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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 107 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 148 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2002 No. 8 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. Mr. TIAHRT led the Pledge of Alle- Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, every The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. giance as follows: day for a year I spoke out on inter- Coughlin, offered the following prayer: I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the national child abduction. Today I will O Lord, our guardian and our refuge, United States of America, and to the Repub- focus on one case, that of Ludwig in times of war it is difficult to pray. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Koons, who is being illegally kept in When living under the threat of attack, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Rome, Italy. Until Ludwig is returned anxieties and fear can steal Your abid- f to the United States, I will speak with ing presence. CONGRATULATING JENNIE WEISS outrage at the injustice that is being At such times, there is so much to BLOCK FOR HER NEW BOOK EX- done to this family, an example of pray about. To lift up to You all the PLORING THEOLOGY AND THE what thousands of American parents names of the victims of war is in itself DISABILITY MOVEMENT and their children face every day. a heavy task. To remember them in Ludwig Koons was born in New York prayer keeps our love alive and unveils (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was and was abducted from the family resi- our mourning until we see them in given permission to address the House dence to Rome by his mother, Ilona Your eternal presence. Your spirit of for 1 minute and to revise and extend Staller. Mr. Koons was awarded cus- prayer moves us to strengthen our her remarks.) tody in the United States, but the compassion for all those orphaned and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, it Italian courts have refused to accept widowed by war. We pray for all who is estimated that there are 43 million any American jurisdiction. The father serve in the Armed Forces, those serv- Americans with one or more physical has been deemed the fit parent by the ants of security and defenders of free- or mental disabilities. And while Con- courts, and U.S. and Italian psycholo- dom around the world. We pray for gress attempts to empower them gists have stated that Ludwig is in their safety and their families. through legislation such as the Ameri- grave danger and must be returned to At such times, all leaders in our gov- cans with Disabilities Act, it is often Mr. Koons. Yet he remains captive in ernment, especially these Members of other facets of our communities, like Italy, being held by the Italian Govern- Congress, are in need of Your supreme churches and synagogues, that provide ment and by his mother, a porn star guidance, Lord. May leaders of all na- them with the support they need to living in a pornographic compound. tions be with them as they search for achieve economic self-sufficiency, inde- Mr. Speaker, every day Members of the ways to secure peace, to protect pendent living, and, most importantly, this body and administration speak out homelands and reconstruct those inclusion and integration into all as- on family values. I can think of no bet- places torn apart by war’s violence. pects of society. ter way to demonstrate our commit- Lord, in moments like now when it is My constituent, Jennie Weiss Block, ment to family values than to return difficult to pray, perhaps it is because a Barry University Ph.D. candidate in Ludwig Koons to his father now. Mr. we cannot see Your face, for You are theology, is the author of a new book, Speaker, we must bring our children the author of life and love, now and ‘‘Copious Hosting,’’ which explores the- home. forever. Amen. ology and the disability movement. I f proudly congratulate my constituent f and dear friend, Jennie Weiss Block, VICTIMS OF TERRORISM THE JOURNAL for her insightful views into the lives (Mr. TIAHRT asked and was given The SPEAKER. The Chair has exam- of the disabled as portrayed in her permission to address the House for 1 ined the Journal of the last day’s pro- book ‘‘Copious Hosting’’ and for her minute and to revise and extend his re- ceedings and announces to the House dedication to enabling them to make marks.) his approval thereof. significant contributions to our soci- Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, before Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- ety. terrorism literally hit home on Sep- nal stands approved. Felicidades, Jennie. tember 11, two fellow Kansans, two fel- f f low Americans, had already been held hostage by Muslim terrorists for over 3 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE WE MUST BRING OUR CHILDREN months. On May 27, 2001, Martin and The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman HOME Gracia Burnham were snatched out of from Kansas (Mr. TIAHRT) come for- (Mr. LAMPSON asked and was given bed in a Philippine vacation resort and ward and lead the House in the Pledge permission to address the House for 1 taken hostage by Muslim terrorists, of Allegiance. minute.) the Abu Sayaff group, which has al b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H143 . VerDate 11-MAY-2000 00:23 Feb 07, 2002 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A06FE7.000 pfrm01 PsN: H06PT1 H144 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE February 6, 2002 Qaeda ties and a brutal disregard for again run a budget deficit this next tions of our homeland, and revitalizing human life. A third American, Guil- year. our economy and creating jobs. lermo Sobero of California, was also But even with all of this necessary What his budget does is increase taken hostage and subsequently be- spending, we should put plans in place spending, nearly doubles homeland se- headed in June by the terrorists. now to return to a balanced budget as curity spending, and provides imme- Martin and Gracia are all that re- soon as we can. We have worked too diate assistance to workers who have mains of the group of 21 hostages taken hard to start paying off the debt to lost their jobs, while holding the in May. It has been 8 long months for give up now. growth in spending for programs out- them and their family, especially their In his State of the Union Address, side of defense and homeland security three young children, Jeff, Mindy and President Bush urged us to limit spend- to the cost of living. His budget pro- Zach. The Burnhams have lost consid- ing so we can return to surpluses in a vides significant funding increases for erable weight and have suffered from year or 2. important priorities like health care, malaria, artillery wounds, eye infec- So let us fully fund the war on ter- prescription drugs, education, the envi- tions and numerous sores and cuts. rorism, let us make sure our airports ronment, agriculture and retirement I ask my fellow Members of Congress and power plants are secure, and if the security, and returns to budget sur- and my fellow Americans to pray for other body ever passes the stimulus pluses within 2 to 3 years, if Congress the safe and swift release of Martin and package, let us make it law right away. adheres to the President’s call for fis- Gracia Burnham from this endless But when it comes to other things, we cal responsibility. nightmare. need to tighten our belt and rein in Mr. Speaker, this budget is an impor- f spending. That is the only way we will tant step forward to protect this coun- stay on track and pay off the public try. CALLING FOR A FREEZE ON debt. We have paid down over half a f FURTHER TAX CUTS trillion dollars in debt already. Let us TANF REAUTHORIZATION (Mr. DEFAZIO asked and was given pay off the rest as soon as we can. permission to address the House for 1 f (Mrs. MINK of Hawaii asked and was minute.) given permission to address the House Mr. DEFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, there WELFARE BILL REAUTHORIZATION for 1 minute and to revise and extend will be a unique opportunity today to (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given her remarks.) do more than pass a birthday resolu- permission to address the House for 1 Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, tion for President Reagan. Students of minute and to revise and extend her re- this year we will be working on the re- history will remember that massive marks.) authorization of the Temporary Assist- tax cuts passed in the first year of Ms. WOOLSEY. Over 30 years ago, ance for Needy Families, known as President Ronald Reagan’s term. Just 1 Mr. Speaker, I was a single mom with TANF. It was a rewrite of the welfare year later, as deficits began to grow, three small children, and even though I law that we had previously enacted President Reagan showed his mettle by was working, I needed AFDC, welfare, called Aid to Dependent Children. One joining with a Republican Senate and a to add to my income for health care, of the major differences of the two con- Democratic House to pass into law the child care and food stamps.