Henry Bonilla

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the motion of the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur). I know this has been an issue she has been working on long before the current crisis that exists in Afghanistan, and this program has proven to be very beneficial in this area as we undertake our mission there. But again, well before this situation arose, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) has been a leader on this issue through her subcommittee work, and well before that, as well. I commend her for her longtime commitment to this issue. We have no objection and, in fact, we support this motion enthusiastically. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, at this time I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mrs. Viola S. Martinez of Laredo, Texas on the occasion of her 70th birthday on October 4, 2001. Viola has been an outstanding member of my team since I ran for Congress in 1992. While her family is native to Texas, Viola was born in Dearborn, Michigan in 1931. Viola returned to Laredo as a young girl and received her education there. Family plays a large role in Viola's life. Viola and her husband recently celebrated 50 years of marriage. Viola and Ernesto are also proud parents of three children, Ernesto J. Martinez Jr., Sara Martinez Tucker and Rosie Stevens. Viola is the heart and soul of Laredo. Folks in this booming border city know that if you need something done, go to Viola. Whether it is assisting a veteran with benefits or helping a young family find the proper tax form, Viola goes the extra mile for each constituent. Viola is one of those rare people who can successfully accomplish many work-related tasks while still finding time to volunteer in professional and community groups. Viola's dedicated service to the Laredo community reminds us of all that is good in America. Viola is truly a shining example for all citizens. It has been a great pleasure to work with Viola for these nine years and I look forward to many more to come. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in wishing Mrs. Viola Martinez a very Happy Birthday!

