Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today I want to congratulate Rachel Dunn on her recent offer of appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Rachel sought a nomination to West Point through my office, competing with a group of highly qualified applicants. Rachel was selected for a nomination and West Point has offered her an appointment to their celebrated institution. I am proud to have given her a Congressional nomination.

Rachel is currently a senior at Humble High School in Humble, Texas. She possesses many qualities that will make her an excellent cadet at West Point, and an excellent officer in the United States Army. She has shown an unwavering sense of dedication to long-term goals, as she has played on the Humble Lady Wildcats volleyball team for her full four year career at Humble High. Rachel's hard work paid off during her senior year when her teammates voted her captain of the team. She has earned various awards: Volleyball JV Squad MVP in 2003, Offensive Player of the Year in 2004 and 1st Team All-District in 2004.

Not only has Rachel excelled in the sports arena, she also has excelled in the classroom. She has a 4.9 GPA on a 5.0 scale and was ranked 27th in a class of 887. She acted courageously to save someone's life, showing tremendous fortitude under intense pressure.

In addition Rachel interviewed with poise and intelligence with my Service Academy Nomination Board. The Board recommended her to me without hesitation.

Mr. Speaker, I believe Rachel is a fine Texan who will serve her country with distinction and I wish her good fortune in this new chapter of her life.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to congratulate Charles Warren Ciliske on his recent offer of appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Charles sought a nomination to West Point through my office, competing with a group of highly qualified applicants. He was selected for a nomination and West Point has offered him an appointment to their celebrated institution. I am proud to give him a Congressional nomination.

Charles is currently a senior at Kingwood High School in Kingwood, Texas and he possesses many qualities that will make him an excellent cadet at West Point, and an excellent officer in the United States Army. He has shown the ability to dedicate himself to a goal over the long-term, and to succeed with this dedication. Charles is a 4-year varsity swimmer on the Kingwood High School Swim Team and was Captain of the team this season. He is a 5-time High School All-American, 2003 Rookie of the Year and 2005 District Swimmer of the Year. Also in 2005, he was on the Team 5A Texas State Champs and was a National Runner-Up.

Charles has proven himself academically as well, earning the AP Scholar Award. He is a member of the USA Swimming Academic All-American Team and a member of the National Honor Society.

The clincher for Charles was the interview by my Service Academy Nomination Board. Nothing can replace a personal encounter to establish credibility and repute. His interviewers said that he was an exceptional candidate, with excellent character and strong moral values. They were impressed by Charles's professed dream to attend the U.S. Military Academy, and knew he understood the gravity of the commitment to the Academy and of becoming an officer in the U.S. Army. They recommended him to me without reservation.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that Charles is a fine Texan who will serve his country with distinction and I wish him good fortune in this new chapter of his life.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to congratulate Steven Robert Sollee on his recent offer of appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Steven sought a nomination to West Point through my office, competing with a group of highly qualified applicants. He passed the evaluation process, and I am proud to give him a Congressional nomination.

Steven is currently a senior at Kingwood High School in Kingwood, Texas. He has dreamed of becoming an officer in the United States Army. Steven possesses many qualities that will make him an excellent cadet at West Point and upon graduation, an excellent officer in the United States Army. He has always shown a dedication to public service as an Eagle Scout and a member of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts' Honor Society. Steven is a Christian with a deep faith in God that he demonstrates with his service to his church. He has a stellar academic background with 3.89 GPA and a class rank of 54 out of 980. He won the K-Award in Chemistry at Kingwood High School, which recognizes the best student of the class. Steven has achieved all these honors while participating in a demanding schedule of extracurricular activities, including varsity tennis, the high school band, the language club, the National Honor Society and the National French Honor Society.

The interview by my Service Academy Nomination Board was the real clincher for Steven. Nothing can replace a personal encounter to establish credibility and character. His interviewers said that Steven was a first class candidate, well qualified and highly motivated to attend West Point. They were impressed by his professed dream and knew Steven understood the gravity of the commitment to the Academy. They recommended him for a nomination without hesitation.

I believe that Steven is a fine Texan who will serve his country with distinction and I wish him good fortune in this new chapter of his life.

