Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the distinguished gentleman from Davidson County for yielding and for bringing this amendment. There is still a critical need in this country for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

In my communities, the finest public school students traditionally are desirous of going to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We try to keep them in Tennessee with HOPE scholarships. We offer from $4,000 to $5,500 a year to stay in Tennessee. There are fine Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Lemoyne-Owen in my district, Fisk in Nashville, and Knoxville College up in East Tennessee. But most of them want to go out of State and go to Atlanta and come to this area to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. It is still the first choice for most African American students.

We need to fund these schools at a higher level. They have not received increased funding over the last 5 or 6 years to speak of. The need has become greater and greater. These are students who need educational opportunities to move out and into the American dream.

I commend the gentleman from Davidson County for bringing this amendment, I am pleased to support it, and ask the chairman of the Appropriations Committee to see this great need which will help people who have not had an opportunity to share in the American dream as much as they should.

Mr. Speaker, Democratic efforts to change direction in Iraq forced the President to issue a preliminary report showing that the Iraqis have not met the benchmarks that they were supposed to. The failure of the Iraqi Government to keep its promises, coupled with continued violence on the ground, the death of our soldiers and Iraqi civilians has led Senate Republicans, at least some of them, to join us in calling for a new direction in Iraq.

Some Senate Republicans see the writing on the wall, writing on the wall in both of our House cloakrooms, but is yet to be seen on the Republican side but for four of our colleagues, for the optometrist hasn't made his way over there. The situation is getting worse for our troops. We will see this week whether Senate Republicans mean what they say and they vote for the Levin-Reed amendment when it comes to the Senate floor tomorrow and bring our troops home. The amendment is close to identical with what the House passed with Democratic votes and four Republicans last week.

The Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki has said they can supply their own defense and they don't need us any longer. When a host says go home, it is only correct to go home. He says they don't need us. We aren't needed. We need to bring our troops home and not have them needlessly die.

Mr. Speaker, back in February when this Congress started the 110th, there was a proposal up here, a resolution that passed with mostly Democrat support, very few Republicans, to say we supported the troops but we opposed the surge or the escalation. Since that time, we have put 20,000 or 30,000 more troops into Iraq, and since that time we have had some of the deadliest months that we have incurred in this failed war in the Middle East.

As time has gone on, we have seen Senators Voinovich; Lamar Alexander from my home State; Lugar; and others on the Republican side in the Senate come forth and say we need a change of direction. The handwriting has been on the wall in both cloakrooms. The handwriter got to the Democratic cloakroom a lot sooner than apparently the handwriter got to the Republican cloakroom. Either that, or the optometrist hasn't made it over to the other side. But the handwriting is on the wall, and in the interim there are American men and women dying needlessly. Over 3,600 have died; many, many, many, many more casualties, and the cost to this country will be great.

While I was home during the home workweek, I saw a lady who told me her son has been at Desert Storm. He was still in the military. He had been in Iraq once before. And she told me he told her, Mother, I am proud to fight for my country. I have done it twice. But there is no purpose over there, there is no reason to be over there. We need to come home. I have heard it over and over and over again from the mothers of the soldiers who come home with testimony to our failed foreign policy.

How many, how many, how many more must die? How many more limbs must be lost before the handwriting on the wall in the Republican cloakroom is read? I ask you to look in your own hearts. Think of the soldiers as your children, they are your constituents, and help redeploy them. We are not saying in this proposal that we come home entirely. We keep troops for certain causes.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. Speaker, this past week was our home work week, and we went to visit with our constituents and see what the people thought.

In the Ninth District of Tennessee, I found a people I know who felt that this war that we're engaging in is one that we need to bring our troops home from. They spoke of their family members who served in the previous war and said, there's no purpose in what we're doing, and we don't understand it.

I saw a people who saw the movie ``Sicko'' and came away amazed. And as I toured the Federal Correctional Institute, I felt like I was watching ``Sicko'' in live theater, for I saw that if you're in prison, you get all the health care you want, but if you don't commit a crime, you don't get health care in this country. And Michael Moore has made a valid point.

And I saw a people who feel like crime is a great problem in this country and their neighborhoods and who commend this Democratic Congress for passing the COPS bill and having more money for the hiring of policemen and for better technology.

And I saw a people that wondered what's going on with our President and our Vice President and asked more and more about impeachment. It's something that the American Congress needs to consider strongly, for our executive powers are out of control.

Madam Speaker, conditions on the ground in Iraq are not getting any better. In fact, things are getting worse.

