Sanford Bishop

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, as has been noted, this amendment is substantially the same as the Homeland Security Information Sharing Act which was overwhelmingly passed and endorsed by the House last month. I was pleased to be a cosponsor of that bill. I commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner) again for their hard work on it. Timely and effective information is one of the most important tools in the fight against terrorism. Local communities need to be able to count on receiving that kind of information. This amendment will help in that effort, and I certainly urge its adoption.

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by congratulating the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer), the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert), and the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr) for their work on this amendment. They have been leaders on the language issue, constantly seeking creative solutions to what is a very serious problem. Looking outside the ranks of current employees for highly skilled linguists who are willing to bring their talents to bear in an emergency situation is an idea that is well worth exploring. This amendment would permit a thorough study of the idea, which would, in turn, permit a reasoned judgment to be made on the potential. I urge the adoption of the amendment and I congratulate those who have offered it. It is very well taken.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), a very valuable member of our committee who has former ties to the Border Patrol.

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin). (Mr. CARDIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, we have no further requests for time. I think the bill has been very adequately explained and debated. It is a good bill, and I urge my colleagues in the House to support it. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of our time

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, last fall the committee approved a creation of an independent commission to examine all aspects of the September 11 attacks. In the course of the legislative process, that proposal was first weakened and ultimately eliminated. I supported the commission concept not because I was concerned that the intelligence committees could not review adequately the performance of the intelligence agencies in the months leading up to September 11, but because I knew that review would be limited necessarily to those agencies. The September 11 story extends beyond the intelligence agencies, and to be told comprehensively, needs to assess the performance of agencies outside the intelligence community. A commission that is unencumbered by jurisdictional concerns could take that kind of comprehensive look at September 11. I would hope that the House tonight would have a chance to again consider a commission proposal like the one that was approved by the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last year. Although that will apparently not be the case, I believe the commission amendment offered by the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer) will make a valuable contribution to a better national understanding of the September 11 events and what is being done within the intelligence community to respond to them. Therefore, I urge the adoption of the amendment.

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 4628. The committee has worked hard to provide the resources that our military forces and the intelligence community require in order to prevail in the war on terrorism and to safeguard all of our other national security interests. This is a bipartisan bill for which the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), the ranking Democrat, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), my counterpart on the technical and tactical subcommittee, the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle) and all of the other committee members deserve great credit. I want to thank the committee staff for the tireless hours and the hard work that they have put into the preparation of this bill. It is a good bill. And I urge all of my colleagues to support it. I want to emphasize a few points to my colleagues in the House as well as the administration about what the bill accomplishes, as well as some of my concerns for the future. As is well known from press accounts, unmanned aerial vehicles performed superbly in Afghanistan. With some exceptions in the past, reconnaissance systems flew over or passed the battlefields in a matter of seconds or minutes, and therefore provided only a sort of snapshot of what was going on. Given the time delays in getting that information to our tactical forces, it was extremely difficult to attack mobile targets. What these UAVs provide is persistence, a constant presence. Once targets are detected, UAV's can loiter and track them until an attack can be mounted as demonstrated repeatedly in Afghanistan. Now the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs are advocating adding persistent surveillance capability from space. For example, by launching many small radar satellites that can detect and track moving vehicles. I believe this is the direction next generations collection systems must take. DOD is also right to plan on buying many UAV's and equipping them with capable sensor, but so far DOD has failed to plan to buy the communication and ground processing capacity necessary to support these platforms. This makes no sense and clearly it must be corrected. The war also showed that no single sensor system alone is able to perform all of the functions necessary to attack mobile targets, wide area surveillance, target detection, identification, tracking and precise target location. The only solution is to work the separate sensor systems together in a network. Building this network of sensors is feasible and it is very affordable, but although DOD appears to understand its importance, progress has been slow. I was disappointed that the administration, despite the large budget increases, failed to request sufficient funds to support the contract award for NIMA's modernization program. The committee corrected this problem by redirecting