Dan Burton

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and unable to be on the Floor for rollcall vote 659. Had I been present I would have emphatically voted ``no.''

Mr. BURTON

Mr. BURTON. Mr. Speaker, as we close the 112th Congress and I prepare to retire from Congress, I would like to leave a few comments regarding health related matters for my colleagues who will return to the 113th Congress. Throughout my decades in public service, I have strived to give consideration to those whose issues fall through the cracks of our government, and to those who become targets of government authorities for daring to deliver or seek alternative therapies. Complementary and Alternative Therapies: While Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I initiated a comprehensive evaluation of the role of complementary and alternative therapies in our health care system. During this time we heard from researchers, practitioners, and patients about the value that complementary and alternative therapies can play in our health system. These therapies include acupuncture, massage therapy, traditional healing systems from various cultures around the world such as Traditional East Asian Medicine, Kampo, Native American Medicine, Homeopathy and energy therapies such as QiGong and Reiki as well as the use stress management tools and nutrition and dietary supplements. These also include conventional therapies used for purposes not yet recognized as mainstream such as Chelation Therapy for cardiovascular benefit. I hope my colleagues in 2013 will continue to protect access therapies and products so that Americans can continue to make their own choices in health care and retain their health freedom. I also believe a hard look at the management of resources provided to these issues is overdue. For instance, the first ever head to head research study looking at an alternative cancer treatment for pancreatic cancer as compared to the mainstream therapy was an absolute management disaster. Ten years, millions of dollars, and several federal investigations validating violations of patient protections by the academic conventional cancer therapy principal investigator has been swept under the rug by the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Too often, I hear that the studies that are funded, especially those on herbs are ``designed to fail''. After 20 years and more than a billion dollars, too little quality research on the therapies Americans are most interested has in has been conducted. When my colleague Senator Tom Harkin gave the initial instruction to the National Institutes of Health to ``investigate and validate'' therapies being used around the world, we all envisioned an aggressive campaign to go into the field and look at what is working an report this to the American people. Former Congressman Berkley Bedell championed this issue after being successfully treated with alternative therapies for Lyme disease and Prostate Cancer. Much good has been accomplished, but better work can and should be done. In early 2013, the results of a national multi-site Chelation Therapy study will be published. I hope my colleagues will review this study and look to the history of how doctors who have provided this therapy have been attacked for daring to use a therapy approved decades ago by the Food and Drug Administration to treat heavy metal exposure in children ``off label'' for cardiovascular benefit. Medicine is increasingly recognizing that exposure to lead, mercury and other heavy metals have on the body including the cardiovascular system. Chelation Therapy may be improving cardiovascular health by removing heavy metals. This study was attacked by closed-minded individuals who oppose chelation therapy and all alternative therapies. Sadly, we have lost a decade in looking at the benefits of chelation therapy in children as the National Institutes of Health reneged on its promise to conduct a study at the Clinical Center on chelation therapy in the pediatric population. The American people deserve honest inquiry into chelation therapy for all its possible benefits. Keep in mind, 1 in 6 women of childbearing age are carrying a higher than normal body burden of mercury, and mercury is the second most toxic substance on the planet. Mercury in all its forms can be harmful especially to babies in the wound and in the first years of life. We first became aware of mercury in vaccines after the FDA was required by our body to conduct an inquiry on the amount of mercury in the products they regulated. A new inquiry is due in 2013 to determine the amount of mercury still in all FDA regulated products. Congress will once again need to require this of the FDA. I am disturbed that in 2013 we continue to have mercury in any form in medicines and in other products Americans routinely use without the knowledge they are exposing their families to mercury. It is a travesty that public health authorities have discounted the risk of mercury in vaccines and other products because it is a ``trace amount''. The whole body of evidence on mercury shows it can be harmful and is best avoided. Sadly the American Academy of Pediatrics and the public health officials at FDA and the rest of the Department of Health and Human Services should be leading the charge to get mercury out of all medicines, and