Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, Congress will gladly welcome the President tomorrow night to speak to a joint session of Congress about health care. All of us here have been asked hundreds of questions by our constituents over the past month. The President is an innovator in communications. He tries new ideas and is a trend-setter when it comes to new ways to be in touch with the American people.

So as the President addresses Congress on his health care ideas tomorrow night, why doesn't he take some health care questions from Members of Congress, questions that have been asked by the people we represent? After all, we call this the People's House, so why not address questions the American people have?

The questions could be submitted before the President speaks and he can choose the ones he wants to address. This could be a congressional townhall hosted by the President.

Here are just some of the questions I have been asked by the people of Texas.

One: The health care bill seems to cost too much. How are we going to pay for it? This question brought much concern to the people in my district. The Congressional Budget Office says that the pending House bill will cost anywhere from billions to even $1 trillion to just implement.

Tax increases are in the current plan to pay for this bill, more spending of what we don't have. I made a pledge to my constituents not to vote for a bill that will raise taxes, and I haven't. So how do we pay for this without a force-fed tax increase on the American people?

Two: Why is this bill so confusing? It is written in a way that even the most reasonable people from even the same political party can honestly disagree on its meaning. The 1,017-page bill, if it passes, will then allow the bureaucrats to determine the meaning of the bill. Also, Texans don't want unelected bureaucrats in this city making their medical decisions on what services they get and don't get. Can we get a clearly written bill that everyone can understand?

Three: Why shouldn't Congress, the czars and members of the Cabinet be required to sign up for the public option? If it is going to be so good for the American people, shouldn't everyone supporting this plan be required to be under the public option, like government officials?

Four: People on Medicare are scared and afraid they are not going to receive any medical treatment. What is in the plan to make sure there is no rationing of medical care for the elderly?

Five: Why not eliminate the hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and waste in our current Medicare system before we tackle anything else?

Six: All of the amendments offered in committee that would specifically require proof of citizenship to sign up for this new government-run health care were defeated. Americans and legal residents should not be required to pay for the health care of illegals. The bill is confusing on this issue since it doesn't require proof of citizenship.

Seven: Small business owners are afraid they will have to lay off people or shut their doors altogether if they

are hit with more new taxes. What is the plan to protect small business from bearing the brunt of new taxes for this health care idea?

Madam Speaker, these are seven of the questions I have been asked by the people I represent, and I would hope the President could address some them and questions by other Members of Congress.

Madam Speaker, does anyone really believe that big government can do a better job of running health care? It is a glittering illusion to think our health care problems can be solved by more expensive, big- bureaucratic government. We do need reform, but a government takeover will only add to the problems we have now. We need to fix what is broken, not break what already works.

So, Madam Speaker, since our President is an innovator of new communication ideas, I respectfully submit that a townhall meeting between the President and Congress might just be the way to cut to the chase in this health care debate and allow the President time to answer the questions of the American people.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, ``Although the world is full of suffering, it is also

full of the overcoming of it.'' Madame Speaker, Hellen Keller made this observation about life and today I'd like to share the inspiring story of Taylor Christine Hunt. A little baby who I like to call the Miracle Baby. Her story is a moving reminder that prayer, faith, hope, and love can and do overcome the challenges of life.

Born at 27 weeks and weighing just one and a half pounds little Baby Taylor beat the odds. Last fall my staffer, Nicole Hunt and her husband Jeff Hunt shared their excitement with me as they announced they were expecting their first baby at the end of May. In January of this year they found out they were having a girl. We all rejoiced at the news. However, on March 1, 2009, due to pregnancy complications, little Baby Taylor was born three and a half months premature.

Taylor was immediately admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and placed on a ventilator to help her breathe. She remained on the ventilator for nearly a week as doctors kept a close watch on her. Nicknamed the ``little spitfire'' by doctors and nurses because of her sassy and stubborn attitude towards all of their poking and prodding, Taylor would not let anything keep her down.

Early on doctors detected an irregularity with her heart and took prompt medical action to correct it. Thankfully they were successful. In the first few months of her life doctors also discovered that Taylor had an eye disorder that primarily affects premature babies. Miraculously, it was there one day and gone the next. Today Taylor has perfect vision. Slowly, as Taylor's body matured, she learned to breathe on her own, take food, and maintain her body temperature.

