Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1323) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located on Lindbald Avenue, Girdwood, Alaska, as the ``Dorothy and Connie Hibbs Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, Dorothy and Connie Hibbs were a mother and daughter pair who each served as postmaster for over 20 years of their lives. Between the two, there was only a 3-year span between 1954 and 2005 when one of them was not working in this capacity.

The town of Girdwood, Alaska, would like to thank Dorothy and Connie for such a unique contribution to their community by naming the Lindbald Avenue Post Office after them. The Senate has addressed this bill. We support this bill. And I hope all Members will join us today in doing so.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 974) supporting the goals and ideals of National Myositis Awareness Day.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 974, introduced by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel), would support the goals and ideals of National Myositis Awareness Day.

Myositis is a general term used to describe swelling of the muscles. It is listed as a rare disease by the National Institutes of Health's Office of Rare Diseases. Many people, however, are affected by the condition each year. It is estimated there are between 30,000 and 50,000 cases in the United States alone.

This resolution will help to raise awareness to medical professionals, elected officials, policymakers, and communities about myositis.

Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to adopt this.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. But I want to commend the gentleman from New York for bringing this resolution to our attention. When we saw it, we moved it very, very quickly. This is important, and we appreciate his leadership, and also my friend from Maryland.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and urge my colleagues to support the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2690) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 8801 Sudley Road in Manassas, Virginia, as the ``Harry J. Parrish Post Office''.

(For text of S. 2690, see prior proceedings of the House of today.)

Mr. Speaker, I think I have been heard on this, but I did want to give Representative Wolf an opportunity to speak on this. As I stated earlier, Delegate Parrish, and it was Mayor before that, fighter pilot in World War II, was a friend of ours, but he was a friend of the greater community of Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5857) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1501 South Cherrybell Avenue in Tucson, Arizona, as the ``Morris K. `Mo' Udall Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5857, introduced by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva), would designate the facility of the U.S. Postal Service located at 1501 South Cherrybell Avenue in Tucson, Arizona, as the ``Morris K. `Mo' Udall Post Office Building.''

Mo Udall represented Arizona's Second District from 1961 to 1991 and died of Parkinson's disease in 1998. He is one of the first environmentalists to serve in this body. He was a leader, and when we look back at the history of Congress in the latter part of the 20th century, he was one of the giants.

This is a fitting remembrance for him. I remember reading his book, ``Too Funny to Be President,'' and still being able to use some of the stories in the book which he said in his foreword we could do. He has been an inspiration to a lot of us, maintaining his sense of humor even during hard-charging debate, and he was beloved by Members on both sides of the aisle.

I thank the gentleman for introducing this renaming, and I am proud to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for introducing this. As quickly as we saw it, we wanted to move this to the floor. This is a fitting tribute to one of the premier legislators in the House over the last 50 years. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5923) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 29-50 Union Street in Flushing, New York, as the ``Dr. Leonard Price Stavisky Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5923, introduced by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman), designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 29-50 Union Street in Flushing, New York, as the Dr. Leonard Price Stavisky Post Office.

Dr. Stavisky, a member of the New York State Senate, represented Flushing, Queens, from 1965 until his death in 1999. He served with distinction during those years, and I hope my colleagues will join us in supporting this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, remembrance is a solemn obligation, a duty owed by every obligation to those whose honor, love and sacrifice light our way today. To the 2,996 souls who perished on September 11, we owe more than political rhetoric, more than annual ritual. They are remembered best, they live, not just what we say but in what we do to build a safer, more peaceful world.

So the resolution before us today rightly speaks of actions taken, and calls for all Americans to act in the generous, unified spirit born that deadly day. In calling for September 11 to be observed as a day of national service, we seek to build a living monument to all those who have died in the long simmering war that erupted onto our shores 5 years ago. Good done in their name has a special power against the evil we fight.

9/11 brought that evil home: to homes in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and to shocked and grieving homes across our Nation. ``Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our Armed Forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.'' That was spoken the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. President Franklin Roosevelt's words evoke the realism and optimism needed to meet our present peril.

