[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 92 (Wednesday, July 7, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5306-H5323]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
                   AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 701 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, 
H.R. 4754.

                              {time}  2031


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union for the

[[Page H5307]]

further consideration of the bill (H.R. 4754) making appropriations for 
the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and 
related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005, and for 
other purposes, with Mr. Hastings of Washington in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. When the Committee of the Whole House rose earlier 
today, a demand for a recorded vote on amendment No. 6 offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Farr) had been postponed, and the bill 
was open for amendment from page 57, line 18 through page 108, line 22.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the chairman and the 
ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their 
designees may offer one pro forma amendment to each amendment for the 
purpose of further debate.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Flake

  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment offered by Mr. Flake:
       At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the 
     following:

               TITLE VIII--ADDITIONAL GENERAL PROVISIONS

       Sec. 801. None of the funds made available in this Act may 
     be used to implement, administer, or enforce the amendments 
     made to sections 740.12 of title 15, Code of Federal 
     Regulations (relating to license exemptions for gift parcels 
     and humanitarian donations for Cuba), and 740.14 of such 
     title (relating to license exemptions for baggage taken by 
     individuals for travel to Cuba), as published in the Federal 
     Register on June 22, 2004 (69 Fed. Reg. 34565-34567).

  The CHAIRMAN. Points of order are reserved. Pursuant to the order of 
the House of today, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) and a Member 
opposed each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, the Flake-Davis-Emerson-Delahunt amendment simply 
prohibits the enforcement on the new Department of Commerce 
restrictions published June 22 of this year.
  These new restrictions added to the list of items prohibited in the 
sending of gift parcels, namely, clothing, personal hygiene items, 
seeds, fishing equipment, soap-making equipment, and veterinary 
medicine and supplies. As I read through the new list, it occurs to me 
that these items would promote self-sufficiency among Cubans.
  The rationale in the new regulations, however, seems to promote a 
dependency of Cubans on their oppressive government, the same 
government that has deprived them of freedom for the past 45 years. To 
quote the Federal Register that contains these new restrictions: ``Such 
parcels decrease the burden on the Cuban regime to provide for the 
basic needs of its people.'' By prohibiting these items from being sent 
to Cuba, we are, in fact, promoting dependence of these people on a 
dictator.
  This amendment would simply take us back to June 21 of this year, at 
which point several restrictions were already in place.
  The message of this amendment is that it is unreasonable for our 
government to prevent Americans from sending clothes, personal hygiene 
items, seeds, et cetera to people in Cuba who are struggling under the 
dictatorship of Fidel Castro. Withholding of such items will have 
little affect on Castro and a significant effect on individuals who 
already struggle for the basics.
  This amendment would also prevent the enforcement of the new 
restriction that says gift parcels can only be sent once a month per 
household instead of once a month per individual. Again, why should we 
limit the help that Cuban Americans can send to their families?
  Finally, it would prevent the enforcement of the new restriction that 
says travelers are only allowed to carry 44 pounds of luggage, another 
way to limit the amount of help that can be sent to struggling 
families.
  In Cuba, the average salary is about $10 a month. When a Cuban family 
receives simple household items in a parcel, it can save its limited 
income and spend it on food and other necessities. It is hard to think 
of an economic sanction that does more harm to the welfare of families 
in Cuba or does more to make the United States seem mean-spirited 
towards families who already have the misfortune to live under 
Communism.
  We Republicans have diverse views on the Cuban embargo, but we are 
united on family values; and we should stand up for them here.
  As President Reagan said in 1984, ``We must be careful, in reacting 
to actions by the Soviet Government, not to take out our indignations 
on those not responsible.'' I would submit, Mr. Chairman, that that is 
what we are doing here. We are taking it out on those who are not 
responsible.
  The United States should not be targeting economic sanctions directly 
against Cuban families, nor should we take away from Cuban Americans 
the right that all immigrants have, to help loved ones who are left 
behind.
  I urge support of the Flake-Davis-Emerson-Delahunt amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment, and I 
yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. Still allowed 
is food, medicine, medical supplies, equipment; receive only radio 
equipment for reception. It does not eliminate humanitarian aid. So the 
amendment prohibits implementation of a regulation that is still under 
development. This regulation, as I understand it, would provide several 
categories of items that BIS has approved for export to Cuba, the 
eligibility requirements for gift parcels that can be sent to Cuba 
without a license.
  The Commerce Department had told us that based on input from the 
public since they published the regulation and in consultation with the 
State Department, the Department is revising the rule.
  Castro has a number of people that are in prison today, many speaking 
out for human rights; and I think it would be important to send a 
message; and, as a result of that, I rise in strong opposition to the 
amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding me this time, and I respectfully disagree with the 
distinguished chairman of the subcommittee. I think this is a human 
rights issue.
  This is not an issue about whether the embargo is going to stand with 
Cuba. This is a more fundamental issue about the human rights of Cuban-
Americans living in the United States: in my home, the Tampa Bay area 
of the State of Florida, throughout the country, and their families who 
have been left behind in Cuba.
  As the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) alluded to, under the new 
restrictions that have been announced by the State Department that have 
taken effect, we now as a country prohibit Cuban-Americans from sending 
to their own family members, soap, toothpaste, or underwear. Those will 
no longer be allowed to be mailed by family members in the United 
States to their families in Cuba. On top of that, these regulations 
specifically prohibit United States citizens from sending anything to 
family members other than their mother, father, brother, or sister. In 
other words, if you had a cousin or an aunt or uncle in Cuba that you 
care about and are trying to help, under this rule which has now taken 
effect, you can no longer send to them medicine or food or medical 
supplies.
  This is tragic. This is absurd. This is unforgivable. This is 
something that we should not countenance as a House. This is not a 
policy we ever would have adopted as a Congress.
  There are a few things that I believe people on both sides of this 
amendment agree upon: first, that the conditions under the horrific 
Fidel Castro regime are insufferable for Cubans and their families 
living down there; secondly, that for years, this government has done 
very little to help their people and will continue to do very little. 
We can also agree that one of the few sources of hope and comfort that 
families in Cuba have is the hope that their own family members will 
try to help them. I know from visiting Cuba 18

[[Page H5308]]

months ago with the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe), I saw for 
myself the horrific, intolerable, unmerciful conditions this regime has 
inflicted on its own people. There are people walking around without 
adequate clothing, without adequate food, without adequate medical 
supplies.
  Now, we are telling those people that we are going to take away one 
of the last sources of hope and support they have: their own family 
members who are trying to assist them by mailing to them food, 
medicine, clothing, toothpaste, soap. I represent a lot of people who 
work very hard so they can set aside money to buy the things that we 
take for granted every day in our own homes; and they mail it, they 
used to mail it to their family members, their aunts, their uncles, 
their cousins, their parents, their children. They can no longer do so 
under these regulations that are not in development; these regulations 
are in effect.
  This is having an impact today on the lives of people here in the 
United States and in Cuba who are hanging on for dear life. We all know 
there are times in our lives where the only person you can count on to 
help you is your own family because the government lets you down, other 
people cannot or will not help you. This is one of those times in the 
horrific history of Cuba where family members are there. They are the 
only thing that is there to keep people alive, to keep them healthy, to 
keep them from starving; and we as a government have stepped in, 
through a rule that was developed very quickly without a lot of public 
discussion and debate, and we have cut off that family support.
  This is not who we are as a country. This is not what we stand for. 
These are not our values. They are also not the values of these people 
in Cuba who are fighting to maintain their dignity and their health. We 
should adopt the Flake-Davis-Delahunt-Emerson amendment. We should 
repeal these rules. This is a mistake. I urge my colleagues to adopt 
the amendment.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I asked to go to Cuba. The gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Smith) and I asked to go. We were denied. We were denied by Castro 
for the ability to go visit church leaders in Cuba. Yet, I constantly 
see, and I guess we are not supposed to mention the names of those in 
the other body, different members of the other body sort of floating 
into Havana and coming back out. We were not given the ability to go. 
The State Department was not able to help us. Castro would not let us 
go. So it would be a little more objective and a little more fair if 
those who are opposed to what Castro stands for who basically are 
taking the Reagan doctrine that he took to Eastern Europe there were 
able to go.
  Even in the Soviet Union under the dark days of Krushchev, we were 
able to go; and when we went, we brought computers in and different 
things.
  So I just want the record to show there has not been a case that I 
know of of any Member in this body, and there are good people on both 
sides, I know both sides do not favor Castro, but I have never seen a 
Member from this body who strongly opposes and speaks out against 
Castro to ever be given a visa to visit. You even have to go through 
the pro-Castro groups to ask for an opportunity to go.
  So I think the record ought to show that I want to go. And for those 
of my colleagues who have been and feel that they speak a little bit 
and have some influence, pick a time and the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Smith) and I will go and we will go into the prisons; we will go 
into the churches. But the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and I 
have never been able to go.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Lincoln Diaz-Balart).
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the 
gentleman for yielding me this time.
  As a matter of fact, when Castro denied the authority, because he 
knows very well who he does not want to allow from this body to enter 
Cuba, he called the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) provocateurs for having sought 
permission to enter, because the dictator knows that the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) would 
go and try to visit Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and the other political 
prisoners, the thousands of political prisoners in Cuba. That is their 
attempt, and the dictator knows.
  The issue here, Mr. Chairman, is very simple. The people who have 
family in Cuba, Cuban-Americans who send aid to family members in Cuba, 
are in our districts, in the district that I am honored to represent, 
in the district of the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), of 
the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart), and of the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez). But this amendment says, our 
constituents cannot know what is right for their families. This 
amendment says, we know better.
  By the way, the gentleman from Florida made a series of statements 
that were factually untrue. He said that the new regulations that have 
just come into effect promulgated by President Bush prohibit 
humanitarian aid of food and medicine. I believe the gentleman from 
Florida said that. That is untrue.
  The gentleman also said that the new regulations promulgated by 
President Bush prohibit family members from sending such humanitarian 
aid to immediate family members. He said that. That is factually 
untrue.

