[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 85 (Thursday, June 23, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H5092-H5098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2000
                           REPUBLICAN AGENDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Dent). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 2005, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. 
Foxx) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority 
leader.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, in this Special Order, we are going to focus 
on two things. I am first here to speak a tribute to a very good friend 
of mine and then I will share the rest of the hour with my colleagues.


                         Tribute to Lois Britt

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to 
pay tribute to the memory of a true leader and my friend, Anne Lois 
Britt. On June 4, just 3 weeks ago, Lois Britt passed away in her 
sleep. Not only did her family lose a devoted and caring matriarch but 
Lois' passing marked a serious loss for my State. Lois' first love was 
to her family and grandchildren, Ralph and Luke, but she loved and 
treated the betterment of rural North Carolina like it was her second 
family. She touched the lives of so many, and words cannot express what 
she meant to those around her. Throughout her nearly 50-year career, 
Lois was able to work for, and with, the things she loved--her family, 
people, education, agriculture, and Duplin County.
  Lois was born and reared in Duplin County, North Carolina. Duplin 
County is in the rural eastern part of North Carolina. However, Lois 
could see from an early age, if given just a few resources, the 
citizens of Duplin County could do and achieve wonderful things. She 
was determined to improve the

[[Page H5093]]

lives of everyone she knew, and she knew almost everybody. So after 
earning her bachelor's degree from East Carolina University and 
graduating from North Carolina State with a master's degree in adult 
education, she returned home to begin her life's work.
  Once back in Duplin, she started with the extension service, working 
in 4-H, home economics and community development. For more than 33 
years, she helped mold 4-H'ers, families, and coworkers into positive, 
productive citizens. To put into perspective how much she meant to the 
4-H community, I would like to tell you a story I heard from one of her 
closest friends. It is customary in North Carolina to have one large 
family Bible that you keep records, newspaper clippings, and any 
general memorabilia about your family. One common item usually found in 
Duplin County family Bibles was the children's 4-H certificates. For 33 
years, Lois Britt signed every single 4-H certificate awarded. You see, 
Lois was a part of everyone's family in some way or another. Countless 
people in Duplin County credit Lois and the skills they gained under 
her 4-H and extension leadership for the success they have enjoyed in 
life.
  While she was doing what God had put her on earth to do, helping 
others, Lois' career began to take off. In 1976, she was promoted to 
county extension director. She held this position for 14 years and was 
the first woman in North Carolina's history to serve in that capacity.
  After leaving the county extension in 1990, she worked until 2000 
with Murphy Family Farms as vice president for public relations. 
Additionally, she was a member of the board of the North Carolina Pork 
Council and was vice president of the National Pork Producers Council. 
It was through her work in pork and agriculture that Lois and I first 
became friends. We worked together in the North Carolina State Senate 
and here in the House of Representatives on a number of projects to 
improve and bolster the pork industry in our home State. We did not 
always see eye to eye on every issue, but I always knew where she stood 
and I admired her for that.
  It was during her time with Murphy Brown Farms and the North Carolina 
Pork Council that Lois became a national spokesperson for her industry. 
She gained national notoriety in her field as an effective and creative 
leader. People looked up to Lois and respected what she had to say. 
Although she never ran for public office, I suspect Lois could have 
held any elected position she wanted due to her leadership, compassion, 
and understanding of complicated issues.
  While moving the agribusiness sector of North Carolina forward, Lois 
became heavily involved with North Carolina State University. She 
served on the University of North Carolina board of governors and had 
been appointed to the chancellor's board of visitors for North Carolina 
State University. In fact, one of the easiest decisions I ever made in 
the State Senate was to vote for Lois Britt for board of governors.
  Along with her distinguished professional career, Lois was awarded 
and achieved many honors in her successful life. Awards such as the 
North Carolina Pork Council Hall of Fame, North Carolina 4-H Lifetime 
Achievement Award, the North Carolina State University Watauga Medal, 
the 2003 Volunteer Service Award from the National Agricultural Alumni 
