Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate and celebrate the tremendous accomplishments of a fellow Texan, Ed Lindsay. Ed Lindsay is a native Houstonian that will celebrate his 91st birthday next November. He served in World War II and Korea, and has practiced law for more than 50 years. He is the epitome of what I like to call a warrior lawyer.

In looking at Mr. Lindsay's past one can understand the work ethic and ambition that he embodies. As a boy growing up in Houston, at the age of five, he pushed his lawn mower down Pecore Street to North Hollywood Cemetery, where he mowed cemetery lots for neighbors.

Mr. Lindsay attended Texas A&M after high school. He worked his way through college by sweeping out a veterinarian amphitheater during his time there.

Half a year after the tragic attack on Pearl Harbor, Ed Lindsay reported for military duty on May 29, 1942. It was around this time that American victories at Midway and the Coral Sea marked a positive turning point in the War in the Pacific. He followed orders as he was moved all around the country for training, and completed Ranger training at Fort Benning, Georgia. On Christmas Day in 1943, while most Americans were at home with friends and family, Mr. Lindsay landed in Scotland with about 11,000 other troops ready for action.

Mr. Lindsay and his unit trained exceptionally hard for several months prior to D-Day. Then at 7:00 a.m. on that historic morning of June 6, 1944, he and his men landed on Normandy Beach to carry out Operation Overlord. He was given a top secret clearance, meaning he had access to a broad range of restricted information. Top secret clearance is only given to the most honest and honorable military men and women. Mr. Lindsay saw France, fought in Germany during the famous Battle of the Bulge, Austria, and eventually Hungary until the war in Europe was declared over. At the conclusion of the fighting in Europe, he was awarded two Bronze Star Medals in heroism in ground combat. A Bronze Star Medal for heroism is the fourth-highest combat award in the military. Mr. Lindsay was also awarded five Bronze Battle Stars for his five campaigns in Europe, and a Bronze Arrowhead for the D-Day landing. His unit was awarded a Distinguished Military Unit Presidential Citation, which is only given to units for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ed's stay in Europe came to an end in Hungary, thus turning over another page in his life. His legacy has only just begun.

After returning to the U.S., Mr. Lindsay became a professor of military tactics and science at Texas Tech University, where he met his future wife, Laneta Bechtol. Two years later in 1948, he resigned from the service and attended the South Texas School of Law for two years before being called back into the Army to triumph communist evil in the Korean War. He was the only officer in his brigade with a top secret clearance besides the general. Two years later, he was discharged and finally able to return home for good.

Upon arrival back in Houston, his legal career began to take shape. Mr. Lindsay took the bar exam with no further study or attending his last year of classes. He passed the exam the first time, and was licensed in 1953; A proud moment of many in his lifetime. He put himself through college, fought heroically in World War II, served in the Korean War, then came back and passed the bar exam. Many would be proud to say they've accomplished one of these feats.

Ed Lindsay has had many other outstanding moments in his legal career. In 1975 he became board certified to practice family law, and in 1987 civil appellate law. He took two cases to the Texas Supreme Court and won. Nine years after being certified in appellate law, Mr. Lindsay was elected to the board of directions of the State bar in 1996 and then to the North Harris County Bar Association in 1999. In Houston, Ed is still practicing today.

Madam Speaker, whether on the historic beaches of Normandy or in the courts of Texas, the patriotism and professionalism Mr. Lindsay exhibits demands recognition and celebration. As residents of Texas, we are proud to call Ed Lindsay a Texan. As citizens of America, we are proud to call him an American.

Mr. Speaker, the proposed administration tax hikes are the largest tax increases in American history. The government spends money that we don't have; 42 cents of every dollar spent is borrowed money.

Now the plan is to hike taxes sky high and how is that going to create those jobs? It has been said ``you can't legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. When the government gives money to one person, the government first has to take that money from somebody else.''