they have instead continued to protect the industry and not our children. It has been left to families who have formed organizations such as the Coalition for SafeMinds to fight for children to be protected from exposure to mercury through medicine. Autism and Vaccine Injury: The Committee did not set out to investigate the epidemic rise in autism rates; however, in late 1999 as we were looking at reports of injury within the military form the adulterated anthrax vaccine, we began hearing about children being injured from vaccines and developing autism. It was a crisis we could not ignore. Just as Bob Wright, the founder of Autism Speaks, recently testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that his daughter Katie reports that her son suffered a vaccine injury and developed autism, my both of my own grandchildren suffered vaccine injuries and my grandson developed autism shortly after he was vaccinated with multiple vaccines, exposed to high levels of mercury and suffered adverse reactions. We heard from thousands of families whose experienced similar injuries. Almost 5,000 of these families sought relief through the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) as is required by law. Congress and the American people are repeatedly told that vaccine injury does not cause autism. Of the 5,000 families only 1, a little girl named Hannah Poling, has received justice in this program because her parents, both health professionals were able to document a mitochondrial dysfunction that was exacerbated by exposure to mercury and vaccine injury. The government conceded her case, but it still took years of negotiations and legal battles for little Hannah to be compensated. This program is not working at Congress intended and I hope my colleagues in the 113th Congress will conduct a thorough review of the management of the VICP and direct through legislation improvements to the law so that all that are seriously injured may be compensated swiftly, fairly and without long litigious battles. Sadly the autism omnibus proceeding was fraught with injustices. There was only limited discovery, many actions by government lawyers that in any other court would lead to disbarment, and an appearance of bias by the Special Masters who seemed to work as partners to Justice to defend against vaccine injury rather than to sit as unbiased administrators and many other matters deserve a thorough oversight review by Congress to insure the program operates as it was designed. While government officials who settled the Hannah Poling case reported her mitochondrial dysfunction is rare, others reported that it is very prevalent in the autism population. Maybe as many as 1 in 5 with autism may have this same mitochondrial dysfunction. These same government officials have failed to share what their database of vaccine cases show--that almost since the inception of the VICP, the government has quietly been settling cases of vaccine induced brain injury that resulted in autism. The Elizabeth Birt Law Advocacy Center (EBCALA) conducted a review of settled cases within the program for vaccine induced brain injury such as encephalitis and seizures, confirmed dozens of cases in which the government compensated the vaccine injured. The way that the government has shielded this is that it is not listed as the primary injury. However, the EBCALA investigators validated through families and records that autism resulted from vaccine injury. There needs to improved transparency within this program. Every case that is settled should be published online in such a way that the public is informed what injuries have been acknowledged and the management of the program improved so that all cases for like injuries are compensated quickly. At present each report of injury is handled in isolation, with no discovery, no ability to refer to other cases and evidence previously accepted in cases, the program is wasteful in the use of its resources and certainly not fair to the injured. If we want to preserve vaccine policies in this country, it is essential to insure that the VICP works as Congress intended. I urge my colleagues to engage and stay engaged in investigating this program, talking to the lawyers and petitioners in the program, and improving it through legislation. Autism: Autism in and of itself is a national emergency. We have gone in the time that I served in Congress from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 88 children age 8 on the autism spectrum. This cannot simply be genetics-- there is no such thing as a genetic epidemic. There are many issues that I urge my colleagues to address in 2013. The ERISA fix for insurance coverage of autism therapies such as Applied Behavioral Analysis is ``low hanging fruit'' for Congress. There is an urgent need to address adult and transition services for individuals with autism including those with higher functioning autism who, while often able to live independently as adults, are often under employed. We have a severe shortage of adequate housing for adults with autism who are no longer able to live with their parents. We have invested a billion dollars in autism research over the last decade, mostly on epidemiology and genetics. The autism community is frustrated that environmental factors are not given a greater share of the