and Development Association, and the 2002 Distinguished Alumnus for 
Agriculture from the North Carolina State University College of 
Agriculture and Life Sciences are just a few of the awards and 
achievements bestowed upon Lois. If I read them all to you, we would be 
here till next week.
  As you can see, Lois Britt meant the world to her family, her 
community and the State of North Carolina. Lois had a history of 
helping people solve problems that arise from our need to be good 
stewards of the land. She built systems that allow our youth, families 
and communities to plan and execute productive agribusiness 
enterprises. She was a great mother and a great friend.
  I am pleased that her son Ralph, his wife Suzanne, and Lois' sister 
Gail have traveled to Washington to join me in celebrating the life of 
their loved one. They traveled to D.C. to be a part of this tribute, 
along with many other of Lois' closest friends. I was also honored to 
be a part of her life. Although Lois is no longer with us physically, 
we can rest easy knowing she is reunited with her husband and is 
teaching somewhere in heaven. May God bless her soul.
  Mr. Speaker, a group of us is here tonight to bring some perspectives 
to many things that have been said in the past few weeks by leaders and 
members of the Democratic Party. I want to recognize first, 
Representative Marsha Blackburn who represents the Seventh District of 
Tennessee, and then Representative Kenny Marchant who represents the 
24th District of Texas. I will then speak very briefly and then 
recognize the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Drake) who is here.
  Let me please turn the floor over to the gentlewoman from Tennessee.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina and how we welcome her enthusiasm and her dedication to 
helping move forward with the Republican agenda and with the leadership 
that has been shown.
  Mr. Speaker, before I begin my comments this evening, I would like to 
just pause for a few moments and commend our colleagues from across the 
aisle as they have stood tonight to remember and to commemorate those 
men and women who have given their lives in the fight for freedom. We 
can never begin to express our thanks and our gratitude to the men and 
women who fight to preserve freedom. Our country has a long, storied, 
noble history in the fight for freedom and democracy. I want to commend 
them for reminding and for remembering that there are those who have 
given their lives. We need to remember each and every individual.
  This Nation has been being attacked by terrorists now for a couple of 
decades. We need to go back and as we remember these men and women who 
have lost their lives in Iraq, we need to also remember those that lost 
their lives with the Khobar Towers, with the Cole, with the first World 
Trade Center bombing, those in Afghanistan and those that currently 
serve in Afghanistan as well as all of our men and women who are 
currently deployed. In Tennessee, in my district, we have men and women 
who are members of the National Guard who are deployed in both 
Afghanistan and Iraq. To those families, we say we stand with you so 
solidly, so totally in this fight for freedom.
  We have men and women from Fort Campbell, which primarily sits in the 
Seventh Congressional District of Tennessee, who are preparing to 
redeploy with the 101st or the 160th, who are in the process of being 
redeployed. We thank each and every one of them for their service, for 
their sacrifice, their families we thank for their service and their 
sacrifice, these precious children who are at home for the summer 
without mom or dad to go to the ball field with them or to take them to 
swimming lessons or to hold them tight at night when they are worried 
and have fears and concerns. We stand with you in this fight for 
freedom.
  We are talking a good bit about what our agenda has been and being in 
touch with the desires of the American people. I want to call attention 
to a couple of things that have been in the press lately. We had seven 
House Members yesterday who wrote a letter to Minority Leader Pelosi 
saying that they were shocked by a statement in which she said the war 
in Afghanistan was over, and I am quoting from the letter. They wrote: 
``Messages like yours could demoralize our troops and undermine our 
efforts to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and around the world.'' That 
was in their letter, and reminding her that we have known all along 
this is going to be a long, long war. It is not going to be an easy 
war. It is going to require some sacrifice on all of our parts, on each 
and every single individual's part.
  And then I pulled another article from today's press. It was talking 
about Taliban, Rebels Fight Afghan, U.S. Forces. We had 102 insurgents 
that were killed in 3 days of fighting in Afghanistan. It just goes to 
show us, those who wish us harm, those who would do evil are still out 
there and still fighting and fighting against freedom.
  But much of this has to do with focus and where we put our focus and 
where

[[Page H5094]]

