[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4402-4408]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          OFFICIAL TRUTH SQUAD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Poe). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price) is 
recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, what a pleasure it is to come back 
to the floor tonight to discuss some issues of vital concern to Members 
of the House and all Americans.
  I could not help but pick up on what the gentlewoman from California 
was saying just a moment ago about a number of issues. One of them was 
about Medicare Part D. We are going to talk about a lot of things 
tonight, but I want to start by talking about Medicare Part D.
  I am a physician. I practiced orthopedic surgery for over 20 years in 
the Atlanta area. She mentioned there was a plan to delay or postpone 
the deadline for Medicare Part D which is the prescription drug formula 
for seniors. Nearly 28 million out of 42 million have already signed 
up. Many of them are finally getting medications for the first time.
  She mentioned there was a plan to delay it and they could not get 
bipartisan support. I guess that is one of the things that brings me to 
this well almost night after night because what you hear down here just 
is not so. It is not the truth.
  Mr. Speaker, I am one of those who also believes that there ought to 
be an extension of that deadline. In fact, we have had a bill on that 
for over a year and we could not get a soul, not a soul on the other 
side of the aisle to support that bill. The reason for that is what 
brought about the Official Truth Squad.
  The Official Truth Squad began with a group of freshmen Republicans 
who came here after the 2004 election to be Members of Congress and 
came here with wonderful vision and enthusiasm and positive spirit. And 
what we were met with oftentimes from the other side was really 
vitriol, was personal attacks, was a distortion of the truth, 
misinformation, disinformation.
  We had been meeting on a weekly basis as a group and so we got 
together and we said how can we counter that. Because when I go home, I 
know that is what concerns many of my constituents. I suspect that is 
what you hear, Mr. Speaker, back at home. People ask why the level of 
rancor and why the level of partisanship.
  What we thought to do in an effort to try to raise the level of 
discourse and decrease the kind of partisanship that goes on is to talk 
about truth, talk about issues in an open and honest manner and in a 
way that sheds light on issues.
  Tonight you have heard an awful lot already about various issues, Mr. 
Speaker, that frankly have not been treated with the light of the day, 
if you will.

                              {time}  2145

  And so we have adopted, the Official Truth Squad has adopted a saying 
or a quote from a wonderful former United States Senator, Daniel 
Patrick Moynihan from New York, and he kind of crystallized what our 
frustration was, and that is, everyone is entitled to their own 
opinion, but not their own facts. And so often around here, what 
happens is that people's opinion gets mistaken for facts. In fact, it 
has been said that if somebody says something three times in 
Washington, they think it is the truth, regardless of whether or not it 
has any bearing on the truth. And so I want to touch on a couple of 
things before we get into our other issue tonight, and I want to talk a 
little about student loans, student aid. We are now dealing this week 
on the Higher Education Reauthorization bill in the United States House 
of Representatives. It is a bill that has to be adopted in order to 
continue the programs that are so vitally important to millions, 
millions of young people across this country in order to go to college 
and university and to better themselves and make a better life for both 
them and their family. And what you always hear from the other side, 
what you always hear is, oh, they are going to cut this, and they are 
going to cut that, and they are going to slash this, and they are going 
to slash that. And that is what we have heard tonight, Mr. Speaker.
  But the Official Truth Squad has as a mission to shed the light of 
day on it and to talk about the truth. And I am fond of charts and 
posters, because I think that they really describe much more than I am 
able to do in word. And this chart here, this poster here demonstrates 
the increases, Mr. Speaker, I said, increases, not cuts, not slashes, I 
said increases in Federal student aid over the last 10 years. And 
anybody can plainly see that the amount of Federal loans, the amount of 
Federal grants, the amount of education tax benefits, the amount of 
Federal work study, all of them, all of them, Mr. Speaker, over the 
last 10 years rising year after year after year, and appropriately so, 
so young people can have an opportunity to realize the American dream. 
That is the positive issue. That is the real message. That is the 
truth. These numbers, these numbers don't lie. And so when you hear 
people talk about cuts or slashes, Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to say that 
it just is really a fabrication. It is not the truth. It is not what is 
real. And you will hear them talk about Pell Grants. Pell Grants are 
the grants that the Federal Government provides for young people in 
order to go to colleges and universities, those young people who don't 
necessarily have the means to be able to afford it. It is a wonderful 
program, works extremely well, allows people to elevate themselves and 
really raise themselves up by their own boot straps. This is a telling 
graph, Mr. Speaker. This is a telling chart because it begins way back 
in 1986. And the yellow portion of this is when the Democrats were in 
control of the United States House of Representatives. And you will 
hear all about what they would do if they were able to control again. 
And I think it is important and instructive for the House of 
Representatives and for the American people to appreciate, well, don't 
tell me what you would do. Let us look at what you did. Let us look at 
the truth. And the truth, in fact, Mr. Speaker, is that Pell Grants 
provided for by the Federal Government for young individuals who are 
the most needy in our society in order to go to colleges and 
universities in fact were flat or decreased in the 10 years prior to 
1996. And what has happened since then is an appropriate increase to be 
able to fund a program that allows young people, without means, to be 
able to go to colleges and universities. The red portion is what has 
happened under the Republican control of the United States House of 
Representatives. Mr. Speaker, those are not cuts. Those are not 
slashes. They are appropriate increases in a program that helps young 
people who are most in need.
  This is another chart that demonstrates what would happen in the next 
fiscal year, what would happen with the overall Pell Grant funding. 
This is 2000, 2006. And with increased budgeting, the next graph, 2000 
again, and Fiscal Year 2007 would increase from $4,050 per individual 
to $5,050, a significant remarkable increase. And on the end, the 
number of Pell Grants recipients, the number of students being helped, 
3.9 million in 2000, fiscal