``When half the people get the idea that they do not have to work because they think the other half is going to take care of them, and when the working people get the idea it does no good to work because the government is going to take away what they worked for, that discourages all citizens to work.''

Obama-nomics is the failed philosophy of more government, more spending, more borrowing and more taxes; and it's a failed philosophy.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name as a cosponsor of H.R. 413.

Mr. Speaker, the Constitution starts out, ``We, the people.'' It's written in really large print right at the beginning of the document. The Constitution is a rock. It's the foundation. It is not some abstract concept that changes depending on the social philosophy of the elites and tyrants of the Judiciary.

The Constitution says the things it says in plain, simple language. The Constitution is an agreement between the people and the government. It sets limits on what the government can do, not the other way around. The Constitution upholds the principle that people have God-given rights. Government has no rights. Government has power. And the more power it grabs the less rights we have.

Thomas Jefferson warned, ``the natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.'' A government big and powerful enough to control our lives is big and powerful enough to take away everything we have. And that's un-American. After all, the Constitution says, ``We, the people,'' not ``We, the subjects.''

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, history is the great predictor. To understand today, all you have to do is to look at last Saturday. We all remember where we were when hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center. We remember the billowing clouds of smoke blacking out the New York skyline. Those towers--once pillars of strength and freedom-- became mass graves in the space of a few moments. Firefighters, police officers, innocent men women and children all died in a firestorm of hate.

Our country men and women were killed at the hands of radical Muslim extremists. People who believe their religion tells them to be violent in the name of that religion.

Now, 9 years later, it's clear that some Americans have forgotten the horror caused by these terrorists, and they expect us to forget as well. However, forgetting is not an option.

Even though we don't show the pictures anymore except on the anniversary of September 11. We don't talk about those responsible for plotting and carrying out these deadly terrorist attacks against America. We're told we can't be angry. We are expected to blindly accept the hatred for America in the name of tolerance. Under this guise of ``religious tolerance,'' we're told we must allow a mosque to be built near Ground Zero.

No one disagrees with the legal right to build a mosque, but the builder's decision is ill-advised and it's insensitive. This is a building where the landing gear from one of the hijacked planes tore through the roof.

The media scolds those of us who disagree with this building. They say to be tolerant, be respectful and accepting of other people's religions. But why is not the same expected of those individuals? Is this really about tolerance?

The day the two planes hit the World Trade Center, that piece of land in New York City took on a whole new meaning. Ground Zero is no longer just a location in New York. It is a symbol of America as powerful as the stars and stripes. It is hallowed ground of the victims who were victimized because of hate.

Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf--the man behind the Ground Zero mosque--should instead build a memorial to the victims of the radical Muslim extremists instead of a mosque. That would be sensitive. That would be compassionate.

The history books show ``victory mosques'' have been built in or near locations of Muslim conquests throughout history. In 1453, Mehmed II, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, conquered Constantinople. One of his first acts was to convert a Christian church for more than 900 years-- the Hagia Sophia--into a mosque.

Iman Rauf calls his project the Cordoba House. The first great mosque of Cordoba was built by medieval Islamic invaders. They built it on the site of a ransacked Roman Catholic cathedral in Spain. The name Cordoba--is that just a coincidence--the Cordoba mosque initiative at Ground Zero--too many in America thinks this mirrors history too closely.

One of our greatest freedoms in America is our right to worship as we please. Our Nation was founded on liberty and freedom for everyone. Do not Muslims, like most religions and cultures, believe in tolerance and respect for other religions?

Thousands of sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers at this very moment are stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They're fighting the terrorists in the deserts and in the rough mountain terrain. Thirty- five American warriors from my congressional district area gave their lives in these two wars. They died protecting us from these same radical extremists that murder in the name of religion. It seems to me that the tolerance lesson is being preached to the wrong part of the world.

