[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 4165-4170]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        THE OFFICIAL TRUTH SQUAD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania). Under the 
Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Price) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
majority leader.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Conference for 
allowing me to join some of my friends and colleagues this evening and 
talk about some issues that we have heard a little bit about so far 
this evening and talk about some other matters as they relate to 
national security.
  I want to introduce the Official Truth Squad. We are back again this 
evening. People are getting great response all across my district at 
home about the Official Truth Squad, because people say, isn't it 
wonderful that finally somebody is talking about the truth. And the 
gentleman before, just before, talked about the truth and we will show 
some truth tonight. I urge my colleagues on the other side on the aisle 
to stick around and look at the real numbers, look at the real numbers.
  The Official Truth Squad began with a group of freshman Congressmen. 
We would meet and have met almost every week since the beginning of 
last year. And as we began to appreciate and understand how the 
Congress worked and what kind of issues were being addressed and how 
they were being addressed on the floor of the House, it became apparent 
to us that there were a lot of accusations that were flying across and 
there was a lot of misinformation and disinformation.
  And our friends on the other side of the aisle oftentimes utilize 
what I call ``the politics of division,'' and that is, they split 
America. They split people into groups and they try to get people to 
fight, to be angry with each other. And we do not believe that that is 
the best way to solve problems.
  We believe that, together, the challenges that we have, they are not 
Republican challenges, they are not Democrat challenges; they are 
American challenges. We believe that together we are able to best solve 
the challenges that face us. So we formed the Official Truth Squad to 
try to bring truly some facts, some truth, about the issues that you 
hear talked about on the floor of the House and elsewhere. We are also 
frustrated by somewhat of a lack of civility in Washington, so our 
desire is to try to raise the level of the rhetoric a little bit and 
stay away from the partisan and personal sniping that seems to go on.
  In fact, when we talk about the truth I am fond of the utilizing a 
quote that many folks know and that is from Senator Daniel Patrick 
Moynihan, a fine United States Senator, a former Senator from the great 
State of New York. He said that everyone is entitled to their own 
opinion, but not their own facts. Everyone is entitled to their own 
opinion and not their own facts.
  I think that is important to talk about because you have just heard a 
lot of discussion about a balanced budget amendment and about PAYGO, 
paying as you go for the Federal Government. And you get the sense that 
the folks who just present that material hadn't ever had an opportunity 
to vote on any of those things; that those things had never come up 
before the Congress, right, Mr. Speaker. That is the kind of sense I 
got as I was sitting there listening to him. I said they must have not 
ever had an opportunity to vote on those things.
  But in fact, they have, each of the items that they discussed, four 
separate times in the 1990s. There was a great opportunity to vote on a 
balanced budget amendment. The majority of the individuals on the other 
side of the aisle, the majority, in fact, the majority of the folks who 
were Blue Dogs here voted against a balanced budget amendment, most 
recently in 2004. And I know it is the truth because you can look it 
up; it is Roll Call Vote number 311, 311 in 2004. It was about a budget 
resolution that would make the amount of money that is appropriated 
binding so that you cannot go above that amount in the Federal 
Government's spending.
  What was the vote then? One hundred eighty-one Democrats voted no. 
Now, that is the truth. So when you talk about trying to paint the 
picture of budget responsibility and fiscal responsibility, it is 
important to look at how people are voting.
  They talk about PAYGO, pay as you go, and that is an important thing, 
and we have been working on that for years. But the most recent time 
when they had an opportunity to vote on it in 2004, Roll Call Vote 
number 318, look it up, Mr. Speaker, Roll Call Vote number 318, 2004, 
not a single Democrat voted for the PAYGO rule. Not one. Not a single 
Blue Dog that voted, not a single Democrat voted in favor of the PAYGO 
rule.
  So, Mr. Speaker, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but they 
are not entitled to their own facts. So I think it is important that we 
point out facts.
  I just want to briefly, before we get into the issue of national 
security, which we are going to talk about tonight, I think it is 
important to show the American people what the facts are about some of 
the other issues that were discussed.
  Medicaid, you heard about Medicaid cuts, right, Mr. Speaker? Well, in 
fact, here is a chart from 1995 to 2005, the amount of money that the 
Federal Government has spent on Medicaid. And you would think if there 
was a cut, as it has been described by folks on the other side, that 
this red line, which is the amount of money that the Federal Government 
spends, that it will go down, right, that it would go down. In fact, 
every single year since 1995