research dollars and that practically no funding has been provided to evaluate the dozens of therapies families who are able to pay out of pocket are using very successfully. Many of these are dietary related and alternative therapies and if there is ever to be insurance reimbursement, Medicaid coverage, or access through other government programs such as for military families, research to investigate for safety and benefit is needed. I hope my colleagues in 2013 will direct federal research resources to these much needed efforts in collaboration with the families and practitioners who have experience using them. The government cannot continue to sink significant resources simply into counting the children, without addressing the causes of the epidemic increase and focuses on prevention and treatments. I am pleased that Chairman Darrell Issa committed during the November 29 autism hearing to stay engaged in looking at the federal response to autism. He is learning as I did while Chairman that the families and professionals involved in this community are desperate for Congress to do something to improve the Federal response, to hold accountable those who are subverting the truth about the causes of autism, and who have poorly managed the resources provided by taxpayers to get to the truth on autism and vaccine injury. I urge a review on how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has managed the Vaccine Safety Database, how Poul Thorsen was able to steal more than $1 million from the autism grant in the CDC-Denmark project, and why Diana Schendel of the CDC has continued publish studies as a co-author to Thorsen. Why does the CDC continue to promote his research after his federal indictment for 22 counts of wire fraud and money laundering? I am concerned that individuals at the CDC have participated in malicious acts of covering up the data showing a direct connection between exposure to mercury in vaccines in the first six months of life and an eleven-fold increase risk of autism. I urge the 113th Congress to shine the light of day on their actions and seek justice. Military and Veterans: I cannot leave Congress without giving mention to the men and women of our armed services, active duty, National Guard, Reserves and Veterans. We recently lost one our own in the Congress, Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran. All across the great nation, in veterans' hospitals, hospices and retirement homes, we are losing tens of thousands of World War II, the Korean Conflict, and Vietnam War veterans each month. Too many have no remaining family members to be with them and it is VA staff and volunteers who spend the last hours and days with them. The signature injuries of the Global War on Terror of the last 12 years is Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (TBI/PTSD) I like many Members of Congress have been informed of the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy at 1.5 ATA for members of the military who have had concussive injury and developed TBI/PTSD. Professional athletes such as Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III who suffer a concussive injury are immediately provided access to all therapies that show benefit including hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Sadly our troops not provided the same access. For a decade members of the military and veterans have been working to gain access to HBOT and other therapies and to have these therapies paid for through Tricare. Evidence show HBOT is both safe and effective, and unlike the anti- depressant, anti-psychotic and other drugs being handed out like candy by military doctors, do not have black box warnings for increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts. I urge my colleagues returning in 2013 as well as President Obama, the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to work together to make HBOT at 1.5 ATA (the validated dose) and other therapies as outlined in the TBI Treatment Act we passed twice in the House available to those with TBI/PTSD. Those who stepped up and volunteered to serve our nation deserve nothing less. Health Freedom and the Constitution: At the foundation of all of my time in public service is the Constitution. The prevailing theme of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans are as important today as it was when I was first sworn in. As I leave Congress, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Indiana and the nation. I am grateful for all those who have worked with me over the years in my Congressional office and on Committee Staff. I am thankful to a God who has provided me strength and health to serve and pray that as we enter 2013 and I enter a new phase of my life, with a beautiful and intelligent wife and family whom I love, that new champions for health freedom will emerge.