this 109th Congress chooses to place its focus. We were here earlier 
this week talking about the agenda, the Republican agenda, and some of 
the things that we have accomplished. We are in our 69th day, I believe 
it is, of our session. There are many strides that we have made for the 
American people. As we have talked about this, and I know the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina is certainly aware of this, every time 
we pass a bill here, it does not mean we have added another law or 
added another statute to the books. Many times what it means is that we 
are removing or repealing something and that is the way it ought to be, 
because being committed to freedom, being here to defend the individual 
freedoms that each and every person holds dear, means that one of the 
things we are doing is trying to roll back that long reaching arm of 
government, roll it back and send that power and send that money and 
send that authority to the State and local levels. That is something 
that we as a majority feel is very important: individual freedoms, 
local control, moving forward on an agenda that is a conservative, 
well-placed agenda, rooting out waste, fraud and abuse, looking for 
ways to shrink some of these programs.
  These are some of the things that we have been able to make progress 
on over the last few months: bankruptcy reform, which we passed with 
302 votes in this body. That meant we had 73 Democrats cross over and 
vote with us to pass that. The reason they do that, most of America 
agrees with the majority's agenda, things that are going to strengthen 
families, things that are going to strengthen small business.
  Class action reform. We have all heard the stories of how trial 
lawyers go out and make 20, $30 million off of different class action 
cases and then the members of the class end up with a coupon for 50 
cents off, a free movie, a free bottle of juice, a free packet of some 
commodity. Class action reform passed in this body with 279 votes. 
Fifty of those votes were Democrats.
  The REAL ID Act, border security, addressing illegal immigration and 
the impact illegal immigration has on this great Nation. We passed the 
REAL ID Act which is the first step in this, working in concert with 
many of our State legislatures. They were supporting us as we moved 
forward with the REAL ID Act to be certain that we had valid documents, 
immigration documents, used for driver's licenses. The REAL ID Act 
passed with 261 votes. Forty-two of those were Democrat votes.
  Permanent repeal of the death tax which we have passed in this body. 
We look forward to seeing that signed into law, because we are looking 
to roll back taxes and free up this economy, continue to free it up. We 
have had 25 months of sustained economic growth and it comes from the 
tax reductions that have been passed by this majority. One of those is 
the death tax repeal. An important reason for this is because the death 
tax is a triple tax. You pay tax when you acquire an asset, you pay tax 
when you maintain the asset, and certainly when you earn your income 
that you use to purchase that asset, you are paying tax there, too. So 
rolling back the death tax. Two hundred seventy-two Members of this 
body, the U.S. House of Representatives, voted to repeal the death tax. 
Forty-two of those were Democrats.
  Continuity of government. The energy bill. Everyone is concerned 
about gas prices. Something we can do that is going to help us send the 
right message is passing an energy bill.

                              {time}  2015

  And we did that in this House, sent it across the Rotunda to our 
friends and colleagues in the Senate. And we passed that energy bill 
with 249 votes; 41 of those were Democrats. And the gentlewoman knows 
that all of this goes to show that America responds to our agenda. They 
are looking forward to our reducing the size of government, getting 
government off their back, getting it out of their pocketbook, leaving 
them with more money to spend, lightening up on that regulation so that 
the free enterprise system can do what it does best: generate jobs. We 
know we do not create those jobs. Government does not create those 
jobs. Free enterprise creates those jobs.
  So as we look at an agenda that is based on hope, is based on 
planning for the future, is based on a better life for our children, we 
welcome that the other party comes along and supports this agenda 
because we know it energizes America. We have provisions that energize 
this economy, that get us moving in the direction that we should be 
moving.
  I want to thank the gentlewoman for organizing this hour, looking at 
the strength that is in the agenda that we are working on this year and 
looking at the momentum that we have for this agenda. It is going to be 
a busy summer here in Washington, and it is going to be a very brisk, 
aggressive fall. And we look forward to continuing to work on these 
issues of taxation, of regulation, the immigration, addressing illegal 
immigration, litigation, beginning to continue to address these 
frivolous lawsuits; and we know that progress is going to be made on 
behalf of the American people.
  I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me and for inviting me to 
join her on the floor.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. 
Blackburn).
  Now I would like to yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Marchant), 
who has come into this Congress along with me and whom I have come to 
appreciate so much for his leadership and insights.
  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for yielding to me.
  It is a rare privilege for me to be on the floor with her tonight, 
and it was a privilege for me to spend the last hour listening to the 
names of men and women who have given their lives so that we would have 
the opportunity to be here tonight and to state our views and debate 
and pass laws that will affect this country.
  But this evening I would like to commend the leadership of the 
Republican-led 109th Congress, which at its halfway point has been 
marked by major legislative achievement. The Democrats have responded 
to our party's ideas and vision with a lack of ideas and a lack of 
vision. They have continuously criticized the actions of the majority, 
but remain unwilling to put forward any constructive plan on Social 
Security, energy, or illegal immigration.
  I am proud of the many initiatives already passed by House 
Republicans this year to strengthen this great Nation. This includes 
class action reform. This reform addresses the most serious cases of 
class action abuse by allowing large interstate class action cases to 
be heard in Federal court. The measure unclogs specified, very 
specific, overused courts and ends harassment of local businesses 
through forum shopping and limits the thousands and thousands of 
frivolous lawsuits that are being filed every day.
  Another example is the READ ID Act. The READ ID Act completes the 
mission and recommendations of the 
9/11 Commission. It closes asylum loopholes and implements driver's 
license reforms, strengthens deportation laws, and defends our borders. 
This bill is necessary to secure our borders and our homeland.
  This majority has also passed the permanent repeal of the death tax. 
The death tax is the leading cause of dissolution for most of our small 
businesses in America. This unfair tax hampers economic growth. 
Permanently killing the death tax creates a tax policy that supplements 
economic growth and opportunity and gives hope to future generations. 
Our small farmers, our Realtors, our small businesses in America only 
want to pass on what they have spent generations earning to their 
families; yet we have a death tax now that robs them of that ability.
  America needs a comprehensive energy policy. This Republican Congress 
has passed an energy bill that creates \1/2\ million new jobs in a wide 
range of industries. The initiative provides incentives for renewable 
energies and leadership in energy conservation. The Energy Policy Act 
allows for increased domestic oil and gas exploration and development. 
It aims to decrease America's dependence on foreign oil and therefore 
make our country safer and more self-reliant.
  Republican Members of Congress are also currently hammering out 
solutions to the looming Social Security crisis, as well as negotiating 
a highway bill that will improve driver safety, traffic congestion, and 
create millions of new jobs across America.