                              {time}  2045

  So I would recommend to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Davis) that 
he read the new regulations.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. I think the gentleman should read 
the regulations first.
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. I have read the regulations.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Well, then why would the 
gentleman say that immediate family members would not be able to 
receive food and medicine?
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. If the gentleman would yield, I would be happy 
to answer his question.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Why would the gentleman say that 
if he had read the regulations?
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Because under the regulations, if you are 
trying to send something down to your cousins, to your aunts----
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. That is not what the gentleman 
said.
  Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, the new regulations, this gentleman 
said and it is on the record, that food and medicine is prohibited to, 
he said, children and fathers and sons. So anyway, that is factually 
incorrect.
  I am glad that he said he read the regulations, but obviously he did 
not understand them. Maybe he should read them again.
  Now, Mr. Chairman, prodemocracy leaders inside of Cuba, the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) just mentioned that he sought to visit with 
them, risking their lives, have sent us a statement that we received 
just a few days ago, supporting President Bush's measures, stating, 
``These measures of the United States Government are designed to bring 
about democracy in Cuba. These measures will not only benefit the 
Cubans who live on the island, but also those in exile, leading Cuba to 
a peaceful transition, and the people themselves will claim their 
legitimate rights which were stolen from them by the Communist 
dictatorship in 1959. The dollars that enter the country go directly 
into the coffers of Castro's Communist system, allowing them to 
continue enjoying the goods and pleasures that are denied to the Cuban 
people. They will continue to live above Cuba's working and exploited 
class, without even thinking of the common Cuban.''
  Now, they signed this. They risked their lives to send us this 
statement. Numerous prodemocracy activists. They are not, by the way, 
the so-called ``dissidents'' that are allowed by the regime to travel 
the world to get awards or to come here to Congress to lobby against 
sanctions on the dictatorship. These are people in the political 
prisons or risking their lives because they know that at any moment 
they could be thrown into those totalitarian gulags and given sham 
trials where they are sentenced to decades in the gulag.
  But this amendment, Mr. Chairman, says, We know better than those 
people. This amendment, Mr. Chairman, is

[[Page H5309]]

dishonest. This amendment is condescending. It seeks to undermine an 
entire policy that President Bush has just implemented to serve the 
interest of a brutal dictatorship.
  The Democratic Party November 30 ``Frank Pais'', along with the 
November 30 Movement in Exile, after debating the pros and cons of the 
new measures that will be enforced beginning June 30, 2004 state the 
following consensus:
  As far as we are informed, we agree to accept the measures imposed by 
the United States government. We know that they are designed to bring 
about democracy in Cuba.
  We recognize that many common Cubans will be severely affected and 
specially the children, the elderly and the ill but we, as members of 
the Cuban opposition, will try to care for those families as best we 
can, relying on the unconditional assistance of the Exile community.
  On the other hand, there are tens of thousands of Cubans who live off 
the remittances sent to them by their families in the United States. 
They even travel to the United States and do nothing to help improve 
the situation of common Cubans.
  We believe, and are almost certain that these measures will not only 
benefit the Cubans who live on the island, but also those in Exile, 
leading Cuba to a peaceful transition and the people themselves will 
claim their legitimate rights, which were stolen from them by the 
communist dictatorship in 1959.
  It is important that the people know that the government of Fidel 
Castro, as a decaying system, no longer has anywhere to purchase goods 
because it is in debt to the entire World and the dollars that enter 
the Country go directly into the coffers of Castro's communist system, 
allowing them to continue enjoying the goods and pleasures that are 
denied to the Cuban people. Furthermore, they will continue to live 
above Cuba's working and exploited class, without even thinking of the 
common Cuban.
  Many families live off the clothes and shoes that their families in 
Exile work so hard to send them, but the Cubans over there, just like 
the ones here, must remember that the first one who separated the Cuban 
family was Castro's communist government, who forbade the people from 
receiving even a single letter from relatives. Many Cubans--far from 
going out on the streets in protest--chose to settle in Exile and now 
they protest against whom they should not protest. They should come and 
protest against Fidel Castro who is the only one responsible for all 
these measures.
  The double standard must cease, they must go out into the streets if 
they wish to receive remittances to change the grey and sad destiny of 
the homeland of Marti. Let no one doubt it, victory is closer each day. 
We only need the unity of all, and with all, of all and by all, therein 
lies the success of victory against the dictatorship that for 45 years 
has sunk the people of Cuba into mud and misery.
  We are counting on you, our Cuban brothers and sisters in Exile and 
within Cuba.
  Long Live a Free Cuba!
  Havana, June 27, 2004.
  Mirta Villanueva.
  Reinaldo Gante Hidalgo--activist of the November 30 Movement; Ernesto 
Medina Pascual--activist of the November 30 Movement; Camilo Perez 
Villanueva--activist of the November 30 Movement; Afredo Vapan 
Marquez--activist of the November 30 Movement; Luis Almansa Veleta--
activist of the November 30 Movement; Victor Junier Fernandez 
Martinez--activist of the November 30 Movement; Ada Kaly Marquez 
Abascal--National Coordinator for functions of the Democratic Party 
November 30 ``Frank Pais'' and correspondent for the Oriental Zone of 
the Information Bridge Cuba-Miami.
  Statement given via telephone by Ada Kaly Marquez Abascal--National 
Coordinator for functions of the Democratic Party November 30 ``Frank 
Pais'' and correspondent for the Oriental Zone of the Information 
Bridge Cuba-Miami, for the Information Bridge Cuba-Miami and Net For 
Cuba on the 27th day of June, 2004.
  I would ask all of our colleagues to reject this amendment, to 
support President Bush's policy to hasten the democratic transition in 
Cuba. Oppose the Flake amendment.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I feel compelled to say again, this is not 
about travel. This is about the freedom of Cuban Americans to send 
packages of soap and clothing and personal hygiene items to their 
families in Cuba.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 5\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt).
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
time. I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. I just want to further respond to the 
gentleman's comments because I agree, we need to be clear on the facts. 
We will disagree on the policy. The rule specifically states that if 
you are sending something to a spouse, a child, a parent or a 
grandparent, you can send down food and medicine. But if you are 
sending something to an aunt, uncle or cousin, you cannot, and that is 
what the regulations say. And with respect to anybody in your family, 
you are prohibited from sending down soap, toothpaste or clothes. So I 
think that sets the record straight.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, in a recent interview, the chief of staff 
of Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the U.S. embargo has not 
worked for 40 years. ``It is crazy,'' he said. And, again, I am quoting 
the chief of staff to Secretary Powell. He went on to say, ``It is the 
dumbest policy on the face of the Earth.'' That is his language.
  Well, let me suggest now it just got dumber. Several weeks ago, as 
the others have said, these new regulations were implemented by the 
administration. Allegedly they are designed to hasten Cuba's transition 
to a free and open society, which I think we all agree is a worthy 
goal. But, tragically, the impact of these changes fall heaviest on 
Cubans on the island and their families here in the United States who 
want to help them, to assist them.
  It is as if 45 years of this tough approach has not already been 
proven to be an abysmal failure. So today's debate on this moment 
focuses clearly on one of the most absurd of the new provisions. The 
regulation of the Department of Commerce that takes the existing 
restrictions on the contents of gift packages to their relatives from 
Americans to their relatives in Cuba, and narrows the list even 
further.
  The new rule would make it illegal for U.S. citizens to send Cuban 
relatives clothing, soap, shampoo, and other personal hygiene items. 
And furthermore, since June 30 it is now illegal to send parcels to 
cousins, aunts, nephews, anyone who is not a member of your immediate 
family. It is also illegal to send more than one nonfood gift parcel 
each month to a household, for up until now you could send a monthly 
care package to each individual in a household. But that is over.
  So now it is U.S. foreign policy to prohibit American citizens from 
sending their relatives soap and shampoo and clothes. I would suggest 
this hardly constitutes weapons of mass destruction. And the U.S. 
government is breaking new ground, because it is now in the business of 
defining family for its own citizens.
  Under these regulations, grandparents trump uncles and sisters beat 
out cousins. In past debates in this Chamber about restrictions on the 
right of Americans to travel to Cuba, I have referred to the travel 
police. Well, now we have the shampoo police. We have the soap police. 
We have the deodorant police. We have the clothing police guarding, at 
taxpayers' expense, against the possibility that these items might make 
it across the Florida straits.
  This is just as much folly as the fact that the Treasury Department 
now has more people tracking grandmothers bicycling in Cuba than it 
does looking at the finances of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. 
What in the world are we doing? What have we come to?
  You might want to review some of the other new regulations, two 
announced at the same time, like limiting family visits to once every 3 
years with no humanitarian exceptions such as the occasion of the death 
of a mother, the death of a father, the death of a daughter or the 
death of a son.
  President Bush got it right 2 years ago when he went to Miami and 
said, I love being with my family. There is nothing more important than 
family in my life. But he got it dead wrong when he announced these 
regulations. They are antifamily, they are mean-spirited, and they are 
un-American; and I urge support for this amendment.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. DeLay).
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Chairman, sometimes our speeches get away with us and 
trivialized. The oppression of people in Cuba, sometimes in making a 
speech we joke about what is going on in Cuba as if it does not even 
exist. I think that is pretty unfortunate.
  People are dying in Cuba. They are imprisoned in Cuba. The entire 
island

[[Page H5310]]

is nothing but a prison of a Communist dictator. The author and 
proponent of the Flake amendment does not intend to help Fidel Castro's 
brutal regime grind its boot heel of tyranny deeper into the necks of 
Cuban people, but that is exactly what this amendment will do.
  The premise upon which the Flake amendment is based is that gift 
packages sent from the United States to Cuba will be delivered to their 
addresses by some chipper little mailman with a wink and a smile.
  No, Mr. Chairman, it works more like this:
  A family of refugees in Miami hears that their relatives in the 
proletarian paradise that is modern Cuba are short on capitalist 
luxuries like clothing or soap. So this family gathers together a 
package of supplies to help their relatives get through the month.
  The U.S. Postal Service delivers the package to Cuba where it is 
taken to a central depository. Once the package is secured by Castro's 
goon squads, the relatives are notified of its arrival and of the price 
that they must pay to have it released.
  More than a billion dollars of charitable goods are given to the 
Cuban people by their friends and families from America every year, 
either in gift packages or personal deliveries by relatives. That is $1 
billion that Castro does not have to spend on government services but 
instead can spend on overtime for his secret police.
  Meanwhile, under this arrangement, Castro's regime has pocketed more 
than $36 million over the last 2 years in revenues from ``delivery 
fees.''
  Now, whether this $36 million went to fund international terrorism, 
more efficiently torture political prisoners, or simply put in an 
Olympic-size jacuzzi in Castro's rec room, we do not know. What we do 
know, however, is that Fidel Castro gleefully, gleefully, profits off 
the generosity of Cuban-Americans and the desperation of the Cuban 
people.
  This is Totalitarian Dictatorship 101, Mr. Chairman. There is 
practically a chapter on it in the Communist Manifesto. And it is the 
very arrangement that our Commerce Department will curb with these new 
regulations. The new regulations ensure, I say to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt), ensure that the goods sent to Cuba are 
truly humanitarian. They will thereby cut into Castro's profits. They 
are supported by the Cuban-American community and, given the chance, 
they will work.
  The Flake amendment, however innocuous it would seem, would undo 
those regs, further underwriting Communist oppression and welcome 
Castro's vile snout back to the trough of American charity.
  That is why this amendment will not do. And that is why I urge my 
colleagues to stand with the Cuban people and vote no.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Missouri (Mrs. Emerson).
  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, the Flake amendment is very simple, and I 
will repeat what my colleagues have heretofore said. It prevents the 
Department of Commerce from carrying out new misguided regulations, 
further restricting gift parcels and personal baggage going to Cuba.
  Now, the stated purpose of these regulations, as my colleagues have 
said, is to prevent gift parcels sent to Cuba from supporting the 
Castro regime.