other funds to that area. The committee also added funds to begin acquiring the capability to receive and process airborne imagery. I am encouraged with regard to commercial imagery by the NIMA director's progress in developing a rational strategy for the first time. However, NIMA to date has received funding adequate to support only one satellite collection company but no policy guidance to rely on a single source. If NIMA is to support multiple companies and meet DOD's readiness requirements for geospatial products, NIMA must receive more funding. It is as simple as that. That key issue must be resolved, and it must be resolved soon. Finally, a word about the National Security Agency. Unfortunately, NSA's serious acquisition management problems persist, preventing the agency from keeping pace with the global telecommunications industry. These problems contributed to limiting NSA's operational capabilities in key areas relevant to the war on terrorism and other so-called transnational threats as noted in the report of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security on the events of September 11. NSA's problems could have very serious consequences and, in my opinion, demand more attention from the Secretary of Defense. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding me this time and recognizing me. I want to talk about the need in this bill and in our intelligence community for diversity. Intelligence and the intelligence community has a mission for providing the best real-time information for our policymakers and our warfighters. It is about information. It is about having a heads-up; and if 9-11 has taught us anything, it certainly has taught us that we need to have a heads-up. All of the professionals, as has been stated already, have indicated to us that if we are to be the best that we can be in our intelligence community, we must have the best human assets for collecting information and the best technical assets for collecting information; and we must be able to process, analyze, and disseminate that information where it needs to go. But the problem that we face, the challenge we face, is that as hard as the men and women in our intelligence community are working to gather the necessary information so that when our servicemen and women go into harm's way they know what they will be facing, we still do not have adequate human assets and the kind of technical analysis assets that will allow us to have the information that we need real-time. Why should we not have diversity in the intelligence community? Every intelligence professional, the heads of the CIA, NSA, DIA, NIMA, Army intelligence, naval intelligence, all have indicated that we will be much more effective in our collection by our human assets, if our targets are hard to distinguish from our collectors. So if we need to have information about Islamic culture, our intelligence collectors need to be knowledgeable of that. Yes, if we are going into Rwanda and we need information of what is happening there, maybe some Rwandan- Americans ought to be a part of our collection force, Somalians or Pakistanis or Afghans or Africans or Latinos; Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Indian Americans, Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, Turkish Americans, Nigerian Americans, Muslim Americans, Christian Americans, Jewish Americans, Irish Americans, human assets. We must have racial diversity, cultural diversity, and language diversity if we are to be effective in our efforts. When we put the men and women who fight and defend this country and who go all over the world protecting American interests, when we put them in harm's way, they need to know what they will be faced with, and the policymakers who send them there need to have that real-time information; and they need to have the best quality information. They need to be able to penetrate the sources of the information so that we can, indeed, have a heads-up. The creation of a more diverse intelligence workforce must be a priority, the intelligence agencies, the undergraduate training programs that use these programs to increase their minority efforts. I was proud this morning to be able to go out to one of the agencies and participate in the graduation ceremony of one of the programs designed to help create that diversity. But this is a start. We have a long way to go. We have challenges that we face, and unless we accelerate our efforts to create and maintain the kind of diversity in our intelligence community, we will not achieve the success that we desire. Racial diversity, cultural diversity, language diversity are necessities. They not only are the right thing to do, but they make good business sense for gathering and disseminating and analyzing and understanding the information that we must have. Mr. Speaker, this is a good rule; this is a good bill. With the amendments, it will be a better bill; and I urge my colleagues to support it so that we can have the best intelligence-gathering apparatus that our country can possibly have.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in memory of General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., who departed this life on July 4th, after a distinguished career as our country's first black Air Force general officer. He will be remembered in history for his command of the Tuskegee Airmen--that amazing squadron that flew more than 10,000 sorties over North Africa and Europe during World War II and never lost a plane! Even more than that, his colleagues in the military recognize him as a truly great leader and warrior throughout his 34 years of uniformed service to his country. And, perhaps most of all, General Davis is known by all as an exemplary public servant and model citizen whose extraordinary success and many contributions have played a big part in turning the tide against official racism. As former Defense Secretary William Cohen has said, he proved that blacks and whites cannot only serve together, they can succeed together. General Davis, we salute you, Sir, for your great and distinguished service to our great nation.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, on rollcalls 288 and 291, I inadvertently voted ``no'' when I intended and should have voted ``yes.''

