Floor Statements

I want to bring to the attention of the House a serious problem that we have encountered. It seems as though we have such a problem on our borders that now, in southeast Texas, in a small port city called Port Arthur, three illegal Brazilians have shown up in the last couple of days. They have come into the port of Port Arthur and they were stowaways on this massive ship that was bringing in Brazilian paper pulp. Thirteen thousand tons of this pulp was brought in on this ship, and through inspection by Federal authorities, they found three stowaways--three illegals from the nation of Brazil.

Now, you probably assume that I'm talking about people, but I am not. Here is one of those stowaways, one that they actually captured and gave an identification number. You see, the three stowaways turned out to be three grasshoppers. Little bitty critters. Yet our United States Agriculture Department was able to investigate and find

these three little illegal stowaways in this massive amount of paper pulp from Brazil.

So they took the pulp, and it's sitting on the dock. It's going to be sprayed down for any disease. They even gave one of these grasshoppers an official government ID number. Here it is down here: 234735719. Of course, the grasshopper was found in Jefferson County, Texas. The other two, apparently, didn't look quite as bad as this one. They thought this one might be carrying some type of disease and it has, lo and behold, been brought to Washington, D.C., to be examined further by Federal authorities to see if it was carrying any type of disease or contamination from the nation of Brazil.

Madam Speaker, I bring this to the House's attention for this reason: our United States Department of Agriculture is so good and so intense and so competent that they are able to keep out of the United States illegal grasshoppers about three inches long. They're able to find them on this massive ship in the port of Port Arthur, Texas, carrying 13,000 tons of paper pulp. They're able to capture these grasshoppers, send one to Washington, D.C., to be examined to see if it's carrying disease. I commend the Department of Agriculture for their work and tenacious activity in making sure illegal Brazilians--that are grasshoppers--don't enter the United States without being caught.

Now it seems to me that if we are so advanced with technology and manpower and competence that we can capture illegal grasshoppers from Brazil in the holds of ships that are in a little small place in Port Arthur, Texas, on the Sabine River--the Sabine River, Madam Speaker, is the river that separates Texas from Louisiana--if we're able to do that as a country, how come we cannot capture the thousands of people that cross the border every day on the border of the United States? They're a little bigger than grasshoppers, and they should be able to be captured easier.

Well, maybe it's because the country doesn't have the moral will, the government doesn't have the moral will, to protect the borders from people coming in. But we sure have the moral will as a Nation to keep these grasshopper critters from coming into the United States from Brazil. Maybe we need to make the guy down there in southeast Texas that captured this grasshopper from Brazil, he ought to be in charge of homeland security. If he's able to do this with grasshoppers, just think what he can do on the southern border of the United States.

So, Madam Speaker, we have the technology; we have the capability. We need the moral will as a Nation to secure the border of the United States. That is the responsibility of the Federal Government. The Federal Government should take some lessons from the guy that captured this grasshopper and make sure that the southern border of the United States is protected from people who come here without permission. We can do it. Let's have the moral will. Let's send the National Guard, if necessary, to the border to protect the dignity of the Nation. Because that's the job of the Federal Government.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, a bipartisan group of Members representing all the southern border States today called for armed National Guard troops at the border. Our border State Governors have been specifically asking for troops over a year. Violence is escalating. Law enforcement lacks the manpower and equipment they need to protect the people on the border. National Guard troops must be armed and sent to the border, with clear and concise rules of engagement that allow them to defend themselves if fired upon.

Seventy-nine American citizens were murdered in Juarez, Mexico, just last year. Last month, an Arizona rancher was shot dead on his own property. His murderer was tracked to the border. Assaults against Border Patrol agents have increased 16 percent so far this year. Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas was murdered in July--execution style.

Border States need help. The Federal Government has been missing in action. National Guard troops should be sent to the border to help the Border Patrol and local sheriffs protect the safety and security of the people.

And that's just the way it is.

I bring you news from the third front--that being the southern border of the United States with Mexico. The first front, of course, is that engagement in Iraq; the second, in Afghanistan; the third, on our violent southern border. People are coming into the United States from all over the world through the country of Mexico. Because Mexico has a vast coastline in the Atlantic and the Pacific, people go to Mexico, sneak into Mexico, and then sneak into the United States through our southern border. Part of those people that are coming in are called drug cartels. They're coming in to sell narcotics--a profit of over $40 billion a year to the drug cartels that smuggle dope into this country. But also other people are coming into the United States.

