H3440 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE April 17, 2007 Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me very much for the senior staffs of both Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, recent memos in congratulating Ms. Jennette and all of those organizations and for the peo- that have been released finally by the the teachers who help mold our chil- ple of America for standing up and Justice Department regarding certain dren’s lives every day. speaking out. situations in the Federal Government, f We are in trying times at the mo- specifically in the U.S. Attorney’s of- ment, and there is much we must do to fice, have revealed numerous things. A THREE-POINT PLAN FOR RES- bring our country together and make No wonder the Justice Department CUING THE NATION FROM VIO- our families stronger. Kudos, most gra- fought releasing these e-mails and LENCE cious love, to the women of the Rut- memos. (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given gers’ basketball team, 10 young women, We now understand that the prosecu- permission to address the House for 1 all honor students, child prodigies, tion of Federal drug cases along the minute and to revise and extend his re- dedicated and working to make life - border has dropped dra- marks.) better for themselves and for America, matically. All the way from Texas to Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, in the to get to Rutgers, to stay there, to California, prosecutions of drug cases aftermath of the tragedy at achieve academic excellence, and, yes, have dropped. In some places up to 25 Blacksburg, Virginia, it is becoming then to excel. Also, kudos to the Uni- percent of drug cases are not pros- painfully obvious that the easy avail- versity of Tennessee women’s basket- ecuted that were prosecuted just a year ability of handguns constitutes a grow- ball team, the NCAA women’s basket- ago. What is happening is the Federal ing national crisis of public health and ball champions. Government is not able to prosecute safety, one that calls for a powerful, This is the 35th anniversary year of drug smugglers, and they are asking wide-ranging response from this Con- title IX. Title IX is the legislation 35 the States to prosecute those cases. gress. years ago that was enacted that would Many States—especially those coun- I am urging Members to support H.R. make an equal playing field for women ties on the border with Texas and Mex- 676, the Conyers-Kucinich bill, which in sports and athletics. We will cele- ico, same was true in Arizona and Mex- establishes a universal, not-for-profit brate title IX and have been all year. I ico, New Mexico and California and health care system, which provides full have spoken to President McCormick, Mexico—don’t have the resources to and comprehensive mental health care. and the Congressional Black Caucus, prosecute all those drug cases. Second, support H.R. 808, a bill estab- the Speaker of the House and others So what is happening is many cases lishing a Department of Peace and will be welcoming the Rutgers and are dropping through the cracks, all Nonviolence, which directly addresses Tennessee teams as well as the presi- because the Federal Government has the issues of domestic violence, gang dent and coaching staffs to our city of dropped 25 percent of prosecution of violence, and violence in the schools Washington, DC, very soon. We will drug smugglers into the which is reflected in our current homi- hold a 2-hour summit and hear from because they say they are overwhelmed cide rates. the National Organization For Women, with cases. And third, the 33 deaths at a psychiatrist from Rutgers Univer- How many cases are we talking Blacksburg constitute a national trag- sity, some renowned women and others about? What types of drug cases? Well, edy. So, too, does the fact that an aver- who speak to the values of America. in some cases they are prosecuting age of 32 people each and every day in Today we had the chairman of the cases of only 500 pounds or more of the United States perish in handgun- Federal Communications Commission marijuana. Five hundred pounds, that related incidents. Accordingly, I am in our Appropriations Committee. He is just a number. But we can relate it drafting a bill to ban the purchase, came for his budget today. We talked to money, and 500 pounds of marijuana sale, transfer or possession of handguns about how do we make America better; is worth about $400,000. A drug smug- by civilians. A gun buy-back provision how do we shut down some of the smut gler smuggling in $400,000 worth of dope will be provided in the bill. and other things that are negatively or less, in some cases is getting a pass It’s time for us to rescue this Nation impacting our children. We are a better by the Federal Government because from the violence which is engulfing it, Nation than that. He has agreed to they say they are too overwhelmed and I have just articulated a three- work with us and together, through with the illegal entry into the United point plan to do so. this Congress, the FCC will be strong- States by drug smugglers. er. We must strengthen some of the If the States don’t prosecute those f things that they must do. cases, as many States are not able to b 1915 The 1934 law is archaic. The courts do, what is happening is those drug have interpreted that law very nar- smugglers are getting a get-out-of-jail- SPECIAL ORDERS rowly. This is far bigger than a person. free card. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. This is about the strength and success Drug smugglers are not stupid. They ELLSWORTH). Under the Speaker’s an- of our families, of our children. can weigh their marijuana. So all they nounced policy of January 18, 2007, and On behalf of the men and women who got to do, before they bring that dope under a previous order of the House, serve in this United States Congress, into the United States, is make sure the following Members will be recog- and specifically the men and women of they have less than 500 pounds, because nized for 5 minutes each. the Congressional Black Caucus, let us if they are caught by our border f rise up and build a better Nation for agents, the Federal Government won’t our sisters, our girls, our women, and, prosecute them because the Federal BUILD A BETTER NATION yes, our men and boys. Government says we have too many The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a f cases. previous order of the House, the gentle- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a This is absurd; this is nonsense. This woman from (Ms. KIL- previous order of the House, the gen- is chaos. Law enforcement is mad PATRICK) is recognized for 5 minutes. tleman from North Carolina (Mr. about this, and rightfully so. One Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Speaker and JONES) is recognized for 5 minutes. former DEA official in the El Paso sec- Members, I stand here today as chair- (Mr. JONES of North Carolina ad- tor made the comment that if the Feds person of the Congressional Black Cau- dressed the House. His remarks will ap- decline to prosecute, and the State cus to say thank you to America, pear hereafter in the Extensions of Re- lacks the resources to prosecute these thank you to the president and CEO of marks.) drug smugglers, they just go free. You NBC News network, as well as the f have people violating the drug laws president and CEO of CBS News net- who now get away with it in the United work. I had an opportunity to meet OPEN BORDER CHAOS States, all because the Federal Govern- with them last week. They did the The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a ment doesn’t do its job. The job is big- right thing. previous order of the House, the gen- ger than prosecuting drug smugglers. Our country is in peril. We need to tleman from Texas (Mr. POE) is recog- The job is protect the borders, and our bring our country together. Thank you nized for 5 minutes. Federal Government doesn’t do that.

VerDate Aug 31 2005 04:18 Apr 18, 2007 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\K17AP7.081 H17APPT1 ccoleman on PRODPC74 with HOUSE April 17, 2007 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H3441 They claim that they are not pros- THE FARM LABOR RECRUITMENT ploited is a continental sacrilege. The ecuting drug cases because they are SYSTEM problem with NAFTA and NAFTA- prosecuting folks that illegally enter The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a style trade agreements is they fail to the United States. But maybe that is previous order of the House, the gentle- take people into account. not true either. These same memos woman from (Ms. KAPTUR) is rec- NAFTA and NAFTA-style agree- now reveal that in the State of Texas ognized for 5 minutes. ments serve the interests primarily of an illegal coming into the United Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, on April the money classes. They reduce risks States has to be captured six times be- 9, 2007, 29-year-old Toledoan, Santiago for Wall Street investors while raising fore they are actually prosecuted Raphael Cruz, was found bound, gagged the risk that workers in our heartland criminally for being in the United and beaten to death in Monterrey, will lose their jobs and health care. States. Mexico, in the office of his employer, They are manna for hedge funds, but a What happens is if they are caught the Toledo-based Farm Labor Orga- threat to the economic security of blue the first six times, they are just taken nizing Committee, or FLOC. collar workers. home. Of course, they come right back Mr. Cruz moved from Toledo, Ohio, to b 1930 to the United States. They are not Mexico 3 months ago to legally arrange being prosecuted. In Arizona, some- for Mexican guest laborers to work for They leave people out of the ques- times it is up to 11 times illegals enter a North Carolina pickle plant with tion. Whether it is campesinos in Mex- the United States before they are which FLOC has a contract. FLOC’s ef- ico trying to provide food for their criminally prosecuted for being here il- forts assured guest workers were treat- families and eke out an existence legally. ed humanely, that their papers were taken from them by their own govern- So what is the Federal Government legal, and that the notorious crime-rid- ment in cahoots with ours through doing? Well, we do know they are den labor recruitment system that NAFTA, or auto workers in the Mid- spending a lot of their time pros- characterizes farm labor on this con- west pursuing the American dream of a ecuting border protectors. They are tinent would cease to exist. house, a car, and a better life for their spending a lot of taxpayer money to FLOC, which is part of the AFL–CIO, children, they are the forgotten people make deals, back-room deals with drug is a farm labor union and social move- in our global economy. smugglers so that they can prosecute ment based in our district led by As Mr. Velasquez noted, Mr. Cruz had the likes of border agents Ramos and Baldemar Velasquez. FLOC is perhaps a good heart and was working for the Compean, deputy sheriffs like Gilmer most recently known for achieving a people. Mr. Cruz