[[Page H5095]]

  Such progress and achievement for the well-being of this country can 
only be attributed to the leadership and effectiveness of congressional 
Republicans. I am disappointed that our opposing party continues to 
hinder progress and relies on its legislative obstructionism.
  I am proud of what we have accomplished thus far in the 109th 
Congress for the American people.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  I now yield to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Drake), who also 
came in with this freshman class and represents the Second District of 
Virginia.
  Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina 
(Ms. Foxx) for her leadership tonight and for allowing us to 
participate here with her in this hour.
  We have heard from the gentleman from Texas and the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee that we are right at our halfway point for the very first 
year of the 109th Congress. I think that the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina would agree with me that it is a very exciting time to serve 
in Congress. There are very many major issues that face our Nation, and 
the exciting thing is that this Congress is committed to dealing with 
those issues.
  We have begun the debate on Social Security. We will begin the debate 
on Medicaid reform with the commission that is being formed, a 
bipartisan commission. We will work on the total issue of health care, 
Medicare reform, illegal immigration. There are just many issues that 
this Congress must deal with and is committed to dealing with.
  We have heard tonight about some of the major pieces of legislation 
that have already been passed by both bodies and enacted into law, from 
bankruptcy reform to class action lawsuit reform to the READ ID Act and 
the Continuity of Government Act.
  We have also heard about pieces of legislation that were in the works 
for a very long time and have now passed over to the Senate and we are 
awaiting their action. On a national energy plan, our country knows 
today how critical it is that we have a national energy plan. We can no 
longer be reliant on foreign oil, which today is 62 percent of the 
energy of the oil that is used in this country.
  Other key things that this Congress has sent to the Senate is the 
Child Interstate Abortion Act, a critical piece of legislation for our 
parents and our families; Gang Violence Deterrence and Protection Act, 
critical for our safety in our communities; the flag protection 
amendment; U.N. reform; and the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act. 
Also, both Houses have acted on our highway bill, and that bill is 
currently in conference and there will be a compromise at approximately 
somewhere around $284 billion for highways, transit, and road safety 
through 2009, creating countless new jobs and addressing many 
transportation needs.
  The American people need to know that Congress is hard at work and 
dealing with problems that have not yet been addressed. Bankruptcy 
reform and class action lawsuit alone were at least 6 years before 
those bills were passed. Last year Congress did not pass a highway 
bill; and this year, as we have heard, we are very close to finalizing 
that.
  The people of this Nation have expressed that Congress needed to 
demand and require commonsense reform in regards to our participation 
and financial support of the U.N. I commend the gentleman from Illinois 
(Chairman Hyde) and the House Committee on International Relations for 
their hard work. Now the U.S. can require accountability and tie 
payments to it.
  And we now have figures to show how well the Bush tax cuts are 
working. Current numbers reflect an additional $100 billion in revenue. 
It shows that that economic model of allowing people to keep more of 
their hard-earned money means that they will creates new jobs, they 
will invest it, and they will grow tax dollars for us.
  But to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), who has 
organized this, Mr. Speaker, as pleased as I am with the progress and 
accomplishments of this Congress, I stand here today with a very heavy 
heart and am very distressed beyond belief by the action and decision 
of the Supreme Court today in regards to private property rights.
  The constitutional right of the government to eminent domain to 
purchase private property for public use is a sensitive, difficult 
issue even when roads, schools, and other public facilities are the 
reason for the rare and cautious use of this power. But to force an 
unwilling private party to sell his property for the ultimate use by 
another private party, even if the property's intended use is a more 
productive one, is just plain wrong.
  The exact words of the dissenting opinion are: ``Under the banner of 
economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being 
taken and transferred to another private owner so long as it might be 
upgraded, i.e., given to an owner, who will use it in a way that the 
legislature deems more beneficial to the public in the process.''
  Mr. Speaker, this decision today effectively removes the requirement 
of public use from the takings clause of the fifth amendment. With this 
decision all property owners are at risk. My office is currently 
exploring what legislative remedies are available to ensure that 
Americans do truly own their property.
  I would like to thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me. I look 
forward to continuing to work with her and adding this additional item 
to our plate to make sure that the people of our country express the 
right that our forefathers came here for, to own private property.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. 
Drake) for her comments, and I want to tell her that I am as distressed 
about this ruling as she is. I think that the people of this country 
are very concerned with activist courts and are very concerned at where 
the country is going as far as judicial rulings, and I want to join her 
in doing whatever we possibly can legislatively to stop this kind of 
action from being taken. She is absolutely right. It is one of our most 
fundamental rights, the right to private property, and it is one of the 
things that has made this country so great. So I look forward to her 
leadership on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario 
Diaz-Balart), someone I have come to know and admire tremendously, who 
represents the 25th District of Florida, for his wisdom on the issues 
we are discussing tonight.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman is 
very kind, and I thank her for yielding to me.
  I too want to join the many who have expressed their gratitude for 
what she is doing here tonight. But really more importantly, if I may, 
I want to thank her for her incredible, passionate leadership 
particularly on fighting waste, fraud, and abuse that is, 
unfortunately, still rampant in the Federal budget. She has been such a 
champion, and it has been a privilege for me to learn from her, see how 
she does it, and she has been extremely effective. So it is truly just 
wonderful to see how she works, and it is wonderful that she is giving 
this Special Order to speak about issues that are important to the 
United States of America.