Here's a photograph that was taken in Zapata County, Texas. I'm sure you've never been there, Mr. Speaker, but it's down on the Texas-Mexico border. It's a small county. This is an RV parked near the border. But this happens to be a helicopter. It turns out it's a Russian-made helicopter with Mexican markings on it. It's about a mile and a half to two miles into the United States across the border.

Now, the border with Mexico and Texas is not a land border. There's a river there. So there is no way somebody can be mistaken when they accidentally, they say, come into the United States. We don't know the intentions of this helicopter. Two weeks before this photograph was taken, other photographs were taken of either this helicopter or a similar helicopter, once again, coming into the United States-- intentions unknown. Are these folks guarding a shipment of drugs? Are they working with the drug cartels? Are they looking for bad guys, or what are they doing? We don't know.

The problem is the border is porous. The southern border of the United States is porous with that border of Mexico. The violence in Mexico is escalating. Of course, it comes into the United States. There are 14 border counties in Texas that border Mexico. I recently talked to the sheriffs of those counties on the same day and asked them this question: How many people in your local jail are foreign nationals charged with crimes that are not immigration violations? The total number was 37 percent. That's right, 37 percent of the people in border county jails in Texas are foreign nationals charged with misdemeanors and felonies. That's a lot of folks. That costs somebody a lot of money. And that is because the crime problem goes back and forth across the border. It's in Texas and it's also in Mexico. It's because the borders are porous.

We have down on the border with Mexico the Border Patrol. They're doing as marvelous a job as they possibly can, but they need some help. Here's a photograph, Mr. Speaker, that was also recently taken. This is a Border Patrol vehicle. It has been improvised. It's a pickup truck. They call these things the ``war wagons.'' Now why do they do that? Because they think they may be in a war zone down on the border. If you notice, Mr. Speaker, there's a mesh steel wire across the windshield, across all of the windows.

There's even a mesh cage that protects the emergency lights on top of the vehicle.

The question is, Why do they have that stuff on their Border Patrol vehicles? Well, you see, when they patrol the border with Mexico, people who wish to come into the United States illegally pelt rocks at our Border Patrol. And so they have to protect themselves and their vehicles by putting this wiring, this cage, around their own vehicle. Now, if somebody threw rocks at a police officer in the United States, normally those people get arrested and go to jail. But it doesn't seem like that is what is occurring, and so they have to protect themselves.

This is just one example of the violence that is occurring. Border Patrol in the Tucson area, assaults against them this year are up 300 percent from last year. That's right, assaults on our agents who are trying to protect the border, protect us. So we have to do more than that. We have to support the Border Patrol, the sheriffs that work along the border; and we have to do what the Governors of some of those States have asked for, and that's send the National Guard down to the border.

We protect the borders of other nations. Why don't we protect our own? We don't know. I think it's politics. It's time that we have the moral will to secure the dignity of the United States. It's about border security. It's about national security. It's not an issue of immigration. It's an issue of whether or not people can come into the United States legally or illegally. We must have the moral will to keep the criminal gangs, the drug cartels, the human smugglers out of the United States. They know our borders are porous. People in other countries know our borders are porous. They go through Mexico and come into the United States.

The Federal Government has been missing in action. It's time that they show up on the border and send the National Guard to support our troops, support the border sheriffs, and support the Border Patrol.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, because the Federal Government refuses to secure the border, States like Arizona have become desperate to solve the crisis. Arizona has a new illegal immigration law that is causing some heartburn for the open borders crowd. The new law makes being in Arizona without proof of legal status a crime. The consequences range from a misdemeanor to a felony depending on whether one is a repeat offender, is trafficking drugs, or is smuggling human beings.

The open borders lobby doesn't want the laws they don't like enforced, so they protested outside the Arizona State capitol building when the Governor signed the bill into law. They were caught on video pelting police with rocks and bottles. One even assaulted a cameraman. The inconsistent national media calls the peaceful TEA Party people fringe terrorists, but the violent pro-illegal immigration rock throwers get a pass.

No matter how the open borders media crowd spins these rowdy demonstrations, entering this country illegally is still against the law. The Federal Government should do its job and secure the border. That is what they are supposed to do.

And that's just the way it is.

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

Madam Speaker, today the House considers House Resolution 1259, a resolution designating the month of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and I totally support this important legislation. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin) for sponsoring this bill and bringing it to the attention of Congress again this year. It is important that we recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month to bring awareness to this tragic crime that occurs throughout the United States.

The goal of the resolution is to raise public awareness and educate communities and individuals about sexual assault and sexual violence. It encourages the prevention of sexual assault and the improvement of treatment of its survivors and the prosecution of perpetrators.

