Floor Statements

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, America's young warriors risk it all to protect and serve the rest of us. They put themselves in harm's way not only to protect America, but to defend the freedoms of people they have never seen in lands they have never been. Some join right out of high school with the promise that they can further their education while in the military. This helps not only our troops, but an educated military helps America.

Now the administration has broken another promise. Thousands of troops can no longer go to college because the education program has been scuttled. For the sake of politics, the ``Chicken Little Administration'' has handpicked programs to cut that would make Americans feel the sequester the most. One of those programs is the Military Tuition Assistance program.

Mr. Speaker, tuition assistance for our military is not much money. The Pentagon, the Department of Defense, has a budget of $700 billion. This little program is 0.1 percent of the $700 billion Department of Defense program.

The Tuition Assistance program is great because it's one of the ways our government can take care of our men and women who help us. It has allowed members of the military to take 870,000 courses and graduate 50,000 individuals for several degrees. That is remarkable. But the program is gone, thus saith the White House.

Over the past few weeks, I've been hearing from several southeast Texans who are disappointed because Washington has broken another promise. Dr. Norman Lefee, a science teacher at Klein High School in Texas, said this:

I encourage my students to join the military as a way to

open up a possibility for higher education. Oftentimes, they

come from families where they are the first high school

graduate and the first person to graduate from college. Now

that opportunity is being taken away from them. It's not

fair. I got these kids to join the military. Now the

administration has broken its promise.

Brian wrote me this:

I am Active Duty Coast Guard and one of your constituents.

I was one class away from obtaining a master's degree and the

Tuition Assistance program was now canceled. Why?

Jerri from Houston wrote me this:

As a combat medic in the National Guard, I currently use my

tuition assistance to pay for my Ph.D. program in clinical

psychology. I want to stay in the military. I hope to move

directly to a commission on Active Duty as a psychiatrist or

psychologist in the Army and serve soldiers with PTSD.

Education is the great equalizer, and servicemembers'

access to affordable education will only make our country

stronger. Restore our tuition assistance.

There's more, Mr. Speaker.

Last year, the marines spent roughly $47 million on tuition assistance--$47 million out of a $700 billion Department of Defense budget. However, education assistance is not being cut for everybody. During the same year, Washington spent $12.7 million on higher education in Pakistan. That's right, Mr. Speaker. We spent more than one-fourth of what we spent on education for the marines to fund higher education for the Pakistanis. And that's not all. Since the sequester, the administration has approved $37 million in foreign aid to Pakistan.

Why are we funding education programs for our Benedict Arnold ally when we can't fund--or don't fund--the education for our military? And to Pakistan of all places, where hatred for America is at its highest. Washington should watch its spending and prioritize.

It's time, Mr. Speaker, to sequester Pakistan. Why are we cutting the aid for our military and educating the people in Pakistan? The administration has the power and ability to make it right; but if this program is not reinstated, I am going to introduce legislation to withhold nondefense foreign aid from Pakistan until this wonderful program for our troops is fully funded.

The President should stop punishing our troops. We have a moral obligation to take care of our warriors that protect us.

The President says he is the education President. Well, Mr. President, let the troops go to school.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, ``El Chapo'' Joaquin Guzman is the brutal head of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel. Chicago has named this killer drug lord Public Enemy No. 1. The last Public Enemy No. 1 was Al Capone, over 80 years ago.

Even though this billionaire bandit from below the border is generally in other countries, his violent criminal drug cartel operation floods dope into Chicago and other American cities. Since our borders are still porous to drug cartels, cartels cross the border at will.

El Chapo and his den of gun-toting smugglers are international terrorists. They have operations in every major city in the United States, including Chicago. Worldwide, his gang is credited with 50,000 murders.

Some say the Chicago murder rate has increased because of his cartel. David Riley, head of the Chicago DEA, said Guzman is more powerful than the former Chicago Mob.

Mr. Speaker, Mexican drug cartels, like the Sinaloa cartel, should be labeled a foreign terrorist organization. Then we can better deal with international terrorist threats to America like Public Enemy No. 1, El Chapo.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, Saturday was the day that Lanier Middle School students from Houston, Texas, had been looking forward to for a long time. They were going to get to see where the President of the United States lived. This was even more exciting because it was the first time in 5

years that Lanier had been successful in scheduling a tour of the White House. Then last week, 2 days before they were set to go on their tour, they got the bad news. They were no longer welcome in the people's house.

