Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, it is a special privilege for me to recognize Chaplain Martin Wilson. Chaplain Wilson is a 21-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol currently assigned to the Family Support Unit in El Paso, Texas. The Family Support Unit is a one year pilot program intended to provide Border Patrol Agents, staff and their families with a support network to help manage times of crisis. During his early years in the Border Patrol, Chaplain Wilson served as a program manager under my command as Sector Chief.

Chaplain Wilson is married to San Juanita Wilson who today are celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary. Together they have 4 children, Alicia, Marty Jr., Stephanie and Daisy. Marty Jr. recently followed in his father's footsteps, becoming the second in his family to join the United States Border Patrol.

In addition to his duties as Sector Chaplain, Chaplain Wilson serves as the Associate Pastor at La Verdad Community Baptist Church and is an advocate for people with physical and developmental disabilities.

Thank you Chaplain Wilson for joining us this morning and for serving our Nation as a Border Patrol agent.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, it is a special privilege for me to recognize Chaplain Martin Wilson. Chaplain Wilson is a 21-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol currently assigned to the Family Support Unit in El Paso, Texas. The Family Support Unit is a 1-year pilot program intended to provide Border Patrol agents, staff and their families with a support network to help manage times of crisis. During his early years in the Border Patrol, Chaplain Wilson served as a program manager under my command as Sector Chief.

Chaplain Wilson is married to San Juanita Wilson who today are celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary. Together they have four children: Alicia; Marty, Jr.; Stephanie; and Daisy. Marty, Jr. recently followed in his father's footsteps, becoming the second in his family to join the United States Border Patrol.

In addition to his duties as Sector Chaplain, Chaplain Wilson serves as the associate pastor at La Verdad Community Baptist Church and is an advocate for people with physical and developmental disabilities.

Thank you, Chaplain Wilson, for joining us this morning and for serving our Nation as a Border Patrol agent.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 47, observing National Medal of Honor Day and honoring the sacrifices of Medal of Honor recipients and their contributions to our Nation. March 25th is an appropriate day to recognize these individuals, since the first Medal of Honor was awarded on March 25, 1863.

This resolution not only salutes the bravery of Medal of Honor recipients, but also gives the American public the opportunity to learn about the history of this prestigious military distinction and the uncommon acts of courage that made recipients real-life heros.

Previous honorees include several EI Pasoans. Staff Sergeant Ambrosio Guillen was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for going above and beyond the call of duty during the Korean War. Sergeant Guillen sacrificed his life in order to thwart an enemy attack, saving the lives of the men in his platoon. He was laid to rest at Fort Bliss National Cemetery.

Colonel Joseph C. Rodriguez was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions in the Korean War. While facing a barrage of hostile fire and improbable odds, Colonel Rodriguez secured a strategic stronghold by killing 15 enemy soldiers occupying well-fortified positions. He later moved to EI Paso following his retirement from the Army and served as Facilities Director at the University of Texas at EI Paso for over 10 years.

Most recently, on April 4, 2005, Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his ``extraordinary heroism and uncommon valor'' while repelling an enemy attack on a prisoner of war holding area during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sergeant Smith quickly organized two Army platoons to defend their position. In the face of enemy fire, Smith manned a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored vehicle. Although exposed to enemy gunfire, Sergeant Smith maintained his position. His heroism resulted in the death of over 50 enemy soldiers before Sergeant Smith was mortally wounded during this courageous act.

As a Vietnam veteran, I recognize the importance of honoring these selfless acts of courage. In order to preserve their legacy and costly sacrifices, I proudly stand in support of our Medal of Honor recipients.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 42, a bill recognizing Ann Richards' extraordinary contributions to Texas and American public life.

Before assuming the Texas Governorship, Ann Richards worked as a public school teacher; raised four children; and was heavily involved in Democratic politics. She formally entered politics in 1976, first serving as County Commissioner in Travis County, Texas. In 1982, Texans elected Ann Richards as State Treasurer, making her the first woman to hold a statewide office in 50 years. Ann Richards remained in this position until her gubernatorial win in 1991.