[[Page 4166]]

through 2005, there has been an increase in the Federal money spent on 
Medicaid, an average increase of 7.4 percent per year.
  Mr. Speaker, that is not a cut. That is an increase and it is an 
appropriate increase to care for those who are neediest in our society. 
In fact, it is an increase from $89 billion in 1995 to $181 billion in 
2005.
  What about the education money that is talked about, these ``cuts''? 
Here is the education annual growth over the past 5 years, 2000 to 
2005. The average growth is at 9.1 percent, 9.1 percent.
  When you talk about Pell grants, which is the amount of money that 
the Federal Government provides for those most needy to go to school, 
to go to college or university and you talk about ``cuts,'' that is 
what you hear, isn't it, Mr. Speaker? In fact, what we have seen over 
the past 5 years is an increase every single year. Those aren't cuts, 
Mr. Speaker. It has grown about 10.3 percent every year since 2000.
  So we call ourselves the Official Truth Squad because we are 
interested in bringing truth to the table. Truth is the only way that 
we can solve the challenges that we have in our Nation right now, and 
truth and working together is truly the only way to solve the great 
challenges that we have.
  Tonight, we want to address a little bit of a different issue and it 
is an issue that when I talk to folks at home is really one of the top 
issues, if not the top issue, that they talk about when they talk about 
what they want their Federal Government to do in terms of addressing 
needs that they have; and the issue is that of national security. And 
there are a lot of different ways that we can talk about it, and we 
will discuss a couple of them this evening.
  I have been joined by a number of my colleagues this evening and I 
want to thank them for coming. First, I want to introduce 
Representative Black-
burn, who is a wonderful colleague, not a freshman, but we have given 
her honorary freshman status in the Official Truth Squad. We will come 
here this evening to talk about national security as it relates to 
border security because, as most of us believe, if the border is not 
secure, the Nation is not secure.
  I welcome you this evening and thank you for coming.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his leadership 
on this issue and for his leadership in continuing to bring the Truth 
Squad to the floor every evening, so we can talk about the issues that 
affect our constituents and the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, we have as a party and as a conference been talking 
about the security agenda for many months now, looking at energy 
security, moral security, retirement security, economic security for 
this great Nation. A big part of this security agenda is our national 
security and we continue to address this issue. We talk about the war 
on terror. We talk about protecting our Nation, and that is where the 
border security component comes in.
  In December, we passed a border security bill to address so many of 
these issues that are before us. And, of course, as typically happens 
and many times happens here, those of us in the House roll up our 
sleeves and get to work and we pass a bill. It crosses the Rotunda to 
the other side, to the other body, and maybe it languishes or does not 
move quite as quickly. But the Members of the House have taken action 
on this issue.