Mr. Speaker, I know one of the parents of the kids at Lanier Middle School. Here's what she said:

It's disappointing. But it is particularly disappointing to

me because I think it teaches the kids a bad lesson of not

keeping your word. I think that's bad for the kids.

Harvin Moore, a trustee from the Houston Independent School District, wrote the White House when he got the bad news, and here's what he said:

Next week, 80 students from Lanier Middle School will be

spending their spring break touring our Nation's capital.

They have been planning the trip for a year. They have

completed background checks and received confirmation that

they would be welcomed to the White House and, as you can

imagine, were very excited about that.

Now we find ourselves in the position of having to explain

to them that their plans have been abruptly canceled and they

will not be welcome at the White House after all.

Frankly, that's a hard thing to do as we don't understand

the reason ourselves.

We don't understand why, out of a $1.6 billion Secret

Service budget, the administration believes that \1/20\th of

1 percent that is required to fund the White House tours is

one of the first things to go.

We don't understand why the administration would choose to

cancel the program that touches the public the most, in

return for a truly minuscule budget savings.

We don't understand, Mr. President, why you have chosen to

disinvite schoolchildren from their White House.

The First Lady has referred to the White House as the

``People's House.'' I agree with her. It is the ``People's

House--it is our house.''

Mr. Moore continued in his letter:

One Lanier parent described having to tell her son he was

no longer welcome at the White House: The word ``sequester''

doesn't mean anything to this student. First Lady Michelle

Obama said that the White House is our house. Well, it

doesn't feel like it anymore.

Mr. Speaker, Lanier students from Texas are not alone. Thousands of students nationwide are gearing up for spring break, and the cherry blossom festival is just a few weeks away. These trips require planning, time, and, yes, even money. Bake sales, car washes, parents taking time off of work were all involved so kids could come to Washington to tour the White House.

But the President, unfortunately, has punished the people for the sake of a few nickels. Perhaps the White House forgot what the First Lady has said, which is posted on the home page of whitehouse.gov:

This is really what the White House is all about. It's the

``People's House.''

Well, Mr. Speaker, if this is true, the President should take the padlocks off the White House doors, put the welcome mat back on the front porch, because America's kids should not be evicted from their White House.

Mr. Speaker, the open-door philosophy of the White House is a uniquely American idea where the people of the country can come see where the President of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, actually lives.

This is uniquely American. You go to other countries and, whether they're democracies or not, they don't let you near the home of where the head leader lives. But only in America have we done this.

So, Mr. Speaker, I would encourage the President to keep his word. Let the people back in. And as students come to Washington, D.C., they should know that the U.S. Capitol is open for business and that Members of Congress, their staff, and the tour guides at the Capitol Visitor Center will be glad to take them through the Capitol. In fact, earlier this morning, there were about 70 kids from Westchester, New York, seated here before we opened for business, getting a history lesson from one of our Parliamentarians.

Mr. Speaker, the Capitol is open, but neither the White House nor the U.S. Capitol should ever close its doors and ban the people from the people's houses.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, Christians are under attack in the Muslim nation of Pakistan. Christians live in fear of being persecuted because of their faith. They also can face life in prison or even death if convicted of insulting Islam.

Some say that the religious laws are used as a tool to deal with personal vendettas. A Christian man living in Pakistan last week was accused of committing blasphemy. Suddenly, a large group of men--a mob from a nearby mosque--stormed his home Friday night. The man was arrested. Fearing for their safety, hundreds of other Christian families fled in the dark of the night. On Saturday morning, the mob, as shown in this photograph, returned and began ransacking more Christian homes and setting them ablaze. According to Human Rights activists, more than 100 Christian homes were burned.

Mr. Speaker, Pakistan takes our money but they do not respect the human rights of religious minorities. Some radical Muslims believe that

other religions should be tolerant of their faith, but they are not tolerant of Christians and other Muslim sects. This ought not to be.