Ann Richards navigated Texas politics with a high level of integrity, intelligence and a legendary wit as the second female governor in the great state of Texas, where she served from 1991 to 1995. During her leadership, Governor Richards emphasized ethical reform, environmental protection, and increased diversity in state agencies. She called for a ``New Texas,'' where the faces of Texas leadership would mirror Texas'' diversity. True to her vision, she made great strides in ensuring that women, Hispanics, African-Americans, and the disadvantaged shared in Texas power and prosperity.

I knew Ann Richards personally and am honored to support this bill. Ann Richards was a trailblazer in the complete sense--she won her seat at the table by hard work and perseverance; won the affection and respect of her new colleagues; and made space for historically uninvited guests. Texas is a better state because of Ann Richards, as is our Nation. I invite my colleagues in Congress to commemorate her courage, efforts, charisma and memory, by joining me in support of H. Res. 42.

Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Carney).

Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein).

Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to a valued member of the Armed Services Committee, the gentlewoman from Kansas (Mrs. Boyda).

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege now to yield 5 minutes to the gentlelady from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono).

Mr. Speaker, as an Army veteran myself, I know that the backbone of our Army is its noncommissioned officers. Now it is my privilege to yield 5 minutes to a former noncommissioned officer who retired after over 2 decades of service in the Army, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz).

Mr. Speaker, let me reassure my friend I have heard nothing at all about the statement he just made. Those are the kinds of statements, frankly, that confuse people.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth).

Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield 5 minutes to the gentlelady from Ohio, Representative Betty Sutton.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mahoney).

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield 5 minutes to a breath of fresh air from Arizona, my good friend Mr. Harry Mitchell.

Madam Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin).

(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, now it is my privilege to yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison).

Madam Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Did I hear you say that you spoke with Mr. Murtha?

I would just say that many times, my good friend and I have discussed not to quote members of the media because most of the time they get it wrong. So I would wait until we talk to Mr. Murtha.

Madam Speaker, now it is my privilege to yield 5\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo), a member of the Intelligence Committee.

Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ruppersberger).

Madam Speaker, it is now my honor to yield 5 minutes to the gentlelady from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself 6 minutes.

I rise to express my strong support for our Nation's military and for the resolution before the House today. I am a proud veteran. I know what it is like to say good-bye to loved ones and be gone for a year, or 13 months, as in my case when I served in Vietnam.

I voted against authorizing the use of force against Iraq because I did not believe that the evidence provided by the administration, particularly the intelligence data, were sufficient to justify putting our troops in harm's way. Combat should be the last option. I know; I have been there.

Over 3,000 American lives later, and tens of thousands suffering debilitating injuries, yet we are no closer to our

goal of a secure and stable Iraq, and the situation there continues to deteriorate.

Our military families are paying a high price. There were a couple of articles in today's paper that talked about our inability to find common ground.

Well, I disagree. I think we find common ground because we care about not just our troops, but their families, our military families.

Madam Speaker, I would like to submit for the Record an e-mail from Sergeant Matthew Baeza

Hello Sir, My name is SGT Matthew Baeza, currently I am

deployed in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom '05-

'07 with the C-84th ECB (H), out of Fort Richardson, AK. I am

an El Paso native, and have not been too big in politics

although I did my fair share of Democratic rallies with my

father Luis Baeza when I was in high school. I have met you

on several occasions through my father as well as when we met

on the steps of the Senate when I was on a High School trip

to DC in '99.

My concerns are brought forward wholehearted. They do not

concern El Paso, but it does concern El Pasoans all over the

country who serve in the military and who are deployed in the

threatre of operations.

Many of us in the military believe in what we do and feel

our mission here is warranted. The issues are not against our

deployments but rather the length of our deployments.

You see, the ARMY is the only branch that will always

deploy with a full 12 month rotation in deployments. Other

branches have been cut to 6 months or even 3 months. I do

realize there are certain elements in the other branches that

serve a 12 month rotation like the ARMY.

The issue I have is that 12 months isn't that difficult to

pull the first time. But into your second and third

deployments (some soldiers serving 4 deployments back to

back) it starts to break the backs of even the strongest of

families. Children are seeking counseling as young as 3 or 4

years old due to the absence of their parents, and if a

marriage survives, most end up seeking help from chaplains or

marriage counselors. Is that how we want our Service Members

and their families to live?

