Floor Statements

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, coming from a State with one of the highest percentages of uninsured children, I know how important it is that we succeed in overriding the President's veto today.

I think it's absolutely shameful that in the United States of America, in the 21st century, in a country of such great abundance, we have to override a Presidential veto to provide essential health care to kids from lower-income, hardworking American families.

Passage of this bill is essential to ensure continued coverage for the more than 30,000 kids currently receiving their health care by the SCHIP program in Nevada. And the bill will also enable Nevada to reach out to the nearly 70,000 children currently eligible who remain uninsured and not in the program because of a lack of funding.

I urge my colleagues to vote to override this veto. It's a shame that he vetoed this bill in the first place.

I thank the gentleman from Michigan for being in the forefront of this issue as well as all other issues regarding the civil liberties of our fellow Americans, and a special thank you to Mr. Boucher and Mr. Pence for their outstanding work on this particular piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Free Flow of Information Act. This legislation strikes a careful balance by protecting journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources unless there is an imminent threat to our national security.

I've heard from journalists and broadcasters in my district about the importance of being able to protect their sources without risking prosecution. Without this protection, stories involving conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, and the unmasking of the culprits behind the Enron scandal might never have been written.

I wholeheartedly support this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from the great State of New York and my good friend from the State of Florida for introducing this important resolution. For too long, dictators and despots have hijacked the United Nations in order to serve their own purposes. They cynically target Israel in order to shift attention from their own brutality, passing countless resolutions condemning Israel without uttering a word about what is going on in Burma, the Sudan or North Korea.

Madam Speaker, while we congratulate Israel today for a great achievement, I am still very worried the U.N.'s condemnations of Israel helped to stoke the fires of global anti-Semitism. For better or for worse, the world looks to the United Nations to set standards for human rights, and when instead it singles out Israel for constant recriminations, the U.N. becomes a platform for burgeoning anti- Semitism around the world and anti-Israel rhetoric. Last week I chaired the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue in my hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. Among the many issues we discussed with our friends from the European Parliament was the alarming rise of global anti-Semitism. Abe Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League briefed us on the widespread belief in the Muslim world that Israel and the Jews committed the 9/11 terrorist attack on this country. He told us about Malaysia, where there are no Jews, and yet where the president of that country blames the Jews for the economic problems in his country anyway.

In Europe, since 2000, there has been a surge of anti-Semitic incidents. Even here at home, a few misguided and uninformed people say the Jews are somehow responsible for the war in Iraq. I am extremely concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism globally, and it is not unrelated to what goes on at the United Nations. I am afraid the U.N.'s rhetoric serves as a great recruiting tool for terrorists and anti- Semites when it condemns Israel and uses old anti-Semitic canards to do it.

Madam Speaker, it is surely a step in the right direction that Israel is chairing a U.N. committee. We are right to congratulate Israel for this great achievement. It is about time. But so much more must be done as this resolution states. Today, with this resolution, we call on the United Nations to officially and publicly condemn anti-Semitic statements made at its meetings and hold United Nations member states accountable when they make such statements. We must fight back against the growing scourge of global anti-Semitism and growing anti-Israel rhetoric while we continue to fight for Israel's greater recognition at the United Nations.

I thank the gentleman from New York for his leadership on this issue, among many others.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this important resolution, and I thank the gentleman from New York for his continued leadership on this important issue. We often throw around compliments on the floor of the House thanking each other, but in this case, it is truly warranted. The gentleman from New York has been a giant on these issues, and I thank him so much for that.

Lebanon is at a critical juncture in its history. On the cusp of upcoming elections, it can go the way of democracy; or it can go the way of violence, terrorism and dictatorship. We therefore must stand side-by-side with the forces of democracy in that country and protect it from those who seek to unfairly and violently influence the results of their free election.

Two years ago at the United Nations, the world called on Syria to remove its troops from Lebanon and recognize Lebanon's independence. While perhaps most of Syria's troops are out of Lebanon, its continued dangerous influence is undeniable.

