Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, as Texans we are proud of our fight for independence. We often celebrate the courage and sacrifice made by the Alamo defenders. We boast of the cunning and valor displayed by the victorious troops at the Battle of San Jacinto. When celebrating these two historic events, I would be remiss not to mention the vital role that Juan Seguin played in both of those battles.

Juan Seguin was born in 1806 at San Antonio, in what was then Mexico. He soon grew

tired of President Santa Anna's policies and in 1835, he responded to a call for support by raising a company of Tejanos, Texans of Hispanic descent, to aid in the revolution. In October of 1835, following a battle in Bexar, Stephen F. Austin granted a captain's commission to Seguin.

Seguin's company would soon arrive at the Alamo with other Revolutionary heroes such as, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and William Barrett Travis, who were taking shelter as General Santa Anna's army was advancing on San Antonio.

As the Alamo came under constant bombardment, Colonel Travis sent out messengers to get help. The last messenger sent out was Juan Seguin on a mission to seek reinforcements from Colonel James Fannin to send troops from nearby Goliad to help the defenders at the Alamo. After his failed attempts to persuade Fannin, he journeyed to the ranches along the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers to recruit more Tejanos.

His company then met up with General Sam Houston at the town of Gonzales. There, the tragic news that the Alamo had fallen was delivered. A decision was made to burn the town of Gonzales in order to deny shelter to Santa Anna's troops.

As General Houston's armies retreated, he gave Seguin's company the task of riding into the frontier and warning the settlers of the coming danger. Because of this great service to the Texas Revolution, he has been dubbed ``The Paul Revere of Texas.''

Later, Seguin commanded the only Tejano unit to fight in the Battle of San Jacinto. None of the Texians at San Jacinto wore uniforms on the battlefield. In order to distinguish themselves from the Mexican soldiers, only Mexican officers wore uniforms, Seguin's Tejanos wore playing cards in their hats to avoid friendly fire. After the battle, Seguin personally accepted the surrender of a number of Mexican officers. After his company's valiant effort in the battle, Seguin was promoted to Lt. Colonel. Texas liberty would not be secure without the help of the native Tejanos in this and other battles during the fight for Texas independence.

Each year, approximately 220,000 people visit the World's tallest war memorial, The San Jacinto Monument. The monument, which stands 15 feet taller then the Washington Monument, has two roads leading to the park. In honor of the contributions made by Seguin and his Tejanos one of those roads is named Juan Seguin Boulevard.

One of the oldest towns in Texas, Seguin was originally founded in 1838 near the Guadalupe River. In 1853, it was incorporated and named Walnut Springs. Six months later the name was permanently changed to Seguin. Today, the city nicknamed the ``Pecan Capital of Texas'' is home to the Texas Lutheran University. In October of 2000, the city of Seguin unveiled a 17-foot statue of its namesake in the town square. The statue depicts this Texas hero valiantly leading the charge atop a horse with his saber in hand. As I stand here one day after we celebrated the historic battle of San Jacinto that gave Texas its independence, I want to acknowledge this Texas legend that played such an instrumental role in the victory.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, April 21 is known as San Jacinto Day in Texas. In 1836, Texas was in a fight for independence from the dictator of Mexico, Santa Anna. On March 6, 1836, 186 volunteers from all races had fought and died at the Alamo trying to hold off the massive invading armies of Santa Anna. Meanwhile, General Sam Houston was forming an army of Texans and Tejanos--Tejanos were Texans of Mexican descent--to stand and fight the three invading armies of Mexico.

Finally, on the swampy, marshy plains of southeast Texas where the San Jacinto River meets Buffalo Bayou, General Sam and the boys took a stand. In broad daylight in midafternoon on April 21, 1836, the volunteers for Texas freedom charged a Mexican army over twice their number. This fierce bunch of frontiersmen from all the States overwhelmingly defeated the invaders.

In 18 minutes, Texas had won independence and the largest amount of land in North American history changed hands because of a single battle.

Texas remained a free and independent republic for 9 years, electing General Sam as its first president. Then Texas was admitted to the U.S. by just one vote. And the rest, as they say, is Texas history.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, the Nation of Israel has fought for 60 years for the right to exist, and I'm proud to be a cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 322, a measure before the House today. It recognizes the 60th anniversary of Israel's statehood, and reaffirms United States support for Israel as Israel continues to pursue peace with its neighbors and defend itself against constant threats to its security and its existence.

Sixty years ago, on May 14, in the aftermath of World War II, the people of Israel declared independence and claimed sovereignty of about 8,000 square miles of land that was between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, the area about the size of New Jersey. That day was just the beginning of another chapter in Israel's long history of defending its right to exist.

Almost immediately after Israel announced independence in 1948, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia all declared war on Israel, launching Israel's long fight for the mere right to exist. In that war, the newly created State of Israel defeated the Arab armies that invaded it, and even expanded some of its territory.

Then again, in 1967, Israel acted once more to defend itself against hostile invasion by its neighbors during the Six Day War. Once again, in 1972, Israel was targeted by Arab armies during the Yom Kippur war.

And recently Israel has been attacked in the north by terrorist hate groups Hezbollah, and in the south by Hamas terrorist group.