Out of a 5 year marriage, I will have been absent 3 years,

and will only have known my son for 9 months, when I return

days from his 3rd birthday. My marriage along with hundreds

of other service members are quickly ending due to the amount

of time absent from home.

I am not sure if surveys have been performed, but I can

almost guarantee you the percentage of divorces have

multiplied at an exponential rate. But yet talks of cutting

down deployments have been in the works for year but no

progress has been made.

The vast majority of Armed Services members are proud every

day to put on our uniform and help others who cannot help

themselves. But at what cost? At the cost of losing the ones

we love. And at the end of it all we cannot place blame on

our spouses, for they have been holding on longer than most

could ever imagine.

Our spouses run multiple lives as my wife does. As a

professional writer and reporter for the Anchorage Daily

Newspaper, a mother, FRG (Family Readiness Group) Leader, and

as a military spouse, my wife, she has a lot to deal with.

Bills, care for our child, her work, and dealing with my

calls home whether they be happy or sad. It is simply too

much to ask from anyone.

My wife is as strong as they come, but with the last 3

years her patience has worn extremely thin. With us being

away from home, many wives end up leaving their husbands

searching for a better life, or long needed affection without

a phone, or even to become their own person again. My wife

told me something the other day that really hit me, ``No one

knows who you are, they know Megan and Dominic, and the guy

that keeps calling on the phone.''

That is who we have become to our families, just a voice on

the phone. I am not asking to get out of this conflict. We

are doing well here, plus if we leave, the friends I have

lost here would have died in vain. I cannot have that on my

conscience. We all realize the good we are accomplishing

here, but we are losing our families over it.

We don't try to save the world, at least I don't, that is

too much to ask of one person. But rather try for the ones

closest to us. My son and my wife. But when they are gone,

who is it for? Every day I am here I tell myself I do this

for them, and others feel the same way.

I am not asking you to change the way things are, but

rather voice your opinion and raise a flag for those of us

that cannot. With your reputation you can influence others in

helping us cut our deployments to shorter periods. We are not

asking to leave Iraq or Afghanistan, but rather cut the time

away from home. When you start stacking deployments on top of

each other, families get broken, and when that happens, you

get Service Members who cannot perform. Would could when your

life is falling apart?

I hope you read this and understand where I am coming from,

and realize I speak for a number of Soldiers, Sailors,

Marines, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen who have fallen into

this horrible ordeal.

Thank you sir for your time.

Matthew Baeza,

SGT, EN Supply Sergeant.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 24, establishing the House Democracy Assistance Commission for the One Hundred Tenth Congress.

The House Democracy Assistance Commission's mission is to strengthen democratic institutions around the world by fostering working relationships with emerging or existing democracies and providing expert insight into the democratic process. Members of Congress, key staff, and Congressional support agencies meet with selected legislative leaders from around the world to offer assistance that will enhance accountability, transparency, legislative independence, and government oversight in foreign parliaments.

We are in unprecedented times, and today the mission of the House Democracy Assistance Commission is especially vital. Promoting democracy throughout the world is essential to our Nation's immediate and long-term security, and to the future of our global community. As a member of the House Democracy Assistance Commission from its inception in 2005 through the conclusion of the 109th Congress, I know the profound effect these interactions have in the precious development of democratic governance in some of the world's fledgling democracies.

Madam Speaker, I have witnessed firsthand the good that can come from the House Democracy Assistance Commission, and I ask that all my colleagues join me in supporting H. Res. 24.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 512, a bill introduced by my good friend, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), expressing Congressional support for the establishment of a commission to study the potential creation of a National Museum of the American Latino.

As a Hispanic American and a former chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I know the importance of creating a museum to honor and preserve the history of Latino Americans. We need to celebrate the diverse history, art, music, and literature of the Latino culture. We also need to make strides in increasing public awareness of the important contributions that Latino Americans have made in the United States. The establishment of this commission and subsequent museum would be an important step towards reaching this goal.

Mr. Speaker, as you are well aware, according to the United States Census Bureau, Hispanic Americans constitute fourteen percent of the total United States population and are the largest growing minority with a current population of 41.3 million Americans. In fact, the 16th Congressional District of El Paso, Texas is eighty-two percent Hispanic American. El Pasoans have a rich history which contributes to the tapestry of American culture.