While Jeff and Nicole sat by her bedside day and night, they also rallied a huge group of supporters to pray for Taylor. Taylor even had her own website called ``Pray Taylor Home'' and literally thousands of people all over this country and the world prayed for her recovery.

On June 2, 2009, after 94 days of hospitalization, hundreds of tests, dozens of specialists, 3 blood transfusions, and one ambulance ride, Taylor was finally well enough to go home.

Today Taylor has been home for about two months and is thriving. She is almost 8 pounds and is developing beautifully. It has been a pleasure to see this little Miracle Baby beat the odds and I am proud to share her story with this Chamber today.

Edith Wharton, a famous novelist, once wrote: ``There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.'' Taylor is that candle--spreading hope and teaching all of us that we must never give up.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010:

Requesting Member: Congressman Ted Poe

Bill Number: H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010

Account: RDTE, A

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Lamar University

Address of Requesting Entity: 4400 MLK Boulevard, P.O. Box 10119, Beaumont, TX 77710

Description of Request: I have secured $4,000,000 in funding for Lamar University's Advanced Fuel Cell project to continue to develop an efficient and clean advanced renewable energy source to meet urgent U.S. Army space and missile defense battlefield requirements. The Advanced Fuel Cell project continues to develop, test and validate advanced fuel cell technologies necessary to enable lightweight, power efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective renewable energy technology and products for Army space and missile defense systems including: sensors, radars, weapons, and communications. Project could also be used in border, port, and chemical facility surveillance.

Mr. Speaker, government-run health care has been around in England for over 60 years. In those years, the government still hasn't gotten it right.

In March, Britain's Health Care Commission, which has ironically been renamed the Care Quality Commission, reported that 1,200 people have died needlessly at two British hospitals over the past 3 years.

The government report said that Stafford Hospital and Cannock Chase Hospital have filthy conditions and unhygienic practices. The government report says government-run hospitals don't have enough doctors and nurses and the doctors and nurses are poorly trained. They don't know how to use the cardiac monitors, and the hospitals don't even have enough of the cardiac monitors that they don't know how to operate. The British Government report also says that these two government-run hospitals have left patients with no food, no water and no medicine for up to 4 days.

Mr. Speaker, this is just another example that government-run health care has not worked. Doctors and nurses are rationed; care is rationed; medicine, food and water are rationed. The British health care plan is: ``Just don't get sick'' because the government-run system can't help you.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, a year ago today, when we recessed for the August break, there were some of us who stayed here on the House floor and continued to talk about energy and American independence in energy. Eventually, the powers that be turned out most of the lights, turned off the microphone, turned off the cameras, but we talked on that Friday, and then we continued to talk through most of the month of August, even though a formal session did not occur. And we talked about the need to be energy independent.

Now we've gone a year from that, and what has happened in that 1 year? Well, things have only gotten worse as

far as energy independence has gone. Let me give you one example.

In 2008 at this time, in the United States proper we had 1,808 rigs drilling for crude oil and natural gas. A year later, we only have 1,128, so that means 680 rigs fewer now than we did a year ago producing oil and natural gas. What has happened? Well, things have only gotten worse.

We have, or this body passed, barely, legislation to punish energy consumption by the cap-and-tax bill, which means that if you use energy in this country, natural gas, electricity, you use gasoline, you're going to have to pay more down the road. Hopefully, the Senate will not pass this legislation.

And we have fewer rigs and we are not more independent. We're more dependent. And who are we dependent on? We're dependent on the countries who hate us, some countries in the Middle East, some countries that we know and we have heard that actually the money that we spend on crude oil that we send them finds its way to people who don't like America and funds their organizations.

Why do we continue to do that? Because we don't take care of ourselves. We hear about clean energy, and we all want to go to alternative energy, but we're not there yet, Mr. Speaker. We need to do the simple things. We need to use and drill for our own natural gas and our own crude oil, and we can do that in the United States, in ANWR. We can do that offshore, and that keeps the money in the United States. It produces jobs for Americans, and doesn't send those jobs overseas. It keeps our oil companies and our natural gas companies in the United States. It's a good thing for America.