Also, Israel has been forced to defend itself against Palestinian aggression. And since January 1 of this year, Palestinians have fired more than 450 mortar shells into Israel. This rocket fire has intentionally targeted civilian communities in Israel, and made life for these people a nightmare. But Israel is resilient and continues to fly the flag of freedom.

I proudly join my colleagues in commending the people of Israel for building this democratic state in the face of terrorism, hostility, hate and war from their neighbors.

Israel and the United States are like family. Sometimes we disagree on things, but when someone attacks part of the family, it's an attack on the whole family. Let there be no mistake about it. The United States stand side by side with its friend, Israel, and with the concept of freedom.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, I want to bring to the House's attention a new innovative idea to import drugs into the United States. The drug cartels in South America, specifically in Colombia, continue to figure out ways to import cocaine at a profit into our country. Now they are doing it by sea, and they are using submarines that they make in the jungles where they make the cocaine that they bring into the United States.

I have here, Mr. Speaker, a photograph of a submarine. This photograph was taken by the United States Coast Guard as they were on patrol off the coast of Colombia with the United States Navy. This submarine is made out of fiberglass. It is about 100 feet long and it carries approximately $300 million worth of cocaine. It has a crew of five.

It is made in such a way that when intercepted by the United States Navy or the United States Coast Guard, they are able to pull certain levers and valves on this submarine and it is junked in the Gulf of Mexico or off the coast of Colombia. They scuttle these ships, because what happens is when they scuttle them, the five man crew jumps off the boat into a lifeboat, and then our United States Navy has to rescue them and save them, but they can't prosecute them for importation of drugs into the United States.

These submarines cost the drug cartels about $1 million apiece to manufacture. Intelligence sources tell us

that the drug cartels will bring in approximately 90 more loads of drugs into the United States from Colombia using these submarines the rest of this calendar year.

They are made in such a way that they are highly mobile. They go about 14 knots apiece, and they are able to go all the way from Colombia into the United States without refueling. It is a constant problem for our Navy and our United States Coast Guard to track these individuals and to catch them with the cocaine.

Only one situation where we, I say we, the United States Navy and the Coast Guard, were able to capture one of these vessels before it was scuttled and prosecute the crew was when they tried to sink it off the coast of Colombia after seeing the United States Navy. But what happened was after they scuttled the submarine, a load of cocaine, a bundle of cocaine, if you will, came to the surface. Once it came to the surface it was confiscated by our Navy. The five member crew was captured and they have been taken to Tampa, Florida, and they are on trial for importation of narcotics into the United States.

I bring this to the House's attention, Mr. Speaker, because of the fact that Congress needs to deal with this issue. These submarines carry no flag. They are not registered to any nation or foreign government. The crew members come from all over the world, mostly from Colombia. They claim no citizenship from any nation. And they don't claim, of course, possession of the vessel.

So Congress can deal with this issue by making it a Federal offense to use a submarine within international waters that carries no flag, carries no registration of another nation, and if a person is caught operating one of these vessels, they could be prosecuted as if they had drugs. The drug cartels are smart. They know if they can destroy the evidence they can't be prosecuted. We need to make a law that being in possession of this submarine is enough to prosecute them for crimes on the high seas.

Mr. Speaker, I might add that these vessels are so manufactured that they are not just able to carry cocaine into the United States worth $300 million, or 12 tons, that is how much cocaine, but that same vessel can go into any of our ports in the United States as a submarine carrying weapons, explosives, weapons of mass destruction, and used as some type of suicide submarine, similar to what was used against the USS Cole some years ago in the Middle East.

So the United States Coast Guard and Navy is to be complimented for tracking these vessels and doing everything they can to interdict the individuals that bring that cancer into the United States, and Congress needs to deal with the issue, to have these submarines that are basically at war with the United States bringing in these narcotics, have it be a crime to be in possession as a crew member of one of these vessels. It is things like this where we have to keep constant diligence in fighting the war on drugs.

Just to be clear, Mr. Speaker, intelligence tells us that these submarines are made by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. That is the military wing of the Colombian communist party. Of course, that is how they finance their revolution and the revolutionary ideas in South America.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, today marks the 1 year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre. One year ago, students on the campus woke up and went to class. It was another seemingly ordinary day. But a mentally-ill coward, hungry for control and infamy, followed through on his premeditated rampage.

On April 16, 2007, there were two separate attacks, 2 hours apart on the campus of Virginia Tech. The murderer, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded many.

The first attack occurred at West Ambler Johnston Hall. Cho entered the co-ed dormitory, home to 894 students, at 7 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, he murdered two victims before returning to his dorm room. Nearly 2 hours later, Cho went to a post office to mail writings and video footage to NBC News. He was sure to inform the press because he wanted the infamy and power. This coward carried chains, locks, a hammer, a knife, two guns, nineteen 10- and 15-round magazines, and almost 400 rounds of ammunition. He was on a murderous mission.

Two hours after his first killings, Cho continued his murder spree at Norris Hall. He chained the three main entrance doors shut, placed a note on the doors that said if the door was opened a bomb would explode, and then went up to the second floor to begin the massacre. Cho peeked into the classroom twice, to view his prey. He entered Professor G.V. Loganathan's classroom, killing the professor and then killing 9 of the 13 students. Two other students were injured and only 2 students survived unharmed. Cho then walked across the hall to Christopher James Bishop's classroom where he killed Bishop and 4 other students. Cho wounded 6 others. Cho continued down Norris Hall, shooting students and professors. He returned to the classrooms several times. Cho's spree continued for 10 to 12 minutes. He fired at least 174 rounds.