Mr. Speaker, I was personally on hand January 4, 2006 to see one of the greatest college football games ever played; Texas vs USC in the granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl. Todav I rise to congratulate the victors, College Football's National Champion, the University of Texas Longhorns.

In front of over 100,000 fans, an impressive portion of which were wearing burnt orange, the Longhorns triumphed with a stunning come from behind win that will be talked about for years to come. The State of Texas is immensely proud of the Longhorn's Head Coach

Mack Brown, his entire staff, and the fine players that represent them.

Those fine young men and the thousands of screaming Texas faithful taught the entire country the lesson that Sam Houston taught Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. You don't ever want to share the same field as a bunch of fired up Texans.

That's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. Speaker, our border is being held hostage by the lawless that roam the murky river banks of the Rio Grande.

Just last week along the Texas-Mexico border, about 50 miles east of El Paso, Texas lawmen faced off with outlaws dressed as Mexican army soldiers. These criminals attempted to flee Texas State authorities. U.S. law enforcement authorities were met with camouflaged military- style Humvees with .50-caliber machine guns, forcing an armed standoff along these dangerous banks of the rugged Rio Grande. The Mexican government has claimed that these so-called soldiers were actually drug smugglers. Fortunately, whoever they were, their criminal intent was foiled because U.S. border officials, even though they were outgunned, tracked the smugglers and the outlaws until they quickly fled back into Mexico after the initial standoff. These outlaws left behind nearly a ton of marijuana after they set one of their own vehicles ablaze. Mexican officials are denying that these men were members of the Mexican army, claiming it is quite easy to buy Mexican military uniforms in local stores. But, of course, Mr. Speaker, we do not know the truth about that statement.

This incident is not the first either. In November the U.S. border patrol chased criminals in a dump truck full of marijuana in the same area until it got stuck in the Rio Grande River on its way back to Mexico. As Border Patrol agents sought to unload the three tons of marijuana from the truck, the driver, who had initially fled, returned with an army of heavily armed men wearing, yes, that is correct, Mexican military uniforms carrying military-style weapons. The army of thugs backed the agents away and then bulldozed their own truck back into Mexico, this safe haven for drug dealers.

And the war for the border is not just taking place above ground. This month in California officials have stumbled upon four underground tunnels that lead from Mexico into the United States. Just last Thursday authorities spent the day removing an estimated two tons of marijuana from a tunnel that began inside a warehouse in Tijuana, Mexico near their airport and ended up in a vacant industrial building on the American side. The 2,400-foot tunnel was about 5 feet wide and high enough for an adult to stand. The floor was cement and there was electricity and ventilation. Customs officials have described the tunnel as longer and much more massive than the other smuggling tunnels discovered since September 11, 2001.

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue of national security. If these drug cartels are so boldly bringing drugs across our borders through these tunnels, what is to prevent them from using these same tunnels to smuggle terrorists and humans as well? We cannot ignore this issue.

In early January, Customs and Border Protection border patrol agents of Brewster County, Texas seized over $2 million worth of cocaine from three Mexican nationals carrying the drugs in backpacks into the United States. These narcoterrorists make money because of the lack of border security in the United States. And, Mr. Speaker, these drug dealers are serious. Federal officials have recently warned U.S. border patrol agents that they could be the targets of assassins hired by immigrant smugglers. According to a memo from Homeland Security, ``Unidentified Mexican alien smugglers are angry about the border security along the U.S.-Mexico border and have agreed that the best way to deal with U.S. border patrol agents is to hire a group of contract killers.'' Well, it is time for us to get angry as well and come up with the best way to deal with them.

We are fighting a serious insurgency along our borders, and we must stop

this lawless out-of-control invasion. Our border is critically and visibly vulnerable. What is it going to take for us to figure this out? It is chilling to think what may be next. Will it be a shootout on the Rio Grande River?

We must win this battle for our borders. We must win the battle for American sovereignty. We must win the battle against the lawlessness that has invaded our country before Americans pay for this lawless behavior of others. That is just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time and the work of the gentleman on numerous issues, the first of course being the overriding issue of our Constitution, a document you keep in your pocket every day in case someone wants to question you on what it says and what it doesn't say. I commend you for your strong stand on the Constitution.

