Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Resolution supporting the ideals of Cinco De May, a day that holds much meaning for many people in the South Texas Congressional district I represent. For many Hispanic Americans, we celebrate Independence Day on July 4, and Cinco de Mayo on May 5. Independence Day celebrates our Nation; and Cinco de Mayo celebrates our spirit.

On the eve of May 5, 1862, the commander of the French forces in Mexico sent this message to Napoleon: ``We have such superiority over the Mexicans that tomorrow, at the helm of my troops, I will attack, and I will consider that Mexico is mine.'' He was wrong. When he attacked the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe on May 5, his 8,000 troops were beaten back by 2,000 Mexicans.

It is important to note why we celebrate this day--we celebrate the courage and the strength of a people who will fight against all odds for the things they cherish--freedom, independence and democracy. The lessons of the French commander should not be lost on us today.

I often tell schoolchildren in South Texas to adopt a new take on the French commander's arrogance by saying: ``I will go to school, I will study hard, and I will consider that the marketplace is mine, and we will not be beaten.''

We must continue to fight in that same spirit that the Mexicans fought the French. Our young people today must fight to learn--fight for the ability to get good jobs--and fight to go further than the previous generation.

I am pleased the House is moving this resolution, albeit just over a month late for Cinco de Mayo celebrations this year. Nevertheless, this is a good opportunity for many of us in the House of Representatives to explain to our colleagues and our countrymen why this celebration means so much to so many of us.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bill. I thank the gentleman from California (Chairman Hunter); my ranking member, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton); and all the subcommittee chairmen and subcommittee members for their skill and leadership in addressing the military issues before us.

This bill provides for the needs of our troops and their families. While we are at war, we must always see that they are given the equipment and supplies that they need to do the mission that we ask them to perform.

Like many other things now, this bill is not perfect. In fact, there are a number of challenges still unaddressed by the bill, particularly relating to our retention and recruitment problems. The war in Iraq and the global war on Terror, coupled with the uncertainties of Base Realignment and Closure, the overseas base changing and the accompanying QDR, Quadrennial Defense Review, present many challenges to our readiness posture.

As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Readiness, I remain deeply concerned about the shortfalls in our recruiting and retention across the board. For example, in March, the Army missed its recruiting goal by 27 percent. We do need soldiers for our all-volunteer Army.

Our Armed Forces have many, many pressing needs, including basic equipment, body armor, Humvee armor, other vehicles, tanks and more; and our troops are doing a great job. We need to continue to support them, to give what they need.

Mr. Chairman, I oppose the provision regarding troops on the border. Our servicemen and -women are simply spread too thin. But one of the things that we need to remember is that we are in Iraq fighting a war in order not to fight in our homeland; that we need to fight the terrorists in Iraq. Well, just from the beginning of the year to today, we have had over 17,000 OTMs, other than Mexicans; and most of them are from Brazil. If you go to Brazil, you do not need a visa to go into Mexico.

It is good to see that we have given the border patrol 1,500 more border patrolmen, but we have no detention centers. If you have no detention centers, the illegals come in knowing one thing: when they come to the border, they turn themselves in to the border patrol. And you know what they ask for? I want my walking papers. I am not a Mexican; I can stay here, and I can appear before a judge.

I would like to engage my good friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), for a few moments because he was the border patrol sector chief in McAllen. Not only that, we are beginning to see gangs coming in, the Mara Salvatrucha gang, and many other people. And unless we build detention centers, they are going to continue to come. My friend has talked to some of the border patrol officers down in the McAllen sector.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, I just want to say something. We have had experience. About 12 years ago, we had 57,000 individuals, illegal, come from Central America when Attorney General Meese said if you fear for your life, come to the United States. My colleagues, we had to put up tents, and my colleague from Texas remembers that; 57,000. It impacts on your infrastructure, on your highways, on everything else.

So this is one of the reasons I oppose this bill. We need to build detention centers, otherwise the problem will never be solved.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment by the gentleman from New Hampshire, Mr. Bradley and join him in his concerns about conducting a BRAC right now.