[[Page 4403]]

year 2007, 5.3 million individuals. This is not a decrease. These are 
not cuts. These are not slashes. And for anybody to say otherwise is 
just, it is not true. It is not honest. It doesn't do a credit to the 
debate. It does a disservice to all Americans because it means that 
people aren't able to make appropriate decisions because they are not 
being given appropriate or accurate information.
  And then, one final one on education that I just felt compelled to 
bring to the House this evening is the annual growth in education, 
Federal moneys for education over the last 5 years. Total education, 
remember, Mr. Speaker, what the mantra is out there is that there are 
being cuts and slashes in education programs all across this Nation. In 
fact, what has happened over the last 5 years, from 2000 to 2005, total 
education spending up an average of 9.1 percent. What we have done is 
required greater accountability. What we have done is said, if you are 
going to get Federal money, then you need to do a particular job and 
you need to make certain that you are doing it, and we need to make 
certain that you are doing that as well and having student 
accomplishment, that is what we have required. And so I think it is 
imperative that as we talk about issue after issue after issue here in 
Washington, and that when the American people listen and they pay 
attention to what we are doing, that they appreciate and understand and 
recognize that truth is important to the discussion, and that if we 
don't start with truth, we can't reach the right conclusion at all.
  There are a number of other issues that have been talked about this 
evening and repeatedly over the past couple of months, one of them is 
the issue of Medicaid, something that is near and dear to my heart as a 
physician. I treated patients from all across the economic spectrum and 
understood that an individual's means didn't make a difference about 
how we cared for them. And so I take really a personal affront when 
individuals talk about slashing and cutting a program that is so vital 
to people who need to be able to access the health care system. And the 
Medicaid system is one of those that really irritates me when I hear 
people talk about it on the other side of the aisle, when they talk 
about these cuts and slashes that they describe, because it just is 
disingenuous and it does a disservice to the debate. And it does so 
because it is not the truth. It is not the truth. And these are the 
actual numbers, Mr. Speaker: 1995, $89 billion in Federal money being 
put out for Medicaid. And you can see the line, Mr. Speaker. It is a 
continual increase over the last 10 years. And it is an appropriate 
increase because we have covered more individuals. And it is an 
appropriate increase because it recognized that individuals in the 
Medicaid system needed to have access to the highest quality medical 
care. And so the average growth over the last 10 years, 7.4 percent per 
year. 7.4 percent per year. Mr. Speaker, it is not a cut. It is not a 
slash. That is an appropriate increase in a program that is caring for 
the most needy in our society, from $89 billion in 1995 to $181 billion 
in 2005.
  We hear a lot of talk about what the quote cuts and slashes are going 
to do to our society. This is a difficult graph to tell the difference 
because this shows what the projected spending is over the next 5 years 
in the mandatory or automatic programs that we have which are Social 
Security, Medicare and Medicaid, three programs that the other side 
likes to talk about a lot because they talk about how the cuts in 
spending will wreak havoc in our society.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is imperative that folks look at this all 
across this House chamber and appreciate that the difference between 
the baseline, which is the green line, and the administration proposal, 
which is full of all these remarkable changes that the other side 
alleges, is a difference in a 5.3 percent growth that is projected, 
which is part of the plan that has been adopted or recognized over the 
past number of years, but when economic situations change, and when it 
is important to get a handle on the amount of Federal spending and be 