                              {time}  2100

  In reality, we all know that these regulations will have little 
effect on the Cuban regime and, instead, will seriously hinder the 
ability of Cuban-Americans to send critical humanitarian aid to their 
family members in Cuba.
  I want to examine, if I could, Mr. Chairman, again some of the 
supposedly regime-supporting items that these Commerce Department 
regulations would prohibit Cuban-Americans from sending to family 
members in Cuba as a gift parcel.
  Seeds, so that a family might plant vegetables or flowers; clothing; 
personal hygiene items; fishing equipment; soap. Now, do those sound 
like items that if withheld from the Cuban people are going to bring 
down Castro's regime? I do not think so. There will be an impact, and 
there is no question that Cuban families will suffer.
  Mr. Chairman, imagine living with the knowledge that a member of your 
family residing in Cuba cannot afford adequate clothing, and we all 
know that the Castro regime makes it almost impossible to afford 
clothing, new items; but imagine that you could not send him or her 
this very basic item. Oh, you could send them a receive-only short-wave 
radio, but you cannot send them clothing or Kleenex, toilet paper? Come 
on. This is absolutely ridiculous.
  I know personally that if I had distressed family members in Cuba or 
any other country, that this country might prohibit me from sending 
items to them, that I would use every tool available in order to assist 
them. Securing travel to Cuba, I might try to pack as many essential 
items for my family that I could fit into my luggage; but then again, 
my efforts would be in vain because I would run into these restrictive 
Commerce Department regulations. These regulations would keep me from 
bringing more than 44 pounds of luggage per passenger, including my own 
personal clothing for the trip.
  By the way, as my colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Delahunt), said, thanks to the new regulations issued by the Treasury 
Department, I could only visit family in Cuba once every 3 years. It is 
kind of hard to pack 3 years of assistance to your family in 44 pounds 
of luggage. In this situation, how am I supposed to send my family 
clothing and other essentials?
  These regulations, Mr. Chairman, do not reflect this Nation's family 
values. I think, Mr. Chairman, that family values mean letting family 
members help each other.
  The Cuban people have experienced enough oppression. Let us not fund 
policies that cut them off from their families, intensifying their 
hardship. Vote for commonsense policies that reflect our values. Vote 
``yes'' for the Flake amendment.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 7 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Chairman, I thank my wonderful friend, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), for his steadfast leadership 
throughout the years in favor of human rights; and that is really what 
is before us today.
  I know that it is tempting to make quips and jokes about this 
situation. It is not very funny to the Cuban people. It goes at their 
expense, but I want to point out some of the facts that have been 
misrepresented on the other side.
  There will be no soap police. There will be no deodorant police. I 
know this is so funny. There is not much laughter in Cuba since Castro 
took office illegally. There will be no shampoo police because of these 
regulations, no toothpaste police. Call the Commerce Department and 
find out what the regulations say. All of those goods will be allowed 
to go into Cuba. Call the Commerce Department tomorrow and my 
colleagues will read what the regulations say. Please read them.
  I rise in strong opposition to the Flake amendment. Mr. Chairman, 
after the deplorable attacks against our Nation on September 11, we 
committed ourselves to denying terrorists and their sponsors the 
financial resources to threaten the United States and our allies and 
our interests, and this became the pillar of our foreign and our 
domestic policy in our war against terrorism.
  Yet, when President Bush takes steps to deny more than $1 billion 
annually to the Castro regime, a rogue regime that has been repeatedly 
classified by our own State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism, 
the President is rebuffed and undermined.
  After reviewing the evidence of how the Castro regime has manipulated 
U.S. regulations to fill the coffers of his regime, the President was 
compelled to act firmly and expeditiously, and what was this evidence? 
I will tell my colleagues, Mr. Chairman.
  More than $1 billion annually in funds and goods are sent to Cuba 
from those living outside the island through the shipments of gift 
parcels, remittances, and from vacations. In the year 2002 to 2003, the 
Castro regime received over $36 million in revenues from delivery of 
gift parcels. He is making a lot of money.
  The regime earns another $20 million per year from excess baggage 
fees and customs duties, and the proponents of this amendment would ask 
us to ignore these facts, and they will claim that they would justify 
their positions using

[[Page H5311]]

humanitarian claims, while Castro becomes one of the richest men in our 
hemisphere.
  The facts are the following: the new regulations continue to allow 
gift parcels for humanitarian reasons. That is the truth. That is the 
fact, but focus these gift parcels to include truly necessary items 
such as medicines, medical supplies and devices and unlimited food, 
just to name a few; and the fact is that gift parcels can be sent to 
immediate family members. This will ensure that the senior regime and 
Communist Party officials are not the beneficiaries.
  Again, I ask my colleagues, what is wrong with a policy that seeks to 
deny the Castro dictatorship millions and billions in hard-earned 
currency? This Castro dictatorship is a regime that just a few days 
ago, just a few days ago from today hosted the foreign minister of Iran 
and other Iranian regime officials. What happened there?
  The Iranian officials thanked the Cuban dictator for the regime 
support for Iran's nuclear quest, and he indicated that Iran and Cuba 
must stand together against U.S. efforts to deny Iran access to nuclear 
technology.
  The Iranian foreign minister underscored the significance of sharing 
expertise and technical knowledge between two countries in various 
enterprises.
  He said he ``conveyed the warm greetings'' of Ayatollah Khomeini and 
Khatami to Castro for ``resisting the political and economic pressure'' 
from the U.S.
  What pressure was he referring to, Mr. Chairman? The very regulations 
and policies that we are debating today, that the proponents of this 
amendment seek to revoke.
  The Iranian foreign minister also referred to Castro's 2002 visit to 
Iran. He called it a turning point in relations between the two 
countries, leading to stronger Cuba-Iran ties; and notably, it was 
during this visit that Fidel Castro, with the Ayatollah, stated, 
``Together, Cuba and Iran can bring America to its knees.''
  So this stronger Cuba-Iran relationship that the foreign minister was 
referring to is built on this mission, this shared goal of destroying 
the United States.
  So I ask, why would we want to assist the Castro regime, a regime 
that seeks to destroy our country? Why would we want to assist this 
regime? What is wrong with trying to deny the Castro regime the 
financial means to pursue this goal of bringing America to its knees?
  The facts speak for themselves, Mr. Chairman. The new regulations 
implemented by the President are in keeping with our global anti-
terrorism efforts, specifically targeting terrorism financing. They do 
not affect true humanitarian flows between the U.S. and the Cuban 
people. They do not, and as our dear former President Ronald Reagan 
would say, toward those who would export terrorism and subversion in 
the Caribbean and elsewhere, especially Cuba, we will act with 
firmness.
  So I hope that our colleagues will act with firmness, will follow the 
Reagan example and act with firmness against the Castro regime because 
the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba has given us a mandate to 
identify measures that are going to help the Cuban people bring an end 
to the Castro dictatorship, and this is an element of a plan for U.S. 
assistance to a postdictatorship Cuba.
  Castro has exploited U.S. humanitarian policies to shift burdens that 
should be assumed by the Cuban state; and instead, he has used it to 
generate hard currency that he uses to maintain the regime's repressive 
apparatus. These families can continue to send on a monthly basis 
medicine, medical supplies, food, personal hygiene products to their 
immediate family members, and also, and we have not talked about it, 
but nongovernmental organizations are providing humanitarian support 
and assistance to civil society groups in Cuba, and they will continue 
to do so with the President's recommendations.
  I thank the chairman again for his time.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) has 13\1/2\ 
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) has 14 
minutes remaining.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
before yielding to the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  I just wanted to clarify what the rule actually says. The rule we are 
seeking to amend states this rule removes seeds, clothing, personal 
hygiene items, veterinary medicine and supplies, fishing equipment and 
supplies, and soap-making equipment from the list of commodities that 
may be sent to Cuba in gift parcels.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr. McGovern).
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Flake-Davis 
amendment. This amendment will help not the Cuban regime, but this is 
an amendment that will help the Cuban people.
  Mr. Chairman, for the past 5 years, this House and the other body 
have voted time and time again to lift various U.S. restrictions on 
travel and on commercial food and medicine sales. Yet this 
administration has moved with ruthless determination to tighten and 
increase restrictions on heretofore legal interactions between 
Americans and Cubans.
  Who have they targeted to be most affected by these new rules and 
regulations? Who is so subversive, so threatening to our national 
security that they must face tighter and tighter and tighter 
restrictions on their activities? Well, it is not members of the Cuban 
Government. Mr. Chairman, it is Cuban families that will suffer as a 
result of these new policies.
  The Bush administration has even gone so far as to redefine what the 
word ``family'' means for Cuban-Americans; and it does not include 
uncles or aunts or cousins or nephews or nieces, let alone your 
godparents or godchildren or any other member of your extended family. 
As far as the Bush administration is concerned, if these extended 
family members are beloved by a Cuban living in America, too bad.
  As the sponsors of this amendment have already described, the new 
Commerce Department policies demand that Cuban-Americans in the United 
States restrict humanitarian or gift parcels to just one per household 
in Cuba once a month, rather than a parcel once a month to each 
individual family member, and while the package may include food, it 
cannot include seeds so that the family might grow more of their own 
food or fishing equipment so that they might catch their own food or 
veterinary medicines and equipment so that a family might care for 
animals that help them supplement their diet or income.
  While the parcel may include medicines, it cannot include personal 
hygiene items or soap-making equipment; and I would say to my 
colleagues here, I have the regulations. They are right here in black 
and white. I am happy to show them to my colleagues and give them to 
them so they can read.
  While Cuban-Americans can send their family members receive-only 
radios, they cannot send them clothing. Clearly, in the minds of 
officials at the Commerce Department, listening to Radio Marti is a 
greater priority for Cuban families than adequate clothing.
  Mr. Chairman, our Nation has always placed an emphasis on families, 
on family values, on the reunification of families. As a Nation of 
immigrants, we have thrived on supporting our extended families, both 
those living in the United States with us and family members still 
struggling to survive in their mother countries.
  The new restrictions issued by the Commerce Department make a mockery 
of this common heritage that binds all Americans together. No matter 
what any Member of this body believes about the rightness or wrongness 
of our current policy toward Cuba, and for the record, Mr. Chairman, I 
believe that our policy is a miserable failure, but no matter what one 
believes, we should not place the burden and price of those beliefs on 
Cuban-Americans and their relatives still living on the island.
  No constituency in America has fought more fiercely for a free Cuba. 
Yet, these are the very families Commerce is going to punish.

