Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, since this House last met, another South Texan from the Coastal Bend area has fallen in battle in Iraq, and I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this life lost in the service of our nation.

Army SGT Garrett I. McLead, 23, from Rockport, Texas, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, in Hawaii. While many people across the nation were starting school, enjoying vacation, or just taking advantage of the last weeks before Labor Day, Sgt. McLead was killed on August 22, 2007, in a Black Hawk helicopter crash during a night mission 180 miles north of Baghdad, in Multaka, Iraq, near the city of Kirkuk.

Sergeant McLead is survived by his parents, Patrick and Patty, and by the larger family of Aransas Pass and San Patricio County in South Texas.

Madam Speaker, each time we lose a soldier--a member of our American family--we lose a little piece of ourselves. Each time, it is just unbearable. Let me tell you more about this noble patriot who gave the last full measure of devotion to the nation he loved.

Sergeant McLead drew his strength from his faith, and was a natural athlete, excelling in surfing, tennis and soccer while he was in high school. He also played the saxophone in his high school band. He had a winning smile and a talent for life.

He was an adventure seeker, tempered by the national shock of 9-11. The searing pain of the attack moved him from happy-go-lucky teenager to a determined warrior at warp speed. He deferred a dream of modeling or acting when our nation was attacked on 9-11, and the country called all patriots for service in the U.S. military.

Rather than opting for Hollywood, his handsome face was assigned to Afghanistan in service of finding and tracking down the terrorists who attacked the United States. Iraq was soon opened as a second war, and he served the nation in uniform in Iraq as well. He was close to coming home, but his tour was extended.

Everyone in the greater South Texas community will miss him, but nobody will miss him like his family. We mourn with this family; we lift up our broken hearts in gratitude to his family, and we all want to see our soldiers come home from these wars.

Madam Speaker, I ask the House to join me in honoring Army Sergeant McLead and his service on behalf of the United States, and to offer our thanks and our deepest sympathy to the family of this warrior, who gave the last full measure of devotion to our nation and the United States Army.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a great man, a businessman, a leader, and a great corporate citizen in our South Texas community: CY Ho, who is currently CEO and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of AMFELS, a major international corporation, and an enormous component of the Port of Brownsville in South Texas.

He will be leaving South Texas shortly, and we will miss him very much.

CY Ho is a highly respected entrepreneur who is very much a part of the South Texas community through his contributions to worthy causes. He is the picture of international free trade and corporate diplomat.

CY was born and raised in Singapore as that nation was emerging onto the world stage as a major player in the international economy. He was educated in the United Kingdom in naval architecture, later earning his MBA at UK's Brunel University as a chartered engineer.

Widely regarded as a global expert on naval and marine architecture and engineering, CY is a man of extraordinary vision and understanding of global business.

In 1981, he began with Far East Levingston Shipbuilding, Ltd. (FELS) as manager of the engineering department, then moved to Corporate Development Manager by 1994. By 1996, he was the Assistant General Manager of Keppel FELS Ltd.

In August 2001, CY left Singapore Keppel FELS Ltd. to come to Brownsville, Texas, to serve as President of the American division of the company, AMFELS. Just 3 months later, he was also serving as CEO and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Keppel AMFELS designs, builds and repairs ships, barges, and offshore drilling rigs; they also fabricate steel pressure vessels, all of which represents a dynamic and important component of the industrial complex at the Port of Brownsville, located at the front door of North American trade.

Madam Speaker and colleagues, I ask you to join me in wishing CY Ho the very best as he moves on, leaving many good friends here in South Texas as he continues his work back in Singapore.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 181) recognizing and commending all volunteers and other persons who provide support to the families and children of members of the Armed Forces, including National Guard and Reserve personnel, who are deployed in service to the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today we have the chance to thank the volunteers of nonprofit organizations who provide support for families and children of deployed members of the Armed Forces for their extraordinary contributions to those families.

I want to thank Congressman Tom Davis, Congressman Joe Wilson and others for their contributions and for helping us bring this resolution to the floor.