The establishment of a National Museum of the American Latino is important to my constituents and Hispanics across the nation.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in supporting this important bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 5, expressing Congressional support for ``Hire-A-Veteran Week,'' and encouraging the President to issue a proclamation calling upon employers to increase employment of men and women who have served honorably in the U.S. Armed Services.

As a U.S. Army veteran and a longtime member of the House Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs Committees, I know of the challenges awaiting our service members when transitioning from military service to the civilian workforce. While this resolution will not solve the problems of unemployment within the veterans community, it is a strong message that we as members of Congress should send to anyone in a position to hire qualified veterans.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, younger veterans have a significantly higher unemployment rate than those of the general population in the same age range. Madam Speaker, I find this situation unacceptable and I believe most Americans would agree that our country should do more to assist these veterans in transitioning from active duty to the civilian workforce.

Furthermore, as a strong advocate of hiring qualified veterans, I practice what I preach. Having hired military veterans in both my El Paso, Texas and Washington, D.C. offices, I know of the exceptional training the Armed Forces provides our service members, and wholeheartedly encourage any employer to consider hiring those veterans who have served our country.

Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in supporting our Nation's veterans by voting in favor of H. Con. Res. 5.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 29, supporting the goals and ideals of National Mentoring Month 2007.

The strains on America's families are immense. Many parents work two and three jobs to put food on the table and provide medical care for their children. Sometimes, tragedy or medical emergency diminishes the support a child receives at home. The list of vulnerabilities children face is long.

The worst circumstances, however, will bring out the best in humanity. When a need exists, society often leans in to help shoulder the load.

Today we are celebrating the uncanny ability of Americans to lend a helping hand. Today on the House floor and this month across America, we honor those people who sacrifice their time and energy to provide a friendly face, a supportive shoulder, a patient ear, and a model for leadership and success in the form of mentoring relationships.

According to Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America, young people touched by mentors are more confident in their schoolwork performance, able to get along better with their families, 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol, and 52 percent less likely to skip school.

In my district of El Paso, Texas, I have seen the positive impact of mentoring firsthand through my involvement with Big Brothers, Big Sisters of El Paso. The hundreds of individuals who step up either as big brothers and sisters or in support of the organization not only make a difference in the life of a child but also provide a model for civic involvement that can be emulated by the community at large.

Mr. Speaker, on a daily basis, scores of organizations and millions of Americans provide the positive relationships that help a child gain the confidence and responsibility he or she needs to succeed.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5, a bill that would expand educational opportunity for millions of young Americans by slicing interest rates on federally-subsidized student loans in half.

This fair, well-balanced legislation would open the doors to America's colleges and universities for millions of our sons and daughters who would have otherwise been dissuaded by

the high cost of pursuing a higher education. Among those millions will be young men and women who will be the first in their families to attend college. There will be inventors and innovators, businessmen and women, generals, scientists, leaders of all stripes, and, surely, future members of this body.

At the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in my district, students entering school in 2007 will save $2,300 on an average debt of $13,800, and student entering in 2011, when the full interest rate cuts take effect, will save over $4,400 on the same amount of debt.

These savings would mean the world to my community of El Paso and to Latino communities across the country. This is true because Hispanic students have historically borrowed less on average than other groups, a reluctance that means students are often too busy working for a paycheck to complete their degrees in a timely fashion. The six billion dollars in loan relief we are passing today will mean our kids will have the ability to borrow the money they need to finance their educations and ultimately get the jobs that will allow them prosperous lives.

What we are doing today also has broader significance. It is significant to the strength of our economy and the security of our country. If America is to compete economically with countries like China and India and fill key positions in our national security agencies, we need to start by sending more kids to college. Under current policy, financial barriers will prevent 6.4 million high school graduates from attending college and would cost our economy 12 million college-educated workers by the year 2020. This is a crisis, Madam Speaker. We need to recognize right now that the investments in education we make or choose not to make today will determine our economic future--whether or not our grandchildren and great- grandchildren have high-quality jobs.

College access is an integral part of our competitiveness and security puzzle, because we will not find the answers to the challenges we face as a nation without a well-educated and innovative workforce. The bill we are passing today will make our country a safer and a more prosperous place.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this bill, and I look forward to continuing this dialogue about the importance of education for national competitiveness and security.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5, a bill that would expand educational opportunity for millions of young Americans by slicing interest rates on federally subsidized student loans in half.

