[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 14, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H253-H259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL SECURITY
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Dent). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 4, 2005, the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs.
Blackburn) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority
leader.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to come
before this body this evening and to talk for a few minutes about some
things that are very important to us here in the House.
You know, we stand here many times, many evenings, and we debate the
role of government here in this body. We certainly have heard it here
tonight, as our colleagues across the aisle have talked about their
desire to see things done differently as we look at our budget process.
Certainly there are those of us like me who think that government is
overgrown. While there are others in this body that think that
government cannot do enough, there are those of us who want to
prioritize and reduce the budget, and there are those who do not want
to prioritize or reduce the budget. They feel like something to do is
to keep the status quo and raise taxes and approach our
responsibilities in that way.
A couple of points I did want to touch on, as they have talked about
the budget and talked about the deficit and talked about the concerns
that we have for that, is we look at the overall economic security of
this great Nation.
One of the things that we did when we passed the Deficit Reduction
Act, which was a plan brought forward by the majority in this House
that would reduce what the Federal government spends and yield a
savings for the American people, what happened with that Deficit
Reduction Act was, yes, we did achieve a reduction in what the Federal
Government spends. This is the first time in about 20 years that this
has happened. We had a reduction in our discretionary spending.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is noteworthy that we received not one
Democrat vote for that bill for reducing spending. While it is easy to
say, and certainly makes for great discussion and conversation, that
the deficit is too big, and that we are spending too much, the proof is
in the pudding.
The proof is, when it comes time to vote, are you going to vote to
raise taxes and spend more and keep the status quo, or are you going to
vote to make some reductions, to get in there and prioritize that
budget and decide what is going to be the best way to allocate the
resources of the Federal Government, because we have to bear in mind it
is not our money, it is not this government's money. It is the
taxpayers' money.
The taxpayers are overtaxed. They are paying too much. They want
Uncle Sam to get his fingers out of their pocket, off their paycheck,
and leave that paycheck to them.
I will remind my colleagues across the aisle also, they talk about we
have to raise taxes to pay for this. Well, 2004, 2005, the U.S.
Treasury received $274 billion more than they had estimated in
revenues.
Mr. Speaker, there is a reason for that, and it is because tax
reductions work. We know that they work. You lower those rates, and the
economy, this great, wonderful engine of the U.S. economy, works. It
works. We certainly have seen that happen. The reductions that were
passed in 2003 have certainly paid off.
There is another point I would like to address that did come up. A
couple of the colleagues said, we need to have some honesty as we look
at this budget process. I am not going to disagree with that. I
certainly think as we get ready for Presidents' Day and thinking about
President Lincoln and the moniker Honest Abe that he carried with him,
we certainly need to remember that and have honesty. But part of that
honesty is looking at this and reminding the American people one of the
reasons we are faced with the budget we have is because of this huge,
enormous bureaucracy, huge bureaucracy that grew out of 40 years of
Democrat control of this body, a bureaucracy that basically is a
monument to them.
It is so difficult and people have such a tough time working through
the bureaucracy, whether it is paying your income tax, figuring out
that process, figuring out that Tax Code; whether it is the local
university, trying to get over here and get the bureaucracy to help
them with some program that is needed for that university; whether it
is our local community and county governments trying to figure out how
to work with different agencies and comply with different regulations.
It is a cumbersome, overgrown, bloated bureaucracy; and certainly as
we address the issues of oversight through the ratings tools, through
the President's management initiative, through the CFO act, those are
all accountability measures that have come into play since Republican
control of this body took place in 1994.
So there is plenty that we can discuss and we will look forward to
discussing over the next month as we look at the budget, look at the
process, look at the need to put those parameters in place that will
help us get the budget under control and still address the areas of
responsibility that we have.
One of those areas of responsibility that I think we all can agree on
and certainly should be agreeing on is that of national security. There
is truly a reason that our founders included the words ``provide for
the common defense'' in the preamble to the Constitution. They knew
that national security was an imperative in order for this Nation to be
able to survive. They knew
[[Page H254]]
that in order for children to dream big dreams, in order for small
businesspeople to be able to go out and take that idea that they have
and grow it into something that is wonderful, that creates jobs for
their community, that yields back and gives back to that community,
that security was an imperative. It is an imperative.
Tonight, several of my colleagues and I are going to take a few
moments and talk about guarding this Nation and talk about the issue of
national security, because we as a party, we as a majority, are
focused, first and foremost, on that issue. Mr. Speaker, I cannot think
of a single better time to do this than on Valentine's Day, because
there is nothing more important or caring that we can do for our
children, our grandchildren, our neighbors and those we love than to
fight to be certain that every child has the opportunity to grow up in
a safe, a free and a secure world. It is one of those foundational
building blocks. And we Americans are free today because of the
sacrifices that our parents and our grandparents chose to make for
them, for us, and on our behalf. Until this world is a far different
place, it is very clear that we must continue our support for a strong
military and defense presence. That is the only way that we are going
to be able to be certain that our kids inherit the America that we know
today.