The families of United States troops serve this Nation by providing unconditional love and support for their deployed loved ones. While the government offers significant resources on military installations, when families live far away from a base, it is very hard to access those opportunities.

True patriots look at this kind of situation and ask, what can I do for my military families? That's what the patriots did who founded Our Military Kids, Kids Serve 2, and several other organizations that recognize and support military families.

These organizations' founders recognized the families' contributions and identified the need to provide opportunities and resources for their families, especially for the families and children of deployed Guard and Reserve troops.

The organizations' contributions are so significant that in May, General David Petraeus, the United States Army Commanding General of the Multinational Force-Iraq, personally thanked Our Military Kids for their great work and support for Guard and Reserve troops' families.

Our Military Kids is a nonprofit organization which is wholly devoted to offering financial resources and grants for children K-12 of deployed and severely injured Reserve and National Guard personnel. Our Military Kids helps families participate in sports, arts and tutoring programs that are so important to children during those stressful times.

Today my resolution puts the House of Representatives on record as supporting the excellent work these nonprofit groups do to support the children and families of deployed troops. I ask the House to support this resolution and thank the founders and volunteers at Our Military Kids and at the other nongovernmental groups that support military families.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that the May 8 letter from General Petraeus be included for the Record.

May 8, 2007.

Linda Davidson,

Executive Director, Our Military Kids,

McLean, Virginia.

Dear Ms. Davidson: On behalf of the Soldiers, Sailors,

Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen serving in Iraq,

especially our Reserve and National Guard component forces, I

want to thank you for the support of your wonderful

organization, Our Military Kids.

We ask a lot of today's military families. And I know that

families of National Guard and Reserve forces, in particular,

often feel a strain when their loved ones are called to

active duty. These troopers not only leave their families at

home, but they also leave their civilian jobs, adding

financial stress to the other stresses associated with

deployment. The support your organization provides through

generous financial grants helps to mitigate that financial

stress. In doing so, you are making tough deployments that

much easier on the forces deployed and their families at

home. I applaud the efforts of your organization.

Thanks again for the important assistance you provide to

our servicemembers and their families.

Sincerely,

David H. Petraeus,

General, U.S. Army, Commanding.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I don't have any further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, given the many challenges faced by our Nation--and our military--I'm pleased that the House moved the Defense Appropriations bill quickly.

Chairman Murtha is doing some very heavy lifting for the Nation, and I thank you for your work.

This bill also contains a significant investment for South Texas, which contributes significantly to the Nation's military readiness. As the House point man on Readiness matters in our military, I have been deeply concerned that the Iraq conflict has eroded the readiness of the U.S. armed forces, perhaps for a generation.

At a time when we need to be more ready than before, this is a tremendous cause for alarm.

Today's bill addresses many of our current needs associated with: beefing up today's ground forces--our boots on the ground overseas; addressing the many failings of this administration and the last Congress in ensuring our military is ready for any challenge we need to meet, such as finally providing oversight of contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan; fully funding critical needs at depots that supply our troops; providing funds for National Guard equipment to make us safer here, and make our soldiers safer on the battlefields; and providing assistance for wounded warriors.

I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his hard work on the bill; and the gentlewoman from New York for her work on this rule.

I urge my colleagues to support both the rule and the bill.

Mr. Speaker, today's CHAMP bill is one of the best pieces of legislation the house has considered in a decade. It illustrates the difference between how this Congress writes legislation and how the Republican Congress wrote bills; today's bill favors children, the Republican bill favored insurance companies.

This bill will provide health care to 11 million kids--five million who currently lack health insurance and six million who are currently covered by the Children's Health Insurance Program, SCHIP--by reauthorizing and improving SCHIP. In Texas, more than 120,000 will benefit.

This bill also reverses the Republican drive to privatize Medicare and strengthens Medicare to: ensure beneficiaries' access to their doctors; expand preventive benefits, mental health services and physical, occupational and speech therapies; reduce costs for seniors and people with disabilities with low incomes; protect consumers; and extend policies that protect access to health care in rural communities.

