[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 38 (Thursday, March 8, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H1300-H1302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Hayworth). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 5, 2011, the Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 30 minutes.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield to the distinguished
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).
Congratulating Joe Quattrone
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I thank my colleague from Texas, and I would
like to say that she is a pleasure to travel with. She is a real
gentlelady.
The reason I take the floor for just a couple of minutes is one of
our dearest friends in the Capitol is a fellow named Joe Quattrone. He
is a barber down in the House barber shop, and on March 1 he celebrated
42 years cutting hair in the Capitol of the United States. He came to
the United States when he was 18 years old from Italy. He said he has
lived the American Dream, and he's one of the nicest people that I
think you'll ever meet.
Everybody who has ever worked with him or had their hair cut by Joe
understands that he is a very caring person and one that they respect.
He has cut the hair of every Speaker of the House except two--Nancy
Pelosi, and I don't think she goes to the men's barber shop; and John
Boehner, the current Speaker. And I'm going to talk to Speaker Boehner
as soon as we get back from break and get him down there so Joe can say
he's cut every Speaker's hair since he has been a barber at the House
barber shop.
He has cut the hair of Vice Presidents, Presidents, the President of
Italy, the Secretary of Transportation, ambassadors, Governors,
admirals, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; but his favorite
person, besides me, is Tip O'Neill, the Speaker of the House when Tip
was the Speaker sometime back.
He worked before he came here at Andrews Air Force Base and the
Pentagon.
I would just like to say to Joe the Barber, because I'm going to give
him a copy of this floor statement, Madam Speaker, that he has been a
credit to the institution of Congress. He is liked by everybody who has
ever been in his chair, and I just want to congratulate him on 42 years
of working here in the Capitol. And I don't think anybody has ever
complained about him. He's really a nice guy. He started March 1, 1970,
and he's here now 42 years later.
I just say Joe, congratulations. I'll be down to see you in 2 weeks.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. I was very happy to yield to the gentleman,
and I indicated to you in the spirit of bipartisanship, although I've
not had the privilege of having Joe cut my hair, let me congratulate
Joe the Barber because he is the epitome of a public servant. He has
worked for this august institution for 42 years, and I'm very proud to
say that he can claim that he has cut the hair of all of our Speakers.
And I don't think our Speaker, who has outstanding Italian heritage,
our former Speaker, Speaker Pelosi, would in any way shy away from
congratulating this distinguished gentleman who came to this country
and literally is a walking, if you will, American Dream.
So I want to congratulate you, Joe the Barber, on behalf of a
bipartisan Congress and join my colleague, Mr. Burton, in
congratulating you for your service. You are truly a public servant, an
inspiration to all of your family members, and we wish you a long life.
Again, congratulations for 42 years to Joe the Barber.
With that, I will continue my remarks and thank the Speaker.
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their
remarks to the Chair.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I look forward to addressing
these very important issues to you, and certainly we want to make sure
that we address questions.
In the coming weeks, we will be discussing the attributes of the
Affordable Care Act, and I will look forward to coming to the floor of
the House and again acknowledging how much money the Affordable Care
Act, the health care act, has in fact saved this Nation: how it has
preserved Medicare, how we focus on medical education, medical school
education, medical providers' education, how we have talked about
issues dealing with health care disparities, and in particular how we
have expanded the community health clinics that have saved lives, how
we have worked on issues dealing with children's health care, how we
have provided access to health care for many, many people.
That allows me, or calls upon me, to again follow up to again
distinguish the Georgetown law student who spoke before Members of
Congress who got in the crosshairs of a commentary that was not very
flattering. I just want to distinguish the commentary that came against
the Georgetown law student from comments that will be made by
entertainers and others across the Nation in the course of their
comedic work.
The question about the Georgetown law student, Madam Speaker, was
that she was called before Members of Congress to speak. She was not
speaking on a television program or an interview. She was actually
called by Members of Congress to testify to the question of access of
health care to women.
And I will tell you that right now documentation shows that women who
are 24 years old and above, their health plans today cost 84 percent
more than a male similarly situated. So we know without health
insurance how devastating it would be for women not to have health
insurance.
Many of the Planned Parenthood family clinics and others are focused
on health care. We want to have a firewall, as Planned Parenthood has,
and that is that the firewall is that access to health care is a
distinguishable factor of their service, and that's what this young
woman was speaking about, the importance of access to health care.
It was in the course of that testimony that made her a victim of
public ridicule. That's why I believe President Obama appropriately
acknowledged the right of a citizen to petition his or her government
and that if they do so, they should not be subject to public ridicule.
There lies the basis of the President of the United States calling this
Georgetown law school student. And I applaud that because no matter how
high you are, the highest office in
[[Page H1301]]
the land, the Commander in Chief, isn't it appropriate, isn't it
befitting of an individual who represents all of the people of the
United States to have the humanity to be able to call people, citizens,
families, when they are at their lowest ebb, when they have been in the
course of public service or they have been in a position of presenting
their public case to the United States Congress or even to the
President of the United States of America.
