Gary Ackerman

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself such time as I might consume. Last year, we witnessed a tragic conflict in Lebanon, instigated by Hezbollah's unprovoked cross-border raid into Israel. This Hezbollah action resulted in the killing of eight brave Israeli soldiers and the kidnapping of two others, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. The suffering of the Lebanese people was immense as thousands fled their homes in the subsequent fighting. Many homes were damaged or destroyed, and lives were lost. The key reason that civilian areas were destroyed was the cynical strategy of Hezbollah guerrillas to stage their attacks from the middle of towns and residential areas. The use of civilians as human shields is reprehensible and is in direct violation of all the laws of warfare. Indeed, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides that such conduct is a serious violation of the laws of war and should be prosecuted. This resolution properly condemns the use of human shields and, in particular, the conduct of Hezbollah in this bloody conflict. Let us make no mistake. The loss of civilian life in Lebanon was due solely to Hezbollah's cruel and uncivilized use of civilian areas as military bases. Meanwhile, Hezbollah used rocket fire to murder Israeli civilians indiscriminately and to destroy Israeli civilian areas that were of no military value whatsoever. This resolution calls on all responsible nations to condemn such heinous acts and to work to eliminate them. No nation that calls itself a member of the international community can engage in such barbaric practices. In conflicts all over the globe, human shields have been used for various purposes. None of them are acceptable. Let us urge the President and our friends and allies to join us and do their utmost to stop the use of human shields once and for all. Madam Speaker, I urge all of our colleagues to support the resolution. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich), the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. To my good friend from California, as well as my good friend from Ohio, I would address the following observations and concerns. First, I would like to thank each of them for their support for this resolution condemning Hezbollah for their actions. But I would like to note for the record that there is a tremendous difference between a perpetrator and a victim. A perpetrator is the one who initiates the act. The victim is the one who is victimized by the act. Very often, in an act of violence, murder, mayhem, the victim fights back. The victim has every single right in the world, legally and morally, to defend itself against violence. Some might argue sometimes that in defense of oneself, the victim goes too far. The woman being raped tries to scratch out the eyes of the rapist. Who is to blame her? I thank my two friends for also pointing out that there is a difference in systems, that there is a difference in moral values between that which the Hezbollah does and the response of the Israelis. I appreciated the fact that the gentleman from Ohio brought in part of a weapon of destruction that was used in self-defense, but I am also happy that we did not bring in gory pictures of Israeli children and women on their way to school or working on farms or in their villages, who every day are subject to attacks and missiles fired by Hezbollah as they go about their daily, innocent lives. I thank the gentleman from California for calling to the House's attention in so eloquent a way of what is rarely government and governance and society and what Israel is all about, who points out graphically and with the evidence he brought before us the fact that it was an Israeli human rights defender who called out to the Israeli soldiers whose conduct he properly called into question, that they have no right to do that and that there are laws against it. Where were the Lebanese people calling out to the Hezbollah who invaded their homes and their neighborhoods and took over and used them, sometimes willingly, sometimes not, as human shields, and said to them, we forbid you to do this, it's against our human rights, and it's against our laws? Not once. I thank the gentleman from California for pointing out the Israeli system of justice, which stands basically equal to ours. We, too, in the pursuit of terrorists and evildoers, as the President would call them, sometimes unfortunately commit acts in that pursuit and in defense of ourselves against the terrorists, where civilians are hurt and civilians do die. But that is not our purpose. When the Hezbollah does that, that is their intention for the civilians to die. I thank the gentleman from California for pointing out that this went through the Israeli justice system because it is contrary to the laws of the democracy of the democratic State of Israel. It went to the Supreme Court of Israel, and that court found, in full view, because Israeli television shows showed their soldiers doing something wrong, and they were charged, and the court found them guilty, and the court banned it. People were held responsible in a responsible society. That did not happen with the Hezbollah. That