                              {time}  2130

  It is indeed one that deserves our attention, and as we talk about 
border security, there is one component that I would like to highlight 
this evening, just one component as we talk about border security and 
the importance of keeping this border secure.
  When we talk about illegal immigration and illegal immigrants, I 
think it is imperative that we turn the focus to illegal entry. That is 
the action that an individual outside this country is choosing to 
commit--the act of illegally entering our country, and we need to keep 
our focus on that: Why would they choose to enter illegally? Why would 
they choose to circumvent our laws? Why would an individual choose to 
circumvent the rules? Why would they choose illegal entry?
  Mr. Speaker, I think that you and I would probably agree that we are 
going to work diligently to protect our homes from illegal entry, and I 
am going to work just as hard to protect this country from illegal 
entry as I am going to work to protect my home from illegal entry.
  I think it is important that we realize that individuals who decide 
they are going to illegally enter somewhere maybe come with a different 
agenda, but we have to recognize that they do not come as an invited 
guest.
  We have rules in place that individuals are supposed to follow, and 
those individuals that follow those rules are then invited and brought 
into the process of being able to seek citizenship, of working to 
attain that citizenship, to being able to be a part of the bounty and 
the richness that this country offers.
  We are a Nation of immigrants, but we are a Nation of laws, and it is 
important that we continue to recognize that, as we look at the debate, 
that we realize that entering this country illegally, that action is 
something that circumvents our laws.
  I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his leadership on the issue. I 
thank you for including me and allowing me to come to the floor and be 
a part of the Official Truth Squad and continue to put the focus on the 
issues that are important to my district in Tennessee and important to 
so many of our constituents.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, thank you so very much. I 
appreciate you coming and joining us this evening, and I think that you 
pointed out some very important perspectives that the constituents that 
I have at home would agree with, I know, and that is that illegal 
immigration may be a misnomer because it really is illegal entry and it 
is important to appreciate that perspective and to understand that what 
we are talking about here is, as you described, protecting our home, 
protecting our homeland, and that illegal entry into one's home we do 
not allow as a Nation, and that illegal entry into our homeland ought 
not be allowed either.
  So as you mentioned, America is indeed a Nation of immigrants, but it 
is a Nation of laws as well, and so a comprehensive immigration reform 
must begin with securing the border. I thank you very much for coming 
and joining us this evening.
  Also coming this evening is Judge Poe, the honorable Congressman Ted 
Poe from Texas, member of the freshman class and an active member of 
the Official Truth Squad. His experience back in the State of Texas is 
just wonderful information and a resource that he has to give to the 
United States Congress and to America, and so I appreciate you coming 
this evening and sharing your perspective on national security.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Georgia for 
yielding some time to continue the thought about the specific issue of 
border security as it pertains to national security.
  Security has been the talk of this House for the last few weeks, 
especially about port security, how the concern of Americans for 
securing the safety of our ports, with foreign governments infiltrating 
and running our port operations, how the American public has made that 
statement and Congress has responded with at least, on a temporary 
basis, doing something immediately about securing our ports, because it 
is the number one duty of government to protect or secure the people.
  We do a lot of debating in this House about what is the purpose of 
government, and it seems to do a lot of things, maybe some things that 
our Founding Fathers never expected or even wanted for government to 
do. But one of the things government must do and has a constitutional 
duty to do is to protect the security of the Nation from within and 
from without.
  One of those specific issues, of course, is protect our borders. 
Living in Texas, we constantly are concerned about the infiltration 
into our Nation of people from other places illegally

[[Page 4167]]