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this bill, H.R. 4598. Mr. Chairman, the great failure of September 11 was our failure to methodically analyze and share among our Federal and local authorities critical intelligence information. The task before Congress today is to provide greater transparency in the information-sharing process so that police officers, sheriffs, elected officials and other emergency responders can exchange vital information while also protecting the critical sources and methods that are used in gathering such information. The bill before us today, the Homeland Security Information Sharing Act, answers this calling. Specifically, it directs the President to develop procedures by which Federal and local agencies and personnel share security information. It ensures adequate security in the dissemination and transmission of classified or unclassified information based on a recipient's need to know. It protects the legal and constitutional rights of individuals by requiring that shared information is current, factually accurate, and used only for the authorized purpose for which it was obtained or disseminated. Finally, it safely and responsibly provides authorized State and local officials access to certain types of sensitive information, including foreign intelligence and grand jury information, consistent with the Justice Department and CIA agency guidelines. Mr. Chairman, transparency must be the goal of any homeland security proposal. This legislation fulfills our responsibility to the American people by providing authorized professionals with the best, safest, and most accurate information available in the most efficient manner possible.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support repeal of the sunset provision of the Marriage Penalty Relief Act. Mr. Speaker, a recent study found that over 728,000 married couples in Georgia, 52,000 in the district I represent, are adversely affected by the marriage penalty. Today we have the ability to remove this burden and repeal one of the most unfair provisions of our Tax Code. The family is the basic unit of society. As the family goes, so does our society go. The Bible says, he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. Marriage is a good thing. It is awful that our current laws encourage cohabitation without marriage. Untold numbers of men and women should not be encouraged to make this choice. At best, our laws should support marriage and the family; at the least, our laws should be neutral. Today I ask my colleagues to embrace marriage, embrace the family unit, and create another reason for everyone to find their good thing. Remove the financial hassle associated with matrimony, permanently repeal the marriage penalty, and fully encourage the institution of marriage and the strengthening of our family units.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 1950.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the hard-working people of America who have played by the rules and have paid their fair share. Decent, law-abiding, tax-paying Americans are the backbone of this country, Mr. Speaker, and the salt of the earth. They are the farmers of southwest Georgia, the family business owners all across this country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. All across this land are Americans who have paid taxes their entire lives, only to face a final taxing event at death. They paid the taxes during their lifetimes and should not be charged again because they happen to die. The death tax represents all that is unfair and unjust about the tax structure in America because it undermines the life work and life savings of Americans who want only to pass on to their children and grandchildren the fruits of their labor and the realization of their American dream. In my State of Georgia, farmers, many of whom are widowed women and the children of deceased farmers, are faced with losing their family farms because of this harsh tax. Employees of small and medium-size family businesses, many of whom are minorities, are at risk of losing their jobs because their employers are forced to pay the unfair and exorbitant death taxes levied upon them. Funeral homes, newspaper publishers, radio station owners and garment manufactures are all affected, all across the demographic spectrum. Mr. Speaker, although reasonable minds can differ on this issue, I believe that the death tax is politically misguided, morally unjustifiable and downright un-American. Let us vote today to finally eliminate the death tax and return to the American people and their progeny the hard-earned fruits of their labor.