                              {time}  2115

  These new policies were specifically made to isolate Cubans on the 
island

[[Page H5312]]

from their relatives in the United States. They were specifically made 
to increase the hardships faced by those families.
  Mr. Chairman, these new policies are cruel, these new policies are 
inhuman, and these new policies are cold-hearted and their enforcement 
should not be funded.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote in support of the Flake-
Davis amendment.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Virginia has 14 minutes remaining.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Rohrabacher).
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this 
amendment, which would weaken the pressure on Castro's gangster regime. 
Yes, Cuban families will be suffering. Yes, Cuban families will suffer 
more than they suffer now. But they are not suffering because of the 
United States of America. No.
  It is always America's fault, right? It is always America's fault 
whether the Cuban people are suffering or any of the people who live 
under tyranny are suffering anywhere in the world. It is always our 
fault.
  No, the people of Cuba are suffering, as they have for the last 3 and 
4 decades, because of the Castro regime. It is a brutal dictatorship 
that has suppressed the people, that has eliminated freedom, that has 
permitted the economy, that once-proud economy, one of the most 
prosperous economies of the hemisphere, to go right down the tubes.
  The people of Cuba know why they are suffering. It is not because of 
the people of the United States. And, in fact, we should have policies 
that differ between democratic countries and dictatorships. If we have 
the same policies, what pressure are we going to be able to put on 
these dictatorships to change? That leaves us with only the military 
option. We should have an economic policy that will pressure this 
hemisphere's most brutal dictatorship, and we should make sure that we 
do not relieve that pressure at this moment.
  It is important that the people of Cuba fully understand the 
consequences of Castro's dictatorship. It is not the fault of the 
people of the United States, as we have heard here. It is not the fault 
of this administration. It is the fault of this bearded dictator who 
has murdered all of his opposition in Cuba. That is why there is no 
prosperity. That is why the people are living in misery. It is not 
because of anything we are doing here.
  Yes, we should put economic pressure on Cuba to get rid of Castro. 
Castro has not only a dictatorship that oppresses his people, he 
supports insurgents and terrorists throughout this hemisphere. He uses 
his territory as a base of operations that is designed to hurt the 
people of the United States of America.
  Fidel Castro rules with an iron fist. Yes, you do not grow much food 
when you have iron fists on your hands. That is right, you do not grow 
much food and you do not have a high standard of living when you spend 
all your money subsidizing terrorists and a heavy military regime, as 
Castro has. That is why the people of Cuba are suffering.
  The best thing we can do right now is continue the pressure on Castro 
until he is gone. That is what we can do for the people of Cuba. And if 
we right now take the measure that is being suggested by the Flake 
amendment, it will be seen as a weakness on the part of the United 
States towards this hemisphere's most brutal dictatorship. It will not 
encourage change for the better, it will encourage intransigence on the 
part of dictators and terrorists like Fidel Castro.
  It is time for us to oppose any type of suggestion like that proposed 
by the Flake amendment today.
  Let us be for Cuba and the people of Cuba, for freedom and democracy, 
and say, yes; Cuba, si; libertad, si; Castro, no mas.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
before yielding to the gentleman from Idaho.
  I would just say that let us do stand for freedom, let us allow Cuban 
Americans to observe the freedom that they have to send personal 
hygiene items and food, medicine, and clothing to their family members 
in Cuba.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. 
Otter).
  Mr. OTTER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Flake) for his leadership and once again for bringing forth, I think, a 
very important doctrine relative to our policy here in the Western 
Hemisphere.
  I rise today in support of this amendment, with great concern about 
the more than 40 years of failed American policy towards Cuba.
  We talk a lot about bringing democracy to Cuba and other parts of the 
world, especially for those who have suffered under the cruel fist of 
Communist tyranny for decades. Yet for decades we have worked to shut 
off their access to their very best hope for freedom, and that is to 
experience it by conversing with people who are free, or at least were 
free up until June 30, when once again we adopted another tyrannical 
national policy toward Cuba.
  Instead of bringing about positive change for the people of Cuba, 
this decrepit policy has hurt ordinary Cubans. It has hurt their 
families and has deprived ordinary Americans of the opportunity to 
become ambassadors of freedom. The new restrictions that were put into 
effect last month only cripple our ability to see change come to the 
Cuban people.
  We say we are trying to help the Cuban people, but by imposing even 
stricter limits on how Cuban Americans can help their family members in 
Cuba, these changes hurt not only the Cuban Government but ordinary 
Cuban citizens who are struggling under that very dictatorship that we 
try now to depose.
  These new restrictions and the underlying policies are unreasonable 
and fly in the face of what everyone knows is the best way to make 
people hungry for change, and that is to show them the benefits of what 
they are missing and the benefits of what they will gain by changing.
  Is anyone surprised, then, that in 4 decades we have seen little 
change in the Cuban political climate? How can we claim to support 
families while our policies encourage the breakdown of family units by 
limiting the support of Cuban Americans that can provide family members 
while they struggle in Cuba? How can we claim to value our God-given 
freedoms, while denying American citizens the right to move about the 
world as they please? And how can we claim to want a free and 
democratic Cuba while refusing the Cuban people the opportunity to see 
freedom in action and at its best?
  Our failed Cuban policies toward Cuba cannot continue. Making them 
tougher only makes them worse. If we truly seek to end ruthless and 
brutal human rights violations in Cuba while showing the Cuban people 
the way toward social and economic freedom, we must begin by changing 
our own policies of restriction and denial. I urge the support of this 
amendment.
  And let me just say in closing, Mr. Chairman, that I wonder, because 
I have heard tonight about the iron fist, the restrictions, the 
suppression, and government directed. Is that not what we are talking 
about in our directions toward Americans and their want of travel to 
Cuba? Is that not what we are talking about in our government 
restricting the activities and relationships between families? Is that 
not what we are talking about with our religious associations and the 
lack of our ability to have our religious associations go to Cuba? Is 
that not what we are talking about when we are afraid, for some reason, 
to expose the Cuban people to another form of political thought?
  I wonder from where that iron fist and that tyrannical hand comes 
into play?
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Chairman, I have the greatest respect for my 
good friends, but as a naturalized American, as a political refugee 
from an enslaved Communist regime, I would hope that my colleagues 
would never compare this greatest Nation on Earth, the United States of 
America, the beacon of hope and democracy for oppressed people 
everywhere, to what is going on 90 miles from my constituency, the 
beast of Fidel Castro, who enslaves his

[[Page H5313]]

people and who denies his people basic liberties.
  Please do not insult my adopted country in that manner.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Feeney).
  Mr. FEENEY. Mr. Chairman, it is an important night tonight, because I 
find myself in between a fight with two sets of freedom fighters, two 
groups that care deeply about freedom. But the suggestion made by the 
last speaker, who is a dear friend of mine, that we are interrupting 
relations between families, in my view, is a little bit like saying 
that somehow the United States was responsible for a catastrophe 
visited upon us by Hitler because we refused to give Anne Frank lunch 
buckets before the Holocaust.
  My colleagues, there is way too much at stake here to sit back and 
say that this is a totalitarian regime that we are going to do business 
with. I have freedom fighters, including the sponsor of this amendment, 
who is a hero of mine, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), who 
believes deeply in limited government. He believes deeply in free 
trade. He believes deeply in the things that make our country and free 
nations great. But I have to say that the question before us tonight 
is, are we going to accommodate, will we appease, will we compromise 
with, will we do business with, will we facilitate, will we provide 
basic resources to a dictator that has put his own people in jail, 
under the knife in prison, who has basically undermined every single 
basic liberty we have ever experienced?
  Our own State Department has identified, as one of the sixth major 
exporters of terrorism, the Cuban government. Are we going to recognize 
that, or are we going to reward that and facilitate that? That is the 
question here tonight. The question is what Lady Freedom would do here 
tonight.
  I have freedom fighters on both sides of this argument and people I 
respect. But fundamentally if we send the message to Castro that he and 
whoever replaces Castro can stay forever and punish freedom, throw 70 
reporters in jail on an annual basis simply for reporting the truth, if 
they will constantly undermine what is good about our free world, then 
we have got to live with ourselves as the price comes due for allowing 
freedom to be undermined.
  It is true that this is a policy that for some 45 years has not 
worked. The first 35 the Soviets supported them. With the last 10 
years, we have had a chance to undermine Castro. Mr. Chairman, I ask my 
colleagues to please oppose the amendment.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to the time remaining?
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) has 5\1/2\ 
minutes remaining and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) has 8 
minutes remaining.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Farr).
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time. I think we have to stop and listen and look at what is going on 
here. What we are talking about is regulations that went into effect 7 
days ago. These are new regulations. There was no oversight by 
Congress. We are providing the opportunity here to give that oversight 
and to do the checks and balances.
  The regulations are anti-American because they only affect us. They 
do not affect Cubans. We are the ones that cannot do this. Our 
government is telling us that we cannot be compassionate Americans. We 
cannot send seeds, cannot send clothing, cannot send fishing equipment, 
cannot send soap to people in another country. And we are going to have 
to have a police force that goes out and enforces that? That is not a 
compassionate America.
  We cannot be a country that says that we can leave no child behind 
when we cannot even send hygiene products to this country. We cannot. 
Americans cannot. We can send to every other kid in the world something 
that we cannot send to Cuba. That is not leave no child behind.
  What are we afraid of? What are we so afraid of that we have to make 
these regulations so restrictive that we Americans just cannot send a 
goodwill package to people? How are we going to have friendships? How 
are we going to instruct about democracy? How are we going to talk 
about this great country?
  This country is turning into the ugly American, the really ugly 
American by making these really dumb and anti-American restrictions; 
and we in Congress should lift them by voting for this amendment.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Weldon).
  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to 
this amendment. We all know that Castro was kept alive for decades by 
the Soviet regime, and they have collapsed. So how does he stay alive? 
One of the things he is doing is he is making a lot of money from 
people that are going back and forth and back and forth.

                              {time}  2130

  There are Americans essentially vacationing down there, and to say, 
You cannot send packages, you cannot go at all, I mean, these are gross 
exaggerations.
  This is a very well-thought-out policy of the President of the United 
States, and we should support our President in this. And the Cuban 
Americans in my district, it amazes me for people to get up and say the 
Cuban Americans do not like this. The Cuban Americans in my district 
like this. They think it is a very good thing to do, that Castro is 
being helped by the previous policy and that this policy will be much, 
much better for our foreign policy interests, which happen to be to 
support freedom.
  And I think this is a very poorly thought out amendment. Vote against 
it. Support the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) in this.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Paul).
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support for this amendment. This, to 
me, is a freedom issue, as the gentleman from Florida has indicated. I 
think everyone in this body is concerned about freedom in Cuba, and we 
should be, and we should do whatever we can to encourage it, but 
obviously some believe you can encourage freedom by sanctions, which 
has not worked very well, but it seems to boggle my mind that if we 
restrain freedom here, that we help freedom there.
  This is what we are doing. We are restraining the freedom of our 
people to send a package, and of course not dealt with in the 
amendment, but travel as well.
  The founders of this country gave strong advice to us, and for 100 
years or so we followed it. They said friendship and trade with 
everyone who is willing, alliances with none; and that is pretty good 
advice. But what have we done in recent years? We have a hodgepodge 
when we deal with other countries.
  Just think of what has happened recently. We took the gentleman from 
Libya, the so-called gentleman Omar Qadhafi, who is now scheduled to 
shoot four nurses and a doctor, and we have given him normal trade 
sanctions, and we are going to subsidize trade with him. And here he 
admits to having shot down one of our airplanes or blown up one of our 
airplanes. He is a terrorist, but here we are dealing with him in that 
way.
  We have trade with China. Things have gone better with China, not 
worse.
  Where are the free traders? It really bothers me when I hear the free 
traders who promote free trade in every other area except the freedom 
of an American citizen to send a package to Cuba.
  I do not believe you can enhance freedom in Cuba by limiting the 
freedom of American citizens. We must be more open and more confident 
that freedom of choice by American citizens is worth something to 
defend; and I stand strongly for this amendment and I compliment the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) for bringing it to us.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Cunningham).
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment, 
and I will tell you why. Ask the Cuban exiles if they support this 
amendment. Every single one of them in my district says no. They know 
what Castro represents. Ask Cuban exiles all over.
  I want to be able to walk into a free Cuba with the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), with the gentlemen from Florida, the Diaz 
brothers, and the millions of people that

