[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 13, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H167-H168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE NEW FRONTIER OF THE 21ST CENTURY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, last week, the 111th Congress was convened, 
and we started by electing our Speaker, the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, for 
a second term of Speaker of the House.
  The 111th Congress has much potential, much of it because the 107th, 
108th and 109th Congresses failed as a Republican majority, and a 
Republican President let the free market dictate how our economy 
responded to economic pressures, and as a result, we have had the 
greatest economic catastrophe since the Great Depression.
  Those Congresses--the 107th, 108th and 109th--allowed the Republican 
President, on faith, to take us into a war that has cost us 4,000 
American lives, over 30,000 casualties and over a half trillion dollars 
that has robbed our citizens and our cities, Madam Speaker, of monies 
needed for health care, education and infrastructure.
  The 110th Congress saw a Democratic majority come here, and it had an 
opportunity to pass legislation, some of which was approved by the 
President, was signed by the President or his veto was overridden. 
However, the President did veto several of our bills, including a 
children's health care plan, which we'll work on this week. We were 
unable to stop the hemorrhaging of our economy and of our young 
people's lives in the Middle East.
  In both the election of a new President and in the 111th Congress's 
opportunity to work with President-elect Obama, I believe this Congress 
will be viewed as one of the most historic Congresses in the history of 
our country.

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We have the opportunity to restore America's proper place in the world 
community as a nation that others see as a good and giving and 
intelligent country that shares the power of its ideas rather than the 
idea of its power, as President Clinton said, one that works in a 
multinational fashion to work with other countries to solve the 
problems around the globe.
  I have great confidence that Secretary of State Clinton will see to 
it that women's issues, children's issues and health care issues will 
be dealt with by the United States as a leader around the globe and 
that people will see us as a friend and not a foe, as someone to be 
respected and not feared.
  Nevertheless, the military is always necessary for those who are 
incapable of seeing peace as the ultimate purpose in our time on Earth, 
and we will see to it that our military is effectively maintained.
  Climate change threatens the very Earth we inhabit, and the 
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, under the leadership of 
Representative Chairman James Oberstar, will see to it that we address 
issues of importance that maintain the Earth as we know it, the flora 
and fauna as God has given them to us, and see that future generations 
aren't impacted as greatly as they would be.
  The past Congresses did not deal with global warming. They did not 
sign the Kyoto Accord--the President did not--and they leave us with a 
problem there. So we've got a problem with the world community, a 
problem with the economy, a problem with the environmental standards 
that we need to adopt. Much to be done. It has all begun, but most of 
it won't really get into full swing until after the inauguration of 
January 20.
  Madam Speaker, I urge every school system and every citizen to watch 
the inauguration of our next President on January 20. Allow students to 
watch that inauguration. Hopefully, it will instill in them the same 
spirit about government and the same hope that I had on January 20, 
1961 when I watched John Kennedy take the oath of office.
  John Kennedy gave my generation the belief that politics could be an 
honorable profession and that government could be a useful tool in 
seeing our country and our world as a better place. To a goodly extent, 
I think we've lost that hope that the new frontier brought some 40-
some-odd years ago.
  With the election of Barack Obama, hope again exists to the American 
people's hearts and minds. I expect his oratory to embody the spirit of 
America--a spirit of working together and a spirit of change that is 
for the betterment of this country and for the world. I hope everybody 
watches.
  Please encourage your children to watch and to allow them to be 
inspired, for if they are, we'll have a generation that will 
participate, that will vote and that will see to it that we have a 
better tomorrow.
  Madam Speaker, I am proud to serve in this Congress. I am very proud 
to serve with Speaker Pelosi. I am blessed to have the opportunity to 
serve with the new frontier of the 21st century, Barack Obama.
  Thank you very much.

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