Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, right now, people are fighting and dying for a free Afghanistan. They deserve an answer to the crux of the matter: Are we in to win? I believe we must be.

My answer stems from a broad strategic vision focused by three fundamental principles: One, America's security is from strength, not surrender; two, our greatest strength rests in expanding liberty to the oppressed to ensure freedom for ourselves; and three, we are targets of tyrants and terrorists not because of our actions but because of our existence.

Helping the Afghans free themselves from the Taliban's tyranny and al Qaeda's terrorism is a moral good unto itself. To retreat from or compromise this noble goal in the cause of human freedom will not only be a betrayal of the Afghans, it will endanger our own birth right as a free people.

Our allies, our rivals, and especially our enemies will witness our lack of conviction; and, by so dishonoring ourselves, we will squander our allies' trust, lose our rivals' respect, and incur our enemy's emboldened depravities.

Our primary nation-state enemy, Iran, imperviously continues its pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to wield them. A defeat in Afghanistan will condemn generations yet born to the capricious terrorism of an Iranian regime protected by a nuclear umbrella. Alternately, victory in Afghanistan will further Iran's necessary containment by democracies opposed to terrorism.

Unable to expand its sway, Iran's ability to coax our rivals into opposing sanctions and, worse, aiding its nuclear pursuits, will ebb and end; and, within its own borders, the regime will falter and, like the Soviet Union, ultimately implode between the weight of its own oppressed people's aspirations for freedom.

Regarding Afghanistan particularly, General Stanley McChrystal has affirmed victory remains within reach. What form will it take? My view is the richly diversified people of Afghanistan desire a decentralized democracy that is opposed to terrorism and is engaged with their neighbors and allies.

To this end, America, NATO, and the U.N. must renounce the recent fraudulent election and schedule a scrupulously monitored, honest election. This is essential to reassuring the Afghans that their nascent representative government and the coalition's intentions in their homeland are legitimate and benevolent.

As this process proceeds at pace, we must make clear the new democracy's governing principle is local control. Every Nation, especially one as tribal as Afghanistan, has traditional roots of order springing from and connecting the individual and family to the local community and larger country. Without an enduring history of or trust in a centralized, bureaucratized rule from Kabul, only an explicit, enduring commitment to local control will soothe Afghans' resistance to their federal government's existence. Moreover, local control also intermeshes with coalition forces' counterinsurgency operation.

Emulating General David Petraeus' brilliant counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, coalition forces must be increased to provide the force necessary to defeat the enemy's violence and intimidation of Afghans. As the security situation is stabilized, coalition forces and steadily increasing Afghan national police and army personnel must live amongst the people to facilitate sustainable local economic developments and democratic institutions. In sum, the coalition will separate Afghans from the enemy by concretely proving the moral and practical superiority of locally rooted democracy over nihilistic terrorism and tyranny.

Importantly, reconstruction efforts must not be limited to Afghanistan. With the enemy infesting western tribal regions of Pakistan, the coalition must also engage with that nation's people and government in ``preemptive reconstruction.'' Rolling blackouts, food shortages, and other persistent problems affecting Pakistanis must be ameliorated at the national and, critically, the local levels. This will stop Pakistanis from viewing themselves as unwilling conscripts into a ``proxy army'' being used by the coalition; it will stabilize Pakistan's Government; it will demonstrate the coalition's commitment to the well-being of Pakistan citizens; and will empower the Pakistani army to more actively and effectively coordinate with coalition forces to eradicate the enemy's safe havens in their Nation--safe havens which, I note, constitute an existential threat to democracy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Surrounded by free Afghans and coalition forces, the enemy will be uprooted from its havens with nowhere to hide and will be crushed.

This is the synopsis of the broader strategic context and immediate recommendations of those who support victory in Afghanistan. May we all ever remember America's greatest security as liberty, and let us pray the Obama administration supports General McChrystal's plan for victory so that we and future generations in this world never confront the prospect of a wider war and endless threat from abandoning Afghanistan.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Because of its prestige in the history of our Nation, the Presidency and its occupants are often envied. This view is erroneous, because within the Presidency comes the requirement to make painful, agonizing decisions between war and peace, between life and death. Many of its past occupants have said that it is the loneliest of places in the United States to be in that Oval Office when the weight of these demands fall upon your shoulders.