coming here, and it serves three concerns. One, of course, the war on 
drugs continues to escalate, and drug cartels know there is a lot of 
money in selling those drugs in the United States, and so violence has 
occurred on the Texas border because those drug cartels are fighting 
over turf to bring in that cancer and prey on the weaknesses of 
Americans. So that is the first concern.
  Second concern, of course, is the universal concern in this country 
about terrorists, international outlaws, criminals who want to do us 
harm and come here for that specific purpose. Having a porous, open 
border encourages that conduct, and we know that those people expect to 
come in the United States and even try to come in the United States 
because of our lack of security on our borders.
  Then there is that third group of people who illegally enter the 
United States for a multitude of other reasons; and the United States, 
our Nation, this government, this House, the people's House, must have 
the moral will to protect the dignity of the border. It seems to me 
that Third World countries protect their borders better than we do here 
in the United States, and we are a Nation that can do anything. The 
reason we do not protect the borders and secure the border is because 
we do not have the will to do it as a Nation.
  It is interesting, we have heard a lot of rhetoric this week, 
especially about the bill that passed back in December that got almost 
no notice until the Senate starts talking about our bill and their 
option, or variation on that bill; but let me try to give you an 
example of how things are occurring in the United States by comparing 
it to maybe an analogy in another country.
  Let us say that, for some reason, I want to go to France, and based 
on some of the things I have said about France, the Government of 
France, they probably would not let me in legally. I would have to 
sneak in. So if I sneaked in, took my four kids, three grandkids and 
showed up in France, over to Paris and say, teach my kids in English 
and give them an education, oh, I am not going to pay for it, the 
French people are going to pay for this education and provide social 
services for my kids and my grandkids and my two grandkids that are on 
the way, and continued that line of thought, the people in France would 
get me out of the country, and rightfully so. That would be true 
whether I went to France or to China or even to Mexico; but, yet, that 
seems to be what is occurring here in the United States because of our 
lack of securing our borders.
  Our good friend from Tennessee, Mrs. Blackburn, has already alluded 
to this. If we have an intruder in our home, we call those people 
burglars. They are not welcome guests. They are not a guest burglar. 
They are a burglar. But if we have an intruder to our homeland because 
of, I guess, political correctness, we call them an undocumented guest 
worker. Both are committing illegal acts because of the entry into 
either our home or to our homeland. They are both not invited, and the 
one goes to jail and the other seems to be rewarded for that illegal 
entry, and we continue to reward that illegal conduct.
  It seems to me that Mexico does have an immigration policy and to 
some extent that immigration policy is colonize the United States with 
illegal entry into the United States. We know that that is true because 
the Government of Mexico even publishes pamphlets and gives to 
individuals in Mexico how to sneak into the United States, what route 
to take, and so their policy is: colonize America.
  It is not only to colonize America, but it is to make Americans feel 
guilty about trying to protect the sovereignty of our own Nation. I do 
not know if you can see this or not, Mr. Speaker, but this is the front 
page today of The Washington Post. You would think that this was the 
Mexico City Times, but it is not. Right here in the middle are 
thousands of folks, many of whom are illegally in the United States, 
assembling in Los Angeles; and you see that the 15 to 20 flags in this 
photograph, they are not American flags. They are flags from Mexico, 
Mexican nationals, proclaiming that the United States should not 
basically enforce the rule of do not come here illegally; another way 
of trying to tell the United States that our policy should benefit 
Mexico rather than put America and Americans first.
  Illegal entry is wrong. There has been some misunderstanding about a 
guest worker program. We have a guest worker program. The United States 
grants every year 1.2 million visas to people who want to come here 
legally to work. Some of those take a long time to process. That is a 
whole other issue. The immigration department needs to move faster and 
quicker on that, but we grant 1.2 million legal visas for people who 
want to work here legally every year, but yet that has not done one 
thing to stop illegal entry into this country.
  So we must protect the dignity of the United States, secure the 
border. We must understand that everybody wants to live in America. I 
do not blame them. It is obvious this is the country, because of our 
history and our worth of the individual, all people want to come here. 
The people need to respect the dignity and the rule of law and the 
sovereignty of this country and come here the right way.
  That is the responsibility of our government, our Federal Government: 
secure the borders first, protect the sovereignty of our Nation, and 
then let us talk about what to do with people that have already 
illegally come into the United States.
  It is a complex issue, but we need to start. The time is now to move 
forward on border security for the three reasons that I mentioned.
  I appreciate my friend from Georgia allowing me to speak to this 
issue; and, hopefully, we can continue the dialogue and come up with 
some basic results that protect our homeland, like we want to protect 
and do protect our homes.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman so much for 
participating tonight and for really sharing his firsthand knowledge 
and information from his background as a judge in Texas and really 
putting the whole issue into perspective, again, about protecting one's 
home, protecting one's homeland, the importance of the war on drugs, 
the war on terror and something that I talk about often with my 
constituents, and that is that our immigration policy really has been 
one of benign neglect for the past couple of decades, and that is why 
we find ourselves in the situation where we are right now, and that it 
just takes the will, it takes the will of leadership and the will of 
the Members of Congress to move us forward as it relates to illegal 
immigration.
  I am hopeful that we will be able to do that. I am hopeful we will be 
able to do that in a positive way, in a way that recognizes the 
wonderful diversity of America and recognizes that America is a land of 
immigrants, without a doubt, but that also, and as importantly, it is a 
land of laws. We are a Nation of laws, and that is I think the 
important perspective that I would like to share with folks tonight as 
it relates to the issue of border security and illegal immigration.
  I want to take a little different tack on the issue of national 
security. We have, as a Nation, remarkable challenges that confront us, 
and one does not have to let one's imagination run very wide to 
appreciate the challenges and the threats that we have as a Nation.
  We stand truly on the shoulders of our parents and our grandparents. 
My parents' generation was the World War II generation. My father was a 
soldier in World War II, fought in the Philippines, and he and his 
generation have been called the Greatest Generation. Each generation 
has its own responsibility, there is no doubt.
  When I am asked at home about the war in Iraq and how we are doing 
right now as a Nation, I always try to raise up and say let us talk 
about this in a larger picture.