Mr. Speaker, we are going to look at some issues, as I said, of
national security. We are going to look at the border security issue;
we are going to look at the war on terror and how important it is for
us to win in this war on terror and how important it is for us to
realize that it is going to be a long war, that it is about freedom,
and it exists not only in faraway lands like Iraq and Afghanistan but
it is something that we have to address on our border, our Nation's
border, as we look at the issue of border security.
The first Member who is joining me tonight, Mr. Keller from Florida,
has just returned from spending several days down on our southern
border working with some of the border guards and the security agents
that are there. Mr. Keller is going to talk with us about some of the
activity that is taking place on our Nation's southern border.
{time} 2115
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, if you would have told me when I was in
college that one day my idea of a romantic Valentine's Day evening
would be standing around giving a speech on border security, I would
have probably drank a cup of hemlock back then. But here we are, and I
am happy to drink this cup of water beside me.
Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from the Mexican border, and I am
here to report my findings.
We were 5,000 feet up in the mountains along the border California
shares with Mexico at 2:00 A.M., freezing in 30-degree weather, with
the wind howling in our faces. Eight shivering young men, illegal
aliens in their late teens and early 20s, sat on the cold ground in
handcuffs, grateful to be caught. One of them pleaded with a border
patrol agent to find his girlfriend, Maria, who was still stuck out on
one of the cliffs.
Illegal aliens like the ones I saw in handcuffs continue to enter the
United States from Mexico at the rate of 8,000 per day. Today, we have
11 million illegal aliens in the United States. Illegal immigration
presents a huge problem. That is why I decided to spend a week along
the southern border to see firsthand how bad the problem is and, more
importantly, what Congress can do to fix it.
Last year, our Border Patrol agents arrested 1.2 million illegal
aliens attempting to enter the United States from Mexico.
Significantly, 155,000 of those arrested were from countries other than
Mexico. They included illegal immigrants from Iran, Iraq, and
Afghanistan. This poses a very serious national security problem
according to CIA director Porter Goss. I spoke with Border Patrol
agents who had apprehended suspects on the terrorist watchlist.
One night, while I was riding along with the Border Patrol, two
illegals from Pakistan were captured. One convicted sexual predator was
caught trying to cross. So were wanted murder suspects, drug dealers
and smugglers.
If the job of a Border Patrol agent sounds dangerous, imagine the
risk to people who actually live along the border. I sat down in the
living rooms of four different families who own ranches along the
border. One couple, Ed and Donna Tisdale, documented on home video
13,000 illegal aliens crossing their property in 1 year alone. The
Tisdales had their barbed wire fences cut by illegals running off the
family's cattle. When their dogs barked to scare off intruders, the
dogs were poisoned.
Another rancher told me about numerous break-ins at his home while
his family slept as illegal aliens searched for food and clothing. One
morning his daughters had gone out to feed their pet bunnies, only to
find them skinned and taken for food by illegal aliens trying to escape
to a nearby highway.
The economic impact of these illegal crossers who are successful is
catastrophic. Illegal immigration costs taxpayers $45 billion a year in
health care, education and incarceration expenses. The cost of the
estimated 630,000 illegal aliens in my home State of Florida is about
$2 billion a year, meaning every family in my congressional district
pays a hidden tax of $315 each year and yet still faces artificially
depressed wages because of illegal immigration.
So how do we fix the problem? Well, first, we need to crack down on
employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. Jobs are the magnet
attracting illegal aliens across the border, and the U.S. House has
acted to make it mandatory for employers to check the paperwork of new
hires or else face stiff penalties. Now it is time for the Senate to
act.
Second, we complete construction of a double fence for 700 miles
along the border near highly populated urban areas. For example, San
Diego saw a steep reduction in crossings from 500,000 down to 130,000
when their double fence was completed.
Third, where mountains and rugged terrain make completion of a double
fence impossible, we need to have a virtual fence. That is, Congress
needs to appropriate money for infrared cameras that allow agents to
see the entire border in day and nighttime.
Finally, we need more Border Patrol agents. Although Congress has
already tripled the number of Border Patrol agents since the late
1980s, more are still needed.
Mr. Speaker, one million immigrants come to America legally each
year; and my staff members spend the majority of their time helping
those who want to come to our country to work hard and play by the
rules.
We are protected from dangerous people entering the country at our
airports. IDs are checked against the terrorist watchlist, and baggage
is screened. Who is doing checks on the 8,000 people who arrive here
illegally each day? Who is our last line of defense? It is a Border
Patrol agent in a green uniform working alone.