There are a number of concerns that I have about conducting base closures during a time of war, and without the benefit of global forethought.

I have spoken to the need for this Nation to be more focused and more careful about how we proceed.

We are conducting a global war.

We are closing bases overseas.

We are just one year out from our QDR to establish our global strategic footprint.

It is folly to proceed with domestic base closures while we are at war and unclear of our global military presence.

It is akin to replacing a hot engine in a flying plane--we ought not do it.

Mr. Chairman, as so many of you know, I represent a border district and am a former law enforcement officer. For the last year, I have been talking to a number of you about my concerns about border security, based on things I am hearing from border law enforcement officers.

I rise in support of the gentleman from Mississippi's substitute, which contains the amendment the Rules Committee yesterday disallowed from consideration by the House. Mr. Thompson's substitute draws from some ideas included in a border security bill I introduced earlier this year.

So many of my constituents--and our colleagues here in Congress--are profoundly frustrated with the budget-driven nature of our border security. This amendment requires the Department of Homeland Security to develop and implement a Comprehensive Border Strategy to secure U.S. borders--one that focuses on the needs of our national and border security rather than on the cost.

This amendment seeks a comprehensive approach that considers: staffing, infrastructure, technology, coordination of intelligence among agencies, legal responsibilities, jurisdictional issues, apprehension statistics, budgetary consequences, and the impact on the flow of commerce and legitimate travelers. It also requires implementation of the ``American Shield Initiative'' to address vulnerabilities between the ports-of-entry, which remains largely unaddressed since 9-11.

I urge all of us to focus our attention on a comprehensive border security policy by both authorizing and appropriating the funds necessary to secure our borders. The men and women who protect our border do an extraordinary job.

We owe them full funding of the security initiatives we determine are necessary for the protection of the people and places that we hold dear in the United States. It is simply not enough to talk about border security, it is an urgent matter for us to put our money where our mouth is when it comes to protecting our borders and our Nation.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment--and I thank Mr. Thompson, Mr. Stupak and Mr. Reyes for their leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the wartime supplemental that includes urgent funding for our soldiers and sailors now prosecuting the global war on terror in Afghanistan

and Iraq. This bill also has important additional funding for border security, and language important to South Texas shrimpers that will make it easier for them to hire workers for the coming season.

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I know our soldiers can do anything. Yet that truth does not mean that the Congress should skimp on our financial obligations to our fighting men and women. They run out of money altogether at the end of this month, so I am pleased we are finalizing this bill today.

As a border Congressman, I am grateful that the conferees included desperately needed funding for border security. I have been relentless in talking to so many of you about my concerns related to spending on border security matters. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Obey, for his work in getting negotiators to include this spending. While this is a good start, it still comes up short of both what we need and what the Intelligence Reform bill mandated we do.

The Intelligence Reform bill passed by Congress last year mandated 2,000 Border Patrol agents a year for the next 5 years. The President came to the table with only 210 in his budget; today we are adding another 500. That's still over 1,000 short of what this government agrees is the very least we should do to protect our border and stem the tide of releasing OTMs--illegal immigrants that are ``other than Mexican''--into the U.S. general population.

Given our border security is entirely budget driven, this is a rare victory for those of us who have been talking about the need to put our money where our mouth is when it comes to protecting our nation from terrorists that may be trying to enter the country through the loopholes in our border security policy. We are sending our young soldiers to fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan and we justify that by saying we are fighting the war there so we will not have to fight it here.

We may very well be fighting a war over there and letting terrorists in our back door. As so many South Texans and my colleagues know, I have been lifting my voice about how border security is profoundly lacking. Currently, the United States does not have room to hold the large number of OTMs, caught by border law enforcement. While I know that most of these immigrants are merely seeking a better life, it is the few--the handful--that may be entering our country to do us harm. That is whom we need to worry about. So we are releasing, on their own recognizance, into the population of the United States very large numbers of OTMs.