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, let me just follow up on what was just said and say that Barney Frank and I have had a lot of differences over the years, but we've also found times when we could work together. In fact, we even cosponsored a bill one time. So Barney and your colleague, I wish you both the very best, and hopefully we will run into each other along the road in the future. Madam Speaker, let me just make a couple of comments to my two colleagues who are going to follow me on this Special Order. They have told me if I talk too long they're going to hit me in the head with a ball bat, so I'm not going to talk too long tonight. But I do want to say a couple of things. First of all, let me start off by saying that Daniel Inouye, Senator Inouye, I never met, but I read in the paper many years ago the exploits of Daniel Inouye when he was in the military. A Japanese young man whose family was put in a camp during World War II, and he volunteered to go into the military. He became an outstanding member of the military. In Italy there were exploits that he performed that won him the Congressional Medal of Honor. And you don't get that unless you are really an extraordinary human being. He took out an enemy position, a German position, when he was hit again and again and again. He lost one of his arms, and he just kept going. I wish he were still here today. I called him on the phone when I found out about that, and I told him I had never met him, but I wanted him to know that there were Members of the House who really thought he was an extraordinary man. And he was, and I'm sure he's going to be missed. I've been here 30 years, and I'm retiring at the end of this term. I thought I ought to have at least a little bit of a swan song, maybe 5 or 10 minutes where I could talk to my colleagues a little bit about what's happened over the 30 years. When I first came here, I was a very young man, and I knew everything. You couldn't tell me anything. Now that I've been here 30 years, I realize I didn't know much of anything, and I probably know less now than I did then. In fact, I just found there were a couple of things I missed along the boat with the Parliamentarian. There are a couple of things I would like to comment about, and that is we have 435 Members in this House and 100 Members in the Senate. We start working with each other and we work together, but we really don't know much about each other. I don't know much about your background, Madam Speaker. I don't know much about my colleagues' background. We work together, and we don't know whether we were poor, rich, well educated, or uneducated; and we work together. The thing that really has bothered me as the years have gone by is that I see things happen to my colleagues about whom I know very little, and it bothers me. One of the leaders on the Democrat side of the aisle lost his wife a few years ago, and it wasn't for several months that I even knew about it. I've had a number of my colleagues who've lost their kids, who have gone through all kinds of tragedies in their families, and I think many of my colleagues don't know much about it. We just go on, and we continue to have the vitriolic conversations and debates that we have, and we don't realize that we haven't walked in the other guy's shoes very much. I thought tonight I would just maybe take a minute or two--and I'm sure that most of my colleagues are out doing something else, but maybe they'll get a chance to hear what I'm saying tonight. But whether we're Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, we ought to think about the other guy and the other gal who's working so hard to get their points across and who may be going through tragedies that we don't even understand or can't even imagine. We need to think about walking in their shoes just a little bit before we're so critical. Time goes by so fast. I've been here 30 years, and I can remember the first day I walked up the steps of the Capitol with my family and the television camera was following me. I thought, man, this is going to last forever. I thought my kids would be with me forever, my staff would be with me forever, and my wife would be with me forever. She passed away about 11 years ago. Fortunately, I have another wonderful wife. But you go through all these tragedies, and it goes by so fast and you just don't realize it. And you don't take the time to smell the roses until you're just a little bit older and have missed so much. If I were saying something to my colleagues tonight, I would say, Do your very best and explain yourself the very best that you can, but realize that the other guy who has a different point of view than you really believes most of the time in what he's doing, and we ought to be a little more tolerant and don't criticize him too much until you've had a chance to walk in his shoes. According to General Patton in the movie ``Patton,'' he said, All glory is fleeting. It's true. I see these young guys come in who are like me and these young ladies come in, and they're going to whip the world; they're going to change this world overnight. I try to talk to them in an elderly, fatherly way, I guess you would say. I'd say, Have you ever been around the Capital and looked at all the statues? And they'll say, I've looked at a few of them. I'll say, Have you ever seen some of pictures around here? They'll look and they'll say, Oh, yeah, we've seen them. I'll say, Do you know who they are? And they'll say, Well, no. I'll say, Well, they were Speakers of the House and Vice Presidents and Presidents of the United States, and you don't know who they are. And they'll say, That's right. I say, Remember this. You think you're going to be remembered. You're going to do your best, but you're just going to be a footnote in