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today again to recognize the hard- working people of America who have played by the rules and have paid their fair share. Decent, law abiding, tax paying Americans are the backbone of this country, and they are the salt of the earth. They are the farmers of southwest Georgia, the family business owners across the country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. All across this land are Americans who have paid taxes their entire lives, only to face the final taxing event at death. They paid their taxes during their lifetimes and should not be charged again because they happen to die. The death tax represents all that is unfair and unjust about the tax structure in America because it undermines the life work and the life savings of Americans who want only to pass on to their children and grandchildren the fruits of their labor and the realization of their American dream. And besides, it generates only 1.5 percent of our Nation's revenue. Farmers in my State of Georgia, many of whom are widowed women and the children of deceased farmers, are faced with losing their family farms because of this harsh tax. Employees of small and medium-sized family businesses, many of whom are minorities, are at risk of losing their jobs because their employers are forced to pay the unfair, exorbitant death tax levied upon them. Funeral homes, newspaper publishers, radio station owners, garment manufacturers, grocery owners, and real estate owners are all affected, all across the demographic spectrum. Mr. Speaker, although reasonable minds may differ on this issue, I believe that the death tax is politically misguided, morally unjustifiable, and downright un-American. Let us vote today to finally eliminate the death tax and return to the American people and their progeny the hard-earned fruits of their labor.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unavoidably detained this morning attending the funeral of the late Bishop J. Clinton Hoggard, and I unavoidably missed the following votes: rollcall votes 134, 135, 136 and 137. Had I been here, I would have voted as follows: for rollcall 134 I would have voted nay; rollcall 135, nay; rollcall 136, nay; rollcall 137, nay.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this conference report. This agreement provides a strong safety net for our Nation's family farmers as well as for the small and disadvantaged farmers. It ensures a flexible, affordable, and top quality food supply for our consumers while strengthening our national security. It provides a 6-year reauthorization of the farm, rural development, conservation, and nutrition programs that are administered by USDA. The bill provides nearly 80 percent more funding for conservation programs than the current law provides, providing environmental benefits for all Americans. The bill will help producers of all commodities stay on the lands that they hold and that they love so much so that they continue their livelihood while conserving our natural resources for future generations. While not perfect, the agreement today also addresses many of the needs of those in southwest Georgia, in the second district, in terms of making strides in restructuring the crucially important peanut program. Let us not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Let us pass this conference report today for our farmers so that we can move forward with this year's planting season and have American agriculture continue to be the best in the world.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I support this bill for many reasons, but here I will list the four reasons: 1. H.R. 1542 improves Access for Rural Customers (I represent a district in rural South Georgia) this aspect of the bill is most important to my constituents. This bill will provide unprecedented service to rural communities. It contains a deployment schedule that requires the Bells to offer high- speed data service throughout their region and not only select lucrative areas, like their competitors do today. Specifically it: Requires the Bells to build out their central offices with multiplexing equipment and upgrade each upgradeable loop (less than three miles) when requested by a customer; or Requires the Bells to serve each customer (regardless of upgradeability or loop length) with alternative technology. Taken together, this means that 100 percent of the Bell's customers must be offered high-speed data service by the end of five years. Without passage of H.R. 1542, these areas will have to wait a long time before they are served, if ever, because these geographic areas make the least business sense for companies to penetrate. 2. The bill provides Consumers with Lower Prices, More Choices. The rules for competing high-speed Internet companies are stifling competition. As a consequence, cable companies which are unfettered by regulations, have about 70 percent of residential high-speed Internet connections. Fair competition for all high-speed Internet services will mean lower costs, more choices and more access for consumers. This bill would provide that kind of fair competition. 3. It restores Fairness to the Marketplace. Companies that offer high-speed Internet access over cable lines, wireless connections or satellite links are allowed to develop new services and compete without regulation. Disparities in regulation hurt competition. A level playing field would guarantee competition and encourage expansion of new networks. 