As then, we are at war and no political difference or debate can detract from the heroic work done every day by the men and women of America's military. The 184 people who gave their lives at the Pentagon 5 years ago fought on an unexpected battlefield, but toiled until the end in loyal service to the national ideals, liberty and justice, to which we pledge allegiance each day in this Chamber. Let us pledge in their memory to honor and support all those who fight to defend America and advance freedom.

Unlike the last global conflict, this war is being waged surreptitiously, the enemy lurking among us in shadowy networks and across cyberspace. On 9/11 America's first responders got a bitter taste of this new era, but their valor and grit carried us all through that day and those that followed. In memory of their fallen comrades, let us pledge through this resolution to honor and support the work of the public safety and public health professionals who work every day to protect us from terrorist attacks.

This resolution is also an opportunity to renew the sense of urgency forged in the crumbling inferno of the Twin Towers. With each passing year, what looked hugely urgent after 9/11 tends to get smaller in the viewfinder as more current problems loom large. But while we lose sight of the threat, an enemy who relentlessly worked to transform airplanes into guided missiles is maniacally focused on other ways to harm us.

Distance from the tragedy of 9/11 has also allowed some politics to seep into our security equations. Our vulnerabilities are many, and always will be. There will always be risks and there will always be those eager to take advantage of them. To those seeking to exploit fears rather than build trust, the glass will always be half empty. But genuine security after 9/11 is not a static goal or measurement; it is a process and a mindset. If we stay alert, get good intelligence on the evolving threat, and take the prudent precautions we are willing to tolerate and able to afford without crashing the economy or terrorizing ourselves, we will be safe. It is more than luck there has not been another major attack since 9/11.

So we remember and we pray for the dead and their families, friends and colleagues. And, as we face the certain challenges of an uncertain future, we take solace in the ancient Hebrew lesson, ``There are stars whose light only reaches the earth long after they have fallen apart. There are people whose remembrance gives light in this world long after they have passed away. Their light shines in our darkest nights on the road we must follow.''

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2590) to require full disclosure of all entities and organizations receiving Federal funds.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Majority Whip Roy Blunt and I originally introduced H.R. 5060 to amend the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 to require data with respect to Federal financial assistance to be available for public access in a searchable and user-friendly form. Our bill passed the House on June 21, 2006.

Today, we are taking up the Senate companion bill, S. 2590, introduced by Senator Coburn and Senator Obama, which would require Federal financial assistance data, as well as data about government contracts, to be available for public access.

This bill would require the Office of Management and Budget to create a Web site listing all grant awards and contracts in a manner that would be easily accessible and free of charge. In a nutshell, this is about information to taxpayers about how their hard-earned dollars are being spent. Each award or contract would have to be listed on the Web site within 30 days of enactment of this act. Currently, no such real- time disclosure is required to grant awards, and data that is available often is not timely.

Further, there is no central database of all entities receiving Federal funds, including the nearly 30,000 organizations that are awarded nearly $300 billion in Federal grants each year. In fact, several agencies have taken different approaches to publicizing information about grantees, and all too often little or no information is available online.

This legislation puts into place a framework that sheds light on the Federal grant process, allowing anyone with access to the Internet the ability to review and search financial assistance rewards. Sunshine, Mr. Speaker, is the best disinfectant. This legislation will provide greater transparency in the grant-making process and require continued improvement of the already existing, but inadequate transparency, in Federal contract awards.

I want to thank the gentleman from Missouri for recognizing the importance of this issue. I want to congratulate him on bringing this measure forward. I also want to thank our ranking member, Mr. Waxman, for reaching across the aisle to move this legislation forward in a timely manner.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), who has had a lot to do with originating this bill in the House and helping us work out the details with the Senate.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder).

(Mr. SOUDER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of S. 2590.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 114) providing for corrections to the enrollment of the bill S. 2590, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6033) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 39-25 61st Street in Woodside, New York, as the ``Thomas J. Manton Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6033, offered by the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) would designate the post office building in Woodside, New York, as the Thomas J. Manton Post Office Building.

Mr. Manton passed away in July of this year. The attendance of over 800 people at his service was a testament to his lasting impact as a public servant and friend to the New York community.