history, one line in a history book. So don't take yourself so seriously. Do the best you can, and fight for the things in which you believe, and stick by your principles. But don't go around thinking that you float on air and that you're something special because you're just another Congressman. We've had about 12,000 Congressmen and Senators in our history, and you're going to be one of them. It's an honor to be able to be numbered among those; but remember, there were Ceasars who ruled the world, and you don't even know who they are. So be a little more realistic when you start thinking about how important you might be because, really, all glory is fleeting. I want to read to you something here, a couple of poems. Bear with me for just a minute. The first poem is called ``A Bag of Tools'': Isn't it strange how princes and kings, and clowns that caper in sawdust rings, and common people, like you and me, are builders for eternity? Each is given a bag of tools; a shapeless mass; a book of rules. And each must make, ere life is flown, a stumbling block or a steppingstone. I hope my colleagues will all try to make their lives a steppingstone. I want to talk about a guy that served not in this Chamber, but another Chamber. He was a House Member. I'll tell you a little bit about him, and it's in a poem. It says: A squalid village set in wintry mud. A hub-deep ox-cart slowly groans and squeaks. A horseman hails and halts. He shifts his cud And speaks: ``Well, did you hear? Tom Lincoln's wife today. The devil's luck for folk as poor as they. Poor Tom! Poor Nance! Poor young one! Born without a chance! A baby in that God-forsaken den, That worse than cattle-pen! Well, what are they but cattle? Cattle? Tut! A critter is beef, hide and tallow, but Who'd swap one for the critters of that hut? White trash! Small fry! Whose only instinct is to multiply! They're good at that, And so, today, God wot! Another brat! A squawking, squalling, red-faced good-for-naught Spilled on the world, heaven only knows for what. Better if he were black, For then he'd have a shirt upon his back And something in his belly as he grows. More than he is like to have, as I suppose. Yet there be those Who claim 'equality' for this new brat, And that damned democrat Who squats today where Washington once sat, He'd have it that this Lincoln cub might be Of even value in the world with you and me! Yes, Jefferson, Tom Jefferson, who but he? Who even hints that black men should be free. That feather-headed fool would tell you, maybe A president might lie in this new baby! In this new squawker born without a rag To hide himself! Good God, it makes me gag! This human-spawn Born for a world to wipe its feet upon A few years hence, but now More helpless than the litter of a sow, And--oh, well! Send the women-folks to Nance.'' ``Poor little devil! Born without a chance!'' Then I want to say to my colleagues one more thing, and then I'll stop. This is when you speak on the floor. I hope my colleagues will get a chance to read this because it's really important: Drop a pebble in the water: just a splash, and it is gone; But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on, Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing on out to the sea, And there is no way of telling where the end is going to be. Drop a pebble in the water: in a minute you forget, But there's little waves a-flowing, and there's ripples circling yet, And those little waves a-flowing to a great big wave have grown; You've disturbed a mighty river just by dropping in a stone. Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute it is gone; But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on. They keep spreading, spreading, spreading from the center as they go, And there is no way to stop them, once you've started them to flow. Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute you forget; But there's little waves a-flowing and there's ripples circling yet. And perhaps in some sad heart a mighty wave of tears you've stirred, And disturbed one who was happy, ere you dropped that unkind word. Drop a word of cheer and kindness: just a flash and it is gone; But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on, Bearing hope and joy and comfort on each splashing, dashing wave, Till you wouldn't believe the volume of the one kind word you gave. Drop a word of cheer and kindness: in a minute you forget; But there's gladness still a-swelling, and there's joy circling yet. And you've rolled a wave of comfort whose sweet music can be heard Over miles and miles of water, just by dropping one kind word. So, if I were talking to my colleagues tonight, I'd say to think about your colleagues and their families and the troubles that they have and the heartache they're feeling, and to think about the words that you're saying to them and the kind of attitude that you're creating in your colleagues and their families by the things you're saying. Fight for the things you believe in, but remember, there's another human being over there who can be helped or hurt just by what you're saying on the floor of the House of Representatives or in the United States Senate. With that, Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my colleague from Massachusetts.