The numbers tell the story we cannot ignore. On average, a person is sexually assaulted in the United States every 2\1/2\ minutes. According to the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics, individuals age 12 or older experienced an estimated 222,000 rapes or sexual assaults in 2008, the last year for which we have data. The Rape Abuse Incest National Network, called RAINN, provides statistics about incidents of sexual assault in this country. And according to RAINN, children and young adults are the greatest risk of sexual assault: 44 percent of sexual assault victims are under the age of 18, and 80 percent are under the age of 30. One in six women and 1 in 33 men are victims of rape or attempted rape. And over the course of their lifetimes, 18 percent of all women in the United States are raped.

Thankfully, there are thousands of advocates across the country who serve as a bridge to recovery and encourage survivors of sexual assault to report the crimes as soon as it occurs. As my friend from Wisconsin has pointed out, there are numerous victims groups. I call them the victims posse, who are out to help victims of crimes, especially in the area of sexual assault, and we commend them for their work in this country.

As we work to empower victims of sexual assault, we also need to support the efforts of law enforcement officials to punish sex offenders and combat future occurrences. Unfortunately, only 41 percent of sexual assault victims report their attacks to law enforcement. We must encourage victims to report the crimes so we can aggressively prosecute rapists and remove them from our communities. That is why we build penitentiaries, to house rapists and people who sexually assault children.

Today's House resolution increases public awareness of sexual assault and works to combat it through prevention, education, and punishment. As chairman and co-chair of the Victims Rights Caucus, along with my friend from California (Mr. Costa) we totally support this legislation.

I have no further requests for time and am prepared to close.

Madam Speaker, as my friend has pointed out, this resolution, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the statistics really don't tell the story because it is a story about people. Real people. She mentioned one from her State of Wisconsin. And there are too many to mention and talk about. But I would like to talk about one person that impacted my life.

Before I came to Congress, I spent all of my time at the courthouse in Houston, first as a prosecutor and then as a criminal court judge. Every day for years, almost 30, I saw criminal cases, either prosecuting them or hearing them as a judge.

One of those cases involved a young lady. I will call her Lisa. Lisa was a student at the University of Houston. She was married and had a couple of sons. She worked in the daytime and went to school at night to get a second degree. She had left school one evening and she was driving down one of our freeways heading home out in the suburbs. The lights came on on the dash of her car, she had car trouble, and she pulled off to a service station she thought was open. It was not open, but she thought it was. Lisa talked to the service station attendant, turned out he wasn't the service station attendant but she thought he was, trying to get some help late at night.

The first thing that happened, Luke Johnson pulled her out of that car. He kidnapped her. He took her to a remote area of east Texas in the piney woods. He sexually assaulted her. He beat her so bad with a pistol that he thought he had killed her. In fact, when he later was arrested, he was mad that he hadn't killed her. Lisa was a remarkable woman. She survived that brutal attack even though she laid in the woods for a couple of days before a hunter found her. She was rescued. Her physical needs were met. The person who committed that crime, Luke Johnson, was captured by the police. He was charged with aggravated sexual assault. He was tried in my court. Lisa came and testified about the events. Luke Johnson was convicted and sent to the penitentiary for 99 years.

You see, Madam Speaker, we would hope that would be the rest of story and life would go on and victims would recover; but that is not the world we live in. Victims are people, and because they are people, things happen to them emotionally as well as physically.

The first thing that happened to Lisa was she didn't go back to school; she never went back to that campus again. The next thing that happened is she lost her job; she was fired because she could not concentrate based upon this crime. Her husband, being the kind of guy he was, he decided he no longer wanted her. He filed for divorce, divorced her, got custody of the children, and moved to another State.

Lisa started abusing drugs. First it was alcohol, then it was everything else. She couldn't quite handle the fact that she was a victim of crime, even

though the perpetrator was off in the penitentiary. And not too long after this crime was committed, I received a phone call from Lisa's mother, and she told me that Lisa had taken her life. She left a note, Madam Speaker, that I still have in my office today across the street, and the note reads, ``I'm tired of running from Luke Johnson in my nightmares.''

See, she got the death penalty for being a victim of sexual assault. And we would hope that victims could handle it, that they could move on with their life, that they could cope, but that's not the world we operate in because they're real people. And we as a Nation need to be sensitive to victims of sexual assault. It's the most unusual crime in our culture. We can sort of see why people commit theft. We can see sometimes why people get mad and in a rage they might even commit a murder. But there is no logical reason why anybody would commit the crime of sexual assault against another person unless it's an attempt to steal the very soul of that person, and that's what criminals are trying to do when they commit this crime. That is why it is such a horrible crime, and we as a culture must be concerned about it.

