Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 107 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 107 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 148 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 No. 112 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. and was cury in the environment by limiting the use Massoud was already a legend. His called to order by the Speaker pro tem- of mercury fever thermometers and improv- courage and wisdom served his own pore (Mr. DAN MILLER of Florida). ing the collection and proper management of people well. It also inspired freedom- mercury, and for other purposes. f loving people throughout the world, f and let me admit to that I was one of DESIGNATION OF THE SPEAKER those who was inspired by Commander PRO TEMPORE MORNING HOUR DEBATES Massoud. It was my honor to have com- The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- municated with him over the years as fore the House the following commu- ant to the order of the House of Janu- well as to go and meet him in Afghani- nication from the Speaker: ary 23, 2002, the Chair will now recog- stan about 5 years ago, meet him in WASHINGTON, DC, nize Members from lists submitted by one of his mountain retreats, one of his September 9, 2002. the majority and minority leaders for mountain holdouts, and strategize with I hereby appoint the Honorable DAN MIL- morning hour debates. The Chair will LER to act as Speaker pro tempore on this him on how to free Afghanistan from day. alternate recognition between the par- the grip of the Taliban. J. DENNIS HASTERT, ties, with each party limited to not to Commander Massoud, along with the Speaker of the House of Representatives. exceed 30 minutes, and each Member other leaders of the resistance against f except the majority leader, the minor- Soviet occupation, leaders like Abdul ity leader or the minority whip limited MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE Haq, were heroes in the truest sense of to not to exceed 5 minutes. the word. Massoud was never defeated A message from the Senate by Mr. The Chair recognizes the gentleman by those Soviet troops during the long MONAHAN, one of its clerks, announced from California (Mr. ROHRABACHER) for battle for Afghanistan. It is unfortu- that the Senate has passed with an 5 minutes. nate that after the Soviets were de- amendment in which the concurrence f feated that chaos and a lack of support of the House is requested, a bill of the from Afghanistan’s Western friends House of the following title: HONORING COMMANDER MASSOUD prevented Massoud and others from H.R. 5010. An act making appropriations Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, unifying and democratizing their coun- for the Department of Defense for the fiscal today is the first anniversary of the year ending September 30, 2003, and for other try. Americans can be proud, however, purposes. murder of Commander Massoud, a lead- that we helped Commander Massoud The message also announced that the er of the anti-Taliban forces in north- and the Afghan freedom fighters, peo- Senate insists upon its amendment to ern Afghanistan. Two days before the ple like Abdul Haq, as I say, in their the bill (H.R. 5010) ‘‘An Act making ap- attack on the United States, bin fight to thwart Soviet aggression, but propriations for the Department of De- Laden’s terrorists, posing as journal- we should be ashamed that we walked fense for the fiscal year ending Sep- ists, killed Commander Massoud. They away after that great victory and left tember 30, 2003, and for other pur- blew him up. The Taliban and the al them with no resources to rebuild their poses.’’ requests a conference with the Qaeda were free from their most effec- country. House on the disagreeing votes of the tive opponent, and the world lost a It is also sad that the United States, two Houses thereon, and appoints Mr. champion. under President Clinton’s leadership, INOUYE, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. BYRD, Mr. Those of us who dedicated ourselves never provided Massoud or the other LEAHY, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. to eliminating communism from this freedom fighters what they needed to DURBIN, Mr. REID, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. world know what a great debt that we prevent the tyranny of the Taliban KOHL, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. owe to Commander Massoud. It was his from dominating Afghanistan. But as SPECTER, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. BOND, Mr. courage, his tenacity and skills in bat- we know, Commander Massoud was MCCONNELL, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. GREGG, tle that played an indispensable role in able to stand like a giant. Like the So- and Mrs. HUTCHISON to the conferees on the outcome of that global fight be- viet troops before them, the Taliban the part of the Senate. tween good and evil known as the Cold were never able to defeat Commander The message also announced that the War. Massoud. Senate has passed a bill of the fol- I first began communications with Today as we try to rebuild a peaceful lowing title in which the concurrence Commander Massoud when he sent his Afghanistan where people can raise of the House is requested: brother to see me when I worked at the their families and live without fear, S. 351. An act to amend the Solid Waste White House in the 1980s under Ronald Commander Massoud is sorely missed. Disposal Act to reduce the quantity of mer- Reagan. At that time Commander Although he made mistakes, and all 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. H6087 . VerDate Sep 04 2002 02:27 Sep 10, 2002 Jkt 099061 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A09SE7.000 H09PT1 H6088 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 9, 2002 leaders make mistakes and there were telecommunications. I am urging my FCC, at some unknown future date, es- some judgments, of course, things that colleagues to support a bill that I in- tablishes its right to deliver those li- happened that were not absolutely all troduced to eliminate impediments censes. totally correct, this is the real world, that restrict the ability of certain Now, I think, as the Wall Street but by and large Commander Massoud, wireless telecommunication providers Journal points out, this is grossly un- one can say of his life, he fought for to, I think, meet the urgent need of the fair to those who bid on these licenses the right. He was a major force for consumers. The bill has bipartisan sup- and did so in good faith. Companies good. But as we remember him today port and the support of the Sub- calibrate their bids on the under- on the first anniversary of his death, committee on Telecommunications and standing of the auction, implicit in any let us commit ourselves to his vision of the Internet on which I serve. commercial arrangement, that the de- a free, prosperous, and more peaceful I am pleased, Mr. Speaker, that a re- livery of the licenses will occur in a Afghanistan. And in achieving this we cent editorial in the Wall Street Jour- reasonable time following these auc- will assure that Commander Massoud nal supports my actions on this mat- tions. That expectation is especially will never be defeated. ter, and I will be providing the Wall crucial in the context of spectrum li- One year ago, upon hearing of Com- Street editorial to be made a part of censes. Given the recent volatility we mander Massoud’s death, and as I say, the RECORD and part of my speech. have seen in the market prices for it was an assassination that took place The affected providers are the suc- spectrum, we can understand that 1 year ago today, 2 days before Sep- cessful bidders for wireless spectrum there would be some action by the FCC tember 11, I went into a state of shock. that the Federal Communications after the auction. It was like taking the breath right out Commission auctioned off in Auction Moreover, it is particularly burden- of my lungs. But after regaining my No. 35. Some of the spectrum had pre- some to some companies to have the composure, I realized, yes, my friend viously been licensed to companies, in- FCC hold even a small portion of their had been assassinated, but I realized cluding NextWave Personal Commu- enormous downpayment without any that those who killed Massoud had a nications, whose bankruptcy filings, interest on these amounts. It is not purpose. They meant to attack the and subsequent failure to pay amounts done in the private sector; it should United States and were eliminating the due to the FCC for their licenses, led to not be done in the government. They person that we would turn to to rally the cancellation of those licenses. The are paying no interest on these depos- the people of Afghanistan and lead a FCC subsequently reclaimed the li- its for extended periods of time. counterattack against the Taliban. censes and reauctioned them off in In addition, winning bidders are obli- That meant that an attack on the Auction No. 35 for about $16 billion. gated, as I mentioned, on very short United States was imminent. In June 2001, the D.C. Circuit held that ‘‘the notice to pay the remaining $16 billion I called the White House and asked Commission violated the provision of the they bid for the license at issue.