fiscally responsible, the change that has been recommended by the 
President is a 5.1 percent a year growth over the next 5 years. That is 
right, Mr. Speaker. You heard correctly. All of the demagoguery about 
these programs, all of the negative comments about these programs, all 
of the personal attacks about these programs that do a disservice to 
our entire Nation and are simply untrue are all about the difference 
between the green line and the red line, a difference between 5.3 
percent growth annually over the next 5 years and 5.1 percent growth 
over the next 5 years. So I would suggest to our friends on the other 
side of the aisle that it would be much more helpful to be positive, to 
be open to collegial activity, to bring solutions to the table, to talk 
about how we can best help individuals to help themselves all across 
our society, and not be so negative and demagogue every single issue 
that makes it so it is incredibly difficult to tell exactly what the 
truth is and where we are going.
  You oftentimes hear them talk about the tax cuts for the wealthy and 
how that will decrease the amount of money coming into the Federal 
Government and how it will make it so that we can't fund the kinds of 
programs that we need. Well, President Kennedy knew something very, 
very brilliant and President Reagan knew the same thing and President 
Bush learned well, and that is that tax cuts don't decrease revenue to 
the Federal Government. They increase revenue to the Federal 
Government. And I know that sounds kind of contradictory, or that it is 
kind of counterintuitive. But in fact, that is what happens, and this 
chart shows that extremely well. In 2000, this is the level of revenue 
coming into the Federal Government under previous administration 
policies. And what happened, and you see that the line is decreasing 
because of the recession that we are in, the dotcom bubble burst and 9/
11 occurred. And by 2003, we were on a pretty steady slope down.
  Now, what happened in 2003 with the vertical green dotted line there, 
what happened is that the tax decreases. The appropriate fair tax 
decreases of this administration and of the Republican Congress went 
into effect. And then what you see happen is the tax receipts to the 
Federal Government increase significantly. In fact, they increase so 
much that in 2005 they were significantly greater than in 2000. Tax 
revenue increasing because of tax cuts. And why is that? Well, it is 
because people have more of their own money in their pocket. And what 
do they do with that money? They save it so that it can be invested, or 
they spend it so that this increases the economy and the economy booms. 
And that is what has happened. So when you decrease taxes, 
appropriately, fairly, judiciously, the truth is that what the Federal 
Government receives is an increase in tax revenue. So when you hear 
these folks talk about their plan, their plan to save this or their 
plan to save that, and most often you won't have them tell you exactly 
what they are going to do. One of them slipped out yesterday. I was 
listening to him on the floor. And he said, quote, we will have to, 
quote, raise revenue somewhere else, unquote. Raise revenue somewhere 
else. Now, what does that mean? What does raising revenue somewhere 
else mean to folks on the other side? Well, you know what it means, Mr. 
Speaker. It means raising taxes. It means raising taxes. We have a 
wonderful opportunity in this Congress to make certain that the tax 
decreases, the fair tax decreases of this administration and the United 
States House of Representatives and Senate, that they adopted ought to 
be made permanent, especially the death tax, the inheritance tax which 
is so destructive to small businesses and to families all across this 
Nation. They ought to be made permanent.
  And one final poster on revenue and on tax growth, because it 
projects out to 2011. And that is that as long as the tax decreases, 
the fair tax decreases are continued, what happens over the next 5 
years is that the Federal revenue stream continues to increase. Now, 
again, I know that seems counterintuitive. That seems like it doesn't 
make sense. If you decrease fairly the tax liability of individuals