At 2:00 a.m. tonight, after all of us are asleep, he will be once
again working somewhere near the top of a cold 5,000-foot mountain
along the California-Mexican border. He will get a radio call telling
him to approach a group of illegals who have been spotted by an
infrared scope and are located near the top of that mountain. He will
track their footprints in the dirt and make his way toward them. As he
approaches, there is something he does not know. Are these illegal
aliens a group of harmless teenagers who are scared and freezing, or
are they heavily armed, dangerous drug traffickers like the ones who
have killed so many of his colleagues? Either way, he will approach
them because it is just another day on the job.
Mr. Speaker, I have a message for that Border Patrol agent. The
United States Congress knows you are there. We appreciate your service,
and help is on the way.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman from Florida; and I thank him
for reminding us of the importance of protecting that border so that we
do provide for the common defense, we do have a secure Nation, and we
are alert and watching. As he has mentioned so well, his State of
Florida, the area that he represents, their estimated cost of dealing
with illegal entry into this country is $2 billion a year, and that is
for those that choose to enter this country illegally.
The gentleman mentioned some of the things that we have done,
employer
[[Page H255]]
verification, looking at continuing to secure the border, whether you
are looking at a wall or whether you are looking at technology, but
putting that surveillance into place.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I am going to yield to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Poe), who is on the International Relations Committee and the
Terrorism Subcommittee. Judge Poe likes to remind us that it is just
the way it is time and again as he comes to this floor and reminds us
of the importance of viewing immigration and appropriate and proper
immigration, abiding by those laws and what an important component that
is to this Nation's security and how important it is that we abide by
those immigration laws as we are right now battling in this war on
terror.
With that, I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. POE. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
We have spent much time in these halls discussing many purposes of
government. Tonight we have heard much about the budget, how to spend
taxpayer money, how the money should be spent, how it should not be
spent, discussed projects big and small.
And many Americans consistently ask themselves the question, what is
the purpose of government? Why do we have government at all? That is
certainly a valid question to be asked, especially of our Federal
Government.
And you said it well when you mentioned the preamble of our U.S.
Constitution, that one purpose of government is to provide for the
common defense. It is the first duty of government to protect us, to
protect its citizens. Building roads and bridges, having commissions,
maybe that is important. Well, maybe it is not. But the first duty of
government is to protect the people that live within our borders, the
U.S. citizens. Government does a pretty good job of that, especially
locally, from our local police to our Federal officers, capturing
outlaws, sending them to jail where they need to be. And we do a pretty
good job on the international basis. We are fighting the war on terror
in Iraq and Afghanistan and other parts of the world. Our military is
the best military that has ever existed. And so the government does a
fairly good job of that duty of protecting us.
I spent all my life basically in the criminal justice system. I
started out as a prosecutor in Houston, and then I spent over 20 years
on the bench trying criminal cases, just as Judge Carter, who is here
tonight. He has tried his share of outlaws.
And the rule of law is something that we all believe in in this
country, that the law is the standard of conduct. And the law in this
country is you do not come into the United States of America illegally,
regardless of your purpose. And we know people are doing that anyway.
We know, of course, that those narcoterrorists come across the southern
border, especially the southern border of Texas, bringing in that
cancer to sell. They make a lot of money doing that.
We know that people come here illegally, over 5,000 a day across the
Texas border, illegally coming into the United States for various
purposes. And we suspect that probably the next terrorist attack that
occurs in the United States is not going to be because somebody flies
into Reagan National down the street here, gets off the airplane, looks
around and decides, I wonder what damage I can do to the American
population. That is probably not going to happen.
That next terrorist is going to come across the open porous border,
South Texas and Mexico, because those borders are open. And every
country in the world knows that we have an open border, and that is why
so many people are coming in.
Give you one example: 2005, in Maverick County, Texas, they had about
8,000 people illegally come in from Mexico that were captured. They had
over 20,000 people illegally come in from Mexico from other countries
other than Mexico, almost four times as many coming into the United
States from other countries other than Mexico. They were from Korea.
They were from China. They were from Brazil. They were from countries
all over the world coming here. Every country knows we do not protect
our borders to keep people illegally, that wish to come here illegally
from coming into the country.
So the duty of government is to protect us, protect the sovereignty
and the dignity of this country. Everybody wants to live in the United
States. I do not blame them. I mean, this is the greatest place on
earth to live. But everybody cannot live here, so we have got to have
some rules, and those rules have to be followed, and it is the duty of
our government to enforce the rule of law and make sure that people
respect the dignity of this country. So we have a lot of concerns about
that.