And on the issue of border security being a national security issue, because it is a national security problem. It is unfortunate that so many Americans are oblivious or refuse to believe the problem that has been discussed tonight by our friend from Florida and yourself.

And then there is the issue, of course, of offshore drilling. We have heard even tonight in this Chamber a discussion about the importance of having our country not be dependent on other countries for our energy. We are held hostage to some extent to Third World countries that really determine how we are to obtain much of our oil and natural gas. And there were some concerns mentioned tonight that folks in the Northeast are needing home heating oil and we can't depend on foreign countries. Well, we don't need to depend on foreign countries. We don't need to depend on the Middle East as much as we are.

We hear the rhetoric in Venezuela from the president there, his anti- American comments and how he threatens every once in a while to cut off the oil supply to the United States; and Bolivia, with its new president, is talking about doing the same thing with natural gas to the United States. Once again, the United States appears to be held hostage by Third World countries on our energy.

So what do we do about it? Well, the President mentioned last night several proposals of how we have to go to alternative energy sources, and we need to do that. But we need to take another look at where we drill, why we drill, and why we don't drill. We will start with the offshore drilling.

I have here a chart that explains where we drill off the coast of the United States and where we don't drill. We drill in my home State of Texas, and we're glad to drill offshore. Texans know the importance of drilling offshore. We drill offshore from the State of Texas; we drill offshore from Louisiana and the State of Mississippi. This blue area is the only place we drill offshore, because the rest of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the entire east coast, and the sacred west coast, if I can use that phrase, we don't drill because there are prohibitions from drilling offshore.

We need to lift the prohibitions in this entire red area. Not the environmental regulations, but the overall prohibitions from drilling in these entire areas. There is much oil in the Gulf of Mexico. There is much oil on the east coast and off the west coast, and we don't drill there for reasons that I think are a myth. The myth is we can't drill offshore safely, that it is an environmental problem.

Mr. Speaker, that is a myth because we can drill offshore safely. Let us just go back recently to two hurricanes that hit this area, this blue area. Hurricane Katrina and then the forgotten hurricane, Hurricane Rita, that came right through this entire area. In this area we not only drill offshore but we have refineries.

My home State, Texas, right here, this district I represent, southeast Texas, 23 percent of our gasoline is refined right here in this area where Hurricane Rita came through and shut down our refineries for a period of time. But during all of the conversations and discussion and moaning and groaning about the disaster of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we heard little, if any, talk about offshore drilling and the danger and the leakage from crude oil coming up from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico because of these two hurricanes. Because it didn't happen. There was very little environmental impact with the hurricanes that came through this area, because we do drill safely offshore.

That should tell us a couple of things. First, these rigs offshore that shut down, and some were damaged, caused little or no economic or environmental impact in the gulf coast. Second, since this is the only place we drill offshore, someone should realize that maybe we should not depend on this entire blue area, hurricane alley as we call it, for our offshore drilling.

With Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many of these rigs were shut down and some of our refineries were closed down. All of that takes place in this one blue area. We are dependent not only on foreign oil but in our own country we are dependent on this little area of offshore drilling. So we do need to expand. We need to use some common sense and drill offshore safely in this entire other region where there is much crude oil and much natural gas.

We don't do it because people are concerned about the environmental impact. This is actually one of those myths that has convinced so many people in this House and many Americans who are afraid we can't drill offshore safely.

Where do these offshore oil spills come from? Pollution from crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico? Well, 63 percent of the crude oil that comes to our shorelines in the Gulf of Mexico is from nature itself, as this chart shows. Sixty-three percent comes from the natural seepage of crude oil from the bottom of the ocean. That is where most of the pollution comes from.

Second, 32 percent comes from those boats, the shipping industry that patrols the Gulf of Mexico. Three percent comes from those tankers that are bringing crude oil from other countries, like the Middle East. And only 2 percent of pollution, if we use that phrase, in the Gulf of Mexico from crude oil comes from, yes, that is right, offshore drilling.

Now, most Americans are unaware of this. Most Americans think it is just the reverse. They think the crude oil drilling offshore causes most of the pollution, and that is not true.

