H3568 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE June 1, 2004 ‘‘Warmest regards to you, your fam- wick County, which I am proud to rep- ORDER OF BUSINESS ily and staff. resent. Beautiful and historic Bruns- Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speak- ‘‘Out of the 50-plus emails you’ve re- wick County is the birthplace of the er, I ask unanimous consent that I ceived so far from me, here’s one you’ll world-famous Brunswick stew and is take my Special Order at this time. genuinely enjoy reading, I suspect. now home to the Nation’s largest white The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there ‘‘Gratitude is the subject of my email oak tree. objection to the request of the gen- I am also proud to support H.R. 1775, to you today. Today, I was approved by tleman from Indiana? legislation sponsored by the gentleman Medicare for the $600-per-year low-in- There was no objection. come credit with relation to the Medi- from Virginia (Mr. GOODLATTE), my care prescription drug bill. Thank you, friend and fellow Virginian, which f the President, and the Republicans for would designate the oak tree as the na- THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SAD- assisting America’s poor and disabled tional tree of the United States. DAM HUSSEIN AND OSAMA BIN The meaningful history of the oak in this way. LADEN ‘‘Others merely want your attention. and magnificent trees such as that of We, however, need your attention. We Mr. and Mrs. Robinson make the oak The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a thank you for your hard work and long the logical choice for the national tree. previous order of the House, the gen- hours assisting us.’’ Long may the great Brunswick County tleman from Indiana (Mr. BURTON) is Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that white oak stand. recognized for 5 minutes. over 21,000 low-income seniors qualify f Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speak- for this $600 exemption in my district er, there has been a lot of concern over IT IS IMPORTANT FOR CONGRESS the past year or so about whether or alone. This constituent’s correspond- TO WORK TOGETHER ence is one example of the seniors who not Saddam Hussein was tied in with (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked are celebrating nationwide the ability Osama bin Laden and the terrorist net- and was given permission to address to have this program in effect this work and al Qaeda. the House for 1 minute and to revise week. There is an article in The Weekly and extend her remarks.) Standard this week called ‘‘The Con- f Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. nection,’’ and I would urge all of my SUPPORT THE CRANE-RANGEL Speaker, today, June 1, causes me to colleagues to read this article. It shows BILL reflect on two distinct and different oc- a picture of Saddam Hussein, Osama currences. (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was bin Laden, and some other terrorists First of all, we notice across the Na- on the front page of the magazine. The given permission to address the House tion senior citizens confused, not un- for 1 minute.) article is written by a gentleman derstanding and certainly not enrolling named Stephen Hayes, and it follows Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, in the so-called prescription drug President Bush came to northeast Ohio an article that was written in the Wall cards. We welcome our pharma- Street Journal last week, and I would to Youngstown last week again to try ceuticals to really work with this Con- to defend his economic program and like to read some information from the gress to produce a guaranteed Medicare two articles that I think verifies with- argue that it is working for Ohio. prescription drug benefit, what the sen- out much doubt that Saddam Hussein Ohio, since President Bush took of- iors have actually wanted for almost 10 and Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and fice, has lost one out of six manufac- years, in order for the seniors to truly other terrorist organizations were turing jobs and has lost 165,000 manu- get what they deserve, something they working together to try to destroy the facturing jobs overall. In fact, during can count on and something that United States and Western Civiliza- the Bush administration, there have works. been 200 jobs lost in Ohio every single It also causes me to reflect on the tion. day of the Bush administration. wonderful opportunity I had to visit Let me read from the Wall Street The President’s answer: more tax with the troops in Bagram Air Force Journal of May 27, 2004: cuts for the wealthy, hoping some of it Base in Afghanistan and on the USS ‘‘One striking bit of new evidence is