And maybe we should refocus the purpose of government. Maybe we
should ask the question profoundly, what is the duty of government? And
then we should expect the answer to be, to protect us, to protect our
borders, to protect our national security, because that is the duty of
government. And that is just the way it is.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. The gentleman from Texas is correct. That is the way
it is. That is the duty of government. And as the gentleman stated so
well and so eloquently, the business of government is protecting this
country, as well as that being a duty.
And one of the things, Mr. Speaker, that we have altered is the way
that we do business here in America by tightening some of our
immigration rules. Looking at drivers' licenses, tightening our
drivers' license requirements to prevent those documents from being
used in ways that they are not supposed to be used. The Judiciary
Committee has led on that issue, and Chairman Sensenbrenner has done a
tremendous amount of work on strengthening our border, taking steps to
strengthen that.
Certainly our party as a whole is focused on the national security
issue as one of the central issues that we must address. That is one of
the reasons that we as a party fought to get the PATRIOT Act passed. We
know that on
9/11 our security net had significant holes in it and it had to be
fixed and addressed, and we now hope that our colleagues across the
aisle will join us in supporting the reauthorization of the bill. It
has been successful, and there are things we need to do to continue
that focus on this issue.
A gentleman who is spending a good deal of time working on our
homeland security issues and looking at the global war on terror and
America's response there is the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Carter), or
Judge Carter as we do like to refer to him. He is on the Homeland
Security subcommittee, on the Appropriations Committee, and he is going
to speak with us for just a few moments about what is being done to
address some of our homeland security issues.
Mr. CARTER. I thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee and all those who
gather here today to talk about our national security.
One of the things that has been bothering me here recently, there was
a movie that just came out called War of the Worlds, and in that movie
they were flipping cars around and the space invaders were coming
around, and you saw the fear and panic on the faces of the people on
the streets as this made up story of the invasion of our country from
outer space.
And I could not help but be struck by the fact that we saw exactly
that same live and in color fear on 9/11 when those people were
watching those buildings burn, and all of a sudden the first one came
crashing down. And we saw films on television of that absolute panic of
American citizens as they ran in abject fear from the falling of those
buildings, the attack on our Nation.
{time} 2130
We saw films of people leaping from windows.
This is what our national security is all about. As Judge Poe said,
it is about protecting the American citizen. While this is the subject
of such conversation all over our Nation today, let us do not forget we
have got to protect ourselves.
Now, I, like Judge Poe, have been dealing with law enforcement most
of my adult life. I have tried a substantial number of felony criminal
cases. One of the things that we always would do that we worked into
law enforcement is we wanted to have interagency cooperation. We wanted
to be able to let the DEA and in Texas the Texas Highway Patrol work
together on a drug
[[Page H256]]
case, work in cooperation, share information. But as we approached a
view of how we were going to secure this Nation, we discovered that we
had a lot of agencies in this Federal Government and in the State
governments that really were not coordinating, working together. Tools
that we have used for years in criminal justice were not being used for
securing our Nation. So some brave folks got together here in the
Congress, and they wrote the PATRIOT Act.
This PATRIOT Act, because of partisan politics, in my opinion, and
the fact that this is a world where everybody likes to criticize
everybody else, we forgot about those people panicking in the streets
of New York now, and we are starting to tear up a document that makes
sense. And I think it makes sense to the American people. I think it
makes sense to say I would sure like to know that every agency that is
involved with somebody who might want to attack me or my family in this
country talks to each other, shares information, does not have
bureaucratic boundaries set up which prevent them from doing this.
The FBI should share information with the CIA. The CIA should share
information with the DEA. And all other codes for the various groups
that are up here, they should get together and share that information.
The PATRIOT Act set up those procedures to do that. Does anybody have a
problem with that? I cannot imagine an American citizen having a
problem with that.
Do you not want your FBI agents and your prosecutors, the people who
work on this stuff, to talk? Do you not want them to be able to
communicate, share what they have got?
Now, if I think somebody is planning on blowing up a building, just
like I am really concerned about somebody who might be worried about
smuggling drugs into this country and I want to have a surveillance on
that facility where I think this illegal activity or this terrorist
activity is taking place, I do not see anything wrong with being able
to have procedures set up, which we have used in fighting the war on
drugs for years where you go in and take a look and then you back off
until the perpetrators get there and then you go in and make your raid.
But you can put a title on that, a sneak and peak warrant, and it
sounds horrible. It sounds terrible. It sounds like the government is
sneaking around peaking on private citizens. No. Why should you let
them know when you are not there that you have been there? Go get them
when they are there. We are here to stop these people. Why should we
have to conduct investigations and tip off the people we are
investigating? Does that make sense? So we have proper legal
proceedings that have gone on in this country for a decade or so in
fighting the war on drugs and the war on crime. We are using this in
the war on terror. That is part of the PATRIOT Act. I do not see why
the American public would feel like they were intruded upon at all.
Law-abiding American citizens are not intruded upon at all by this.