But that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, Linda Roberts from Kingwood, Texas, is one of my constituents. She received the American Community Survey and filled out only the information required by the Census Bureau and mailed it back to the Census Bureau.

Let me make this clear. The census every ten years counts the population with the census forms. But the Census Bureau also sends out a longer, larger, more intensive document called the American Community Survey to many Americans throughout the 10 years of the census.

Linda Roberts received this long form, the American Community Survey, and she did not fill out the survey. Later, she began to receive weekly calls from the Census Bureau telling her to complete the entire survey. When she refused to complete the survey, the calls increased from every week to multiple times each day. Now, this is a single mother working, trying to support her family, and she's being harassed by the Federal Government.

Finally, a Census Bureau employee showed up at her house, ringing her doorbell, and peeking through her windows to see if she was inside, trying to get her to come to the door to fill out this long survey by the Census Bureau.

The harassment didn't stop. On many occasions, Linda would come home from work and there would be a car from the Federal Government parked out there in front of her house trying to catch her as she went into her home to get her to fill out the American Community Survey. These are people from the Federal Government.

Mrs. Roberts explained that she not only felt uncomfortable providing the detailed information to the Federal Government, but she was afraid. No kidding.

Now, where, Madam Speaker, in the Constitution does it give the Federal Government the authority to do this? The Constitution does not authorize Peeking TomCrats to come from the Federal Government to snoop around our homes and get information from citizens.

Here's what she said:

Please do something about getting the Census Bureau to stop

the harassment phone calls concerning the American Community

Survey.

I've also received calls from other people. George from Baytown, Texas, says he refused to fill out the American Community Survey so he started getting phone calls from all over the country from different area codes. He just regarded them as identity theft phishing scams, and so he didn't answer any of those calls.

Madam Speaker, George and Linda are just two of the many people who have contacted my office about the intrusive American Community Survey from the Federal Government demanding people fill this out. Once again, this is not the census questionnaire; this is the Census Bureau giving another questionnaire to the American public and expecting them, by law, to fill this out.

The questions are about 48 questions long. Here are some of the questions:

Do you have a flush toilet in your house?

What time do you go to work in the morning?

What time do you come home in the afternoon?

How much money do you make?

How much money does your spouse make?

Do you have a second mortgage on another home?

Where is that home?

Here is a good one:

Because of a physical mental, or emotional condition, does someone in the household have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?

Now, isn't that lovely. The survey wants us to comment on the mental health of people that live in the house. I'm glad my wife didn't get this survey and fill it out talking about me.

Madam Speaker, the government has no business asking these personal questions. It infringes on the right of privacy of the American public. People are upset about this because they are forced to provide this information to Uncle Sam or pay a sanction of a $5,000 fine. Government intimidation at its worst.

Yes, there may be some benefits. The government says we use this information so we can help businesses plan whether to put a store on this corner or that corner. That's fine, but the Constitution doesn't authorize this, in my opinion. So if the businesses want that information, let them pay for it. Go to a polling system.

So I think what we should do, Madam Speaker, is make this form voluntary. If people want to fill it out and give the Federal Government all this information, great, but they shouldn't be required to.

I've introduced legislation and Rand Paul in the Senate has introduced legislation to make the American Community Survey voluntary. People shouldn't be required to fill it out.

What's next? Is the government going to start asking us how many guns we've got in our home? what kind of cars we drive, whether they're green cars or whether we're driving pickup trucks? Where's it going to stop? The American Community Survey should be voluntary. Americans should not be required to fill it out, and we need to change the law to make it voluntary for the American public because freedom still means something in America. Keep the snoopers from Uncle Sam out of our lives.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, proud Texans naturally believe everything is bigger and better in Texas--because it is. Texas has the nation's biggest and longest highway system with nearly 80,000 miles of Texas highways. It is 880 miles from the Louisiana border to the New Mexico border and 500 miles from the Oklahoma border to the Mexican border. As Texas travelers are packing up and headed out across the great Lone Star State, odds are, they will make a pit stop at a Texas phenomenon--a convenience store called Buc-ee's.