So this resolution helps bring that to the public forum, that Sexual Assault Awareness Month is something that we should be, as a people, concerned about because victims have rights, too. The same Constitution that protects defendants protects victims of crime. And as it has been said before, we are not judged by the way we treat the rich, the famous, the powerful, the important folks. We're judged by the way we treat the innocent, the weak, the victims of crime. That's how we as a people will be judged.

So I commend the gentlelady from Wisconsin for sponsoring this resolution. I wholeheartedly support it and I urge its adoption.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I bring you news from the third front. The third front is the border that the United States has with Mexico, almost 2,000 miles long. The first front, of course, is the battle in Iraq. The second is the one in Afghanistan. The third front is the violence that occurs on our southern border with our neighbors in Mexico.

Tonight I would like to talk about one specific group, and that's our Border Patrol agents who are doing a noble job on the broard southern border with Mexico. Some people don't realize this, but our Border Patrol agents, Madam Speaker, are under constant attack, daily attack, and it's from people that are coming into the United States illegally. The assaults against our Border Patrol officers have increased up to 16 percent more than last year. Just in the Tucson area, assaults against Border Patrol agents in the first 2 months of this year have increased 300 percent from last year. Over 108 Border Patrol agents in a 2-month period have been assaulted in the Tucson area.

Let me show you a photograph, Madam Speaker. I'm not sure you can see this. Let me hold it up. This is a Border Patrol vehicle. It's a pickup truck. But you can see that there is mesh steel across portions of this Border Patrol vehicle. The Border Patrol calls this vehicle and others like it a ``war wagon.''

Now, why would they have this mesh steel across their windows, across the front windshield, on the roof protecting the lights, the red lights? Why would they have this? Well, it's to protect themselves. You see, when these Border Patrol vehicles go up and down the U.S. border with Mexico, those people who want to come into the United States illegally are waiting for them in different parts of the border, on our side right on the border, and throw rocks at our Border Patrol, and that's how many of the assaults have occurred against our Border Patrol agents in recent years.

So thus they have to build these war wagons, something that you might want to see in Afghanistan or Iraq, to protect themselves from those who enter the United States illegally because they are constantly throwing rocks at them to divert the attention of our Border Patrol.

The rocks are a weapon of choice by those who want to come into the United States illegally and who confront our Border Patrol. It's not just the weapons of choice by them, our cartels, of course--the drug cartels. They use other weapons. A little more firepower. Border Patrol is out-manned, out-gunned, and out-financed by the vicious border cartels who bring drugs into the United States and make money off of the illegal use of narcotics in bringing those drugs into the United States.

Now, finally, we have started hearing something about what is taking place on the border. It's because of the folks in Arizona; that's where Tucson is. That's where Border Patrol assaults on Border Patrol agents have increased 300 percent in 2 months. They have so desperately taken matters into their own hands and made it illegal to be in the United States if you do not have a passport or a legal document. They have taken the Federal law and allowed police officers, when they have reasonable suspicion, to arrest somebody that's illegally in the United States. In other words, they catch them for doing some other crime, they find out they're illegally in the country and it becomes a crime in Arizona.

They had to pass that law because the Federal Government, who's supposed to protect the sovereignty of the country and protect citizens from people who throw rocks at our Border Patrol, for example, it's the Federal Government's job to do that. But the Federal Government-- because we're too busy, like today. We honor on the House floor all the assistant principals in the United States. Now I'm sure that was an important piece of legislation that we passed today, yet we're honoring assistant principals and naming post offices while we ought to be securing the borders of the United States.

We secure the borders of foreign countries better than we secure our own borders. We secure the borders of Iraq and Afghanistan and Third World countries, but not our own border. So we have to leave our Border Patrol on patrol, driving these war wagons to protect themselves when they're trying to enforce the rule of law.

I recently asked a Texas Ranger down in the Laredo area, I said, What's it like after the sun goes down? He said, Congressman Poe, it gets western. It gets western. What he meant by that, it gets violent. And it does get violent. The gunfire, the violence, the kidnappings, the murders all take place down there because the drug cartels are trying to bring drugs into the United States. And they out-man, out- gun, and out-finance our Border Patrol agents.