Understanding this and empathizing with our President and fully understanding our role as the servants of the sovereign citizens who sent us here, we have to offer the President honest advice for his consideration in just such circumstances. I do so today.

We have seen the report from the commanding General on the ground, General McChrystal, who was appointed by the President to implement the President's counterinsurgency strategy. I applauded that move. I applauded the President's willingness to go to a counterinsurgency strategy.

We have of late seen tendered to the President the recommendations of General McChrystal as to how we can, yes, still achieve victory in Afghanistan. The report said that we can have a status quo and not achieve victory. We can have 40,000 troops and a full counterinsurgency effort--or we could have more than 40,000 and a full counterinsurgency--to win.

The President is now faced with a momentous decision. The decision is whether we shall have victory or we shall have defeat, a defeat which, however disguised, as a withdrawal or otherwise, will be viewed by our enemies, our allies, and the Afghan people as a defeat.

It is my sincere hope that the President supports and implements the General's request for at least 40,000 additional troops and a full counterinsurgency strategy so that the United States, their allies, and the Afghan people can be free.

You see, within the context of this decision, the President must consider, obviously, the lives of our troops in the field, our allies in the Afghans. The President must weigh the consequences to our Nation and the world of a revanchist Taliban return to power, an emboldened al Qaeda, and the dangers that it imposes not only for the people of Afghanistan and the United States, but to Afghanistan's neighbors, such as Pakistan, and to our allies, who will continue to be the targets of terrorism, as will ourselves.

In weighing this, he will also have to think about the honor of the United States, a Nation which throughout its history has posed a threat to tyrants and terrorists throughout the globe--not because of our actions, but because of our existence.

It is our existence as a free people and a people large enough of heart to expand that liberty to others to defend it here for ourselves, that we have, throughout our history, faced challenges, both martial and ideological.

Within the context of Afghanistan, a decision for a withdrawal that will constitute a defeat means that the United States of America will say to the people of Afghanistan: You will again be returned to the murderous regime of the Taliban. Women will be again treated as second class citizens. Children will again grow up in a culture of violence and hatred directed at other people, and the United States will have broken its word to them.

Today, there are decisions even greater than the one the President faces being made. It is by our men and women in uniform, our allies in the Afghans, who every day wake up fully conscious and devoted to the cause of human freedom in Afghanistan, despite whatever the Taliban and al Qaeda and others may do to them.

It is this type of decision, this type of bravery, this type of commitment to the God-given right to liberty that is possessed by every soul on this Earth that motivates ourselves and our allies in the Afghans. And I would urge the President that, in coming to your decision, you never forget that; that the strength of the United States is our willingness to sacrifice for the expansion of liberty to others to defend freedom for ourselves; that our security is from strength, not surrender; and that throughout our history and throughout the future of this free Republic we will never betray our word to oppressed peoples we have helped to come to emancipate, for in doing so we will betray our own birthright as free citizens and endanger our own security.

Let us pray for our President as he makes this fateful decision and let us hope he comes to the right one--a victory in Afghanistan, a victory for the Afghan people, a victory for the cause of human freedom in our all-too-tortured world.

I yield back to the gentleman from California.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia as they celebrate 50 years of serving the residents of southeastern Michigan.

The hospital opened its doors in 1959 with 170 beds, 99 physicians, and 300 employees. Today, the hospital includes the innovative ``Our Lady of Hope Cancer Center,'' as well as a heart and vascular center, and an in-patient rehabilitation unit. An essential part of our community, St. Mary Mercy Livonia continues to provide superior comprehensive health care.

Indeed in 2007, St. Mary Mercy Livonia received the Health Grades Clinical Excellence Award for the third straight year. Last year, the hospital was named a ``100 Top Hospital'' by Thomson Healthcare thanks to St. Mary Mercy Livonia's doctors, nurses, and staff who devotedly work to help and heal patients and their families.

Mr. Speaker, St. Mary Mercy has served our community for over 50 years. I ask that we congratulate them on their devoted service in serving as a sanctuary for the sick and suffering of our community.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor the extraordinary life of Judge James E. Mies, a retired Wayne Circuit Court judge, who passed away Monday at the age of 81.

For almost 25 years, Judge Mies pursued truth and impartiality behind the bench and was well-regarded both as a lawyer and a judge. Judge Mies was a 1951 graduate of the University of Detroit law school and served in the Livonia law firm of Brashear and Brashear. In 1969, he was elected a district judge in Livonia. In 1981, Governor William Milliken named Judge Mies to the Wayne Circuit Court, where he served until his retirement in 1993.