What happens is our border patrol agents routinely call detention facilities and discover there is no room to hold OTMs. So, they process these immigrants, many times without even getting fingerprints or running them through our national databases to see if they are on watch lists, and release them into the general population with a notice to appear at a deportation hearing a few weeks later. Law enforcement officers then take the released OTMs to the local bus station by the vanload, where they head elsewhere in the U.S. The number that never appear for deportation is over 90 percent of those released, a number now probably over 75,000.

Already the number of OTMs captured and released is more, so far this year, than for all of last year. It is little wonder that private citizens are taking the law into their own hands to try to stem the tide of OTMs coming into our country. But private militias, operating without the color of law, are not the answer. We must secure our borders so private citizens do not feel the need to do so.

As a former law enforcement officer I know if we don't have the border officers to stop the OTMs crossing the border, if we don't have the room to hold the ones we catch, if we don't put our money where our mouth is, we continue to send a dangerous signal to those who may wish to do us harm. Until we send a signal that those who cross our borders illegally, until we send a signal that when we catch you we will hold you until you are deported, until we honestly face the amount of money it will take to deal with these things, OTMs will continue to flock to the U.S., quite possibly populating terror cells already operating in the United States.

Unfortunately, the Leadership decided to include many controversial provisions that members wouldn't otherwise support if they weren't linked to funding our troops. I do not agree with some of the so-called security provisions in this bill, mainly the stricter asylum laws and national standards for drivers' licenses. A country like ours that believes so greatly in freedom and the protection of the oppressed should be a safe haven for refugees that are being persecuted by their governments because of their race, religion or political beliefs, which is why we are fighting the war we fund in this bill.

I am also disappointed Congress has gone one step further in creating a national ID. Many would suggest that a drivers' license is the way terrorists are infiltrating our country. That is simply not the case. Standardizing a drivers' license would not have precluded the 9/11 terrorists from entering this country--immigration reform and better border security practices would have.

Today's bill is a start in putting our money where our mouth is, but it is still insufficient to the monumental border security task before us and I ask our appropriators to ensure the necessary funding is included in the fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to a unique and distinguished woman from Portland, Texas: Dr. Anne J. Matula, who is greatly admired for her leadership in education and who is retiring from her work in education and service.

Dr. Matula is the former Dean of Business Career and Technology Programs at Del Mar College. Presently, she serves as an assistant to the Vice President of the university, and as an adjunct instructor at the University of the Incarnate Word.

Her deep conviction and strong character were apparent even when she graduated as the valedictorian from Odem High School. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree, Summa Cum Laude (the highest honors) and a master's degree in Business Administration from Texas A&I. Following that, she completed a Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership at the Texas A&M Universities at Corpus Christi and Kingsville, Texas.

Her educational background clearly supports her firm belief in education. Thriving to pursue this endeavor, she devoted a major part of her life to teaching. She began her teaching experiences at H.M. King High School in Kingsville, TX and Gregory-Portland High School in Gregory, TX. Just right after, she began teaching at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi as an instructor, assistant professor, and associate professor. Later on, she became an adjunct instructor at the college as needed. Dr. Matula served a tenure of 23 years at Del Mar College, which she led with incomparable competence. She was also an adjunct instructor at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi.

Her participation in a number of civic organizations, such as the Coastal Bend Council of Governments and the San Patricio Economic Development Corporation, reflect her commitment to help the community. She has given many years of service on boards and forums, including the Junior League of Corpus Christi Advisory Board, the Regional Community Leaders Forum, the National Conference for Community and Justice, and the Board of Trustees of the Gregory-Portland Independent School District, on which she served for five elected terms. Dress for Success South Texas is another important board on which she served and of which she was the founding member.

She has also been distinguished for her membership in various professional organizations, such as the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International (Gamma Psi Chapter), Phi Alpha Kappa, the Texas Association of School Boards, the Texas Community College Teachers Association, and the Texas Association of College Technical Educators (TACTE).