                              {time}  2145

  Because I believe sincerely, and I know that most folks who look at 
this objectively believe that the war in Iraq is not really a war in 
Iraq, it is the battle in Iraq in the war on terror. It is a bigger 
issue. It truly is a bigger issue.

[[Page 4168]]

  It is something that Frank Gaffney calls in his book ``War Footing,'' 
he calls it ``the war for the free world.'' That is a very sobering 
comment, but I think it is pertinent to talk about exactly what are the 
challenges and how big are the challenges that are before us as a 
nation.
  I had recently the opportunity to meet with and to speak to a group 
of constituents who are members of Employers United for a Stronger 
America. This is a group of employers who actively support the Guard 
and the Reserve in our Nation. They do so in incredible ways: by 
assisting families, in helping when they have employees who are members 
of the National Guard or Reserve and they are called up to active duty. 
They help families, they help communities, they help the children, they 
assist in college education and in all sorts of wonderful ways, keeping 
the employee's salary going. Really remarkable.
  And I was very interested to find out greater information about the 
Guard and Reserve. I know that some of my colleagues know this, but I 
wasn't fully aware of the incredible commitment that the Guard and 
Reserve are currently making. Since the inception of the National Guard 
and Reserves, there were only two call-ups in World War II and Korea 
until 9/11. And since 9/11 there have been five call-ups to active duty 
of members of the Guard and Reserve.
  More than 200,000 Guard and Reserve troops have been called up for 
both the battle in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The number on active duty 
now is about 120,000, and over 450 companies have joined and 
participated in this Employers United for a Stronger America, and I 
think that they demonstrate that this is a larger issue. Our Nation's 
security is a larger issue than just that responsibility that is held 
by the troops and by the military.
  One of my main concerns about national security, and I suspect others 
have a similar perspective, but it is what I call the ``Vietnam 
syndrome.'' It is the sense that with the conflict and the war in 
Vietnam that we became tired and frustrated as a nation with that 
battle and with that war, and that that has somehow shaded how we have 
reacted to the acts in the war on terror since then.
  And I say that because I want to remind folks of the Official Truth 
Squad quote that we cite so often, and that is that everyone is 
entitled to their own opinion but you're not entitled to your own 
facts. And I want to cite some fairly sobering facts tonight and I 
think it puts the whole issue into perspective about national security.
  What I would like to do is just list items that have been truly acts 
in the war on terror, because it didn't begin with September 11. You 
know that, Mr. Speaker. Everybody can appreciate that. Really, 
September 11 was but one in a series of acts against our Nation and 
freedom.
  Many folks will cite that the war on terror began in November of 
1979, when there was the seizure of our embassy in Tehran and the 
incredibly long and arduous ordeal of the 444-day-long hostage crisis 
that so many of us remember vividly.
  Then, in April 1983, the bombing of our embassy in Beirut with 63 
Americans killed. In October 1983, the bombing of our U.S. Marine Corps 
headquarters in Beirut, with 241 killed.
  Remember, Mr. Speaker, these are facts. These aren't opinion.
  December 1983, a truck loaded with explosives was driven into our 
embassy in Kuwait. September 1984, there was another violation of our 
embassy in Beirut.
  April 1986, the Madrid bombing of a restaurant that was frequented by 
United States soldiers. August 1985, the bombing of the United States 
Air Force Base in Rhein-Main killing 22. October 1985, the Achille 
Laurel hijacking, where an American invalid in a wheelchair was 
executed.
  April 1988, TWA Flight 840 was bombed, killing four. In 1988 again, 
Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259. 