                              {time}  2030

  I was listening to the honorable gentlewoman from North Carolina, and 
she was talking about things that have happened in this Chamber. One of 
the things that is important is to highlight that it is not only 
legislation that we have passed here, but it is legislation, not for 
the sake of passing legislation, it is legislation that has had real, 
concrete, positive results for the American people. Let us look at some 
of the results; more than just the legislation, but the results of that 
legislation.
  Look at, for example, the growth in the GDP, the gross domestic 
product. This is after 9/11. This is after the Internet bubble burst. 
This is after the recession that President Bush inherited when he first 
got elected. Despite all that, because of legislation that the 
President led on and that this Congress passed, the GDP, the growth of 
the economy, has been spectacular. Mr. Speaker, we have had 14 
consecutive quarters of real growth in the economy, a 3.5 rate in the 
first quarter of this year, a 3.5 percent increase in the GDP. Again, 
14 consecutive quarters of real growth, despite what this Congress and 
our President found itself dealing with after 9/11.

[[Page H5096]]

  Look at payroll employment. It rose by 2.2 million jobs during 2004; 
2.2 million jobs that would be unemployed if it was not for the 
policies of this Congress, of this majority, and of the President of 
the United States. Mr. Speaker, 3.5 million jobs over the past 24 
months. Ask those hard-working Americans who now have jobs if the 
policies that this Congress has pursued and passed have not worked for 
them. They have worked for them, and we are grateful for the 
President's leadership. I think we have to always remind ourselves that 
with a little bit of help, with a few Democrats, but with the 
leadership of the Speaker of the House and the Majority party, great 
things have happened for our country, for our working men and women in 
our great country.
  Look at, again, the fact that unemployment today, right now, is lower 
than it was, than the average of the 1970s, the decade of the 1980s 
and, yes, even lower than the decade of the 1990s. Hard to believe that 
that is possible, after 9/11, after the scandals on Wall Street, after 
the bubble-burst of the Internet. Again, that is because of the 
leadership of our President and because of the leadership of this 
House.
  The homeownership rate is at record levels. More people own homes 
than ever in the history of our country and, by the way, if we look at 
minority homeownership also, that is at record levels.
  Now, we have more to do. We have more to do, still, and we are 
working hard to do even more. All of us are concerned about the 
deficit. We have to reduce the size of the deficit. We know that the 
President has said, and he has pledged to cut the deficit in half over 
the next five years. The budget that this House passed does just that 
in a responsible fashion. It gets a handle on the deficit. It is going 
to reduce the deficit in half. We do that by controlling spending.
  Hey, folks, this is not rocket science. If you are spending too much 
money, that is why you have a deficit, hey, what do you do? Spend less. 
Not rocket science. Well, that is what we are doing.
  But let me tell my colleagues what our friends in the Democratic 
Party have proposed as their solution to control the deficit. We hear 
them here on the Floor of the House continuously, and even in the 
Senate, talking about, oh, the deficit is too high. But then, what do 
they propose? They propose billions and billions and billions of 
dollars in additional spending, which would go directly to increase the 
size of the deficit. They have done so publicly. They have done so with 
an amendment in the Committee on the Budget on which I have the honor 
of serving and also here on the Floor of the House. They cannot have it 
both ways. They cannot be concerned about the deficit and then propose 
billions and billions of dollars of additional spending in the Federal 
budget, spending of Federal dollars.
  The President, by the way, has done a great job in looking for 
programs that are not working. I do not think again it takes a rocket 
scientist to understand that there are Federal programs that frankly 
are just not doing that well, that are just wasting the taxpayers' 
money. Once again, I have to repeat what I said in the beginning. I 
want to thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for her 
efforts, particularly in trying to fight waste in the Federal 
Government.
  The President has also done a great job. He has created this 
assessment tool called PART. What he has done is he has gone through 
every single area of the Federal budget, the Federal Government looking 
for things that can be reduced or eliminated because they are not 
needed, not doing a good job, because there are other programs that are 