As a woman of great talent and dedication, Dr. Matula has been recognized and presented with various awards and prominent recognitions. It is a pleasure and privilege to honor Dr. Matula, whose passion and dedication to help others is immeasurable. Her years of commitment to higher education make her a distinctive and unique voice in our community. Dr. Matula is loved by all the students whose lives she has touched and will remain in their hearts as a prominent figure in their education and future success.

I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Dr. Anne J. Matula on the occasion of her retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Obey motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 1268, Wartime supplemental, to insist on the highest possible funding for more border patrol agents and to insist on the Senate provision calling for requests for future funding for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq to be included in the annual budget of the President.

As a member representing a border community--and a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee--I am grateful for Mr. Obey's leadership and his work to include these important provisions in our Wartime supplemental. As so many of our colleagues know, I have been lifting my voice to get the word around to members that our border security is profoundly lacking. Members can go to my web page for more information about the dangerous practices ongoing along the U.S. Mexico border.

Currently, the United States does not have room to hold the large number of illegal immigrants--called OTMs, Other than Mexicans--caught by border law enforcement. So we are releasing--on their own recognizance--into the population of the United States--very large numbers of OTMs. Very few released OTMs return for a mandatory deportation, meaning there is a large number of OTMs at large in the U.S., immigrants who have passed through the hands of law enforcement. Border law enforcement officers routinely call the detention centers, discover there is no more room to hold OTMs, so they are processed and released into the general population on their own recognizance.

The OTMs are given a ``Notice of appear,'' paperwork that allows them to travel freely in the United States through the time they are to return for deportation. Law enforcement officers then take the released OTMs to the local

bus station by the vanload, where they head elsewhere in the U.S. The number of ``absconders''--those who never appear for deportation--is over 90 percent of those released, a number now estimated to be approaching 75,000. Already the number of OTMs captured and released is more so far this year, then for all of last year.

The Southern Border is being left utterly unprotected, and there is the real possibility that terrorists can--or already are--exploting this series of holes in our law enforcement system along the southern border. These are the things we know. There is no way of even guessing how many others are entering the country, but who are not passing through the hands of government law enforcement officers, so Mr. Obey's instructions to our appropriators is extremely timely.

This is a clear and present danger inside the United States, and the number of released illegal immigrants not returning for deportation grows by the hundreds each week. This is willfully ignoring a complex problem that undermines our national objective: to take the war to the enemy so we do not have to fight the war on terror inside our country. It is little wonder that private citizens are taking the law into their own hands to try to stem the tide of OTMs coming into our country. But private militias--operating without the color of law--is not the answer. We must secure our borders so private citizens do not feel the need to do so.

Our budget reflects the values and priorities of the American people. Consider what the 2005 budget did not include:

The Intelligence Reform bill that became law in December, 2004, mandated 10,000 Border Patrol agents over 5 years, 20,000 annually. The President's budget funded 210 BP agents, the senate added 1,050 agents. The House must stand up and add the full 2,000.

Intelligence Reform mandated an increase of 8,000 beds in detention facilities annually for the next 5 years, still not nearly enough to hold all those coming in the U.S. . . . yet the President's budget proposal provides for only about 1,900 new detention space beds--over 6,000 beds short of the congressional mandate passed in December, 2004. We can add all the Border Patrol agents we want, but without a place to hold these OTMs, the problem remains.

Grants to reimburse local law enforcement officers that also hold illegal immigrants for the federal government were slashed, adding to the problem. I was a law enforcement officer in my previous life. If we don't have the border officers to stop the OTMs crossing the border . . . if we don't have the room to hold the ones we catch . . . if we don't put our money where our mouth is, we are sending a dangerous signal to those who may wish to do us harm. Until we send a signal that those who cross our borders illegally . . . until we send a signal that when we catch you we will hold you until you are deported . . . until we honestly face the amount of money it will take to deal with these things, OTMs will continue to flock to the U.S.

We must send that signal today. Homeland security must be about the security of our people and our property, it cannot be budget driven as it is today.

