Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to acknowledge and honor the Reverend Masanori Shobo Ohata as he formally retires from the Buddhist Churches of America and from the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin.

Reverend Ohata has served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Institute of Buddhist Studies since 1982. The Institute of Buddhist Studies is the graduate school and seminary of the Buddhist Churches of America. It is the first nonwestern religious seminary to be affiliated with the Graduate Theological Union, an interfaith consortium of seminaries dedicated to study and dialogue in a religious and cultural pluralism.

Reverend Ohata has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) Endowment Foundation since 1998. He was involved with the inception of the Endowment Foundation in 1983. The Foundation has provided over 11 million dollars of direct benefit to vital programs of the BCA which include ministerial welfare, education and administrative support.

Reverend Ohata has also served as a Sanyo (advisor) to the Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of America and has advised five consecutive Bishops beginning with Bishop Shinsho Hanayama, whose term ended in 1968, through Bishops Tsuji, Yamaoka, Watanabe and Ogui.

Reverend Ohata's contributions to the community are clearly demonstrated in his compassion and understanding. An immigrant himself, Reverend Ohata is a strong believer in the unifying powers of diversity, faith, tolerance and understanding. He has shared this strength through roles within the community.

The San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin sits in the heart of my district and opens its doors to people of every ethnicity, faith, nationality, culture and creed in the spirit of sharing and community. Yearly Obon festivals bring hundreds of people into the halls of the Buddhist church for good food and increased understanding among San Jose's extremely diverse communities of neighbors and friends.

Although Reverend Ohata is formally retiring, I am certain that his legacy will continue throughout the sidewalks of San Jose's Japantown and within the vibrant and diverse communities he has touched.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the achievements and life of Pastor Kenny Foreman. I've had the privilege of knowing Pastor Foreman for many years, and can personally attest to his lasting legacy of achievement through selfless ministry. His is the epitome of a life dedicated to serving others.

Pastor Foreman has been in ministry for over 50 years and has served as pastor of the Cathedral of Faith in San Jose, California for 35 years. Originally from Crowley, Louisiana, he has built the Church from just a few members to 10,000, offering over 70 vital ministries to meet the needs of the community.

Born the youngest of three children to Hansel and Mabel Foreman in Crowley, Louisiana, he was on the road ministering full-time as an evangelist by age 17. Pastor Foreman married Shirley Lowry in 1957, who has been his partner in commitment to ministry. Later, they would be joined by their two sons, Ken and Kurt, who are also part of the Cathedral of Faith team.

In 1965 he came to San Jose as the Pastor of The Friendly Bible Church, and soon after produced a weekly half-hour television program entitled, ``Kenny Foreman Presents Abundant Living,'' which was syndicated nationally. Today, Kenny Foreman is the only local minister and programmer who has remained on the air for 35 years. Throughout these years he has never received any income for his television ministry; all financial support received is funneled back into the operations of the ministry.

It soon became evident from the growth that the church would have to build. Thus, the Cathedral of Faith, a sanctuary that would seat nearly 3,000 people and its accompanying support structures, was conceived in Pastor Foreman's spirit. Eventually, the Grand Opening of the Cathedral of Faith was celebrated on March 15, 1981.

Pastor Foreman and Cathedral of Faith have an absolutely amazing record of community involvement. The work of the church has exploded into over 70 active Ministries including Reaching Out, a food assistance program which operates from a 16,000 foot distribution complex serving 50,000 families annually, and providing food for 200,000 people; California Youth Outreach, originally founded as Breakout Prison Outreach in 1982 in order to meet the needs of young men and women that had fallen prey to gangs and drugs, it also serves on the Mayor's gang task force; and Chaplaincy Ministry a program consisting of over 200 trained Chaplains who visit rest homes and convalescent hospitals each week.

Pastor Foreman's lifelong commitment to service has been honored by many organizations, and I am delighted to offer my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to Pastor Kenny Foreman on his 40th Ministry Anniversary at the Cathedral of Faith in San Jose, California and to call Kenny Forman and Shirley friends.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of this concurrent resolution, which expresses the sense of Congress that management of IP numbering and addressing should remain in the hands of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, under the oversight of the United States Department of Commerce. This is an important resolution on one of the most pressing issues facing the Internet today.