[[Page H5314]]

have been exiled out of Cuba. What is helping the Cubans is to get rid 
of Castro.
  Mr. Chairman, this is also personal. Here sat the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson) tortured, tortured brutally by Castro 
interrogators. They took a pistol and blew the head off of one of our 
Americans that was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Remember Elian 
Gonzales? Remember them shooting down an American airplane that was 
along their coast?
  You know, I do not forget things. Look at the movie Hanoi Hilton. It 
is not made up. I see people shaking their heads. A Castro torturer 
stood and held a gun to an American prisoner of war and blew his head 
off. Ask Sam Johnson. He was there. And it is appalling.
  Now, there are American stakes. Some of my friends said, Well, Duke, 
we are trying to open up agriculture trade. We represent agriculture 
districts in the opening up of sanctions to Cuba. Sometimes things are 
worth fighting for. Sometimes things are worth giving up.
  Let us give up a little bit so that the Cuban people can be free and 
that Castro dictator can be eliminated. God bless this country. To hell 
with Castro.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding me 
this time and for his leadership in sponsoring this very common-sense 
amendment.
  The point is very simple and clear. Not one dime, not one penny of 
U.S. tax dollars should be spent to regulate how much soap and 
toothpaste Cuban Americans can send to their loved ones. Very basic.
  I know that many want to topple the Castro government. Regime change, 
of course, has been central to United States foreign policy under the 
Bush administration. I happen to believe, however, that we should end 
the embargo, allow Americans the right to travel, which is their right, 
and also allow families to embrace each other. Forty-five years of an 
embargo against an Afro-Hispanic country 90 miles from our shores is 
fundamentally wrong and immoral.
  The United States has normal relations with China. Even the Cuban 
dissidents believe that ending the embargo makes sense for that cause. 
This amendment does not even do that. All it does is allow soap and 
toothpaste and gift boxes to be sent to Cuban people. We should support 
this modest amendment and stop punishing ordinary people because of a 
backwards foreign policy.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart).
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I just heard that the 
dissidents in Cuba do not support the sanctions. That is just not 
correct. As a matter of fact, yesterday, Mr. Antunes, a black Cuban 
leader who has been in prison since he was 16 years old, imprisoned by 
that white Spanish son, and grandchildren of Spanish people, Spanish 
white people who have imprisoned mostly blacks, and again the blacks in 
prison like Dr. Biscet, like Mr. Antunes, all support these sanctions.
  Let me just tell Members who do not support the sanctions: Castro 
himself does not support sanctions, he supports this amendment as a 
matter of fact. But the primary reason we have heard today for this 
amendment, and we have heard it time and time again, is that the Cuban 
Americans are going to suffer. Those of us who represent the Cuban 
Americans do not know. The Cuban Americans, you see, according to this 
amendment, do not know what is right for them. No, those people, we 
have heard that before, those people do not know what is right for 
them. So, therefore, this amendment sponsored by people from Arizona 
and Massachusetts, very far-away places, this amendment knows what is 
best for that group of Hispanics and their families.
  There are two words for what this amendment is, Mr. Chairman, two 
words for an amendment that says those people, those Hispanics do not 
know what is right for them, so this amendment has to tell them what is 
right, two words, ``patronizing'' and ``racist''; you see, because the 
Cuban American people do know, Mr. Chairman, what is right for 
themselves and their families. The Cuban American people do know what 
is the right thing to do, which is why they do not support this 
amendment. They overwhelmingly support the President's smart, well-
thought-out, responsible measures.
  Let us oppose this amendment that again tries to tell that group of 
Hispanics what is right for them, what is right for Cuban Americans. We 
who represent the Cuban Americans can tell you, they know what is right 
for them and their families, and they will tell Members to vote ``no'' 
on this amendment.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, up until most recently, this has been an enlightening 
discussion. I think it is unfortunate that those who seek to enhance 
the freedom of individuals to decide whether or not they can send their 
families services or goods, that is considered racist or that is 
considered patronizing or condescending. Nothing can be further from 
the truth. We are simply allowing freedom.
  It would be the ultimate irony if we allow Fidel Castro, as William 
F. Buckley said in a column today, it would be the ultimate irony if we 
allow Fidel Castro to impinge on the rights of Americans.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  Mr. Chairman, I am somewhat surprised at some of the supporters of 
this amendment and the way that they are supporting the amendment, as I 
will. They actually sound like this is on the level. They actually 
debate this like this is for real.
  Let me refresh Members' memories, those who support my position in 
favor of the Flake amendment on how this happened. A group of Florida 
legislators wrote the White House and said, if you do not tighten up on 
Cuba, you are going to lose votes in Florida. That is what happened. 
That is the truth. So I am surprised that some of my colleagues would 
actually debate this as if this was real and on the level. This is not 
on the level.
  If you arrived from the moon tomorrow and did not know this was an 
election year and Florida was in play, how would you have a hint that 
it was an election year and Florida was in play? Tighten up on Cuba to 
make Florida not in play, but fall into one column. That is why we 
bring up Elian Gonzalez, who is playing soccer in Cuba minding his own 
business. That is why we have decided that Castro stands at the gate 
and every single dollar and every single tampon and every single 
Kleenex that goes in Cuba he grabs for himself, and that is why he is 
the richest guy in the hemisphere, except there is no sign that he is 
going anywhere and he is nearing 80, so I do not know when he is going 
to spend all of this money he accumulated.
  In 1950, my family came from Puerto Rico. We were not coming from a 
foreign country, but we felt like we were, and in some cases, we were 
treated like we were. What do I remember the most? I remember the cold 
of New York. That was new to me. I arrived in short pants. My father 
dressed us for Puerto Rico and not for New York.
  And I remember my father made $40 a week, and every single Friday 
upon being paid, he ran to the post office and bought a green money 
order that he sent back to the folks that we left behind.
  So I grew up not understanding a policy that says, to bring about 
political change, you bring pain to the people you left behind. I do 
not understand that. That is not right and not correct.
  Now, I realize there are rules in the House about how one deals with 
other Members, and I am one of the most respectful Members when it 
comes to that, but it was nice to see the majority leader come to the 
floor and denounce this policy when he is always a leader on trade with 
China. So whenever he denounces policies like this towards Cuba, I try 
to see if he is crossing his fingers behind his back since he is such a 
strong supporter of trading with China.
  What are we saying here, that to bring down a government you will 
deny a family member the ability to visit but once every 3 years. What 
are we saying, that you are so intent on bringing down a government 
that has lasted,

[[Page H5315]]

for whatever reason, for whatever reason, for over 40 years, because 
you will not allow a cousin toothpaste? Is that who we are as a people? 
Is that what we believe in?
  The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is like a brother to me, one 
of the most humane Members in this Congress, and I know the role he has 
to play on this amendment, just like he understands the role I play on 
other amendments. But he cannot really believe we are hurting people in 
the Government of Cuba by denying toothpaste to people in Cuba. That is 
not what we are doing.
  Mr. Chairman, what we are doing is looking for votes. And you know 
something? It might work. But there are hollow victories, and this may 
be one of those. This may be one of those victories where you say, 
Sure, I won, but the people lost, and I was supposed to be representing 
the people.

                              {time}  2145

  And so in memory of my father, remembering that $10, $5 check that he 
sent back every week to help those who stayed behind, in respect to the 
Dominicans and so many people in my district and Mexican Americans who 
send money back every day, in respect for all of those folks and for 
what they stand for, I cannot be part of this policy. The only change 
now is that I am no longer alone here. There was a time when the Ron 
Dellums and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) and I were totally 
alone. Now I am glad to say that all those ideas are now Republican 
ideas, and I welcome that. I love these Republican amendments that try 
to deal with Cuba in any way.
  But, Mr. Chairman, we cannot continue down this route. We are not 
going anywhere. We are just making enemies of everybody that we can 
find in Cuba, and that is not the way to do it.
  And one last point. Yes, I have seen TV, Spanish radio interviews 
with dissidents in Cuba who are saying if we want to help them do not 
do this, that we are just alienating them. And there is one good sign. 
And it is the hope; it is the future. A significant number in Florida 
of Cuban-Americans are saying this is wrong. This is not the way to 
win. This is not the way to help me. Let me talk to my cousin. Let me 
visit my grandmother. Let me close to the family I left behind because 
I am in this country, they are not, and I do not want them to miss out 
on some of the things I have.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  I sometimes think the institution that we serve here is so 
economically driven that we worship at the alter of trade. We are 
becoming an economic institution. I remember the days of Ronald Reagan 
where we were more concerned about freedom than anything else.
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) is not here. He said things are 
better in China. Things are not better in China. I opposed MFN for 
China. Things are worse in China. There are 11 Catholic bishops in jail 
in China. They have just arrested the person who was identified with 
regard to SARS. They are persecuting the Tibetans, the Muslims, the 
evangelicals. Things are worse in China today with MFN and with trade 
than they have been for a long time.
  Secondly, I am really kind of sorry that we are really divided. We 
should be together, and I think things like this send messages that are 
not necessarily positive. I wish there had been more discussion, quite 
frankly, on both sides about those who are being persecuted and those 
who have been arrested and those who are in jail. Have any Members read 
the book, and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) has met with 
him, and I have met with him once, by Armando Valladares? The 
persecution and the suffering that has gone on. I have heard almost no 
one here tonight say that if Castro were to open up the prisons and the 
jails and release the people, I may change my position. But we should 
be asking Castro to do something, and we never do that. Why does Castro 
not open up the prison doors and allow peaceful people out? Why does 
Castro not allow the journalists to write whatever they want? Why does 
he not do that? So there should be more discussion on this and less 
interest in economic interests on both sides and more on human rights 
and religious freedom.
  Lastly, Ronald Reagan took away MFN from Rumania when all the 
business interests and the Congress was opposed to it. Ronald Reagan 
was the one who stood up with regard to Communism. The policy in 
Castro's Cuba has not been a total failure. They are no longer 
exporting their political situation around the world.
  In the interests of those who are suffering, we should be together; 
and I would hope that whatever amendment would be offered, and it is 
too late to amend this amendment, so whatever amendment would be 
offered would also carry the stipulation that those who are in prison 
for what they believe in, for religious freedom and persecution, as we 
do whatever the Flake amendment does, that the prison jails are opened 
and that people be released.
  With that I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Arizona [Mr. 
Flake] for the time.
  I rise to support the Flake amendment to prohibit the use of funds in 
this bill to enforce the Commerce Department's recently-announced anti-
family restrictions on sending gifts to Cuba.
  These restrictions are part of an extensive set of new Bush 
administration rules that punish Cuban-Americans who have families in 
Cuba. These regulations include limiting family visits to Cuba by 
Cuban-Americans to once every three years and further restricting the 
ability of Cuban-Americans to send money to their families in Cuba.
  The Commerce Department's new regulations would make it illegal for 
Cuban-Americans to send clothing, seeds, soap, personal hygiene 
products and veterinary medicines to their families in Cuba. Other 
gifts would be limited to one gift parcel per month per household in 
Cuba. Gifts could be sent to parents and children, but not to aunts, 
uncles, nieces, nephews or cousins.
  What conceivable rationale could there be for this cruel, misguided 
assault on Cuban-American families? Is there anyone who truly believes 
that we are achieving anything productive by keeping Cuban-Americans 
from helping their family members who remain in Cuba? How dare this 
administration tell American citizens they can't send clothes, toilet 
paper or toothpaste to the families they love!
  I urge my colleagues to protect the right of Cuban-Americans to 
assist their families. Let's help these families, not punish them. 
Support the Flake amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) will 
be postponed.