The 2 hour murderous massacre taught us that universities must have a coordinated, quick system to notify students, staff, and the entire university community of a pending danger. I'm an original cosponsor on the Virginia Tech Victims Campus Emergency Response Policy and Notification Act, which would require universities to notify students and employees within 30 minutes after campus security or law enforcement determines that an emergency exists on campus. It is unfortunate that it took a tragedy to teach us this lesson.

This country continues to mourn the lives of the 32 victims from Virginia Tech. We will never forget them. And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, the curtain has dropped on the stage of free speech in Paris, France for actress Brigitte Bardot. The birthplace of enlightenment has now become home to conformity and political correctness, and rigid speech control.

In France, if speech is offensive, a person can be fined and imprisoned. That's what French prosecutors are trying to do to Brigitte Bardot, claiming she incited racial hatred toward the Muslim community.

Bardot wrote comments in a letter to Nicolas Sarkozy that offended Muslims. Bardot, an animal rights activist, denounced a Muslim festival that including slaughtering sheep by saying she was ``fed up with being led by this population which is destroying us, and destroying France.''

Now the French speech control police claim it's a crime to speak ill of Muslims. So much for freedom of speech in progressive France.

Speech control is a throwback to the Dark Ages when no one could say anything bad about the king. Gone is the citizen Voltaire's philosophy of ``I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend it to the death for you to say it.''

But today French citizens that speak their mind may face the modern day Bastille if they offend Muslims or hurt their feelings. It looks like the last curtain call for actress Brigitte Bardot and free speech in France.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, today the small town of Hull Texas, population 1,800, is mourning the loss of a native son who grew up to be a mighty warrior for the United States Army. He gave up everything he had to protect everyone else's freedom.

Army Sergeant Shaun Paul Tousha was killed in Baghdad, Iraq on April 9, 2008 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

Madam Speaker, the IED is the way our cowardly enemy fights this war. And in my Congressional district area, Shaun Paul is the 26th area resident that has been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan during these wars.

He was a man from small town Texas who had a playful heart, and he made a big impression on everybody that knew him growing up. He died as a war hero at the age of 30, and he will forever be recognized as how he lived, that being a loving husband, a caring father and a great friend to all those people in rural America.

Shaun Paul Tousha was born February 11, 1978 in Silsbee, Texas. He grew up in the town of Hull, Texas, and he was the son of the late Tommy Gene and Roberta Tousha. He was a husband to Christy Tousha, and loving father of the two children, Colton and Maycee.

As a teenager, Shaun played football, like most Texas rural boys do. He played at Hull-Daisetta High School. And he also liked to ride horses. And being a cowboy, he enjoyed bull riding.

His stepmother, Doris Tousha, was very proud of Shaun. She described him as outgoing and an individual who had a lot of friends. He was always cutting up, acting silly, and made friends easily. He liked to joke around, and his personality drew people toward him. She said that he may have been a handful growing up, but she was proud of the way he turned out.

And after graduating from Hull-Daisetta High School in May of 1996, Shaun got a job at a wire company in Dayton, Texas. He worked there for several years before he heard his Nation's call and joined the United States Army at the age of 22 in February of 2000.

His father, Tommy Gene Tousha, was extremely proud of his son's decision to serve in the Army, and even went with him to the local recruiting station when he joined up.

Madam Speaker, General Patton once said ``we should live for something, rather than to die for nothing.'' Shaun sought to live his life in duty to this country.

Shaun attended basic training in Ft. Benning, Georgia and later was stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas. He was assigned as a Generator Equipment Repairman in the 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, in Ft. Hood, Texas.

General Patton reminded us that ``wars may be fought with weapons but they are won by men.'' Shaun was a skillful soldier, and he and his comrades in arms are the ones with the boots on the ground that are winning this war. Shaun realized this, and during his first tour of duty in Iraq he decided to re-enlist in the United States Army and make the military his career. He served three tours of duty in Iraq.

When Shaun's father died in 2002, he helped his stepmother, Doris, through many difficult times. He took care of his family back home in America.

Doris said that she was impressed at Shaun's emotional strength during that painful ordeal of the family father's death. Doris said that she was proud that the Army really helped him become a mature individual.

George Washington once said that ``discipline is the soul of the Army.'' And with Shaun's character, background and career in the Army, Shaun was able to overcome even the most trying circumstances because of that discipline.

One of Shaun's best friends, Johnny Fregia, described him as a ``good ol' boy that died for his country.'' They became friends when they worked together in Dayton, Texas. Shaun was Johnny's helper, and he kept work interesting for Johnny with his humor, ever-present smile and his constant good mood. They enjoyed even shooting pool after work, and Johnny said that Shaun was pretty good at it.

Johnny described the high caliber of character and love for their country that his friend Shaun had and the rest of our military men and women possess.

Johnny went ahead and said, ``freedom ain't free. And sometimes we take it for granted. There's a price to pay, and those guys like Shaun are willing to pay for it. They are willing to lose everything they've got to keep this country free.''

Madam Speaker, this is a recent photograph of Shaun Paul Tousha right before he died. Shaun Tousha paid the ultimate price with his life, the price for freedom in our country.