Some people are just shocked that the PATRIOT Act actually looks into
business records. How do you think you finance people to come over
here, train to fly a 747 or a 727, and crash into a building without
some money? If that money is being done for terrorist activities, why
would you not want the investigating agencies to have the ability to go
into business records and find out about these things? It certainly
makes common sense to me, and it is something we have used. In fact,
many of you may recognize now in your life there was a time you could
come into this country and deposit money or you could go down to the
bank and deposit any amount of money you wanted to in the bank. But
there were people coming from other sources with huge sums of money
that they were laundering through our banking system for the drug
business.
So what did we do? You have to report every $10,000 deposit and every
$10,000 withdrawal. Nobody got all upset about that in the United
States. That is dealing with people's business records. But it helped
us find out where the drug dealers were, and it helped to keep their
dirty money out of our legitimate system. Now we want to know where the
terrorists' money is, and I think it is appropriate that we look at
those records.
Now, does it make sense to you that you have to hunt for somebody to
issue a warrant when there is a criminal procedure, a criminal
procedure that is going on all over the entire United States, that you
have to go to just one particular jurisdiction to get it when it
affects all jurisdictions? No, it does not make sense. You should be
able to seek a warrant anywhere there is jurisdiction. The PATRIOT Act
allows that to happen on terrorist activities.
This is a good law enforcement tool. The warrant still has the same
checks and balances and protections and probable causes that are there
for anybody. But why do you have to hunt down a judge in Arizona when
you can find one in California when it all affects the same territory?
The PATRIOT Act increased penalties on these terrorist crimes. Now, I
personally am a penalty guy. I believe in penalties. I have sentenced a
person to 20 years in prison for one rock of crack cocaine because I
believe punishment works. That is my personal philosophy, and some
Americans might not agree with it. Our county happens to have the
lowest crime rate in the United States, but that is my argument. But
the point is the terrorist penalties have been enhanced by the PATRIOT
Act. That is good. That helps us use another tool to keep people who
want to harm our wives, our children, our husbands, our communities,
give them extra punishment for what they do. Those who harbor those who
would harm us we also have tools to go after.
This is the goal of the PATRIOT Act. That is what it was established
for. It is a good tool. It is a tool that is effectively helping us.
One of the major reasons that all those who deal with these issues talk
about them right now, today, is because we have been able to protect
this Nation since 9/11. Nobody is sitting here telling you that
everything is perfect; but if you throw away your tools and you put up
the things that help you solve the problems, in my opinion, for
political reasons, it concerns me greatly that the real purpose of
homeland security is lost, and that is protecting our families and our
way of life.
The USA PATRIOT Act should be renewed. We should continue this tool
for the American agencies that deal with terrorism and law breakers and
making sure that when our kids go to bed at night, they feel a little
bit safer.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his
comments. He is so correct in talking about the importance of the
PATRIOT Act and being able to protect our families.
And I appreciate so much that he and the other speakers tonight have
talked about the implications of what happens here on our homeland and
the importance of keeping that homeland safe, keeping that homeland
secure, and have talked about the great work that is done by our first
responders, by our local law enforcement members, that community that
works so diligently; the work that is done by our border guards and
those who are patrolling our borders. Because, yes, indeed, national
security means that we secure this great Nation. Because this is a war
on terrorism; it is going to be a long difficult war. And it is the
reason, Mr. Speaker, that we have taken military action in Afghanistan
and in Iraq, and it is the reason that we are working to reshape that
region of this world. And we are making progress. And I know it is
frustrating sometimes when we feel like we are taking two steps forward
and one step back. But, indeed, there is a mighty work that is being
done, a very good, consistent and productive work that is being done by
the members of this great Nation's military.
And tonight we are joined by the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs.
Drake). The thing that is so wonderful about Mrs. Drake's district is
the presence of the military that is there, whether it is our men and
women of the naval forces that are out there working or those in the
Air Force who are flying.
So from land to air to sea, you have it all covered, and we
appreciate your constituents. And, Mrs. Drake, I join you in wishing
the families of all of those men and women who are deployed a wonderful
Valentine's Day. And I join you in standing here tonight to say ``thank
you'' that they are working to be certain that these children grow up
in a safe, free, and secure America.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Virginia.
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Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from
Tennessee for yielding to me.
I am very proud to join her tonight on Valentine's Day to wish all
our men and women of the service a happy Valentine's Day, but
especially those and their families who are separated today and not
celebrating Valentine's Day together because they have put duty and the
defense of our Nation first.
We live, as we know, in a completely different time; and we face a
totally different threat. Our enemies do not wear a uniform. They do
not represent a nation. They do not own tanks and aircraft. What they
are is a global terrorist network that represents a violent extremist
philosophy, one that places no value on life. What they seek to destroy
is our way of life, the very fabric of our civilization.