No one wants polluted beaches. No one wants an unsafe environment. I certainly do not. No one does that advocates offshore drilling. So the environmental impact is very small if we drill offshore. We can do so safely.

They drill offshore in the roughest waters in the world, and that is the North Sea, and they do so safely. Most of those people that are drilling there are from Texas to begin with, and those folks that know how to drill offshore safely drill all over the world. Yet we have a mindset in this country that we shouldn't drill in these sacred areas because of the environmental impact.

So that myth needs to be denounced as a myth and we need to take care of our own selves, be self-sufficient, because there is plenty of crude oil here, on the east coast, the rest of the Gulf of Mexico, and there is also much natural gas resources that we are not tapping into as well. Not to mention going up here to Alaska, to ANWR, another place where we ought to drill, because we can drill in that area safely.

Hopefully, these two bodies will agree to drill in ANWR. Because gasoline prices continue to rise. Home heating oil prices continue to rise. Natural gas prices continue to rise. The answer is not to look to more foreign countries. The answer is to drill safely, environmentally correct, around the United States coastline.

Just to mention one other thing, when an oil company goes out here into the Gulf of Mexico and wishes to set up a new rig, they obtain a lease from the Federal Government. They pay for that. Those leases bring in millions of dollars to the United States Treasury that we lease to oil companies for permission and the right and privilege to drill offshore. That is a source of revenue. So more leases bring more revenue to the national Treasury. We talk about the deficit and government spending. Revenue can be obtained from these oil companies that drill offshore.

So it is a situation where I believe more Americans need to be aware that we can do so safely. We have seen hurricanes hit these oil rigs with minimal damage to the environment. We know there is oil and natural gas out here, and if we do not take care of ourselves and become more dependent on ourselves for our own energy, crude oil and natural gas, gas prices will rise, crude oil prices will rise, home heating oil prices will rise, and natural gas prices will continue to rise, and without doing so there is really no answer. We need to do both. We need to look for alternative sources such as nuclear energy, as the President mentioned last night. We also need to drill where we have oil and natural gas available.

I appreciate the opportunity to make these comments. Hopefully working together we can solve our own energy and not be held hostage by other countries.

That does not occur. When a natural gas well is drilled, it does not cause pollution. So another reason we should obviously be drilling offshore for both of these commodities.

I do not have the statistics either, but natural gas is even less of a pollutant than crude oil. Of course there is natural seepage with natural gas just as there is with crude oil from the bottom of the ocean. That is the way nature has been doing business for a long time. I do not have the statistics, but it would be interesting to find out what they are.

Certainly. We bring in liquefied natural gas from the Middle East. It is converted and used in the United States. We need that process as well, but it makes a lot more common sense to use the resources we have, our own natural resources, to satisfy the need for energy in the United States and continue to develop other alternative energy sources as well.

To me it defies common sense that we do not drill offshore. We can do so safely. We have proven that. The best experts in the world on drilling offshore from the United States, they go to other countries and contract out and drill for other countries. Hopefully we can change the mindset in this country.

Madam Speaker, 20 years ago, the seven crew members of the space shuttle ``Challenger'' tragically died while seeking the wonders and worlds of space.

In the tradition of great explorers of the past like Columbus, the Conquistadores and Lewis and Clark, the astronauts aboard the space shuttle ``Challenger'' were exploring and embarking on the last frontier when they gave their lives on January 28, 1986.

That courageous ``Challenger'' crew of Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnick, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, high school teacher Christa McAuliffe and Texan Ronald McNair were the best of the brave, the bold and the brazen. They were not only remembered by NASA in my hometown of Houston, but throughout the world.

These magnificent seven epitomized the spirit of the explorers of old and

will be remembered for their sense of adventure and courage. Space exploration is America's marvelous mission that will continue to be our dream and our goal.

These seven brothers and sisters of space and their enduring legacy are part of that goal to conquer and to challenge space. That's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, one week from today is Christmas, and on Christmas in 1776, Americans were at war for freedom. General Washington and his colonials crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey and defeated the British who were caught celebrating.