In 1982, Arch ``Beaver'' Aplin, founder and CEO of Buc-ee's, along with his business partner, Don Wasek, opened their first store in Lake Jackson, Texas. Super size dreams, determination and hard work proved successful for this duo; they now own 27 stores and employee over 1,000 Texans.

At a Buc-ee's, you can always spot an Aggie, either from their personalized license plate, their maroon pick-ups adorned with A&M stickers, or the ring--don't forget the ring! Aplin himself is a proud Aggie. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1980 with a degree in construction science. At the age of 22, newly graduated Aplin began working for the family-owned construction business. Two months later, he got the idea to open the Lake Jackson convenience store. The rich heritage of tradition that sets Texas A&M apart from all the rest is evident in Aplin's approach to owning a convenience store.

Like camels in a caravan, motorists follow the famous billboards to find their own road trip oasis. Buc-ee's are well known for their large and very clean restroom facilities, which earned them the ``2012 Cleanest Restroom in America'' Award--no wonder the women folk fancy stopping at Buc-ee's. There is something for the entire brood to enjoy from Beaver Nuggets, breakfast tacos, Bar-B-Que, beef jerky and fudge to T-shirts and Texas proud merchandise--even deer feeders and deer stands for sportsmen.

Nowhere else on earth, but Texas, can you find a gas station bigger than a football field! I am not making this up. They have 5 flagship stores open 24 hours a day located in New Braunfels, Luling, Madisonville, Bastrop and Wharton. These stores are bigger than the average Buc-ee's--maybe we should nickname them the 8th Wonder of the World.

It is truly an honor to recognize this Texas-owned business; not only for its standing as one of the top convenience stores in the State of Texas, but for the great services that it provides to the citizens of our great State. The employees are happy, Texas friendly, and helpful. On behalf of the Second Congressional District of Texas, I commend all Buc-ee's employees on a job well done, not only in our community, but throughout Texas.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, the following is the names of the Defenders of the Alamo.

Buchanan, James, Alabama; Fishbaugh, William, Alabama;

Fuqua, Galba, Alabama; White, Isaac, Alabama; Baker, Isaac

G., Arkansas; Thompson, Jesse G., Arkansas; Warnell, Henry,

Arkansas; Jennings, Gordon C., Connecticut; Grimes, Albert

(Alfred) Calvin, Georgia; Melton, Eliel, Georgia; Shied,

Manson, Georgia; Wells, William, Georgia; Wills, William,

Georgia; Lindley, Jonathan L., Illinois.

Bailey, Peter James III, Kentucky; Bowie, James, Kentucky;

Cloud, Daniel William, Kentucky; Darst, Jacob C., Kentucky;

Davis, John, Kentucky; Fauntleroy, William H., Kentucky;

Gaston, John E., Kentucky; Harris, John, Kentucky; Jackson,

William Daniel, Kentucky; Jameson, Green B., Kentucky;

Kellogg, John Benjamin, Kentucky; Kent, Andrew, Kentucky;

Rutherford, Joseph, Kentucky; Thomas, B. Archer M., Kentucky;

Washington, Joseph G., Kentucky; Despallier, Charles,

Louisiana; Kerr, Joseph, Louisiana; Ryan, Isaac, Louisiana;

Garrand, James W., Louisiana; Smith, Charles S., Maryland.

Flanders, John, Massachusetts; Howell, William D.,

Massachusetts; Linn, William, Massachusetts; Pollard, Amos,

Massachusetts; Clark, M.B., Mississippi; Millsaps, Isaac,

Mississippi; Moore, Willis A., Mississippi; Pagan, George,

Mississippi; Parker, Christopher Adams, Mississippi; Baker,

William Charles M., Missouri; Butler, George D., Missouri;

Clark, Charles Henry, Missouri; Cottle, George Washington,

Missouri; Day, Jerry C., Missouri; Tumlinson, George W.,

Missouri; Cochran, Robert E., New Hampshire; Stockton,

Richard Lucius, New Jersey; Cunningham, Robert W., New York;

Dewall, Lewis, New York; Evans, Samuel B., New York; Forsyth,

John Hubbard, New York; Jones, John, New York; Tylee, James,

New York.

