Shelley Sekula Gibbs

Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss subjects of homeland security and border security as it relates to my District 22 in Texas, which is Houston, Sugar Land, and Clear Lake. That includes two distinct assets. One is Johnson Space Center, and one is Ellington Fields.

These two important assets require some additional funding that would have been discussed had the process allowed for a little more opportunity. But because of the lack of regular order, they may not be addressed in the continuing resolution that will be brought up either today or tomorrow.

On a positive note, there will be a Predator squadron placed at Ellington Field, but on a more concerning note, we may lose our F-16 jets, which provides excellent homeland security for petrochemical products that are made in our area, the Port of Houston, NASA, and the Texas Medical Center.

It is my hope that these two assets, both Johnson Space Center and Ellington Field, will be adequately funded in the very near future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, H.R. 6111--Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006.

This bill will open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to new oil and natural gas production. This bill is more narrow in scope than the bill that passed the House in June and I believe that more still needs to be done to increase access to our Nation's oil and natural gas resources. But this bill is a good step and I am happy to support its passage.

Folks in my district near Houston, Texas understand the oil and gas business since Houston has long been headquarters to several of the world's largest oil and gas producing companies. Unfortunately, today the U.S. imports nearly 60 percent of our oil from foreign countries including more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day from Venezuela which is run by a socialist who has made no secret of his dislike of capitalism and his disrespect for our President.

America holds vast resources of oil which can be accessed in an environmentally friendly manner with today's modern drilling technology. Reliance on foreign energy sources, if allowed to continue, will not only undermine our economy and our standard of living but will weaken our national security as we become more and more dependent on foreign sources to fulfill our energy needs.

Working Americans do not want to find themselves over a barrel, especially trapped over a barrel of foreign oil. Working Americans want energy independence. I do not believe the goals of environmental protection and energy independence are mutually exclusive but are actually mutually dependent. I believe that it is critical, now more than ever, that all domestic sources of energy should be explored including the Outer Continental Shelf, the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and the Atlantic.

I am also pleased that this bill dedicates 37.5 percent of the newly generated revenues to coastal States, including Texas, for beach restoration and 12.5 percent to the Land and Water Conservation Fund State assistance program. This program funds the creation and upkeep of local and State parks, open spaces, and resource conservation in all 50 States. Not only will this bill help obtain energy independence, but it should result in recreation and conservation benefits for the American people. Over 40,000 local and state park and recreation projects have been aided by the LWEF in the 40-year history of the program since its inception in 1965.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support passage of H.R. 6111--Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 and urge my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of it.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to echo the sentiments of my colleague from Tennessee and also extend the welcome of the House of Representatives to the First Lady of Azerbaijan, Dr. Mehriban Aliyeva, to Washington.

The House of Representatives recognizes the strategic relationship the United States has with Azerbaijan. We know that its troops stand with us in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, that it supports our efforts toward combating global terrorism, and that it plays a key role in providing a secure and dependable energy supply to the West. The Caspian Sea Republic is rapidly modernizing, in large part due to its offshore sector and the opening earlier this year of the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan gas pipeline and Baku-Erzerum natural gas pipeline. The country experienced 26 percent growth in 2005 and is expected to surpass 30 percent growth this year. This phenomenal growth is allowing Azerbaijan the opportunity to make significant investments in its future, in many respects. Here in the United States, and I might add in my home district, in particular, we are acutely aware of the importance in investing in our own future through efforts to develop new sources of energy for our own use and those of our global friends.

We also recognize Azerbaijan as an emerging democracy that is working hard to improve the social, political and economic opportunities of its predominately Muslim population. As an aspiring NATO and EU member, as well as a member of the Council of Europe, the largest governmental human rights organization calling for its members to harmonize human rights protection laws and regulations and compelling compliance with them, the success of initiatives in these areas is an example for other Caucasus and Central Asian countries.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity of the visit of Azerbaijan's First Lady to draw special attention to the strides it is making in areas of particular importance to me as a doctor. Not only is the First Lady of Azerbaijan an elected member of the Azerbaijani Parliament and chair of its Azerbaijan-U.S. Interparliamentary Friendship Working Group, but she is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the largest regional nonprofit NGO in the Caucasus, and herself a Moscow-trained ophthalmologist.

As a doctor myself, I am particularly aware of the opportunities and responsibilities that we have as physician leaders to take medical knowledge and apply it in ways that benefit the greater good. I applaud the way Dr. Aliyeva has used her training and respected position for philanthropic and charitable works through the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the areas of education, health care, science, humanitarian aid, international relations and culture. I am aware that the Foundation has been intimately involved in the construction and refurbishment of Azerbaijani hospitals and the international exchange of new medical technologies and commend those efforts.

I've also learned that Houston, too, has played a direct role in advancing medical technology in Azerbaijan and the region through various programs over the years with Texas Medical Center institutions. In 1998, Baylor College of Medicine's world-renowned heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey traveled to Baku to assess the country's cardiovascular needs and the state of its health care. I understand that Dr. DeBakey met with President Aliyev in Baku after having previously met him in Houston, and I would imagine that Mrs. Aliyeva personally appreciates the importance of sharing medical technologies across borders as her husband is a heart attack survivor himself.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to welcome First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva to Washington on behalf of the House of Representatives. I commend a fellow doctor, parliamentarian, wife and mother on her personal commitment to advancing health care and women's initiatives in her country and the Caspian Region. Welcome to Washington, Dr. Aliyeva.