The Internet has become a truly global medium in no small part due to the ``hands-off'' policies the United States has long followed in the Internet space. By one estimate, there are more than 160 million broadband Internet users worldwide. There are an estimated 1 billion Internet users worldwide, of which the United States, the birthplace of the Internet, constitutes less than one-fourth. More than a third of Internet users live in Asia, and nearly

one third live in Europe. It has been our ``hands-off'' leadership in the United States that has enabled the Internet to grow so dramatically across the world.

The internationalization of the Internet is further evidenced by the widespread availability of IP address allocations, the vast majority of which are outside the United States. For IPv4 addresses, 33% went to the Asia Pacific Region, 32% to North America, 31% to Europe, 3% to South America and 1% to Africa. For IPv6, 56% of addresses went to Europe, 23% to the Asia Pacific Region, 17% to North America, 3% to Latin American and 1% to Africa. These figures clearly show that the current mechanisms for oversight of Internet addressing and numbering have led to an explosion of Internet usage not just in the United States but worldwide.

Far from governing the Internet, the United States has followed what can best be described as a policy of benign neglect. The Department of Commerce plays no role in the internal governance or day-to-day operations of ICANN. Rather, the relationship between the Department of Commerce and ICANN is governed by contract, not regulation. The Department of Commerce provides oversight simply to ensure that ICANN fulfills its responsibilities under that agreement. The true policy- making body here is ICANN, not the Department of Commerce. Moreover, ICANN's role under that agreement is best described as creating an open forum for technical coordination, to ensure the continued stability and openness of the Internet.

What's needed now is not the abandonment of the ICANN's existing management of IP addressing. Rather, what's needed is a continuation of the policies that have made IP address and domain name management stable, secure, efficient and open. At present, participation in ICANN is open to all who share ICANN's mission of technical coordination. ICANN holds public meetings throughout the year, and across the world. ICANN's staff represents seven different countries and its Board represents twelve nationalities. ICANN is already an international body managing IP addressing and numbering--a private-sector, non-profit, non-governmental international body that's been directly responsible for fostering an open, stable, and worldwide Internet.

For all of these reasons, I took great pleasure in reading today that negotiators from more than 100 nations agreed yesterday to leave ICANN, under the oversight of the Department of Commerce, in charge of managing the IP address and domain name systems. This multilateral agreement represents a resounding validation of the role ICANN continues to play, and a resounding validation of the resolution we are considering here today.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this important resolution, and join me in voting in favor of it.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize the life and work of Congressman Edward Roybal. As Chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, I am proud to recognize the accomplishments of the pioneer of California Hispanic politics.

In his more than 30 years in Congress, from 1963 to 1993, Congressman Roybal opened many doors for immigrants and the less fortunate in this country, but more importantly he also opened many minds. As the first Hispanic to serve in Congress from California since 1879, his leadership was proof that our Nation's greatness rests in its diversity. He gave future generations the power to be involved in the democratic process by sponsoring legislation which funded bilingual education and inspired thousands to follow his noble example and enter into public service.

Californians are proud to call the visionary Congressman Roybal one of our own. But his contribution was not limited to Hispanics or Californians. Congressman Roybal's vision and passion for social justice issues transcended color lines, age groups and district and State boundaries. He worked tirelessly to extend the civil rights and push the Democratic Party to become more attuned to the needs of immigrants and minorities.

In addition to all the legislation he fought for and all the programs he sponsored, Congressman Roybal will also be remembered because of the legion of public servants he inspired. One of those, a man who fought for equal rights for farm workers of California, was a young man in San Jose named Cesar Chavez.

In 1947, Mr. Roybal first ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council. Reacting to his defeat he founded the Los Angeles Community Services Organization, CSO, with a goal of mobilizing L.A.'s Mexican Americans against discrimination in housing, employment and education. The CSO was founded on the idea that people would learn from each other and would craft solutions to mutual problems, and the model caught on and chapters formed throughout California. In San Jose, Cesar Chavez's first experience in politics was registering voters for the San Jose CSO, and the rest is history.

Today, Congressman Roybal's legacy lives on in Congress and in cities across this country. More than 6,000 Hispanic elected officials have followed him into public service. His daughter and our colleague, the distinguished Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, now represents part of her father's old district in East L.A. Lucille carries on her father's work of fighting for compassion and diversity in our government.