Our Border Patrol agents are doing as good a job as we'll let them do, and we need to help them all we can. Several Governors on the border States have asked that the President send the National Guard down there. That's probably a good idea. Let's send the National Guard to the border, secure the border, and make sure that our Border Patrol agents and our sovereignty is protected.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, two of our three Navy SEALs responsible for catching one of the worst terrorists in the world-- Ahmed Hasim Abed--have been acquitted of all alleged assault charges related to the terrorist's capture.

Abed planned the 2004 ambush and murder of four Blackwater security guards in Fallujah, Iraq. These Americans were set on fire, mutilated, dragged through the streets and hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River.

Our SEALs captured this crybaby terrorist. He later accused them of punching him. Two SEALs have been acquitted--the other should be acquitted as well.

Last week I visited the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and met with 10 amazing, intense midshipmen from my congressional district in Texas. The remarkable class of 2010 is expected to graduate over a thousand midshipmen, but only 27 will be selected for the SEALs program.

Our SEALs are the best that we have. We are forever indebted to these great warriors for their service to American freedom. We should give the Navy SEALs that captured Abed medals and send them out there to capture another one.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, freedom of speech is under attack in the West today, brought to you by the same radical Islamic terrorists who use religion to kill in the name of hate. I've talked about Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who is on trial in Amsterdam for insulting Islam. You see, he made a documentary movie about real terrorist acts and real radical Islamic clerics encouraging violence in the name of hate. Instead of being grateful for shining a light on this problem, the Dutch Government is putting Geert Wilders on trial. He is charged with discrimination and incitement to hatred, all for showing the world how radical Islamic clerics discriminate and incite people to hatred. Wilders spoke the truth, and he got charged with a crime in his own country.

The Dutch Ministry of Justice says it doesn't matter if Wilders was telling the truth. The Dutch court says it's irrelevant whether Wilders' assertions actually are correct. What is relevant to the court is Wilders cannot speak freely about radical Islam because it might offend somebody. In the Netherlands the truth is no longer welcome in a court of law.

Geert Wilders now lives under a threat of a 5-year prison sentence from his own government for freedom of speech for the right to tell the truth. His trial is set to resume in July, the trial where the Dutch court says truth doesn't matter. It only matters if Wilders' words hurt somebody's feelings. You see, Dutch law is intolerant of people who are intolerant of violence in the name of Islam. And that's a recipe for disaster. By denying free, truthful speech, the Dutch Government by its actions is encouraging radicals to incite violence worldwide.

Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, grandnephew of the legendary artist Vincent van Gogh, also made a film the radical clerics didn't like. His was about Islam's harsh treatment of women and how they brutalized women and used them as property. The result, van Gogh was murdered in the streets of Amsterdam as he rode his bicycle to work. His partner in the film, now a former member of Parliament, fled the country in fear.

Kurt Westergaard is one of the 12 artists who drew a satirical cartoon about the prophet Mohammed. So radical clerics incited their followers to murder people in the streets around the globe. Most of the clerics admitted later they had never seen the Mohammed cartoons. And Westergaard now lives in hiding under an armed guard. So much for freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

Now the threats of violence are spreading to the United States. The popular animated TV program ``South Park'' insults everybody. It's a comedy program that uses satire to make social statements. ``South Park's'' creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, did a series of episodes that insulted various world religions, including Islam. The 200th episode broadcast depicted all the founders of the major religions. Mohammed was dressed in a bear suit because Islam forbids its followers to depict the religion's founders.

One radical Islamic Web site called ``Revolutionary Muslim'' is upset about the program, so they issued threats saying ``South Park'' creators Stone and Parker would end up like Theo van Gogh, in other words, dead. And they put up the crime scene photos of van Gogh with his throat slit and a knife protruding from his chest. They also gave out the TV network address of Comedy Central in New York, addresses for Parker and Stone's Los Angeles production company, and their residences. The radical Web site said they published the addresses so people could go out there and protest. Yeah, right.

The trouble is we have seen worldwide how these radicals protest. They kill people. Because of the threats of violence and fear for the safety of everyone from the receptionist to the series creators, Comedy Central censored

and spiked a follow-up program. Free speech was intimidated again by radical Islamics. These terrorists are being handed veto power over free speech through threats of violence and murder.

No charges have been brought in the United States against the author of these radical Islamic Web sites. Meanwhile, Geert Wilders is still on trial in the Netherlands for warning the world about these haters for speaking the truth.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, Federal Judge Barbara Crabb sided with some atheists last week and wrongly ruled the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.

The first amendment to the Constitution states, ``Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'' The judge obviously forgot the ``free exercise'' part.