[[Page 4404]]

all across this Nation, you might think, well, then the revenue coming 
into the Federal Government is not going to be as much. But in fact 
what happens is that the revenue to the Federal Government increases 
significantly. And it increases because when you put more money in the 
back pockets of men and women across this Nation, what happens is that 
they save it and they invest it and they spend it when they want to, 
and what that means is that you get significant economic growth.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I have gone a little longer than I had anticipated 
on the issue of the economy, but I think it is incredibly important 
because, as a Member of the Official Truth Squad, what we are 
interested in doing is bringing truth to issues, all issues, economic 
issues and an issue of national security that we are going to talk 
about tonight because when you think about it, the issue of truth and 
national security, probably nothing could be more important in terms of 
talking about truth when you are talking about national security.

                              {time}  2200

  I mentioned that I am a physician, and if I am taking care of a 
patient, if I do not have truthful information from that patient, I 
cannot reach the right diagnosis. I cannot make the right diagnosis. 
And if I cannot make the right diagnosis, then I cannot treat the right 
disease. And if I cannot treat the right disease, then the patient does 
not get well.
  And the same is true for our national policy. If we are not talking 
truthfully about the issue, if we are not openly and honestly 
discussing the issue, then we cannot make the right diagnosis. We 
cannot figure out what the right problem is. And if we cannot figure 
out what the right problem is, then we cannot propose the right 
solution. And if we cannot propose the right solution, then never on 
the face of the Earth in this body will the right solution come about. 
It just does not happen by happenstance. So truth is so incredibly 
important when you talk about national security because the 
consequences of not talking about the truth in the area of national 
security are probably greater than anything else. Our obligation as 
Members of Congress and Federal representatives is to make certain that 
we protect our citizens, that we protect our Nation.
  And so we would like to talk a little bit this evening, as the 
Official Truth Squad, about national security. One of those areas of 
national security is border security. It has gotten a lot of attention 
the past couple of weeks and certainly coming to a head this week as 
the Senate addresses the issue of illegal immigration. But I am one of 
those who join my colleagues in believing that if our border is not 
secure, then our Nation is not secure. And so I am pleased to be joined 
tonight by a number of colleagues.
  First, I would like to welcome and introduce Congresswoman Thelma 
Drake from the great State of Virginia. Congresswoman Drake is a member 
of the Official Truth Squad and a member of the freshman class and just 
a great individual who recognizes and appreciates the importance of 
national security, who has done yeoman's work in the area of assisting 
our armed services, Armed Forces, and is going to talk a little bit 
tonight about border security.
  So, Congresswoman Drake, I thank you so much for coming and look 
forward to your comments.
  Mrs. DRAKE. I would certainly like to thank you for giving me the 
opportunity to join you this evening to talk about something that is so 
critical to our Nation.
  And before I go into the issue of border security, I just want to 
comment a moment on what you started out with, and that is Medicare 
part D. First of all, you and I are freshmen; so we were not in 
Congress in 2003 when the very largest change to Medicare took place, 
but I know that both of us have been committed to making sure that 
citizens in our district understand what this new benefit is for them. 
And I think it is important just to tell America where we are today, 
that there are 42 million Americans who qualify for Medicare.
  Remember, anyone who is eligible for Medicare and is receiving 
Medicare is eligible for this new benefit. As of today, 28 million of 
those have signed up for coverage. The expected figure by May 15 is 30 
million people, and there are 6 million people that have been 
identified that will not need to sign up because they are military 
retirees, Federal retirees, State retirees, or have other programs. 
That is going to leave us on May 15 with 6 million Americans that we 
have not reached. So I think it is important to talk about it so that 
our seniors understand what a wonderful benefit this is.
  What I have learned in my district is when I talk about Medicare part 
D as being a private sector insurance product with a reduced premium, 
then all the rest of it makes sense, that they have choices. It is a 
voluntary program and gives them, as you have already said, the ability 
to have prescription drug coverage, which many of them have not had in 
the past.
  So I want to thank you for talking about Medicare part D, and I know 
the work that you have done in your district as well to make sure that 
our seniors know and they make the best decisions for them.
  But what I wanted to talk about tonight is the Border Protection, 
Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act. That is the name of 
the bill that we passed in December of 2005 in this House.
  Unfortunately, at that time there was not any press coverage about 
that bill. We really were not hearing about it until the Senate took 
the bill up about a week or so ago.
  I know that you and I share the same belief, that the very first step 
in any debate about immigration reform is the very first debate which 
has to be secure our borders. We believe that our country must be open 
for trade, tourism, and legal immigration and closed to terrorists, 
drug dealers, and criminals. But the bill that passed in December, and 
I think it is important for America to know, a lot of the components 
that were in that bill, things such as an employment verification 
system where employers would be required to check Social Security 
numbers with Social Security and Department of Homeland Security, today 
that exists, but it is simply a voluntary program, and we all know the 
stories about fraudulent documents that are out there.
  Increased penalties for alien smuggling, mandatory minimum sentences 
and increased penalties. A crackdown on alien, either legal or illegal, 
gang members. They would now be inadmissible and deportable, and our 
Attorney General can designate certain groups as gang members. It also 
bans benefits for alien gang members, stiffer penalties for aliens who 
enter after being removed. It bars aliens with aggravated felony 
convictions from receiving green cards.
  There is now cooperation and reimbursement between our border 
sheriffs and our Federal law enforcement to reimburse them for the work 
that they are doing for us. Increased authority for the Department of 
Homeland Security to detain dangerous aliens. Our courts have 
prohibited this in the past, and the result is that dangerous aliens 
have been released. It also provides for the removal of these aliens. 
It bars terrorist aliens from naturalization. There is increased 
security for our borders with both military support and Department of 
Defense surveillance. It requires a comprehensive risk assessment of 
our ports and land and maritime borders and radiation detection 
devices. Increased inspectors, 1,000 over a 4-year period, and an 
additional 1,500 K-9 units over the next 5 years.
  Physical barriers, state-of-the-art surveillance technology, 
including cameras, radar, satellites, and unmanned aerial vehicles. It 
eliminates the release, which is our current catch-and-release program, 
and requires that they must remain in custody, an illegal alien, until 
removed. Better communication and sharing of information with our law 
enforcement community and promotes international policies with Canada 
and Mexico and requires reports back to Congress.

[[Page 4405]]