better and less expensive. He has proposed eliminating a number of 
programs and to shift that money to programs that do work.

  We also have to be very proud of the job that the chairman of the 
Committee on Appropriations is doing, the honorable gentleman from 
California (Mr. Lewis). He has actually cut an incredible amount of 
those duplicative, those programs that do not work, that are proven 
money-wasters, and has shifted those funds to programs that do work. I 
think, again, we are doing some good things. We do get every once in a 
while, a few, a couple, one or two, sometimes three or four, and 
sometimes many more, Democrats who come on board and help us with these 
efforts. But, unfortunately, most of the heavy lifting to cut waste, to 
reduce the deficit, to cut taxes, to incentivize the economy has been 
done with no help from the opposition party. But, fortunately, we have 
been able to pass those issues, and that is why the economy is doing as 
well as it is doing, and that is why millions of Americans that 
otherwise would have been unemployed now have jobs.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I just want to end with a separate thought. It 
is always difficult, and I think an honor and a privilege, to listen to 
the names of our fallen heroes, and we had that tonight, we heard it a 
little while ago, and I think it is always something that we have to 
again thank them, thank their families, and thank God that there are 
heroes like them that are willing to put even their lives on the line 
to protect our freedoms. I have to say that I was very pleased to see 
Members of this House come on to this floor to mention the names of our 
heroes with respect.
  That, unfortunately, contrasts so dramatically, sadly, with the 
statements by a member of the other party of the U.S. Senate. He 
recently had to apologize because he compared our troops, our men and 
women in uniform, compared them to the Nazis, to the Soviets and their 
gulags, to that mad assassin, crazy regime of Pol Pot in Cambodia, 
those regimes that killed people as a policy, assassinated people. And 
for anybody, anybody to even mention our troops, our men and women in 
uniform in that same breath as the Soviet gulags, Pol Pot, or the Nazis 
is, frankly, totally unacceptable. I guess he was comparing the hard 
work of our brave men and women in uniform to Nazis. Is he equating the 
treatment of innocent victims in the concentration camps or in the 
gulags to the humane treatment that terrorists are getting in 
Guantanamo at the hands of our troops? Again, it is totally 
unacceptable.
  We accept his apology, after he was forced to apologize, even though 
he first did not want to. We are talking about the second highest 
ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate who said those things. So we will 
accept his apology. I think, though, that we should also demand his 
resignation from that position of leadership, a position of leadership, 
the second highest ranking leader, democratic leader in the Senate, who 
compared our troops to the Nazis, to the Soviet gulags, and to Pol Pot.
  So that is why, Mr. Speaker, I have to tell my colleagues that I was 
very pleased with coming here tonight and listening in contrast to the 
names of our fallen heroes. That is the way we should refer to our 
troops as heroes, as men and women who guarantee the peace not only of 
the United States of America, but of the entire world. They are heroes 
that will never be forgotten. And I, for one, have to tell my 
colleagues, as I will also never forget those who insult our heroes, 
who compare them to Nazis; I will never forget that either.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) 
for her great leadership, for her impassioned leadership and again, in 
particular, I thank her for really teaching us a lesson as to what it 
means to be passionate, fighting for the taxpayer against fraud, waste, 
and abuse in the Federal budget.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate so much the gentleman from 
Florida. He also has great passion for the issues that he is concerned 
about, and I am so proud to be serving with him in the 109th Congress.
  I agree with him that it is appropriate for us to honor our heroes, 
and what happened tonight is a great contrast to much that has been 
said recently.
  Mr. Speaker, I took to the Floor earlier this session to reject 
Democrat charges that the Republican Party is out of the mainstream. At 
the time I thought the rhetoric from the other side of the aisle could 
not be more partisan, more vitriolic, or more damaging to America's 
credibility abroad. I also thought that they would take their rhetoric 
only so far. I never thought that they would take their rhetoric so far 
as to put our troops in greater danger than they are already in. But, 
Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to say I was wrong. From the chair of the 
Democrat National Committee to their