Syria's proxies in Lebanon have waged a campaign of terror throughout the country against those who oppose its interference. They have bombed,

they have rioted, they have assassinated, and they have terrorized, and it is undeniable Syria's hand is behind it all.

Iran too has involved itself in Lebanon with its support of Hezbollah, a terrorist group whose military is stronger than the Lebanese Army. Iran has threatened unspecified consequences if the anti-Syrian majority has the gall to freely elect its own president. It has launched attacks against Israel to destabilize the region and the Lebanese Government. Hezbollah continues to bring arms shipments in from Iran through Syria with impunity.

Lebanon's stability could be the key to the future of the Middle East. If the Lebanese can establish a democracy in their country, then it would spread to other countries in that region, Syria's influence would be weakened and Iran's plans for regional supremacy and control would suffer a serious setback. The supporters of terrorism know this, Madam Speaker. That is why they have unleashed this campaign of terror to stop Lebanon's development and influence its upcoming election.

We too must unleash our own campaign to support the forces of democracy and freedom and stability. We must not let the forces of democracy be defeated or intimidated in Lebanon. The Middle East hangs in the balance, and we must not back away from a growing democracy that needs our help.

Madam Speaker, I urge support for this resolution.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Tax Collection Responsibility Act. This bill will prevent the IRS from using private debt collectors to collect Federal income taxes when current contracts have expired.

Private debt collectors have proven to be very poorly equipped for the job. This change is important to protect taxpayers' privacy. Coming from Las Vegas, I have never been a great fan of the IRS. IRS abuse in Las Vegas is legendary. The only thing worse are private debt collectors that have harassed, threatened and intimidated the taxpayers in my district and throughout the United States to collect back taxes and to also collect a hefty fee. The IRS ought to do its job of collecting taxes and Congress ought to do our job by giving them the resources the IRS needs to do its job.

The bill also proposes implementation of a 3 percent withholding requirement on government payments to vendors. This requirement will cause significant administrative and financial burdens on local governments. As a local government that spends more than $100 million per year on vendor products and services, Clark County, Nevada, would be required to withhold 3 percent of payments to businesses. Under the new requirement, companies that contract with local government would be terribly and unfairly penalized. This could result, it will result in cash flow problems for small businesses and ultimately higher prices for all consumers. This bill will postpone the 3 percent withholding requirement to give the Treasury Department time to study the impact of this provision on local governments and taxpayers before it is implemented.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation for both reasons that I have stated.

I thank the gentlewoman from California.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution of which I am a proud cosponsor. In the summer of 2006, we witnessed a major breakthrough in the troubled history of this divided island. After years of conflict, both sides committed themselves to the reunification of Cyprus based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation and political equality. By agreeing to these principles, they recognize the status quo is unacceptable and that continuing it only hurts both the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities.

In connection with this agreement, we are all pleased to see the Cypriot Government take a number of confidence-building measures, demolishing walls and even providing free health care to Turkish Cypriots.

This summer, my family and I traveled to Cyprus and had the pleasure of enjoying the legendary Cypriot hospitality. While I enjoyed the beauty and serenity of the island, I was most struck by the openness and warmth of the people there, who treated my family and me with the greatest regard. It is cruel that such a warm and hospitable people should continue to be subjected to this conflict.

We were simply appalled by the state of the ``green line'' area. It is a blot on an otherwise breathtaking country. It is time that the Turkish troops remove themselves from this island so that, at our next visit, Cyprus will once again be a peaceful and unified island free of occupation.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for both sides to come together to execute the July 2006 agreement. The principles have been laid out and all that we need now is implementation. I urge support for this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Blumenauer for his leadership on this issue.

I rise today in support of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. This legislation represents an important step in helping homeowners caught in our Nation's housing crisis. The people I represent have been hardest hit by this crisis. It pains me to say that the State of Nevada currently has the highest rate of foreclosure in the Nation. In Nevada there is one foreclosure for every 163 households. That is three times the national average.

