E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 109 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 151 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005 No. 62 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, ABUSE OF POWER IN CONGRESS The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (Mr. INSLEE asked and was given Coughlin, offered the following prayer: f permission to address the House for 1 Children all across this country join minute and to revise and extend his re- us as we pray today. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER marks.) Lord God, again we pray for the pro- PRO TEMPORE Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, the long tection of the Nation’s Capitol and the The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. string of abuse of power is continuing prevention of any terrorist attack upon LATHAM). The Chair will entertain 10 in the U.S. Congress, most unfortu- this land. one-minute speeches on each side. nately. The most recent of this long We also praise and thank You, Lord, string of abuses of power is we will see for the Capitol Police, the medical f an attempt in the U.S. Senate next staff, and all who worked at the or- HONORING FLORENCE NIGHTIN- week to strip Americans of a protec- derly evacuation of this honored place GALE AND OUR NATION’S tion, a protection against the tyranny yesterday. NURSES of the majority, by eliminating the Preserve our liberty, free us from long, 2-century-long right to a fili- fear, and grant us triumph over every (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given buster in the United States Senate, a evil. permission to address the House for 1 bastion of democracy. Throughout our history, You have minute and to revise and extend his re- We already have one House of Rep- called forth leaders. Bless now the marks.) resentatives. We do not need another women and men who assemble as the Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, it is one. We need the ability to have the 109th Congress of the United States of May 12, and May 12 is a special day be- checks and balances in the U.S. Senate. America. Help them to know what is cause that is the day that the lady And this is not a matter of academic right and enable them to make choices with the lamp, Florence Nightingale, pursuit. that will unite the Nation, both in was born in 1820. Florence Nightingale, Last night, I was in the Mall walking prosperity and moral integrity. the founder of modern nursing, the quite late at night and I saw a group of May they truly represent the needs woman who found that cleanliness and folks from New Jersey who had driven and the genius of the people they serve. hygiene had an effect on wound heal- all the way down from New Jersey and May they prove by their actions their ing, actually helped wound healing and at this moment are filibustering on the personal strength of character and transformed military medicine back in Mall against the efforts in the Senate faith in You, our God and Father of all. the 1800s. to remove this basic checks and bal- Amen. This day is also the last day of Na- ances. They drove what they called the tional Nurses Week, and nursing tells f ‘‘Filibus.’’ Well, we should not have to us over and over again what we all in have a ‘‘Filibus’’ to stand up for the THE JOURNAL this Congress need to know: it is time American concept of checks and bal- The SPEAKER. The Chair has exam- to value health. We cannot afford to ances. These abuses of power should ined the Journal of the last day’s pro- simply pay for disease any longer. stop. The U.S. Senate should maintain ceedings and announces to the House The American Nurses Association is this American tradition of a filibuster his approval thereof. working to chart a new course for a for the right time and for the right rea- Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- healthy Nation that relies on the in- sons. creasing delivery of primary and pre- nal stands approved. f f ventive health care and a renewed em- phasis on primary and preventive MARIETTA, GEORGIA PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE health care that will require better uti- SUPPLEMENTAL PENSION PLAN The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman lization of our Nation’s resources. (Mr. PRICE of Georgia asked and was from New Jersey (Mr. PALLONE) come Professional nursing has been dem- given permission to address the House forward and lead the House in the onstrated to be an indispensable com- for 1 minute.) Pledge of Allegiance. ponent for the safety and quality of Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, Mr. PALLONE led the Pledge of Alle- care of hospitalized patients. in 1981 as the Social Security system giance as follows: Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride was on the verge of collapse, many cit- I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the that I recognize the Nation’s 2.7 mil- ies and counties decided to opt out of United States of America, and to the Repub- lion registered nurses. the Social Security system. My own 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. H3201 . VerDate Aug 04 2004 00:42 May 13, 2005 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A12MY7.000 H12PT1 H3202 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE May 12, 2005 district, the city of Marietta, Georgia, minute and to revise and extend his re- Lukashenko, rules this country took the opportunity; and the results marks.) through a combination of intimidation serve as a model for the tremendous Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, I would and fear. He is suppressing the voices potential of personal retirement ac- like to point out that we are experi- and rights of the Belarusian people as counts. encing a growing economy in this they watch their neighbors in Georgia Rather than collecting 1.5 percent country, a growing economy which cre- and Ukraine rise up and take back from Social Security like the rest of ates jobs. Figures just released show their countries and emerge as thriving us, Marietta city employees have per- that 274,000 additional jobs were cre- democracies. sonal accounts with yearly rates of re- ated in this economy this last month. As President Bush said in his visit to turn ranging from 3 to 20 percent. That is 274,000 families that are better Riga, Latvia, ‘‘All the nations that The results go far beyond the rates of off because they are working. They border Russia will benefit from the return. Employees’ paychecks are high- have also revised the figures to show spread of democratic values, and so er than the surrounding cities because that 93,000 additional jobs were created will Russia itself. Together, we have only 6.1 percent is taken out of their in February and March. set a firm and confident standard. Re- paychecks, as opposed to 12.4 percent. I participated in a needs assessment pression has no place on this con- Think it does not get any better? in Midland, Texas, back in the early tinent.’’ Well, it does. 1990s, a process about figuring out what I have had the privilege of meeting Employees are continually educated was going on within those commu- with the opposition party representa- about the program, the choices that nities. We came up with the top 10 tives from Belarus several times. It is they have, and how the company ad- needs that the folks in Midland, Texas, inspiring to see these men and women ministering their pensions makes deci- told them about. Nine of those top 10 from every political ideology come to- sions. Because of this education pro- needs would have been positively im- gether with a unified goal, to let the gram, employees are allowed to direct pacted by a job. And so we have now Belarusian people decide for them- where their money goes depending on created 274,000 jobs. selves who should lead their country, the rates of return and their personal The economy grew at 3.1 percent dur- rather than have it forced upon them goals. ing the first quarter of this year. We by Lukashenko’s regime. Mr. Speaker, the tremendous poten- continue to experience a growing econ- As co-chairman of the House Baltic tial of personal retirement accounts omy led by the pro-growth policies of Caucus, it is my hope that the United has been realized by some in my dis- this administration and this House and States Congress will stand with our trict. Let us hope the rest of the coun- this Senate. friends in Eastern Europe and support try is able to realize the true benefits f all efforts to bring democracy, free- of personal retirement accounts some dom, and the rule of law to this part of REPUBLICAN ABUSE OF POWER time soon. the world. f (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was f WE ARE A NATION AT WAR given permission to address the House for 1 minute.) REPUBLICAN ABUSES OF POWER (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, (Ms. LEE asked and was given per- permission to address the House for 1 Senate Republicans are preparing to mission to address the House for 1 minute.) blow up 200 years of tradition in the Mr.