  So I think these are commonsense solutions that America expects 
Congress to put into place. But as you have mentioned our work is 
continuing, that the Senate is now having a very, very active debate. 
That debate will continue in the House. And I think that we all agree 
that we must revamp this process but starting with the very first 
component, which is securing our borders. But we also need to end the 
lottery that exists, get rid of senseless rules and endless litigation, 
and we must have a policy in our Nation of catch and return and not our 
current catch and release. And the goal, of course, would be to stop 
illegal crossings in the first place. And I think the American people 
deserve that. They deserve to know that that is what is taking place.
  But as we continue with these discussions, one of the discussions 
that will take place, of course, is what about workforce, what about 
guest workers? How should that be crafted and what should that look 
like so we know who are the people who are here? Why are they here? 
What are they doing here? What is the purpose that they are here? But 
as a component of that, I also think it is critical that we deal with 
the issue of health care and that employers who want these workers in 
our Nation, and we know there is a tremendous need for them, would have 
to address that issue of health care right up front and not put that 
burden on the American people as it has done in the past.
  So I thank you for the opportunity just to come and tell America what 
the House of Representatives did do and that as we continue the debate 
that they will understand that the first goal is secure our borders. We 
know this is a national security issue. We know the goal of our enemy 
is to destroy our Nation, to attack us at any possible turn.
  I am grateful to our very brave military men and women who we know 
are taking out their leaders right now, shutting down their money, and 
keeping them busy over in Iraq and that they have not had the ability 
to attack our Nation again. And I think that we expect in Congress and 
the American people expect that we not allow these people to enter 
because of poor policies that we have in place; that our doors be open 
for tourism, for travel, for legal immigration, and closed to those who 
would do us harm.
  And I thank you for arranging this meeting tonight and allowing me to 
join you in it.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Thank you, Congresswoman Drake, very much. You 
have just really clarified and crystalized the components of our 
immigration bill that we passed last December.
  And I know that some of us have shared our frustration with the folks 
at home because there was really little attention paid to what the 
House did, very responsibly what the House did last December. 
Recognizing the incredible challenges that we have with immigration 
reform, working extremely hard to come up with a bill that addressed 
border security and interior enforcement. I guess if we were to be 
faulted for anything is that we did it during the Christmas holiday and 
it kind of got drowned out. But it is an important bill. It is an 
important bill. And I thank you for talking about the points in it that 
I think are vital and imperative as we move forward.
  As we talk about the issue of border security and national security, 
the two are really closely linked, very closely linked, and it is a 
real challenge for America to move forward with immigration reform and 
border security. And one of the reasons that I believe it is such a 
challenge is that we essentially have had in our Nation over the last 
really 20 or 30 years a policy as it relates to illegal immigration of 
benign neglect. That is what our policy has been, and I am disappointed 
that that is the case. But as somebody once said, you play with the 
cards that you are dealt. And, in fact, the cards that we are dealt 
right now are a system that has been really neglected for a long, long 
period of time. So I am so pleased with the work that the House has 
done and will continue to do in trying to fashion the most responsible 
border security and immigration reform policy that we can.
  Again, I think it is important that you make certain that we talk 
about truth. What is the truth? Where are we now that has put us in 
this challenging situation and in literally this crisis? And the issue 
is that we have between 12 and 20 million people here who are here 
illegally. And Congresswoman Blackburn has so often mentioned that she 
believes that it is not appropriate to call it illegal immigration, 
that it is illegal entry. She uses the wonderful analogy of if somebody 
were to enter your home illegally, you would not open your arms to 
welcome them. What you would do is take care of it. You would call on 
the authorities and ask them for help. And what has happened over the 
last 20 or 30 years is that when the States and localities have called 
on the authorities, the Federal Government, to come help, they have 
been left wanting. And that really is a shame. That is the benign 
neglect that I talk about. But comprehensive immigration reform has to, 
it must, begin with securing our borders. If you do anything else 
without securing the borders, it does not make any difference.

                              {time}  2215

  The porosity of our borders makes it so that is imperative, and the 
national security, as I mentioned, depends on border security. We need 
to know who is coming into the country. We need to know where they are 
from, and we need to know what they are doing here.
  No immigration, no reform of the immigration system will be 
successful unless Congress makes the definitive commitment, has the 
willpower to make the commitment to ensure that the agencies that are 
responsible for stopping illegal immigrants have the resources that 
they need to get the job done. That just makes sense.
  Without properly securing our borders, we remain vulnerable. I don't 
think anybody would deny that we remain vulnerable to those who may 
want to enter our country undetected and do us harm. We must ensure 
that our Border Patrol agents have the resources and the manpower and 
the technology to do their jobs.
  I understand, and all of us understand, that America is a nation of 
immigrants. We are all here by virtue of somebody coming here from 
somewhere else at some point that allowed us the wonder and the glory 
and the good fortune and the blessing of being born or allowed to be a 
citizen of the United States of America.
  We are also a nation of laws. We are a nation of laws, and I think it 
is extremely important that we appreciate that indeed America has been 
built on the hard work and the innovation of immigrants, without a 
doubt, and our country thrives on new ideas, and fresh energy that so 
many of our legal immigrant groups continue to bring. It is part of 
what makes our country great without a doubt.
  We will remain a nation of immigrants, regardless of what we do in 
this legislation, because the number of legal immigrants that we 
welcome to our shores every year is significant. We invited over 1 
million new permanent immigrants last year, much more than any other 
nation on the face of the earth. We accept over 6 million applications, 
6 million applications, Mr. Speaker, for immigration and immigration 
benefits each year.
  But America, again, has been founded on the principle and the respect 
for the rule of law. Those who enter our country illegally disrespect 
those laws, and they take advantage of a very generous immigration 
system and a very generous society.
  We have got to find a comprehensive solution, a comprehensive 
solution that acknowledges the important contributions of legal 
immigrants and what they do to make our country great without rewarding 
illegal behavior. It is imperative that we remove that magnet of 
illegal employment and enable employers to be able to determine whether 
their workers are legal or illegal.
  I think it is important when we talk about the employer verification 
aspect of the bill that we passed, and of any

[[Page 4406]]