We realize that they have established goals. Their short-term goal is
to take Iraq. Their mid-term goal is to take the Middle East. And their
long-term goal is to take the world. They seek and they have vowed to
use nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare.
Our brave fighting men and women understand this threat. They have
volunteered to defend this Nation. Recently, I met a member of our
military, a young man. He looked at me and he made a very simple
statement. He said, Think about this war on terror as if it were a
football game. And the question that I want to ask you is would you
rather play the game at home or away? Our goal is that we must fight
this war, or play this game, as an away game.
I met another young man on my trip to Iraq and had a brief
conversation with him. He looked at me and he said, Ma'am, I understand
the threat. I know why I am here, and if I have anything to do with it,
we will never have another attack on our soil. With that he asked me
not to worry about him but to pray for him, and in a moment he was
gone.
We as Americans do not fully understand this threat. Unless we have
loved ones who are serving, our lives have not changed. We have not
been asked to sacrifice for a war cause nor should we change our way of
life because terrorists would like to do that for us. So it is hard to
realize that we truly are a Nation at war.
We question why we bother with a small country that is so far away
from us when we perceive that they have lived in constant turmoil and
they have constantly fought with other people. But America is committed
to winning this war. We have watched liberty and democracy spring in
the Middle East, and we know in our hearts that all people yearn for
freedom to raise their children, to be able to live without fear,
without torture, and without tyranny.
I would like to share with America that this fall the House Armed
Services Committee, under the chairmanship of Chairman Hunter,
conducted a bipartisan comprehensive review to prepare our members on
the committee for the QDR, that is, the Quadrennial Defense Review.
This is a review that is done every 4 years by the Department of
Defense to assess our national security posture.
{time} 2145
Very importantly, this is the very first review that has been done
post-
9/11. This review is designed to ensure that the Department of Defense
has a plan to transform itself to meet the threats we face in the 21st
century.
The QDR seeks to achieve the following objectives: Defeating the
terrorist network; defending the homeland; shaping the choices of
countries who are at a strategic crossroad; and preventing hostile
states and non-state actors from acquiring or using weapons of mass
destruction.
Our goal is to develop a military that is more effective, more able
to strike quickly. In the coming weeks, members of the House Armed
Services Committee will be reviewing and assessing how to reshape our
military to meet these present and emerging threats.
Our military and the people of Iraq have accomplished great
successes. In less than 3 years, they toppled Saddam, they created
their government, and they passed their own constitution. I think that
is quite a feat. It took us 13 years to develop our Constitution. We
amended it 27 times. It took us 120 years to give women the right to
vote. I think we should be very, very proud of their successes.
So far, we have rehabbed over 2,800 schools; trained over 4,700
teachers; electricity, water and sewer are working in Iraq; as well as
setting up independent TV stations, radio stations and newspapers. We
have captured and killed many of their leaders, not all; we are
shutting down as much of their money as we can; and our fighting men
and women have engaged the enemy so that they do not have the time to
wage war here on our soil and hopefully will continue to prevent an
attack within our Nation.
I believe the first function of government is to defend our Nation,
and I think the greatest gift that we give to our children and our
grandchildren is freedom. On Valentine's Day I am very happy to thank
the men and women of our military who give us those gifts.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentlelady from Virginia. I appreciate
her comments about the QDR and the review that the Armed Services
Committee, a committee on which she serves, is conducting.
I would think for those who are watching tonight, if they want to
follow that process and learn a little bit more, they could go to the
House.Gov website and then go to the Armed Services Committee and could
get a bit more information about that process.
Mrs. DRAKE. That will be ongoing.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentlelady for her comments and for
mentioning the good work that is taking place over in Afghanistan and
in Iraq.
One of the things, Mr. Speaker, that we are learning more and more
about every day is the fact that, as the military raises up over there,
at the same time we are raising up and working to raise up the economic
underpinning of that nation, the governmental underpinning of that
nation, the educational underpinning of that nation, and working to be
certain that they are indeed ready to take the reins and ready to
succeed as they step toward democracy.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from North
Carolina, Ms. Foxx. She does such a wonderful job as she works with her
constituents and works with us. Education is her forte, and I love
listening to her stories about how she educates and works with her
grandchildren and how special and how important they are and the
lessons that she teaches them and how privileged they are to grow up in
a safe, free land and their responsibility to be good stewards of that
citizenship and that opportunity that is presented toward them.
I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina for some comments on
addressing the global war on terror.
Ms. FOXX. Thank you, Congresswoman Blackburn, for your leadership and
for providing these opportunities for us to share some of our thoughts.
Our colleague, Mrs. Drake from Virginia, does such a wonderful job in
recognizing our military and serving on the Armed Services Committee.