Lastly, as a fiscal conservative and member of the Armed Services committee, I know it is ultimately the responsibility of Congress--not the Administation--to properly spend money on military operations. To that end, I thank our Ranking Democrat on appropriations for including in this motion a provision requiring future funding for our military operations to be included in the President's budget.

All the money we appropriate here is the people's money and we must be good stewards of it. To rush through special bills to fund the military when committees of jurisdiction have not had the opportunity to review the bills is an abdication of our responsibility.

I encourage the members to support this motion to instruct our conferees on the Supplemental appropriations bill to include funding for border security and to require further military funding requests move through our regular authorization process for the fullest scrutiny by the authorizing committees.

Mr. Speaker, I join my fellow Texans--and many around the Southwest and the nation in paying special tribute to Laura Canales, a very special artistic pioneer, and a talented South Texan, who accomplished great things throughout her lifetime of performing.

Before there was the phenomenon of Tejano giant Selena, there was Laura Canales, who paved the way for a number of Tejano artists in the late 20th Century. She contributed much to our culture and to the music industry, and became known as the ``Barbara Streisand of Tejano music'' and as ``Reina de la Onda Tejana,'' (queen of the Tejano wave).

Tejano is a popular type of music in Texas and the Southwest that has become a huge industry with its own category in the Grammy Awards. Tejano is a combination of rock-n-roll and German Conjunto music. Some of the cultural influences on Tejano music include: Anglo, African, German, and Italian.

Tejano was originally dominated by male performers and it was nearly impossible for women to break through in this genre. Laura Canales, with her unique voice and love of performing, became the first woman to enjoy real success in the world of Tejano, and was honored as the first woman to be inducted into the Tejano ROOTS Hall of Fame in Alice, Texas. This museum is the only one that is entirely dedicated in honoring great Tejano music figures.

Laura's influence on Tejano music became readily apparent during the 1970's and 1980's. With her distinctive voice and popularity, she released various albums that became hits, including her debut album, Si Vivi Contigo. Her numerous accomplishments include a dozen Tejano music awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, and Female Entertainer of the Year. This Kingsville, Texas, native also understood the value of education, earning a bachelor's degree in clinical psychology from Texas A&M University and pursuing a master's degree.

Laura Canales proved that a woman could be successful in the Tejano music industry . . . she broke the gender barriers that existed at the dawn of the emergence of popular Tejano . . . and she and paved the way for future, female Tejano performers.

This Tejano legend and daughter of South Texas will truly be missed, although she will live on in her music, to be enjoyed by many future connoisseurs of Tejano. I ask my colleagues to join me in keeping her family--and her many fans--in our thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.

Mr. Speaker, I join my South Texas colleague, Ruben Hinojosa, in asking the House to pass H.R. 1072 to name the Post Office in Goliad, Texas, after Judge Emilio Vargas.

A child of our times, Judge Vargas, a first-generation American, was born in Goliad and attended segregated schools because he was Mexican. He overcame the disadvantages inherent in segregation by graduating from Bee College and serving in the U.S. Air Force.

After his service, he came home to spend his life laboring to improve the lives of South Texans. During the 1960s, Judge Garza was a civil rights pioneer. He fought the evil of the poll tax that flew in the face of democracy and he worked to persuade more Hispanics to participate in government.

He knew that education was the magic bullet for improving a population. He devoted much of his efforts to service on the Goliad Independent School District Board of Trustees. His inspiration--and his work on local education issues--resulted in many young people from Goliad going to prestigious colleges and universities, including the U.S. military academies.

Judge Vargas served with the Texas Department of Human Services helping those who had no money and no hope. His work with the Job Corps program helped train new workers, teaching people to help themselves. Also devoted to the rule of law, he has served as the Justice of the Peace for Goliad County and for 9 years was a Reserve Deputy for the Goliad County Sheriff's Department.

Goliad is rich in the history of both Mexico and the United States. Goliad was the birthplace of Mexican General Zaragoza who defeated the French Army, for which we celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Goliad also played a significant role in the War for Texas Independence.