[[Page H5097]]

party leaders in Congress, something has gone terribly awry. Where are 
the statesmen who put country ahead of party? What happened to the 
party of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, the party of Daniel 
Patrick Moynihan and John F. Kennedy?
  Last week I was able to take my grandchildren to Arlington National 
Cemetery, and I can tell my colleagues that I could not read the words 
at the Eternal Flame spoken by President Kennedy without getting very, 
very emotional. I think that President Kennedy's words are so important 
for us to talk about tonight in light of our having talked about our 
soldiers who have given their lives. President Kennedy said, ``Ask not 
what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your 
country.'' That is what the brave men and women who are now serving in 
our military have done. They have asked what can they do for their 
country. Some of them are giving the ultimate sacrifice.
  But, unfortunately, the party of President Kennedy and the party of 
these other great patriots seems to be gone. It has been replaced by 
the party of moveon.org and George Soros. A once proud party with a 
strong pedigree of ideals and values has devolved into a festering 
wound whose only attributes are hate and obstruction. What is worse, 
Mr. Speaker, is some Democrats are proud of their transformation and 
proclaim it loudly. At a DNC gathering in New York, the chairman of the 
party said, ``I hate Republicans and everything they stand for.''
  Well, Mr. Speaker, I do not hate Howard Dean and I have never heard 
another single Republican say that they hate him, but we do feel sorry 
for him. I feel sorry for those whom he has let down, the millions of 
Democrats across the country whose party he leads. Mr. Speaker, unlike 
Dr. Dean, I do not lump all members of the opposition party together. I 
know there are good Democrats who possess bright ideas and patriotic 
souls. Some of them might even live and work in this town. And I feel 
for them. Their leader believes that the louder he screams, the better 
people will somehow be able to hear him. But I tell my colleagues this: 
soon, people will stop listening.
  Mr. Speaker, our two-party system works best when both sides bring 
ideas to the table and hash them out. Yes, the Majority party tends to 
win most, if not all the time, but that is what the voters intended. I 
understand this better than most, because I spent 10 years in the North 
Carolina General Assembly in the minority party.
  What is most important is that the marketplace of ideas is routinely 
stocked with the freshest and most visionary policies each side has to 
offer. I am happy to say Republicans are doing their job, but I am 
sorry I cannot say the same about the Democrats' leadership.
  Instead of policy proposals, we get blank stares. Instead of 
negotiation, we get obstruction. Instead of dialogue, we get rhetoric.