Our Founding Fathers jealously guarded the right to free exercise of religious conscience. Thanksgiving was started in 1789 by President George Washington so the Nation could, ``Thank and pray to the Almighty for blessing America.'' We start each day of Congress with a prayer. Heaven knows we need it. We have a long history of honoring the religious foundation of America's liberty.

The National Day of Prayer does not seek to establish a government religion. Quite to the contrary, we specifically recognize one day each year the right of Americans to freely exercise their religion, free from anyone's interference, including atheists and Federal judges.

What's next, Judge Crabb? You going to ban Thanksgiving and Christmas as national holidays?

And that's just the way it is.

I thank the gentlelady for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, Iran is the world threat. They along with North Korea are working together to plot and build nuclear weapons to threaten the rest of the world.

Ahmadinejad, the little fellow from the desert, has already said that when he gets nuclear weapons, his first target is Tel Aviv in Israel. He has made it clear to the world that he wants to destroy Israel and he wants nuclear weapons; he wants missiles from North Korea to do that. But his threat is not just to the Israelis. It is to the entire region, and even to the United States. He continues to rant about how he wants the destruction of the West.

He helps Hezbollah in the north and he helps Hamas in the south both to engage and cause terror in Israel. Our answer has been, Well, let's talk to them; let's tell the Iranians that they're not playing nice, that they are going to cause problems in the world. Mr. Speaker, we cannot adopt the Neville Chamberlain philosophy and fool ourselves that the Iranians will honestly negotiate with the world. They lie to the world and the United States so they can buy time to build their nuclear weapons. More talking will not bring peace in our time. It will only allow them to build nuclear weapons.

So this sanction must work. It must be enforced. Prevent companies from dealing with our enemy government, the Iranian Government, and do not allow Iran to receive refined gasoline. We must mean it and we must enforce this.

The long-term solution with Iran is that there is a regime change. We hope the good people of Iran change their rogue government, a government that doesn't even represent the people, a government that had fraudulent elections last year and that took over control again.

Our government, our country, our people must be vocal about our support of this resistance movement. Iranians will, hopefully, remove their government by themselves and will peaceably set up a government that represents to the world that it will bring peace to the world.

That is the great hope for Iran. That is the great hope for the world--a peaceable regime change in Iran.

Right now, we need sanctions, and we need to let them know we mean it because we are not going to continue to talk forever and to hope that they will negotiate and play nice.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, there are rules and procedures for coming into the United States legally. You have to sign the guest book at the point of entry so we know who you are. We have a right to know why someone wants to visit our country--and we have the right to tell them when it's time for them to go home.

But right now, America's hardworking taxpayers foot the bill for anyone who sneaks across our borders unabated. American taxpayers are expected to pay for the world's problems. We have enough problems of our own right here.

Let me mention some of our border issues and some of those issues that we have on the Texas-Mexico border.

Criminal aliens are a part of that problem. There is a crime wave taking place in our border regions. There are 14 Texas counties that border Mexico. And recently, I called the 14 county sheriffs and asked them this question, ``How many people do you have in your county jail that are foreign nationals charged with crimes other than immigration violations like misdemeanors and felony offenses?'' And they told me that 37 percent of the people in the border county jails in Texas are foreign nationals charged with those crimes.

These are not rich counties. These are poor counties. And yet they're expected to take the brunt of the crime problem on the border. They don't have the money to prosecute or even house these individuals. You see, Mexico's problems have become our problems.

Further, the violence in Mexico has escalated. Just yesterday, a Holiday Inn in Monterrey, Mexico, was attacked by narcoterrorists. The assault was done by 50 gunmen who seized cars to block streets to slow down police response. At least three people were kidnapped in the attack by the drug cartels.

Violence at our southern border with Mexico has escalated as well, and it not only affects Mexican nationals on the northern part of Mexico, but Americans on the southern border as well. Murders, kidnappings, Old West shootouts, Mexican military helicopter intrusions into the United States, and reports of criminal cartels cloning border patrol vehicles to smuggle drugs have all occurred.

An Arizona rancher was murdered at the border recently on his ranch. A California border agent was assassinated just a few months ago. In El Paso, Texas, our border patrol agents are reportedly being targeted by the Azteca hit men. These outlaws work and protect drug shipments for the Juarez drug cartel.

Arizona has just passed a new law giving local law enforcement the ability to check immigration status and detain those in the United States illegally. The bill also puts an end to sanctuary cities in Arizona. It requires law enforcement agents to make reasonable efforts to determine a person's legal status if there is a reasonable expectation they're in the United States illegally. Arizona and other States are desperate so they are trying to do the job that Washington will not do.