Congress created SCHIP in 1997 with broad bipartisan support. This year, six million children have health care because of SCHIP. The program has worked well in Texas. This is an excellent investment for this Nation given that health care costs without insurance would be much more expensive.

The funding for SCHIP expires September 30. If Congress does not act, these six million children will no longer have access to quality, affordable health insurance. These children are in working families with parents who either cannot afford insurance or hold jobs that lack health care benefits.

The President highlighted his support for SCHIP while running for re- election in 2004, yet the Bush Administration and our Republican colleagues propose underfunding the program significantly, which would cause millions of children to lose coverage.

The CHAMP Act protects Medicare from privatization and promotes fiscal responsibility by reducing overpayments to private plans. Current overpayments to private plans cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. According to nonpartisan analysts, private plans are paid, on average, 12 percent more than traditional Medicare--and overpayments to certain plans exceed 50 percent.

These overpayments are the result of a decade-long campaign by President Bush and Republicans in Congress to privatize Medicare by undermining traditional Medicare and promoting private insurance. Republicans believe that the greater the number of beneficiaries enrolled in private plans, the easier it will be to privatize Medicare.

The CHAMP Act guarantees seniors and people with disabilities can continue to see their doctors by preventing scheduled physician payment cuts from taking place.

The CHAMP Act extends expiring provisions that, if left unchanged, would negatively affect rural beneficiaries' access to physicians, hospitals, home health, ambulances, and lab services--all of which are important to south Texas.

The bill also adds important consumer protections to Medicare. It provides States with the authority to regulate private plans' marketing abuses and increases penalties for violations, enables all beneficiaries to switch Part D plans if plans alter their formulas. This empowers low-income beneficiaries to change plans at any time. It also requires greater quality reporting to ensure patients are getting the best care available.

I urge my colleagues to support this important bill--and I encourage the President to do the right thing and sign it, our children and their grandparents are waiting.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to one of America's truly great First Ladies, Lady Bird Johnson, who taught all of us to appreciate the everyday beauty in nature . . . and who made it her life's work to spread that beauty to all comers of our Nation.

Lady Bird Johnson was very much the essence of a lady, so much so that it was literally her name. She brought grace and light to the State of Texas and to Washington, DC. She was a partner to President Lyndon Johnson in their home on the campaign trail, and in the White House.

She softened the sometimes harsh edges of President Johnson, who came to office in the midst of great turmoil in our Nation. It was the age of escalation in Vietnam, deep fears about the Soviet aggression around the world, great angst over civil rights in this Nation, and both peaceful and violent demonstrations around the Nation.

In the midst of that agonizing dynamic, Lady Bird made things around her prettier. . . and she brought light and beauty to Washington, DC, to politics, and to our Nation.

Recently, she was so proud that the Department of Education now bears the name of her beloved LBJ to illustrate their mutual dedication to education.

She was our Nation's first environmentalist, understanding that the aesthetic look of our Nation mean much to our citizens--and the survival of the human race would depend on our care for this planet.

Today, global warming has moved the environmental cause to a higher priority for governments and activists, but the matriarch of the movement was no less than President Johnson's and the Nation's First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. She loved nature and understood the relationship of Mother Earth to the long term health of humanity.

Mr. Speaker, Lady Bird Johnson very much appreciated that you lead this House of Congress and occupy the seat that is third in line for the presidency. She deeply understood the importance of this government reflecting all our people.

Her legacy will live on in their beautiful family . . . in the flowers and beauty of the many parks that were inspired by her all over the Nation . . . and in the environmental movement that inspires us all to be better stewards of Mother Earth.

Madam Speaker, as co-chair of the Romanian Caucus, I rise today to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the launch of the United States-Romanian strategic partnership.

In 1997 the United States and Romania established a strategic partnership resulting in close cooperation and consultations on all issues of common interest, particularly: NATO policies; promoting stability and security in Southeastern Europe, combating non- traditional threats; military and economic reforms in Romania and its region.