During a 48-hour period last week, 14 of our soldiers were killed, and then over the weekend another eight were killed in one day. April and May were two of the most violent months for our troops since the beginning of the war. It is clear the President's troop surge or escalation plan is not working. In fact, last week General David Petraeus acknowledged there would not be any significant improvements in Iraq by September.

Why is that significant? Because that's when President Bush said we would be able to see if the plan was working. The fact is we won't know in September because it's not working, according to the President's own general.

Then this week, two respected Republican Senators, Senator Lugar and Senator Voinovich, said the current policy is not working and a significant change is needed. The comments of these Senators, coupled with those of General Petraeus, should serve as a wake-up call to congressional Republicans. Join us in ending this war, bringing our troops home, and saving America's face.

Mr. Speaker, Saturday night Memphis, Tennessee, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of ALSAC, which is the fund-raising arm of St. Jude Hospital, an institution of which I am extremely proud.

St. Jude has used science to bring cures to cancer and to fight cancer for children. It is a leading institution in our country. President Bush has a stem cell bill before him that this House and the Senate have passed. It needs his signature to become law.

I plead to the President to allow that bill to become law, as Nancy Reagan has pleaded to the President when she saw her husband suffering from Alzheimer's; as Christopher Reeve pleaded when he had spinal cord injuries and some hope for his future, but didn't see it and died; as people with Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and cancer hope.

Today I speak to you as a victim of polio. I wish we had stem cell research 50 years ago so we could regrow the muscle in my leg, and I would be whole, and I could play on the baseball team that the Congress has going to play next month. But I can't do it.

We didn't have that research. We didn't have stem cells. We have it today. We need to invest it for the people of the 20th century and to cure illness. Please, Mr. President, sign the bill.

Mr. Speaker, today is June 19. June 19 is an important day in history. To African Americans, and to all Americans it should be, but to African Americans in particular, it is known as Juneteenth.

Juneteenth is the first day I got involved in politics and learned about it. I didn't know much about it. I thought, why is Juneteenth a holiday to African Americans, and I learned. It's a holiday because that's the day in 1865 that the slaves in east Texas learned that they were free.

The news of the Emancipation Proclamation did not get to Texas for 2 years, and that was the day that all slaves in America were free. The idea of our country having slavery as an institution was wrong. It was a crime against humanity.

There is nothing more valuable to any of us than freedom, the opportunity to go where we want, to do what we want, and to associate with whom we want. That's what makes America great. Unfortunately, we had that institution, and later we had Jim Crow for 100 years.

That's why I have introduced H. Res. 194 to apologize for slavery and Jim Crow, a crime against humanity that this government and this House permitted and allowed to occur. We must apologize for our errors.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on Stax and 50 years of soul music that my hometown, Memphis, Tennessee, has provided this Nation. H. Res. 154 recognizes the rich history of Stax, its 50-year celebration.

Last Saturday in Memphis, we started what's called ``Seven Days of Soul,'' honoring 7 days of soul, and while we're honoring 7 days of soul starting last Saturday, the rest of the year is just as good in Memphis. Every day is good in Memphis, and every day's really good on this Earth.

Soul music is a special part of American music, and I wish to quote from The Commercial Appeal, which did a special feature on Stax and soul this past week by Mr. Bob Negr. He quotes Peter Guralnick, great rock and roll raconteur, and he says, what soul music is is the story of blacks and whites together. It is the story of the complicated intertwinings of dirt-poor roots and middle-class dreams, aesthetic ambitions and social strivings, the anarchic impulse and the business ethic.

Guralnick, while not a Memphian, has been a great recounter of stories of Memphis music. He's done a lot with Elvis, and he's done a lot with Stax. And Memphis has got the roux that has made music what it's been in America.

At Sun Records, things came together, and Sam Phillips put them together there, and Rufus Thomas, a staple of Stax, recorded at Sun Records. That was a fusion of music, just as Stax and soul music is a fusion of rhythm and blues and gospel music.

Steve Cropper, one of the famous Booker T. and the MGs musicians and song writers, along with Duck Dunn, Booker T. Jones and the late Al Jackson, said, the main reason Stax was so singular and phenomenal was that we had no idea what we were doing. Kind of reminds you of Congress on occasion, like last week, but we had no idea what we were doing. I guess you'd say there was a kind of magic in not knowing, and that made it special.

As Cropper noted, everything that made Stax great was, at its essence, beautifully raw and largely untutored. Certainly, that kind of description makes so many things in America so great.