January 1993, two CIA agents were shot and killed as they entered CIA 
headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, facts. Facts, not opinions.
  In February 1993, the first World Trade Center bombing with six 
killed and over 1,000 injured. November 1995, a car bomb explodes at a 
U.S. military complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing seven servicemen 
and women. June 1996, truck bomb in Dhahran destroys the Khobar Towers, 
a United States Air Force barracks, killing 19 and injuring over 500.
  Facts, Mr. Speaker, not opinion.
  Two coordinated attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya in Tanzania, 
killing 224. October 2000, the U.S.S. Cole attack in Yemen. And then 
September 11, 2001, the attack, second attack, on the World Trade 
Center, with over 3,000 Americans killed.
  And we wonder whether they are done.
  Well, you don't have to go far to get, again, Mr. Speaker, more facts 
about the remarkable threat to our Nation's security. This is a quote 
just a little over a year ago from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in January 
2005, very recent, in which he said, ``We have declared a fierce war on 
this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong 
ideology.''
  So I think it is very telling, Mr. Speaker, to appreciate that the 
challenges that we have as a nation are not minor challenges. They are 
remarkably significant and they have been going on not just since 2001, 
they have been going on for years and years and years. And it is 
imperative that we as a society and that we as a Congress recognize the 
challenges and the threats that are posed before us.
  I am pleased now to yield to one of my good friends and fellow 
freshmen, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx from the great State of North 
Carolina. She has been a wonderful participant and active member of the 
Official Truth Squad. She always has a great perspective. She has a 
history as an educator and comes with wonderful experience and great 
perspective, especially in this area, the area of national security and 
national responsibility as it relates to national security, and I yield 
to her such time as she may consume.
  Ms. FOXX. Thank you, Congressman Price. We are fortunate indeed to 
have you doing yeoman's work on the Truth Squad and making sure that we 
are organized every night and here to bring the truth to the American 
people, because they are certainly not hearing the truth from our 
colleagues across the aisle.
  Those of us who are freshmen, as the audience can see, very often are 
in the Chair at night, and we heard these untruths being said over and 
over and over again last fall and we spoke to the leadership and said, 
we need to do something about this. And the leadership threw that back 
to us and said, Well, what are you going to do? So the freshmen decided 
that we would take on this task and be here to present the facts, the 
facts as they are, indisputable facts.
  Earlier this evening, I came to this podium and spoke about Sergeant 
Anton Hiett from the little town of Mount Airy, in the Fifth District 
in Surry County, North Carolina, and about the fact that he had been 
killed in Afghanistan. I expressed my sorrow and concern for his family 
and my gratitude for his service. Sergeant Hiett represents the best of 
this country and the folks willing to serve our country in the 
military.
  We are really, really fortunate to have the best and the brightest in 
our military. We have an all-volunteer military now, and these folks 
are stepping forward to do what needs to be done to keep this country 
free. Our enlistments are up and our reenlistments are up. And no 
matter what the national media would like you to believe, things are 
going much better in Iraq and Afghanistan than you hear about in the 
news on a daily basis. So we are fortunate to have those folks.
  I have often come to this podium and spoken about the role of the 
Federal Government vis-a-vis national security. Anyone with just a 
moderate amount of history education will know that the Federal 
Government was formed to provide for the defense of this Nation. It was 
formed to break away from England, first of all, and