Unfortunately, many of those who lose their homes to foreclosure are hit with the added insult of a surprise tax bill. This occurs when a home has decreased in value and the amount owed is more than the current value of the home. The difference between the amount owed and the actual value of the home is considered forgiven debt and, therefore, taxed at regular income. With interest rates on hundreds of thousands of mortgages about to reset and home values in decline in many areas, this foreclosure tax is likely to be a growing problem.

This bill will help protect homeowners from this tax by providing a permanent exclusion of the discharged debt as long as the mortgage was on the primary residence.

And for those who fear that this legislation will bail out wealthy land speculators who have made bad investments, let me assure you that the relief provided in this bill is targeted towards those losing the very roofs over their heads, their family's home, and not to real estate speculators who made bad bets.

Additionally, this bill will extend the tax deduction on private mortgage insurance to provide an additional measure of tax relief to homeowners. Lowering the cost of mortgage insurance by keeping this tax deductible will help ensure that more borrowers are choosing mortgages they can actually afford. For some of my constituents this tax savings will mean the difference between being able to stay in their homes or becoming one of thousands facing foreclosure and loss of their family home.

For those on the other side of the aisle who are criticizing the pay- for in this bill, not one, not one of them has come up with a sensible and honest alternative or solution to the pay-for that is included here.

I think this is a good piece of legislation. I urge support for this legislation.

I thank the subcommittee chairman for that very lovely introduction.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this important resolution, in support of a U.S. ally and a fellow democracy.

For ever 50 years, Taiwan and the United States have enjoyed a strong political and economic partnership. Taiwan is our eighth largest trading partner with almost $60 billion in bilateral trade. In the last two decades, we have watched Taiwan blossom into one of the world's leading democracies, holding a number of open, fair, and internationally approved elections. Its constitution guarantees fundamental freedoms and civil liberties and ensures all citizens have a voice in local and national affairs.

Mr. Speaker, in an age of terrorism and political violence, it is absolutely imperative that the United States stands up for peaceful and free countries around the globe. We must make certain our fellow democracies can determine their own destinies at the ballot box without fear of attack or violence. And as this resolution states, we must continue to provide Taiwan with the ability to defend itself, to safeguard the expansion of democracy on that island and in its region in the coming years.

Taiwan is a vibrant democracy, a trusted ally, a strategic partner of the United States. It is imperative, I repeat, that we signal our support for the world to see that America stands with its fellow democracy and will defend against any threat of military aggression.

I urge support for this resolution.

Madam Speaker, because I was attending to important constituent matters in my congressional district, I was unable to vote on rollcall Nos. 865 and 866. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Madam Speaker, last month this House approved landmark legislation to put our nation on the path toward energy independence. Among other provisions, this bill would provide incentives to encourage the production and use of renewable energy, and calls for greater energy efficiency in both public and private sectors.

When it comes to energy usage, my home town of Las Vegas has received more than its share of scrutiny. But I would like to share with my colleagues an example of how Las Vegas is leading the nation in the effort to become more energy efficient. The following is a response from MGM MIRAGE, the largest employer in my district and a good corporate citizen, to an accusation that the casinos of Las Vegas use too much energy. I would suggest to my colleagues that if more businesses would follow the lead of MGM MIRAGE, the impact on our nation's energy consumption would be substantial.

September 17, 2007.

Hon. Candice Miller,

228 Cannon House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Miller: We recently read reports of

your comments regarding energy consumption by the Las Vegas

gaming and tourism industry. We would like to share with you

some of the initiatives that we are taking at MGM MIRAGE to

reduce our energy impact in our state.