Many Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims are offended by the building of this mosque and believe it is disrespectful and dishonors those who were murdered on 9/11. If building this mosque is meant to truly promote education and understanding of the Muslim religion, I suggest the supporters take a look at history. And rather than repeat history, they should remember history.

Ground Zero is off-limits.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, violence continues to seep across the Mexican border. Narco-terrorists continue to take shots at our Border Patrol from across the Rio Grande River. Drugs and human trafficking continue as our outmanned, out-financed and outgunned law enforcement agents continue to struggle against this violence.

But how is this for a new wrinkle in the drug cartel threat? Law enforcement officials in Texas indicate that the drug cartels may have opened up a protection racket on the American side of the border. Reports show that Hispanics living on the American side are now paying protection money to the drug cartels. These Mexican cartels are threatening harm to their relatives on the Mexican side of the border. If they have relatives in Mexico, pay up or they will be hurt, or worse.

The narco-terrorist extortion racket is just another example of crime coming into America from across the border. People who say that organized crime threats crippling Mexico don't affect Americans are living in Never Neverland.

And that's just the way it is.

In early August, August 7 to be exact, in Houston, Texas, right after the sun had gone down, about 9 o'clock p.m. on a hot summer night, a young girl was walking home. Shatavia Anderson. She went by Ta. And she was walking down the street not far from where she lived in a very modest community; 14-year-old, happy, spirited child.

Madam Speaker, there is a new horror movie sequel here in Washington, DC. It's called the Grandson of Stimulus, and it's really scary.

First, we had the $700 billion Stimulus I. That was a year and a half ago. It was supposed to be spent on roads and bridges and infrastructure, but according to the New York Post, Stimulus I turned into an $800 billion bottle of snake oil, and it cost $100 billion more than the entire Iraqi war. In July, we had Son of Stimulus, the Sequel. It cost the taxpayers another $30 billion. It was a bailout for failed State governments. Now they're proposing Stimulus III: Grandson of Stimulus. It's another $50 billion in so-called stimulus spending. They say it's for roads and bridges and infrastructure again.

Maybe Congress should quit spending money we don't have and let Americans keep more of their own money. That would help get the country out of the poorhouse. Let the taxpayers keep their own money.

And that's just the way it is.

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

This resolution marks the ninth anniversary of the unprovoked attack on our Nation by individuals without conscience and on behalf of masters without mercy.

Those who witnessed the events of September 11 will always remember the inconceivable images and seemingly impossible events that unfolded before our own eyes. But however painful our own memories may be, they cannot compare with the suffering of the innocents who bore the horror directly, nor with those of their families and friends whose lives were torn apart without any warning.

Our purpose here is to honor and remember the victims and the many heroes of that endless day, September 11, 2001. We honor the thousands of innocent men, women and children who were targeted and murdered simply because they were Americans or because they embraced the concept of freedom and democracy. We honor those who, instead of being immobilized by fear, immediately began to search for and rescue survivors at great risk to themselves, many of whom lost their lives in their efforts to save many others.

We honor those in our military who have fought our enemies in distant lands and have borne heavy burdens to prevent them from striking us yet again. And even as I speak, men and women of our Armed Forces are fighting for us and for our country far from their homes in far-off lands. And it has affected many people, even here in Washington, D.C. and in the Congress and our staff. My own chief of staff has two sons that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Marine Corps, and there are many others as we speak today.

On September 11, we were forced to realize that what we had experienced was not really an isolated blow but instead only the latest assault in a war that radical Islamist militants had been waging against the United States for years.

We had already suffered many casualties over the preceding decades, but had not understood that these were in fact from a series of battles in an escalating war against the United States and a war against freedom. These include the taking of our embassy in Iran and the holding of American hostages for 444 days; the destruction of our embassy and marine barracks in Lebanon in the 1980s; the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993; the attacks on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996; and the attacks on the U.S.S. Cole and our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania also in the 1990s.

And at this very moment, our enemies are preparing to strike us again and with the same intent of slaughtering as many innocent people as they possibly can.