[[Page 4169]]

then for the defense of the Nation. And that is our number one goal and 
our number one role.
  The Federal Government, unfortunately, over the last many years, has 
taken on many other roles, but we should never lose sight of the fact 
that the Federal Government is the only level of government that can 
deal with national security and the defense of this Nation. So it is 
entirely appropriate that our focus here in Congress is on national 
security and on the defense of this country.
  Night after night and day after day we hear the Democrats decry the 
amount of money being spent on national security and national defense. 
Well, ladies and gentlemen, if we don't have our freedom, nothing else 
matters. And maintaining that freedom is the number one role of the 
Federal Government and of our wonderful military out there willing to 
sacrifice every day so that we can remain free.
  I want to talk a little bit about something that is going to happen 
tomorrow, Mr. Speaker, on this issue of national security. Tomorrow, 
the Democrats are scheduled to host a media stunt to unveil their so-
called ``strategy'' on national security issues. While I am sure that 
the Democrats will talk the talk, their actions speak far louder than 
words.
  The American people need to look beyond the Democrats' spin and study 
their record. Again, let's go to the facts, not what they try to tell 
us, and their record on this issue. When the American people do that, 
they will see that the Democrats have no credibility because they have 
voted against many measures to keep our country safe.
  I am going to give you some points on this. Republicans voted to pass 
a major border security bill in December, but Democrats, led by the 
minority leader, opposed the bill. Republicans believe that border 
security is national security.
  Republicans voted to pass the PATRIOT Act to keep Americans safe, but 
Democrats, led by their minority leader, opposed the bill. In fact, the 
minority leader over in the Senate boasted that he had killed the 
PATRIOT Act.
  Republicans voted to pass the REAL ID Act to make sure people who 
received drivers' licenses are here legally. But Democrats, led again 
by their minority leader, opposed the bill. And we all know that the 
terrorists that attacked us on 9/11/2001 had several drivers' licenses 
they were not entitled to, which led them to be able to do the horrific 
acts they were able to do.
  If this wasn't bad enough in terms of these things I have outlined 
that the Democrats have done just in this session alone, they are now 
trying to cut $60 billion from military weapons systems that keep our 
brave men and women in uniform safe.
  If Democrats want to talk the talk like they are for a strong 
national security, then they need to start walking the walk. They need 
to stop coming in here every day and criticizing our President for 
doing all that he can to keep this country free. They need to stop 
patronizing us for supporting our men and women in uniform, and they 
need to understand what the role of the Federal Government is, because 
it is obvious that they do not.
  National security is our number one issue, and as long as Republicans 
are in charge, we are going to see that it is our number one issue. We 
are going to see that this country remains free so that we can continue 
to do the great things that we have done.
  We are the greatest nation on earth. We are not perfect. Nobody ever 
said that we were. But we know how to get things done and we know how 
to allow for freedom, not just for this country but for others.

                              {time}  2200

  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I appreciate the gentlewoman's participation as 
part of the Official Truth Squad in trying to bring some reality and 
facts to the debate about whatever issue it is we are discussing, and 
this evening obviously it is about national security. You really put 
things in an appropriate perspective I think when you stated that 
oftentimes we tend to get clouded about what the Federal Government's 
real responsibility is. What is their fundamental responsibility? What 
is our fundamental responsibility? It is clearly laid out and that is 
the security and defense of our Nation. If we do not do that, nothing 
else matters that we do here.
  I want to thank the gentlewoman for her participation in the Official 
Truth Squad tonight and appreciate your very cogent discussion about 
national security and about the importance of having folks work 
together in a positive and really uplifting way for America, not in a 
negative and spiteful and divisive way. We believe strongly that, 
again, these challenges are not Republican challenges, they are not 
Democrat challenges, they are America's challenges, and that is where 
we need to focus.
  Right before Ms. Foxx discussed national security, I went through a 
list of events that had occurred since November of 1979, since the 
taking of hostages in Tehran at our embassy and that 444-day-long 
hostage crisis. There have been easily 15 to 20 specific factual events 
that have occurred, that when taken in their entirety clearly show that 
this war on terror, or what Frank Gaffney calls the war for the free 
world, has been ongoing for a longer period of time than most of us 
would admit to ourselves or to our colleagues. But it is true. It is 
true and it has not gone away.
  Folks who say you do not need to worry about that, you just need to 
temporize things, that really the issue is not one that is that 
serious, that we do not need to address it in a head-on manner, I would 
draw your attention to this quote again from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 
January of 2005, and if this is not a chilling quote, I do not know 
what is. If this does not get your attention as a Member of Congress 
and as an American, I do not know what will: ``We have declared a 
fierce war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow 
this wrong ideology.''
  Madam Speaker, I think that means us. I think that means America; and 
any response that does not recognize the gravity of that situation is, 
I think, irresponsible.
  So when we gather as Members of Congress and we talk about the issues 
that are before us as they relate to national security, you cannot 
overestimate them. You cannot overestimate them. It is as fundamental 
as democracy itself, as clearly stated by our avowed enemy. He has 
defined himself as such.
  There has been a lot of discussion this past week or so about 
Zacarias Moussaoui who is having his sentencing phase of his trial. 
This is the gentleman arrested in August of 2001 on immigration 
charges. He aroused suspicion. He was at a Minnesota flight school, and 
he presented himself to that flight school and said he wanted to learn 
to fly a Boeing 747. And thank goodness that somebody recognized this 
request as something that was a little out of the ordinary and he was 
arrested.
  It turns out that he ultimately pled guilty to all six charges. He 
pled guilty in April 2005 to charges of conspiracy to commit acts of 
terrorism beyond national boundaries, to commit aircraft piracy, to 
destroying aircraft. That is what he pled guilty to. Again, facts not 
opinions. Conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to 
murder United States employees, and conspiracy to destroy property of 
the United States, and some people would minimize his involvement and 
say that is not really all that important, he probably didn't have that 
much to do with it.
  Just this week, Mr. Zacarias Mous-
saoui claimed, proudly claimed, that he and shoe bomber Richard Reid 
were going to be the hijackers on a fifth plane on September 11 and 
planned to fly it into the White House. Thank goodness they were not 
successful in that endeavor.
  Madam Speaker, I cannot tell you how proud I am of the men and women 
who defend our Nation. I cannot tell you how proud I am of the men and 
women who stand up in this body and in this Congress and provide those 
individuals the resources that they need to be able to defend our 
homeland, to