Judge Mies was perhaps best known for his handling of Wayne County's numerous asbestos lawsuits. Colleagues remembered him as, first and foremost, a decent man whose rulings were meticulously thought out. Outside the courtroom, Judge Mies was active in the Optimists, the Michigan Cancer Foundation and other civic organizations and in 1993, the Livonia City Council named a park in his honor.

On September 21, 2009, Judge Mies passed away after a lengthy illness. A beloved husband and father, he is survived by his wife of 59 years, Mary Patricia, his sons Edward, James, Gerald and Michael, his daughters Jean and Catherine (Diamond), as well as thirteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is predeceased by his son Thomas. The citizens of Wayne County were privileged to have been served by this erudite judge for a quarter of a century.

Madam Speaker, Judge Mies is remembered as a philanthropist, mentor, and friend. As we bid him farewell, I ask my colleagues to join me in mourning his passing and honoring the contributions he made to society.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge and pay tribute to the doctors, nurses, and the entire staff of St. Mary Mercy Livonia, as they celebrate 50 years of providing compassionate care to the citizens of my district.

St. Mary Mercy Livonia was built in the tradition of the Felician Sisters, who were founded by the Blessed Mary Angela in Warsaw, Poland in 1855 as a ministry of healing and service. Her selfless dedication to her fellow citizens played an influential role in the creation of the hospital.

St. Mary Mercy Livonia opened its doors in 1959 with 170 beds, 99 physicians and 300 employees and the hospital has developed extensively since its origin. Today, the hospital includes an innovative Our Lady of Hope Cancer Center, as well as a Heart & Vascular Center and an Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit. The hospital is an essential part of our community and continues to provide caring and comprehensive health care.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to say the hospital has received various honors over the years. In 2007, St. Mary Mercy Livonia received the HealthGrades 2007 Clinical Excellence Award for the third straight year. Last year, St. Mary Mercy Livonia was named a 100 Top Hospital for 2007 by Thomson Healthcare. Congratulations to the talented and erudite doctors, nurses and staff who work tirelessly to improve the lives of countless numbers of human beings every day.

St. Mary Mercy Livonia has had a long and distinguished history as a sanctuary for those who need quality care. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating St. Mary Mercy Livonia on its 50th anniversary and venerating the institution's dedicated commitment to the community and our country.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor and acknowledge Mr. Edgar Hagopian, a compassionate humanitarian and public advocate who has worked tirelessly on behalf of his fellow citizens.

Edgar grew up in metro Detroit. As a teen in the 1950s, he began working for his father, Haroutun Hagopian, who ran a cleaning business. Edgar worked hard under the leadership example set by his father. Buoyed by the devotion and support of his wife Sarah, the Hagopian Family of Companies grew and earned a reputation for excellence in business. Presently, Edgar serves as Chairman of the Hagopian Family of Companies, which encompasses Hagopian & Sons, Incorporated, Hagopian World of Rugs, Hagopian Cleaning Services, Incorporated, Hagopian Fire & Flood Services and The Ghiordes Knot. The Hagopian name has long been associated with carpet cleaning and fine Oriental Rugs and their cleaning slogan, ``expect the best, expect the purple truck'', can be heard over local airwaves daily.

As 2009 marks the distinct recognition of 70 years in business, it is with great gratitude and appreciation that I recognize Edgar Hagopian. His leadership stands as a fine illustration of Southeast Michigan ingenuity and innovation. He has assertively fostered economic growth, created jobs and inspired hope in a state ravaged by mass unemployment. Additionally, Edgar has been involved in numerous charitable organizations and his generosity is well known throughout the community.

Edgar and his wife Sarah have worked to promote Armenian culture and unite the metro Detroit Armenian community. They have worked to help build a stronger Armenia by bridging the cultural gap and bringing people of all ethnicities and traditions together. Mr. Hagopian has spearheaded both large and small projects, each with qualitative impacts felt across all spectrums of life. Moreover, he has long worked tirelessly to better inform people of the Armenian Genocide on both a local and national level. These efforts resulted in the passing of Michigan Public Act 558 (2002) ``Armenian Genocide Remembrance Days'' signed into law by Governor John Engler.