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, the gentleman, the old man, or the dean, as they call him, of the Massachusetts delegation, has asked if we would give him some of our 1-hour time, and I would like to ask unanimous consent that we give him--how much time do you need? Five minutes? An additional 5 minutes.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Affairs be discharged from further consideration of House Resolution 813, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, Moldova and Russia are now going to be able to participate with the United States in more free trade. I think this is a great bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Russia joined the World Trade Organization this year. Russia's accession will bring 140 million new consumers into the WTO's international rules-based system. This will help U.S. companies who have been at a disadvantage in competing with their European and Asian counterparts in Russia. In order to join the WTO, Russia has been required to make substantial reforms to open its economy to international investment. These reforms include significant cuts on tariffs impacting manufactured goods and agricultural products, as well as a pledge to cut farm subsidies in half by 2018. Russia must also allow 100 percent foreign ownership of companies in a diverse group of industries, including banking, telecommunications, and retail. More importantly, Russia will be bound to respect the WTO's intellectual property protections and will participate in the organization's system for settling trade disputes. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia, I've visited Moscow and have met with representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce and many American businesses that are already active in Russia. Whether we pass this bill or not, these companies will remain in Russia, and the Russian market is too big to ignore. However, let's make it easier for U.S. companies to do business in Russia. In addition, the Peterson Institute, a prominent economic think tank, estimates that if we pass this bill and Russia receives PNTR, U.S. exports to Russia will double over the next 5 years from $9 billion to $19 billion. This increased trade could support upwards of 50,000 new jobs here in the United States. This legislation requires the Secretary of State and the trade representative to provide Congress with a number of reports that explain the steps that they've taken to ensure that Russia is in compliance with the WTO. These reports must include updates on what the administration is doing to advocate for American investors in Russia, including those investors in the Yukos Oil Company, who suffered about $12 billion in losses when the Russian Government expropriated the company. Regarding Moldova, this former state of the Soviet Union joined the WTO in 2001. However, because Jackson-Vanik applies to Moldova as well as Russia, the U.S. has not been able to offer that country PNTR, and this bill will fix that.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I'm very happy to now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Rohrabacher.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I am very happy to yield 2 minutes to one of the real leaders on the Foreign Affairs Committee, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Yes, Madam Speaker, I share in the gentleman's understanding of congressional intent as reflected in the text of section 404(c). The list of sanctionable individuals is meant to be unclassified, and any classified annex should be used only as an exception.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 6156.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I'm very happy to yield to the very competent leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros- Lehtinen, for such time as she may consume.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I yield whatever time he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), a leader on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I reserve the right to close, so I yield to my colleague.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, recently we passed a continuing resolution to take care of the funding of the government until next March. And one of the things that concerned a lot of us was: Is any of that money in that continuing resolution going to go to help the Government of Egypt or Libya or any of the other countries where we see all that civil unrest and all the horrible acts of murder taking place? And I never did get an answer, so I would just like to say to my colleagues who are going to be here--I'm retiring at the end of this year--we should not give one dime, not one penny, to any country that tries to undermine the United States' interests around the world, and we should not give one penny to anybody that constantly tries to spread radical fundamentalist Muslim beliefs in this world. Shari'a law is something we can't live with, and we need to let them know very clearly that if they want to work with the United States, fine, but they're not getting any money from us if this continues. This world is in a terrible state because of these radicals, and we must not let them win this battle. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia I have had the privilege of visiting Georgia twice in the past two years. Last year I led a bipartisan delegation that met with President Saakashvili, his cabinet, Members of Parliament and representatives of various opposition parties. Two weeks ago I briefly passed through Georgia, where I met with President Saakashvili, while traveling between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Georgia is a country in transition, the purpose of this resolution is not only to acknowledge this fact but to encourage this transition to continue. While serious challenges still remain, there is no doubt that Georgia is committed to developing a strong democratic government, a robust free market economy and joining key international institutions including NATO. Democratic developments in Georgia range from high level reforms, such as changes to the constitution that strengthen the office of the Prime Minister as well as the Parliament, to lower level reforms, including the creation of ``Public Service Halls'' that provide essential government services, including passports and drivers licenses, through an efficient and transparent process. As we know, economic development follows political reform as investors seek stable places to grow their capital. Over the past ten years both the capital city, Tbilisi and the Black Sea port of Batumi have been transformed by investment into modern European cities. For Georgia's economy to continue to grow such investment must continue and reach outside the cities to embrace the country as a whole. Georgia's commitment to NATO has been exemplary. While many alliance members and partners are winding down their commitments to ISAF in Afghanistan, Georgia is increasing its commitment to deploy the highest per capita troop level of any contributing nation. Georgian soldiers are deployed in the dangerous Helmand province where they serve side- by-side with U.S. soldiers and marines. Although participation in ISAF is not a prerequisite for NATO membership, alliance members should recognize that Georgia's commitment to Afghanistan as well as the country's commitment to democratic and defense reforms will make Georgia a model NATO member. One major challenge that Georgia faces is Russia's continued occupation of two Georgian provinces; Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which is in violation of the August 2008 ceasefire agreement. As this resolution states, Russia has blocked the extension of OSCE and UN observation missions, and prohibits the EU mission from accessing the occupied territories. Last year I traveled to the boundary of Abkhazia from where one can plainly see that the Russian Army is constructing permanent bases including apartment buildings to house its soldiers. This Congress must condemn this continued illegal occupation. As we know from our own history, building a successful democracy is a challenge. In less than two weeks, on October 1st, Georgians will go to the polls for parliamentary elections. It is not for those of us in Washington or any other capital to influence the outcome of these elections. The Georgian people must pick their own leaders. However we must urge, as this resolution does, that the Georgian government, the independent election commission, and all political parties ensure that the Georgian people have their say. The success of the elections as a whole, not any one candidate or party, will ensure that Georgia's democratic transition continues. This resolution, H. Res. 526, is representative of a bipartisan effort to recognize Georgia and the progress it has made and symbolizes U.S. support for a young, but growing democracy. I want to thank Rep. Shuster for his efforts and for introducing this resolution. I also want to thank Ranking Member Meeks, Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, and Ranking Member Berman and their staff for their support of this Subcommittee's efforts to move this resolution.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, on October 3, 2012, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, located in Washington, DC, will be celebrating the 101st National Day of the Republic of China on Taiwan at the beautiful Twin Oaks Estate. I rise today in advance of this celebration to offer my continued praise and support of the U.S.- Taiwanese relationship and to acknowledge the good work of Jason Yuan, who after serving four years as Taiwan's Washington Representative is returning to Taiwan to continue his distinguished career by serving as Secretary General of the National Security Council. Mr. Yuan has worked tirelessly to further the mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and Taiwan. As the people of the Republic of China on Taiwan celebrate the 101st anniversary of their nation's founding, I congratulate them on their National Day and would like to commend them for more than 100 years of progress. As a good friend and ally of the United States, the Republic of China on Taiwan remains a peaceful and prosperous democracy, and is a model for nations around the world. I would like to take a moment and recognize the 23 million citizens of Taiwan for their commitment to peace. As a symbol of this commitment, the Republic of China on Taiwan recently melted down artillery shells and used the metal to construct a ``Peace Bell.'' President Ma Ying-jeou also proposed a peace initiative in the hope of easing the recent tensions in the