                  Amendment No. 10 Offered by Mr. Paul

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 10 offered by Mr. Paul:
       At the end of the bill (before the short title), add the 
     following:

               TITLE VIII--ADDITIONAL GENERAL PROVISIONS

       Sec. 801. None of the funds made available in this Act may 
     be used to pay any United States contribution to the United 
     Nations or any affiliated agency of the United Nations.

  The CHAIRMAN. Points of order are reserved.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Paul) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) each will control 
5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul).
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This is an amendment that I have offered several times in the past, 
and it is very simple. It says none of the funds made available in this 
act may be used to pay any United States contribution to the United 
Nations or any affiliated agency of the United Nations. So very simply, 
it would defund the United Nations.
  The United Nations and the international organizations are now 
receiving more than $3 billion; so there would be some savings there. 
But that is not the whole reason why I bring this up. My concern, of 
course, is for national

[[Page H5316]]

sovereignty, and I think that we have drifted a long way from the time 
when this Congress and the President decided on foreign policy to the 
point now where we are more or less driven by the United Nations. The 
United Nations has not too long ago set up an international criminal 
court that we are trying to avoid jurisdiction on our people but 
nevertheless it hangs out there as a threat to our military. We now pay 
a larger sum to the United Nations than anybody else. For the 
administrative part, it is 22 percent, and for the peacekeeping part, 
it is 27 percent. So essentially we are paying a quarter of the U.N. 
dues; and, of course, we do not get 25 percent of the vote.
  In recent months, we have all become aware of the scandal involving 
the United Nations, the Food for Oil program, and there is $10 billion 
missing. And if there was ever a time that we ought to send a message 
that we do not condone this type of activity, it is now. There is an 
investigation going on led by Paul Volcker, but he has no subpoena 
power. The United Nations and the personnel have no intention so far of 
cooperating. The odds of our really finding out where this $10 billion 
went are really quite slim.
  But the whole process is wrong. So over the years I would say not 
only the $10 billion that was taken but the many tens of billions, if 
not hundreds of billions, of dollars that we have pumped into these 
international organizations have essentially been money down a hole.
  But the bigger issue, of course, is the United Nations making 
decisions for us. We do now capitulate to the WTO. I am a free trader. 
I have talked this evening about free trade, true free trade. But the 
WTO is an organization that, because we are a member, we obediently 
come and change our tax law to conform with what the WTO tells us to 
do. We should not be very pleased with that type of an organization 
that does not really even defend free trade. And we have the IMF and 
the World Bank, and all it is is a big payment and a big burden for the 
American taxpayer.
  Shortly after the United Nations was established, one of the worst 
acts occurred early on, and that was that our President took us to war 
in Korea. And it is ongoing. There is a U.N. war that has been going 
on, and we have had troops in the United Nations there for over 50 
years, and that is quite a bit different than if war would be declared 
by the Congress and we would fight and win wars.
  Even the current war that we are having today, it is not a war, but 
it is a war when it is necessary to call it a war; but we did not 
declare a war against the Iraqis, and yet in 1991 we went to war under 
a U.N. resolution. It was said at that time we did not even need a 
congressional resolution. We could just go because it was under U.N. 
orders. Even this current time it confuses us quite a bit because when 
we voted on going again into battle in Iraq, the United Nation was 
mentioned 21 times to give this authority, but still it was not a 
declaration of war.
  But at the same time that we use the United Nations to do something 
to enforce U.N. resolutions, then we turn around and we defy the United 
Nations. They might ask for a resolution of support. We do not get it, 
but we do it anyway, which does not do a whole lot to build friendship 
around the world.
  So I see this as totally chaotic, not in our interests. It exposes 
our men and our women to battle in undeclared wars that are generally 
not won. Ever since World War II, since wars have not been declared and 
they have been fought essentially under United Nations, wars have not 
been won, a lot of men and women are killed, and the resolution is 
never complete.
  So my argument is it is time to send a message to those who are 
questioning whether or not we are too unfriendly to the United Nations, 
but at least we ought to assume that there should be a responsibility 
here for us to have the prerogatives of making these decisions 
ourselves and not by an international body.
  The CHAIRMAN. The time of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) has 
expired.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong opposition to the gentleman's amendment. As 
imperfect as the U.N. is, there is no other forum which exists to 
further the U.S. goals. The Security Council's unanimous resolution on 
Iraq on June 8 was critical to a U.S. priority and to the Bush 
administration, their effort with regard to bringing some sort of 
resolution to the issue in Darfur in Sudan, the peacekeeping effort to 
stop the genocide in Liberia and in Sierra Leone and other places. So 
the U.S. maintains a key factor here. So I think there are so many 
arguments that in the interest of time I would hope the amendment would 
be overwhelmingly defeated.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul).
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) will be 
postponed.


          Sequential Votes Postponed In Committee Of The Whole

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, proceedings will 
now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were 
postponed in the following order: the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner), the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Hefley), amendment No. 13 offered by the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich), amendment No. 9 offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul), amendment No. 6 offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Farr), amendment No. 10 offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul).
  The Chair will reduce to 5 minutes the time for any electronic vote 
after the first vote in this series.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Flake

  The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) on 
which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes 
prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 221, 
noes 194, not voting 18, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 329]

                               AYES--221

     Abercrombie
     Alexander
     Allen
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Bartlett (MD)
     Bass
     Becerra
     Bell
     Bereuter
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Boehlert
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown, Corrine
     Camp
     Capps
     Capuano
     Carson (OK)
     Case
     Castle
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeMint
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Flake
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Gilchrest
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Graves
     Green (TX)
     Greenwood
     Grijalva
     Gutknecht
     Harman
     Herseth
     Hill
     Hinojosa
     Hoeffel
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley (OR)
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Kleczka
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lynch
     Majette
     Maloney
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meeks (NY)
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nethercutt
     Ney
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Otter
     Owens
     Pastor
     Paul
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Rehberg

[[Page H5317]]


     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (MS)
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Towns
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Woolsey
     Wynn

                               NOES--194

     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Andrews
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Barton (TX)
     Beauprez
     Berkley
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Boyd
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Cole
     Cox
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Cunningham
     Davis (AL)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeLay
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Engel
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gephardt
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goss
     Granger
     Green (WI)
     Gutierrez
     Hall
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Isakson
     Issa
     Istook
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lucas (OK)
     Manzullo
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McInnis
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     Menendez
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Murphy
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Ose
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pearce
     Pence
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Porter
     Portman
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Regula
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rothman
     Royce
     Ryun (KS)
     Saxton
     Schrock
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Skelton
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Toomey
     Turner (OH)
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Wu

                             NOT VOTING--18

     Blumenauer
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carson (IN)
     Chandler
     Collins
     Conyers
     Deutsch
     Hastings (FL)
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jones (OH)
     LaHood
     Matsui
     Meek (FL)
     Tauzin
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised there are 2 
minutes remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  2221

  Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. TANCREDO, and Mr. HOEKSTRA changed 
their vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Mr. FROST and Mr. HOEFFEL changed their vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                    Amendment Offered by Mr. Weiner

  The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner) on 
which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes 
prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The Clerk designated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 206, 
noes 212, not voting 15, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 330]

                               AYES--206

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Bartlett (MD)
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Boehlert
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burns
     Burr
     Camp
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carson (OK)
     Case
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Chocola
     Coble
     Costello
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Foley
     Ford
     Fossella
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gingrey
     Graves
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutierrez
     Harman
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Herseth
     Hoeffel
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley (OR)
     Hulshof
     Inslee
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Jones (NC)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kind
     King (NY)
     Kleczka
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lynch
     Majette
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCotter
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meeks (NY)
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy
     Nadler
     Neal (MA)
     Nethercutt
     Neugebauer
     Obey
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Otter
     Owens
     Pascrell
     Paul
     Peterson (MN)
     Pickering
     Platts
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (NC)
     Quinn
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Ross
     Rothman
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Saxton
     Schiff
     Scott (VA)
     Sessions
     Shaw
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Simmons
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Souder
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Taylor (MS)
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Tierney
     Turner (OH)
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Waters
     Watt
     Weiner
     Weldon (PA)
     Wexler
     Wilson (NM)
     Woolsey
     Wu

                               NOES--212

     Akin
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Bell
     Biggert
     Bishop (GA)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boyd
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Carter
     Castle
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Cole
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Cox
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dingell
     Dooley (CA)
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English
     Everett
     Flake
     Forbes
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gephardt
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Grijalva
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harris
     Hart
     Hayes
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hill
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Isakson
     Israel
     Issa
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jenkins
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kilpatrick
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lucas (OK)
     Maloney
     McCrery
     McInnis
     McKeon
     Menendez
     Mica
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Napolitano
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Olver
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Portman
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Regula
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roybal-Allard
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Sabo
     Sandlin
     Schakowsky
     Schrock
     Scott (GA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Shadegg
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (TX)
     Solis
     Spratt
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Toomey
     Towns
     Turner (TX)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Watson
     Waxman
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Wynn

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Blumenauer
     Cardin
     Carson (IN)
     Collins
     Deutsch
     Hastings (FL)
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jones (OH)
     LaHood
     Matsui
     Meek (FL)
     Tauzin
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised there are 2 
minutes remaining in this vote.

