Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 108 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
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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 108 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 150 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 No. 106 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was In the name of our Lord and Saviour dren and their families, and has worked called to order by the Speaker pro tem- Jesus Christ, grant us the ability to to ensure that we protect the sanctity pore (Mrs. BIGGERT). think and act in truth, with justice and of life as an example to each and every f mercy. Amen. one of us. We begin each day of legislative ses- DESIGNATION OF THE SPEAKER f sion with a prayer, and I am thankful PRO TEMPORE THE JOURNAL that on this day Reverend Jones could The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The join us as we begin our work. fore the House the following commu- Chair has examined the Journal of the nication from the Speaker: last day’s proceedings and announces f WASHINGTON, DC, to the House her approval thereof. September 9, 2004. Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER I hereby appoint the Honorable JUDY nal stands approved. PRO TEMPORE BIGGERT to act as Speaker pro tempore on f The SPEAKER pro tempore. The this day. Chair will entertain up to ten 1-minute J. DENNIS HASTERT, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Speaker of the House of Representatives. speeches on each side. f The SPEAKER pro tempore. Will the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. f PRAYER BEAUPREZ) come forward and lead the SALUTING THE LAMAR LITTLE The Reverend David O. Jones, Head- House in the Pledge of Allegiance. LEAGUE ALL-STARS master, Heritage Covenant Schools, Mr. BEAUPREZ led the Pledge of Al- Franklin, Tennessee, offered the fol- legiance as follows: (Mr. DeLAY asked and was given per- lowing prayer: I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the mission to address the House for 1 Lord God Almighty, we rejoice in United States of America, and to the Repub- minute and to revise and extend his re- You, that Your word is truth, that You lic for which it stands, one nation under God, marks.) are faithful in all Your works, that indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. DELAY. Madam Speaker, I rise You love righteousness and justice. f today to congratulate the Lamar Na- By Your word the heavens and the tional League All-Stars of Richmond, WELCOMING THE REVEREND Earth were created. You formed man Texas. I congratulate them on their DAVID O. JONES out of the dust and set him, both male magnificent performance in the Little and female, to carry Your image. You (Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was League World Series this year. have fashioned our hearts individually, given permission to address the House I want to thank Jim Michalek, the and You look upon the inhabitants of for 1 minute and to revise and extend team’s manager, not only for leading the Earth and You have blessed us. her remarks.) the Lamar All-Stars to Williamsport But, Lord, in our rebellion we insist Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, for the second straight year, but for on trusting in our own purposes and today I want to thank the Reverend doing it the right way, by teaching his works. Father, forgive us. We do not David O. Jones of Franklin, Tennessee, players the fundamentals of baseball realize the gravity of our sin or the de- for joining us to deliver the opening and of teamwork and sportsmanship. If struction wrought by our pride. prayer for this day of session in the he keeps this up, I would not be sur- As we are confronted with the anni- U.S. House of Representatives. prised to hear the Astros want him in versary of the horrors of the 11th of As we near the third anniversary of their dugout next year. September, 2001, give us an assurance the September 11 attacks on America, Mr. Michalek and his coaches, of Your grace and mercy. Allow us the it is more important than ever that we Tommy Abraham and Bobby Murski, ability to know the presence of Your continue to seek the guidance of our gave more than their time and energy Holy Spirit. And for every victim of creator. to this team. They gave themselves to terrorism, both civilian and military, Reverend Jones has a long and distin- it, and the character the boys dis- and their families, grant healing and guished history of dedication to his played during their tournament run peace. faith and to his community. He is a showed the Houston community and With the Psalmist we pray, Lord, be pioneer in the home-school movement our Nation once again that there is no our strength, our defense, our refuge in who has made a real difference in the substitute in a boy’s life for the strong the day of trouble. lives of thousands of Tennessee chil- influence of good men. 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. H6903 . VerDate Aug 04 2004 02:01 Sep 10, 2004 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A09SE7.000 H09PT1 H6904 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 9, 2004 I want to thank them for their dedi- curity cost-of-living adjustment. At Madam Speaker, the second amend- cation and example. the same time, Medicare itself is shov- ment to the United States Constitution As for the players, Joey Scheurich, eling an additional $46 billion to man- allows individuals to own firearms. The Dustin Moehlig, Chance Murski, Ste- aged-care companies so that they can question is, where do we draw the line? phen Michalek, Tyler Ford, Steven push seniors into HMOs. Should people be allowed to have Crawford, Cody Abraham, Ray This is just another example of how shoulder-fired rocket launchers that Cervenka, Randal Grichuk, Christian the Bush administration puts the in- down airplanes? Of course not. Well, DeLeon, Matt Daniels and Daniel terests of the drug and insurance com- you do not need a 20-round-a-minute Homann, well, I am certainly glad panies over our seniors’ interests. They assault weapon to take down a deer. these young men are from my district. passed a bill, written by the drug com- Madam Speaker, I ask the House Re- They did Richmond and Fort Bend panies, that prevented Medicare from publican leadership to allow this Con- County proud this year, and I am hon- negotiating lower drug prices for sen- gress to allow us to vote on whether we ored to represent them and their fami- iors and blocking reimportation from should extend the assault weapons ban lies in Washington. Canada. The bill pushes seniors out of or should we just, because they will not It is often said that sports teach kids traditional Medicare and puts them at let us vote, have it expire. The assault important lessons about life. Well, the tender mercies of the HMOs. weapons ban works. Since it went into Madam Speaker, I think the Lamar To sum up this President’s Medicare effect, these crimes have gone down 66 All-Stars taught us a thing or two this policy: seniors pay higher premiums percent. year. Throughout their season, they and higher drug costs so Medicare can f modeled the virtues of hard work, per- give more money to HMOs and the drug companies. GUARANTEEING A BRIGHTER FU- sistence, courage and determination. TURE BY PREVAILING IN THE Their amazing performance this sum- f WAR ON TERROR mer is a testament to their talent, cer- REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11 (Mr. BEAUPREZ asked and was given tainly, but, most of all, a testament to (Mr. PITTS asked and was given per- permission to address the House for 1 their character. mission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his re- I offer every player, coach, parent minute and to revise and extend his re- marks.) and friend who followed the Lamar All- marks.) Mr. BEAUPREZ. Madam Speaker, on Stars this year my congratulations for Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, on Sep- September 11, 2001, America rallied their success, and, more importantly, tember 11, 2001, some 3,000 innocent around the Stars and Stripes as we my thanks for their example. men, women and children were killed have never before seen. From down- f in an act of war, including 30 from my town Manhattan to the streets of my RISE IN MEDICARE PREMIUMS home State of Pennsylvania. This hometown in Colorado, Americans CATASTROPHIC EVENT FOR SEN- weekend we will honor the memory and shared their pain and support by rais- IORS redevote ourselves to defeating the evil ing the flag. And in our flag we found that killed them. (Mr. BERRY asked and was given our strength and resolve. We should never forget why they Today, America is safer than ever be- permission to address the House for 1 died, for no other reason but that they fore, in large part because we did not minute and to revise and extend his re- were Americans, because the agents of yield to those terrorists who lacked hu- marks.) evil believe that they can bully us and manity and virtue. Mr. BERRY. Madam Speaker, I re- change our policies by murdering inno- Our selfless soldiers continue to fight member in 1995 when the leadership on cent people.