                              {time}  2045

  And I truly wish this were not the case, because now is a time of 
great responsibility. Now more than ever we need a Congress that is 
serious about preparing this Nation for the challenges of the century 
ahead.
  And, Mr. Speaker, while Republicans are happy to continue passing our 
solution-oriented agenda, I truly wish we had a partner in the 
Democratic Party. How much more vibrant would our political discourse 
be if we could speak civilly with each other? How much more fruitful 
would this Congress be?
  Nowhere is this clearer than the issue of Social Security. We all 
know that reforming America's most honored program is more than a hot 
topic around here; it is the premier domestic issue of our day. And so 
you would think that all honest attempts at reform would be met at the 
very least with openmindedness and a desire to discuss, but not so.
  When a member of the Democratic caucus offered his plan to reform 
Social Security, his own leadership chastised him for even bringing an 
idea and signaling a willingness to talk with Republicans.
  Mr. Speaker, it is one thing for Democrats to criticize Republican 
policies. It is another for them to reprimand one of their own for 
simply introducing an idea. While I certainly do not agree with the 
policies proposed in the gentleman's legislation, I applaud him for 
bucking his party's reticence. He put the needs of the American people 
before politics. For that he should be commended; and for their 
condemnation of action, the Democrats should be ashamed.
  For what is the purpose of this body but to debate solutions to 
problems and then choose the very best among them? And that, Mr. 
Speaker, is just what House Republicans have been doing. My colleagues 
have given you a long list of accomplishments in this session of 
Congress. We have proposed an agenda with solutions that are reaping 
results.
  I am happy to say that on many of the most important issues of the 
day, a large number of rank-and-file Democrats have joined us, despite 
the reluctance of their leadership.
  In 5 short months, the House has passed landmark legislation 
addressing everything from our roads and highways to the war on terror. 
Mr. Speaker, we have heard on numerous occasions from the minority 
leadership that bills are being railroaded through, that substitutes 
are not being allowed, that rules are closed too often.
  You have heard already how most of our bills have had Democratic 
votes. And nothing could be further from the truth that our rules are 
closed. And I might also add that Democrats are being treated a great 
deal better than they treated Republicans when we were in the minority.
  When Democrats controlled the House, Republicans were often denied 
the right to offer motions to recommit. For those unfamiliar with that 
term, it is the last chance for the minority to attach an amendment to 
a bill under consideration by the full House.
  When Republicans took control of the House, we changed the rules so 
that the minority always has the opportunity to offer the motion to 
recommit.
  We have enacted rules governing debate on legislation that have 
allowed for numerous Democratic amendments and substitutes. We 
responded to demands for greater access to legislative information and 
have granted nearly every request of the minority. Yet the Democratic 
leadership continues to use abuse of power as a campaign issue.
  I ask the American people to examine the facts, and I also ask the 
American people to contrast the Republican record of achievement with 
the Democratic record of obstruction, obtuseness, and obliviousness.
  I mentioned earlier that when I last took to the floor to discuss 
these matters, I thought the Democratic leadership could not be further 
out to sea when it comes to the most important issues facing the 
Nation.
  Well, it now seems they are somewhere between the Bermuda Triangle 
and the Lost City of Atlantis. You know, Mr. Speaker, I just do not 
think the leaders of the Democratic Party here in Washington get it. It 
has been 4 years since our homeland was attacked, and they still cannot 
distinguish friend from foe, and patriot from terrorist.
  From the comments made by members of the Democratic leadership in 
both bodies, it is clear that they are not connected with the realities 
of the war on terror. One said, and I quote, ``the war is unwinnable.'' 
Another compared our men and women in uniform to Soviets and their 
gulags, unquote. And yet another, perhaps most egregiously compared 
Operation Iraqi Freedom which brought an end to Saddam's ethnic 
cleansing to the Holocaust. He said, the war, and I quote, is the 
biggest fraud ever committed on the people of this country. This is 
just as bad as the 6 million Jews being killed, unquote.
  Mr. Speaker, I struggle for the words to respond to such comments. 
The Washington Democratic establishment is simply adrift at a time when 
our Nation is at war and preparing for the next great American century. 
It is sad that they are not a part of that preparation. And it is 
deplorable that in some cases they are actively campaigning against it. 
I hope that soon things will change. And I hope it happens before the 
Democratic Party is lost once and for all.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate all of the comments that were made by my 
colleagues tonight outlining the very major successes that have 
occurred in the 109th Congress already. Along with

[[Page H5098]]

my colleagues, I came to Washington to get things done. I long for a 
time when the Democratic leadership will come to the table and work 
with Republicans to make policy that has the best interests of the 
American people at heart.

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