Madam Speaker, Edgar Hagopian is a spirited political activist, caring benefactor, compassionate citizen and cultural icon whose generosity has shaped the lives of countless people in our community. We are all indebted to the countless sacrifices and contributions he has made to strengthen the social fabric of our society. He personifies a legacy of distinction. Madam Speaker, today, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. Hagopian and recognizing his years of loyal service to our community and country.

Madam Speaker, I quote:

``For, lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of the singing of birds is come,

And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.''

Every April, we Michiganders heard Ernie Harwell recite these lines from the Song of Solomon from his broadcast booth; and we welcomed him and another season of Detroit Tigers baseball back into our homes. Ernie Harwell is not only a part of our culture; he is a part of our families.

For 42 summers around radios and sand lots throughout Michigan and America, Ernie's voice embodied and expressed the grace, skill, triumphs and travails of the greatest of American games--baseball. Everyone either tried or knew someone who tried to mimic his legendary calls of ``long gone,'' ``he stood there like a house by the side of the road,'' or ``that foul ball was caught by a youngster from''--and on pins and needles we'd wait to hear from what city the lucky fan hailed. Of course, down inside we knew no one, including Ernie, knew where the fan was from, but it didn't matter. We knew where Ernie's heart was. It was and is with baseball and with us.

But a heart as big as Ernie's is not confined solely to Detroit or to baseball. Across the country, generations of sports fans grew up listening to Ernie. He announced games for both NCAA and pro football teams; for the Masters golf tournament in his native State of Georgia; for the Major League Baseball All Star Game and World Series; for the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, and yes, for the Detroit Tigers, who, in gratitude and admiration, placed Ernie's statue in the main concourse at Comerica Park.

Yes, Ernie is also a part of the Detroit Tigers' family, as Tiger Hall of Famer Al Kaline affirmed: ``Ernie is probably the most beloved person who has ever been in Detroit with the Detroit Tigers. He is loved by everybody and rightfully so. He's a great broadcaster, but an even better person.''

Yet while we and the Tigers and sports fans across the Nation embrace him, no one, of course, loves Ernie more than his wife of 68 years, Lulu, and their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. So blessed with their love and support, and faithful and thankful to God for bestowing this bounty upon him, Ernie now courageously faces the recent diagnosis that he is afflicted with incurable bile duct cancer. Viewing his condition not as an end, but as a beginning, Ernie says, ``Whatever's in store, I'm ready for a new adventure. That's the way I look at it.''

Madam Speaker, may we all honor this man, savor his company amongst us in the time God grants, and greet all of our lives' challenges with the faith, equanimity and dignity of Ernie Harwell.

Mr. Speaker, recently we have seen the end of Islam's 40-day period of mourning for the martyrs of freedom that were killed on June 20, Neda Soltan, Taraneh Mousavi.

And what did the regime do in response? They prevented people from attending their grave sites. They removed people who wanted to lay flowers. And in the end, as reported by msnbc.com, Brigadier General Abdollah Araghi warned against any further gatherings: ``We are not joking. We will confront those who will fight against the clerical establishment.''

Yes, Mr. Speaker, they will fight against rape and murder, martyrs such as Neda and Taraneh. But the world will mourn these martyrs, and soon Iran and all the world will rejoice when these murderers are brought to justice and the Iranian people breathe free.

Mr. Speaker, I come from Michigan where we have a 15.2 percent unemployment rate. And the thing that we hear in Michigan is where are the jobs?

We come to Washington and we now hear that we are going to have a radical socialization of America's health care system, that we are going to rush to misjudgment, that we will not allow the American people's voices to be heard over the August break so that their Members can come here and accomplish health care reform, not merely in a rush, but most importantly, correctly.

When I go home this August, I would like to be able to converse with my constituents about the best way to do this in our hard-pressed State. And I know for a fact that they will want health care done right, and they will tell this body to stop the insanity and fix the economy and do the job we sent you to do.

Mr. Speaker, tonight I have introduced H. Res. 680, calling upon President Obama to retract and apologize for his remarks regarding the conduct of Cambridge, Massachusetts, police officer James M. Crowley, Jr. Mr. Speaker, I view this as a Presidential issue.

After admitting his bias and inadequate grasp of the facts, the President nevertheless stated Sergeant Crowley had ``acted stupidly'' when carrying out his duties as a law enforcement officer. Subsequently, in a public remark, the President said that Sergeant Crowley had ``overreacted.''