Autry, Micajah, North Carolina; Floyd, Dolphin Ward, North

Carolina; Parks, William, North Carolina; Scurlock, Mial,

North Carolina; Smith, Joshua G., North Carolina; Thomson,

John W., North Carolina; Wright, Claiborne, North Carolina;

Harrison, William B., Ohio; Holland, Tapely, Ohio; Musselman,

Robert, Ohio; Rose, James M., Ohio; Ballentine, John J.,

Pennsylvania; Brown, James Murry, Pennsylvania; Cain (Cane),

John, Pennsylvania; Crossman, Robert, Pennsylvania; Cummings,

David P., Pennsylvania; Hannum, James, Pennsylvania;

Holloway, Samuel, Pennsylvania; Johnson, William,

Pennsylvania; Kimble (Kimbell), George C., Pennsylvania;

McDowell, William, Pennsylvania; Reynolds, John Purdy,

Pennsylvania; Thurston, John M., Pennsylvania; Williamson,

Hiram James, Pennsylvania; Wilson, John, Pennsylvania.

Martin, Albert, Rhode Island; Bonham, James Butler, South

Carolina; Crawford, Lemuel, South Carolina; Neggan, George,

South Carolina; Nelson, Edward, South Carolina; Nelson,

George, South Carolina; Simmons, Cleveland Kinloch, South

Carolina; Travis, William Barret, South Carolina; Bayliss,

Joseph, Tennessee; Blair, John, Tennessee; Blair, Samuel C.,

Tennessee; Bowman, Jesse B., Tennessee; Campbell, James

(Robert), Tennessee; Crockett, David, Tennessee; Daymon,

Squire, Tennessee; Dearduff, William, Tennessee; Dickinson,

Almeron, Tennessee; Dillard, John Henry, Tennessee; Ewing,

James L., Tennessee; Garrett, James Girard, Tennessee;

Harrison, Andrew Jackson, Tennessee; Haskell, Charles, M.,

Tennessee; Hays, John M., Tennessee; Marshall, William,

Tennessee; McCoy, Jesse, Tennessee; McKinney, Robert,

Tennessee; Miller, Thomas R., Tennessee; Mills, William,

Tennessee; Nelson, Andrew M., Tennessee; Robertson, James

Waters, Tennessee; Smith, Andrew H., Tennessee; Summerlin, A.

Spain, Tennessee; Summers, William E., Tennessee; Taylor,

Edward, Tennessee; Taylor, George, Tennessee; Taylor, James,

Tennessee; Taylor, William, Tennessee; Walker, Asa,

Tennessee; Walker, Jacob, Tennessee.

Abamillo, Juan, Texas; Badillo, Juan Antonio, Texas;

Espalier, Carlos, Texas; Esparza, Gregorio (Jose Maria),

Texas; Fuentes, Antonio, Texas; Jimenez, Damacio, Texas;

King, William Phillip, Texas; Lewis, William Irvine, Texas;

Lightfoot, William J., Texas; Losoya, Jose Toribio, Texas;

Nava, Andres, Texas; Perry, Richardson, Texas; Andross, Miles

Deforest, Vermont; Allen, Robert, Virginia; Baugh, John J.,

Virginia; Carey, William R., Virginia; Garnett, William,

Virginia; Goodrich, John Camp, Virginia; Herndon, Patrick

Henry, Virginia; Kenny, James, Virginia; Main, George

Washington, Virginia; Malone, William T., Virginia;

Mitchasson, Edward F., Virginia; Moore, Robert B., Virginia;

Northcross, James, Virginia.

Zanco, Charles, Denmark; Blazeby, William, England; Bourne,

Daniel, England; Brown, George, England; Dennison, Stephen

(or Ireland), England; Dimpkins, James R., England; Gwynne,

James C., England; Hersee, William Daniel, England; Nowlan,

James, England; Sewell, Marcus L., England; Starr, Richard,

England; Stewart, James E., England; Waters, Thomas, England;

Wolfe, Anthony (Avram), England; Wolfe, son age 12, England;

Wolfe, son age 11, England; Burns, Samuel E., Ireland;

Duvalt, Andrew, Ireland; Evans, Robert, Ireland; Hawkins,

Joseph M., Ireland; Jackson, Thomas, Ireland; McGee, James,

Ireland; Rusk, Jackson J., Ireland; Rusk, Jackson J.,

Ireland; Ward, William B., Ireland; Courtman, Henry, Germany;

Thomas, Henry Germany; Ballentine, Richard W., Scotland;

McGregor, John, Scotland; Robinson, Isaac, Scotland; Wilson,

David L., Scotland; Johnson, Lewis, Wales.