But because of the fear lobby, we're afraid to drill for natural gas and crude oil. And that is a mistake, because it can be done safely, and it should be done safely. The places that we drill offshore, it's been proven that it can be done safely. And we should continue to do that. So, a year from now, hopefully we won't be in a worse situation, depending on foreign countries for our energy.

We should do the obvious. Take care of America. Drill safely, drill anywhere that we have natural gas or crude oil and help bring energy back home to America, furnish jobs, keep that money in the United States and quit sending it overseas to people who don't even like the United States.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, when government runs health care, senior citizens sometimes are refused treatment because of their age. In Sweden, an 83-year-old woman was refused medical surgery by the government-run hospital. They said she was just too old for treatment. Marianne Skogh had pain and numbness in her legs for 5 years. She waited more than a year trying to get approval for back surgery to cure the problem. She was rejected by the government. Without the operation, she would be living in incredible turmoil. She said, ``What kind of life is that?''

Despite her long wait, Marianne was told her ailment was treatable but she was just too old for surgery. The government-run hospital said since she had previous heart surgery, they were denying her the back surgery. They told her just to take some pain pills. When the pain pills didn't help, the government still wouldn't let her have the surgery. Marianne ended up paying for the operation herself with some private funds and funds she received from friends. She's now pain-free.

Government-run health care lets bureaucrats decide who receives rationed care and who doesn't, who lives and who just dies. And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in support of this resolution. Along with my friends who have already spoken, we fly Continental every week. Sometimes there are up to 10 Members of Congress on the same flight either going back to Texas or coming from Houston to Reagan National. And I represent probably most of the Continental employees in the Houston area, since my district circles the airport; although, it doesn't include the airport. Something about redistricting, I believe, Mr. Green.

But be that as it may, great people, great airline. As my friend, Mr. Brady, has mentioned, the employees are topnotch, from the flight attendants to the pilots, in the way they treat not only people who fly but the way they treat other people. And I commend Continental Airlines for their success over the years. It is the best airline.

Many years ago, they merged with a little bitty airline called Trans- Texas Airways, and I was one of those that wanted them to adopt the name Trans-Texas Airways after Continental merged with Trans-Texas. But they eliminated the ``Trans-Texas'' phrase and adopted the phrase ``Continental,'' which has served them much better because it is an intercontinental flying community and do a super job.

And I, too, commend the good work they've done and the tenacious employees that work, not only in the planes but on the ground, the mechanics, and the ramp crews. And so I congratulate them, and I appreciate my friend from Texas offering this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, Sammy Mahan is a small business entrepreneur. He owns and operates Sammy's Wrecker Service in Baytown, Texas. He owns 7 trucks, employs 5 drivers, a dispatcher, and people who work the wrecker yard. His drivers work on a commission, and he cannot afford to furnish them health insurance.

He told me how the new government health care plan that mandates employers provide employee health benefits would affect him. Leaving out his colorful language, he said, ``I am worried to death. This government health care bill and the new taxes on energy and small business will ruin me. I will have to lay off my drivers. They're all young, some with young families, and then they will have no jobs. I will be the lone survivor of the business. Then I won't be able to sell the wreckers I can't use. Who would buy them? I will be putting the trucks on the side of the road next to the kids who have signs saying `free kittens' and offering `free wreckers.' ''

Now, Sammy has a point. The government-run health care plan will cost jobs and put workers on the street or, shall we say, sitting on the side of the road.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding, and I thank the gentleman from American Samoa for his support of this resolution, H. Res. 496.

Madam Speaker, it started with these words: ``General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.''

Most everyone has heard these famous words spoken by President Ronald Reagan on the day he addressed a crowd of about 45,000 people at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, Germany. However, it would be 2 years later before those fateful words issued that day would actually come to pass.

It happened on the night of November 9 after hearing East German Minister of Propaganda Gunter Schabowski announce in a live statement that East German citizens now had the right to travel abroad ``immediately and without delay.'' Thousands of East Berliners charged forward towards the border crossings. Upon arrival, they were met by guards at the checkpoints, who, due to the massive

numbers of crowds of people, had no choice but to allow the East German citizens to pass through, and pass through they did. They charged to freedom through checkpoints, including the famous U.S. Checkpoint Charlie.