will trickle down to the Ohio commu- George Washington. It says that the that the name of Ahmed Hikmat nity that is not working, and more political collapse that seems to be oc- Shakir appears on three captured ros- trade agreements, like NAFTA, that curring in Iraq is not the fault of our ters of officers in Saddam Fedayeen, continue to ship jobs overseas. soldiers, but bad political policies. the elite paramilitary group run by Mr. Speaker, the answer is not the It is important for Congress to work Saddam’s son Uday and entrusted with failed Bush economic policies, but in- together, to demand full investigations doing much of the regime’s dirty work. stead, the Crane-Rangel bill, which will of the ills that are occurring in Af- Our government sources, who have give incentives to those Ohio and ghanistan and Iraq in order to pay trib- seen translations of the documents, say American companies that do their ute to these hard-working soldiers Shakir is listed with the rank of lieu- manufacturing in this country instead every day on the front line. Let us not tenant colonel. This matters because if of giving big companies incentives to have the ills and the incompleteness of Shakir was an officer in the Fedayeen, ship jobs overseas. our political process undermine the it would establish a direct link between f tribute and the work that has been Iraq and the al Qaeda operatives who done by these fine outstanding United planned’’ the 9/11 attack on the World CELEBRATING THE OAK TREE States military. Trade Center and the Pentagon. (Mr. GOODE asked and was given f ‘‘Shakir was present at the January permission to address the House for 1 2000 al Qaeda ‘summit’ in Kuala minute and to revise and extend his re- SPECIAL ORDERS Lumpur, Malaysia, at which the 9/11 at- marks.) The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. tacks were planned. The U.S. has never Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, it is my MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida). Under been sure whether he was there on be- pleasure to announce that the National the Speaker’s announced policy of Jan- half of the Iraqi regime or whether he Register of Big Trees from the con- uary 7, 2003, and under a previous order was an Iraqi Islamicist who hooked up servation group American Forests has of the House, the following Members with al Qaeda on his own.’’ formally given the crown of the Na- will be recognized for 5 minutes each. The fact is he was an officer in the tion’s largest white oak tree, a quercus f elite military of Saddam. He worked alba, to the oak tree in front of The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a with his son Uday, and he was there Bothwick Hall in Brunswick County, previous order of the House, the gen- when they planned the attack on the Virginia. The national champion oak is tleman from Nebraska (Mr. OSBORNE) is World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 86 feet high, with a circumference of 26 recognized for 5 minutes. Further, the article goes on to say: feet, and a crown spread of 116 feet. (Mr. OSBORNE addressed the House. ‘‘The CIA has confirmed that al The great white oak belongs to His remarks will appear hereafter in Qaeda’s number 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, George and Mary Robinson from Bruns- the Extensions of Remarks.) met with Iraqi intelligence in Baghdad VerDate May 21 2004 03:23 Jun 02, 2004 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\K01JN7.057 H01PT1 June 1, 2004 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H3569 in 1992 and 1998. There is irrefutable sein, to leave the country after estab- A greeter typically meets VIPs upon ar- evidence that the Iraqi regime paid lishing frequent contact with leaders of rival and accompanies them through the Zawahiri $300,000 in 1998, around the Abu Sayyaf, an al Qaeda affiliate in sometimes onerous procedures of foreign Southeast Asia. This Iraqi official had travel. Shakir was instructed to work on time his Islamic jihad was merging January 5, 2000, and on that day, he escorted with al Qaeda. Four sources have con- contact with Abu Sayyaf immediately one Khalid al Mihdhar from his plane to a firmed the payment.’’ before and after they detonated a bomb waiting car. Rather than bid his guest fare- So here again is another connection. in Zamboanga city that killed two Fili- well at that point, as a greeter typically ‘‘Since Operating Enduring Freedom, pinos and an American Special Forces would have, Shakir climbed into the car with we have solid evidence Iraq and al soldier. al Mihdhar and accompanied him to the Qaeda discussed safe haven and recip- High ranking Czech officials have confirmed Kuala Lumpur condominium of Yazid rocal non-aggression.