We cannot protect ourselves by hoping that somehow we will be spared new attacks, for these are certain to come unless we take action to prevent them. And we have done so.

Over the past 9 years, we have come to know our enemies, their plans, and their methods.

We are daily engaged and seeking them out, finding them in their hiding places and in their holes, uncovering their networks and eliminating their ability to harm us again. But our enemies have many allies and have sunk deep roots, roots that will not be easily destroyed. Victory will not be achieved in one decisive battle but through a sustained commitment that will stretch over many years. It will be fought in many different ways using the range of U.S. resources and capabilities and fought in many other places.

Some may shrink from that prospect; but, if we are to prevail over this enemy that is relentless in its hatred for us, our commitment to our Nation and the principles that we stand for, we must not only match but exceed their determination, the determination of our adversaries.

This is not really a war of choice but one that has been forced upon us by men whose dark vision of the world cannot be realized without first destroying America and our freedoms. Repeatedly throughout its history our country has been challenged by forces that at times seemed impossible to overcome. But however dark the unknowns we faced and however great our fears, we never shrank from our duty as a Nation, and we have always prevailed with the good Lord's help.

And on this day, let us remember those that we have lost, the many heroes with which we have been blessed, and those with whom our safety depends, and let us remember that they gave their lives for our country. And we should do our duty as all generations that have preceded us have done. And God bless this country now and always.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen), the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

Madam Speaker, in closing, everyone that was alive on September 11 remembers that day and what they were doing. It's like those of us that were alive when President Kennedy was assassinated. We remember that day, we remember what we were doing. And the old timers, they remember Pearl Harbor and what they were doing on December 7, 1941. It is a day that the country, that the people, that the Nation should always remember because it involved real people losing their lives because of the concepts that we have in this Nation of freedom and liberty, something that is worth preserving.

It's important that we remember the 3,000 individuals that died that day. But Madam Speaker, it's equally important that we remember those that got to live. Because when those Twin Towers were set aflame, those volunteers, those firefighters, those emergency medical folks and those police officers, they rushed as hard as they could to get to that terror from the sky. And because they did so, many got to live for another day. And there are countless stories like that that occurred on September 11, how Americans reacted remarkably and with bravery.

Another example. This morning I was at Arlington Cemetery with my daughter Kellee and her husband, Anthony Shoemaker, and we were at the Tomb of the Unknowns. And many Americans may not know, but the Tomb of the Unknowns is very close to the Pentagon. You can almost see it through the trees. And those soldiers, the Old Guard as they are called, that protect the Tomb of the Unknowns, they already knew about the two planes that had crashed into the World Trade Centers North and South.

And when that third plane came roaring across the skyline of Washington, D.C., headed straight for the Pentagon, just a few hundred yards from the Tomb of the Unknowns, those soldiers guarding the tomb never left their post. They stayed. In fact, they called for reinforcements. Yet another example of what Americans do when we are attacked.

And so we should remember those that died, those that got to live, and those that continue to fight for our freedoms today in places all over the world in the name of liberty and freedom.

And that's just the way it is.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, today, we honor the brave men who stormed the beaches of Normandy 66 years ago. I hope H. Res. 1251 causes Members of this body and our Nation to pause, even if for just a moment, and remember what 70,000 brave Americans did on June 6, 1944. June 6, 2010 marked the 66th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy.

It was an invasion whose timing depended on Mother Nature as much as anything. Only a full moon would provide enough light. The tide had to be low enough to allow those manning the landing crafts to see German obstacles on the French shore but high enough for our troops to avoid too much unprotected beach.

Code-named ``Operation Overlord,'' the invasion would give Allied Forces a chance to break the Nazi's hold on Western Europe, but was expected to come at an extremely high cost. For paratroopers, including members of the 101st Airborne and the 82nd Airborne Divisions, the likelihood of death was seventy percent.