On his part, Sergeant Crowley has steadfastly denied any inappropriate conduct.

Mr. Speaker, this is the crux of the problem, and it is a situation patently unfair to Sergeant Crowley and his standing regarding potential legal and professional consequences. Therefore, I ask the President to retract his premature judgment, apologize for it, and allow the appropriate authorities to resolve this issue through due process.

With my view, Kenneth E. Grabowski, legislative director of the Police Officers Association of Michigan agrees. I quote Mr. Grabowski: ``After admitting a bias against the police officer and an ignorance of the facts, the President used his bully pulpit to help a well-connected friend by unfairly accusing an officer of misconduct in the performance of his duties. It must not stand. If it does, what officer will be next?''

And I would add, what citizen will be next?

Mr. Speaker, tonight I have also introduced H.R. 3347, the Freedom Trade Act, which applies human rights as a criterion of trade with the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I believe H.R. 3347 is most timely, for today, in the Ronald Reagan Building, President Obama stated how ``the relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world.''

On my part, I believe it is therefore imperative that this relationship be built upon a common and unbreakable commitment to every human being's God-given rights to liberty, including the rights of the free exercise of religion and speech and to the ability to form free and independent labor unions.

That is why this bill is necessary. It will show all our potential partners throughout the world that the United States remains a beacon of freedom that will never forget Natan Sharansky's warning that ``how a government treats its own people cannot be separated from how that government could be expected to treat other countries.''

Mr. Speaker, with this I wholeheartedly concur.

I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I thank him for allowing me to borrow the disputed chart. One of the things that I think frustrates Americans is when they entrust elected officials with office--especially Congress--and the Members of Congress forget a simple thing: We do not represent Washington to our districts. We represent our districts to Washington. I think that that important principle is often missed in the debate we are currently having. By all objective standards, the American people want health care reform, and they

want it done right. Yet in the rush to misjudgment, they are very concerned that one of the truisms Americans understand will, once again, be proven: That no matter how bad a situation may be, Congress can still make it worse. The rush to judgment now to pass a bill before the August deadline, to me, is based upon one ineluctable fact--the more the American people learn about what's in this 1,200-page health care bill, the more they are opposed to it. Thus, if this Congress leaves without having passed a flawed health care bill that will increase costs, decrease quality, eliminate choices and kill jobs, the American people will have time to tell their duly elected Representatives what they think of this bill; and it will not be pleasant.

Thus, we come to the problem before us tonight, which is the inability of Members of Congress to put out a chart that shows how the process would work under this bill. The chart in question is here before us. It is on the floor of the U.S. House; it is being broadcast by C-SPAN across the country; and yet Members are not allowed to put it in materials to be distributed to their constituents. I can find no logical explanation why this chart can be shown to you here and yet cannot be shown to you in a piece of mail, in a flyer or anything distributed out of the office of a Member. I would eagerly await the logical rationale as to why this is the case because, quite simply, if the majority has its way and does not allow Members of Congress to put forward the chart of their own 1,200-page health care plan, you will not see this chart.

This is what they want you to see. This will lead no one to an informed decision about what is in the bill. This will lead no one to an informed decision about how one of the most intimate relationships they will have, between themselves, their doctor and their health care insurance, will be affected by this bill. All we ask is that rather than allowing the people less information about this bill, that the majority do what is right and give the American people time to make their own determination based upon what is in the bill, and allow them to see this chart, contact their Members, tell them what they think of it; and let us come back, let us get rid of a flawed bill, and let us come together from the center and work out for true health care reform that is right for Americans, that will decrease costs, increase quality, empower patients as consumers, and continue to make the best health care system in the world even better for all of our citizens.

I thank the gentleman from Tennessee.

When the cap-and-tax national energy tax bill was passed from the House, the Congress went on a break, and when people went home on break, they found out how much the American people did not like the cap-and-tax bill that this House passed. In fact, I remember being home--I am sure a lot of Members had this moment, both people who voted for it and voted against it. You go to the grocery store, somebody might recognize you. They would look around. They would walk up and they'd say, Are you my Representative? And you'd say, Yes. They'd look at you and look around again, and they'd say, Dude, this is crazy. This cap-and-tax is crazy. I would just say, Yes, it is. And I said, Especially in Michigan, our State where we have a 15.2 percent unemployment rate, where we are a manufacturing giant now in difficult times, why the Federal Government would make it harder to manufacture in the United States, why we would be but a Senate vote and a Presidential signature away from a radical, ideological imposition on America's energy future that will raise people's energy taxes and will kill their jobs.