Although he has passed from this earth, Congressman Roybal's passion

for the poor and his vision for a more inclusive America will live on in the law books of this country and in the hearts and minds of those who have been touched by his service to our country.

On behalf of the my California Democratic colleagues and my constituents in San Jose, I am honored to be here this evening to pay tribute to former Congressman Ed Roybal.

We thank his family for supporting his work over many years and for being the source of tremendous pride for him, his wife, Lucille, his three children, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, Lillian and Edward. Our thoughts are with you during your grief, and we are honored to be in this institution that was graced by Congressman Roybal.

This evening, we are going to co-manage the time. We have the Chairperson of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, my wonderful colleague, Mrs. Napolitano, who will speak now for 4 minutes; and then we will yield back to the many colleagues who are here this evening who want to remember Ed.

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 subject of my special order today.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca).

Mr. Speaker, I now would like to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from Los Angeles County (Ms. Millender-McDonald).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gonzalez).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr), who preceded me as Chair of the Democratic delegation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to Congressman Jose Serrano from New York.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have heard many things today about Congressman Edward Roybal, what a giant he was, what a leader he was, how he stood up for people who had too little, how he changed our world. I am mindful all of us who lost a dad know how very hard it is in a very personal way. Leader or no, it is still your dad. I also know that the best way maybe to know a person, to know someone like Congressman Roybal, is to look at his daughter, who is the same kind of tenacious, dignified person who will stand up for those who have nothing and make a difference, as she is making a difference, just as her father did in the Congress for those in need.

I would like to yield to our beloved colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard).

Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart at the loss but pride for the service of Congressman Ed Roybal that we yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the bill.

Mr. Chairman, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee I had the opportunity to review quite carefully this bill. While I disagreed with the Supreme Court decision, I must confess that the bill before us today is not drafted as carefully and clearly as I would have hoped. There will, in all likelihood, be litigation if this bill becomes law because the exemptions are written in such a way that reasonable people may disagree as to their meaning.

I hope that I can help clarify the application of this bill in at least one area: The meaning of the bill as it relates to affordable housing.

What follows are the concurring views in the Committee Report accompanying this bill. It is my hope that by including them here today during our floor debate that in the future this clarification will be of value to public entities, litigants and the courts.

At markup, I intended to offer an amendment to this legislation creating an exception to the definition of ``economic development'' for the development of affordable housing for low-income residents. I ultimately decided not to offer this amendment, however, based on my recognition, and the apparent recognition of my colleagues, that this bill as introduced does not in any way limit the ability of States and local governments to exercise their eminent domain powers for the building of affordable housing for low-income residents. In fact, during markup, I pointed this out and received no objections from my colleagues.

The provision of low-income housing, whether by a for-profit or a non-profit entity, should not constitute ``economic development'' under the definition in this bill because such activity constitutes neither ``commercial enterprise'' nor an activity designed to ``increase tax revenue, tax base, employment or general economic health.'' Rather, the development of affordable housing for low-income residents constitutes a traditional public purpose for which eminent domain powers have long been recognized. Given that this bill will not in any way limit the exercise of eminent domain powers for the development of affordable housing, I concur in the Committee's report.

I do.

Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Speaker, I did opine at the hearings, since there was complete agreement among all of the Members present, that we did not want to regulate the Internet, that we might be able to take care of this on the suspension calendar.

And I never have felt so powerful in the minority as I do today.

Mr. Speaker, I was the only Democrat present.

Mr. Speaker, I do not remember.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, I understand the procedural objections to this, and certainly when I made the suggestion during our hearing that we could probably handle this on the suspension, I believed that was the case. Obviously, there is more controversy than I had believed at the time.

But I still believe that this bill is very much worth supporting, and I do support this bill. If I believed what the New York Times and the Washington Post said, I would indeed be concerned. I was a strong supporter of the bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. I signed the discharge petition.

I voted for it. I am glad it passed. I would note, however, that what the bill before us does today is really a lot more modest than the rhetoric would lead one to believe. It does not repeal section 441(b) of the act that prohibits contributions or expenditures by national banks, corporations, or labor organizations. And all of the hoo-rah-rah about soft money and corporate money, I am sure it is sincere, is simply, as a matter of law, incorrect.