Today, when I was coming into the Cannon Building, there were two
gentlemen in uniform standing at the door taking some pictures, and I
stopped to thank them for their service. I do that every time I see
anyone in our military. I thank them for their willingness to serve.
They were so pleasant and so excited. They had come home from Iraq for
a few days, and they were spending some time here in Washington. One of
them said that his mother came from Mt. Airy, which is in my district.
They gave me their cards, and we are going to maintain e-mail
correspondence.
You mentioned my grandchildren. I mentioned to them that, without any
prompting whatsoever, about a year-and-a-half or 2 years ago my now
6\1/2\-year-old granddaughter and 9-year-old grandson, at night when I
heard their prayers as they were going to sleep, began praying for our
military people. It really touched my heart and the heart of their
parents, because we didn't tell them to do that, they did it completely
on their own. I hope that all of our military folks know, as I told
these two gentlemen today, that there are millions of people in this
country praying for them regularly.
I want to tie that into what President Bush says all the time. He
believes, as I believe and I think most people in this country believe,
that freedom is a gift of God and that we are
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blessed in this country with the most freedom of any people and the
most prosperity of any people and that part of our responsibility is to
help spread that freedom.
I also was thinking that February is not only the month for
Valentine's Day, but it is Abraham Lincoln's birthday, and pretty soon
we are going to be celebrating George Washington's birthday, and Ronald
Reagan's birthday was in this month. We have so much to think about in
this month of what those men meant to helping to live up to the ideals
of freedom and the values of this country and what they risked in their
lives, particularly Washington and Lincoln but also President Reagan,
who risked saying to the world the truth, as President Bush has done.
I want to bring us back to talking about the fact that we are at war
and that it is appalling that many of our colleagues cannot seem to
understand that, as Congresswoman Drake mentioned, and a part of that
war is being able to gather intelligence so that we can fight it
effectively. We do want to fight that war on their turf, not on our
turf, and we want to keep them from attacking us again.
I have been very distressed in the last few weeks about the way the
revelation about the National Security Agency's terrorist surveillance
program, the hysterics that have been created from the other side of
the aisle. I think that it is time that we talk about the myth that has
been created about that program.
The allegations about that program, that it is illegal, are a myth.
It is a legal program. The reality is that the President's authority to
authorize this program is firmly based in both his constitutional
authority as commander-in-chief and in the authorization for the use of
military force which passed Congress after 9/11.
The allegations that the NSA program is a domestic eavesdropping
program used to spy on innocent Americans are a myth. The reality is
that this program is narrowly focused aimed only at international calls
and targeted at al Qaeda and related groups. There are safeguards in
place to protect the civil liberties of Americans. Allegations that the
NSA activities violate the fourth amendment are a myth. The reality is
this program is consistent with the Constitution's protections of civil
liberties, including fourth amendment protections.
There are people who want you to believe this program is targeting
average Americans, but nothing could be further from the truth. We need
this program to help protect us and this country and to help protect
our men and women who are fighting to keep this country a free country,
and we need to do everything that we can that is legal, and I am
convinced that the President is doing what is legal to protect us.
I think, again, that we want to call attention to the men and women
who are fighting for us and remember them in our prayers constantly and
thank them for the sacrifices that they are making to keep this country
free.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from North
Carolina, and thank her for reminding us that this is a global war on
terrorism.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway) for
some additional thoughts on the global war on terror.
Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding this
time. I will be brief, as we have one more speaker.
Several of our colleagues tonight have talked about the war in Iraq
and the global war on terror. I just want to add a little meat to that
bone that says when we have a free Iraq, a democratic Iraq that is at
peace with its neighbors, is no longer a haven for terrorists, that the
war on terror will go on.
I would like to beef up that argument by a brief historical review of
some of the things that our enemies have done outside of Iraq over the
last several years.
In October 2000, the USS Cole was in Aden, Yemen, refueling, when a
small rubber boat ran up beside it, set off a charge that blew a 40
foot by 40 foot gash in the side of the USS Cole, killed 17 young
sailors and injured 39. Without provocation, without warning, these
terrorists struck.
In Saudi Arabia, in 2003 and 2004, on May 12, 2003, suicide bombers
killed 34 people, including 8 Americans, when they blew up a housing
compound that housed westerners.
In May of the following year, 22 people were killed when terrorists
attacked a Saudi oil company in Khobar, taking foreign oil operators
hostage and leaving 22 dead, including one American.
June 11, the next month, in Riyadh, terrorists kidnapped and executed
Paul Johnson, an American in Riyadh. Two other Americans and a BBC
cameraman were killed by gun attacks.
Then in December of 2004, in Jeddah, terrorists killed five consulate
employees at the U.S. consulate there in Saudi Arabia.