This fair, well-balanced legislation would open the doors to America's colleges and universities for millions of our sons and daughters who would have otherwise been dissuaded by the high cost of pursuing a higher education. Among those millions will be young men and women who will be the first in their families to attend college. There will be inventors and innovators, businessmen and women, generals, scientists, leaders of all stripes, and, surely, future members of this body.

At the University of Texas at El Paso, UTEP, in my district, students entering school in 2007 will save $2,300 on an average debt of $13,800, and students entering in 2011, when the full interest rate cuts take effect, will save over $4,400 on the same amount of debt.

These savings would mean the world to my community of El Paso and to Latino communities across the country. This is true because Hispanic students have historically borrowed less on average than other groups, a reluctance that means students are often too busy working for a paycheck to complete their degrees in a timely fashion. The six billion dollars in loan relief we are passing today will mean our kids will have the ability to borrow the money they need to finance their educations and ultimately get the jobs that will allow them prosperous lives.

What we are doing today also has broader significance. It is significant to the strength of our economy and the security of our country. If America is to compete economically with countries like China and India and fill key positions in our national security agencies, we need to start by sending more kids to college. Under current policy, financial barriers will prevent 6.4 million high school graduates from attending college and would cost our economy 12 million college-educated workers by the year 2020. This is a crisis, Madam Speaker. We need to recognize right now that the investments in education we make or choose not to make today will determine our economic future--whether or not our grandchildren and great- grandchildren have high-quality jobs.

College access is an integral part of our competitiveness and security puzzle, because we will not find the answers to the challenges we face as a Nation without a well-educated and innovative workforce. The bill we are passing today will make our country a safer and a more prosperous place.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this bill, and I look forward to continuing this dialogue about the importance of education for national competitiveness and security.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 61, a resolution observing and celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and encouraging the people of the United States to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and his life and legacy.

When Martin Luther King, Jr., articulated his dream on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before 200,000 people in the tumultuous August of 1963, I was living and working on my father's farm in Canutillo, Texas, not yet a high school graduate. Though instilled with the values of hard work and education by my parents and grandparents, I first encountered Dr. King's hopeful and empowering words with an unfortunate understanding, one borne from the prejudice of the times. As a Mexican- American, I knew, I would be limited in my pursuit of the celebrated American dream. Dr. King's dream contradicted that understanding.

Although Dr. King's ``I Have a Dream'' speech addressed the plight of the African American, his commitment to civil rights, equality, and empowerment through education lifted all people. With Dr. King's leadership, through the sheer force of his will and the strength of his arguments, men and women of my generation, Black, White, and Brown, were able to rise and prosper in society on the basis of our hard work and God-given talents.

Dr. King's work and influence on society opened doors for me that, as a teenager, I

thought would always be closed. I had a long and successful career in the U.S. Border Patrol, rising from agent to be the agency's first Hispanic sector chief. In 1996, I ran for Congress and became the first Latino to represent El Paso, a city that is 80 percent Hispanic. And just this past year, I was selected as chairman of this body's Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, completing a journey from the farm in Canutillo that I would never have been able to imagine during that August of 1963.

I thank my colleagues and urge adoption of the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Congressman George Miller for introducing this important legislation, and the 213 members who have joined me as original co-sponsors.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, which would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour over two years.

As you know, it has been ten years since we last increased the federal minimum wage, and when adjusted for inflation it is currently at its lowest level in 50 years.

Every single American who commutes to work has felt the financial pinch of the rising cost of gasoline, and none more so than those making minimum wage. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, when Congress last passed legislation raising the minimum wage, the national average price for gasoline was $1.32 per gallon. Today, the average price of gasoline is $2.39 per gallon, and millions of hard-working Americans are struggling to make ends meet at a wage of $5.15 per hour. The majority of these workers are adults over the age of 20 and over 6 million kids are children of workers who will be helped by this bill.

This proposed increase in the minimum wage would directly affect approximately 863,000 employees in Texas and at least 68,000, or more than 30 percent, of the workforce in my district of El Paso.

