Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize William ``Bert'' Lucas for his

thoughtful and compassionate actions which resulted in the saving of two peoples' lives in two separate incidents.

Bert, a postman from Cresco, Iowa, has been employed with the postal service for 13 years. In August 2007, during his regular route in Decorah, Iowa, Bert noticed Edna Prestsater was not out waiting for him like she regularly did. The following day Edna had not picked up her mail, so Bert contacted Edna's granddaughter with his concerns. Edna had fallen the day before and was unable to get up due to several cracked vertebrae. Bert's concern for Edna no doubt saved her life.

Just 3 weeks later, Bert also noticed Orval Tilleraas did not pick up his previous day's mail. Bert swiftly contacted Orval's landlord, who came to check on Orval. Orval was stricken with an illness which caused his kidneys to stop functioning. Doctors said Orval only had a few hours to live had he not received the medical attention he needed.

Bert's alertness and caring demeanor go above and beyond the normal line of duty in this great country of ours. I commend William ``Bert'' Lucas for his Good Samaritan deeds. I am honored to represent Bert in Congress, and I wish him the best in the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the service of the United States Navy Chief Sonar Technician of Submarines, Dale Alan Baruth, and to express my appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his country on the occasion of his retirement.

For the past 24 years, Chief Baruth has served faithfully and honorably. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served on board the Pre- commissioning Unit Alaska and the USS Alaska SSBN 732 Blue Crew from July 1985 to June 1990. Later he served at the Naval Oceanography Command Detachment in Bangor, WA, from June 1990 to October 1993 when he was honorably discharged from active service.

In March 1995, Chief Baruth joined the Navy Reserve where he served honorably until his retirement. He primarily served at the Navy Operational Support Center in Sioux Falls, SD, attached to COMDESRON 24 Det A. In November 2001 he was recalled to active duty in support of Operation Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom and was assigned to the Navy Security Force, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, St. Louis, MO, until December 2002.

I commend Chief Dale Alan Baruth for his many years of loyalty and service to our great Nation. It is an immense honor to represent Chief Baruth in Congress, and I wish him and his family in Estherville, IA, a long, happy and healthy retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act. I first want to thank my friend and colleague Leonard Boswell for his service to our Nation, and his efforts to bring this legislation forward on behalf of Iowa veterans. I was pleased to be an original cosponsor of this legislation when it was introduced.

The bill contains many important provisions to ensure that the VA health system is better equipped to identify soldiers at risk for suicide and respond with appropriate counseling and care. The bill also mobilizes federal government agencies to pool their expertise on this issue in order to identify the best strategies for suicide prevention.

The bill is named in honor of SPC Joshua Omvig, who served his country as part of the Army Reserve 339th Military Police Company from Davenport, IA. A little over a year after his return from a tour in Iraq, Joshua Omvig took his own life on December 22, 2005. While his death was tragic, we are grateful for his service to our Nation.

Our soldiers encounter enormous stress and mental health challenges in the course of their duties. We have a crucial obligation to do all we can to ensure that our veterans are given proper care and to prevent such tragedies from occurring.

No one has done more to secure our Nation's freedom than our veterans and military personnel. Their sacrifice and service must be matched with greater commitment to them on our part. With that, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 327.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the service of Mrs. Ann Sampson, as the devoted Golden Stars Drill Team coach at Eagle Grove High School in Eagle Grove, Iowa.

Ann has served as the coach of the drill team she founded for the past 14 years. Her passion for this team has had, and will continue to have, a lasting impact on the many young ladies that were fortunate enough to be led by Ann.

During Ann's first year as coach, the team did not have the resources for uniforms during performances, so she found old flag squad outfits at the high school and managed to transform them into the new uniforms for the team. Her exceptional organizational skills and the team's rapid success led to the first Golden Stars Drill Team Night at the end of the team's inaugural school year, which raised enough money for brand new uniforms the next school year. In her third year coaching, and second year competing, Ann led the Golden Stars to their first state title. y

Ann's impact on the young ladies wasn't limited to just the dance floor; important life lessons for achievement were instilled. Ann focused the team on forming a family bond, as a recipe for success. The Golden Stars motto is ``you're only as strong as your weakest link.'' This motto speaks of Ann's natural abilities to lead this team through the years.

I consider it a great honor to represent Ann Sampson in the United States Congress. I know that my colleagues will join me in thanking her for her service to the youth of Iowa and wish her and her family all the best that the future brings them.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize two heroic individuals from north Iowa for their swift and unselfish actions, which resulted in saving a man's life.

On Saturday, September 29, 2007, Eusebio ``Joe'' Garcia of Albert Lea, Minnesota, was driving on a highway in Mason City, Iowa, when he suffered a heart attack and lost control of his vehicle into the median.