What this bill would do would be to allow communications on the Internet to avoid the heavy hand of regulation. And I do believe that is important. Today, if a local candidate has a Web page and they decide to say something very positive about the election of their party's candidate for President, they have a problem under the FEC rule.

And if my Web site, Lofgren for Congress, links to Feinstein for Senate, I probably am violating the rules. And there is no need for that. We do not want the heavy regulatory load on the Internet, nor do we need to do it.

Under current law, unless we pass this exemption, Daily Chaos, which if they call me for a comment on a candidate and it was run on their daily Web site within the specified time, we might have an actual problem here unless they are entitled to the press exemption. It is not clear that they are.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is very important since the court was not sure what our intention was when we passed BCRA that we should make it clear that the Internet is not part of the public communications covered by the act.

I do believe that in coming from Silicon Valley, especially so, that the ability to use the new technology to promote the viewpoint of individuals is essential to the growth of democracy. We have seen ever- increasing numbers of people participate in elections.

I think part of the reason for that is the ability to use the Internet to communicate. We are concerned, and rightly so, about the cost of TV. It costs a huge amount of money to run TV ads. Well, the cost to send an e-mail is almost nothing. So the use of the Internet is a great democratizer; that is little ``d,'' not big. We need to make sure that communications using the Internet are protected.

Mr. Speaker, it is worth noting that what this bill will do would be to protect the technology, to protect the Internet itself. It would not reduce in any way the prohibitions found in 441(b) any more than a corporation could use its funds to buy lawn signs or political signs; they could not pay for ads either.

And so I do think that it is worth noting that for the record I would just like to say that in this case the bloggers have got it right. This bill will keep the FEC out of the business of regulating political speech on the Internet.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in gratitude to recognize the extraordinary achievements, community leadership and life of Andrea Naomi Leiderman of Mountain View, California. She had recently celebrated her 10th anniversary on June 21, 2005, as Director of Government and Community Relations Director for Kaiser-Permanente Santa Clara, California. I am proud to have known Ms. Leiderman for over 25 years, and have witnessed her unyielding fervor and tenacity in contributing to the community at large. Andrea Leiderman was a tireless advocate for those with no voice in the fields of health care, education, and youth issues.

Ms. Leiderman helped others as a member of the Santa Clara County Board of Education, serving as president in 1995 and 2000. She was a trustee of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, adjunct professor at Evergreen Valley College, a member of the Human Relations Commission, and former Member of the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party. In fact, Ms. Leiderman was the youngest chairwoman of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party in 1987 (at age 28) and to date, the only woman to hold this position.

Born in Boston, Andrea came to our Valley when she was 4. She grew up on the Stanford University campus and later attended Vassar College, majoring in Political Science. After college, she was a legislative assistant to former Representative Matt McHugh of New York. She was later an LBJ Congressional Fellow for Representative Norm Mineta of San Jose. Andrea received two graduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley in both Public Policy and Education Administration. She served on the Joint Child Care Commission for the county and was on the Boards of the Mission City Community Fund and the Euphrat Museum of Art.

During her last year and a half struggle with cancer, Andrea was instrumental in getting the necessary approvals for Kaiser Permanente's new Medical Office Building for the South Bay Region.

The loss of Andrea is a terrible blow to our community, her friends and her family. We can take comfort, however, in knowing that in the short time she was with us she made a difference. She enriched the lives of others, especially those in need. She was a true friend and a heroic leader. I join so many others in mourning her.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I am concerned about two provisions in this bill, raising the conforming loan limit and the attempt to limit the ability of American citizens to engage in our democratic process currently contained in the manager's amendment offered by Mr. Oxley.

Mr. Chairman, in my district, the median price for a home in Santa Clara County is $715,000, yes I said $715,000. The current conforming loan limit is $359,650, about 50 percent of what the median home price is. Mr. Chairman, there are simply not enough homes at or near the conforming loan limit to meet the needs of my constituents.

As a result of this shortage of homes priced near the conforming loan limit, many first-time homebuyers are either forced into taking out jumbo loans or are more likely simply priced out of the market altogether.