[[Page H5318]]

                              {time}  2237

  Messrs. MARKEY, ABERCROMBIE, BURNS, DICKS, BROWN of Ohio and Ms. 
MAJETTE changed their vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia and Messrs. FORBES, LEWIS of Georgia, 
MICA and NEY changed their vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                    Amendment Offered by Mr. Hefley

  The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote 
on the amendment by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Hefley) on which 
further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by 
voice vote.
  The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The Clerk designated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 71, 
noes 342, not voting 20, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 331]

                                AYES--71

     Baird
     Baker
     Bartlett (MD)
     Boozman
     Bradley (NH)
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cox
     Cubin
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Deal (GA)
     DeMint
     Duncan
     Everett
     Flake
     Fossella
     Franks (AZ)
     Gillmor
     Graves
     Green (WI)
     Gutknecht
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hunter
     Isakson
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Manzullo
     Marshall
     McInnis
     McKeon
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Norwood
     Otter
     Paul
     Pence
     Petri
     Ramstad
     Reynolds
     Rohrabacher
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Skelton
     Smith (MI)
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Taylor (MS)
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Toomey
     Vitter
     Weldon (PA)
     Wilson (SC)

                               NOES--342

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baldwin
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Bell
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carson (OK)
     Carter
     Case
     Castle
     Chandler
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Cole
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Tom
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gephardt
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gingrey
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Green (TX)
     Greenwood
     Grijalva
     Hall
     Harman
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Herseth
     Hill
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley (OR)
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (NY)
     Kirk
     Kleczka
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     Lynch
     Majette
     Maloney
     Markey
     Matheson
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Mica
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nethercutt
     Ney
     Northup
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schrock
     Scott (GA)
     Serrano
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Sweeney
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (NC)
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Towns
     Turner (OH)
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                             NOT VOTING--20

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Blumenauer
     Cardin
     Carson (IN)
     Collins
     Deutsch
     Gutierrez
     Hastings (FL)
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jones (OH)
     LaHood
     Matsui
     Meek (FL)
     Scott (VA)
     Tauzin
     Thomas
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised that 2 minutes 
remain in this vote.

                              {time}  2243

  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                Amendment No. 13 Offered by Mr. Kucinich

  The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) on 
which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes 
prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 232, 
noes 186, not voting 15, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 332]

                               AYES--232

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Becerra
     Bell
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Boehlert
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carson (OK)
     Case
     Chandler
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Emanuel
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Ford
     Fossella
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Gephardt
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green (TX)
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Harman
     Hart
     Herseth
     Hill
     Hinojosa
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley (OR)
     Hoyer
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     John
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (NY)
     Kleczka
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lynch
     Majette
     Maloney
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCotter
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Ney
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)

[[Page H5319]]


     Platts
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (NC)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Shays
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Simmons
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (MS)
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (PA)
     Wexler
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                               NOES--186

     Akin
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Bereuter
     Biggert
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole
     Cox
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     Everett
     Feeney
     Flake
     Foley
     Forbes
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goss
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harris
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hulshof
     Isakson
     Issa
     Istook
     Jenkins
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Latham
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lucas (OK)
     McCrery
     McInnis
     McKeon
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Neugebauer
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Osborne
     Ose
     Otter
     Oxley
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Portman
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Schrock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Sherwood
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Toomey
     Turner (OH)
     Upton
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Blumenauer
     Cardin
     Carson (IN)
     Collins
     Deutsch
     Hastings (FL)
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jones (OH)
     LaHood
     Matsui
     Meek (FL)
     Tauzin
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised there are 2 
minutes remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  2251

  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                  Amendment No. 9 Offered by Mr. Paul

  The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) on 
which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes 
prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The CHAIRMAN. This is a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 135, 
noes 283, not voting 15, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 333]

                               AYES--135

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Boozman
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cox
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cunningham
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Deal (GA)
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Duncan
     Emerson
     Everett
     Feeney
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Franks (AZ)
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gibbons
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Graves
     Green (WI)
     Gutknecht
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hoekstra
     Hostettler
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Isakson
     Istook
     Jenkins
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kline
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lucas (OK)
     Manzullo
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McInnis
     McIntyre
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Norwood
     Otter
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Schrock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (MI)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Taylor (MS)
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Toomey
     Vitter
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)

                               NOES--283

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldwin
     Ballenger
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Bell
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Bono
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown, Corrine
     Calvert
     Camp
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carson (OK)
     Carter
     Case
     Castle
     Chandler
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Cole
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Tom
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Foley
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Gephardt
     Gerlach
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Green (TX)
     Greenwood
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall
     Harman
     Harris
     Hefley
     Herseth
     Hill
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley (OR)
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Kirk
     Kleczka
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lynch
     Majette
     Maloney
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Mica
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nethercutt
     Northup
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (KY)
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Simmons
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Sweeney
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Turner (OH)
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Blumenauer
     Cardin
     Carson (IN)
     Collins
     Deutsch
     Hastings (FL)
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jones (OH)
     LaHood
     Matsui
     Meek (FL)
     Tauzin
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised there are 2 
minutes remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  2258

  Mr. NEY changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the amendment was rejected.

[[Page H5320]]

  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                  Amendment No. 6 Offered by Mr. Farr

  The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr) on 
which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes 
prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The CHAIRMAN. This is a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 148, 
noes 268, not voting 17, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 334]

                               AYES--148

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Bartlett (MD)
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Bell
     Berkley
     Berman
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Boehlert
     Bono
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Capps
     Capuano
     Case
     Clay
     Conyers
     Crowley
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doyle
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Flake
     Frank (MA)
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gephardt
     Gilchrest
     Gonzalez
     Graves
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Harman
     Holt
     Hooley (OR)
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Kleczka
     Kucinich
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Lewis (GA)
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Majette
     Maloney
     Markey
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     Meehan
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller, George
     Moran (VA)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Otter
     Owens
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Paul
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Porter
     Price (NC)
     Rangel
     Rodriguez
     Rohrabacher
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Solis
     Stark
     Strickland
     Tancredo
     Tauscher
     Thompson (CA)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Wexler
     Woolsey
     Wynn

                               NOES--268

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Bereuter
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Boozman
     Boswell
     Boyd
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Cardoza
     Carson (OK)
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Chocola
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Cole
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cox
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     English
     Etheridge
     Everett
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fossella
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth
     Hill
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Isakson
     Issa
     Istook
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kildee
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Latham
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     Lynch
     Manzullo
     Marshall
     Matheson
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy
     Murtha
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Portman
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Sandlin
     Saxton
     Schrock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Skelton
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Snyder
     Souder
     Spratt
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tanner
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Toomey
     Turner (OH)
     Turner (TX)
     Upton
     Visclosky
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Wu

                             NOT VOTING--17

     Blumenauer
     Boucher
     Cardin
     Carson (IN)
     Collins
     Deutsch
     Hall
     Hastings (FL)
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jones (OH)
     LaHood
     Matsui
     Meek (FL)
     Tauzin
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). There are 2 minutes remaining in this 
vote.

                              {time}  2305

  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  Stated against:
  Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 334 I inadvertently voted 
``yes.'' I intended to vote ``no.''


                  Amendment No. 10 Offered by Mr. Paul

  The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) on 
which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes 
prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 83, 
noes 335, not voting 15, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 335]

                                AYES--83

     Akin
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Bonner
     Boozman
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Coble
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cunningham
     Davis, Jo Ann
     DeLay
     Doolittle
     Duncan
     Everett
     Feeney
     Flake
     Foley
     Forbes
     Franks (AZ)
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gibbons
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Harris
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hostettler
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Istook
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     Kingston
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lucas (OK)
     Manzullo
     McCotter
     McInnis
     Miller (FL)
     Moran (KS)
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Norwood
     Otter
     Paul
     Peterson (MN)
     Platts
     Pombo
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Rogers (AL)
     Rohrabacher
     Ryun (KS)
     Sabo
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Taylor (MS)
     Tiberi
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)

                               NOES--335

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldwin
     Ballenger
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Bell
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bono
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Burns
     Burr
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carson (OK)
     Carter
     Case
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Chocola
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Cole
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cox
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeMint
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Ford
     Fossella
     Frank (MA)

[[Page H5321]]


     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Gephardt
     Gerlach
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harman
     Hart
     Hensarling
     Herseth
     Hill
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley (OR)
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Isakson
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kirk
     Kleczka
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lynch
     Majette
     Maloney
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Mica
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nethercutt
     Northup
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Quinn
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schrock
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Simmons
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Sweeney
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tierney
     Toomey
     Towns
     Turner (OH)
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Blumenauer
     Cardin
     Carson (IN)
     Collins
     Deutsch
     Hastings (FL)
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jones (OH)
     LaHood
     Matsui
     Meek (FL)
     Tauzin
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). There are 2 minutes remaining in this 
vote.

                              {time}  2312

  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.

                              {time}  2313


              Amendment Offered by Ms. Millender-McDonald

  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment offered by Ms. Millender-McDonald:
       Page 92, line 16, after the dollar amount insert the 
     following: ``(increased by $1,500,000)''.
       Page 93, line 8, after the dollar amount insert the 
     following: ``(reduced by $1,500,000)''.

  The CHAIRMAN. Points of order are reserved.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Millender-McDonald) and a Member opposed will each 
control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-
McDonald).
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  My amendment would provide increased funding for the Small Business 
Administration's Women's Business Centers Program. This amendment would 
provide for an additional $1.5 million in funding for the Women's 
Business Centers Program that is currently funded at the level of $12 
million, which is included in the committee's version of the report, 
bringing this total level of program funding to $13.5 million.
  The United States Small Business Administration network of Women's 
Business Centers provide a wide range of services to women business 
owners at all levels of business development through grant funding to 
private, nonprofit economic development organizations. These centers 
are located in 46 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 
American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands, and provide financial and 
general business management and marketing assistance, as well as long-
term training and counseling, to existing and potential women business 
owners, many of whom are socially and economically disadvantaged.
  Many centers make a special effort to assist women on welfare become 
self-sufficient and administer programs and workshops in business 
ownership, other employment or a combination of the two. All of the 
centers provide individual counseling and access to the SBA's programs 
and services.
  I have always been a strong supporter of women-owned small businesses 
and have led efforts in past Congresses to increase authorized funding 
levels for the WBC programs.
  Mr. Chairman, women-owned businesses are a dynamic and thriving force 
in the U.S. economy. Business ownership has been one of the most 
effective means of improving women's economic well-being. Female 
participation in business ownership at all levels is climbing. Women 
now own 40 percent of all small businesses and are growing at twice the 
rate of all other businesses. America's 9.1 million women business 
owners employ 2.75 million people and contribute $3.6 trillion to the 
economy.
  Additional funding for this program will go a long way to ensuring 
that both existing and new centers will have the funding to help women 
entrepreneurs with additional training and technology assistance, 
especially minority women and start-up businesses.
  I would like to thank the chairman and the ranking member for their 
support and guidance as I have introduced this amendment, and I ask all 
of my colleagues to support this amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, we accept the amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                    Amendment Offered by Mr. Burgess

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment offered by Mr. Burgess:
       Page 108, after line 22, insert the following (and make 
     such technical and conforming changes as may be appropriate):

               TITLE VIII--ADDITIONAL GENERAL PROVISIONS

     SEC. 801. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING THE FEDERAL TRADE 
                   COMMISSION.

        It is the sense of the Congress that the Federal Trade 
     Commission should provide to Independent Physician 
     Associations guidance on contracting with health plans, on 
     practice business arrangements, and on member communications, 
     and a reasonable time for such Associations to ameliorate 
     certain arrangements that could lead to Federal Trade 
     Commission enforcement of antitrust laws against any such 
     Association that has engaged in alleged anticompetitive 
     activities.