Aristotle once wrote that ``we make war so that we may live in peace.'' Shaun served in order that we may have freedom and have real peace in this country.

Americans, even in this chamber, cry peace, peace. But Madam Speaker, there can be no peace as long as there are people who are trying to kill Americans somewhere in the world. And Shaun Paul tried to protect us from that threat.

He had a heart as big as Texas, and we are proud of Sergeant Shaun Tousha. The light of his life has been extinguished, buy Shaun's joyful spirit will burn bright forever in the hearts and minds of his friends, his fellow soldiers, and the Texans that loved him.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, today, the Supreme Court declared that lethal injection is a constitutional form of execution under the eighth amendment. The unofficial moratorium on the death penalty across this Nation is now over.

Two death row killers argued that lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment. I was present at the Supreme Court today when in a 7-2 opinion the Court rejected the challenges of these two outlaws. They are both from Kentucky. One is Ralph Baze. He murdered a sheriff and a deputy sheriff 16 years ago when they were trying to serve him a warrant. Sixteen years later, Baze is still living while the two officers' families wait for justice.

The other killer, Thomas Bowling, murdered Tina and Edward Early outside their dry cleaning business 17 years ago. Bowling also shot the Early's 2-year-old son, but he survived, although he is an orphan today.

Baze and Bowling argued that there were risks of pain from lethal injection. Of course neither one considered the pain that they inflicted on their victims or their victims' families.

The Supreme Court rightfully decided that lethal injection is constitutional. Baze and Bowling earned the punishment that the juries imposed. Justice can be delayed no longer. It's time for both of these killers to have their judgment day.

And that's just the way it is.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been said by folks that Washington, DC., is the only place in America that is surrounded by reality because people here, especially in Congress, those people say, are in a Disney World atmosphere and don't know how the world really is.

Probably the best example is what has taken place throughout our country in the area of gasoline prices. They are going up every day. Every day we come back to Congress, gasoline prices continue to rise. And there's a constant problem here. Retail operators who run those mom-and-pop independent gasoline stations are saying they're not even making a profit off of gasoline. They hope maybe they can make one cent a gallon. The way they make profit is selling lottery tickets and donuts, and the country continues to see higher and higher gasoline prices.

It's a tremendous problem that we have to deal with. We have to come out of this Disney World atmosphere and solve the problem. Some say what is going to save us all is ethanol. Let's take all of the farmland in America, let's till it up, let's grow some corn, and let's make some of that unproven, unpredictable ethanol to burn in our vehicles.

Of course, what we have done as a Nation by encouraging and subsidizing the special interest group of ethanol, we've raised the corn prices worldwide. In fact, they have tripled in the last 2 years. And because corn prices are going up, wheat prices are going up. And in the last 17 years, food prices in

the world are higher than they ever have been, all because the United States has seen this vision that ethanol is going to save us all.

Several years ago, those who talked about ethanol that weren't for the concept of ethanol said ethanol is not going to be profitable unless gasoline gets to $4 a gallon. Four years ago, people in this House said, oh, that's never going to happen. The problem with ethanol is it takes a gallon and a third of fuel, diesel, to produce a gallon of ethanol. And only when gasoline gets to be $4 a gallon will ethanol be profitable for this country.

In fact, it's driving up pollution. Science Magazine has stated, ``After taking into account worldwide land-use changes, corn-based ethanol will increase greenhouse gases 93 percent compared to gasoline over a 30-year period.''

In other words, the House was trying to be environmentally correct. We want to make sure we don't have pollution. Nobody wants pollution. Nobody wants greenhouse gases; but unproven, subsidized ethanol is going to raise worldwide greenhouse gases all because we're tilling up our farmland.

I have here a map of the United States. Now we're also finding out where the Mississippi River dumps into the Gulf of Mexico, there is a dead zone, and there is a dead zone there for various reasons. But because we're plowing up all in the Midwest this farmland and making corn, which takes a lot of fertilizer, that fertilizer is going down the Mississippi River, and the dead zone at the mouth of the Mississippi River is getting bigger. ``Dead zone'' means exactly what it says: Nothing grows there and fish don't live there, all because of this concept of ethanol.

So what are we doing about it? Well, first thing Congress did, we're going to punish those oil companies, those American oil companies, and we are going to tax them, raise the taxes on these oil companies, and that's what Congress did. Now it's a simple economic fact. You tax something, you get less of it. What does that mean? That means if you tax something, you're going to get less production. You're going to get less production of crude oil.

Now, we don't drill off our own shores. We're the only Nation in the world that doesn't take care of ourselves with the natural resources that we have been given. The only place we drill offshore, Mr. Speaker, is right here in this blue zone off the State of Texas where I'm from, off the State of Louisiana and parts of Mississippi and Alabama. But you see in all of these areas that are red on this map, there is crude oil out there in the ocean, but we don't drill out there even though crude oil is there.

In fact, we're going to see some new platforms out in the Gulf of Mexico, but they're not from America. Right here off the coast of Florida, right there at the tip, there is an oil site, but we're not drilling there because we don't drill offshore. So the next oil rig you will see out in the Gulf of Mexico will be built by the Cubans and the Chinese. They're drilling in areas that we ought to be drilling in because it has been said in this House we can't drill offshore safely. That is wrong.