On the day it launched, even the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight Eisenhower, was uncertain the invasion would succeed. He penned a note, to be released in the event of failure, stating that all blame was entirely his.

At 0630, on the morning of June 6, Americans landed on two of five Normandy beaches earmarked for the invasion: Utah and Omaha. Bombers did their best to pave the way. The B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-24 Liberators, and B-26 Marauders filled the sky. Their task was to drop their 500 pound bombs right at the water's edge, to stun or kill the Germans in their pillboxes, forts, and trenches. Lt. William Moriarity, a B-26 pilot, said, ``As we approached the coast, we could see ships shelling the beach. One destroyer, half sunk, was still firing from the floating end. The beach was a bedlam of exploding bombs and shells.''

Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., former President Teddy Roosevelt's son, was in the first boat to hit the shore at Utah beach. Maj. Gen. Ray Barton had initially refused Roosevelt's request to go in with the 8th Infantry, but Roosevelt had argued that having a general land in the first wave would boost morale for the troops. ``They'll figure that if a general is going in, it can't be that rough.'' Almost all the objectives were accomplished. In the span of 15 hours. the Americans put ashore at Utah more than 20,000 troops and 1,700 motorized vehicles. By nightfall, the division was ready to move out at first light on June 7 for its next mission.

If the Germans were going to stop the invasion anywhere, it would be at Omaha Beach. It was an obvious landing site with the only sand beach within 25 miles. There was no way to outflank it, with cliffs on each side. Fortifications and trenches could be easily built on the slope of the bluff, giving the Germans the high ground looking down on a wide, open killing field. Although Eisenhower hated the idea of assaulting it, it had to be done. The gap between Utah and the British beaches was too big.

When the ramps went down, the Germans opened fire. ``We hit the sandbar,'' one coast guardsman recalled, ``dropped the ramp, and then all hell poured loose on us. The soldiers in the boat received a hail of machine-gun bullets.'' The bluffs were too steep for a vehicle or even a man to get up them. So the plan was to go up the ravines instead. But the Germans knew this and zeroed in on the ravines, raining artillery fire down on them.

Junior officers and noncoms who had been college students two years before were pinned down at the sea wall and couldn't retreat. It was absolute chaos behind them. But they couldn't go up the ravines or stay where they were. They were getting butchered because the Germans had fixed their mortars on them and were coming down on top of them.

So junior officers across the beach looked at the situation and said, ``The hell with this. If I'm going to get killed, I'm going to take some Germans with me.'' And he would call out, ``Follow me,'' and up he would start. Sgt. John Ellery of the 16th Regiment, was one of those leaders said, ``we sometimes forget, I think, that you can manufacture weapons, and you can purchase ammunition, but you can't buy valor and you can't pull heroes off an assembly line.''

In 1964, Walter Cronkite interviewed General Eisenhower on Omaha Beach. Looking out at the Channel, Eisenhower said, ``It's a wonderful thing to remember what those fellows 20 years ago were fighting for and sacrificing for, what they did to preserve our way of life. Not to conquer any territory, not for any ambitions of our own. But to make sure that Hitler could not destroy freedom in the world . . . To think of the lives that were given for that principle . . . it just shows what free men will do rather than slaves.''

Hitler didn't believe this was ever possible. Hitler was certain that the soft, effeminate children of democracy could never become soldiers. Hitler was certain that the Nazi youth would always outfight the Boy Scouts, and Hitler was wrong. The Boy Scouts took them on D-day.

In the end, it was no easy fight. More than 1,400 Americans lost their lives that day in a land they had never seen to free a people they had never met. For those who survived, the horrific sights and sounds of that day were singed on their memories. Many would return home, unable to ever speak of that fateful day again. The memories were too overwhelming to recall.

