E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 110 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 153 WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2007 No. 11 Senate The Senate was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Monday, January 22, 2007, at 1 p.m. House of Representatives FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2007 The House met at 10 a.m. and was PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE weather patterns to change. Think called to order by the Speaker pro tem- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Will the about what we have seen in the last pore (Mr. ROSS). gentleman from New York (Mr. WALSH) few weeks alone: snow in Los Angeles, billions of dollars in damage to Cali- f come forward and lead the House in the Pledge of Allegiance. fornia citrus crops because of a freeze. DESIGNATION OF THE SPEAKER Mr. WALSH of New York led the The burning of fossil fuels has con- PRO TEMPORE Pledge of Allegiance as follows: tributed to erratic weather. Last year, we had the warmest weather in the The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Repub- United States continent in 112 years. fore the House the following commu- Now, instead of separating the world nication from the Speaker: lic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. with our politics, it is imperative that HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, we bring the world together to meet Washington, DC, January 19, 2007. f the challenge of global climate change. I hereby appoint the Honorable MIKE ROSS ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER I am hopeful that in his State of the to act as Speaker pro tempore on this day. PRO TEMPORE Union Address next week, the Presi- NANCY PELOSI, dent is going to take a direction to do Speaker of the House of Representatives. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The that. Chair will entertain up to 10 one- f minute requests on each side. f PRAYER f OUTRAGE ON THE BORDER (Mr. POE asked and was given per- The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. LET’S COME TOGETHER FOR mission to address the House for 1 Coughlin, offered the following prayer: AMERICA America has put her trust in the love minute.) God has for us and has shown us (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, on the deso- throughout our history. permission to address the House for 1 late Arizona-Mexico board last week, a Those who live in such love live in minute and to revise and extend his re- border agent was apprehending seven God, and God lives in them. marks.) illegals when a fight broke out at the So let us love one another. For then Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, assum- scene. The border agent shot one of the the love that comes from God living in ing we get there, how strange the poli- illegals. The Mexican Government, in us will reach out to a waiting world tics of today will seem to future gen- its self-righteous arrogance and with- and all will be drawn in to love both erations. Here we are debating whether out knowing any of the facts, has al- now and forever. Amen. to send more troops into a nation we ready condemned the border agent. are already illegally occupying for oil. President Calderon, like Generalis- f Here we are contemplating the U.S. in- imo Fox before him, is partly respon- vading another nation, Iran. I wonder sible for this incident. Why? Because THE JOURNAL if we would be having that discussion if his government encourages illegals to The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Iran did not have a tremendous amount sneak into America. The blood of the Chair has examined the Journal of the of oil. dead is on the hands of the Mexican last day’s proceedings and announces All around us we are in conflict be- Government. to the House his approval thereof. cause we are addicted to oil. Our en- Meanwhile, back in Texas, a criminal Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- ergy consumption choices are causing illegal from Mexico, having been de- nal stands approved. global warming which is causing ported several times, is charged with 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. H761 . VerDate Aug 31 2005 01:30 Jan 20, 2007 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0636 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A19JA7.000 H19JAPT1 hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMHOUSE H762 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE January 19, 2007 the murder of a Houston police officer form over substance. In just 2 weeks, 6,000 square mile area, that is nearly by shooting him in the back. Don’t they have passed a watered-down 9/11 100 times larger than the District of hear much outrage and protest from Commission recommendations pack- Columbia, my colleagues, will now be President Calderon on this case. Why age, killed working-class jobs by im- protected with no backup and by as few not? President Calderon needs to quit posing an unfunded mandate upon as 20 officers. blaming the U.S. for problems he is re- small businesses, limited choice in Klamath County, Oregon, is no sponsible for in Mexico because his health care by forcing the government stranger to hardship nor to hard work; people are fleeing Mexico’s third-world to fix prices and decrease the avail- however, they had to endure much of environment. He needs to quit encour- ability of medicines for seniors, pulled both in the past few years because the aging illegals to go to America. He a bait-and-switch by misrepresenting Federal Government keeps breaking its needs to quit making his problem our their promise to cut student loan inter- commitment to this rural community. problem; otherwise, more Americans est rates while offering no real relief to As Al Switzer, Klamath County com- and Mexicans will continue to die on students; and finally, amazingly, fos- missioner says: ‘‘These are America’s the border. tered greater reliance on foreign oil by forests; they just happen to be in And that’s just the way it is. raising taxes on domestic oil produc- Klamath County.’’ f tion and exploration. It is time for Congress to reauthorize The American people know the dif- the Secure Rural Schools and Commu- SINN FEIN’S ARD COMHAIRLE ference between campaign rhetoric and nity Self-Determination Act, keep VOTE ON POLICING good policy, and they demand that the faith with rural schools and counties, (Mr. NEAL Massachusetts asked and majority honor an open, honest and and keep the word of the Federal Gov- was given permission to address the fair legislative process, one that pro- ernment to timbered communities. duces positive, principled and bipar- House for 1 minute and to revise and f extend his remarks.) tisan solutions. The American people Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. expect no less and deserve more than DEMOCRATS WORK ON BEHALF OF Speaker, last Saturday in Dublin, the has been delivered so far. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, NOT national executive of Sinn Fein voted f THE SPECIAL INTERESTS in favor of holding a special Ard Fheis 100-HOUR AGENDA IS A GREAT (Mr. SIRES asked and was given per- on January 28 to vote on a motion sup- SUCCESS mission to address the House for 1 porting police and the rule of law. minute.) For those who remain committed to (Mr. ALTMIRE asked and was given Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, for too long lasting peace and reconciliation on the permission to address the House for 1 the American people have been paying island of Ireland, bringing this peace minute.) for the cost of corruption here in Wash- Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, during process to a successful conclusion, it ington, whether it be skyrocketing the Democrats’ 100-hour agenda, the was a development that would have prices at the pump last summer, or spi- House overwhelmingly passed six bills been unimaginable just 10 years ago. raling prescription drug costs. Demo- that are going to make a real impact On both sides of the Irish Sea, the de- crats vowed to wrestle power of this in- on the lives of everyday Americans. We cision by Sinn Fein was welcomed as stitution away from special interest have done what we said we are going to historic and important. The Taoiseach lobbyists who have been running it for do and what the American people want- of Ireland, Bertie Ahern, called it a the last 6 years. ed to us do, and most important, we did landmark and timely decision. The Democrats began to restore faith in it in a strong bipartisan fashion. British Secretary of State for the Sixty-eight Republicans joined us in Congress when we reformed our rules North, Peter Hain, called it a hugely implementing the 9/11 Commission rec- to prevent the kind of lobbying scan- significant move of seismic propor- ommendations; 82 Republicans joined dals that have become commonplace tions. us in raising the minimum wage for the during much of the past 6 years. Mr. Speaker, as someone who has first time in 10 years; and 124 Repub- We then began to fix some of the laws been involved in this process for three licans joined us in cutting in half the that were written and passed in the decades, I would describe the action by interest rates on student loans.