Brown, Robert, Unknown; Day, Freeman H.K., Unknown; Garvin,

John E., Unknown; George, James, Unknown; McCafferty, Edward,

Unknown; Mitchell, William T., Unknown; Mitchell, Napoleon

B., Unknown; Roberts, Thomas H., Unknown; Smith, William H.,

Unknown; Sutherland, William Depriest, Unknown; White Robert,

Unknown; John (Free Black), Unknown; Joe, Travis' slave.

Mr. Speaker, in a beat up old Spanish mission 177 years ago today, the sun rose in the mist for the last time on a small band of soldiers.

The fiery group of 187 Texas volunteers stood defiant against Dictator Santa Anna and his invading Mexican Army of several thousand on this, the 13-day siege of the Alamo.

They came from many States and many foreign countries. There were 11 Tejanos--Texans of Spanish descent. Their names were Jim Bowie, Jim Bonham, David Crockett, and William Barret Travis. They were all killed on March 6, 1836, fighting for liberty over tyranny.

Col. Travis was correct when he said that ``victory would be more costly for Santa Anna than defeat.'' Mexican losses were so huge that General Sam Houston had time to rally a Texas army and defeat the dictator, Santa Anna, on the plains of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836.

Texas became a free and independent nation, a republic.

The guns and bugles are silent at the Alamo, but all freedom-loving people should thank the Good Lord that in history there are those who are willing to face overwhelming odds and die for freedom rather than to live under oppression and tyranny.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, the talk around town is the paranoid gun control crowd that want more gun restrictions and more government control over guns.

If they had their way, some of them would actually outlaw the Second Amendment, and the result would be that the people would have no guns. The only ones that would have guns would be the government and, of course, criminals who ignore gun laws. I call it the ``Mexico model.''

Guns are outlawed in Mexico. The citizens cannot possess guns. There is no Second Amendment and so the government has guns and criminals have guns. Some of those criminals have guns thanks in part to the United States Government sending 2,000 assault weapons to them in Fast and Furious. But that's another story.

U.S. cities are moving toward the Mexico model. Chicago and Washington, D.C., have laws that make it very difficult for a citizen to exercise the Second Amendment. These cities make it difficult to even own a firearm. But all three places--Mexico, Chicago, Washington, D.C.--all have a reputation of being violent, unsafe places. Why? Because they are.

If D.C. was so safe, why are government guards everywhere in the city? Even here in this Capitol building, there are armed guards on the roof, at the doors, at the back doors, at the doors over to the east and to the west. It's hypocritical of the gun control crowd in this Chamber to say ``more guns for me, but not for thee.''

If these cities were safe, gun control laws would work, but they don't work. But there is a Federal law that the city of Richmond, Virginia, took advantage of, and it goes back to 1997. Richmond, Virginia, was one of the top five U.S. cities with the highest per capita murder rate in the United States. So the city used a Federal law to help them control the crime problem. Project Exile is the name. The local and State government voluntarily cooperated with the United States Attorney's Office in gun prosecutions.

Here's how it works: if a local or State law enforcement official arrested some criminal for a felony offense but the person also had a gun, the State official could voluntarily transfer the case to Federal court because in Federal court the person could be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office and get an additional 5 years in the Federal penitentiary because the criminal, the drug dealer, had a firearm in their possession.

It's a simple plan that worked quite well. In fact, it worked so well that in the first year Richmond, Virginia's homicide rate was down 33 percent. By 1999, homicides in Richmond, Virginia, were down 97 percent--all because the criminal was prosecuted for unlawfully possessing a firearm and the government put their resources where they should: prosecuting criminals that use guns in the commission of their offense.

The law held the criminal accountable and exiled him out of the community. That's where the phrase ``Project Exile'' comes from. He was exiled from the community to the Federal penitentiary where other criminals were.