Pvt. Felix Branham was a member of K Company, 116th Infantry, the regiment that took the heaviest casualties of all the Allied regiments on D-day. ``I have gone through lots of tragedies since D-day,'' he said. ``But to me, D-day will live with me till the day I die, and I'll take it to heaven with me. It was the longest, most miserable, horrible day that I or anyone else went through. I would not take a million dollars for my experiences, but I surely wouldn't want to go through that again for a million dollars.''

For others, only a visit back to Normandy would break the chains off their lips and allow them to once again speak of that day. For us, today, 66 years later, we honor them and recognize their enormous accomplishment.

It is impossible to exaggerate what they did that day. As renowned historian Stephen Ambrose put it, ``It was the pivot point of the 20th century.'' They won freedom for the world that day, but at tremendous cost. In all, 9,387 GIs lie in rest at Normandy.

Today we say to them and the thousands of others who gave their lives that we will not forget your sacrifice. And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pride and a heavy heart that I pay tribute to an American warrior from the 2nd District of Texas today: United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Shane Martin.

Shane was killed during combat operations on July 29 while conducting a mounted patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

He is the 35th in an honored, sacred roll of American warriors from my district who have given their lives fighting the coward terrorists who attacked America on September 11th.

Shane was 23 years old. He had already served a tour of duty in Iraq with the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion based out of Camp Pendleton.

Shane so loved liberty and freedom and this great melting pot called America.

Born in South Africa, Shane lived his early years there and in Kenya before moving to a ranch in Burton, Texas at age 12. When he was 16 years old, Shane moved with his family to Spring, Texas.

After he graduated from Klein Collins High School, Shane married his high school sweetheart, Lauren. Shane proudly joined the United States Marine Corps defending the country he so loved.

While serving America on the battlefields of Iraq, Shane proudly earned his American citizenship.

All of his fellow soldiers gave some, Madam Speaker, but Shane Martin gave all in his defense of freedom. We are honored and humbled by his service and sacrifice for America.

Our brave Marines go to war defending freedom and liberty in faraway lands. In the dark, cold desert night and the parched, insufferable desert heat, these brave warriors pay with their blood and sacrifice for freedom and liberty and for America.

They sanctify with their blood lands they have never seen, and they fight for people they do not know.

President Ronald Reagan once said, ``Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem.''

Shane was a Marine. He gave all to others during his short 23 years to family and friends and his fellow Marines. He was the poster boy for what is best about America.

Shane Martin was a hero in the tradition of our great men and women who defend the flag and liberty. It is America's warriors who pay the price for our freedom.

In America's first war fighting for freedom, Patrick Henry said, ``The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, and to the brave.''

These words still ring true today as men like Shane carry those values into battle. Today we mourn the loss of Shane Martin, but we should thank God that a man like him ever lived.

Madam Speaker, we shall always remember Shane and the precious life gave for our freedom.

As early American poet Joseph Drake once said, ``And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.''

Today we are humbled and in awe of the man who gave so much in his young life so that others might be free.

I extend my prayers and condolences to Shane's wife Lauren and his mother and father Debora and Kevin Wallace, his brother Kyle, his beloved little sister Diane, his grandmother Pammy, his fellow Marines and friends in the Spring community.

When a warrior goes off to faraway lands, the family stands vigilant at home because they, too, have really gone off to war.

Today we honor the life of Marine Lance Corporal Shane Martin.

Semper Fi, Shane Martin, Semper Fi.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, Government Motors is investing $500 million to refurbish an old manufacturing plant. GM is going to make a whole new line of engines at the new plant. And a whole new line of cars.

This GM investment of taxpayer bailout dollars will bring hundreds of new jobs!

The problem is the shiny new GM plant is in Mexico.

The Ramos Arizpe plant in northern Mexico will get a hefty half- billion dollar makeover.

Mexico will get the 390 new jobs that go along with it.

I thought the GM bailout was to ``save or create'' American jobs?

The American taxpayers bailed out GM. Its taxpayer money. Why isn't Government Motors investing a half billion dollars in an American Plant?

American jobs are going to Mexico. And Mexicans are coming to the United States to take American jobs.