After ten years, we look back at the remarkable vision that inspired this unprecedented course in the development of the relations between the United States and Romania.

With utmost determination and U.S. support, Romania has since grown to what is today a trustworthy ally of the United States and one the most respectable and reliable contributors to global security. Romania is a member of NATO and of the European Union, an active player in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and a significant voice at the UN and in other international and regional organizations at the Black Sea and in Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

Romania has committed to a wide scale set of reforms internally, in its economic, social, justice and administrative sectors. Romania's achievements over the past ten years in its comprehensive internal reforms not only have prompted the country to NATO and EU membership, but serves as a great example of successful transformation to modernity and progress.

This transformation has yielded significant benefits mostly to the Romanian people but also to the Western community and to the transatlantic alliance. Next year in April, Romania will be the host of the NATO Summit, an event of critical importance to the alliance's shape and future. Romania has proved its capability to sustain long term commitments, along with its Western allies, in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.

At the same time, Romania has been an active promoter of tolerance and understanding among ethnic and religious communities. The recent OSCE high level conference on combating discrimination and other forms of intolerance, in Bucharest last June, has had a significant impact on maintaining the public commitment to respecting the most profound human values at the OSCE level. Romania also has taken meaningful steps towards assuming its own painful past through public education about, and remembrance of, the Holocaust.

We must all be proud of these accomplishments that were in large part inspired by the vision of a partnership laid out ten years ago. We also must affirm our duty to continue to build on this growing relation. It is this kind of partnership that continues to give us the power to overcome global challenges.

At this anniversary moment, we must acknowledge the indispensable contribution of the citizens of Romania, and of the Romanian American community to the successful development of our partnership. I congratulate the Romanian people and all its political leaders for their unwavering commitment to building such a strong mutual relation with the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill to begin a responsible redeployment of our forces now in Iraq. The defense of our homeland is paramount and we are vulnerable for an attack. The war in Iraq has damaged the readiness of our military. Our ability to defend our Nation is at stake.

Today's report on benchmarks is further evidence that this Administration can only see the situation in Iraq through rose-colored glasses. It's time for serious policy makers--for American patriots--to find a way out of Iraq so we can focus on defending our Nation against al Qaeda, as well as other threats to national security.

This administration has no plan to defend the United States, and they did great damage to the defense of this country with the ``catch and release'' operation they had on our southern border. ``Catch and release'' sent all non-Mexicans who came in illegally to the interior of the Nation with a paper compelling them to return for deportation.

By virtue of ``catch and release'' we face the prospect of possibly hundreds of cells already in country awaiting an attack order.

What happens if al Qaeda attacks a nuclear facility? Do we have a plan for that? Who moves into defensive and containment posture? Do we even have the troops presently in country to provide that defense and containment?

What happens if there is an attack on a military base? There will be military officials nearby, but how will they respond?

What happens if there is a bio-chemical attack in an American city? Who responds--and how will our citizens be protected?

A shoulder launched weapon from a building top in New York, Washington DC, or another major American city would be devastating . . . and show our lack of preparation 6 years after 9/11 when many of us ran from these buildings, not sure we would ever see them again.

Today's report about the resurgence of al Qaeda is no surprise for us. Ever since Congress was deliberately misled by the President into authorizing the Iraq war in 2002, the war in Iraq sucked precious resources away from our focus on al Qaeda. When we invaded Iraq in 2003, the Iraq al Qaeda presence was in a single village in Kurdistan along the Iranian border. Today, it is impossible to estimate the number of al Qaeda fighters we have drawn to Iraq through our invasion.

We inadvertently aided al Qaeda through our invasion of Iraq by giving al Qaeda a recruitment opportunity for radical Muslims throughout the Middle East; giving al Qaeda the means to perfect urban warfare; tying down our military in Iraq, giving al Qaeda space to grow and operate, and most urgently, deeply damaging the readiness of the U.S. military and making the U.S. less safe for ourselves and our children.