reform mechanism, that we make certain that we communicate to our 
employer community that we are not asking them to be policemen; and 
that the Federal Government's responsibility is to make certain that 
they are able to access real information in real time to be able to 
determine whether an employee that is coming to their place of work and 
asking to be hired, whether or not that individual is here legally. 
They need to be able to determine that then and now so that they can go 
ahead with the plan to either hire them or not based upon their 
qualifications, and not have to delay things because the Federal 
Government doesn't have accurate information.
  I am pleased with the work that the House has done. This is a work in 
progress. The Senate is acting and will act, and then we will move 
forward with a conference committee, a group of the House and Members 
of the House and Members of the Senate to come up with a final product 
that hopefully we all can stand and be proud of and that will address a 
true crisis and a true challenge that we have in this Nation and end 
this policy of benign neglect that we have had for so many years.
  Again, the issue we are talking about this evening on the Official 
Truth Squad is national security. I am pleased to be joined again 
tonight by Congresswoman Virginia Foxx. Congresswoman Foxx is from the 
grand State of North Carolina, a dear friend and fellow member of the 
freshman class who is committed, committed, to making certain that 
truthful comments are made from the well, and that those things that 
are made, those comments that are made in the House that are not 
truthful are corrected.
  I am pleased to have Congresswoman Foxx join me this evening to 
discuss the issue of national security. I welcome you, and I look 
forward to your comments this evening.
  Ms. FOXX. Thank you so much, Congressman Price. It is very good to be 
on the Official Truth Squad with you and to bring facts out that need 
to be brought out. I heard your comments about illegal immigration, and 
I share those concerns with you. As we talked about homeland security, 
national security begins with border security. That is very important.
  I think what we have to make sure that people understand all the 
time, the Federal Government was formed to provide for the defense of 
this Nation. It began by the States joining together to get our freedom 
from England, but we stay together for the defense of this Nation. 
Local government, State governments, cannot provide for the defense of 
this Nation.
  We are the most free country in the world. We are, in my opinion, the 
greatest country in the world. We are not perfect. None of us who serve 
in Congress, none of us in the executive branch, are perfect people.
  But the Republican party is focused on the issue of national 
security. We, as Republicans, understand that if we don't maintain our 
freedom, then nothing else matters. The way we maintain our freedom is 
to make sure that we have strong borders and that we protect against 
attacks like the ones that hit us on September 11, 2001. We are focused 
on that, and I think that the administration has done a great job of 
keeping us from being attacked again.
  What are the Democrats doing in that respect? Today, they managed to 
release their so-called ``national security agenda.'' We have been 
waiting for this plan that they say they are going to roll out where 
they say they can do things better.
  One of the things their agenda calls for is improving border 
security. Now it is really curious that is what they say. They think 
they can tell the American people something that the American people 
will believe, and that we will ignore what they have done. Let me talk 
about what Republicans have done and what the Democrat reaction has 
been to that.
  Last year, House Republicans passed the Border Protection, 
Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act, as well as the REAL 
ID Act. How do these bills protect our border?
  The Border Security Act increases penalties for illegal immigration 
and holds violators accountable to restore the integrity of our 
Nation's borders, reestablish respect for our laws, and help ensure 
that terrorists cannot enter the United States.
  The REAL ID Act federally standardizes the requirements for applying 
and issuing State identification cards, because the 19 hijackers 
responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks carried between them 13 
valid driver's licenses and 21 State-issued ID cards.
  How do the Democrats vote on these issues? They are telling you now 
that they want to protect the border, and that is a part of their 
national security agenda. Well, 164 of the Democrats opposed the Border 
Security Act, and 152 opposed the REAL ID Act. So the Democrats now 
want to improve border security?
  Here is a tip for them, Mr. Speaker. They need to start voting for 
legislation that does exactly that. They need to quit talking and start 
doing.
  Today, when I was listening to them doing 1 minutes, something 
occurred to me, the motto of the State of North Carolinas is Esse Quam 
Videre, To Be Rather Than to Seem. I kept thinking that the Democrats 
never want to admit what they are, but rather they want people to think 
that they are something else. I think that they are the antithesis of 
the motto for North Carolina, To Be Rather Than to Seem, because they 
just want to seem to be something that they are not at all.
  Earlier tonight, I heard somebody say, the Democrats will never agree 
to what their real agenda is, because it is so much opposed to the 
values of average Americans that if they admit to their real agenda, 
admit to their real values, they can't ever get elected again.
  I think that it is very important that we continue to talk about 
border security and other things as it relates to national security.
  The Democrats also voted against the creation of the Department of 
Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security helps prevent 
domestic terrorist attacks and assists the recovery and response 
efforts in the event of a terrorist attack. It passed the House 261-
161. One hundred twenty Democrats opposed.
  Last night we mentioned the PATRIOT Act conference report that 
strengthens our national security by giving law enforcement the tools 
they need to wage the war on terror and includes new oversight measures 
so that security and liberty remain balanced. It passed the House 251-
174 with 157 Democrats opposing. The Democratic leader in the Senate 
bragged that they had killed the PATRIOT Act, and then when the PATRIOT 
Act came back, they short of sheepishly voted for it, wanting everybody 
to think that it was all okay and to forget about their bragging that 
they had killed the PATRIOT Act.
  What about intelligence votes that weakened our national security 
before September 11? We might not have had September 11 if we had had 
an even stronger national security and if the Democrats had gotten on 
board with making sure that we could do all that we needed to do. In 
1998, Representative Pelosi was one of only 31 Representatives who 
voted against authorizing appropriations for intelligence and 
intelligence-related activities of the U.S. Government for the CIA and 
related agencies. Several bills are outlined there.
  In 1996, she and 153 House Democrats voted to reduce the total amount 
authorized by the fiscal year 1997 intelligence authorization by 4.9 
percent. Even when Pelosi and the Democrats were in charge of the House 
of Representatives, they voted to cut intelligence authorization by 
$500 million.
  We are going to present every chance we get the facts about what the 
Democrats have done. We are going to present the facts through the 
Official Truth Squad. We are not going to let them get by with seeming 
rather than being. And I think that that is very, very important.
  I want to quote our Majority Leader Boehner today in a statement that 
he made:
  ``While Democrats have openly advocated cutting and running from our 
efforts to support democracy in Iraq, Republicans continue to build 
upon our strong record on national security by