For his life's work in championing the better angles of our democracy and our community, it is a just reward for the Goliad Post Office to carry the name of this unique American Patriot.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. I think the gentleman has done a great job in describing the contributions of two great giants from south Texas. I want to thank the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) and all those involved who helped expedite this bill.

This is not the first time this bill has been before the House. It has passed two or three times, but it has stalled in the Senate. This bill would rename the Brownsville courthouse for two legislative giants from south Texas. This bill will rename the courthouse the Reynaldo G. Garza and the Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse.

We have a wealth of riches in south Texas, including these two giants of men. Reynaldo Garza was the first Hispanic appointed to the Federal bench by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and Judge Filemon Vela was appointed to the Federal bench by President Jimmy Carter back in 1980. Both of these men have become legends in the south Texas area by virtue of their commitment to education and to our community. Both heroes passed away last year.

This legislation is noncontroversial, and I hope the Senate will quickly consider and pass this as well.

I thank the House and my friends for helping expedite this bill again to get to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, due to travel delays from my district, I was unable to vote during the following rollcall vote, No. 90. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today in paying special tribute to a unique patriot and a great American. Tillie Fowler was known as a ``Steel Magnolia'' because she was a grand class act with enormous strength of character.

Tillie and I worked together on a host of defense-related issues, including the Depot Caucus which I co-chair. In a world of Republicans and Democrats who often see only the worst in each other, Tillie stood out as a hard-nosed realist and a reliable partner for any Member of Congress who stood with her on an issue.

She didn't see party affiliation as the most important aspect of a colleague; she judged each of us individually, by how we worked on issues important to Florida, the district she represented, and to the nation.

We served together on the House Armed Services Committee, and we traveled together on behalf of the House of Representatives. She cared deeply about the national security of the United States and about her constituents in Florida.

She was a remarkable public servant; she broke the mold, becoming the first woman and first Republican to serve as council President of the Jacksonville City Council in 1985. She was a woman of her word--here in Congress and with the people she represented so well here.

When she first ran, she pledged to only serve here for 6 years. Very few members who make such a pledge actually keep it in the end. But Tillie did. She was as good as her word on any matter. She made the most of her service here, becoming the 5th ranking Republican in the House by 2000.

After she left the House, she remained actively engaged in matters of national defense. In 2001 she was appointed to the Defense Policy Advisory Board by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. She also continued to be involved in local civic and business affairs.

She always took on the hard issues, investigating sexual assaults at our military academies and torture at prisons in Iraq . . . both difficult and thankless jobs. Tillie was a rare breed--a class act and a scrappy fighter.

Tillie was the picture of grace and compassion. Public service was genetic for her; her father was former Georgia State Sen. Culver Kidd.

I will miss my friend; I fully expected to be working with her in the upcoming BRAC deliberations this year. She was tenacious, she was gracious and she was a beautiful soul. Her family--her husband, Buck, and their daughters--will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Mr. Speaker, as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Armenian forces occupy the mountainous region of Nagorno Karabagh, as well as seven additional regions, resulting in a million refugees and internally displaced Azerbaijanis.

Located between Russia and Iran, Azerbaijan is an important partner and ally in the international war against terrorism. While bilateral cooperation on terrorism-related issues between the U.S. and Azerbaijan started well before September 11, they intensified with Azerbaijan offering unconditional support to the coalition and becoming the first Muslim country to send troops to Iraq.

While there have been several attempts to find a resolution to the conflict under the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Process, little progress has been made. However, the U.S. continues to work towards the end. According to a recent State Department statement: ``The United States does not recognize Nagorno- Karabakh as an independent country, and its leadership is not recognized internationally or by the United States. The United States supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and holds that the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh is a matter of negotiation between the parties. The United States remains committed to finding a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the Minsk Group process. We are encouraged by the continuing talks between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan.''

On January 25, 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, which concluded that ``considerable parts of Azerbaijan's territory are still occupied by the Armenian forces and separatist forces are still in control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.'' Additionally it asked the co- chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to expedite an agreement on the issue and urged the parties concerned to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions by refraining from any armed hostilities and ``by withdrawing military forces from any occupied territories.''