Currently, we are in the process of building the largest

privately funded construction project in the history of our

country. CityCenter, a 76 acre, mixed-use urban development

in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, will include 2,700

residences and a 4,000 room resort and casino. In keeping

with our commitment of green building design and

construction, CityCenter is being built according to

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

certification standards. Once complete, it will be the

largest green campus in the history of the United States.

The following is a list of some of the energy efficiency

features being incorporated into CityCenter: CityCenter will

have a highly efficient state of the art central plant with

combined heat and power capability. This combined heat and

power plant will utilize excess heat, reusing it for heating

domestic water; Facades will have higher glazing to reduce

air conditioning costs; ``Air-brows'' or ``shades'' on the

facade will help to prevent overheating of units from direct

sun; A docking station for the room key is being considered

for some hotel rooms; when the key is removed most of the

lights will shut down and thus conserve energy; The design

maximizes the use of natural light in residential units, thus

helping to reduce energy consumption; Most structures will

have a reflective roof, also helping to reduce air-

conditioning and therefore energy consumption.

In addition to these energy efficient features, we have

taken many steps to also improve the efficiency of our

existing buildings.

MGM MIRAGE recently implemented improvements in lighting

technologies and mechanical equipment that will conserve 23

million kilo-watt hours annually; this is the equivalent of

removing over 1,700 homes from the Las Vegas power grid.

The impact on air emissions by not having to produce this

energy is equivalent to a reduction of approximately 17,000

tons of greenhouse gas per year; it would take about 500,000

trees to offset that amount of greenhouse gasses each year.

We are also working with the Rocky Mountain Institute

(RMI), a not-for-profit think tank that assists companies in

identifying and using energy and resources efficiently. The

RMI will aid MGM MIRAGE in the development of a corporate

strategy for alternative and renewable energy.

We also strive to work in a partnership with our local

government in Nevada. Recently, our Senior Vice President of

the Energy and Environmental Services Division, Cindy Ortega,

was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Nevada's

Climate Change Advisory Committee. In addition, we have

recently been joined by Gary Mayo as our Vice President of

Energy and Environmental Services Division. You might

remember Gary in his former capacity as Director of

Government Affairs and Corporate Responsibility for Visteon

Corporation in Van Buren Township, Michigan.

MGM MIRAGE is committed to continue to demonstrate

leadership in the areas of energy and water conservation. If

you have any questions or would like additional information

about CityCenter, or our efforts with regard to energy and

natural resource conservation, please contact Robert Elliott,

Vice President of Government Affairs.

Sincerely,

Robert Elliott,

Vice President of Government Affairs,

I want to thank my good friend from New York, Anthony Weiner. As usual, I am not sure that my presence is needed here. You have done such an eloquent job explaining the situation as it is. I am afraid I have to agree with our colleague, Mr. Wexler, and pronounce the little town the way he does, but the sentiment is the same.

I wish you were with us, Mr. Weiner, 3 weeks ago when there was a congressional trip to Israel. We had the opportunity to go to Sderot and see for ourselves firsthand exactly what you are speaking of. I want to share with you my impressions. I have been to Israel 15 times, but that was the first time that I had ever gone to that little border town and met the people, heard what they had to say, but I did. I am glad that I had the opportunity so I could share it with you and our colleagues now.

We met in a strategic area of Sderot where we were able to look into the Gaza. It is less than a mile away. They live Palestinian and Israeli next door to one another. We met with a family who has lived there for a number of years and has endured the 2,000 rocket attacks that have taken place, that have been perpetrated against the citizens of this community for the last 5 years, 2,000 rocket attacks. The last one, as you said, happening as late as today as children were going to school.

Now, Hamas and Islamic jihad have the timing down pretty well if they don't have the accuracy, because the rocket attacks, the missile attacks, on this small Israeli town take place in the morning hours when children are headed to school and parents are headed to work. Then there's a lull. If there is going to be another attack, it is usually when people are coming home from work and their children are coming back from school.