Missy Thoms of Mason City and Jim Kavars of Clear Lake witnessed the vehicle in the median and quickly came to the scene to assist. Joe did not have a pulse and was not breathing. Missy and Jim conducted CPR until the paramedics arrived. Missy, a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Mason City, advised the paramedics that Joe needed an IV and to be defibrillated. With that helpful information and Missy and Jim's work, the paramedics revived Joe's breathing before they even had him in the ambulance.

Missy and Jim are great examples to use when teaching our children and grandchildren about the importance of helping thy neighbor.

I know that all of my colleagues join me in commending Missy Thoms and Jim Kavars and honoring them for their swift and unselfish actions which resulted in saving Joe Garcia's life. I am truly honored to represent both of these heroes in the United States Congress.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize August Gliem of Ogden, Iowa, for his longtime service to the International Lions Club. Gus was recently awarded the 50- Year Monarch Milestone Chevron Award for his 50 years of service to the Lions Club, which began on July 1, 1957.

The International Lions Club is a volunteer organization which works together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world, including an end to preventable blindness, cleaning local parks and providing essential supplies to victims of natural disasters.

Fifty years of service isn't slowing Gus down, and I am told that he is still very active in the Lions Club. I consider it an honor to serve Gus in the United States Congress and I know that my colleagues will join me in recognizing and honoring Gus' dedication to his community and his commitment to the International Lions Club.

Madam Speaker, up until July of this year, in all the history of America, there are only four individuals who ever received the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, America's highest civilian honor. They are Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On July 17, President George W. Bush joined with the bipartisan Congressional leadership in presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to a fifth person, a native of Iowa, born in my congressional district, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug. Dr. Borlaug's name is not as well known as those other four vaunted individuals, but the achievements of this humble and self-effacing man are just as magnificent. It was one of the proudest moments of my service in Congress to be on the dais with the President and Dr. Borlaug and to hear him described as: the Father of the Green Revolution; the man who saved a billion people from starvation: and the man who, ``has saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.''

If there is one person who is the symbol of our struggle to diminish hunger in the world it is Dr. Borlaug. He is a hero on almost every continent from Mexico, where he first developed his ``Miracle Wheat'' that could triple the yield of the plant; to India and Pakistan where his new approach to agriculture staved off famine and helped those two countries become self-sufficient in wheat; to the Middle East and East Asia where his revolutionary agricultural innovations produced unprecedented surpluses in both wheat and rice; and finally to Africa, where his efforts continue to this day as he heads the Sasakawa Global 2000 effort to uplift food deficit countries there.

Dr. Borlaug is in Iowa today attending the first ever Iowa Hunger Summit, which is organized by the World Food Prize Foundation and which is drawing hundreds and hundreds of participants from across Iowa and across America for a day-long focus on countering global food insecurity. I was pleased to learn that members of the Alliance Against Hunger and Bread for the World are traveling to Iowa from many States to take part in this exciting and innovative program. It is highly appropriate that Dr. Borlaug will be surrounded by the bipartisan political leadership of the State of Iowa for the past 40 years in the person of Governor Chet Culver and former governors Bob Ray, Terry Branstad and Tom Vilsack.

While we cannot be there to join with them in this important work, we can send messages of support such as this so that all who are attending the Hunger Summit can know that we in the Congress are also present in spirit, indeed a bipartisan spirit, which comes from the admiration Republicans and Democrats share of Dr. Borlaug and the shared concern we have for people who do not have enough to eat.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Alyssa Randall of State Center, Iowa, as the recipient of the Golden Apple Award for her commitment and enthusiasm as an educator.

Alyssa teaches the Trojan Tots program at West Marshall Elementary School, which includes two separate programs for 3 and 4-year-olds. At an early age, Alyssa acquired a strong interest in utilizing her talent for working with young children. As she was growing up Alyssa's own teachers played a crucial role in this interest. I am certain that Alyssa's passion for the teaching profession is, and will continue to be, a significant influence on a number of her own students as well.

The Golden Apple Award is a special recognition given to one exceptional teacher each month during the school year by WHO-TV 13 in Des Moines, Iowa and by Allied Insurance. Alyssa's own students, Ryan and Kody Carver, nominated her for this recognition by writing letters describing why she is their favorite teacher.

I consider it a great honor to represent this dedicated teacher Alyssa Randall in the United States Congress. And, I also know that my colleagues in Congress will join me in expressing my gratitude to Alyssa and to all of our Nation's educators for their hard work and dedication to our children and grandchildren.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a distinguished professor of materials science and engineering, a senior metallurgist at Ames Lab, Karl Gschneidner.

It was just recently announced that Karl will be awarded the prestigious Acta Materialia Gold Medal in March of 2008 based on his demonstrated ability and leadership in materials research.