[[Page 4170]]

make certain that we are indeed secure as a Nation.
  I know that most of us get asked to visit school groups and scout 
groups, Boy Scout and Girl Scout groups, to talk about government and 
Congress. I enjoy those visits for many reasons, not the least of which 
is the vitality and enthusiasm of the young people is infectious. And 
their enthusiasm for America is infectious as well. Oftentimes I review 
basic American history and then talk about the type of government we 
have and whether our Nation will exist forever.
  It is interesting the response that I get as I talk with young people 
because it is a question that many have not thought about or 
comprehended. When you ask them, they say, sure, America will exist, it 
will always exist because there is a sense that in spite of the 
problems and the challenges that we have, that we as a Nation, and in 
spite of our disagreements about policies that we have, we as a Nation 
will indeed survive forever. There is this general sense that it is the 
destiny of the United States and its continuation as a representative 
democracy is just a given, that we are guaranteed to exist forever, 
kind of just because.
  Madam Speaker, you and I both know all too well that simply is not an 
absolute. It takes constant vigilance. It takes the action of those 
individuals in Congress as well as men and women across this Nation to 
be constantly on alert and make certain that we constantly are giving 
back to our Nation.
  It is certainly my hope and prayer that we continue to flourish so we 
in future generations will have the opportunity to live freely and to 
meet the challenges that allow all of us to reach our greatest dreams.
  Madam Speaker, I know I believe in the wonderful goodness of our 
Nation. I believe in its wonder and its beauty and its awesome promise. 
But as you also know, Madam Speaker, I know that liberty and freedom 
and our Nation require constant vigilance and support. We truly are a 
wonderful and a glorious Nation, and we remain a beacon of light and a 
vessel of hope and freedom to men and women around the world. I think 
it is incredibly important that we appreciate that September 11 was 
simply the culmination of over 20 years of specific events, and that 
there are savages on the Earth who have admitted that they will go to 
incredible lengths, including their own death, in order to destroy our 
way of life. It is that kind of enemy, it is that kind of world that 
requires a different vigilance than we have known.
  Each generation has its duty. Each individual has his or her role to 
play. We all know that freedom is not free and each of us has to 
sacrifice and each of us has a price to pay for the liberty and the 
freedom that we so enjoy.
  Madam Speaker, it has been my privilege to come and present the 
Official Truth Squad perspective on national security this evening and 
to try to raise the level of the rhetoric here in the House Chamber, to 
try not to be divisive, to ask my colleagues to recognize, both 
Republican and Democrat, that we are all in this together, that the 
challenges that we have are not partisan challenges, the challenges we 
have are American challenges. And when we work better together, we are 
able to solve those challenges that much more easily.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank the members of the conference once 
again for allowing me the opportunity to present this hour this 
evening. I want to thank each of my colleagues for joining me this 
evening.
  God bless America and may God continue to richly bless our great 
Nation and the men and women who protect us.

                          ____________________