His history of public service began with his time in the Marine Corps and continued until his final day as Chair of the Queens County Democratic Organization. He also worked as a New York City police officer while simultaneously attending law school, and in 1970 he began the first of what would be 14 years as a New York City Council Member. In 1985, he was elected to Congress, where he served his country and constituents until 1999.

A steadfast advocate of diversity, Mr. Manton balanced the needs of the people from multiple backgrounds with heartfelt understanding and great compassion. His constituents remember him as a humanitarian and advocate who was never too busy to return a phone call or share his time.

With gratitude for his devotion and service to our country, I would ask all Members to join me in supporting H.R. 3063

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend for his very moving words. This is a tough partisan area right now, we even argued over a 9/11 resolution a minute ago, where partisanship sometimes gets in the way of other things.

Even though Tom Manton was a strong Democrat and a Democratic leader, he never let his partisanship get in the way of getting good results for his constituency and for the country. So this is a fitting memory to his legacy that he leaves here, and I join you. He was our friend on this side of the aisle as well.

Tonight we moved this quickly, Republicans and Democrats, in his honor, because of the great man that he was. I thank my friend for introducing the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers at this moment, so I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Rosemary Foreman, who is retiring after contributing over thirty years of service to the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Republican Party. I have known Rosemary Foreman since my days in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors when she was a congressional staffer for Congressman Stan Parris.

Rosemary served as the first Community/Outreach Coordinator for the Virginia Attorney General Office's Northern Virginia Regional Office, under Attorneys General Bob McDonnell, Jim Gilmore, Mark Earley, Jerry Kilgore, as well as interim Attorneys General Randy Baeles and Richard Cullen.

In this position, Rosemary leveraged her considerable interpersonal and communications skills to help the Attorney General educate the citizens of Northern Virginia on consumer protection and crime prevention.

Before joining the government of Virginia, Rosemary helped lead a number of political campaigns for state and congressional candidates in Northern Virginia and held political positions in several Congressional offices. Throughout her career, she earned a well-deserved reputation for her political acumen, tenacious advocacy and gracious constituent service.

In the course of developing a valued and impressive record of public and political service, Rosemary was a dedicated and loving wife to her husband E. David Foreman, Jr., and mother to her two children, Sheryl Olecheck and E. David Foreman III.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I ask my colleagues to join me in applauding Rosemary Foreman and congratulating her on her retirement after a distinguished career dedicated to serving the citizens of Northern Virginia.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Sandy Augliere on her 90th birthday and recognize her many accomplishments as well as her years of dedication to the Lake Barcroft community.

Sandy Augliere was born Mary Margaret Reed in Marion, N.C., but most everyone who has met her knows her simply as Sandy. Through her engaging personal demeanor and business acumen, Sandy has become an institution in the Lake Barcroft real estate community. In addition, Sandy has been a dedicated and loving wife to her husband Vince, and mother to her four children, Carol, Noel, Reed and Tom.

The senior associate broker at Long and Foster, Sandy has been in the real estate business for some 50 years. She has been in the top 1 percent of Realtors nationally and is a lifetime Million Dollar Club member. In the course of her impressive career, she has sold or re-sold approximately 700 to 800 of the 1,044 houses in the Lake Barcroft. Even today, Sandy works seven days a week, and has no plans to quit.

In establishing her impressive real estate accomplishments, she led opponents of discrimination against African Americans in the home buying market. Sandy sold homes to a diverse group of individuals and families, including Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Attorney General of the United States Ramsey Clark.

Throughout her ongoing success, she has never advertised on television. Instead, she depends on friends and word of mouth. If asked, Sandy is quick to point out that her personal touch has always been a hallmark of her success. This same personal touch has been felt in Lake Barcroft through her community service as Lake Barcroft Association president and Woman's Club president.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Sandy Augliere for her contributions to the Lake Barcroft community. She is an exemplary model of success and citizenship. I call upon my colleagues to join me in recognizing her on the occasion of her 90th birthday.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 5682, the United States and India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act.