I live in the area that was hit by Katrina and Hurricane Rita, and when those two hurricanes came through that area, 700 offshore rigs were damaged or destroyed. But yet, we didn't hear one word about crude oil seepage from the Gulf of Mexico because it did not happen.

We have the greatest technology in the world for drilling, and we can drill safely, we've proven that. We've drilled safely, and we will continue to drill safely.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, the Washington elites are trying to rule the land like a monarchy, claiming they know

best for what they consider the peasants in the vast rural areas.

Those elitists grew up in privilege and look down on the rest of the country. The elitists in the imperial kingdom of Washington, DC feel it's their privileged right and obligation to make the peasants happier because those rural Americans don't know how to take care of themselves.

Well, let me tell you the truth about those peasants. These great Americans don't look to Washington or the elites or the monarchy for their happiness. They find their happiness in their individuality. The folks that I represent in southeast Texas are patriotic citizens, many from small-town rural America.

They love their families and are proud of America. They are honest, hard-working independent citizens who, when duty calls, go off to war to defend this Nation. They attend church on Sunday, and if they don't attend, they still feel strongly about their religion.

They believe they have the personal right to bear arms. They are not bitter about life, but they are generally happy. They are not in need of big government coming in in the name of hope and change to control more of their lives.

Those in Washington would do well to remember that the salt of the Earth lives in small-town America. Government should keep out of their way, instead of interfering with their lives, their faith, and their right to bear arms.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Ohio yielding.

Madam Speaker, victims of crime are real people. They are our friends, our relatives and our neighbors, and unfortunately, because of our culture, they have been for many years overlooked in the criminal justice system. Well, I think those days are over because they are as important as defendants, because the same Constitution that protects the rights of defendants in the courtroom, that same Constitution protects the rights of victims of crime.

Since 1981, this country celebrates National Crime Victims' Rights Week in April. Local communities hold rallies and candlelight vigils and a number of other activities to honor the millions of crime victims and survivors in the United States and also to recognize those many individuals that work with crime victims.

This week is National Crime Victims' Rights Week, and this year's theme is ``Justice for Victims, Justice for All.'' It is a very appropriate theme because we cannot achieve justice for all until there is some justice, total justice, for victims of crime.

The victims' right movement has come a long way. The days when a victim was just a mere witness in the courthouse are not far gone.

While we are always sure to safeguard the rights of defendants, our justice system must also safeguard the rights of victims of crime.

The victims' rights movement dates all the way back to 1965 when the first crime victim compensation program was started in the State of California. Five States enacted similar legislation by 1970, and then we saw that organization, what we call the MADD mothers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, come into being to advocate on behalf of victims of crime who had been hurt by those people who drink and drive.

In 1975, activists across the country united and formed the National Organization for Victim Assistance to expand victim services and promote the rights of victims.

In 1978, three more important organizations started: the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and a group of somber individuals called Parents of Murdered Children, all of them advocating on behalf of crime victims.

President Reagan in 1981 proclaimed the first National Victims' Rights Week in April, and that was also the year that 6-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a department store and later murdered, prompting a national campaign to educate the public on missing children and to pass better legislation--Federal legislation, to protect our greatest natural resource, the young that live among us.

In 1982, the Federal Government created the Office for Victims of Crime, or OVC, within the Department of Justice, a tremendous organization that sees after the victims of crime in our country.

Then, in 1984, the Congress passed the Victims of Crime Act, what we call VOCA, one of the most novel concepts that Congress has ever adopted. What it does is require that people convicted in Federal courts, those defendants, once they are convicted, they pay moneys into a fund, and that fund is used to help crime victims throughout the United States. It is a tremendous idea, making defendants pay for the system they have created, pay the rent on a courthouse as I like to call it. And today, Madam Speaker, that fund is over $1.7 billion, contributed not by taxpayers but by offenders, that goes for the specific purpose of helping victims, helping victims' organizations like rape centers, domestic violence shelters, and victim advocates that help victims throughout the turmoil of being a crime victim.

In 2005, my first year in Congress, I was honored to form the Victims' Rights Caucus with the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa), who was a long-time victims' advocate in the State of California before he ever came to Congress. And this bipartisan, but yet nonpartisan, caucus now has 44 members, and we do everything we can to raise the awareness of crime victims here in the Federal Government.

In 2006, 25 years after Adam Walsh's murder that I just mentioned earlier, President Bush signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which requires sex offenders and child molesters, once they leave the Federal penitentiary or State penitentiaries, to register on the national database so that we keep up with those people who wish to prey on our communities.

Madam Speaker, crime victims don't have a lobbyist up here in Washington. They don't have some high-dollar lobbyist to work for them and advocate on their behalf. But we are their lobbyists. We advocate on behalf of all crime victims because that's what we do here in Congress, to take and protect the best that we have among us, and that's crime victims.

I urge community leaders and organizations to celebrate how far the victims' rights movement has come but also to continue to recognize the importance of crime victims that live among us because, Madam Speaker, justice is the one thing we should always find, and hopefully crime victims can find justice at the courthouse in our day and time.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, the price of gasoline goes up every day, and Congress is partially to blame. The price of crude oil is increasing because demand is increasing. Our domestic energy supply cannot meet that demand. The global demand for oil is also rising with the industrialization of China. And increased demand for oil leads to increased prices for many products, including products made out of plastic.