Mr. Speaker, what made Stax so great was it was a natural energy and it was a coming together of blacks and whites. The House band there was Booker T. and the MGs. Steve Copper and Duck Dunn are Caucasian, and Al Jackson and Booker T. Jones are African American. And they put out the music. They didn't put out white onions, they didn't put out red onions. They didn't put out yellow onions. They put out ``Green Onions,'' and because of ``Green Onions,'' the world rocks to a Memphis beat and Stax soul.

The Memphis Horns were two gentlemen, Andrew Love and Wayne Jackson, one black and one white. That's the story that Memphis had in music, and it's the story that Memphis and this country need to have to come together and move forward.

Stax is an embodiment of the American dream, the promised land, as Dr. King would call it. I am pleased the House considers this bill today, and welcome the gentleman from Arizona's manager's amendment which recognizes the important role that Memphis played in immortalizing the great genre of soul music at large.

Now at the site of the old Stax headquarters and studio on historic McLemore Avenue is the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. It is the world's only soul music museum. No matter what Detroit might say, Memphis has the world's only soul music museum, and you need to come to Memphis and visit the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. The many exhibits there include award-winning documentary film and an authentic 100-year-old Mississippi Delta church that was home to the gospel roots of soul music, original studio equipment, costumes, artwork and memorabilia intended to preserve the legacy of American soul music and its contributions worldwide.

Stax was founded in 1957, not on a specific day with a cornerstone laid by the masons, but generally in 1957. That's the way soul music was. There is not exactly a date for it. It's just kind of a thing that happened. It was Jim Stewart and his sister, Estelle Axton. Jim Stewart's last name, Stewart starts with S-t, and Ms. Axton's, Ax, together S-t-a-x. Stax Records came together with Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. They put the Stax in Stax music.

Stax Records brought forth so many hits. Otis Redding, ``(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay,'' and I have got to parenthetically relate a personal story. I was a freshman at Vanderbilt University one night when Otis Redding performed in the Bar-Kays. The Bar-Kays, a great instrumental group, ``Soul Finger'' was their big hit. Ben Cauley, James Alexander are the surviving members.

Two days after they performed at Vanderbilt, their plane crashed. Just as when the Big Bopper's plane crashed, soul music would have crashed. We lost great, great talents, Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays that night.

Fortunately, Mr. Cauley missed the plane and Mr. Alexander wasn't on it. But it was a night I will remember and all students at Vanderbilt will remember as well. We saw their next-to-last concert.

But Otis came to Memphis to do ``(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay,'' the Staple Singers, ``Respect Yourself,'' Sam & Dave, famed for ``Hold On! I'm Comin,'' as well as ``I'm a Soul Man,'' Gene Knight's ``Mr. Big Stuff,'' so many instrumentals by Booker T. & the MGs; Eddie Floyd came to Memphis to do ``Knock on Wood.'' Other great musicians performed there, the Mar-Keys and others.

It is fitting this resolution be considered this month of June, which is Black Music Month. Black Music Month recognizes the outstanding contributions African American singers have made to our Nation.

This Friday, June 22, the Memphis Orpheum Theatre will celebrate this occasion with a concert entitled ``50 Years of Stax: A Concert to Benefit the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.'' Artists scheduled to perform at the event include such legendary talents as Isaac Hayes of ``Shaft'' fame, and one of the nicest human beings you would ever want to meet, and I have had that great fortune; Booker T. & the MGs, Eddie Floyd, William Bell Mavis Staples, the Soul Children and the Reddings will be honoring their father, the late legendary Otis Redding.

I am honored this resolution recognizes their talents, as well as such legendary artists as Aretha Franklin, who was born in Memphis; B.B. King; Albert King, no relation, but just as good at putting hot licks on those guitars; the Memphis Horns, Wayne Jackson & Andrew Love, Sam & Dave, the Mar-Keys; and even though not on Stax Records, Al Green and his legendary producer Willie Mitchell can't not be mentioned for all they did for Memphis music.

David Porter was a great songwriter. He'll be there too in the Stax Days. Stax Records was something special for Memphis and the country. It lives on through the museum, but it also lives on through now the Concord Music Group, which just announced the relaunch of Stax Records as a creative home for present-day soul stars such as Angie Stone, Soulive, Lalah Hathaway and Leon Ware who will be performing as well, and they will be joined along with other heritage artists such as Isaac Hayes to record on this label which has returned to its prominent place in Memphis and hopefully a prominent place in the charts.