Some argue that the conforming loan limit will not make a meaningful cost difference for homebuyers. Currently there is a .25 percent to .40 percent difference between interest rates on a conforming loan versus a jumbo loan. In today's market that difference can be as much as $135.00 per month. That matters to hardworking families.

I remind my Republican colleagues that this administration, in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee spoke in favor of raising the conforming loan limit.

Part of Mr. Oxley's amendment is simply un-American. Mr. Oxley seeks to prohibit nonprofit organizations from engaging in nonpartisan, I repeat nonpartisan, voter registration efforts and get out the vote drives in the 12-month period prior to applying for funds made available through the Affordable Housing Fund. If that wasn't bad enough, the amendment further prohibits nonprofits that receive grant funds from subsequently engaging in these important activities.

This Congress should be about promoting the values and the processes of democratic government, not trying to limit or suppress them. What are you afraid of, more Americans exercising their right to participate in their government?

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Professor Richard P. Berg for 31 years of teaching, scholarship and service to the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Professor Berg has served as a Professor of Law at the Santa Clara University School of Law for 31 years. Throughout his tenure, Professor Berg has dedicated himself to serving the public and working for social justice. He was chair of the Santa Clara University School of Law Public Interest and Social Justice Endowment, which funds financial assistance programs for volunteers and attorneys working in public interest and social justice fields. Last year alone, the Endowment provided $66,750 in summer grants for 23 students working as volunteers with public interest and social justice programs, and $17,000 in Income Supplement Grants for attorneys working with similar organizations.

Professor Berg also has served on the board of directors of several public interest organizations, and has been active in international issues, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. He has been the director of the Singapore-Bangkok summer law program since 1984 and is active in dispute resolution organizations such as the American Arbitration Association and Asia Pacific Organization for Mediation.

Prior to coming to Santa Clara University School of Law, Professor Berg earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 1965, and received his J.D. from the University of Michigan School of Law in 1968. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from law school, was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served on the Editorial Board of the Michigan Law Review.

After earning his J.D., Professor Berg was an Associate in Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall, a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow in Poverty Law, and Staff Counsel and Economic Development Specialist, at the National Housing and Economic Development Law Center in Berkeley, California. He also published an article in the San Diego Law Review on a major class action case, Zahn v. International Paper in 1974, and a short article on Prisoners' Rights and Jail Conditions in the et al Magazine in 1970.

On a personal level, I played a key role in helping Richard to marry his wonderful wife of many years, Mare, and we meet every year at the SCCS graduation to enjoy the past and plot the future of our wonderful law school as well as our wonderful country.

As an alumna of the Law School, it is an honor to recognize Professor Berg's contributions to the legal community and the Santa Clara University School of Law. Professor Berg instilled in thousands of students an awareness of social justice, and inspired countless attorneys to dedicate their careers to making ``Equal Justice Under Law'' a reality.

Mr. Speaker, the California Democratic Congressional Delegation is proud to recognize the achievements of our colleague, Rep. Barbara Lee, upon the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley.

The concept of the 100 Black Men was born in New York in 1963, when a group of concerned African American men gathered to explore ways of improving conditions in their community. These visionaries and industry leaders included David Dinkins, Jackie Robinson, Nathaniel Goldston III, Andrew Hatcher and founding President Dr. William Hayling.

The mission of the 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley is to improve the quality of life of our citizens and enhance educational opportunities for African Americans and minorities, through its chapters, in all communities--with a particular emphasis on young African American males. They do this by focusing on mentoring, education, health and wellness, and economic development.

It is fitting that Representative Barbara Lee is being honored for her long record of standing for youth and family issues such as criminal justice reform as a member of the Public Safety, Sentencing and Incarceration Reform Caucus. Health and wellness has been at a priority for her in Congress as well. She has fought to establish a United States Health Service and provide health coverage for all Americans. The measure, first introduced in 1978 by her predecessor, Representative Ron Dellums, has been a priority for her since her election in 1998. Representative Barbara Lee has also been committed to promoting economic development and supporting those who need it most, including working to secure investment in housing, transit systems, roads, clean water, and schools to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

We wish to thank the 100 Black Men for their tireless efforts to enhance the quality of life for all citizens, and to Representative Barbara Lee for her deeply held commitment to the principle of human rights.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to acknowledge and honor Beatrice Joyce Ellington who recently passed away on August 1, 2005.

