Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 110 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION

E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 110 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 154 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2008 No. 56 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER minute and to revise and extend his re- Dr. Carey D. Froelich, First Baptist The SPEAKER. The Chair will enter- marks.) Church, Baytown, Texas, offered the tain up to 15 requests for 1-minute Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, free speech is following prayer: speeches on each side of the aisle. under attack again. This time the so- Holy and Gracious God, we bow be- called U.N. Human Rights Council f fore You in wonder and gratitude that passed a resolution encouraging the You care about the affairs of mankind. REPORT INDICATES POLITICAL criminalization of freedom of expres- Thank You for offering divine counsel OBSTACLES AND UNLIKELY FU- sion by the U.N. chief spokesman on and wisdom to these men and women TURE PROGRESS IN IRAQ speech. Egypt and Pakistan proposed to whom You have granted the privi- (Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and the anti-speech resolution. What it lege of governing. was given permission to address the does is promote specific criminal re- Loving Father, empower each Mem- House for 1 minute.) strictions on individuals in the world ber of this noble body with a vision of Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam who criticize or make negative com- the common good. May the dynamic of Speaker, today House committees will ments about Islam. partisan debate unify them in their re- hear from General Petraeus and Am- According to the International World solve to serve our Nation as a whole. bassador Crocker about the supposed Tribune, ‘‘Muslim countries have been Grant to each participant the capacity progress being made in Iraq and the demanding world limits on free speech and the courage to discern truth, to need to keep 140,000 U.S. troops there ever since a Danish magazine published feel compassion, to recognize justice, indefinitely. As we listen to this testi- those not-so-flattering cartoons of Mo- and to act with integrity. mony, it is important to remember hammad.’’ So now the U.N. Human Lord, I pray that every servant in what our Nation’s true goals are and Rights Council wants to limit the this House will recognize Your pres- what true, lasting security actually human rights of free speech and reli- ence in this great Hall, and that all means. gious discourse. Of course, this limit will experience the full measure of A new report out this week from the only applies to those who criticize one Your blessing as they conduct the af- same experts who advised the non- specific religion, Islam. Muslims are fairs of our great Nation. partisan Independent Iraq Study Group still permitted to bash Christians, Jews I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, concludes that political progress in and Hindus. the Wonderful Counselor upon whose Iraq is at best ‘‘slow, halting and su- Free speech cannot be limited be- shoulders the burden of governance has perficial,’’ and political fragmentation cause some group doesn’t like what always rested. Amen. is ‘‘so pronounced’’ that we are no clos- somebody says. That is what free f er to leaving Iraq than we were a year speech means. The Human Rights THE JOURNAL ago. The experts predict that it could Council was wrong when it surrendered to the Muslim speech police and passed The SPEAKER. The Chair has exam- take at least 5 to 10 years to produce this speech control resolution that ad- ined the Journal of the last day’s pro- any real, measurable political rec- vocates the criminalization of criti- ceedings and announces to the House onciliation. cism of Islam. her approval thereof. Madam Speaker, I would hope that Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- President Bush would read this new re- And that’s just the way it is. nal stands approved. port so that he could see how people f outside his administration are viewing CONGRESS MUST TAKE ACTION TO f the situation in Iraq. Such sobering END THE WAR IN IRAQ PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE and nonpartisan assessment should The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman serve as a wake-up call that we should (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given from South Carolina (Mr. INGLIS) come not leave 140,000 troops in Iraq indefi- permission to address the House for 1 forward and lead the House in the nitely while the Iraqis are doing vir- minute.) Pledge of Allegiance. tually nothing to live up to their prom- Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, the Mr. INGLIS led the Pledge of Alle- ises. President’s representative from the giance as follows: f military is on Capitol Hill urging us to continue to stay in Iraq, telling us to I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the UNITED NATIONS SPEECH POLICE United States of America, and to the Repub- wait, don’t leave. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, (Mr. POE asked and was given per- What are we waiting for, until the indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mission to address the House for 1 cost of the war reaches $6 trillion, so 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. H2073 . VerDate Aug 31 2005 03:01 Jun 26, 2008 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 J:\CRONLINE\2008BA~2\2008NE~2\H09AP8.REC H09AP8 mmaher on PROD1PC76 with CONG-REC-ONLINE H2074 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE April 9, 2008 that our American economy goes to- the Broward County School District in BAD JOB NUMBERS SHOW THE tally bust, so that we don’t have any Florida for leading the Nation in Na- NEED FOR A SECOND ECONOMIC more money for education or health tional Board Certified Teachers. Cur- STIMULUS PACKAGE care or housing? rently, Broward County has a total of (Mr. WILSON of Ohio asked and was What are we waiting for, for the cas- 1,307 National Board Certified Teach- given permission to address the House ualties to get to 10,000 or 20,000 deaths ers, up 270 teachers from last year. for 1 minute.) of our service men and women? This is truly a testament to the dedica- What are we waiting for, for America tion of teachers in Broward County to Mr. WILSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, to stand alone against the world? improving the quality of education in American families are facing real hard- It is time that we take a new direc- their classrooms. ships as news of the slowing economy tion. It is time that Congress regain its National Board Certified Teachers continues to make headlines. The lat- rightful role as a coequal branch of are among the most advanced and est troubles came with the release of government. It is not appropriate for highly qualified teachers in our coun- the March job numbers, the fact that leaders in Congress to say, well, it is try. By pursuing this high degree of 80,000 people lost their jobs last month. the administration’s fault that the war certification, the teachers of Broward This was not only the third straight continues, when in fact we have the au- County have demonstrated their com- month of job losses, but it also was the thority to cut off funds. mitment to elevating and improving worst in the last 5 years. Congress must take a strong stand instruction in their schools. They will Clearly, Washington must do more to and say no more funding; end the war, also join the tens of thousands of other stimulate the economy and assist mid- stop the occupation, close the bases, teachers from across the country in an dle-class families. Already this year, bring the troops home, set in motion effort to improve student achievement working in a bipartisan way, the an international peacekeeping and se- nationwide. Democratic Congress enacted an eco- curity force that comes in as our I strongly believe that teachers have nomic stimulus package that will give troops leave, work for a program of one of the most difficult and thankless families in real need relief by providing reconciliation between the Shiites, the jobs in America. However, the work recovery rebates starting this next Sunnis, and the Kurds, work for a pro- they do is so critical to the success of month, raising loan limits for mort- gram of repatriations, and stop trying our future generations. gages, and backing the Federal Hous- to control the oil of Iraq. As a parent, I would like to person- ing Administration. f ally thank the teachers of Broward This is a good start, but it can’t be County for their dedication to the the end of our efforts to reverse the BMW PROVIDING ECONOMIC teaching profession. The knowledge SUCCESS IN SOUTH CAROLINA negative impact of 7 years of failed and skills that they have developed in economic policies. (Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina asked earning this certification will benefit Mr. Speaker, we did earlier this year and was given permission to address students for generations to come. what Democrats need to do, and that is the House for 1 minute.) I would also like to congratulate the pursue commonsense solutions to what Mr.

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