It is a great honor and privilege that the House of Representatives would consider this bill today. I am thankful to have the opportunity to sponsor this legislation because of the great impact soul music has had on my life, the lives of my constituents, so many of us here in Congress and so many Americans.

Tomorrow is Juneteenth. Juneteenth is the anniversary of the last free emancipation of slaves. The word got to east Texas that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed in 1863. It wasn't until 1865, June 19, the news got to Texas and all the slaves were freed. It's appropriate that in Black Music Month, during the celebration of Juneteenth and weekend before last,

Middle Passage Weekend, when we celebrate the people who made their passage, and some were so brave that rather than put themselves into slavery as Jews at Masada in the same way gave up their lives rather than be enslaved that we honor Stax Records.

It's going to be a great night Friday night. We will remember our heritage in Memphis. We will remember our heritage in America. And we have a new future with a recording label, with Stax Records. I urge every one to be soulful, to listen to soul music and ask the House of Representatives to pass H. Res. 154.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my freshman colleague from Hawaii for bringing this particular resolution. It is appropriate that she honors her predecessor, Congresswoman Mink, who did so much in this Hall. In passing this bill, she did some of the things that were similar to civil rights laws of the 1960s in a continuum, because discrimination, whether it be race or gender or national origin or sexual orientation, is wrong.

There are barriers this country needs to tear down and present a level playing field and an opportunity for all to enjoy the benefits of America. It is what Dr. King did talk about when he looked forward to getting to the Promised Land. That's part of what the Promised Land was, is, and will be. And so I thank the gentlelady for bringing the resolution.

I am going to take an opportunity here to make a mea culpa. Earlier, when I had to address the House on Stax Records, I forgot a few people. And one of the people I forgot was a women, Carla Thomas, who did ``Gee Whiz,'' and her father, Rufus Thomas, who did ``Walking the Dog.'' In music, many of the Stax Record people were men, they were the Staple Singers, but Carla Thomas was a great singer. And there are so many fields that have been opened up.

When I looked at the statistics that were made available to me, before title IX only 9 percent of the graduates from medical school were women. In 2004, there were 46 percent. In law, 7 percent had J.D. degrees for women, now 49 percent. When you think about those numbers, and that was just 35 years ago, Mr. Speaker, it's amazing how far we've come from the discrimination that existed at that time because of gender and what Representative Mink and the United States Congress' work did. It shows what can be positive and good about government.

There is a lot of good things that government can do and does do, and people forget that. If it weren't for civil rights pioneers, there would still be segregation. If it weren't for the work of the Congress in the middle 1960s, there would still be discrimination possibly in housing and public employment and other public facilities. And if it weren't for Congresswoman Mink, there would be discrimination against women. There is much good that comes. Forces within society help, but they propel people in government to act and take action that this Congress has seen has made America a greater place.

So it is my honor to stand and support the passage of this resolution that celebrates the 35th anniversary of title IX. It tells us just how far we've come in 35 years, but how just 35 years ago there were these limits. And the fact is, it was only 87 years ago that women got the right to vote. Mr. Speaker, 87 years ago women could not vote in this country, but this Congress, through a passage of a constitutional amendment, passed eventually by Tennessee as the perfect 36th State, gave women the right to vote in this country. So we've come a long way, but we've got a long way to go. And it is an honor to participate in this 35th anniversary.

I thank the gentlelady for giving me the time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word, and I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. Chairman, the Homeland Security Appropriations bill addresses not only the threat of terrorist activity, but funding for States and communities to confront the threat and real consequences of natural disasters and emergency situations.

Hurricane Katrina was one disaster. The response of the Federal Government to Katrina was another disaster. While the world watched, our citizens were left to fend for themselves. I live in a city that sits at the epicenter of the New Madrid fault zone. Historically, this area has been the site of some of the largest earthquakes in North America. Scientists believe we could be overdue for a large earthquake and through research and public awareness may be able to prevent terrible losses of life and property.

Also, Memphis is built on the banks of the Mississippi, and as every river town knows, we must be vigilant to ensure that the river remains our friend. And Tennessee is one of the States most frequently hit with tornadoes and destructive straight-line winds.

I am pleased to support the Homeland Security Appropriations bill because it provides for the needs of our citizens to ensure that their government will be vigilant in protecting them not only from terrorists, imagined and real, but by preparing for emergencies and being there in the aftermath of disasters. We don't need to just say, there's been a ``heckuva job'' done, but we need to make sure that the job is done.