At least one branch of this government must begin the painfil process of finding an ending to our involvement in a civil war we facilitated.

Many colleagues here seem to believe our withdrawal will leave behing an even bloodier civil war. I agree; but that will be the case whenever we leave there . . . be it today, tomorrow, next year, or a decade from now. The only difference we can make in that regard is how many American souls will die on the Iraqi battlefield between now and the day our forces withdraw.

Others have pinned all hope on the fledgling Iraqi government seated on March 16, 2005 . . . a government that has been unable to elect a Speaker for their Parliament and rarely produces a quorum. We have lost 1,282 American soldiers during the same time.

Bear in mind, al Qaeda is not the only threat we face in the future . . . North Korea, the militarization of South America . . . and many other threats are a reality for this nation in the decade to come. We must be prepared for all of them.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise with a heavy heart to announce the passing of a great Texan, Lady Bird Johnson. Lady Bird Johnson was the essence of a lady so much that it was literally her name. She brought grace and light to the State of Texas and in Washington, D.C. She was a partner to President Lyndon Johnson in the home, on the campaign trail and in the White House. She made things around her prettier, around the environment, and she brought light and beauty to Washington, D.C., to politics and to our Nation.

She was so proud of the Department of Education bearing the name of her husband, LBJ, to illustrate her dedication to education. Her legacy will live on in their beautiful family and in the flowers and beauty of the many parks that were inspired by her all over the Nation.

At this moment I would like to yield to my good friend, Lloyd Doggett.

Madam Speaker, I yield to my good friend, Mr. Barton.

Madam Speaker, let me yield for a few seconds to my good friend, Mr. Gene Green of Texas.

Madam Speaker, I ask for a moment of silence in Lady Bird Johnson's honor.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 2829, the Financial Services--General Government Appropriations bill. This bill enhances key American priorities, while providing less overall than the President requested for agencies in this bill.

We are committed to making our tax system fairer for millions of Americans--and to enhance enforcement to make sure everyone pays what they owe, not just those who play by the rules, while improving taxpayers' services. This bill will spur job creation and make the economy work for everyone--by restoring the President's cuts in small business loans, rejecting his efforts to slash capital and financial services available to underserved communities (CDFI), and by strengthening consumer protections.

We are also working to make sure that every vote counts in our elections, and to strengthen law enforcement, both against terrorism and in the war on drugs. This bill meets two key commitments of this Congress: it has complete transparency on its earmarks, and it also cuts the amount for earmarks in the bill in half.

Our bill lowers the cost of Small Business 7(a) loans and rejects the President's proposal to stop this program that helps small businesses start-up and grow. The 7(a) loan program accounts for roughly 30 percent of all long-term small business borrowing in America, and is the only source of affordable, long-term financing for many of our Nation's small businesses, including many in South Texas.

I'm pleased that the bill includes greater access to capital for economic development in disadvantaged and rural communities. We reject the President's proposal to cut by 50 percent the availability of credit, capital and financial services to underserved communities through the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Instead, our bill provides $46 million more than last year to support economic development and financial services in disadvantaged and rural communities through housing loans, micro-business loans, community development banks and credit unions.

The report lists the recipient and the sponsor for each earmark contained in the bill. Of the 165 earmarks in the bill, 148 were requested by lawmakers and 17 by President Bush. Furthermore, each sponsor has filed a certification that the sponsor and the sponsor's spouse have no financial interest in the earmark, which is publicly available.

I am pleased the committee included funding for the University of Texas at Brownsville's International Trade Center. Brownsville has always been the front door to international trade given its proximity to Mexico and the land and sea ports in the city. This funding will be used to establish an International Trade Center at the UTB International Technology Education and Commerce Campus (ITECC) which will house all of the services required to conduct international trade including: international law, accounting, banking, insurance, logistics services, export-import marketing services, U.S. customs, government trade services and industry showrooms for specific target sectors such as medical, communications, and computer technology.

By concentrating all of the components for trade in one location the ITC will generate significantly higher levels of international trade and associated jobs in Brownsville, making this an excellent investment in South Texas and the Nation.

Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Astor Restaurant in south Texas, and its owners, on the restaurant's 50th anniversary.

In reaching its 50th year in operation, the Astor stands as both a symbol of Corpus Christi's commercial growth and as a tribute to the city's hospitality and diversity.

Opened by Bill Sissamis and his father Louis, on Father's Day, June 16, 1957, just 10 years after their emigration from Greece, the Astor offers recipes that are unique to the Corpus Christi area. The family- owned restaurant is renowned for its mesquite-broiled steaks that are basted with a secretly blended sauce and its owners' hospitality.

The restaurant has remained successful during its 50-year history because its owners have remained part of the kitchen and the front counter, ensuring that family members are always part of the food and service.

The Astor exemplifies the importance of diversity in a community. It is the oldest of several Greek-owned Corpus Christi restaurants. The small society of Greek-American restaurateurs within the city represents the genius and industriousness of America and the immigrant families who improve our Nation every day.

Greek-American restaurateurs now employ hundreds of Corpus Christi residents while offering great food and spirit. This community of entrepreneurs is an inspiration to millions of immigrants worldwide but especially to those in south Texas who stand to contribute to their new home and benefit through hard work and discipline.

I commend the owners of the Astor on this special moment in their history, for being part of the economic development in Corpus Christi, and for five decades of making special food and occasions for their customers in south Texas.

Madam Chairman, I rise in support of the Interior Appropriations bill before us today which includes money for South Texas to address water and wastewater issues along the Border.

I particularly thank Chairman Norm Dicks--who, on behalf of the Congressional Border Caucus, offered to increase funding for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Mexican Border program for safe drinking water grants by $15 million, providing a total of $25 million for these important grants.

NAFTA brought both challenges and windfalls to South Texas. As South Texas became the front door for international trade, the unemployment rate--at that time in double digits--fell to its present rate as jobs and opportunities became more widely available.

NAFTA also brought about greater growth and entire new industries, some cross-border industries. Congress' concerns about the border infrastructure for water and wastewater brought about the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) as part of the North American Development Bank. BECC funding has become a resource for border communities, whose infrastructure now bears the national burden of NAFTA; and NAFTA benefits the entire national economy.

These funds added to the Interior Appropriations bill today assist communities in addressing public health and environmental conditions along the U.S.-Mexico border. This money has been instrumental in getting almost seven million people connected to improved water and wastewater systems, ensuring improved living conditions for the residents of Texas, as well as other border states. Through these funds, 54 wastewater projects and 16 drinking water projects have been built.

In my South Texas district the City of San Benito, the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, Olmito Water Supply, El Jardin Water Supply Corporation and the City of Los Fresnos have benefited from these funds.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Fiscal Year 2008 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, through which this Congress and this government speak to the world about our international priorities.

The past decade has seen this nation pull into a shell like a turtle, something the rest of the world took as not caring about the fundamental challenges elsewhere in the world . . . before those challenges became full-fledged hot spots. We are a great Nation, a leader among nations. We must only act in that fashion. Today, we begin a new direction in foreign policy.

While this Foreign Operations bill deals specifically with our global footprint, it also has benefit for those that live near international borders. For instance, I am pleased the bill includes $15.5 million for the Rio Grande Flood Control System Rehabilitation, a matter my border colleagues and I have been working on for several years.

These funds will allow the International Boundary and Water Commission to begin repairing and restoring the 270 miles of levees along the Rio Grande River. This is only a first step to fully restore the integrity of the levees, the cost for restoration is estimated at $125 million. These funds were requested by the South Texas Delegation, including Congressman Hinojosa and Congressman Cuellar.

Over the last few years, budget limitations have not allowed the IBWC to properly maintain the levees. Used by Border Patrol to patrol the border and farmers to manage their land, the levees have severely deteriorated to the point that some areas are flat. In their current form, the IBWC is unable to certify the levees meaning the 1.3 million residents along this area are in danger of severe flooding. Hurricane Katrina showed us the awesome and dangerous power of Mother Nature. This funding is critical to prevent an international flooding disaster . . . a disaster that will remain possible until all the levees are repaired so IBWC can certify them. This is--quite literally--the least we can do to begin to fix this damage.