In Madrid, March 11, 2004, just before the elections in Madrid, in an
attempt to affect the elections, which as history shows us this bombing
did affect it, 13 rucksacks went off at a train station on four
commuter trains almost simultaneously at the height of rush hour,
killing 191 civilians and injuring over 1,800 people. The Moroccan
Islamic Combatant Group has claimed responsibility for this tragic
killing; again, an unexpected, unannounced, unprovoked attack on
civilians.
Then in July of this year, this past year, July 7, I was actually in
Kuwait on my way to Iraq when a suicide bomber struck again, this time
in trains in London. Three different underground trains were blown up,
killing some 56 people, injuring 700, again in an unprovoked,
unannounced sneak attack using suicide bombers.
Finally, on November 9, 2005, in Amman, Jordan, at a wedding ceremony
in the three hotels there in Amman, again suicide bombers blew up,
killing 57 people and injuring 115 others in an attempt to create
terror among those who oppose the violent Islamic Jihadist movement.
I remind my colleagues and others that we are in a global war on
terror, no place in this world is safe, and while it is
counterintuitive to talk about playing an away game, it is clearly in
our best interests that we continue to fight this war in Iraq and
around the world so that we don't fight it in the streets of America.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for
reminding us this is an elusive enemy. It is not an enemy that is
located in one place or an enemy that is stationary. It is an enemy
that you will find spread out all across the globe.
As he mentioned, several of the attacks, whether you are talking
about the Cole or the Saudi bombings or Khobar Towers or the World
Trade Center, both of the bombings there, this is a very vicious enemy,
and the global war on terror is a war that is being fought around the
globe. The activity is centered in Afghanistan, it is centered in Iraq,
and it is important that we keep our Nation safe.
Our final speaker this evening is the gentleman from Georgia, Dr.
Price, who has certainly put a tremendous amount of attention on what
it takes to keep this Nation safe and having the tools. Being a
physician, he knows the tools of the trade are important, and it is
important that our men and women in uniform, our men and women in our
intelligence services, our first responders, having the tools they need
to fight this war and be successful in this war. I yield to the
gentleman from Georgia.
{time} 2200
Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to stand with so
many of my colleagues this evening and to talk about an issue that
really is one of the central planks of our side of the aisle and the
national campaign that we put forward before the American people. I
thank you so much for your leadership.
I was going to talk at length about the National Security Agency and
the issue that has come before us. I look forward to doing that at some
point in the future. But I do just want to share a few comments about
what we have heard tonight.
When I was young, I was a member of an organization, a group, that
used to sing a song called Freedom Is Not Free, and the words were
something like: freedom is not free, freedom is not free, you have got
to pay a price, you have got to sacrifice for your liberty.
And I had the privilege of being with the American Legion Post 140
last night, just last night in my district, and met with these men and
women. And they went around the room and each of them identified
themselves and
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their branch of service and the conflict and the war in which they
served.
And I was so humbled to be in the company of such heroes. It just
brings to the fore the incredible sacrifices that we as Americans have
made over the past number of years for our liberty, for our freedom. I
am so pleased with the leadership in the House, the Members who stood
up this evening and talked about the difficulty that Americans have
comprehending this war on terror; and we do, as you well know, because
we do not think like terrorists.
We do not understand that mind. We do not understand the mind that
would murder innocent individuals. We do not understand the mind that
would chop the heads off of innocent individuals. That is just
incomprehensible to us. So it does not come easily to us to comprehend
the fact that we are in a war.
I was so pleased to hear Congressman Conaway talk about Iraq not
being the end of this war. There are so many aspects to all of this
war. So I am pleased with the leadership in the House, and I am pleased
with the leadership of my colleague, the gentlewoman from Tennessee,
who is willing to stand up and discuss these issues.
I also understood that this is not a Republican issue, it is not a
Democrat issue. It is an American issue; it is an American challenge.
And so my hope and prayer over the coming year is that all of the
Members of the House of Representatives and all of the members of the
Senate will embrace the challenge and the battle truly that we have to
work together in this war on terror. I yield back to you, and commend
you for your wonderful leadership in this area.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman from Georgia. I too remember
singing that song: freedom is not free, you have to sacrifice for your
liberty. I think that we all have sung that at camps as we were growing
up. And how true and how meaningful it is as we talk about the men and
women, whether they are working here domestically as first responders,
as local law enforcement, as border security guards, protecting this
homeland that we have, or whether they are fighting in Iraq,
Afghanistan, around the globe. Whether they are deployed and away from
their families, we know that they are doing this because they want to
be certain that future generations grow up in a world that is free, is
safe, is secure.
And we thank them for loving all of us enough to make that sacrifice
and be willing to put their lives on the line. And we wish each of them
a happy Valentine's Day. We wish their families a happy Valentine's
Day, and we hope that they all know that we love them too.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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