{time} 1450
I hope that we, no matter what our position and station in life,
particularly those of us who hold roles in the most powerful lawmaking
body of the world, the United States Congress--the highest office is
considered the Commander in Chief, also the leader of the free world--
that we would have the capacity to offer an apology to someone who has
felt offended.
I want to move into an apology that I want to offer, and that is to
the families in my district whose loved ones have been buried in our
veterans' cemetery in Houston, off of Veterans' Memorial, who have now
faced this tragic circumstance of having headstones misplaced or moved.
I don't think there should be any tolerance for that. I believe that
when an individual takes an oath to serve in the United States
military, for those who, through God's grace, are able to return from
battlefields, who are able to retire out of the military as veterans,
that we owe them a great deal of respect for their benefits. And then
to those families who experience a fallen loved one, either in battle
or that they ultimately die as a veteran of the United States military,
they should expect that the sacredness of their burial be respected.
I will be visiting our cemetery in Houston, Texas, and asking, Can we
not get it right? Can we not fix the problem that moves headstones,
that has misplaced headstones and mislabeled headstones? I frankly
believe that our men and women in the United States military deserve
better, and I'm going to ask for better and insist on that.
I have been working over the last couple of weeks meeting with a very
prominent Syrian American in my district, having met with him and
others in months past on this whole question of Syria. Just last week,
I presented a letter to the representative of the Syrian Embassy
demanding that President Assad resign and step down from office,
demanding that the Red Cross be allowed, at that time, to come in and
provide humanitarian relief, demanding that women and children be
protected and taken to safe places so they could receive health care
and food, and, at that time, asking for the respectful removal of the
deceased, the bodies of the two fallen Western reporters and the others
that have been wounded.
Some progress has been made. In the immediate hours of that visit, we
saw that the Red Cross and the Red Crescent were able to come in, or
the International Red Cross. Then shortly thereafter we saw that Syrian
forces were bombing the humanitarian relief efforts. And we heard an
interview from one of the Western reporters that clearly indicated that
the two reporters that died were actually murdered, because the Syrian
forces actually targeted the location where they were, where
journalists were. Everyone knows that there is an effort to maintain a
firewall or respect for journalists no matter where they are, on a
battlefield or in the area. It's known where they are allegedly trying
to be in a safe place, and then you directly bomb that area, then you
know that there's certainly basis for someone, an interview that took
place on CNN that indicated that they thought it was direct murder.
However we define it, we know that there is enormous loss of life.
I want to just say that having had the privilege of serving on the
Foreign Affairs Committee, now a ranking member on the Subcommittee on
Homeland Security, having served on that committee for a number of
years since 9/11, the tragedy of 9/11, having gone to a number of war
zones, from Bosnia to Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, having gone to Mumbai
right after the horrific terrorist bombing, and knowing what conflicts
around the world mean in terms of either sending our military
personnel, or even after we engage. If you look at the NATO engagement,
which included the United States and Libya, there are many who will say
right now, look at the confusion. But I think it's important to
understand that the intent of the NATO allies was to stop the
brutality.
The aftermath we would want to be better. We would want there to not
be the conflict that is going on, the tribal conflict, the instability
of the Libyan Government as we speak. To be very truthful with you, of
course we don't want that to be happening. But no one took to the NATO
alliance or took to the air to bomb Libya in agreement in a coalition
to create confusion afterward. The call and the response was to stop
what was the apparent slaughter and the killing of Libyan citizens en
masse.
We know it is not perfect now. Iraq is not perfect, frankly, and we
made it worse by going into Iraq because at that time there was not
that kind of immediate conflict. But that was the basis for Libya.
Now we have a situation where the argument is that Syria is too
complicated, in the region that it's in, the impact of a direct hit is
too complicated. Today, I am calling upon the very body that was
established at the very end of the 1940s after we ended World War II,
another horrific and heinous world conflict which we did not expect,
based upon historical perspectives when many argued that World War I
was the ``War to End All Wars,'' and, of course, that did not happen,
and we've had conflicts and wars since.
But right now, the brutality of violence against the Syrian people,
the desperation of killing children in the streets, of slaughtering
babies and of not allowing the wounded to get health care, calls upon
the world to respond. And I think it is very clear that it is complex
enough that a direct attack by the United States, as the administration
has acknowledged, would not be appropriate. A direct attack, a direct
hit by the United States may not get the results that we would like.
But there is no doubt that we cannot leave in good conscience this
Congress without someone calling for an immediate response and relief
from the United Nations, which was organized to draw together world
support.
Whether it is appropriate for U.N. peacekeepers, whether it is
appropriate for the U.N., working with some of the Arab States out of
the Arab League, it is absolutely ludicrous, tragic, disastrous, and
heinous for us to watch night after night the violence that is going on
against the Syrian people.