We met a family from Sderot, a wife, a mother and her children. I listened to this mother tell us what it is like on a daily basis, the fear she has every time she sends her children out to walk to school, how they can't go outside and play for fear that there will be an incoming missile that might indiscriminately hit any one of them on any given day. The very inaccuracy of these rockets make them something to fear. After the last attack that she told us about, she grabbed her child, and she fell on him in an effort to save him. When it was over, the little boy looked at his mommy. He said, ``Mommy, don't ever fall on me to save me again. Because if anything was going to happen to you, what would I do without you?''

The children of this little town are suffering in more ways than you and I can possibly imagine. While it is true that of the 2,000 attacks in the last 5 years, eight people have died, and I have been told only eight people is not so bad, three of those eight were children, if you are one of the eight, or their families, it is not bad, it is devastating. And if you are the parent or grandparent of one of those three children, whose only crime was being an Israeli child walking to school one day, it is a horrible, horrible thing to endure.

So the fact that there hasn't been the mayhem and the injuries that are visible to the eye doesn't make this any worse because of the psychological damage to the people of this community and to their children, many of who suffer from PTSD.

I sit on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. We listen to testimony of our troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from PTSD. As horrible as that is, we understand it. We expect it. It is going to happen. But as a 5, 6, 7 year-old kid, to be suffering from PTSD, from not being able to sleep at night for fear that there is going to be a rocket attack on their home, afraid to go to school, afraid to sit in your classroom, parents losing their jobs because they can't stay at work when they hear that siren go off, they want to rush to the school where they know that their children are studying, for the hope that if, God forbid, anything happens, they can save their child, that is not a way to live. Nobody should live that way.

The reason that the Congressional delegation met with this family and others in this little town was because they wanted to share with us what was going on because they feel they have been forgotten, not only by their own government, but they wanted their government and the United States, their most reliable ally, and the people of this world community to recognize what is going on, and to help them, help them in some way. They implored us to do something to stop these rocket attacks.

Now, you mentioned the fact that about 2 years and 3 weeks ago on August 15th Israel unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza. It became untenable to secure 7,000 settlers from 1.4 million Palestinians, so the Israelis made a decision in the name of peace to unilaterally disengage from the Gaza.

The hope was this, Mr. Weiner. The hope was that the Palestinian people in the Gaza would recognize they had a golden opportunity to demonstrate to the world that they were capable of governance and they would use this opportunity to repair the infrastructure, build schools, start healing their economy, build housing and hospitals for the Palestinian people, make it possible for 1.4 million Palestinians to have a future, a dream of their own that wasn't mayhem and killing and corruption.

Unfortunately, we have not seen that. What we have seen, and it is more and more with each passing day, is that Hamas is using the Gaza and the Palestinian people as a human fortress as they continue to and increase lobbing rockets and missiles into Israel from strategic locations in the Gaza.

Why do the Palestinian people have to continue to suffer and live under these conditions? Are there no Palestinian leaders willing to step up and say this is not what I want for my children, it is not what I want to do to Israeli children? We have an obligation to be so much more than a launching pad against Israeli border towns like Sderot.

What are the Israelis expected to do? The people of Sderot are demanding that the Israeli government do something, that they stop this carnage, this mayhem, this indiscriminate killing and damage.

Well, we can examine the options of the Israelis. They can go back into Gaza, as you stated. I don't think that is a viable option. The Israelis don't want to reoccupy the Gaza. They can launch strategic attacks against those locations that the Kassam rockets are being launched from. But, as you know, they can be launched very quickly, and the perpetrators disappear within moments. And if they do that and accidentally hit an innocent Palestinian family, there would be hell to pay for that. So that isn't the best possible option either.

So, what is left? The Israelis provide the water and the sewage system and the electricity and power to the Gaza for 1.4 million Palestinians to enjoy some quality of life. They can cut those services off and 1.4 million Palestinians can suffer, because Hamas and Islamic Jihad have used their fellow Palestinians as nothing more than a cruel shield behind which they launch indiscriminate attacks against innocent Israeli civilians, men, women and children, and then they use the Palestinian people as buffers to protect them from any retaliation that the Israelis may wish to do in order to protect their own people.