did not happen in Lebanon. It happened in Israel where people paid the price, where the military officers who were in charge of the operation were found guilty. That is the difference between a democratic, humane society, where there are innocent victims of self-defense, who unfortunately, as individuals within the military, sometimes get carried away. That happens in every army in the history of the world. But holding people responsible for those individual actions is a sign of a true democracy. That did not happen with the Hezbollah. That did not happen with Lebanon. That is the difference between democratic, humane societies and terrorist organizations. I thank our two colleagues for bringing this to the attention of the House so that we might highlight the differences between two societies, Hezbollah, governed by terror, whose only purpose is to wreak havoc upon civilian populations, and a democracy like Israel, who responds to terrorism and sometimes have unfortunate incidents for which they hold individuals responsible and who pay the price.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on our side, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 240) urging all member countries of the International Commission of the International Tracing Service (ITS) who have yet to ratify the May 2006 Amendments to the 1955 Bonn Accords Treaty, to expedite the ratification process to allow for open access to the Holocaust archives located at Bad Arolsen, Germany.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it is a distinct honor to introduce H. Res. 240, a resolution urging the immediate ratification of the amendments to the 1955 Bonn Accords. This treaty would open the immense records of the Holocaust to Nazi war crime victims in Bad Arolsen, Germany. I would like to thank my good friend from Florida, Representative Alcee Hastings, who introduced this important resolution of which I am a proud cosponsor. Mr. Speaker, the horror of Nazi crimes perpetrated on Jews and others across Europe were accompanied by meticulous recordkeeping that was maintained by the Third Reich throughout the reign of its terrible regime. These accounts include listings of victims, medical records, transport notes and other details that often provide the only history of millions of innocent people who perished at the hands of the Nazis. An abandoned S.S. barracks at Bad Arolsen became the repository for many of these records, where they remained under the control the Allied Forces, and then under a consortium of 11 nations since the end of World War II, some 62 years ago. Throughout those years, these records have been closed to the public. Most survivors' requests have been met with reluctance or disappointing bureaucratic neglect, resulting in some 500,000 legitimate requests for information that were outstanding by the year 2000, some of them made by people who are no longer with us today. Bad Arolsen contains the records of 17.5 million individuals, and I have been told by experts at the Holocaust Museum here in Washington that almost every person to have known to have been a part of that terrible time can be found in those records, victims including Anne Frank, marks of saviors such as Oskar Schindler's famous list, and my octogenarian friend and constituent, Jacob Rosenthal of Long Island, and probably information on my own family members. Mr. Speaker, there is a picture that hangs in my den. It used to hang in my mother's house. The color of the picture is completely in sepia, as was traditional for the time in which it was taken in Poland. It is a picture of the wedding party of my grandfather and grandmother, the grandmother whom I am named after and never met. It is a very old picture. The corners are turned down. It is starting to fade. In front of the entire wedding party sits a whole group of young children sitting on the ground. My mother would point to this picture and point to the little children and say, ``This is my Uncle Chaim, and this one is my Aunt Rachel.'' I would ask, ``Mom, they are only children. How can they be your aunt and your uncle?'' And her response was, ``They will always be children.'' My mother never knew what happened to them. She would have liked to have known. Maybe those records will tell us what happened to them. For survivors of the Holocaust, such as our good friend and colleague and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Lantos, time for answers, for truth, for recognition that our loved ones existed and mattered is running out. We need these archives opened now, not next year, not a decade from now when fewer survivors will be here to find peace and possibly a strong degree of closure in the material in these archives. And perhaps opening these archives of over 17 million people will in part answer those evil people like the President of Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad, who claims that the Holocaust never existed. Our good friend from Kansas spoke on another bill and he cited scripture from Isaiah saying ``you be my witness.'' The Nazis were their own witnesses and documented in tremendous detail the lives of all of these people, as well as their deaths. The 1955 Bonn Accords Treaty governs these records. The 11 countries that signed that treaty agreed in 1998 to open these records to the public, but it did not happen. Last year, these nations agreed to ensure not only the opening of the records, but also the sharing of digitized copies and access for researchers. Diplomatically, substantial progress has been made in recent years in achieving international agreement. Four countries have ratified the 2006 amendments: the United States, Israel, Poland and the Netherlands. With this resolution, Congress urgently encourages the remaining seven countries to ratify the amendments by May of 2007. Next month is the deadline, and we insist we make the digital archives records available as soon as they are ready this summer. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this resolution, and urge all of our colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, to the gentleman from Florida, chairman of the Rules Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process, the initiator, sponsor, motivator of this legislation to whom we owe a debt of gratitude, Representative Alcee Hastings, I yield 5\1/2\ minutes. (Mr. HASTINGS of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ACKERMAN. We thank everybody for everything as well, including the Speaker. I have no further speakers. I yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I would like to call the House's attention to an important human rights case in Azerbaijan. Mr. Farhad Aliyev, the former minister of economic development and a leading pro- West reformer, has been arrested and charged with planning a coup, though I think his true crime was speaking truth to power in Azerbaijan. Too often, the United States has allowed immediate interests to blind us to the long-term risks associated with ignoring or downplaying significant human rights violations abroad. There is enormous potential in U.S.-Azeri relations, and I want to see this relationship continue to blossom. But we risk implanting a fatal flaw in this development if we are not frank about our concerns about human rights and the rule of law. I submit a March 17, 2007, article from the Washington Times, ``Ex- Azeri official held for 17 months'', by Jason Motlagh, detailing Mr. Aliyev's case for the Congressional Record with my remarks. [From the Washington Times, Mar. 17, 2007] Ex-Azeri Official Held for 17 Months (By Jason Motlagh) Baku, Azerbaijan.--The view from Sabina Aliyeva's balcony commands the skyline of this reborn boomtown and the Caspian Sea beyond, but for the past 17 months one stark gray building off to the right has loomed large. Inside, her husband, Farhad Aliyev, the former minister of economic development and a leading pro-West reformer, remains locked in solitary confinement, charged with planning a coup--though no evidence of it has been put before a court of law. International human rights groups and U.S. lawmakers say Mr. Aliyev is a political prisoner whose rights have been violated as he awaits due process. According to Azeri law, a judge must hear his case by April or release him from pretrial detention. The high-profile case comes amid efforts by the Bush administration to secure closer ties with the oil-rich nation, considered to be of increasing importance in a sensitive region. Critics counter that better bilateral relations must be in step with U.S. demands for democratic reform, and not allow a convenient foreign policy to obscure a grim human rights record. Azerbaijan is a secular Muslim country on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, wedged among Iran, Armenia, Russia and Georgia. U.S. officials have stressed its value as a reliable energy supplier, citing continued Azeri oil and natural-gas deliveries to Europe as a counterweight to Russia's state- owned energy giant Gazprom. President Ilham Aliyev--no relation to the accused--has also been a willing partner on security issues. One of the first foreign leaders to contribute troops to missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, he granted U.S. pilots overflight rights in Azeri airspace, and the Pentagon is sponsoring an upgrade of a former Soviet airfield for potential use by American forces. Some observers also point to the sizable and at times restive Azeri minority in Iran as a potential tool if a conflict with the United States or its allies broke out. Azerbaijan insists it will have no part in any military action against the Islamic republic. Azerbaijan has a reputation of being heavy-handed toward its citizens. Before its November 2005 parliamentary elections, condemned by international observers as flawed, riot police reportedly beat up protesters in the streets and arrested hundreds. Farhad Aliyev, his younger brother Rafig, former head of the leading Azeri oil refiner, Azpetrol, and a handful of other officials were summarily arrested on charges of plotting a coup. The vote itself was marred by irregularities, ballot stuffing and intimidation, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Still, President Aliyev was invited to the White House last April. Washington justified his first meeting with President Bush on the basis that his regime is in a different class than autocracies like those