4. Boosts the Economy--this is another aspect of the bill that is crucially important to our nation specifically at this time. The bill allows local phone companies to provide affordable high- speed Internet access. This will benefit consumers by providing more consumers and small businesses with high speed Internet access. In addition, because more services will be deployed to more homes, equipment manufacturers and vendors will also likely enjoy growth in their business as well. This all amounts to lower prices, more choices, more jobs, and economic growth. I close, Mr. Chairman in encouraging my colleagues to vote for this bill, and help our economy and our rural constituents.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I thank the committee for the hard work on both sides that have been done to bring this bill to the floor. It is a very, very important and emotional piece of legislation for the people of south Georgia. If one visits the city of Valdosta in deep central south Georgia and happens to be on the corner of North Ashley Street and Woodrow Wilson Drive, one will see a memorial that includes an F-86 fighter plane and a plaque commemorating the life of Major Lyn David McIntosh. Lyn McIntosh was an extraordinary American. He was raised in Valdosta; and he attended the public schools there, where he was involved in football and tennis, drama and student government, and as sports editor of the school paper. He graduated from Valdosta State College; and for a while, he taught math at Valdosta Junior High School. Later, he would earn a master's degree from the University of California. Moody Air Force Base is located in Valdosta, and this outstanding young man decided that military service is what he wanted to do with his life. In 1969, two big things happened: he was married to Ann Dixon of Valdosta, and he joined the Air Force. In the years that followed, he became the father of three sons; and he served as an Air Force pilot and a commander throughout much of the world, and he earned a long list of commendations, including the Air Force Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. He flew with the Eighth Special Operations Squadron as an MC-130 aircraft commander in June of 1979. As my colleagues know, on November 4, 1979, the Iranians seized the United States Embassy in Tehran, taking 66 Americans hostage. An extremely complex rescue mission was formed and Lyn volunteered for the mission. The rescue attempt began April 24, 1980; and it ended in a disaster in an Iranian desert on April 25. Lyn was among those who lost their lives in an on-the-ground aircraft collision. Unfortunately, this mission was aborted; and Lyn, unfortunately, was among those who died in this very, very tragic accident. But today, we are here, grateful for Lyn's service to his country, grateful for his commitment, and we want to say ``thank you'' to his family; we want to say ``thank you'' in the way that Americans will always do for eternal gratitude for those who give that last full measure of devotion for our country. Today, I would like to urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 1432, a bill to name the United States Post Office on the Inner Perimeter Road in Valdosta, Georgia, as the Major Lyn McIntosh Building in memory of a brave American. Lyn was indeed a great American. Greater love hath no man but that he lay down his life for his friends. Lyn was a friend to all Americans. He gave himself for those 66 hostages; and for that, we will be forever grateful. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this resolution as a memorial to Lyn and his family and to all those who knew and all Americans who benefited from his service to our great country.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, I rise in support of this conference report. It is a good work product. I want to thank and to congratulate the chairman and the ranking member, and especially our staff, who worked so hard and who did an extraordinary job to make sure that this package will serve to improve our country's ability to provide the best real-time information possible to our war-fighters and our policymakers, so as to protect Americans wherever they may be situated in the world. The intelligence systems and activities that are funded by this conference report are a prominent and indispensable element of the war on terrorism. In the short time between September 11 and the time when the committee marked up the authorization bill, this committee worked extremely hard in a completely nonpartisan manner to develop proposals to correct shortfalls and to establish a basis for continued reform and innovation. Most of these proposals are reflected in this conference report. The human element in this war on terrorism is fundamental, and it is an appropriate focus of our attention. But American technological prowess will greatly determine how effective our soldiers and intelligence officers will be, how many casualties our forces suffer, and how many innocent lives will be lost or protected. The precision of our air campaign in Afghanistan is wondrous, and we must always remember that it depends as much on precise intelligence as on the guidance system of the missiles or the bombs. Developing these technical intelligence capabilities is expensive, and it is often difficult. Sometimes we make mistakes; but usually we, the government, and American industry get it right in the end. I am gratified to be part of this process. Mr. Speaker, this bill is a good start on correcting the problems in the intelligence community, but there is clearly much more that must be done. I speak, I believe, for all of my colleagues on the committee in again commending the chairman and our ranking member for their dedication, and also the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle), my own counterpart, in assuring that our intelligence organizations can protect Americans against the new menace. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this report.