Karl has been working with rare earth metals including research into their magnetic and electrical properties for over 50 years. Karl's most noble work has been in magnetic refrigeration. Magnetic refrigeration is a cooling method that uses considerably less energy than the majority of common cooling methods used today. The new knowledge Karl is developing will advance existing materials and will lead to new and better materials, which will ensure the success of magnetic refrigeration as a viable energy-saving and environmentally safe technology in the next century.

Karl's research is vital in this period of our country. Our Nation's dependence on foreign

oil and demands for energy has potential for great strain on our economy, security and supply of natural resources.

I commend Karl Gschneidner for his dedication to science and to materials engineering research. And, I know that all of my colleagues in the United States Congress will join me in congratulating him on his gold medal recognition.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor an exceptional young man from my Congressional District in Iowa.

Lucas Keigley, a 9-year-old fourth-grader from Gilbert, Iowa, was recently honored for his role in solving an arson case in July of this year.

According to a story in the Ames Tribune, Lucas had been at Gilbert Elementary School playing when two older boys, ages 14 and 15, lit a piece of cardboard on fire and threw it into a dumpster. The fire caught, and its proximity to both school property and several propane tanks could have made for a dangerous situation.

Lucas jumped into action and rightly followed the good advice that his mother Lisa always taught him: find an adult and tell them what he saw.

After alerting his mother to what he saw, Lucas worked with the Gilbert Fire Department and the Story County Sheriff's Office to help them find the suspects immediately, sparing law enforcement the time and cost of a lengthy arson investigation.

It is heartening to know that Lucas may be considering law enforcement as a career, according to his mother. It may just be his calling considering that his grandfather, Claire Keigley, served his community of Ames as a police officer for more than 28 years.

When we see, read and hear news of tragedy, pain and scandal on almost a daily basis it is heartening to hear the story about a fine 9- year-old young man from Iowa named Lucas Keigley who bravely did the right thing. I am honored to represent Lucas and his family in Congress and I know that all of my colleagues here in the United States Congress join me today in congratulating and thanking Lucas for helping make his community a safer place.

I thank the gentleman from California in recognizing the huge town of 160 people of Alexander, Iowa.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule because it does cut off and stifle debate on an appropriations bill. This really violates the open rule tradition on appropriation bill debate in the House and runs counter to the way we ought to be deciding to spend the taxpayers' resources.

Having said that, I want to commend the gentlelady from Connecticut for her great work, and the ranking member from Georgia really did an outstanding job.

There is one particular component of the new rule I would like to make a comment on. The reported bill contains a provision, section 746, stating that ``no funds in this act may be used to authorize qualified health claims for conventional foods.''

This provision means that none of the funds in the bill can be used to give permission to display important health information, irrespective of whether or not the information is scientifically valid.

The provision, as reported, would clearly stifle the FDA's ability to put forth information on health benefits in foods.

This new rule self-executes a provision which narrows a reported version of section 746 to stipulate that the funding prohibition applies only to the FDA. The problem is that the change doesn't really address the problem.

If this provision is intended to help FDA avoid wasted time and resources on frivolous petitions, it misses the mark. Nothing in this revised language removes or alters FDA's responsibility to review these petitions as required by law. The provision only denies final approval or authorization of the use of valid claims as to the risks and benefits of foods sold in the U.S.

This means that FDA still must carry out its mission of reviewing petitions on claims, but just cannot issue approvals, even if they are warranted. The problem is that if FDA does not do it, nobody will.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to commend the Agriculture Sub- committee Chairwoman, Ms. DeLauro, and the ranking Republican, Mr. Kingston. They have done a commendable job in putting this measure together in this first year in their respective positions.

All along the way, Ms. DeLauro reached across the aisle to sound out the concern of the members on this side of the aisle--and the work product shows her bi-partisan efforts.

While I do not agree with everything in the bill, I think it is a good product, all things considered. I especially want to thank the Chairwoman for her efforts to increase funding in the bill for the cooperative State research, education and extension service. The CSREES funding level was below the level where it should have been coming out of the subcommittee.

After hearing the concerns of many members, Ms. DeLauro and Mr. Kingston closed ranks and fixed the problem. That funding gap was a particular issue to many members, especially those from rural, farming areas.

I am pleased to note that the bill contains much in the way of agriculture research funding in a number of areas. This is important to many areas, particularly renewable fuels and food production science, to name two areas. The more we can make substantive progress in both of these areas, the better for the consumer and the farm community.

I do want to point out a couple of areas where I think we can and should improve on the bill. First, there is a provision, section 746, which currently reads, ``no funds in this act may be used to authorize qualified health claims for conventional foods''.