gave his life in service Hernandez, individuals who are enforc- fair labor contract for guest workers in to the forgotten people. We honor his ing the law. the United States with H2A visas in commitment and we extend our sym- The Federal Government’s duty is to North Carolina. Mr. Velasquez led that pathies to his family, to his friends, protect the dignity of this Nation. It campaign, as well as one to organize and to the entire FLOC community of needs to protect the border from every- pickle workers in Ohio in the 1980s, and which our community is so very proud. body coming into the United States il- has been recognized as a MacArthur His horrific death reminds us how legally, no matter the reason, but espe- Foundation fellow. brutal and unforgiving the NAFTA-in- cially those people who are criminals, In Mexico, FLOC offered a safe, legal duced labor system has become across especially those drug smugglers who alternative to the exploitative prom- our continent. It is time to renegotiate bring drugs into the United States and ises of coyotes and those who charge NAFTA. It is time not to extend it fur- make a profit off of that human weak- exorbitant fees to smuggle Mexicans ther. It is time to require continental ness, and now giving them a pass, be- across the border. The union had been labor standards that uphold the dignity cause they are not bringing in enough burglarized, and the workers harassed of human life, not extinguish it. dope? This is absurd. Not prosecuting for their efforts to protect Mexicans Mr. Speaker, I submit extraneous illegals until the sixth or eleventh wishing to work in our country. material for printing in the RECORD, time because we don’t supposedly have I learned, as I learned more about and I thank my colleague from Wash- the resources is absurd, and it is all be- Mr. Cruz’s brutal murder, I asked my- ington for allowing me to speak. cause we don’t protect the dignity of self whether this horrendous crime [From the toledoblade.com, April 12, 2007] the United States. could have been encouraged by FLOC’s U.S. DEMANDS PROBE OF SLAYING Border control in this country noble efforts to stop the illegal traf- (By Clyde Hughes) doesn’t seem to even exist. Third World ficking and continental labor caused by The U.S. General Consulate Office in Mex- nations protect their borders better NAFTA. I have called upon the govern- ico is pressing for a complete investigation than the United States, and the United ments of the United States and Mexico in the beating death of a Toledo union work- States protects the borders of other na- to fully investigate and bring the per- er found dead early Monday at the union’s tions like Korea. Why don’t we protect petrators of this horrendous crime to office in Monterrey, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur our own border? justice. These coyotes prey upon des- (D., Toledo) said yesterday. While all of this is going on down perate Mexican workers whose lands Law enforcement officials from the state there on the lawless border of the were taken from them by the Mexican of Nuevo Leon are investigating the death of United States and Mexico, now we hear Santiago Rafael Cruz, 29, a Mexican native Government under NAFTA. NAFTA set who has lived in Toledo since 1998 and had about a new reform package, a com- up conditions in North America for worked for the Farm Labor Organizing Com- prehensive immigration plan that is cruel exploitation of millions of land- mittee as manager of its Monterrey office for supposed to have little border security, less peasants and workers in Mexico. three months, said Baldemar Velasquez, supposed to have a lot of amnesty and Mr. Velasquez and FLOC worked end- longtime president of the union. supposed to have a whole lot more lessly to give people not only legal Mr. Velasquez said he believed Mr. Cruz’s guest workers in the United States. rights but hope for an end to the harsh death is directly related to FLOC’s efforts to That is not going to work. treatment handed to them by the gov- organize workers in the Monterrey area. What we need is the National Guard He said the union’s education efforts made ernments of the United States and of workers there less susceptible to people who on the border. We need to protect the Mexico. The current and often illegal would charge workers large sums of money borders, the dignity of the United labor recruitment system is rife with to enter the United States illegally. States. corruption. It exploits landless peas- FLOC’s program there recruits Mexican And that’s just the way it is. ants through a corrupt bounty system residents interested in going to the United f imposed by unsavory labor recruiters. States as part of a guest-worker program The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a Many times I have said NAFTA fuels through a contract the union has with a previous order of the House, the gen- illegal immigration by creating an exo- North Carolina pickle company, union offi- dus of massive proportion of people cials said. tleman from Maryland (Mr. WYNN) is Mr. Cruz was bound, gagged, and beaten, recognized for 5 minutes. from the Mexican countryside who Miss Kaptur said yesterday. (Mr. WYNN addressed the House. His need something to eat after their live- She said she talked with Edward Heartney, remarks will appear hereafter in the lihoods are taken from them. The man- consul for politics and economic affairs with Extensions of Remarks.) ner in which these people are being ex- the U.S. consulate general in Monterrey,

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