This Christmas Americans are at war for freedom in lands far, far away. They, like Washington's men, will not be home for Christmas.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, they say. The price is also counted in the cost of human sacrifice. Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan that will never return for another Christmas gave their lives for the same ideas that Washington's men gave their lives for. We call it freedom. Mr. Speaker, you notice I say gave their lives, not lost their lives, because their lives were voluntarily sacrificed on the altar of liberty.

In the War of Independence, 4,600 Americans died, and in all wars for freedom, over 1.5 million Americans have died. They gave their youth for freedom's future. So, as the church bells ring this Sunday before Christmas, let us be reminded of the ring of the Liberty Bell that tolls the words: ``Let freedom ring throughout the land.''

That's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, history has shown that free peoples are willing to give up civil liberties or freedom in the name of security. Our forefathers knew this, so our Constitution protects us from government taking rights in the name of security.

Mr. Speaker, people have rights. Government has no rights. Government has power and it obtains it when we forfeit our rights to the government. In this time of terrorism, our government uses high-tech surveillance to capture them. This is good. But the fourth amendment states: ``The right of people to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.''

It is the duty of the judiciary, not this body, not even the executive branch, to protect those rights and review searches.

When I was a judge in Texas, I signed hundreds of warrants. I was even the State wiretap judge, and I found that warrants make better police officers and they make better criminal cases.

In this post-9/11 era, we cannot allow our zeal to be safe to get in the way of judicial review of search warrants and wiretaps while continuing to provide tools for law enforcement to capture those terrorists. You see, Mr. Speaker, we can have it both ways. We can be safe and secure and maintain our civil rights as a free people. That's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, over the past year I have addressed many issues I have with the judgments handed down by the highest court of our country, the Supreme Court, right across the street.

Recent rulings by the Supreme Court of the United States, particularly pertaining to the separation of church and State, property rights, the right to say the pledge of allegiance, and the use of foreign law by our Supreme Court in interpreting the American Constitution, have prompted an outcry by the American people and a growing interest, or better yet, confusion, confusion on how those decisions are made.

The decisions made by the Supreme Court have a direct impact on the lives of Americans and every American in the future. With that said, I believe it is past time that every American be afforded the opportunity to see how those decisions are made in this Court.

I filed legislation that would allow cameras to broadcast Supreme Court proceedings so that we can all see the arguments made before the Supreme Court and how they make those decisions that affect our lives from now on.

I am no stranger to cameras in the courtroom. I was one of the first Texas judges to allow cameras in the courtroom. In addition, I was the first judge in Texas to oversee a capital murder trial broadcast in its entirety on television. Our sense of justice says the more open and public a trial, the more likely justice will occur.

I found that cameras only enhanced this concept. As a criminal court judge for 20 years, I have had countless cases covered by the media from all over the world. Critics argue that attorneys play to the cameras; but the truth is, they play to the jury. They always have played to the jury. Juries are the ones that make the decisions, not the audience.

Courts have the ability to prevent filming of the jurors, child witnesses, assault victims while letting the community see the public trial. Cameras make the ability of the people to view justice as it is in progress.

In the case of cameras broadcasting the Supreme Court hearings, there is no jury, just nine Justices who have the final say on the American Constitution. Because of the magnitude of the rulings handed down by this Court, these proceedings above all others should be as open to the public as possible.

While the hearings are, in fact, open to the public, not everyone has the ability to travel to Washington, D.C. and view these proceedings. This is why it is precisely time to come to the reality to open the Supreme Court to public hearings and allow their proceedings to be filmed by cameras.

Cameras can be unobtrusive. There are no big lights. There are no big cameras. In fact, many people do not even realize there are cameras in this Chamber. So it is time to film these proceedings. Opening these proceedings to the American public is much more important than seeing the child molestation trial of the King of Pop or the murder trial of some ex-football player.

Yet there was no concern over viewing these proceedings on television. Why should there be concern over a Court that has the final say on how our Constitution is interpreted? This year the Iraqi country, the Iraqi people have formed a new democracy, and part of that is a new judiciary. And yet they are already filming their trials, because the tyrant of the area, Saddam Hussein, his trial is on international television. This is their democracy and their courts seem to be somewhat more open than even ours.