One may argue that there is violence everywhere. But it is a call
upon our humanitarian position in the world to be able to call out for
assistance. So, today, I am calling for actions by the United Nations
in establishing or reaching out for a coalition that would provide
military response. What does that mean? Providing weapons, if you will,
so that those individuals who are defending themselves against
slaughter--let's be very clear. These individuals are trying to defend
themselves against slaughter, one city after another is under direct
attack by the Syrian national forces, ordered by President Assad, who
refuses to leave, and no one has been able to make him leave. The
violence and the bloodshed continues on and on and on and on.
So I don't think that we can stand and do nothing. I have already
indicated I fully understand that a direct hit by the United States
would not be the appropriate direction to take. But that does not leave
us helpless, and it does not leave the United Nations helpless. And as
a Member of Congress who has supported the United Nations over and over
again for the value of its presence in terms of a world force, to
insist upon some coming together of nations to the Secretary-General--
don't shame yourself with inaction. Don't shame the United Nations with
inaction by not calling upon those who have resources in the region to
be able to prevent those rebels, or those who are defending themselves,
or those men and young boys who are defending themselves, who are
picking up sticks and whatever they are using, from being slaughtered
in the streets, from having amputated legs, from having no ability to
be able to attend to the wounded.
{time} 1500
Today, March 8, it is imperative that you begin to assess the violent
situation and you stop this slaughter now.
As we leave to work in the districts, I will be pushing back on this
issue,
[[Page H1302]]
continuing to push back to the United Nations, asking the Arab League
for their help through different states to provide this care.
How do I put a backdrop on this? This happens to be the week in which
we commemorate what we call, in this Nation, Bloody Sunday. For many
who don't understand that date, it was yesterday. It was the day that
those individuals who were pleading for the right to vote in this
country--similar to the concept of democracy and freedom, in a
different way, in a different era, the Syrians are saying that they are
oppressed by this regime. But in the day that we were in the midst of
civil rights, there were regions and places and people that could not
vote in this country; and so citizens from all backgrounds took to
Selma, Alabama, and proceeded nonviolently after being violently pushed
back and, in essence, bloodied, came back and walked peaceably over
that bridge in Selma, Alabama, which was commemorated last Sunday, but
the actual date was this Wednesday. I will be commemorating it Houston,
Texas, on this Sunday, March 11.
But the concept simply was, when people felt that they were
oppressed, in this Nation they found a way to find relief through a
nonviolent approach. Ultimately, as those who are historians will know,
we passed, in a bipartisan way, with the signature of President Lyndon
Baines Johnson, both the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting
Rights Act, which I maintain today is a protector of every citizen's
right to vote no matter what your racial background, where you live.
The Voting Rights Act simply says: One person, one vote. We protect
you. We protect America. We believe in voting.
We have since tried to expand that to ensure that there are election
laws that don't stop people or oppress people from voting, and any
number of things, like voter IDs, when there is no fraud. Where people
have a registration card and have lived in the community, we should be
allowing citizens to vote.
But I put that in the context, because now this is 2012, and I think
Americans feel with some, if you will--how shall I call it?--some
mishaps and laws that probably don't work, that we can vote. Well, just
think of a society that feels that they can't speak, that they cannot
act upon a free government. Just think of that kind of society. And
then you want to petition your government, and what happens? What
happens, you're slaughtered. You're slaughtered.
There is no peaceable marching, because if you studied Syria, you
will know that they started peaceably marching. What happened? The
Syrian forces came and attacked them with weaponry and with violence.
They killed them, plain and simple, when they were marching for
freedom.
So I would ask that we, again, not allow this to happen. I will
proceed with my petitioning to the United Nations. I will be prayerful
as well, because as we stand here today, I will assure you that there
are those in Syria that are dying as I am on this floor today, that
there are those that are losing their lives, that they are being
attacked by the Syrian national forces who are killing people in the
street. I don't think that we can allow that to occur anymore in this
month when we celebrate Women's History Month and the fact that we've
celebrated some of the women peacemakers. Right now, today, women are
being wounded, women are being hurt, their children are being hurt in
Syria.
I want to thank the Speaker for yielding this time and allowing me to
call upon the good graces of the international family to be able to
lift up the souls and the spirits and the lives of the Syrian people.
As you reflect on this, let me just say, when you thought there was
no hope--and you can look at the Arab Spring, although governments are
not perfect and we are struggling for these governments, such as Egypt
and others, to establish themselves, who would have ever thought that
individuals could have brought about a change in Egypt and Tunisia and
Libya? Who would have ever thought that democracy would be raising its
head? As difficult as it is, don't give up on the Syrian people. Don't
give up on those children, those babies, those young men, those men and
those families. Don't give up on Syria, and don't stand by idly while
bloodshed continues and Syrians are slaughtered in the street.
I look forward to a final relief and a lifting of our humanitarian
spirit as we, as a Nation, celebrate the democracy and the freedom in
which we are able to live.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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