It is not in dispute.

Of course, Hamas' charter says exactly that, that Israel does not have a right to exist. They refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist. So if Israel doesn't exist then the Israelis don't exist, and they can do anything they want in their minds when it comes to the people of Sderot.

Or to the First Congressional District in Nevada.

There are a few points that I would like to make in response to what you said. You know, when the Saudis come with this plan, and look, any peace plan is better than no peace at all, but let us keep in mind, in addition to the fact that Israel is no longer in Lebanon, and, remember, Hezbollah supposedly was created in an effort to get the Israelis out of Lebanon. The Israelis have been out of Lebanon now for 8 years and it doesn't

seem to matter. Hezbollah is thriving. They are arming and attacking Israelis on the Israeli side of the border.

You quite rightly said the Israelis unilaterally got out of the Gaza. When it comes to the 1967 borders, let us remember, when Israel made peace with the Egyptians in that very historic moment of opportunity in the Middle East, the Israelis gave back the Sinai to the Egyptians that they had acquired in the 1967 war. They gave it back with all the oil and everything else. They said peace is more important to us than this land. You can have it.

Remember prior to the 1967 war? The West Bank was part of Jordan. Jordan controlled the West Bank. It was Jordanian territory. And then after a number of years, the Jordanians gave it to the Israelis. They didn't want to deal with the problems. So when we are talking about 1967 borders, does that mean that Jordan is going to take back the West Bank and deal with the problems that currently exist in the West Bank?

There was a reason that the Palestinian people turned to Hamas. They had a corrupt leader, a murderer, a terrorist in the name of Yasser Arafat. The billions and billions of dollars that the Europeans gave to the Palestinians through Yasser Arafat, that the Americans gave, in an effort to improve the lives of the Palestinian people, did not go to help the Palestinian people. Not one child got educated. Not one person's wounds or one person's illness was cured in a new hospital. Not one road was built. Not one business was created.

That money went into bank accounts that Arafat's widow is now living on, and rather nicely, I would say. Out of desperation for the corruption of Yasser Arafat's political party, Fattah, the people, the Palestinian people looked to Hamas, a terrorist organization, to get their basic rights met, their basic needs met. Hamas was providing social services, unemployment benefits to the unemployed, clothing to those that were not clothed, food to those that were hungry, instead of the legitimate Palestinian Authority. There is no wonder that the Palestinian people turned to Hamas.

But what we see in Hamas is a terrorist organization that refuses Israel's right to exist, that rains terror on border towns like Sderot, only because they can't get to the bigger towns because of the security and that security fence that the entire world condemned Israel for building in an effort to protect its own citizens from terrorist attacks.

So, now we are at a crossroads. The Palestinian people don't have to continue to support Hamas. Right now, the Gaza is a no-man's land. What few Christians are left in the Gaza are being subjected to forced conversions. Hamas is indiscriminantly walking the streets shooting at point-blank range any former member of Fattah. And the Palestinian people are caught in the crossfire.

It is time for the international community to speak as one voice in an effort to bring peace to the Palestinians and to the people of Israel, and the place to start is in Sderot.

When I was part of this congressional delegation a few weeks ago, and maybe last week you heard the same thing, it was the Israeli Government that was promoting providing resources for the Palestinians. They want the American Government to support Abu Mazen. They want us to prop up the Palestinian people because they know this might be the last opportunity they have for peace.

And you brought up a really good point. I can't say that the Egyptians and the Israelis love each other and sing Kumbiya by the camp fire. The same thing with the Jordanians. This is not a warm peace; it is a peace. You don't have to love thy neighbor, but you can live side by side in peace. I think that is what we should be going for.