I still can't figure out why we would do this. It is absolutely insane to add massive government spending, debt and regulatory burdens on a recessive economy, and why you would threaten to raise tax rates on people at the very time we need the entrepreneurial genius of the American people to grow this economy, create jobs and start to stabilize ourselves for the future and the international competition in this age of globalization.

Now, when I say it's insane, people say, Well, isn't that a little harsh? I say no. I'm 43. As I was growing up, we had a new book put in front of us in school. It was called Ecology. It had a nice picture of the world on it from outer space. I was like, Oh, this is nice. And in the course of learning about ecology, my generation, Generation X, was told that the greatest threat we faced wasn't the Soviet Union. I tended to disagree even at an early age. I was a bit precocious about the Russians.

They told me in my generation that we would freeze to death in the next ice age if we didn't reduce pollution. Flash forward. My wife and I, our children are in school. Today our children's generation is being told that unless the government regulates the economy and raises energy taxes, they will face a climate change in which global warming will destroy their way of life.

So we have gone from ice to fire, and yet the solution remains the same, oddly, from the proponents of the cap-and-tax legislation who say, We have to have government control of the weather, raise your energy taxes, dictate your lifestyle and devastate your jobs all so that we can prevent global warming. This from the people who told me there was an ice age coming.

That, to me, is not sane. That is not realistic. That is not based on science. That is based on ideology, and ideology applied to a nation at a struggling time leads to dire ramifications for the American people.

I want to show you the extreme to which this goes. When in the majority the Republican Party heard about the debt dangers the United States faced, especially debts from nations such as Communist China, I agree with that. Now that the Democratic majority and President Obama are racking up unprecedented levels of debt and unprecedented levels of spending, I want to show you what the Commerce Secretary said about cap-and-trade regulations in our relations with Communist China. This is from The Wall Street Journal, But yesterday, Commerce

Secretary Gary Locke said something amazing: U.S. consumers should pay for Chinese greenhouse gas emissions. You see, the Communist Chinese, in one of the ironies of life, are tending to protect their manufacturing base more than the free market--United States--from governmental intrusions, regulations, and taxation.

Now, what Mr. Locke, our Commerce Secretary, said was this. It's important that those who consume the products being made all around the world to the benefit of America. And it's our own consumption activity that's causing the emission of greenhouse gas. Americans need to pay for that.

I want you to think about this. After President Clinton signed the permanent normalization trade relations with Communist China, we in Michigan, before the rest of the country, started asking where are the jobs. Why is manufacturing in America hurting? Why is it going offshore? Where is it going? We knew where it was going. It was going to Communist China.

So we have a two-for here. We have the Commerce secretary saying that he doesn't seem to mind that the jobs are going over there and that what we really need to do is, if the United States decides to continue to pass legislation that impedes and impairs and harms its manufacturing base, not that we should seek fair trade with Communist China, but what we should do is borrow money from Communist China with interest to pay them for their greenhouse gas emissions to get them to adopt the very thing that American people do not want to adopt in America. I want you to think about this. I'm going to borrow money with interest from Communist Chinese to give to them so they can be environmentally sound.

Now, I do not understand why, given what happens to our party here in the House, why the Commerce Secretary did not say that the Communist China is the party of ``no.'' And I think it would have been appropriate. But I also would not expect that from an administration whose vice president says we have to keep spending to keep from going bankrupt. I had no idea that that meant that not only would he spend the money here, he'd spend the money over in Communist China and borrow from them to give it back, leaving you, the American taxpayer, with the interest.

And it also would not be surprising to me from an administration who said we have to spread the wealth around. I don't think the President said quite how far he said he was going to spread your wealth. I don't remember him saying that that the world would be a better place in, we take U.S. taxpayer money, send it to Communist China to make red bureaucrats green. I would have liked to have heard that. I'm sure a lot of people would have liked to have heard that around October last year where their money was going to wind up, rather than announced now via the Commerce Secretary.

The frustration that the American people feel is that they realize our prosperity comes from the private sector, not the public sector. They understand that we do not want a radical cold-turkey shift from fossil fuels into some nebulous green energy future. What we want to see is maximum American energy production, commonsense conservation and free-market green technological innovations that will transition us into a more environmentally sound economy of the future.