[[Page 4407]]

funding our troops fighting terror around the world and supporting 
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
  ``While Democrats seem more interested in protecting the rights of 
terrorists than the American people, Republicans passed the PATRIOT Act 
to give law enforcement the tools necessary to combat terrorism, 
protect our citizens and secure our communities.
  ``While Democrats focus more on protecting the rights of illegal 
immigrants than enforcing our immigration laws, Republicans have voted 
to secure our borders, give law enforcement new tools to enforce our 
immigration laws and help prevent terrorist and criminal aliens from 
moving freely throughout our society. When it comes to national 
security, their answer is the same as it is for everything else, 
``no.'' A media stunt will not eclipse their record of obfuscation and 
neglect on national and border security.''
  Those are the comments from Majority Leader Boehner today. I endorse 
what he has said. I think he has hit the nail right on the head. 
Someone else said that the Democrats say, ``Do as we say, not as we do, 
on national security.'' That is another, I think, thing that we need to 
point out to the American people every chance that we get.
  Again, we have to protect the freedom of this country. That is what 
allows us to do all the other great things that we do. Without national 
security, without freedom, we can't do any of the other good things. We 
are trying to bring freedom to other countries just as we have it here. 
It may take a little bit longer than it did in this country because of 
the very different cultural basis that we came from, but it is going to 
happen. We are going to help export freedom all over this world and 
that is going to help keep Americans free because that is what we have 
to do.

                              {time}  2230

  Representative Price, again, I want to thank you for the work that 
you are doing on helping us get out the facts and making sure that the 
Truth Squad presents the truth every night, and I would like to now 
turn my time back over to you.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Thank you so much, Representative Foxx. You are 
always so cogent and accurate in what you say. And you do the Official 
Truth Squad proud by bringing forward the information that is so 
important for citizens all across this country in order for them to be 
able to make appropriate decisions and realize what kind of work is 
being done here in Washington, positive work, positive work on behalf 
of the American people.
  That is what the Official Truth Squad is all about. It is all about 
making certain that the accurate information, honest information for 
the entire Nation is being presented at some point on the floor of the 
House because oftentimes what we hear is not that kind of information. 
So I cannot thank you enough for coming and joining me this evening 
really, again, in a discussion about national security that is so 
extremely important; and it is important because nothing is more basic 
to our ability as a Nation and each of our ability as individuals to 
realize our own dream.
  If we are not secure, if we cannot maintain our liberty and our 
freedom, then nothing else matters. Then what kind of job you have, 
where you work, what you want to do with your family, where you want to 
live, all those kind of wonderful things that all of us as Americans 
think about, dream about and work so hard for won't make any difference 
if we do not have the kind of security that we need.
  I appreciate also you taking it in a little bit of a different 
direction because I think it is important that we talk about what the 
other side has proposed because it is important that they have stated 
they have given the talk, it is important to look at how they are 
walking and how they have walked. I also think it is important to shed 
light on the truth of where we stand as a Nation in this world and how 
grave and significant the enemy is because some people will tell you, 
well, there really is not an enemy out there. That if we just gather 
round and kind of huddle down that there will not be any problem with 
anybody else on the face of the Earth, that the people will just leave 
us alone.
  Well, in fact, I think that if we truly and honestly look at the 
situation and if we reflect over the last 25 or so years we will 
appreciate that we have been in this war on terror for a much longer 
period of time than any of us might have admitted just a few short 
years ago. And in order to bring light to that, in order to provide 
some truth to that, I thought I would repeat something that I mentioned 
last evening. It is a very sobering list. It is a list of events that I 
think are extremely important to reflect upon because I think they put 
in perspective how we as a Nation are being challenged and that allows 
us to respond in a much more appropriate way.
  So as a matter of truth I proposed, Mr. Speaker, to just kind of 
outline and list a number of events that have occurred over the last 25 
years beginning as many of us will remember in November of 1979 when 
the embassy, our embassy in Tehran was seized and there began that 444-
day long hostage crisis that I think was kind of the beginning of this 
litany of events that occurred.
  In April 1983 there was the bombing of our embassy in Beirut, 63 
Americans killed. In October of 1983, the bombing of our U.S. Marine 
Corps Headquarters in Beirut, 241 killed. In December 1983, a truck 
loaded with explosives driven into our embassy in Kuwait. In September 
1984 another violation of our embassy in Beirut. In August 1985 the 
bombing of the United States Air Force Base in Rhein-Main, 22 killed. 
In October 1985, the Achille Lauro was highjacked and an American 
invalid in a wheelchair was killed. April 1986, Madrid bombing of a 
restaurant frequented by U.S. soldiers. April 1988, TWA flight 840 was 
bombed killing four. Again, in 1988 Pan Am flight 103 bombed over 
Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259.
  January 1993, two CIA agents shot and killed as they entered CIA 
headquarters in Langley, Virginia. February 1993, the first World Trade 
Center bombing killing six and injuring over a thousand. November 1995, 
car bomb explodes at a U.S. military complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 
killing seven servicemen and women. June 1996, a truck bomb in Dhahran 
destroys the Khobar Towers, a United States Air Force barracks, killing 
19 and injuring over 500. And then two coordinated attacks on U.S. 
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killing 224. October 2000 the USS Cole 
was attacked in Yemen. And then on September 11, 2001 the second World 
Trade Center attack killing 3,000 of our fellow citizens, innocent all.
  I think it is important to talk about that because that is the truth. 
That is the truth of where we sit as a Nation right now. And some will 
say, well, that was the end of it September 11, 2001. Well, the truth 
is that that was not the end and is not the end. And I cannot think of 
anything better to crystallize that and to explain that and to bring it 
to light than to quote an avowed enemy of the United States, Abu Musab 
al-Zarqawi, who said in January 2005, ``We have declared a fierce war 
on this evil principal of democracy and those who follow this wrong 
ideology.''
  That is not anything we made up, Mr. Speaker. That is our enemy. That 
is an individual who designs day in and day out to do us harm, to hurt 
America and to hurt Americans. And so when we talk about things as 
grave and as important as that, I think it is incredibly important that 
we talk about what the plan is for each party, who is in charge, who is 
making the policy and what is the plan.
  So as our friends on the other side on the aisle today unfolded their 
national security policy that they would propose, and it is an 
appropriate policy, the problem is that it reminds me of that wonderful 
country and western song that is out there right now, what we need is 
``A little less talk and a lot more action.'' And the talk that they 
have brought to the table is mostly appropriate; but the action that we 
have seen from our friends on the other side of the aisle just does not 
ring true. It does not ring true.