If I thought for a minute these indiscriminate attacks on Sderot and other

border towns was an effort to create a Palestinian state, maybe I could understand that, as addled as that is. But this has nothing to do with creating a Palestinian state; this has everything to be the elimination, dare I say extermination, of the State of Israel. That is what strikes fear in my heart.

Well, Fatah's corruption permeated the entire Palestinian Authority.

And I would be the last one to disagree with you.

Absolutely not.

Yes.

We have one of our most esteemed freshmen here who was on the trip to Israel.

As I said earlier, Hamas is walking around the streets indiscriminately shooting anybody that had anything to do with Fatah. They're consolidating their power, power to do what I haven't got the slightest idea.

But I wanted to tell my colleague, who we had a pleasure of sharing this experience that I think he will remember when we all got back on the bus, there were a lot of people that were misty-eyed. I think it was a shock to most of us to see what these people are going through on a daily basis.

And I looked around at our colleagues, and these are pretty sophisticated politicians. They've been in office for quite a while in different capacities, but I think everybody was taken aback and shocked and very touched by the families that we met and felt the pain that they go through on a daily basis. It was an important message for us to see.

And we could see the house. I mean, they didn't have to go it's over there behind the mountain, no, no, there it was.

And I have to tell you something else. One of the ministers that we met with said this about the conferences, and again, the Israelis are pushing any type of peace and support that they can get with the Palestinians. But they said, they want us to meet, so we'll meet, but if they refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist, what are we meeting about? Will they allow us to exist? What compromise do you make with people that don't recognize your right to exist? Do you compromise that you could exist for 20 more years, 30 more years, 50 more years? There's no compromise to be made with people that don't recognize that you are a person with a right to exist.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this amendment. The great State of Nevada has had a renewable energy standard for a number of years. It is a 20 percent standard. It is about time the rest of the Nation caught up with the great State of Nevada. Let's do this for the future of our Nation and the future of our children.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of energy independence, national security and weaning ourselves off of Middle Eastern oil.

It is sheer madness that--6 years after 9/11--we still rely on unstable and dictatorial regimes like Saudi Arabia to feed our oil habit. They have shown time and time again that they care nothing for international peace, peace in the Middle East or helping us find a solution for the debacle in Iraq: We know they use our oil dollars to fund terrorist organizations like Hamas, and Sunni insurgents in Iraq. And yet we still send them billions of dollars a year in oil revenues, because we are so dependent on their oil to fuel our energy needs.

We are funding both sides of the war on terror. No country on Earth has ever successfully fought a war against itself. This bill is a step in the right direction by funding alternative, clean energies that will set America on the path to energy independence.

With Mr. Rangel's leadership, my colleagues and I on the Ways and Means Committee have expanded and extended the tax credits for plug-in hybrid vehicles, cellulosic alcohol, ethanol and biodiesel.

This package also promotes alternative fuels by providing assistance for the installation and conversion of E-85 fuel pumps and the production of flex-fuel vehicles that run on renewable fuel. Another provision encourages the domestic development and production of advanced technology vehicles and the next generation of vehicle batteries and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Our addiction to oil has gone on long enough. It is time we declare independence by harnessing the Sun, wind, geothermal, biomass and other clean renewable technology, so that future generations of Americans won't have to rely on our enemies to satisfy our energy needs.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in support of the CHAMP Act, and I want to tell you why. This bill will ensure continued coverage for the 39,000 kids already covered by SCHIP in my State of Nevada, while providing resources to reach the 70,000 children currently eligible but that remain uninsured because there is not enough money.

This bill also makes needed updates and improvements to Medicare to ensure that our seniors receive preventative services, mental health care, and physical speech and occupational therapies that they need. Almost 98,000 low-income seniors in Nevada will benefit from improvements in Medicare savings programs and low-income subsidy programs as well.

Passing this bill is also necessary to ensure access to physicians for Medicare patients. The CHAMP Act restores funding necessary to reimburse the doctors for their services.

