Neil Abercrombie

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman----

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, I object.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Arc of Hilo and Lanakila for their hard work and dedication in improving the quality of life for people with developmental or other disabilities in Hawaii. I also want to pay tribute to the many achievements and contributions of Michael Gleason, the Arc of Hilo's executive director, and Marian Tsuji, President/CEO of Lanakila. The Arc of Hilo and Lanakila are a Javits-Wagner-O'Day Program (often referred to as JWOD), which provides job skills and training to those who are blind or who have other severe disabilities so they may earn good wages and benefits and gain a greater independence and the quality of life. Overall, the JWOD program empowers people with disabilities who traditionally face an unemployment rate of 70 percent and rely heavily on social support programs such as welfare and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The Arc of Hilo's mission is to improve the quality of life for people with developmental and other disabilities in Hawaii through educational, recreational, vocational, and skill training as well as employment and residential opportunities. Lanakila's mission is to offer programs and services for adults with cognitive, physical, social or age-related challenges that build and support higher levels of independence and an improved quality of life. By employing people who are blind or who have other severe disabilities, the Arc of Hilo and Lanakila are able to increase independence and self-esteem by helping these individuals enjoy full participation in their communities and market their JWOD skills to other public/private sector employers. Demonstrating an excellent federal-private sector partnership, NISH, NIB, and local nonprofits such as the Arc of Hilo and Lanakila enhance the opportunities for economic and personal independence of people who are blind or who have other severe disabilities, primarily through creating, sustaining, and improving employment. Through the JWOD program, the Arc of Hilo provides employment opportunities and training for 60 people with visual and other severe disabilities enabling them to lead more productive and meaningful lives, support their families, and gain important work experience. Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing the important contributions of the Arc of Hilo and Lanakila in the great aloha state of Hawaii. I commend all persons who are committed to and work towards enhancing employment opportunities for people with visual and other severe disabilities.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, I want to speak in favor of this. I have spent 15 years here trying to develop alternative sources of energy so we are not victimized by oil. We have a safe extractive method here with natural gas. We have encouraged it. We want to get to alternative energies. This is one of the alternative energies, and it has a direct effect on the working people of this country. I will tell my colleagues, I think this is a jobs issue. This is a blue collar issue. This is a family issue in terms of bringing down prices and getting a safe supply of fuel for this country. If we do not get into this kind of alternative, we are going to be struck forever in rhetoric and not being able to produce for our people, not just fuel but produce it in a way that is truly alternative and within the bounds of people's budgets. That is why we need to support this amendment.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) to recognize May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. As a member of the caucus' executive committee and the chairman of its Immigration Task Force, I want to honor the many achievements and contributions of the more than thirteen million Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in our country. Back in 1978, my friends and colleagues, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, former Senator Spark Matsunaga, former Representative Frank Horton and former Representative Norm Mineta helped establish the first 10 days of May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week. Subsequent efforts were made to extend the week-long celebration to a month-long event. In the 102nd Congress, I was an original cosponsor of legislation signed into law that designated May of each year as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. I am blessed to serve the First Congressional District of Hawaii which is comprised primarily of Asian Pacific Americans (APA). It's an inspiring and empowering sight for other APAs from around the country to see. I know I say this every year, but I feel that it needs to be repeated. There is a special strength and resilience embodied in Hawaii's unique cultural mix: we have chosen to be defined by our diversity rather than divided by our differences. That resolve to work together with Aloha can serve as an example to the rest