Once across, East Germans were greeted by their friends, the West Germans, who danced on top of the Berlin Wall in celebration while others hammered away at the wall on both sides until a section came down, at which point more East Germans walked through and shouted, ``Freedom. Freedom. Just once, freedom.''

November 9, 1989, was that date. It did go down in history as an important day for world peace and for world liberty.

Madam Speaker, today, we stand here to recognize the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It continues to live in history, not just in the pages of books or in resolutions but in the hearts and minds of people all over the world who were freed that night because that wall came down. They will continue to remember and to celebrate the day that democracy, freedom of the people, triumphed over Communism--the day the Berlin Wall fell and was torn down.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, America lost a great lawman last Thursday near Campo, California. United States Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas was brutally murdered on July 23 by thugs illegally crossing into the United States. Agent Rosas was shot and killed at approximately 9:15 p.m. while following a group of people who had crossed the border illegally. Agent Rosas was by himself, like a lot of our agents nowadays. He radioed for backup. The group Agent Rosas was following split up before backup agents arrived to help him.

Agent Rosas was following one of the groups; but when fellow officers arrived, they found Agent Rosas outside his Border Patrol vehicle. He had been shot several times in the head and other places in the body. Agent Rosas had served with the Border Patrol for 3 years. He was only 30 years of age. He was married and had a 2-year-old son and an 11- month-old daughter. A suspect, Ernesto Parra-Valenzuela, is in Federal custody in Baja, California. He had a standard Border Patrol-issued 9 millimeter pistol tucked in his clothes when he was arrested. Four other Mexican nationals were also arrested. They were part of a violent smuggling ring, and one of the other men arrested is

wanted for two homicides and a rape. Also detained were 21 illegals.

Shooting at Border Patrol agents is a drug cartel way of life. T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said that around 50 border agents a year are shot at. Others are run down by vehicles. For example, in January 2008 United States Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar was run down and killed by a drug smuggler in a Humvee 15 miles north of the border in California. When agents spotted a drug-laden Hummer trying to flee back to Mexico, Agent Aguilar threw down a spike strip to stop the vehicle. Witnesses said the driver of the Humvee swerved to intentionally hit Agent Aguilar, and the vehicle was traveling over 55 miles per hour. Agent Aguilar was killed. He was a 6-year veteran of the Border Patrol. He was 32 years of age, and he left behind a wife and two kids. The Humvee driver, the drug smuggler, escaped back into Mexico.

There are others who were killed by smugglers. In August of 2002, United States Park Ranger Kris Eggle was shot and killed in the line of duty at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. The area has become a haven for drug and alien smuggling. The area is known as Cocaine Alley. A drug cartel hit squad fled into the United States after committing a string of murders in Mexico. Out-manned and outgunned, Ranger Eggle never had a chance. He was 28.

Agent Rosas is the first Border Patrol agent to be shot since Ricardo Salinas and Susan Rodriguez were slain in Texas in July of 1998. The Cameron County, Texas, Sheriff's Department was investigating a report of shots fired in Rio Hondo, Texas. That's in the Rio Grande Valley. Deputies found a woman, Margarita Flores, and one of her daughters, Delia Morin, dead at their home. Her son was also shot and seriously wounded. The killer, Ernest Moore, was seen fleeing in a pickup truck; and with the help of the Border Patrol, sheriff's deputies spotted the vehicle in a driveway of a San Benito house Moore shared with his father.

The deputies and the agents were searching the home and the nearby cornfields when they heard rifle shots. Border Patrol Officers Ricardo Salinas and Susan Rodriguez were both found shot and killed. The perpetrator was also killed.

Madam Speaker, the border regions in this country have become the most lawless areas in the United States. Drug cartel thugs roam the border frontier, transporting drugs, weapons, cash, illegals and victims of sex trafficking across the border at will. The noble Border Patrol agents are out-manned, outgunned and out-financed by the drug cartels; and these outlawed drug cartels need to be captured and brought to justice.