[[Page 4408]]

  They call for eliminating terrorist breeding grounds, but in fact 
what they ignore is that Iraq is the central front in the war or terror 
and a breeding ground for terrorists. What do they say? Their security 
agenda supports our troops in Afghanistan. What do they do? When given 
the opportunity a majority of House Democrats voted against funding the 
troops in combat in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Their security agenda says 
they will stop the spread of terrorists. But what do they do? They 
oppose the terrorists surveillance program.
  Another thing that they talk about is proposing an anti-terrorism 
plan that increases human intelligence capability, eliminates terrorist 
breeding grounds, secures loose nuclear materials and stops nuclear 
weapons development in Iran and North Korea. What do they do when given 
the opportunity? They voted repeatedly to slash funding for 
intelligence activities and they vote no on expressing support for 
those who work in the intelligence community.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the truth. This is the truth. This is what 
happened. When given the opportunity to say we as a sense of Congress 
support the men and women who are risking their lives and working in 
the intelligence community to make sure that you and I are safe what do 
they do? They vote no. If anybody is interested in looking it up it is 
Roll Call number 293. The vote was on June 23, 2004.
  That is what the Official Truth Squad is about to call people to 
task, to say this is what the truth is. You can say anything you like 
on the floor of the House of Representatives. We have certainly 
recognized that. But it is important that you are held to account that 
you are held responsible for your actions. You what do they say? They 
say it calls for a stronger homeland security by implementing all 
recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. What do they do? They vote 
against the REAL ID Act which makes it difficult for terrorists to 
travel freely throughout the United States, and they vote no on 
additional funds to respond to the attacks of September 11 and to 
bolster the homeland security efforts. Roll Call vote number 31 in 
February of last year. Roll Call vote number 206 in May of 2002.
  Mr. Speaker, that is the truth. That is the truth. So you can talk 
the talk but you have got to be able to walk the walk. You can say one 
thing but you have got to be able to do it. And I think it is important 
for the House of Representatives to understand and appreciate and for 
the American people to understand and appreciate that there is a track 
record. There is a track record of a group of individuals who are in 
the leadership and forming the policy in the United States House of 
Representatives now that supports our intelligence community. It is 
vital work, incredibly important work.
  Then there is a group of individuals who say that they support the 
intelligence community but when given the opportunity to provide the 
resources for them to work and when given the opportunity just to say 
we thank you and support what you are doing as a matter of principle 
they could not even do that.
  What do they say? Again, they say they will support the 
recommendations and work for implementing the recommendations of the 9/
11 Commission, a bipartisan commission. What do they do when they get 
the opportunity? They vote no on establishing the Department of 
Homeland Security. Roll Call number 367, July, 2002. They vote no on 
$21 billion in funding for strengthening the border protections. Roll 
Call number 373, July 2004.
  Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an incredible privilege and an honor to 
serve in the United States House of Representatives. I am humbled every 
time I walk in this building. I get goose bumps looking up at the dome.
  The men and women who have preceded us in this chamber and in this 
body have been many incredible men and women who have donated the 
better part of their lives toward making certain that we as a society 
and we as a Nation will survive. They did so by talking about real 
things, by talking about honest things, by talking about truthful 
things, by working together with other individuals all across this 
body. And I challenge Members on both sides on the aisle, Republicans 
and Democrats, to work together, to come together as a body and work 
for our national security and work positively.

                          ____________________