The problem is that Congress has made it difficult for our supply to meet that demand. There is a solution to the problem. The solution is to increase our supply by exploring domestic energy sources and drilling in ANWR.

Like it or not, crude oil is still the energy base of our Nation. Unlike every other country on the planet, the United States does not take advantage of its own natural resources. When Congress abolished tax credits for domestic exploration and production, Congress effectively abolished reasonable oil prices and then raised taxes on oil companies to $18 billion, taxes that are eventually passed on to us, the consumer. Thus, higher prices at the pump.

And this Congress decided to even award Venezuelan Dictator Chavez and his nationalized oil company with a large tax break, a tax break they did not give to American oil companies.

It's common knowledge that, if you tax something, you're going to get less of it. If you tax oil, you get less of it. Less of what? Less production and less crude oil. Less oil on the market equals higher prices at the pump. And if we look at the world crude oil reserves, 80 percent of the world crude oil is controlled by foreign nationalized oil companies. We call them OPEC. Six percent is controlled by Russian companies, and only six percent of the world oil reserves is controlled by American-owned oil companies. You know, those American-owned oil companies that are capitalistic, that have stockholders, we call them Americans. And those companies are making about 8 percent, 8\1/2\ profit.

So the world is controlled by OPEC, not American oil companies. We may be the world power, but the United States does not control the world oil market.

The only control we have is over our domestic energy supply, which we don't take advantage of because of the U.S. restrictions on offshore drilling and exploration. We have succumbed to the environmental fear myth that we cannot drill safely offshore. Other nations, including Britain, Norway, Holland, and Denmark, take full advantage of their natural resources and even permit offshore drilling in the North Sea, that area of the world where offshore drilling is the most difficult, and they do it without environmental damage.

We can increase our energy supply and reduce the price of gasoline at the pump by also allowing drilling in ANWR.

On top of the heightened demand for crude oil, there is a heightened demand for new refineries. Madam Speaker, I represent 21 percent of the Nation's refineries in southeast Texas, but we don't have any new ones. The last oil refinery was built 32 years ago. Our oil refineries have been punished by bureaucracy and unnecessary Federal regulations. Too many unnecessary Federal regulations, too many government controls, too many high taxes, the second highest corporate income tax in the world, and what happens? They leave town, they go somewhere else. We must lift these burdens and encourage refinery development. Our gasoline prices will eventually drop as soon as we build new refineries and we drill offshore and we drill in ANWR.

The high prices of gasoline have thrown the airline industry into chaos. Twenty-two percent of the Nation's jet fuel is made in my district. But one example, Madam Speaker, it costs an airline company $44 a minute to allow a plane to idle on the runway. Thus, every plane that takes off that's been sitting there about 30 minutes costs $1,500 in additional oil prices.

The high gas prices even affect the 170,000 independently owned gas stations in the country. They no longer make a profit on selling fuel. They hope to make one cent on every gallon, so they are thrilled if they make that penny. They make money by selling lottery tickets, donuts and beer, that's how they make their profit.

It's time for us in Congress to encourage more domestic oil production, lift the restrictions to offshore drilling, and take care of ourselves. We must stop relying on unstable, volatile regions in the world and pompous dictators who hold Americans hostage with their crude oil.

We have a problem, but we can solve it. Otherwise, we'll be parking our vehicles on the side of the road, riding bicycles to work, then blissfully wondering where all the crude oil went.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, the suffering of a quiet group of remarkable individuals is often overlooked by our culture. Victims of crime sometimes spend the rest of their lives trying to cope with being someone else's prey.

These people are a cross section of America and include all races, ages, religions, and they come from all economic backgrounds. You see, violent crime plays no favorites and does not discriminate.

We, as neighbors, should be aware of and concerned about these victims. That is why we honor and remember them during this National Crime Victims Rights Week. Since 1981, each year in April, communities throughout these vast great plains have celebrated National Crime Victims Rights Week to promote victims' rights and to recognize victims, as well as those who advocate on their behalf.

We can do victims justice by raising awareness of their plight and demanding that justice prevail in their lives, many of whom spend quiet lives of desperation. They are the forgotten participants in the judicial system, and we will forget them no more.

And that's just the way it is.

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Appreciate the comments by both sides on this very important piece of legislation.

The Post Office that we wish to name today is in my congressional district, it's in Humble, Texas, and it's a part of Southeast Texas where a great number of people continue to volunteer to be in our United States military.

Texans have always, when called upon by their country to go into service, have met that call with overwhelming numbers. And, in fact, today, serving somewhere in the world in a military uniform, one out of 10 people wearing the American uniform is from the State of Texas.

And it goes all the way back to 1836 when the first Texas veteran by the name of William Barrett Travis came to Texas from the State of South Carolina. He was a young lawyer, 27. And he was passionate about liberty and freedom. And he found himself at a beat-up old Spanish church in Central Texas that we now call the Alamo. The Alamo was over 100 years old at the time that he and 186 other brave Texans defended freedom. They were really from all States in the United States, six foreign countries as well, many of them, Mr. Speaker, from the State of Tennessee.

And he, like those defenders of the Alamo, were determined to seek liberty for the Republic of Texas. And as we all know, all of those first veterans gave their lives in that word that we praise today, that word of freedom. He was the first veteran that I wish to mention. And I will continue to mention just a few more so we know the importance of naming buildings after these wonderful people who have gone before us.