I thank the appropriators for including this funding and their recognition of the danger that is as far away as a powerful flooding event. I urge the House negotiators to keep this amount of funding included in this bill through conference.

Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to MG James H. Pillsbury and his dynamic wife Becky Pillsbury. We hail from the same great State of Texas. These two wonderful public servants have committed their careers to serving our Nation.

This summer will mark the end of General Pillsbury's tenure as Commander of the Army's Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, a command he assumed on December 1, 2003. Leaving Huntsville with him is his wife Becky, who has made a lasting impression in the Huntsville community as an area school teacher for the disabled and board member for a long list of organizations serving soldiers and their families.

General Pillsbury is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History. After that, he attended Troy State University, earning a Masters of Science in International Relations. He has completed Infantry Officer Basic Course, Transportation Officer Advanced Course, United States Army Command and General Staff College, and the United States Army War College.

For the past 34 years General Pillsbury has risen through the Army ranks, first commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in May of 1973. He has served here at home and abroad; his most recent position overseas was as the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-4, United States Army Europe and Seventh Army. General Pillsbury has been decorated with numerous military honors including: the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal.

Becky also attended Trinity where she graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and Education for the Hearing Impaired and then pursuing her love for children with disabilities by earning a Masters from Pacific Lutheran University in Elementary Education and Learning Disabilities.

She has set a high standard for military wives at Redstone Arsenal. She co-founded the ``Dream Factory,'' a wish granting organization for seriously and terminally ill children; and more recently co-founded ``Still Serving Veterans,'' which affects the lives of thousand of new veterans in offering a wide range of support services as they transition to the civilian workforce.

Even though this outstanding couple is leaving the Huntsville community, they will not hesitate to come back and visit.

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating MG James H. Pillsbury and his wife Becky on a phenomenal job in Huntsville . . . and wishing them the best of luck with the next chapter in their lives.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the accomplishments of two pioneers in the national Hispanic community, and their home in south Texas. Rodolfo Zepeda Mirabal, Sr., and Dora Cervera Mirabal, were two activists and organizers in the Corpus Christi community who answered the call of patriots and did much to make our community a better, more transparent, place to live.

Rodolfo was among the original founders of the League of United Latin American Citizens, LULAC, and in the 1920s he began publishing his own Spanish-language newspaper, called El Democrata. In the 1930s Dora began an annual publication of a traditional form of Mexican satirical verse for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead or All Souls Day).

Always civically engaged, Dora founded a bilingual school called El Circulo de Nuestros Amigos Para Los Estudiantes Bilingues, which operated at the Mirabal Printing Company and helped Spanish speakers learn English. She became the first female member of the Corpus Christi Mexican Chamber of Commerce, and served as an officer in the Corpus Christi Ladies' LULAC Chapter.

Together Rodolfo and Dora operated Mirabal Printing Company in the heart of the Mexican-American community of Corpus Christi.

In 1938 the couple began publishing a weekly, full-size Spanish language newspaper in Corpus Christi, El Progreso, which kept the community informed for 41 years. This paper not only served as a crucial resource to the Hispanic community for local, national, and international issues, but it tried to give the Mexican-Americans in the Coastal Bend inspiration and a voice.

Following Rodolfo's death in 1968, Dora Cervera Mirabal continued work on El Progreso until she died of cancer on December 4, 1979. The Mirabals were succeeded by three children: Rodolfo, Jr.; Rosie; and Robert, all of whom carry on the family's printing business today.

Rodolfo and Dora Mirabal were ``lost giants'' in the advancement of the Mexican-American civil rights movement who inspired not just my generation, but generations to come.

I ask the House of Representatives to join me today in remembering this extraordinary couple and their outstanding record of civic service to the city of Corpus Christi and the south Texas community.