Lock the gun-toting crooks up and send them away. What a novel idea: a law that's already on the books. Maybe violent cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C., should look at Project Exile and hold criminals accountable for the violence that they commit and not be misguided by some who continue to assault the Second Amendment and not punish criminals.

Maybe our system should focus on the person who commits the crime with the weapon as opposed to trying to punish really good folks that own firearms and exercise their right under the Second Amendment to bear arms.

And that's just the way it is.

Madam Speaker, the President's sequester has gone into effect and, according to the White House, the sky is falling. The administration is on a tour de fear with the American people, yet it has the power to prioritize spending.

Who made the priority list? Pakistan. That's right, Madam Speaker. In the midst of doom and gloom of sequestration, the administration is quietly shelling out an additional $37 million to Pakistan. That's over half of the $67 million being cut from public education in Texas.

Pakistan is the Benedict Arnold nation in the list of countries we call allies. Pakistani leaders are continuing to vilify the United States on one hand and, with the sleight of hand, take our money--money I believe ends up in the hands of radical extremists. Pakistan plays the game of dangerous, dishonest deceit by pretending to be our ally in the war on terror while simultaneously giving a wink and a nod to extremism.

Mr. President, fund our schools, not a disloyal ally.

And that's just the way it is.

``Thank a Teacher.'' Mr. Speaker, we have all seen that bumper sticker.

I come from a family of teachers. My mother, mother-in-law, wife, and three of my four kids are teachers by profession.

When a special little girl, Kara, was in the third grade, she and her parents noticed her difficulty in processing words. Her speech pattern affected her self-esteem, her self-worth, and even her weight. Some kids made fun of her. Mrs. Morgan, the third grade teacher, was determined to help the little girl speak better.

With hard work, the little girl and teacher overcame the word problem. The student graduated as high school valedictorian. She obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees. She also obtained a Ph.D.

There is more. Today, that little girl received notice that she is tenured as an associate professor at Baylor University in the department of, yes, English. For you see, Kara Poe Alexander, our daughter, the little girl that had trouble talking, has a Ph.D. in English rhetoric, the study of words.

Congratulations, Kara, on being tenured faculty. And thank you, Mrs. Morgan, a teacher.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, there was once a man who wouldn't take no for an answer when told he was too young to join the United States Army.

He looked for ways to join, even if it meant telling a recruiter a whopper about his age.

In the recruiter's eyes he was 21 when he was just 16.

And the only way he could land foot in the action of World War I was to drive an ambulance.

It was the quickest way he could get to the battlefield.

He desperately wanted to help other Americans that were already fighting the war to end all wars.

During the war, not only did he rescue Americans, but he rescued the other wounded allies and took them back behind enemy lines.

This brave man was Frank Buckles.

Even after being told ``no,'' he became the last surviving doughboy from America.

This week marks 2 years since his death.

He was 110 years old, and a true fighter, Mr. Speaker.

Today, I remember my friend and patriot, Mr. Buckles.

We celebrate the remarkable life that he lived.

And that's just the way it is.

I thank the gentlelady for yielding.

Violence against women is awful. I think we can all agree with that. Behind the scenes in homes throughout America, behind closed doors bad things are happening in those families. It is violent. It affects the spouse, the children, and the quality of life of our community. Today, the House of Representatives can do something about that to make America safer for women, primarily, and their children. We have two choices before us today: the House bill, the Senate bill.

But there's another thing going on behind closed doors in America as well, and that's sexual assault that is occurring in America. I spent time on the bench as a judge in criminal cases in Texas for 22 years; and one of the greatest scientific, forensic discoveries was DNA. It's helped prosecute sexual assault cases.

DNA: when those outlaws commit sexual assault crimes against primarily women and children, they leave DNA evidence, it's examined, and we find out who the criminal was. But here's the problem: there are 400,000 DNA rape kits that have not been tested, some going back 20 and 25 years. They're so old that when it's determined who the outlaw is, they can't be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has run; 400,000 cases where rape victims are waiting for us to just analyze those sexual assault cases.