Mr. Speaker, this shows the international community is ready for a resolution of the conflict. I welcome the initiatives by the Council of Europe and the statement by the U.S. Administration, and I urge my colleagues to support a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Mr. Speaker, one of the most important Pacific Rim relationships is the one between China and Taiwan. I want to commend both nations for their work to find common ground.

I am so pleased that cross-strait relations have been improving in recent days. On January 15 of this year China and Taiwan agreed to direct flights during the Lunar New Year holidays and both sides agreed to continue to work toward restoring direct trade, transport and postal ties--the ``three links''. Moreover, the economies of China and Taiwan have grown increasingly interdependent as Taiwanese businesses have invested as much as $100 billion in China and as many as one million Taiwanese now live and work on the mainland.

For the last several decades, U.S. policy has been to encourage amicable relations between Taiwan and China so that they may work out whatever differences they may have through peaceful means. We in the international community should make sure the peace and prosperity of the 23 million people in Taiwan is maintained.

Mr. Chairman, let me thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe), my good friend, for introducing this amendment, but I would like to touch on another area that is also very, very important.

Let me say that the Border Patrol need all the help that they can get. We have another serious problem that I hope that we can touch on, and that is what is known as the OTMs, or Other Than Mexicans.

My district includes a portion of the McAllen Border Patrol sector. Last year, in the fiscal year, almost 17,000 OTMs came across through that Border Patrol sector, representing at least anywhere from 76 to 80 countries coming across into the United States. This worries me about the security of this country.

As I talk to the Border Patrol officials, they know one thing, that we do not have sufficient detention facilities. So what happens to them? They come across. They do not have to be picked up by the Border Patrol. They surrender themselves to the Border Patrol and say, I am from Colombia, I am from Egypt, I am from any other country; and they know that they do not have sufficient facilities.

So what happens? They go and process these individuals, and they come in clusters from Mexico. When they come across, it takes 10, 12, 15 Border Patrol people to come and bring them to the facilities to process them. It takes 2\1/2\ hours to do that. When this happens, in the meantime, the border is completely open, because those Border Patrol people were removed to process these individuals.

What happens next? After the 2\1/2\ hours, they go and take them to the bus station, and they give them a little piece of paper that says, you are supposed to appear on the 15th of whatever month, 60 to 90 days from now. One of these guys just finished paying $900 to be brought across. Do my colleagues think he is going to come in?

This is another issue that we need to study about.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to our departed college, Bob Matsui. Bob was an extraordinarily talented patriot and Member of this House.

Bob's generation of House Members struck out to change the world--or at least change their government in the aftermath of Watergate and the abuses of power in the Nixon administration. He did change the world, representing a district in California and representing the House on the world stage.

He was a unique political mind and political talent. While he was passionate for caring for the less fortunate in our society, he was also pragmatic about how democratic ideals and reforms come about on the world stage.

We shared the philosophy that world trade engenders better relationships between nations and offers a greater opportunity to spread democracy to developing nations or nations that were not traditionally democratic.

Bob's greatest legislative talent--and there were many--was his down- to-earth ability to comprehend and explain in laymen's terms all matters related to Social Security. In this political season when the President has made clear his intention to raid Social Security, we will most certainly miss Bob's leadership in this important and fundamental debate in Congress.

Today the Nation says goodbye to a decent and big minded colleague. Bob was not afraid to learn. And he was not afraid to forgive. Even after his family was interned as a child--with Japanese Americans at the outbreak of WWII--Bob forgave the people who imprisoned his family. He forgave his country, then he went on to serve this Nation with enormous talent.

Bob wanted to make the world better. He did make the world a better place and he made the House of Representatives a better place given his presence in it. He deeply believed in what he said, but he was open enough to listen to--and hear--the ideas of others, as well.

I will miss him . . . we will all miss him. And we offer our deepest condolences to his dear wife, Doris, and his son, Brian.