I have known her since 1980. She was a remarkable person. In fact, if more people just acted as she did, our world would be a better place.

Joyce became the first African American woman to head the San Jose Public Library Commission in 1980. In 1974, Joyce successfully argued before the San Jose Unified School District Board and the City Council that vacant land, a valuable commodity in San Jose where a single- family home can easily cost over a half-million dollars, should be used for a library, instead of being sold. Joyce was recognized for her tenacity in pushing for the library in 2002 when the City Council was persuaded by her neighbors and the community at large to overlook the City's rule not to name a public building after a person still alive. At that time, the Empire Library was renamed to the Joyce Ellington branch library.

In addition to her accomplishments with the library, Mrs. Ellington was a founder in 1965 of the Northside Neighborhood Association, the oldest of its kind in the City of San Jose. Perhaps the greatest tribute to Joyce was her ability to gather community members of all races, creeds and religions to work together toward a common purpose in the community. The Northside community, where Joyce lived and did her service, is also one of the most diverse communities in California with neighbors, friends and families with roots in Africa, Japan, the Philippines, Mexico and elsewhere.

When I attended the service for Joyce, stories abounded of not only her community service, but also of her welcoming heart and home.

Joyce was the sort of person who, when she saw a problem simply took responsibility to be part of the solution. That's why she led the effort to establish a lighting district so that the northside neighborhood could have street lights. That's why she looked after her neighbors. It's why she cared about literacy. It wasn't enough that her own children were readers and getting a good education. She understood that it was also important for all the children in her community to love reading and books. She is most certainly a dearly missed community leader, friend and teacher. She not only taught us lessons of service, but also opened the doors for us to teach ourselves at the library so aptly named after her.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to acknowledge and commend Catholic Charities, an organization that is celebrating 50 years of service to the Santa Clara Valley community.

Catholic Charities strives to empower the working poor to move beyond basic subsistence to a state of meaningful, quality living by encouraging economic, familial and emotional stability. It does this by developing cultural programs, supplying educational resources about ailments affecting older adults, and providing all of its services in various languages.

While born out of Catholic gospel values, Catholic Charities serves people of all beliefs, cultures, ethnicities and ages. The organization's mission is to create a more just and compassionate community in which people of all cultures and beliefs can fully participate and thrive. They serve a diverse population from various ethnic backgrounds including Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino, Mexican, Sudanese and Bosnian people. The agency works under the premise that the most effective way to affect a person is to connect with them from their personal, cultural perspective.

Catholic Charities integrates services address the multiple factors that impact one's ability to be self sufficient and stable. Because these issues have an intergenerational impact, agency programs are geared across age groups to reach entire families. Their services include older adult programs, immigrant and refugee assistance, and housing programs. The agency also offers employment, youth, financial education and behavioral health services in addition to operating neighborhood centers.

I have worked with Catholic Charities for over twenty years, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that I am proud of the leadership, volunteers and network of supporters whose dedication have built Catholic Charities into an integral part of the fabric of our local community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 75th Anniversary of the Justice Studies Department at San Jose State University.

The Justice Studies Department at San Jose State was the first degree-granting program in criminal justice in the United States. It was founded in 1930 by August Vollmer, then Chief of Police in Berkeley, California, and T.W. MacQuarrie, the President of San Jose State College. In 1935, nation's oldest professional law enforcement fraternity, Chi Pi Sigma, was founded at San Jose State.

The department prepares students for positions of responsibility and leadership in federal, state and local law enforcement, in government investigative branches, in institutional and community correctional offices, the court system, social services, public health, and in the educational field. Alumni of the program have gone on to become leaders and innovators in our community, and have made a positive impact on countless lives.

As a Member of Congress, I fully understand the importance and impact that this program plays in securing the safety of our community and ensuring that our laws are carried out fairly and responsibly. I am proud to stand here today to recognize the Justice Studies Department at San Jose State University and I urge them to continue the important work of educating the next generation of justice professionals.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the achievements of Santa Clara County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado. She continues to be a leader in local government and a national leader in the area of juvenile detention reform.

Blanca served 14 years as a San Jose City Councilmember representing San Jose's East Side before being appointed to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 1995, filling the position I vacated when I was elected to Congress. I heartily recommended her appointment and have supported her in her good works ever since.