Of course, in that same struggle, all Texas armies were led by another Tennesseean by the name of Sam Houston. Sam Houston became the general of all Texas forces after the battle of the Alamo. He serves as the unique distinction of the only person in American history being governor of two different states, the governor of Tennessee and the governor of Texas.

But before he became governor of Texas he was president of the Republic of Texas. And because of the fact that on April 21, which we celebrate a week from today, in 1836, General Sam Houston, leading a ragtag army of volunteers, once again from all over the United States, several foreign countries, defeated the enemy, Santa Ana and his overwhelming army at the banks and the marshes of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. After that battle was over with Texas became a Republic and remained a free nation for over 9 years, and we owe much of that to General Sam, another veteran of Texas.

It's interesting to note that General Sam Houston's last words before he died, he mentioned to his wife 2 words, ``Texas, Texas.'' And then he died as a great military veteran of our State of Texas.

In World War I, there was an individual by the name of Kenneth Myers that served. In 1889 he was born. He joined the Navy in 1917, and he served on the battleship Oklahoma in World War I. And after the ``War to End All Wars'' was over with, he went ahead and became an agricultural expert in the State of Texas. He lived to be 107 before he died and became the third oldest survivor of that ``War to End All Wars,'' World War I.

In World War II there were many great Texans who served, but probably the most notable was a young individual who was a cotton farmer from Farmersville, Texas. Audie Murphy was too little and too small, they said, to join the Marine Corps, so he got into the United States Army, and he fought in the Army in World War II and he served 27 months in combat. He is the most decorated U.S. combat soldier in United States military history. He had received the Medal of Honor, of course the highest U.S. military award, along with 32 other medals from the United States, five medals from France and one from Belgium.

Audie Murphy symbolizes the great tradition of folks who joined the military, another wonderful veteran from the State of Texas.

A little-known veteran from Texas was an individual by the name of Doris Miller. That was his name, although he was a male, and he didn't even want his friend calling him Dorrie because his name was Doris.

He found himself, on December 7 on the USS West Virginia. He was a cook. Because of his race he was not allowed to be in combat, but when that battleship was attacked, he found himself behind a 50 caliber machine gun and shot down two, maybe three Japanese planes on December 7, 1941. And he was honored later as becoming the first African American to receive the Navy cross because of his heroism on that fateful day, that day of infamy, December 7, 1941.

Doris Miller later died in combat, and he was from the City of Waco, Texas.

A friend of mine who recently died was a Pearl Harbor survivor by the name of Luke Trahan from Beaumont, Texas, served in the United States Navy, a wonderful person and was a symbol of everything that is good and right about the veterans from our great State.

And, of course, having been the son of one of those individuals of the Greatest Generation, my father, Virgil Poe, served in Europe during World War II. He didn't say anything about his service in the United States Army because he went when he was a teenager, and after 50 years, he finally started talking about his service there after he and my mother went to that place in France that we call Normandy, where over 9,000 Americans are buried. He, along with both of my uncles, James Hamilton and Charles Willis, all three teenagers, served in that great war, World War II.

Also serving in World War II was Oveta Culp Hobby. She was a lawyer, and although she was a lawyer, she found herself in Washington, D.C., and when the war broke out, she became the director of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps which was later called and referred to as the Women's Army Corps. She has the distinction of being the highest ranking woman to serve in World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for her contributions in the war effort, becoming the first woman in American history to receive such award.

We're proud of the fact that Admiral Chester Nimitz is from Fredericksburg, Texas. Fredericksburg, Mr. Speaker, is a landlocked place. It's a long way from water. It is in the central part of the Hill Country of Texas; but Admiral Nimitz ended up being in the United States Navy, and during World War II, he was the Commander in Chief of all Pacific naval forces for the United States and Allied forces where he served with distinction. Even a high school is named for him in my congressional district.

Sometimes we forget the fact that Dwight David Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, in 1890; although he later moved to Kansas, and he served in World War II as a 5-star general in the Army, also being the first Allied commander in all of Europe, a great distinction for him.

In 1943, a young man was commissioned as a teenager in the United States Naval Reserves, and he was assigned to the United States Ship San Jacinto; and on this ship he was assigned to become a pilot for the TMB Avengers. And while piloting one such mission in Chi Chi Jima off the Japanese coast, this individual was shot down and rescued later by a submarine in the area. This individual flew 58 combat missions. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals and the USS San Jacinto was awarded the Presidental Unit Citation. That individual, of course, was former President of the United States, George H.W. Bush.

Mr. Speaker, there were many others who have served in the history of the State of Texas, but 12 individuals were remarkable in that these individuals, 12 brothers, these Band of Brothers, from a little town of Dayton, Texas, named the Ripkowsky brothers, all served in World War II and Korea. They served in all branches of the service. They served all over the United States and in foreign countries in combat, and after the wars were over, all 12 of them had the unique history of returning home to Dayton, Texas, where all of them lived except one who moved six miles away to the small town of Liberty. A great family that has served our country and veterans in their own right.

During the Korean War, Joseph Rodriguez from El Paso was drafted into the United States Army, although he later made the Army his career. Colonel Rodriguez, during the Korean War, received the Medal of Honor from President Truman because he attacked a Communist foxhole and then went on to attack four more Communist foxholes destroying all five emplacements and saving the lives of several of his comrades.