My district has the fastest growing senior population in the United States. It is essential that these seniors have access to their doctors under the Medicare program. This bill ensures they will.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition to the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in the strongest possible opposition to this amendment.

In his misguided zeal to identify a high-profile example of wasteful Federal spending, the author of this amendment has instead provided me with an opportunity to sing the praises of a member of my community who has used his personal and professional success to help those that are less fortunate.

In 2001 Andre Agassi opened a charter school in Las Vegas, the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy. It is in one of the most disadvantaged areas in my congressional district. Agassi Prep currently serves students in grades K-10, with grades 11 and 12 being added in the next 2 years, for a total of 630 students when enrollment is complete. The first class will graduate in 2009. The student body is 96 percent minority.

This earmark, which I thank the gentleman for highlighting, would go to the Andre Agassi Prep's Technology and Multimedia Initiative and will increase the use of computer technology in math, science, reading, and language instructions.

This is exactly the type of environment we should be encouraging for all of our students in all of our schools.

Andre Agassi has been a tireless advocate for this academy and for numerous other philanthropic endeavors, including the Boys and Girls Clubs in Las Vegas, raising more than $60 million and contributing a substantial amount of his own money to improve the lives of children, youth at risk in my community. There is nobody that has done more for people in this community, my community, than Andre Agassi.

The only reason we're talking about this project on the floor today is because a famous name is attached to it. But whereas my colleague on the other side hopes to find a celebrity asking for Federal handouts rather than digging into his own pocket, he has instead highlighted a model citizen and a leader who has tried to make a difference and convince others to do the same.

It is one of the fastest growing areas. This is a very important earmark. I am proud to take this earmark. I will defend it with all my strength and ability.

At this time, I would like to yield whatever time is remaining to my colleague from Nevada, Jon Porter.

Reclaiming my time, let me sum up.

I'm going to urge defeat of this amendment. And before I yield back the balance of my time, I want to reiterate that I represent one of the faster growing areas in the country. If we are forced to rely strictly on formula funding for Federal assistance, we will always be behind the eight ball. We depend and rely on these earmarks in order to keep up with the latest technology and importance of providing for the people that I represent. I'm sorry that I had to even come down here to defend this earmark. I'm proud of it.

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

Madam Chairman, Congress created the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation program in the FY 2001 Defense Authorization Act. This program compensates workers who were exposed to nuclear radiation while on the job within the Department of Energy and who later developed cancer and other illnesses.

While the program was a step toward righting the wrongs that these hard-working Americans had to suffer, there have been many problems since the enactment of this program. Many DOE workers have had difficulty proving that their cancer was directly caused by the radiation they were exposed to in the line of duty. The years-long process that the program requires workers to go through to prove they deserve compensation is intrusive and drawn-out.

This is an issue that directly affects my constituents. The Nevada Test site is an area larger than the State of Rhode Island, located about 65 miles north of Las Vegas. After years of exposure to nuclear radiation, many DOE workers who were employed at the Nevada Test Site during Cold War nuclear testing are now battling several forms of cancer, and many have already passed away. Unfortunately, many of these workers have also been turned away from Federal compensation.

However, there is an alternative for workers to qualify for Federal compensation. Workers at other Energy Department facilities across the country have been designated as part of the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). Workers at these locations qualify for EEOIC benefits without going through an arduous and bureaucratic process. Since the creation of the program, Nevada Test Site workers have petitioned to be included in the SEC, but have only succeeded in part. Currently, only NTS workers who worked at the site between 1951 and 1962 are part of the Cohort and therefore automatically qualify for benefits. This only accounts for one third of all NTS claimants, leaving a large group of former Federal employees who are awaiting the compensation they deserve.

Madam Chairman, I understand this appropriations bill is not the time to designate Special Exposure Cohorts. However, it is imperative that we as a Congress act on this issue before it's too late: before the victims of nuclear radiation are gone. Before their families are left behind without their loved ones. This is long overdue and we must act now.