This bill is waiting for the Governor's signature in Arizona, and most Arizona citizens support this law. Border States have been asking for help for securing the border against the escalating violence for years. States have to protect their citizens because the Federal Government refuses to act to adequately secure the border. It is the primary purpose of the Federal Government to keep American citizens safe. When the Federal Government refuses to act, the border States are left to deal with the problem on their own.

Governor Rick Perry in Texas has been asking for National Guard troops for over a year, but the Department of Homeland Security has ignored these requests.

There seems to be blissful silence in D.C. about the border war. Why do we wait for more tragedy before more boots are put on the ground? Our law enforcement agents need help. Doesn't Washington know the border has become a war zone?

National Guard troops should be deployed to the border immediately to protect us from the narcoterrorists. Border patrol and local sheriffs in Texas and other States are outmanned, outgunned, and outfinanced.

The United States guards the borders of other nations, but yet we refuse to guard our own border. Why do we do that? Mr. Speaker, we fail to act at our own peril.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, Jamie Leigh Jones was a 20-year-old and went to Iraq as a civilian contractor. Here is her story: after being in Iraq just a few days, she said she was drugged and gang raped by fellow employees. She was held hostage in a cargo container for 24 hours without food or water. She was assaulted so badly that later she had to have reconstructive surgery.

She convinced one of the people guarding her to let her borrow a cell phone. She called her dad. Her dad called my office in Texas. With the help of the State Department, we helped immediately to rescue her, and she was quickly brought back to America.

But no one has been held accountable for these crimes. The rape kit and the forensic evidence apparently were compromised by somebody in Iraq. During this Victims' Rights Week, we need to realize that when citizens go to a war zone and serve their country and a crime is committed against them, they should have justice.

People like Jamie Leigh Jones deserve the protection of our law. The long arm of the law should reach in lands far away to hold perpetrators accountable for assaulting fellow Americans in time of war because justice is what we do in this country.

And that's just the way it is.

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I want to thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for bringing this to the floor as quickly as possible. I support this resolution, H. Res. 1281, which commemorates the life of the late Dorothy Height, as the chairman said, who died just yesterday.

She was one of the key civil rights leaders who fought for racial and gender equality in the 20th century. She helped bring about school desegregation. She brought about, in her own way, the movement for an advocation of voting rights and employment equality.

She was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1912 and moved to Pennsylvania at an early age. In 1929, she was admitted to Barnard College, but she was denied admission when she showed up to register. The school had a policy of accepting only two black students.

So she went to New York University and graduated in 1932. She received her master's degree in educational psychology the very next year, and after her studies Mrs. Height served as a caseworker in New York City welfare department.

At the age of only 25, she joined the National Council of Negro Women, beginning her career as a civil rights activist on behalf of African Americans and all women.

In 1944, she joined the YWCA and served as the national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, from 1946 to 1957. Then from 1957 to 1997, she was President of the National Council of Negro Women, and during the 1960s, she established ``Wednesdays in Mississippi'' to join black and white women from the North and South to engage in a dialogue as a means toward social integration.

Many American leaders respected Mrs. Height. She lobbied First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to help civil rights efforts in the 1940s. In later years she encouraged President Dwight Eisenhower and President Lyndon Baines Johnson to desegregate schools and appoint black women in positions of government.

Mrs. Height herself served on the President's Committee on the Status of Women, and she was a consultant on African affairs to the Secretary of State.

Mrs. Height was on the platform with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., when he gave his famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech in 1963. As Chairman Conyers has mentioned, he was at that event in 1963.

For Mrs. Height's six decades of selfless work on behalf of civil rights and for her dedication, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. Yesterday, at the age of 98, Dorothy Height passed away at Howard University Hospital here in Washington, D.C.

I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve.

Madam Speaker, I yield to Mr. Conyers an additional 10 minutes and ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to control that time.

I continue to reserve my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

I want to once again voice my support of this resolution. Dr. Height died at 98. The most important influential person in my life was my grandmother, who lived to her late 90s as well. Chairman Conyers would like to know, of course, that she was a Roosevelt Democrat, never forgave me for being a Republican, but once we got past that, she made a lot of comments that influenced me and made a lot of statements that were true then and are true now.

She said that ``there is nothing more powerful than a woman who has made up her mind.'' I think that definition fits Dr. Dorothy Height. She made up her mind about two issues: civil rights and the equality of women in our society.

So today we honor her. I support this resolution and I urge its adoption.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, today is April 21, and when I grew up in Texas April 21 was a holiday. We didn't go to school, and the reason I thought we didn't go to school was because April 21 is my mother's birthday and she always led me to believe that school was out because it was her birthday.