What we see in an ideologically rife House, Senate, and administration is the opposite. They want to do cold turkey on fossil fuels and the existing economy and move us into a radical, and again, ill-defined green economy that in many ways--with the absence of nuclear and others--proves impossible to obtain in a reasonable period of time without doing more damage to a recessed economy.

I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his time.

Mr. Speaker, where are the jobs? They are not in Michigan, my home State, where we have a 15.2 percent unemployment rate. And what could we expect, especially when this was one of the driving forces behind the trillion dollar stimulus package. One could expect similar results, and, sadly, that's true.

We then saw a national cap-and-tax energy tax did not create jobs, did not help, and now we're on the verge of a radical socialization of America's health care network. And what do we hear from the other side? Statistics but no references to the bill.

And do you know why? Because while our health care system needs reform, it is not broken. The one thing that's broken is this Congress. And if this Congress keeps spending people's money and engaging in radical change to our cherished way of life, every single family budget in America will be broken by their hand.

Madam Speaker, the Iranian people's peaceful struggle for freedom continues despite the tyrannical regime's barbarous crackdown. In fact, in his Friday's sermon, former President Rafsanjani called into question legitimacy of the present government and rebuked the regime for its crackdown on peaceful protesters and its cavalier rejection of the cries that the election was stolen.

Finally, former President Rafsanjani called upon the regime to free and fully account for all those peaceful freedom seekers who have been arrested in the repression. Then, on Sunday, former President Khatami called for a referendum on the legitimacy of the Iranian regime and asked that the results be tallied by an objective independent Iranian body to ensure its accuracy.

This led the current opposition, Presidential candidate Hossein Mousavi, to say, You are facing something new, an awakened nation, a nation that has been born again and is here to defend its achievements. Arrests won't put an end to this problem. End this game as soon as possible and return to the nation its arrested sons.

While humanity agrees, Supreme Leader Khamenei disagrees. And to leaders who both tacitly and expressly support the freedom seekers in Iran, Khamenei issued this warning. The elite should be watchful since they have been faced with a big test. Failing the test will cause their collapse.

I'd ask Supreme Leader Khamenei to look at this picture. Her name is Taraneh Mousavi. She was arrested near Ghoba Mosque, where she was on her way to attend hairdressing college. After her arrest, she was raped, sodomized and tortured by her captors, taken to a hospital in a coma, and it was there that she died. Upon her death, her body was removed to the outskirts of Karaj Qasim where, to prevent an autopsy, it was burned.

She came from a religious family. Taraneh was only 19 and an only child. Her family has been threatened to keep quiet, and yet the resistance wants her story out. Why? Because here's the truth denied by Khamenei and his misogynistic, murderous regime. Your referendum has been held and you have failed your test. Taraneh and Nadeh condemn you as the despicable killers of women. You have no legitimacy either in the eyes of the Iranian people or in the eyes of the civilized world. You are doomed by your own hands, and it is but a matter of time until your regime collapses and the Iranian people breathe free.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor Bruce Phillips Davis, a devoted husband, father, and Veteran; and to mourn him upon his passing at age 44.

Bruce was born on March 18, 1965. He attended Lincoln Elementary School, Frost Junior High, Bentley High School and Cleary University, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Business. He became a consultant with DTE Energy, a position in which Bruce excelled for twenty years. Following in his father's and brother's courageous footsteps, Bruce heeded a higher call of service and joined our United States military; and nobly served us and defended human freedom during Operation Desert Storm. A lover of life whose company brought joy to all he knew, Bruce enjoyed numerous outdoor activities and giving back to his community through his memberships in the Fraternal Order of Eagles and American Legion.

On July 6, 2009, Bruce succumbed in his ongoing struggle with pulmonary hypertension. He will be remembered as a father devoted to his family, especially his wife, Penny, and daughter, and to his many nieces and nephews. Bruce was a wonderful man, kind to all he encountered; and he will be truly, and sorrowfully missed.

Madam Speaker, during his lifetime, Bruce Phillips Davis enriched the lives of everyone around him. As we bid farewell to this wonderful individual, I ask my colleagues to join me in mourning his passing and honoring his years of loyal service to our community and country.

Goodbye and God Bless, ``Tiger!''