Mr. Chairman, we were here until 2 o'clock this morning because of dilatory moves on the other side. We need to come together and pass a homeland security bill that protects our cities and our States from natural disasters and protects our country from terrorists, imagined and real. This is a bill we need to pass for America and make America proud of this United States Congress.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, it's been an interesting process these last, give or take, 24 hours. As a freshman legislator who spent 24 years in the Tennessee State senate, in those 24 years in the senate I saw the parties work together. Democrats and Republicans worked together for the betterment of our State. We had Republican governors. We had Democratic governors. We had Republican and Democratic legislators.

What America wants is for the parties to work together. On most of the bills we've had, they were brought by Democrats, and it's been called a Democratic Congress, but many of the bills that were passed by this Congress were done in a bipartisan way.

There were Republicans who voted for stem cell, not a majority, I believe, but Republicans voted for the stem cell research. There were some Republicans who even voted for the minimum wage. There were Republicans who thought prescription drug prices should come down. There were Republicans who even cared about college loans being brought down. There were bipartisan efforts to bring about progress.

There was much less bipartisanship in the effort to save lives in Iraq and end that wasteful and unfortunate policy we have in the Middle East, but--however, there was bipartisanship.

During this debate, one of the most serious requests debates we could have, the Homeland Security bill to protect us from natural disasters, to protect us from foreign enemies and terrorists, we have gotten into the most divisive partisan debate that I've seen in this Congress in the 5 months I've been here.

Much of the debate has not been about the Homeland Security bill, unfortunately, Mr. Chairman. It's been about attempts to attack our Speaker, the first woman ever elected Speaker of this House of Representatives, a great day in this country when the glass ceiling was broken, when a great lady was put in this position, the highest position a woman has ever been in in the legislative body in the history of the United States. To try to tear down the Speaker, trying to tear down the party and trying to bring up other issues, rather than talking about Homeland Security.

Yesterday, Congressman Arcuri spoke, a former prosecutor. He said, you know, in opening statements if a person talks about the facts, they've got a case. And if they talk about things other than the facts, they don't. And the opposition party has not talked about the facts. They've brought up everything but the facts of the Homeland Security bill. They really haven't shown where there are problems with this bill.

The previous speaker, Mr. Chairman, talked about, used all the buzz words, the buzz words of ``slush fund,'' ``pet projects,'' ``pork'' and others.

The truth of the matter is, Mr. Chairman, and he knows it as well as everybody else knows it, he's not against those things. He just wants his slush fund, his pet projects and his pork. And when people throw those terms out, because that's not what they are, they are Congress citing specific needs to be placed in the law to that represent their districts. But then what he does is disparage government.

I have spent my life in government, my entire life, and I've found it a great calling, and I think we should all try to make people think more and better about government and have young people see this as a high calling, Mr. Chairman. There are young people in our audience. They should see this as a place where they want to serve and see government as working, and I think some of them do.

But to use these terms in a disparaging way when what the party's trying to do is to say, we want our share, we want our earmarks, not pork, but our earmarks, is wrong. And it's wrong when you take the oath of office to uphold the Constitution. You should be upholding government and supporting government.

And it's unfortunate we've seen this. This has been a low point in the Congress since I've been here.

I am proud to be a part of this Congress. There are many Members on the other side of the aisle that I'm proud to serve with as well. There are some very, very fine people, and I'm sure the gentlemen who have spoken today are all fine people.

But we need to rise above some of this partisanship, try to pass this Homeland Security bill, protect our country, and inspire people to serve in government and realize that it's a process, and the process involves the Senate, and it involves the executive, it involves both sides of the aisle. And to try to tear down one side tears down government in general. We're all part of the process, and I wish we'd work together and pass this bill.

We were up till 2 o'clock this morning because of seven moves to rise and have the committee adjourn. All seven failed. They knew they were all going to fail. And it was a burden on the staff, it was a burden on the Congress, and probably a burden on people that wanted to watch something else on C-SPAN last night.

But with that, Mr. Chairman, I just encourage our colleagues to support this bill, to protect America and to have a debate that is germane to the issues concerning homeland security.

Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

I apologize to you for that. I don't know you personally, and I was reflecting on the politicians in general, all of our government representatives, Democrats and Republicans. So as far as any direct thing, I shouldn't have said that specifically, and I think you have got a wonderful reputation and I appreciate the fact that your germaneness has returned to you in this debate.