Those judges and critics who do not want the public to view what they are doing in those courtrooms, Mr. Speaker, maybe should not be doing what they are doing behind those closed doors. It is time to open the Supreme Court to public viewing of their proceedings on television.

Mr. Speaker, a National Guard unit is coming back to Texas, because tomorrow, Saturday, December 17, the First Battalion, 133rd field artillery will be welcomed back to Beaumont, Texas, after serving the past year in Iraq.

In August 2004, the Texas Army National Guard deployed the 56th Brigade Combat Team of the 36th Infantry Division to go to Iraq. They trained for 4 months in Ft. Hood, Texas, and got to Iraq in December of 2004. The 133rd Field Artillery has a longstanding history in this country. This was the first and famous Texas Army National Guard that served in France in World War I.

General John J. Pershing, the commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I made this comment about those Texans in World War I: He said, the bearing of the division in this its very first experience in battle showed the mettle of the officers and men and gave promise of what it would become. Members of this division who returned home can be proud of the record of their services.

Mr. Speaker, this was the first American combat unit to land in Europe in World War II. They landed on the beaches of Italy during World War II. They liberated Rome, then they went and landed on the beaches of France, went on to free the hostages of the concentration camps of Dachau, Germany.

Probably the most famous member of the 36th Texas is a person by the name of Audie Murphy. You may remember him, Mr. Speaker; he is from Hunt, Texas. And when he was a youngster, he joined the Army, the Army National Guard of Texas and became the first decorated soldier in the history of the American Army, winning among many other things the Congressional Medal of Honor.

And yet, the Texas 36th has continued that longstanding tradition in Iraq where they conducted offensive operations, deny and destroy operations, combat logistic patrols and civil military affair operations.

They built schools and hospitals and won the hearts of the Iraqi kids that they met along the way. They operated in the Sunni Triangle, Tikrit, Tillal, on the Jordanian border and in Bagdad. It is my pleasure to welcome them back when they come back home tomorrow.

I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of the members of the 133rd, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. They honor us with their commitment to Texas and the Nation, and the citizens of America and Iraq owe them a debt of gratitude. They are America's best. They are the sons and daughters of liberty. They are freedom fighters, and they make us proud.

I join the citizens of Texas Congressional District number two in paying the utmost respect for the 1st Battalion, 133rd Field Artillery. Through their service, Iraq has become a free democracy, and America remains the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Mr. Speaker, I had the chance in January of this year to go to Iraq to visit the very first elections, and I, with our military, and saw firsthand the accomplishments in their fight for freedom. You know, Mr. Speaker, freedom does have a price. Our troops are paying that sacrificial price for the Iraqi people and for world freedom. Unfortunately, the 133rd lost six members during their fight for freedom, and I extend my prayers and our condolences to the family and friends. They were making a difference in the world when they gave their lives.

Their bravery and dedication and patriotism shall not be forgotten. That success is evident with the successful election of a new government in Iraq yesterday. President John Kennedy once said: The cost of freedom is always high. But Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.

Mr. Speaker, we have chosen the right path. The hard path. The freedom path. We will persevere with the freedom-loving people of Iraq until the journey down this path is successfully completed.

The citizen soldiers of America, the Texas Army National Guard, have been warriors on the long hard sacrificial path of liberty. The world should never underestimate the resolve of America, the resolve and determination and will of the American soldier. Regardless of their mission for freedom, they always get it done. That is just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, a National Guard unit is coming back home to Texas. On Saturday, December 17, 2005, the 1st Battalion 133rd Field Artillery will be welcomed back home to the Beaumont Armory, in Beaumont, Texas after bravely serving the past year in Iraq. In August 2004 the Texas Army National Guard deployed the 56th Brigade Combat Team of the 36th Infantry Division, to go to Iraq. They trained for four months in Ft. Hood, and got to Iraq in December of 2004.

The 133rd Field Artillery has a long-standing history. This was the same famous Texas Army National Guard Division that landed on the beaches of Anzio, Italy during WWII, liberated Rome and freed hostages in Dachau, Germany.

They continued this long-standing tradition in Iraq where they conducted offensive operations, deny and destroy operations, combat logistic patrols and civil military affairs operations. They built schools, hospitals, and won the hearts of the Iraqis they met along the way.