That concept is called the SAFER bill, sponsored by Carolyn Maloney and myself to try to fix that issue by taking money in one legislation and putting it in the SAFER legislation to analyze those 400,000 cases so victims know who committed the crime, and also outlaws go to prison and not get a free ride because there's not money to test those cases.

That SAFER bill is in the Senate version. I encourage the House of Representatives to vote for the SAFER bill because it is in the Senate legislation.

And that's just the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove all cosponsors from H. Res. 88.

Mr. Speaker, on March 2, 1836, Texas declared her independence from Mexico, and on April 21, 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto--the most important military victory in Texas history--Texas actually became a Republic all unto herself and remained so for nine glorious years.

On the marshy plains of San Jacinto, the victory over Santa Anna and the Mexican Army under General Sam Houston and the Boys can be credited not only to the Texas Army on land but also to the forces patrolling the Gulf of Mexico--the first Texas Navy.

The Texas Navy was established on November 25, 1835 to protect supply lines between Texas and New Orleans from Mexican naval ships. A tiny fleet of four schooners, named the Independence, Brutus, Invincible and Liberty, were purchased to protect and supply the new Republic. The Navy had its own Commodore, Captain Charles Hawkins, appointed by the Republic's own president, David G. Burnet.

Commodore Hawkins was born in New York in 1802. At the age of 16, Hawkins enlisted in the United States Navy as a midshipman and began his military career in the Atlantic before transferring to the West Indies. On board a ship in the West Indies, Hawkins met Commodore David Porter, a hero of the War of 1812. Commodore Porter got himself into some mischief after invading a town in Puerto Rico in 1825 and was court-martialed. He resigned, chose to go command the Mexican Navy fleet and recruited the feisty, young sailor Hawkins to join him in the Mexican Navy.

Hawkins spent the next several years as a Mexican naval commander, fighting against Spaniard ships opposing Mexico's Independence in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mexican Navy soon began to have doubts about American officers serving aboard their ships; these worries caused Hawkins to resign and move to Texas in 1828. Once in Texas, Hawkins worked as a river captain on the Chattahoochee.

Hawkins' path to the Texas Navy started when he met General Sam Houston in San Felipe. Houston was impressed with Hawkins' experience and his desire to serve as navy captain to the new Texas Republic. Houston referred Hawkins to Governor Henry Smith, who then sent Hawkins to New Orleans to begin command over the Independence. At the age of 34, as Commander of the Texas Navy, Hawkins sailed the Independence to the Gulf of Mexico to patrol the coast between Galveston and New Orleans.

Meanwhile, General Sam Houston was busy building the Texas Army to defeat Santa Anna near the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou at Lynch's Ferry. On the afternoon of April 21st, General Sam and the Boys, 700 Texas Freedom fighters, marched double time, in a single line of independence--taking on a professional army over twice their size.

Santa Anna's army, caught napping, was routed. Most of the enemy was killed or wounded. The rest were captured or disappeared. The victory was stunning. The rest, as they say, is Texas history. But one of the most important factors in that Texas victory, mentioned briefly by some historians, was the maritime activity and success of the first Texas Navy.

Commodore Hawkins and his brave crew of gutsy, scrappy sailors changed the course of Texas history on April 21, 1836. The Texas Navy helped win Texas independence by preventing Mexican ships from supplying Santa Anna, seizing gunpowder on Mexican ships and delivering aid to General Sam Houston's army. The heroic acts of the first Texas Navy resulted in one of the largest land transfers in world history and gave way to a new independent nation--the Republic of Texas.

Texas still has an ``Honorary'' Texas Navy. In the 1980s, the Governor of Texas appointed me as an Admiral in the Texas Navy. (Everyone in the Navy is an Admiral.) During my tenure as a judge, I ordered offenders to be ``enlisted'' in the ``Texas Navy.'' The probationers were skilled welders, painters, plumbers and electricians. They were required to help in the restoration efforts of the Battleship Texas. This became another effective tool that both served the public and the probationer--a few went on to be hired by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The probationers became a part of the history of the great ship ``Texas''. After being dry docked in Galveston in the 80's, many much needed repairs were made by different organizations and thousands of volunteers--all to help preserve the Battleship Texas.

The Texas Navy is one of the unique historical traditions of our great State.

And that's just the way it is.