in Belarus and Uzbekistan, thus should be engaged rather than left to gravitate toward Moscow or Tehran. Opponents say corruption and ongoing crackdowns on civil freedoms could have a destabilizing effect in Azerbaijan. They say Farhad Aliyev challenged the political establishment to make free-market reforms, to better integrate with the West, and is now being denied U.S. support. ``We're defending Farhad Aliyev because we defend the ideas he represents,'' said Murad Saddadinov, an Azeri human rights activist and former political prisoner. ``If we do not support him, we will soon lose everybody like him in Azerbaijan.'' Mr. Saddadinov said he fears the emergence of a more radical brand of Islam if democratization does not take hold, noting the growing attendance at Wahhabi mosques in the capital. One Western official said he saw ``the potential,'' but doubted such an outcome in the foreseeable future. Appointed by President Ilham Aliyev's father, post-Soviet strongman Heydar Aliyev, who died in 2003 at a U.S. hospital, Farhad Aliyev led a broad campaign to open the economy and reduce the power of state-affiliated monopolists that had long controlled the flow of imports and exports in Azerbaijan. One of Farhad Aliyev's top priorities was an overhaul of the state customs committee, considered by the Azeri public and business community as a corruption machine. Azerbaijan ranked 130th among 163 countries in Transparency International's latest corruption index. ``Corruption is endemic in this country . . . [and the customs] department has been at the top of the list,'' said a European official working in Azerbaijan who deals directly with the government on reform matters. Farhad Aliyev ``was generally regarded as a fair and good businessman, even among a disillusioned Azeri public. The West rightfully saw him as someone to work with--someone with a promising political future.'' An intense rivalry soon developed between Farhad Aliyev and customs chief Kamaleddin Heydarov, whom Mr. Aliyev accused of stifling economic growth by making it hard for new business-- foreign or domestic--to enter Azerbaijan's markets. Both men used the press to try to win over the public and President Aliyev. Azeri news reports agree that state interference was reduced in entrepreneurial activities and certain meddlesome agencies were abolished. Ali, 23, a university student who asked that his full name not be made public, said Farhad Aliyev was well liked at a time most Azeris had tuned out politics. ``He came across as someone who actually cared about people and change, not his bank account,'' said Ali. ``His popularity was definitely growing . . . and is probably why he was removed.'' Farhad Aliyev went out on a limb when he said that as far as Azerbaijan's social and economic development are concerned, ``Russia is Azerbaijan's past, the West is its future.'' On Oct. 19, 2005, weeks after he had told the prosecutor general's office that unspecified criminal groups had threatened to kill him, he was arrested for conspiring to overthrow the government. A corruption charge was later added. Officials accused Farhad Aliyev of paying supporters of Rasul Guliyev, the exiled chairman of a major opposition party, to stir unrest upon his return from the United States to run in the elections. The charge was based on the confession of ousted Finance Minister Fikrat Yusifov, a reputed co-conspirator, who was released two months later. Mr. Guliyev has categorically denied the claim or that he ever met Farhad Aliyev. Analysts queried in the capital agreed that such an association was highly unlikely, given their opposing party affiliations. Charles Both, an American lawyer who represents Farhad Aliyev and his brother, says that since their arrest, the original charges have not been declared in court; no evidence in support of the charges has been offered; no public hearing has been held; and no trial date set. Azerbaijan's law stipulates that pretrial detention can last a maximum of 18 months, meaning the government has until next month to hear the case. Farhad Aliyev suffers from heart problems, including hypertension and hypertrophy, but has been denied sufficient medical attention, according to the International League for Human Rights. To date, his wife and two children have had no contact with him. They say they have been subject to harassment and surveillance by authorities--notably on the day of his arrest when their home was stormed by armed men and valuables were stolen. The family has since moved to a guarded apartment in view of the National Security Ministry, where the brothers are being held. Meanwhile, the business interests of the Aliyev brothers have been confiscated and sold off to ``pro-Russian business enterprises favored by the Azeri authorities,'' according to a study by Mr. Both, the American lawyer. He said the charges against the pair are ``the direct result of Farhad Aliyev's position in open favor of [Azerbaijan's] integration into the international community, closer ties with the United States, [the] European Union . . . and successful implementation of economic reforms and anti- monopoly policy, all of which run counter the interests of many powerful domestic players.''