of the country. While we can look at APA Heritage Month as a time to recognize and celebrate many individual accomplishments, we must also take action. My colleagues and I are committed to improving the lives of all APAs by working on issues of importance to our community, such as fighting to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities, defending civil liberties, protecting Social Security, and ensuring educational opportunities for our children. These are the principles that reflect this year's theme, ``Liberty and Freedom for All.'' This year's theme represents the past and ongoing contributions of APAs, such as Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink who dedicated her life to economic and social justice, Congressman Robert Matsui, who's internment experience during World War II helped shape his belief that every American is entitled to basic civil rights despite their ethnicity, and Japanese American soldiers who fought during World War II, such as Senator Daniel K. Inouye. Throughout our nation's history, APAs have made and continue to make major contributions in areas such as business, civil liberties, culture and arts, education, medicine, technology and politics. By the year 2050, there will be an estimated 33.4 million U.S. residents who will identify themselves as Asian alone, which will comprise 8 percent of the total population. This is a projected 213 percent increase of APAs between 2000 and 2050. These statistics reflect the growing significance of the APA community, its growing role in the development of public policy, and its cultural contributions that helps us to celebrate our diversities. I extend my heartfelt aloha to the APA community and look forward to celebrating APA Heritage Month.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. I will do that, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, this is a very, very big opportunity and challenge for us that I think we will be able to meet. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I might consume. Might I just say for the edification of my good friend, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), that when you take those two cans of Coke that you are talking about, just tell me whether the Diet Coke is cheaper than the other one that has sugar in it. I do not think so. You are not saving any money that way. That is not going to work. But I would be happy some other time perhaps to have a full blown discussion about this at another point. Chairman Dreier, Ranking Member Slaughter and the Members of the Committee on Rules. I offer this amendment to H.R. 6 with the hope of reducing our nation's reliance on oil and advancing our efforts in Hawaii to become more energy self- sufficient. This is philosophically consistent with other provisions of H.R. 6 encouraging energy production. My amendment authorizes a 3-year demonstration program for the production of ethanol from sugar cane in Hawaii. Specifically, $8.0 million would fund a $1.00 per gallon payment to refiners and 8.0 million gallons of ethanol fuel. This pilot program would parallel the existing corn program to show that the process can be applicable to cane sugar and can be replicated on a larger scale. Nationally, the sugar cane industry is currently formulating a program to process 700,000 tons of cane sugar into ethanol. With a large domestic surplus of sugar, and the possibility of additional imported sugar being allowed into the domestic market through free trade agreements, a program of such size would stabilize domestic markets and produce a significant volume of ethanol. This pilot project will provide invaluable insight on problems that may arise with a national program. The State of Hawaii has passed a law that goes into effect on April 1, 2006, mandating a 10 percent ethanol blend for gasoline consumption in the state. Oil refineries are building ethanol storage and blending facilities in anticipation of meeting the requirement. Locally produced ethanol would be less expensive than importing the estimated 45 million gallons of ethanol needed to fulfill the 10 percent requirement. Because of the relatively low domestic price of sugar, Hawaii producers for some time been considering and now planning ethanol production from the cane sugar that would otherwise have gone into the domestic sugar market. The State of Hawaii is prepared to take advantage of this within months. However, this amendment is also supported by the other sugar cane growers who would like to identify any problems that might result from the large scale production of sugar cane ethanol. This amendment was developed after the House Energy and Commerce Committee completed its markup but the amendment has been signed off by the majority side of the Energy Committee. I urge my colleagues to allow floor debate on this demonstration project and rule this amendment in order. Thank you very mush for your consideration. Mr. Chairman, I yield my remaining time to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case).