Mr. Speaker, this Democratic Congress has been successful in raising the minimum wage with help from people on the other side of the aisle, and the President signed that into law.

It has also passed stem cell research with some help from people on the other side of the aisle. The President has threatened to veto that bill and that's unfortunate.

The biggest issue hanging over this Congress is the war in Iraq; and while this Congress has made moves to have timetables and benchmarks, it hasn't achieved a consensus that the President will agree to and effectuate policy that brings our troops home.

It will take colleagues on the other side of the aisle, people who have been wedded to this war, President Bush's war, and have been unable to get themselves derailed from that train that's on a collision course. Until Republicans come forward and heed America's call to bring our troops home, more and more Americans will die in Iraq, more and more American dollars will be spent in Iraq where they shouldn't be.

We need to redeploy our troops to fight terrorists in Afghanistan and other places and keep our country safe. I ask my Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to join us.

Mr. Speaker, the Congress is at a low point in terms of its ratings with the American public, but I want the American public to know that I am proud to be a Member of this Congress. Congress is part of a system of government that involves the executive and a two-part legislature that includes the Senate and the House. Our system of government is the best ever known to man, and it's working; although slowly, it's working.

The country has told the Congress and the President what the American people want, and that is to bring our troops home from Iraq, or to redeploy them to fight al Qaeda in Afghanistan and other places where there is terrorism.

We have increased the minimum wage. We have put more money into Pell Grants. We have reduced the cost of college loans. We are going to try to pass a bill, which I think we will today, on stem cell research to give people with catastrophic illnesses hope for the future.

This Congress is doing things to make America better. We are doing it in a responsible way with a balanced budget.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a Member of this Congress, and I want this country to know that this Congress is working hard and doing its job to put America on the right course. We are draining the swamp to make this a more ethical place.

Mr. Speaker, there are many issues that face America that are of great importance, from the Iraq War to global warming. These global issues must be dealt with, but we have lacked the leadership in this administration to make the world proud of America and see us as a leader on such issues.

On Wednesday, this House will vote on an embryonic stem cell research bill sent from the Senate which the President has threatened to veto. I don't think there is a more important bill that this House could pass and send to the President and for the President to sign than embryonic stem cell research.

Mr. Speaker, if you or anybody in your family has Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury, cancer, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, you could have relief and possibly a cure for that illness because of embryonic stem cell research. America could reestablish itself as a country that has the best scientific research and provides the world with hope for cures for these catastrophic illnesses.

Last night in the Republican debate, one of the candidates said we need to find a cure for cancer. He's right, and the way to do it is through embryonic stem cell research. I urge this House to pass the bill, and I urge the President to have the courage to do the right thing and be pro-life and extend life for people on this planet.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to quote Jackson Browne's ``Lives in the

Balance,'' a song written quite a few years ago but most appropriate for today.

``I've been waiting for something to happen

For a week or a month or a year.

With the blood in the ink of the headlines

And the sound of the crowd in my ear

You might ask what it takes to remember

When you know that you've seen it before

Where a government lies to a people

And a country is drifting to war.

``And there's a shadow on the faces

Of the men who send the guns

To the wars that are fought in places

Where their business interests runs.

``On the radio talk shows and the TV

You hear one thing again and again

How the U.S.A. stands for freedom

And we come to the aid of a friend

But who are the ones that we call our friends,

These governments killing their own?

There are lives in the balance

There are people under fire

There are children at the cannons

And there is blood on the wire.

``There's a shadow on the faces

Of the men who fan the flames

Of the wars that are fought in places

Where we can't even say the names?

``I want to know who the men in the shadows are

I want to hear somebody asking them why.

They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are,

But they're never the ones to fight or die.

And there are lives in the balance

There are people under fire

There are children at the cannons

And there is blood on the wire.''

Madam Speaker, I thought about what I would use my 1- minute on today, and one thought was to address all the beautiful people that I see have come to Washington and Congress to view our Capitol and our Nation's Capital, and it is a beautiful sight. And another thought was to talk about the need for General Alberto Gonzales to resign to bring back the morale in the Justice Department and the people's faith in that institution. But the bottom line is the thing I campaigned upon is still the most important issue facing America today. We need to bring our troops home, redeploy our troops, and put our resources, financially and also personnel-wise, to work in America, protecting our streets and giving us a more secure country.

We need less troops on the streets of Baghdad and more cops on the streets of Memphis and other cities in this country to fight crime here at home.