We have the unique distinction in this House of having a lot of great people who have served in our military in all branches of the service, both on this side and the other side, in this House and in the Senate. But one of those individuals grew up in Dallas, Texas, and he served in the United States Air Force for 29 years. He was the director of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School and flew with the Air Force Thunderbirds. He was a highly decorated fighter pilot who flew combat missions both in the Korean War and Vietnam, and in Korea he flew F-86s in 62 combat missions. In Vietnam, he flew F-4s.

And in 1966 while flying his 25th combat mission, our own Sam Johnson was shot down over North Vietnam. He was a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton for 7 years, including 42 months in solitary confinement. During that time, he was repeatedly tortured.

He is a decorated war hero. He was awarded two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star with Valor, two Purple Hearts, four Air Medals, and three Outstanding Unit Awards as well. We are honored to have him not only from the State of Texas but to serve in this House of Representatives as many other veterans do as well.

World War II--DR. MICHAEL DEBAKEY

Born September 7, 1908 in Louisiana.

With the outbreak of World War II, he volunteered for service, eventually becoming the Director of the Surgical Consultants' Division in the United States Army Surgeon General's Office.

His experience on the Surgeon General's staff taught him that more needed to be done for our veterans.

He recommended changes in staged management of war wounds.

He also created mobile army surgical hospitals or ``MASH'' units, which saved a countless number of American lives.

He also recommended medical follow-ups for veterans, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center System.

He's received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, and will soon receive the Congressional Medal of Freedom.

Madam Speaker, this week is National Crime Victims' Rights Week, and in the criminal justice system, Madam Speaker, we've come a long way to the time that we recognize the importance of victims and honor them for a whole week.

Before I came to Congress, I was working in the District Attorney's office in Houston, Texas. That was even before I was a judge for 22 years. And I often reflect on one crime victim that taught me more about the way the world really is than maybe any other person.

Many years ago I had the opportunity to prosecute a case, and I'm going to change the names because the victim's family still lives in the Houston area and are concerned about their privacy.

This young lady was married and had two twin boys. And she had a good career. She was in her early 20s, and she was going to the University of Houston at night to get a second degree.

And one evening she was driving home, and she had car trouble. The lights came on in the dash of her vehicle. So she pulled over to a service station that she thought was open. But the service station was not open, it was closed.

She got out of the car, and she started talking to who she thought was a service station attendant. But the individual, Luke Johnson, was not a service station attendant. He was just hanging around. He pulled out a pistol. He kidnapped this young lady, Lisa,

and took her to a remote area in the piney woods of East Texas. He pistol whipped her. He sexually assaulted her, and he left her for dead. In fact, when he was later arrested, he was mad that he hadn't killed her.

But she was a remarkable young lady. She survived that brutal attack. Three or four days later, she was found in the woods by a hunter that was out there. Medical needs were met for her. She recovered that brutal attack. Luke Johnson was later captured and charged with aggravated sexual assault.

I was fortunate to prosecute that case. Lisa came and testified before a jury of 12 citizens of Houston, Texas. Luke Johnson was convicted. He received the maximum sentence of 99 years in the Texas State Penitentiary.

And, Madam Speaker, we would hope that all would be well with victims after that, that the world would go on and things would work out well. But that's not the world that we have ever lived in.

Lisa couldn't quite cope with being the victim of a crime. She never went back to that campus at the University of Houston. You can understand why. She couldn't hold a job. In fact, she was fired from her job because she couldn't focus. She started abusing drugs, first alcohol and then probably everything else that she could get her hands on.

Her husband, the kind of guy that he was, no longer wanted her, sued her for divorce, and was able to convince a judge in Houston that he should obtain both of the twin boys, and he left the State of Texas for good, claiming that she was not mentally capable to raise those two children.

And soon after that occurrence, I received a phone call from Lisa's mother telling me that she had received a note from her daughter saying that she was going to take her life. And she did. And I have that note with me today. I've always had that ever since this crime occurred, all the years I was a judge, and I have it in my office here in Congress, saying that she was tired of running from Luke Johnson in her nightmares.

She paid the ultimate price for being a crime victim, Madam Speaker. And because of the fact in those days there was no victim advocate, there was no one that she could turn to, she felt alone. She was alone, Madam Speaker.

But the criminal justice system in this country has come a long way. We have victims' advocates, who take care of the needs of victims, all the way from the time the crime is committed, through the trial, and after the trial. And we have people in the medical profession that donate their time to help in the recovery of crime victims. And now we have in the United States Congress a Victims' Rights Caucus. I'm proud to be the founder of that, but it's a bipartisan caucus. Jim Costa from California, a Democrat, is the co-chairman of this caucus. We have over 44 members, of Members of both parties, who seek and advocate rights of crime victims here in the United States House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, we have come a long way. But we have a long way to go because crime victims are real people. Crime doesn't discriminate based on race, age, sex, or economic status. Crime affects so many people through this country. And we, as good neighbors, need to make sure that we keep up with people who have had that unfortunate experience of being a crime victim, especially of a violent crime. Because the same Constitution that protects the rights of criminal defendants protects the rights of crime victims. And we should always seek justice because justice is what we do in this country. And that means that we must always have justice for victims as well.

And that's just the way it is.