Later I learned that wasn't actually correct, that we had celebrated April 21 as a State holiday in Texas because it is one of the most, if not the most important day in Texas history. Because on April 21, 1836, 174 years ago, Texas gained complete independence from Mexico and became a free and independent nation for over 9 years.

A little history is due, I think. It all started when Mexico was a republic, a democracy, similar to the United States. Texas belonged to Mexico. But a person by the name of Santa Ana became President of Mexico. When he became President, he abolished the Mexican constitution and became dictator. And once he became dictator, he eliminated civil rights for everybody that lived in Mexico, including what is now Texas. So Texas sought independence, and on March 2, 1836, Texas declared independence from Mexico and cited the reasons, because of the dictator, the tyrant who had denied civil rights to all those living in Texas.

At the same time a group of 187 volunteers, of all races from all the States in the Union and many foreign countries, assembled at a beat-up old Spanish church in central Texas called the Alamo. That's right, 187 volunteers stood in defiance of Santa Ana's army, who invaded Texas. Several thousand enemy soldiers came in. We all know the history, that after 13 days of fighting those battles, the Alamo fell and all the defenders were killed.

However, that battle allowed for General Sam Houston, who was commander of the Texas army, to build an army to fight back. As William Barrett Travis said at the Alamo, who was the commander, a 26-year-old individual from South Carolina, that victory will cost the enemy more dearly than defeat. And he was right. Because of the massive losses of Santa Ana's forces at the Alamo, he had to regroup. He started then chasing Sam Houston.

Sam Houston was moving east. He was headed toward the Sabine-Neches area, the Sabine-Neches River, which is next to the United States. We call that Louisiana. He had yet to fight a battle. Santa Ana's armies had been very successful in defeating the Texas armies in almost every battle. And Sam Houston had yet to fight, but he found himself, on April 21, 1836, between the Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River in a marshy land called San Jacinto. There he stood to fight.

Most battles are fought in the morning after sunrise, but on April 21 the Texas army was so eager to fight that at 3 o'clock in the afternoon they decided to march on Santa Ana's forces, which outnumbered the Texans over two to one.

The Texas army was an odd-looking bunch. They were volunteers, but they were from, once again, all over the country. They were frontiersmen. They were shopkeepers. They were lawyers and doctors. They were made up of Texans and of Hispanic dissent. We call those Tejanos. They were led by Captain Juan Seguin, and his Tejanos were part of the calvary. So as not to be mistaken for the Mexican army, because the Texans had no uniforms, Juan Seguin's troops wore a playing card in their hat band to make sure that the Texans knew who they were.

So the Texans marched on Santa Ana's forces completely by surprise and defeated them, an overwhelming defeat, one of the biggest upsets in military history. Half of Santa Ana's forces were killed; the other half were captured. The battle lasted 18 minutes, and one-third of the land in the United States, which is now the United States, switched hands.

This is a map of the way Texas looked after April 21, 1836. Texas claimed all of the land, which is part of Texas, part of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas.

Texas became a free and independent nation that day, stayed a republic for 9 years, and then joined the United States. Texas only got into the United States by one vote when a Louisiana Senator finally changed his mind and allowed Texas to come into the United States.

I mention this, April 21, because it's an important day not only for Texas but for all people who believe in freedom. That these freedom fighters, these volunteers in 1836, many of them gave their lives for that word ``liberty.'' A word that we still fight for today. In our history a lot of people fought for that word and died for independence, both for Texas and for the United States.

So we honor those brave Texans on this April 21, the anniversary of San Jacinto Day.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, this week is Victims' Rights Week. Today I honor the life of Houston Police Officer Timothy Abernethy.

For Officer Abernethy, fighting crime was more than an occupation, it was his personal calling. He bravely dedicated his life to keeping the peace on the streets of Houston, Texas, until he was murdered on December 7, 2008, by a cowardly killer. The murder was cruel and it was calculated. After shooting Officer Abernethy once in the neck, the assassin calmly walked up and put the gun close to the back of the officer's head and fired again.

Recently, a jury in Houston convicted Mabry Landor, III, of capital murder of a police officer. This week the Texas jury sentenced the outlaw to death.

Officer Timothy Abernethy served the people of Houston for 11 years. He was married to Stephanie, and had children. He, like so many before him, put his life between the people and the lawless.

We as a Nation need to remember peace officers sometimes become victims of crime while taking care of the rest of us.

And that's just the way it is.