I understand that there will be an amendment later on that stipulates no funds for FDA will be used for this purpose. However, this amendment does not address the problem.

If this provision, or a similar one, is intended to help FDA avoid wasted time and resources on frivolous petitions, it misses the mark. Nothing in the language removes FDA's responsibility to review these petitions, as required by law. The provision only denies final approval, or ``authorization'' of the use of valid claims.

This is bad health policy, and it is bad fiscal policy, and I urge the chairwoman to relook at the provision in conference, lest its impact come back to haunt us.

On another issue, the horse slaughter language, the provision, as written, is opposed by animal experts across the country--real experts, including veterinarians and others. The way the language is written, it precludes health inspections and certifications for the legal transport of horses, for example.

Finally, I think, like some others on both sides of the aisle, that we have short-changed some necessary program areas, on occasion, in the past.

But I also think that, as with some other bills, we are going a little far in adding extra spending. Too much spending can do as much damage as too little spending.

It is important to remember that when we give agencies too much money, they spend more than they need to spend simply to hold their annual baseline intact. this is not a heal thy way to manage the Nation's resources.

We have some discretion here, and we should use that discretion since, apparently, we have turned a blind eye to the serious and growing problem of out-of-control entitlements.

In summary, let me, again, commend the gentlewoman from Connecticut. I think you have done a fine job, and I look forward to continuing to work with you to improve this bill as we go forward.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution honoring the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry of the Iowa National Guard. This unit returned last week from a deployment lasting nearly 23 consecutive months in Iraq, which is the longest continuous deployment of any Army National Guard Unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. This distinction carries on the 1st Battalion's proud historical legacy: Since the Second World War the unit served more consecutive days in the European theatre than any other unit.

In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 1st Battalion carried out a critical mission in one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq. The unit drove over 4 million miles providing security for convoys supplying thousands of U.S. troops. I want to commend the soldiers of the 1st Battalion for their successful completion of over 500 missions.

These soldiers and their families have made tremendous sacrifices to further the U.S. mission in Iraq and for that we owe them a debt of gratitude. Tragically, this sacrifice included more than 25 wounded and the deaths of two members of the unit who made the ultimate sacrifice. SGT 1st Class Scott Nisely and SGT Kampha Sourivong were killed in combat operations on September 30, 2006. Our Nation will forever be grateful to these heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important recognition of one of our Nation's finest National Guard Units.

Madam Speaker, today I rise in acknowledgment of the extreme generosity of some of my constituents. I wish to recognize the kindness of Marble Rock Unit 387 of the American Legion Auxiliary, from Marble Rock, Iowa.

Recently, Gabrielle Wedeking of Marble Rock was born with a rare disorder of the immune system and required a bone marrow transplant. Marble Rock Unit 287 held a benefit that included a meal, bake sale, raffles, as well as silent and live auctions. Over $44,000 was raised to help fund Gabrielle's transplant.

This generous and selfless act deserves honoring, and thus I stand today and recognize Marble Rock Unit 387.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana for recognition and for the kind words. I appreciate that very much. The gentlewoman from Texas, thank you for your support. And I want to thank Chairman Conyers and Ranking Member Smith for working together to bring this very important resolution to the floor quickly after it was introduced.

I also want to thank Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton and Ranking Member Hunter for their valuable input on this resolution and important work on this issue.

Many servicemembers who are single parents rely upon grandparents or other caretakers to care for their children while they are deployed. If the servicemember is tragically killed in action, these caretakers are left without access to the death gratuity payment to help raise the servicemember's children.

I am grateful that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have addressed this issue, including in the 2008 defense authorization bill provisions allowing servicemembers to begin designating caretakers as recipients of all or part of the death gratuity as we go forward. However, it is important that we also consider those families that have already been affected by the situation, which is the purpose of this resolution today.

There have been as many as 143 recent cases where minor children were the recipients of the death gratuity which they cannot access until reaching the age of 18. In some of these cases, such as the one involving the Jaenke family from Iowa Falls, Iowa, in my district, the fallen servicemember left specific written instructions that part of the death gratuity be used to care for her daughter. Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Jamie Jaenke, who was tragically killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq last summer, was survived by her 9-year-old daughter Kayla, who is being cared for by her grandparents. Kayla's family has experienced countless financial hardships as a result of not having access to the death benefits for the purposes that Jamie intended.

While the situation may not affect a large number of families, the bottom line is I believe the wishes of our servicemembers with respect to their death benefits should be honored.

Our Nation will be forever grateful for Jamie's dedication and service and the sacrifice she has made for our Nation. It is a fundamental duty of Congress to ensure that the children of fallen servicemembers, like Kayla, are cared for. We owe this to our servicemembers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I urge the Senate to act in a

quick manner to resolve this unfortunate situation.