including treatment of the physical and psychological effects of torture). It will also allow the centers to provide social and legal services as well as research and training of health care providers outside of treatment centers or programs to enable them to provide such services. It authorizes the President to provide grants to treatment centers and programs in foreign countries that carry out projects and activities specifically designed to treat victims of torture for the physical and psychological effects of torture. In addition, it provides grants to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.

This bill is not only important, it is necessary. The Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and the myriad of consequential allegations of prisoner abuse across both Iraq and Afghanistan have cast a heavy shadow over our role in Iraq and our country as a whole. Under the Bush Administration, evidence indicates that torture was conducted on prisoners which included methods such as: waterboarding, weeklong sleep deprivation, forced nudity, use of painful positions, belly-slap and the exploitation of prisoner's fears of animals or insects. President Obama has since denounced these inhumane integration practices and has vowed that the United States does not condone torture. H.R. 1511 supports the President's vow by providing treatment to victims which is designed to enable the victim to step back from the trauma, learn to identify and accept it and gradually become reintegrated into society and/or the working world. This treatment will also serve a social purpose in that it will enable the victim to restore ties that were severed by an array of clinical symptoms caused by being tortured.

In the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal, the U.S. has gone to great pains to persuade the world that U.S. policy does not condone torture. If Congress enacts this legislation, it

would reaffirm America's commitment to a world without torture and show the rest of the world that the U.S. is committed to rehabilitating those who have suffered at the hands of torture.

We as a nation must set a clear example that we do not support torture, nor do we condone such practices. For the benefit or our troops, for the good of Iraq, for the good of America, and for the safety of the World, we must heal the wounds caused by torture to those victims domestic and foreign. A strong bipartisan message of support needs to be displayed by this body to right the wrongs and send a message to the world that America is committed to ending what President Obama called a ``dark and painful chapter in our history,'' by providing treatment to the victims of torture. I invite my colleagues to stand with me today and support this important legislation.