In January, I had the privilege of going to Iraq to witness the first elections. I met with our military and saw firsthand their accomplishments in their fight for Iraqi freedom.

Mr. Speaker, freedom has a price. Our troops are paying that sacrificial price for the Iraqi people and world freedom. Unfortunately, the 133rd lost 6 members during their fight for freedom and I would like to extend my prayers and our condolences to their family and friends. They were making a difference in the world when they gave their life. Their bravery, dedication and patriotism will never be forgotten.

President John Kennedy once said, ``The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.'' We have chosen the right path, the hard path, the freedom path. We will persevere with the freedom loving people of Iraq until the journey down this path is successfully completed.

The 133rd operated in the Sunni Triangle, Tikrit, Tillal, on the Jordanian Border and in Baghdad and it is my pleasure to welcome them back to Beaumont, Texas today. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the members of the 133rd and all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. They have honored us with their commitment to Texas and the Nation, and the citizens of America and Iraq owe them a debt of gratitude. They are America's best. They are the sons and daughters of liberty, they are freedom fighters. They make us proud.

I join the citizens of Texas's 2nd Congressional District in paying the utmost respect to the 1st Battalion 133rd Field Artillery. Through their service, Iraq is a free democracy, and America remains the land of the free and the home of the brave. That's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, in less than 24 hours, the Iraqi people will elect a permanent parliament that will govern their free nation for the next 4 years. They will stand tall against tyranny and watch democracy unfold before their eyes. Mr. Speaker, I went to Iraq for the first historical elections in January and saw firsthand the birth of democracy in this land far, far away.

We will not cut and run on freedom and on Iraq. Otherwise, the terrorists will have won the day, and the Iraqi hope for freedom will disappear into the dismal abyss of lost causes. Freedom has a price. Our troops are paying that sacrificial price for the Iraqi people and world freedom. We will continue to support these sons and daughters of liberty. On the eve of the elections, we pay tribute to our freedom fighters.

President Kennedy once said, ``The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it, and one path we shall never choose and that is the path of surrender or submission.''

Mr. Speaker, we have chosen the right path, the hard path, the freedom path. We will persevere with the freedom-loving people of Iraq until the journey down this path is successfully completed. That's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, on this day 2 years ago, United States soldiers found the king of tyranny, Saddam Hussein, hiding in a hole like a rat near Tikrit, Iraq. His trial recently started, and it is more public than some American trials because it is carried on international television. He pontificates about how he is unjustly treated. He tries to portray himself as an honorable person. This is the same dreadful demon dictator that tortured and murdered his own citizens and caused years of chaos and calamity in his own country.

Witnesses in the trial have described rapes, beatings, and electric shock torture carried out by his relentless regime. But the news stories focus on his outrageous court behavior instead of his years of vicious violence and mayhem. The people of the world deserve a record of his atrocities, not the senseless stories of his bad courtroom attitude, his disruptions, and his disrespectful and disgraceful demeanor. The caged rodent known as Saddam Hussein can protest all he wants, but even the likes of him now receives a fair trial. Justice will soon be served, and he will be punished like the rat that he is. We call this justice system democracy.

That's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, the 9/11 Commission report concluded: ``Americans should not be exempt from carrying passports when they enter the United States, nor should Canadians or Mexicans. The 9/11 experience shows that terrorists study and exploit America's vulnerabilities.''

Exempting anyone from carrying a passport when crossing into the United States is blatantly ignoring the commission's suggestions and is posing yet another serious vulnerability in our country's border security.

Neither Mexican nor Canadian visitors are required to show a passport to enter the United States, despite the fact that they rank number one and number four respectively as the largest sources of illegal immigration in the United States. Small wonder the governments of those nations oppose passports to enter America.

We need to do what is best for the United States, not what is best for Canada or Mexico. The 9/11 Commission stated that the United States is still at risk by not requiring passports to enter this country. Our border is seriously vulnerable. What is it going to take for us to figure this out?

Congress must make serious changes in our immigration policy before we lose the sovereignty of this Nation and become a Nation illegally colonized by other nations. That's just the way it is.