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 107) calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Israeli soldiers held captive by Hamas and Hezbollah, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to first thank Chairman Tom Lantos and ranking minority member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, as well as the ranking minority member on the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, Mike Pence. These Members joined with me at the very outset of the Congress to introduce H. Res. 107. The resolution is an exercise in compassion and it expresses the sense of the House regarding the three Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped last summer. As of today, Gilad Shalit has been a captive for 261 days, roughly 8\1/2\ months; Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev have been captives for 244 days. That is a day more than 8 months. To date, there has been no access to these men by medical personnel or the Red Cross or Red Crescent. They have not been permitted to send mail to their loved ones. We don't know if they are ill, we don't know if they are wounded, we don't know for certain that they are still alive. Mr. Speaker, their captors have sought to turn these three men into something they are not: Bargaining chips, pawns, a kind of political chattel, things that can be swapped for favors or sacrificed at whim. These three men are not things. They are human beings. They have names and families. They have rights as captured soldiers, and they have rights as individuals. And they also have rights under international law. The organizations that have taken these men captive have shown their true character. Withholding doctors and medicine, withholding the Red Cross and Red Crescent visits, withholding basic communications with their families, even just the information that they are still alive, these choices and these acts show what kind of men run Hamas and Hezbollah: They are religious, but they are deeply immoral. They are self-righteous, but they are profoundly cruel. They are blustery and proud, but they are sneaky and manipulative. Decent human beings do not behave this way. Mr. Speaker, decency doesn't depend on international law or multilateral agreements, nor does it depend on nationality. And I am not aware that withholding medical care or basic contact with the outside world is a requirement of either Shia or Sunni Islam, or any of the world's great religions. This kind of brutality and malice is, unfortunately, typical of these organizations and their state sponsors, Syria and Iran. Syria is a thuggish dictatorship which believes its appetite for the Golan Heights legitimizes any crime or cruelty. And Iran's repressive theocracy is both the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and its most dangerous proliferation threat. Viciousness is standard operating procedure for both regimes. We cannot compel such parties to release Gilad, Ehud, and Eldad any more than we can force them to understand the difference between right and wrong. You cannot disgrace someone who is incapable of shame. But we can and we must stand by our ally, the State of Israel. America has had painfully similar experiences at the hands of the same culprits. Out of our own bitter experience, we can express our sympathy and our concern for the captives and for their families. We can let the perpetrators of this barbarism know that we have not forgotten what they have done, and what they are continuing to do. We can bear witness, and we can add our voices to all those who are saying, ``Enough, enough. Let these men go home.'' Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers. If the gentleman will yield back his time, we are prepared to do so.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for his leadership and helping shepherd this on the floor today.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 64) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government of Bangladesh should immediately drop all pending charges against Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, as amended.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would first like to commend my friend and colleague Mark Kirk from Illinois as well as that of Mrs. Lowey of New York for their leadership on this important human rights case. With passage of this resolution, Congress will firmly indicate its view that the government of Bangladesh should immediately release a Bangladeshi journalist whose only apparent crime is to attempt to visit the democratic nation of Israel. Mr. Speaker, Bangladesh has undergone great political turmoil in recent months, and the nation is now being ruled by a caretaker government. As Bangladesh moves towards a new round of elections, it is imperative that the rule of law and freedom of the press be preserved. The current government has set out an agenda to reform Bangladesh's political system and to stem corruption. We have seen lately the arrest of many previously high-ranking government officials. It is my sincere wish that the standards of responsible governance survive under the caretaker government until free and fair elections take place, elections that I hope will happen in the near term. In this time of great political turmoil in Bangladesh, it is truly inexplicable that the government would focus its scarce resources on prosecuting a journalist. Mr. Choudhury believes in interfaith dialogue between Jews and Muslims as an alternative to religious extremism, and has been commended by the international community for such bravery of thought. Gaining the respect and concern of organizations like the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Mr. Choudhury has shown immense resiliency after facing numerous political and physical threats. Mr. Choudhury's actions are courageous, not criminal, and it is time for the government of Bangladesh to take decisive action and drop all pending charges. The political leadership of Bangladesh should focus on getting its own house in order instead of mindlessly prosecuting someone for trying to promote international peace and stability. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as she might consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the distinguished Chair of the appropriations subcommittee on Foreign Operations and the cosponsor of this resolution before us.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of our time.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to express my gratitude to Mr. Boozman, the gentleman from Arkansas, for his expeditious handling of this on the floor. I want to thank both Mr. Kirk and Mrs. Lowey for bringing this resolution to our attention and to also note the great spirit of nonpartisanship that we have on this matter and hope that that could splash over and spill over and overwhelm some prevailing attitudes on both sides so that we might bring this kind of approach and dedication to all of the legislation that we have before us this session. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise before this historic chamber of the House of Representatives to call to the attention of this Congress the profound achievements of Martin Richards as we honor him on his birthday this March 11. Many here and throughout our nation know of Mr. Richards through his extraordinary accomplishments as a theatrical and movie producer, having won our nations' highest awards including an Oscar for best picture, numerous Tony Awards for his Broadway productions, and a Pulitzer Prize. Martin Richards has also blessed the lives of so many New Yorkers through his vision and leadership on behalf of so many seeking hope and opportunity. In 1997, Mayor Giuliani appointed him to a six-year term as a member of The Trust for Cultural Resources of the City of New York. He was also a member of the Mayor's Advisory Council for Theatre. Mr. Richards served on the President's Council for the Gay Men's Health Crisis, and is on the Board of Directors of Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS. In 1994, in memory of his wife, he established the Mary Lea Johnson Richards Institute at New York University Medical Center for organ transplantation and research, and in 1995, also in memory of his wife, he co-founded the Children's Advocacy Center of Manhattan, New York City's only non-profit center for abused children. For the past eight years he has produced the annual Red Ball, one of New York's premiere charitable events, which benefits both the Institute and the Advocacy Center. Martin Richards' life is a living example of the expression that one man can truly make a difference. This boy from the Bronx has brought dreams and joy to audiences throughout the world though his work. By celebrating Martin Richards' birthday, we take pride in the ideals that define the greatness of New York City. Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join me now in honoring Martin Richards for bringing joy and hope to the people of New York City and the entire nation.

Mr. ACKERMAN

Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 556, the National Security FIRST Act. I would like to thank the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Mr. Frank, for his efforts in making this legislation one of the committee's first priorities. I would also like to commend my colleague from New York, Mrs. Maloney, for sponsoring this important legislation. Mr. Chairman, it's been a year since the Bush administration thought it would be a good idea to hand over commercial operations of six of our nation's ports to the government of Dubai--a country that the 9/11 Commission report named as a source of terrorist financing and which two of the 9/11 hijackers called home. We have since learned that, during the review process undertaken by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, administration officials did not perform a required thorough investigation of the deal to a satisfactory level and chose not to require Dubai Ports World to follow certain security conditions at some of the busiest ports in the country--over 4 years after 9/11. Mr. Chairman, the Dubai Ports World debacle was a paragon of bureaucratic ineptitude and the shining example of why this legislation is needed. Even those who believe that DPW should currently be administering our nation's ports must concede that the process is broken. The CFIUS process needs more transparency, better oversight and increased fail-safes to ensure that the administration doesn't next absent-mindedly sell our nation's airports to Iran Airports World. This bill mandates that any proposed deal that involves an entity owned by a foreign government trigger an automatic--and thorough--CFIUS review. To be clear, this legislation does not increase barriers for foreign governments interested in investing in the United States--H.R. 556 merely puts in place necessary safeguards to ensure that investments in the United States do not threaten our national security. This legislation also requires that the Securities of Treasury and Homeland Security, or their Deputy Secretaries or Under Secretaries, sign off on all deals before they are completed. We now know that, during the review of the Dubai Ports World deal, low-level bureaucrats approved the transaction without the knowledge of the relevant Cabinet members. By mandating that the under-secretary level is the lowest level authorized to approve these transactions, we will build another fail-safe into the CFIUS process, and, perhaps more importantly, we will put in place a system of accountability, rather than one of finger-pointing. Mr. Chairman, this is a vitally important piece of legislation, which passed unanimously in the last Congress. I ask my colleagues to once again support this important national security measure.