In the meanwhile, our Border Patrol protectors need our support. We owe the brave men and women who guard the border more than gratitude for the sacrifices they make. We owe them the proper funding, manpower and support to guard not just our border but their safety as well. These agents are the first line of defense between the illegal drug smuggling cartels and the American people.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3293, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY 2010:

Requesting Member: Congressman Ted Poe

Bill Number: H.R. 3293, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY2010

Account: Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration--Health Facilities and Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas

Address of Requesting Entity: 3080 College Street, Beaumont, TX 77701

Description of Request: I have secured $200,000 in funding for Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas to help renovate their 40 year old Behavioral Health Center.

Requesting Member: Congressman Ted Poe

Bill Number: H.R. 3293, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY2010

Account: Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration--Health Facilities and Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Lamar University

Address of Requesting Entity: 4400 MLK Boulevard, P.O. Box 10119, Beaumont, TX 77710

Description of Request: I have secured $350,000 in funding for Lamar University's Community and University Partnership Service (CUPS) to coordinate, plan, and promote quality healthcare for underserved populations in Southeast Texas. CUPS will provide critical access to resources and expertise for quality healthcare coupled with traditional community-based delivery systems through efficient utilization of University resources and partnerships.

Requesting Member: Congressman Ted Poe

Bill Number: H.R. 3293, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY2010

Account: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Training and Employment Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Digital Workforce Academy

Address of Requesting Entity: 2209 Rosewood Drive, 1st Floor, Austin,

Mr. Speaker, it's time to put common sense into health care reform. The first thing to do is focus on current fraud and waste. The part of health care that the government already runs, like Medicare and Medicaid, wastes billions of dollars every year, and billions more are lost through fraud.

The national health care antifraud system says Medicare fraud costs American taxpayers $68 billion every year. The FBI says health care fraud may be as high as 10 percent of costs, which means the crooks and the cheats are stealing $226 billion a year from taxpayers. That's money that should be going to treat the sick and the disabled. Now taxacrats want to hand all of our health care money over to the bureaucrats.

Law enforcement needs to go after Medicare and Medicaid cheats before we consider nationalized health care. We can save billions of dollars on health care by simply sending the crooks to jail. Fix the obvious stealing and waste before we encourage more fraud and abuse under a universal government-run health care system.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, the women of Iran are inspiring people around the world leading in the cause and fight for freedom. They have taken to the streets by the thousands because of the fraudulent government elections and repressive government subjugation. They are giving even men courage to protest. The New York Times ran an eyewitness report saying, ``For days now, I've seen women urging less courageous men on. I've seen them get beaten and return to the fray.'' Women shout at the men to ``Get up. Get up. Speak out against government oppression.''

Untold numbers of Iranian women have been arrested. Shadi Sadr is a journalist, lawyer, and a human rights activist. She was last seen Friday, July 17, on her way to prayer. She was seen struggling with government henchmen as they beat her and dragged her into a car.

Shadi managed to break away for a few moments, but she was chased down, beaten with batons and taken to

prison in Tehran to keep her voice silent. She is jailed this very night as we assemble here in this cradle of liberty. What's the charge? What's her crime? Seeking freedom and respect seem to be her crimes. And by any means necessary, the black-booted government thugs want to silence those who exercise the first human right of freedom--and that being the freedom to speak out against oppression.

As a lawyer, Shadi represents Iranian activists and journalists. She has won cases for several women sentenced to be executed for violations of religious laws, and those convictions have been overturned. She is also involved in Women's Field, a group defending women's rights in Iran, including the ``Stop Stoning Forever'' campaign.

Mr. Speaker, women are tragically stoned to death for religious violations in Iran, for acts that aren't even crimes in civilized countries. They are buried up to their waist with their hands tied behind their backs, then a mob throws stones at them until they're dead. And sometimes it takes more than an hour to die. These violent, barbaric acts are to be condemned by those who value life and liberty.

For the first time in a Presidential campaign in Iran, women made their oppression an issue in the election. Women courageously confronted their oppressors demanding freedom.