The daughter of a miner, Blanca has always been involved in public life, whether it was helping her parents in union and political activities, hosting a women's radio show called ``Merienda musical,'' working for the Department of Social Services or acting as the local president of MAPA, the Mexican American Political Association.

I first met Blanca in the mid-1970's when we served together on the Housing Service Center board of directors before either of us had stood for public office. I found her then to be a caring person committed to her community and especially to the needs of the poor. Those qualities have continued throughout her life--both in her public and private efforts.

As a City Councilmember and Vice-Mayor, Blanca actively worked to build neighborhood organizations and developed community plans and partnerships to renovate impoverished neighborhoods.

Blanca's devotion to children is illustrated through projects such as the The East Initiative. The Initiative recognizes the importance of securing early access to parent support, health care, and social services for all children and their families. Blanca, as a member of the First Five Commission, lobbied for a school readiness program in the local school district. When the school district was not in a position to join with First Five in creating a school readiness program, the Commission partnered with the community and focused on the neighborhoods surrounding Cesar Chavez, San Antonio, and Arbuckle elementary schools. First Five allocated $750,000 in the first year of the East Initiative alone.

Blanca also leads the county-wide effort to eliminate inappropriate and unnecessary incarceration of youth, especially youth of color who are over-represented in the juvenile justice system. Because of her efforts, the county has become a national model in juvenile detention reform. Since the movement began in July 2002, law enforcement, the Probation Department, the Juvenile Court, community partners, and many other participants have committed to shifting their efforts from incarceration to community-based approaches for treating troubled youth, to allow troubled young people to turn their lives around and to have productive, hopeful futures.

One of the projects Blanca is most remembered for is her leadership in the conception--and development of the Mexican Heritage Plaza, opened in 1999 and now one of the largest Latino cultural centers in the Nation. Twelve years in the making, and built over a site once picketed by San Jose native son Cesar Chavez, the Plaza is a 55,000 square-foot cultural center with state of the art theatrical venues, a Smithsonian-affiliate gallery space and luscious thematic gardens that serve as a regional resource for cultural programming and education.

In addition to her years of friendship, I wish to thank Blanca Alvarado for a lifetime of public service and her determined efforts to achieve social change. ``tSi se puede!''

Mr. Chairman, I have been on the Committee on the Judiciary for 11 years, and I have concerns that the committee is not fulfilling completely its responsibility. There have been no oversight hearings in the full committee of either the FBI or the Bureau of Prisons in the whole 11 years I served. The last general oversight hearing on the FBI was at the subcommittee level in 1997.

The lack of committee oversight has created real problems in the way the FBI fails to conduct its business properly. Last February, in an appropriations subcommittee, we found out that the FBI had invested about $170 million on its Virtual Case File computer system and they admitted that $104 million of that spending was a loss to taxpayers. Then in March, the whole projects was scrapped and we learned from news reports that the new Sentinel system will cost an additional $792 million.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General tells us in the July report that the FBI's backlog of untranslated FISA material continues to grow. This means that material that is vital to our national defense is not getting looked at in a timely manner. It often gets discarded before it is looked at, and that is unacceptable.

Earlier this year, I worked with many of my colleagues to introduce the Violence Against Women Act, which is in this bill. My bill would have included provisions that established grant programs to protect child victims of domestic violence, grant programs for housing needs, to protect immigrants who are victims of domestic violence and to protect victims of domestic violence on tribal lands. Not all of these measures made it into the bill, and I am hopeful in conference those provisions that were left out can be added in.

I want to mention one issue which has recently come to my attention, which is the issue of tribal victims of domestic violence who are not receiving VAWA's protections. I was going to offer an amendment today to allow the Attorney General to appoint prosecutors designated by tribal governments as special assistant U.S. Attorneys to bring VAWA prosecutions in Federal Court. However, when I looked into it, it turns out the Attorney General already has this authority through his general authority to appoint special prosecutors. So I would like to urge the Attorney General to address this issue and to use his authority to make sure that perpetrators of domestic violence on tribal lands do not escape prosecution.

We do not always need to change the law, we just need accomplishment and accountability in the administration, and I hope we can use our oversight authority to make sure we have the kind of accomplishment and accountability in the FBI that we are currently lacking.