India is a strategic friend and ally of the United States. Indian Americans have made an indelible mark upon the culture and diversity of our nation and I was proud to sponsor H. Res. 227 that recognized the contributions of Indian Americans to our nation, which the House passed earlier this year.

India and the United States have a strong history of cooperation. Directly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, India was one of the first countries to offer immediate aid to the United States. As the two largest pluralistic, free-market democracies in the world, it is only natural for the United States and India to seek to strengthen our bilateral relationship.

Last July, President Bush and Prime Minister Sing issued a Joint Statement declaring a new era of respect, reciprocity and cooperation, spanning the fields of high technology, space exploration, counter- terrorism, defense cooperation and energy security.

This legislation lays the statutory foundation to expand nuclear research, nuclear power and nonproliferation cooperation with India that would allow full trade in civil nuclear energy. In exchange for such trade, India has agreed to separate its military and civilian nuclear programs over the next eight years, placing 14 of its 22 reactors under permanent international safeguards, as well as all future civilian thermal and breeder reactors. It has also agreed to maintain its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing and to work with the United States toward a fissile material cutoff treaty.

Mr. Chairman, the United States should seize this opportunity to forge a strategic alliance with India to expand civil nuclear energy production in that country. In closing, I thank the leadership for allowing this legislation to come to the floor today and urge an aye vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Ron Laney for his forward-looking leadership and commitment to child protection.

After retiring trom the Marine Corps as a result of injuries sustained during combat in

Vietnam, Ron Laney worked his way through college as a juvenile probation counselor, earning a degree in criminology and a masters in criminal justice. Mr. Laney soon found his calling in policy development at the Federal Government's Law Enforcement Assistance Agency, LEAA. Continuing his career in public service, he joined the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention, OJJDP, as a law enforcement program manager. Mr. Laney quickly made his presence known developing OJJDP's first law enforcement training program entitled Police Operations Leading to Improved Children and Youth Services,

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 921, which, among other things, condemns the recent attacks against the State of Israel, expresses the House of Representatives' condolences to all families of innocent victims of recent violence, and holds terrorists and their state-sponsors accountable for such attacks.

On June 25, 2006, the terrorist group Hezbollah disrupted peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon by crossing Israel's internationally recognized borders and abducting two Israeli soldiers. Let me say upfront that I know from meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora that the Lebanese government is not able to control Hezbollah. However, this incursion provoked Israel to take action to retrieve its two nationals, a response U.S. citizens would fully expect of their own government were it in the same situation. Unfortunately, escalating violence has led to the death of innocent civilians in both Israel and Lebanon.

While pundits have voiced concerns over how ``measured'' Israel's response was in this case, we must remember that this situation just scratches the surface of a deeply rooted conflict between Israel and a number of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, etc. Since Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon back in 2000, Hezbollah has terrorized and ravaged Israel's northern border.

Many have also called for a cease-fire. Rest assured, I welcome the cessation of all hostility, but am concerned about whether a conventional ``cease-fire'' is appropriate when dealing with a terrorist group that openly fires upon civilian populations. I believe that Israel, on the other hand, exercised due diligence in specifically targeting Hezbollah. However, even though many civilians have died in Lebanon, we must remember this task is extremely difficult to execute because Hezbollah hides among Lebanon's civilian population. Hezbollah is cleverly aware that this makes it extremely difficult for Israel to target it. Moreover, at the bitter cost of innocent Lebanese lives, it rejoices at the public torment that Israel receives.

There is no easy solution to this situation. However, our primary concern at this point ought to be to evacuate all U.S. citizens who wish to leave Lebanon as quickly and safely as possible. I have been personally working with a number of my constituents who have family in Lebanon to ensure their safe return back home. I ask the American people to stand in solidarity with all the families who have lost loved ones in this conflict.

Madam Speaker, in closing it is truly sad that in this day and age a terrorist group like Hezbollah does not hesitate to point their weapons at innocent civilians. We must continue to support the return of Israel's kidnapped soldiers and push for a cessation of all hostility in any way that we can. I urge for an aye vote on H. Res. 921.