I know of many exceptional businesses in El Paso that have taken the initiative to pay their employees more than the proposed new minimum wage. I applaud them for their leadership, but we can and should do more by passing legislation to set the standard minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, so we can move closer to ensuring that all workers earn a living wage for themselves and their families.

I ask all my colleagues to join me in supporting our Nation's working families by voting in favor of H.R. 2.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with my good friend and colleague, the former chairman, who is now our ranking member. At the time, he was supportive of this panel. I recognize we all have the right to change our minds, but part of this process is starting to build a bridge that gives us an opportunity on the authorizing side to be able to do a better job for this country.

Madam Speaker, today I rise in strong support of H. Res. 35, which would implement a core recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.

Madam Speaker, 2\1/2\ years ago, the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, five Democrats and five Republicans, unanimously made 45 recommendations to prevent another attack on United States soil. Tragically, the President and previous Congress earned dismal grades for failing to enact these recommendations. One of these recommendations, indeed the one the commission called the most difficult and the most important, was to reform the way Congress oversees the intelligence activities of the United States.

Intelligence is the tip of the spear in the war against violent extremists and in the efforts to counter weapons of mass destruction. Yet despite the importance of this mission, congressional oversight of intelligence has largely been dysfunctional.

Most significantly, the committee responsible for overseeing the intelligence community, the House Intelligence Committee, has had little role in deciding how the Nation's intelligence budget is spent. H. Res. 35 is a critical starting point for fixing our broken oversight system. Today, we are creating a special panel within the Appropriations Committee to recommend funding levels for intelligence activities. This panel will be comprised of appropriators and authorizers, both Democrats and Republicans, with its own dedicated staff to review intelligence community activities.

As the chairman of the authorizing committee, the House Intelligence Committee, I welcome this change because it gives authorizers, those of us who review the intelligence programs and set overall funding levels, a real seat at the table in deciding how the money is being spent. In the past, our committee has had no real voice in the appropriations process. Today, with the passage of H. Res. 35, those who control the policy and those who control the purse will become unified.

Oversight promotes greater accountability; and accountability results in better intelligence, greater diversity among intelligence officers to penetrate the hardest targets, more sophisticated analysts, and a deeper understanding of the longer term threats that are facing this country. One need only look at the situation in Iraq to understand the perils of faulty intelligence. The best way for Congress to ensure that those days are over is to enact a meaningful reform of the way we oversee the intelligence budget.

Madam Speaker, the threats facing our country are real. We have some of the best and brightest on the front lines, often undercover and frequently under fire, trying to gather the intelligence to keep America safe. We owe it to them and to their families to provide the strongest intelligence community that we can support and we can field. H. Res. 35 is an important start to achieving that goal, so today I proudly urge all my colleagues to support the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Duncan Hunter for his leadership in introducing this legislation. I am a strong supporter of H. Res. 1070, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that members of Congress should actively engage in hiring wounded military veterans.

Earlier this year the House Veterans Affairs Committee, of which I am a member, held a hearing for private sector representatives to discuss their initiatives aimed at hiring veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Although companies such as Home Depot, Exxon Mobile Corporation and R&L Carriers have initiated plans to increase the number of veterans, and specifically disabled veterans, other companies and the public sector can also improve their veterans hiring practices.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, younger veterans have a significantly higher unemployment rate than those of the general population in the same age range. Mr. Speaker, I find this situation unacceptable and I believe most Americans would agree that our country should do more to assist these veterans in transitioning from active duty to the civilian workforce.

For that reason, I helped establish a ``Veterans Opportunity Conference'' in my Congressional district of El Paso, TX, earlier this year. This conference brought together members of the community, Federal and State agencies, and businesses to assist veterans seeking to start a business, learn about State and Federal programs, and inquire about employment opportunities. Having had a great response from our veteran community, I now plan on making this a yearly event and encourage all of my colleagues in Congress to do the same in their respective districts.

Furthermore, as a U.S. Army veteran, a strong advocate of hiring qualified veterans, and a member of Congress, I practice what I preach. I am proud to have five former servicemembers in my El Paso and Washington, DC, offices.

Mr. Speaker, our veterans deserve our utmost commitment to helping them succeed after their military service, and I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in voting for H. Res. 1070.