Would these 390 new Mexican jobs be saved or created?

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pride and a heavy heart that I honor a fallen Son of Texas today. Staff Sergeant Leston Michael Winters--known to his friends and family as Tony--gave his life in Afghanistan in defense of freedom.

Tony was killed July 15th when an IED exploded near his dismounted patrol. Tony was in the Zhari District of the Kandahar Province. The IED is the weapon of cowards who hide in the shadows. These cowards are too afraid to stand and fight.

Staff Sergeant Tony Winters was all American. He graduated from Hardin-Jefferson High School in 1998. He joined the Army and served as a combat medic.

Medic! Medic! Those are the words that ring out when warriors are injured in battle. And it is the rare breed of medical man who runs to their aid in the heat of the battle. Through the dust and sand and heat of the desert sun, the medic in Afghanistan saves lives.

A combat medic is the bravest kind of warrior--running into the battle to aid the fallen soldier.

Tony was safe and snug serving at a stateside hospital in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. But last Christmas he decided to transfer to a base that would go into combat.

He wanted to serve on the front lines.

Tony knew full well what that decision meant. You see, he had already served three tours overseas, one in Kosovo and two in Iraq.

Tony knew where his skills would be best used fighting the terrorists who attacked America on September 11th. Tony knew the importance of his job to the war effort. He was a saver of lives in the combat arena. An Army combat medic.

General Douglas MacArthur was speaking of real men like Tony when he spoke those immortal words: Duty, honor, country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.

Tony understood duty and personal sacrifice. He went to Afghanistan to save help save the lives of his warrior brothers and sisters.

Tony is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, sons, Remington and Jonathon, daughter Emma, his parents Kenneth and Cheryl Spivey of Sour Lake, Texas, his sister Alisha Martin of Port Arthur, and brother Cory Hunt also of Sour Lake.

Staff Sergeant Tony Winters will be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in August.

As the early American poet Joseph Drake said, ``And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.''

It is my honor to offer a grateful nation's thanks and prayers. We are grateful that a man like Staff Sergeant Tony Winters lived and loved America.

It was once said that what we do for ourselves dies with us--but what we do for the others and the world remains and is immortal. Tony's life was dedicated to saving the lives of others.

All give some in Afghanistan, but Staff Sergeant Tony Winters gave all. He is an American hero.

I offer my heartfelt condolences to Tony's wife and children and to his friends and family.

Today we honor this great American warrior's life and are humbled by his greatest of sacrifices.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government has decided some people are more special than others. The administration thinks the Wall Street elites are special. The big banks and the big auto industries, well, they are really special and too big to fail, but the administration has decided the blue-collar workers who do the rough work on the oil rigs and provide American energy--just aren't special.

The blue-collar guys don't want handouts like the special interest big shots got. They just want their jobs back.

But the administration not only won't treat these workers special, the administration just took their jobs away because of the offshore drilling moratorium. Now these American jobs are headed to Brazil, Libya and to Egypt.

The drilling moratorium is not based on science, it's arbitrary. Two courts have so ruled. Five Americans are killed on highways every hour. I don't see anyone wanting to close all the roads down.

The deep-water moratorium should end. The offshore workers should get their jobs back, but that's not going to happen any time soon because it's only special treatment for special folks, and they are just not that special.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, everybody outside of Washington, DC, understands government spending is out of control.

For those inside the Beltway who don't get it, the Congressional Budget Office put out a report that explains it loud and clear. The report says, ``Deficits will cause debt to rise to unsupportable levels.''

That's right, unsupportable levels. Every family struggling right now that tries to make ends meet understands that you can't spend more than you make.

In 55 B.C. the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero supposedly warned Rome before it crashed and burned: ``The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, and the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.''

So what have we learned in 2065 years since Cicero first said these words? Apparently government-gone-wild big spenders haven't learned a thing.

And that's just the way it is.