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. ABERCROMBIE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, I do not believe, if the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) would corroborate here, that there is going to be opposition to this amendment.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Well, he has not heard me speak yet.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, the sheer weight of logic plus our considerable mutual charm I think has some hope in that direction. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in favor of this amendment. Please allow me to say two things before I proceed. First, I want to express my gratitude to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) and to the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) and their committee staffs. Believe me, a lot of work went into this in the midst of all of the other pressures of various other items that were before them. This means a great deal. In every one of these bills, particularly in this energy bill, people have things to which they are deeply committed, including my good friend, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake), with respect to both the philosophy involved and what the consequences might be from any given item. Now, in the great scheme of things, this might not seem like a lot to a lot of people, but for those of us who understand what it is, if we can actually grow our own renewable energy with sugarcane in the form of biomass can actually provide by being converted to ethanol. That is why this is here. I am not certain, and the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case) will speak shortly about it too, as to whether there are larger, logistical issues involved or political issues. But I can tell my colleagues this: Whatever arguments there are out there about whether sufficient time or funds are being committed to renewable energy, alternative energy, this is something that we can do. And this is something where we are getting support from the oil and gas companies in Texas, in Louisiana. Hawaii and Florida can join in, because we are growing sugarcane, sugarcane can become ethanol, ethanol can help reduce the dependency on oil and gas. And we can work with the oil and gas companies to see to it that we have blends that will allow us to reduce our dependency on foreign oil, on foreign sources. That is what this is about. We can grow our own energy in Hawaii if we get the chance to do this. And the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) have recognized this. They are going to give us the chance, and if this works, I am in contact with people, for example, like at Southern University in Louisiana, just speaking with them tonight, with the idea that perhaps we can take the sugarcane industry, and instead of always having to be in the position of having to defend ourselves against wage slavery around the rest of the world, that we will be able to have good jobs, good income in the United States of America, and be growing our own energy. That is what this is about, and that is why I ask for the support of my colleagues on this.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. If the gentleman will yield, I will be happy to bring in prickly pears.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) yield his remaining time to me?

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend my deepest congratulations to the American Medical Women's Association, AMWA, on the occasion of its 90th birthday year celebration. Throughout this century, AMWA has been indefatigable in its efforts to advance women in medicine and to promote women's health. As the leading multidisciplinary association of women in medicine in our country, AMWA has encouraged and honored excellence in the fields of medicine, healthcare and science through a wide array of scholarships, grants, and awards, as well as diverse educational programs for physicians, medical students and the general public. AMWA's Local Legends program is a partnership with the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine and the NIH Office of Women's Health Research. This past year, I was fortunate enough to nominate Dr. Marian E. Melish and Dr. Cynthia Goto, two outstanding physicians from the state of Hawaii. Dr. Melish is a Professor of Pediatrics, Tropical Medicine and Medical Microbiology at the John A Burns School of Medicine of the University of Hawaii. She is also Chief of the Infectious Disease Division of the Department of Pediatrics and Medical Director of Infection Control at the Kapiolani Medical Center. Dr. Goto is a second generation OB-GYN practitioner. Her father, Dr. George Goto, was the champion of women's reproductive rights in the nation and in Hawaii in the 1960s. Dr. Cynthia Goto continues that tradition through her work to connect Hawaii's public health services with clinical care for women and infants. Her efforts have resulted in an ongoing collaboration between Hawaii's OB-GYNs, the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition and the March of Dimes. AMWA has distinguished itself through support of numerous charitable programs, particularly focusing on the needs of disproportionately disadvantaged women and their families. For 75 years, AMWA's American Women's Hospitals Service, AWHS, clinics in the U.S. and abroad have provided desperately needed care to the medically underserved. In addition, hundreds of medical students and residents have received remarkable healthcare training in these and other remote clinics worldwide through AMWA's AWHS travel stipends. AMWA's advocacy on behalf of women's health and research, especially bringing underaddressed concerns to the national agenda, has made AMWA a leading voice for the care of women and their children. Again, I wish to commend and congratulate AMWA for making a positive and enduring contribution to the healthcare of the communities and our country.