One Iranian woman said, ``When the elections were stolen, women felt betrayed. They took to the streets. Images of security forces beating up unarmed, innocent women were shocking and fueled their anger. At times, the number of women exceeded those of men in the protest.''

One protester told reporters, ``We don't sit in the corner and wait for the men to make change. We do it. We are the mothers of Iran.''

You see, Mr. Speaker, women in Iran have been fighting for dignity and respect for over 30 years. Mr. Speaker, these mothers of Iran have true courage, the kind of courage that comes from standing for truth over government lies. The kind of courage that comes from fighting for freedom against tyranny.

It's been said ``Tyranny is when the people fear the government. Freedom is when the government fears the people.'' And now, the government of Iran has begun to fear these ladies of liberty.

The women of Iran have shown their courage to the world. They speak with one bold voice saying ``NO MORE''. They will not be silenced because truthful, righteous words cannot long be silenced by the stones of oppression and the rocks of brutality.

The Ladies of Liberty are writing their own glorious page in history. They have been unjustly trampled, dragged, beaten, shot, and killed by a government that has declared war on its own people.

They have earned their honored place among those who have shed blood for freedom. But their fight is not for their native Iran alone. It is a fight for all freedom-seeking women and men worldwide that are being persecuted by their own government. Shadi Sadr and the wonder women have earned the respect of the free world.

Mr. Speaker, it is only a matter of time before the women of Iran win their freedom. They are throwing off the yolk of tyranny. With every step they take, they move closer to the day that liberty will be theirs. When they are successful in liberating their country from tyranny, Iran and the world will be safer. Their cause is righteous and their actions are just.

And that's just the way it is.

I thank the gentleman from Texas. I appreciate the time to address this issue. You've brought forth an excellent argument and concern. As you have mentioned, the bigger problem about what is occurring has to do with the Constitution where the First Amendment says, ``Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.'' Of all places on Earth, this body, this group of people in this House should have the absolute freedom to speak freely about things that concern the people we represent, things that concern America, things that are good about America, and things that we need to help for America. This place, Congress. And yet this own body, through this censorship commission, prohibits us from talking to people in our own districts in a candid way. So much so that you and I and other Members throughout this House of Representatives can say anything we wish on this House floor--almost anything that doesn't violate the ethics rules that we've all agreed on. But yet we can say things on this House floor that we cannot say to our constituents back home in the form of a newsletter or a telephone call. The example you gave: We can say government-run health care plan, but we can't say that to our people back home. The reason is because there is a censorship commission that garnishes and looks after our words and says, No, you cannot have that freedom of speech.

So this issue is bigger than health care. It's bigger than energy cap-and-trade. It's bigger than all of those issues. The issue is the freedom to speak freely as a Member of Congress. Now we are slowly entering the abyss where words that we want to say in our own way are going to be controlled by the speech police in Congress. Who would have ever thought this would occur? But yet, as you mentioned, this is occurring because of the things that we wish to communicate with the people back home in Texas or California or Michigan or Iowa. We cannot tell them in a candid way what we think about what's going on here and answer their concerns when they ask us questions through e-mails, letters and phone calls. We are now being told that there are some things you just cannot say as a Member of Congress, and it's very disturbing. The First Amendment is first for a reason because without the First Amendment, none of the others can be enforced. Freedom of speech and the freedom of press are first, along with the freedom of religion and freedom to assemble, because they are the most important amendments and rights that we have. Now it's disturbing, as you said, that we find ourselves in a place where we have to get permission to say things from a censorship board that prohibits us from communicating our thoughts and our ideas back home, things that we can say on the House floor that we can't say in writing. Who would have thought?

It ought not be.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove as cosponsors from H.R. 2469 the following Representatives:

Mr. Latta of Ohio;

Mr. Broun of Georgia;

Ms. Foxx of North Carolina;

Dr. Gingrey of Georgia;

Mr. Shadegg of Arizona;

Ms. Fallin of Oklahoma;

Mr. King of Iowa;

Mrs. Schmidt of Ohio;

Mr. Issa of California;

Mr. Pence of Indiana;

Mr. Conaway of Texas;

Mr. Kingston of Georgia;

Mr. Fleming of Louisiana;

Mr. Pitts of Pennsylvania.