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, Evil. It is a word we use too lightly. A word we use when horrible, distasteful, or bad would be more appropriate. It is a word which should be reserved for only the most monstrous and inhuman of circumstances. My colleagues, we have witnessed evil this week. The twin tragedies in New York and Washington, the massacre of innocents, must never happen again. Today, with this legislation, we are sending the world a message. We are stating that America does not recoil in the face of evil. On the contrary, America rises up. In the last century we faced down the evils of Nazism and Communism. Today, we will face down the evils of terrorism. This evil although a phantom will not be able to hide. The basic goodness that we have seen demonstrated by the firemen, police, military, and civilians at the rescue scenes reflects the basic goodness of America. The selflessness, determination and patience tell us that freedom will be preserved and triumph over this threat. My colleagues, the forces of evil signed a death warrant for terror last Tuesday. They have unleashed the wrath of the American people. The struggle ahead may be a long one. Ultimately, we will triumph. We will preserve freedom for future generations. We will guarantee hope remains for all mankind. My colleagues please join me in voting for this resolution. God bless America.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a day we never thought we would see in our lifetimes. Unfortunately, we are just learning the depths of the devastation. In the true American spirit, we are also learning about heroes across this country who rose to the challenge to save and comfort their fellow Americans. President Bush has the full support of this Congress. In the long days and months ahead, we must unite to follow through on his pledge to track down those responsible for these cowardly acts against the American people. Those who have declared war on the American people must now face the full might and power of the United States. Americans will stand strong and will not let these terrorists take our freedom. The men and women in our Armed Forces serve our country with brave hearts every single day. But today is a new day in their duty, a new day of a monolithic fight against evil. We must provide our military and intelligence agencies with the resources they need to win this fight. America must stand together with strength and resolve so America remains free, safe and secure. America must stand together in prayer for the lives that were lost. America will prevail and we will win. God Bless America.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, sometimes I wonder when we listen to debate in this Chamber if we are not made up of a lot of Chicken Littles with concerns about the money that is put in here for APHIS and trying to prevent the diseases from coming over here. They are not here. There is absolutely no threat at this point domestically to any of us, humans, plants, animals, because our systems work. We are working every day in a bipartisan way to make sure that we remain safe from these threats that have devastated other countries. Can anybody guarantee that nothing is going to happen? Of course not. That is why we have over and over again talked to the Secretary and communicated with everyone involved who could possibly have a role in preventing these diseases from entering our country to make sure we are doing everything we can. Even though there was a request by the administration in this area, we reviewed that with the Secretary of Agriculture over and over again, specifically to find out if she could access this multibillion-dollar fund if, in fact, something happened. There is also a plan in place that, looking a step further, assuming that the sky does fall and Chicken Little is finally right, there would be an indemnity program for livestock if something were to occur. Of course, we cannot predict, and all we can do is do all we can to be prepared. Mr. Speaker, at this point I believe in a bipartisan way in this House we should feel comfortable that we are doing all we can, but to stand up and say over and over again, oh, my goodness, we have to pour more money in for inspectors and so forth, it is not prudent. You cannot live by the fact that something terrible may happen every day. Let us be optimistic and look at the positives in the bill. We should feel good about that.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time; and I rise in opposition to the motion to instruct. My friend from Ohio was just making some points about how we all want to work on stopping any threat from entering our borders and threatening livestock or people in this country from any problem that currently exists overseas. We are in total agreement on wanting to do all we can to stop this from entering our country in any way whatsoever. However, the solution that is being proposed in this motion to instruct is unnecessary because in fact there is a system in place already that can be accessed by the Secretary of Agriculture on a moment's notice if something were to occur in this country. We have gone over this over and over again as we have moved separately on our agriculture appropriations bill in pointing this out clearly, and we even asked and reviewed with the Secretary that the money that she could access would amount to $30 billion. We are talking about an amount here of $35 million that, when compared to that $30 billion, is a drop in the bucket in terms of what would be necessary to fight whatever threat may enter our borders. The Secretary gets that authorization from a program that was implemented 20 years ago for the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service. Twenty years ago, in response to an avian influenza catastrophe, we included the following language in our annual appropriations bill, which has served the purpose over the years, and I read from that bill: ``In addition, in emergencies which threaten any segment of the agriculture production industry of this country, the Secretary may transfer from other appropriations or funds available to the Department such sums as may be deemed necessary for the arrest and eradication of contagious or infectious disease or pests of animals, poultry, or plants. Mr. Speaker, we have carried this language each year for the past 20 years, and this language does permit the Secretary to simply declare that an emergency exists and that simple language would then allow the Secretary to fully access the Commodity Credit Corporation, through that corporation, a $30 billion entity, to take whatever action is necessary to address the emergency. We feel strongly this is the proper approach; and this permits the Secretary to meet any need much faster than waiting for congressional action, followed by OMB apportionment and treasury warrants, and everything else that is required by this action. So the system that is in place now we feel very confident would address any threat that could enter our country. And if, in fact, it was not, we would have sufficient time to review what threat could possibly enter our country and deal with it appropriately. But to pull a figure out of thin air of $35 million at this point and to say we must insist this money goes into the budget is unnecessary, and I guess an exercise in caution that some feel we need to take but is absolutely not something we need to do at this time. I, therefore, oppose this motion to instruct and urge its defeat.

Mr. BONILLA. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is correct, there is $30 billion that the Secretary of Agriculture could access if one of these threats entered our country domestically.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, the Secretary could access that, that is correct. If the Secretary or we in this room agreed in a bipartisan way that it was not enough, we could come back and deal with that at the appropriate time.

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. This is not something that, as the gentleman is presenting it to us today, we are hearing for the first time. The gentleman has done yeoman's work on bringing this issue to our attention; and we know it is a very serious problem. It is going to be a difficult issue for us to deal with, but I do commit to the gentleman that we will do what we can and whatever might be possible between now and conference to help the growers back home.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I would first of all like to say that I hope that the constituents back home of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) understand how hard he has been working on this issue.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, though I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. Mr. Chairman, just to inform the gentleman, we are just delighted to accept this amendment. If the gentleman would like to offer any more debate time, that is fine, but in the good spirit of trying to work in agreement here, I just want to let the gentleman know that we are prepared to accept the amendment and move it forward.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the amendment. It proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriations bill, and therefore violates clause 2 of rule XXI. The rule states, in pertinent part, ``An amendment to a general appropriations bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.'' The amendment imposes additional duties. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve my point of order.

Mr. BONILLA. I would inquire, Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman is going to withdraw his amendment.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Chairman, I yield the remaining time to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).

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

Mr. BONILLA

Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the further consideration of H.R. 2330 and that I may include tabular and extraneous material.