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I am proud today to introduce the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, also known as the Akaka Bill. This legislation is supported by the Hawaii State Legislature, Governor Linda Lingle, numerous Native Hawaiian organizations and a variety of other ethnic and Native American groups. This bill represents another step in the reconciliation process between Native Hawaiians and the U.S. federal government. On January 17, 1893, the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown by a group of American citizens, who acted with the support of U.S. Minister John Stephens and a contingent of U.S. Marines from the U.S.S. Boston. One hundred years later, a resolution extending an apology on behalf of the United States to Native Hawaiians for the illegal overthrow of the Native Hawaiian government and calling for a reconciliation of the relationship between the United States and Native Hawaiians was enacted into law. This measure continues the reconciliation process by establishing a procedure through which a Native Hawaiian governing entity could achieve federal recognition if it chooses to do so. This recognition would extend the policy of self-governance and self determination currently extended to American Indians and Alaska Natives. It also protects existing Native Hawaiian programs and begins to address the claims of the Native Hawaiian people. This bill does not authorize Native Hawaiians to conduct gaming. This legislation is critical to the future of the State of Hawaii. Most importantly, Native Hawaiians deserve the right to decide their future and chart their own destiny. It is time their inherent rights are restored. I urge my colleagues to resolve these longstanding issues with the Native Hawaiians and support this legislation.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, due to official travel today with the House Armed Services Committee, I was unable to cast my vote on the challenge to the Electoral College tabulation of votes for President and Vice President of the United States. Had I been present, I would have voted to sustain the objection to the Ohio electoral votes. Stated against:

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my late colleague Robert T. Matsui. While his life was cut tragically short, his many achievements and contributions to our Nation will serve as a constant reminder of his hard work, integrity, and determination to advocate for those who were not able to fight for themselves. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978, Bob served the people of Sacramento for 14 terms focusing on the city's public safety by bringing adequate flood protection to his hometown. He also served as a senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means, covering an array of policy issues such as preserving Social Security for future generations, as well as having adequate basic healthcare rights for children. Most recently he served as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee leading the Democratic Party's congressional effort for the 2004 cycle. When he was 6 months old, Bob, a third-generation Japanese American, and his family were taken from their home in Sacramento and interned at the Tule Lake Camp after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1942. He carried this experience with him throughout his life. In 1988, he helped steer the Japanese-American Redress Act through Congress, in which the government formally apologized for the World War II internment program and offered compensation to victims. This experience helped shape his strong belief that every American is entitled to basic civil rights despite their ethnicity. Bob was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Because of his many achievements and contributions, he was and always will be a role model to the more than eleven million Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in our country. His presence and driving force will certainly be missed. However, his legacy will live on through the people of Sacramento, the Asian Pacific Islander American community and our Nation as a whole. I offer my deepest condolences to his wife, Doris, son, Brian, daughter-in-law, Amy and granddaughter, Anna. We will miss you, Bob. All Hawaii sends with you on your final journey our deepest and most loving Aloha.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I want to wish everybody aloha here. Can we get a smile on everybody's face? Aloha. I invite everybody all out to Honolulu. As long as we are spending money, why not come out to Honolulu and enjoy it while they have the opportunity? Let us face it. The only reason that we are not out there right now is that the Democrats did not take over. If I were chairing one of the committees, we would have an excuse to bring everybody along. We could have a discussion out there on the beach. Somebody asked me today, What are we doing down there during this lame duck session? I said, We are organizing our delusions. That is what we are doing, organizing our delusions. I just spoke to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), and I said, You are engaged in a non sequitur here, the fact that you can point to somebody and say you did something real bad for a long time and so now we have an excuse to keep on doing it. That is not an answer. If we are going to do right by the American people, starting tonight, as the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) said, it is always time to start doing the right thing. And tonight we ought to start by doing it by passing the Stenholm motion and acting responsible towards the people who sent us here. Aloha, Mr. Speaker. Have a wonderful holiday.