  The CHAIRMAN. Points of order are reserved.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Burgess) and a Member opposed will each control 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order.
  The CHAIRMAN. The point of order is reserved.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, this is an extremely important issue to physicians and 
patients around the country.
  Over the past few years, the Federal Trade Commission has been 
targeting groups of doctors known as Independent Physician 
Associations, alleging anticompetitive business activities. These 
groups, IPAs, are integrated groups of physicians that can provide a 
wide array of medical services to patients in their community.

[[Page H5322]]

  While it is important that the Federal Trade Commission enforce the 
antitrust laws when organizations engage in anticompetitive behavior, 
they must understand that the recent complaints brought against IPAs 
could and do disrupt patient care. This amendment would ask that the 
Federal Trade Commission keep in mind and provide Independent Physician 
Associations with guidance and a time to ameliorate any arrangement 
that could violate the law before the FTC pursues enforcement action.
  The fact is, Mr. Chairman, if you are an Independent Physician 
Association, in the eyes of the FTC, you are by definition a 
conspirator or in the process of conspiring. In fact, the FTC seems to 
pursue a mission statement that you are guilty unless you happen to be 
able to prove your innocence, and these actions are extremely expensive 
to fight.
  My concern is not so much the innocence or guilt of the 
organizations, but the impact that the lack of guidance from the 
Federal Trade Commission can have on the provider community and 
patients who receive a high quality of care from IPAs. IPAs 
consistently rate high in customer satisfaction and positive health 
outcomes.
  One such organization in north Texas, the North Texas Specialty 
Physicians, provides excellent health care. With over 600 doctors, they 
serve around 11,000 patients a day. They are the only Medicare risk 
provider in north Texas. This is important because Medicare risk is the 
old Medicare+Choice. Here is the group that took that Medicare HMO and 
made it work, made it work for the doctors and made it work for the 
patients; and as a consequence, they are punished for their success.
  They accept new Medicare enrollees when many other networks in the 
area do not. Most emergency calls are responded to by their physicians. 
Their access ratings are very high. At a time when most doctors will 
not take new Medicaid clients, they are one of the few networks that 
take new Medicaid enrollees every day.
  Federal agencies should not be punishing businesses when their only 
transgression is success. By having the FTC give IPAs basic guidance on 
how they contract with health plans and how they communicate with other 
IPA members and established business relationships, patient care in the 
community will not suffer. That should be our concern.
  It is important for the FTC to enforce the law. All this amendment 
asks is that a reasonable standard be applied and care be exercised 
when patient care could be disrupted.
  What brought this to my attention was this particular group which has 
been charged by the FTC with an action. This group has spent $1 million 
over the last year and a half, defending itself against what it 
believes are unfair allegations, and probably the FTC has spent, 
conservatively, three times that amount, and these are dollars we can 
scarcely afford out of this appropriation. Groups that are 
procompetitive and manage risk are being punished.
  Mr. Chairman, I plan to withdraw my amendment, but I hope to work 
with the chairman in the future to bring more balance to this 
situation.
  Mr. Chairman, at this time I withdraw my amendment.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Wolf

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment offered by Mr. Wolf:
       At the end of title VI, insert the following:
       Sec. 627. It is the sense of the Congress that the 
     Secretary of State, at the most immediate opportunity, 
     should--
       (1) make a determination as to whether recent events in the 
     Darfur region of Sudan constitute genocide as defined in the 
     Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
     Genocide; and
       (2) support the investigation and prosecution of war crimes 
     and crimes against humanity committed in the Darfur region of 
     Sudan.

  The CHAIRMAN. Points of order are reserved.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and a Member opposed will each control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, the amendment is very simple and concerns 
recent events in the Darfur region of Sudan, which I visited last week. 
I offer the amendment on behalf of myself and the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Payne).
  The amendment asks the Secretary of State to support the 
investigations of war crimes or crimes against humanity in Darfur, and 
I have done this in consultation with my colleague on the other side, 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano).
  Senator Brownback and I just returned from spending 3 days and 2 
nights in Darfur, Sudan. During our trip we visited five refugee camps: 
Abu Shouk; Tawilah; Krinding; Sisi and Morney--all sprawling tent 
cities jam-packed with thousands of displaced families and fast 
becoming breeding grounds for disease and sickness. We drove past 
dozens of pillaged villages and walked through what was left of four 
burned to the ground. We heard countless stories about rape, murder and 
plunder.
  We talked to rape victims. We saw the scars on men who had been shot. 
We watched mothers cradle their sick and dying babies, hoping against 
all odds that their children would survive. We saw armed Janjaweed 
waiting to prey on innocent victims along the perimeter of refugee 
camps.
  We saw Janjaweed--who are carrying out these attacks--sitting astride 
camels and horses just a short distance from where young and old have 
sought what they had hoped would be a safe harbor.
  The same stories were repeated at every camp we visited. The raids 
would happen early in the morning. First comes the low rumble of a 
Soviet-made Antonov plane to bomb the village. Next come helicopter 
gunships to strafe the village with the huge machine guns mounted on 
each side. Sometimes the helicopters would land and unload supplies for 
the Janjaweed. They would then be reloaded with booty confiscated from 
a village. One man told us he saw cows being loaded onto one 
helicopter. The Janjaweed, some clad in military uniforms, would come 
galloping in on horseback and camels to finish the job of killing, 
raping, stealing and plundering.
  Walking through the burned out villages we could tell the people 
living there had little or not time to react. They left everything they 
owned--lanterns, cookware, water jugs, pottery, plows--and ran for 
their lives. There was no time to stop and bury their dead. The 
Janjaweed made certain that there would be nothing left for the 
villagers to come home to. Huts were torched. Donkeys, goats and cows 
were stolen, slaughtered. Grain containers destroyed. In one village we 
saw where the Janjaweed even burned the mosque.


                            ethnic cleansing

  What is happening in Darfur is rooted in ethnic cleansing. Religion 
has nothing to do with what unfolded over the last year. It was clear 
that only villages inhabited by black African Muslims were being 
targeted. Arab villages sitting just next to African ones miles from 
the nearest towns have been left unscathed.
  While government officials are adamant in saying there is no 
connection between the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed, the 
militiamen we saw did not look like skilled pilots who could fly planes 
or helicopters.
  We also were told the Janjaweed are well armed and well 
supplied. They have satellite phones, an astonishing fact considering 
most people in the far western provinces of Darfur have probably never 
even seen or walked on a paved road.

  The impunity under which the Janjaweed operate was most telling as we 
approached the airport in Geneina on our last day in the region for our 
flight back to Khartoum. In plain sight was an encampment of Janjaweed 
within shouting distance of a contingent of Government of Sudan 
regulars. No more than 200 yards separated the two groups. Sitting on 
the tarmac were two helicopter gunships and a Russian-made Antonov 
plane.
  The situation in Darfur is being described as the worst humanitarian 
crisis in the world today. We agree. But sadly things could get worse. 
Some say that even under the best of circumstances, as many as 300,000 
Darfuris forced from their homes are expected to die from malnutrition 
and diarrhea or diseases such as malaria and cholera in the coming 
months.
  The impending rainy season presents its own set of problems, making 
roads impassable for food deliveries and the likelihood of disease 
increasing dramatically with the heavy rains.


                      difficult life in idp camps

  Abu Shouk was the first of five IDP (Internally Displace People) 
camps we visited. More than 40,000 people live in this sprawling tent 
city. Families arriving at the camps--almost all

[[Page H5323]]

after walking for days in the hot sun from their now abandon villages--
are only given a tarp, a water jug, cookware and a small amount of 
grain.
  At Mornay, the largest of the IDP camps in Darfur with more than 
70,000 inhabitants, it was hard not to step in either human or animal 
feces as we walked. In a few weeks, when the heavy rains begin, 
excrement will flow across the entire camp. Mortality from diarrhea, 
which we were told represents one-third of the deaths in the camps, 
will only increase.
  To their credit, all the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that 
have been allowed to operate in Darfur have done--and continue to do--a 
tremendous job under extremely trying circumstances.
  Rapes, we were told, happen almost daily to the women who venture 
outside the confines of the camps in search of firewood and straw. They 
leave very early in the morning, hoping to evade their tormentors 
before they awake. With the camps swelling in size and nearby resources 
dwindling, they often walk several miles. The farther the women go from 
the camp, the greater the risk of being attacked by the Janjaweed.
  As we approached Mornay, we saw a number of Janjaweed resting with 
their camels and horses along the perimeter of the camp, easily within 
walking distance. In one camp we heard the horrific story of four young 
girls--two of whom were sisters--who had been raped just days before we 
arrived. They had left the camp to collect straw to feed the family's 
donkey when they were attacked. They said their attackers told them 
they were slaves and that their skin was too dark. As they were being 
raped, they said the Janjaweed told them they were hoping to make more 
lighter-skinned babies. We were told that some of the rape victims were 
being branded on their back and arms by the Janjaweed, permanently 
labeling the women.
  We also received a letter during our trip from a group of women who 
were raped. To protect them from further attacks, we purposely do not 
mention where they are from or list their names. The translation is 
heartbreaking:

       We are forty-four raped women. As a result of that 
     savagery, some of us became pregnant, some have aborted, some 
     took out their wombs and some are still receiving medical 
     treatment.
       Hereunder, we list the names of the raped women and state 
     that we have high hopes in you and the international 
     community to stand by us and not to forsake us to this 
     tyrannical, brutal and racist regime, which wants to 
     eliminate us racially, bearing in mind that 90 percent of our 
     sisters at (. . .) are widows.

  These rape victims have nowhere to turn. Even if they report the 
attacks to the police, they know nothing will happen. The police, the 
military and the Janjaweed all appear to be acting in coordination.


                       dire situation is man-made

  The situation in Darfur is dire, and from what we could see, it is 
entirely man-made. These people who had managed to survive even the 
severest droughts and famines during the course of their long history 
are now in mortal danger of being wiped out simply because of the 
darker shade of their skin color.
  Over the course of 3 days, we saw the worst of man's inhumanity to 
man, but we also saw the best of what it means to be human: mothers 
waiting patiently for hours in the hot sun so that they could try to 
save their babies; NGO aid workers and volunteer doctors feeding and 
caring for the sick and the dying; and the courage and bravery of men, 
women and children eager to talk to us so that we would know their 
story.
  The world made a promise in 1994 to never again allow the systematic 
destruction of a people or race. ``Never again''--words said, too, 
after the Holocaust.
  In Darfur, the international community has a chance to stop history 
from repeating itself. It also has a chance to end this nightmare for 
those who have found a way to survive. If the international community 
fails to act, the next cycle of this crisis will begin. The destiny 
facing the people of Darfur will be death from hunger or disease.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. All time has expired.
  The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf).
  The amendment was agreed to.

                              {time}  2320

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
  The motion was agreed to.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Gingrey) having assumed the chair, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Chairman 
of the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported 
that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 
4754) making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 
and State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2005, and for other purposes, had come to no 
resolution thereon.

                          ____________________