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time, and I rise, Mr. Speaker, in support of this concurrent resolution in honor of Johnny Micheal Spann, a fellow native Alabaman, the first known U.S. combat casualty in the war in Afghanistan. This is indeed a solemn time for all Americans as we realize the tremendous sacrifices made in our behalf by the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, our intelligence agencies, and by their families. We are all in awe of their bravery, their courage, their dedication to our national security and their willingness to endure great hardship and great risks in our collective behalf. We give great thanks for their service, for Mike's service to our country. Mike Spann loved his country. He served his country. He was a friend to each and every American citizen. Because, as the Good Book says, ``Greater love hath no man but that he lay down his life for his friends.'' We honor his memory today and extend our deepest sympathy to his family. We are eternally grateful to him and to the brave men and women who risk their lives as part of our intelligence community to ensure the safety of all Americans and all freedom-loving people throughout the world. God bless Mike Spann. God bless his family. May God continue to bless America.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, it was before the events of September 11 and its aftermath that a diverse group of House Members--including, Democrats and Republics, Members from different regions, different backgrounds, and widely, differing viewpoints--began discussing the idea of drafting a resolution that focuses this often-contentious body and the country at-large on the higher purpose that unites us all as American citizens and as children of God. Little did we know how profound the need for such a focus would soon be. The resolution we consider tonight asks that we seek the blessings of Providence for forgiveness, reconciliation, unity, and charity for every American in order to fulfill our country's purpose in bringing hope to the defenseless and freedom to the oppressed. Our country is, in fact, the hope and inspiration of countless millions of people held in oppressed circumstances throughout much of the world. At times, we Americans differ bitterly over policies. We have our own struggles over justice and opportunity for all. For more than two centuries, we have fought to make the promise of our Constitution a reality for every citizen, regardless of race, religion, gender, or national origin. Yet, through it all, no country in the world has made a greater contribution or greater sacrifice to advance the cause of freedom and human dignity. Tonight, our Nation and the free world face one of the greatest tests in our history. Let us stand together, in reconciliation and unity, as the ``champion of hope, vindicator of the defenseless, and the guardian of freedom,'' here in America and across the world.

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, when Julian Dixon became chairman of the House Ethics Committee some years ago, a reporter asked a political scholar at one of Washington's think-tanks to evaluate the veteran House member from California. The scholar thought for a moment, and answered that he was basically a quiet man--but one who was also extremely bright, deep, thoughtful, tough, and extraordinarily effective. To those of us who knew him and served with him, he was all of these things during his many years of legislative service--and more! To me, he was a mentor and friend. When I arrived in Congress, I soon recognized that while his style may have been low-key, he was truly an impressive mover and shaker who was achieving many things others were unable to achieve--one who was uplifting the poor and disadvantaged protecting the integrity of the legislative process, and building a stronger and more secure country. While he fought as hard as anyone I know for causes he believed in, he fought truthfully and fairly. And, when it was over, he invariably retained the deep respect and friendship of those with whom he differed. There are many fighters, but only a rare few who end up bringing people closer together. It is a privilege to rise in support of H.R. 2454 to designate a Post Office in his hometown of Los Angeles as the ``Congressman Julian C. Dixon Post Office Building.''

Mr. BISHOP

Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, if I were asked to describe Earl T. Shinhoster in a single word, ``patriot'' would be the first that would come to mind. From his teen-age years until his untimely death at 47, he devoted his life to making the promises so eloquently expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution--promises such as justice, opportunity, and the freedom to pursue one's dreams--apply to every citizen. We could also call him a ``relentless fighter'' and a ``thoughtful leader.'' Earl Shinhoster exemplified all of these qualities during three decades of service with the NAACP. As executive director and chief economic officer, he achieved renewed stability by sharply increasing membership and reducing indebtedness. As director of the Voter Empowerment Project, he increased registration and opened the political process to thousands of people. During the last census, he worked diligently to boost participation by African Americans in an effort to ensure that every American would be counted. In one of his final public appearances, he urged fellow members of the NAACP to always keep fighting for the cause of humanity--and to always uphold the values they learned in their family, church and school. He was a man of courage, of commitment and of principle. Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to support H.R. 2261, a bill introduced by my colleague from Georgia, Congresswoman McKinney, to name a Decatur, Georgia Post Office in memory of Earl T. Shinhoster, as a fitting tribute to a great American patriot.