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman mentioned the main road from Baghdad and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel) indicated earlier tonight that we have been holding this Iraq Watch special order for some period of months now. Those who have listened to us before may recall that I have mentioned in the past that I was privileged to be in the first delegation of American Congress Members who were able to get into Iraq, leave the Baghdad airport and go into what is now the Green Zone in May after the initial attack on Baghdad. We were there in late May on the day that Ambassador Bremer took the reins of control from General Garner. Forgive me for going over some past ground, but, unfortunately, what is being cited by the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee) and by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel) tonight requires this for a very simple reason. When we hear of standing up or creating this Army, creating these forces, that was the goal that was stated to us the very first day that Ambassador Bremer was there, supposedly based on the work that General Garner was supposed to be doing up to that time. And we continue to have reports in the presses as if this is something suddenly just discovered. On that day, we sat at the table with Ambassador Bremer and General Garner. I recall very clearly saying to them, we have just been down this road from the airport, the international airport in Baghdad here, and I said to them. You are going to need 10,000 soldiers just to guard that highway. I said. It is a strip of tar going from the airport in the middle of a desert into Baghdad. This is not the Big Dig up in Boston or entering metropolitan Atlanta. This is not finding your way around Philadelphia or New York. This is a strip of tar from another big strip of tar where planes land into Baghdad. I said, there are no lights. There is no possibility of being able to stop people planting mines or coming up with shoulder- held rocket grenade launchers, explosive propellants of all kinds. And now here we are nearing the end of 2004, and you cannot even go on that road today. This is a debacle. This is a disaster. This is taking place right now in circumstances in which we are observing generals saying to their troops, witnessed by embedded reporters with television cameras, drawing the analogy to Hue in Vietnam. I am old enough to have been involved in the discussions that took place during the 1960s with what we were doing in Vietnam with a half a million soldiers and an indigenous Army fighting with the South Vietnamese that could fight, that was trained and was equipped. And the analogy was Hue in Vietnam. Fallujah is going to be like Hue. Hue was a disaster for us. A few more wins like that, and we are completely undone. What we forget is the actual military activity that took place had nothing to do with the war in the sense of whether or not we would be successful politically or militarily. The actual circumstances of the combat and the capabilities of the soldiers, all of which have been cited by us over and over again, that is not the issue. The competency of the American soldier is not the issue. The willingness of the American soldier to fight or the bravery, the professionalism, that is not the issue as such. Whether they are equipped properly, of course, that is an issue for us, but the political reality is this is an unmitigated disaster. We are setting the foundation and groundwork, if you will, for decades, if not centuries, of opposition to us as a result of what is going on right now. You need only go to look at how it is characterized around the country. I was visiting with my mother in Florida, and I have been to Massachusetts. I have gone all over the country. The Palm Beach Post, the Providence Journal, how is it characterized? Here is what the Providence Journal said on Monday, November 15. ``The absence of insurgent bodies in Fallujah has remained an enduring mystery.'' It is no mystery. This is a guerilla fight. In the same paper: ``But much of the city lay in smoking ruins. Isolated bands of rebels still harassed American and Iraqi soldiers.'' Rebels against what? ``The military victory appeared to be nearly overshadowed by insurgent violence elsewhere, particularly in the northern city of Mosul.'' Again quoting: ``The Governor of Mosul province, saying he had lost faith in local security forces, called in thousands of Kurdish militiamen for the first time to quell the insurgent uprising there.'' Today a hearing was held on the staffing requirements, the personnel requirements for the Guard and the Reserve, testimony at the Committee on Armed Services today. Happy faces, it was characterized to me by a Republican Member here tonight, a stalwart member of the committee. And I reiterate again with respect to the many times we have appeared on the floor, this is not a Republican versus Democratic issue. The Committee on Armed Services tries not to operate in that kind of a context. We try to operate on the basis of the security interests of the United States. One of our colleagues said to us, ``They put on happy faces today.'' What the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee) has just quoted, what these other two of my colleagues here have been quoting is that we are living in a fantasy. I was asked by a former Member today, What are you doing over at the Capitol? I said, We're organizing our delusions. We are in the midst of organizing our delusions.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. I would yield with one observation, though, as has been stated by our colleagues here tonight. The thing that I most regret about coming back this evening is that shortly we will be taking leave of the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel). He is the founder of this opportunity that the rest of us have seized upon week after week. He has been the guiding light and the inspiration for this. I deeply regret that he will not be here next year because, unfortunately, I am afraid we are going to have to be here next year. But I can tell him that the fire that he has lit in us and in others who have come here will not go out, and we will try to carry on the legacy that he has established for us to live up to.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Not a bit.