East China Sea. The initiative calls on all parties concerned to show restraint, shelve controversies and settle disputes in a peaceful manner. It also urges all parties concerned to strive for a consensus on a code of conduct in the East China Sea, and to establish a mechanism for cooperation on exploring and developing resources in the region. We celebrate these efforts to maintain good relations with other countries, and the United States is proud to call the Republic of China on Taiwan a partner in peace. In closing, I hope my colleagues will join me in thanking Ambassador Yuan for his service along with President Ma, Vice President Wu, and the people of the Republic of China on Taiwan for their continued commitment to peace and democracy on this anniversary of their National Day. Although I am retiring from the United States House of Representatives, please be assured that my support, commitment and friendship to Taiwan will remain strong, and will never die.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I have been in this Congress for a long, long time, and I have been frustrated a lot. I think maybe I have learned a little bit. For any of my colleagues who are in their offices watching on television, I thought I would make a few comments about some of the things that I hope that they will take as a little bit of a lesson for them down the road. I have been on the Foreign Affairs Committee for 30 years, and the first thing I have learned is you can't make the world over in our image no matter how hard we try. There are different cultures, different people, different religions, tribal, all kinds of things. When we go into another part of the world and try to make them like us, we cause a lot of problems, we cost a lot of lives, and we lose a lot of money. We should always realize, in the back of our minds, that we should do what's in the interest of the United States of America first, last, and always and not try to make the world look like us. The second thing that I think my colleagues, I hope they realize is that we're going to have to work with some pretty unsavory persons sometimes. Muammar Qadhafi was a terrible, terrible tyrant in Libya. When Ronald Reagan had to deal with him after he bombed a nightclub that killed a lot of Americans in Germany, Ronald Reagan flew the planes over and bombed Qadhafi, and Qadhafi wasn't a problem any more. A lot of people were killed, he was almost killed, and he realized that terrorism from his country was not going to stand. Qadhafi was not a problem for the United States from then on. Now, he was a problem in his country. He killed a lot of people, and there might have been some more carnage, but it was in his country. Because of that, we went into Libya, spent billions of dollars of our money. We drove him out of office and had him killed. Now there's chaos over there, and they killed our Ambassador. They tortured him, I understand--I won't go into details, but it was pretty bad. They killed three other people, they burned our flag, and the place is in chaos. What did we get when we got rid of Qadhafi? He was a bad guy. He was terrible to his own people. But what we have now is a complete chaotic situation in that part of Africa. The same thing is true in Tunisia. Then, of course, our President went over to Egypt, and he gave a speech talking about how we had to all get along, and how there ought to be democracy in Egypt. Now, Mubarak, who was the dictator over there, was a bad guy; but he had lived up to what we call the Camp David accords. The United States and Egypt worked together to make sure there was peace in the Middle East, and there wasn't any war going on involving Israel or anything else. But we led the fight to get rid of Mubarak. We did it, along with some help, and now Mubarak is gone and we have the Muslim Brotherhood. A lot of people don't know much about the Muslim Brotherhood, but they have been judged a terrorist organization in the past. I was told, and everybody else was told, when the Muslim Brotherhood left that there was going to be democracy, freedom, and human rights in Egypt. We had 78 Coptic Christians just murdered recently. As you know, they came over, and a mob--and it was planned, everybody knows about it--it wasn't because of that movie. They came over, and they scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy, they burned the American flag, and they ran around waving the radical Muslim flag. They touted their radical leaders as the future leaders of that area. Osama bin Laden, they were carrying his picture around saying, we support Osama bin Laden. Now, this is a country that we just gave $1.5 billion to, our money. The reason we gave them that money is because we've been paying them for years and years to make sure that they lived with the Camp David Peace Accords, which meant that there would be peace between Egypt and Israel and throughout the Middle East. Mubarak is gone, the Muslim Brotherhood's in charge, and there's chaos in Egypt, and the entire Middle East is threatened further. When you look across the northern tier of Africa, I hope my colleagues will realize, we've tried to create governments that agree with us and look like us and that will be tokens of the United States of America. Instead of leaving them alone, we have helped create chaos. Now, I just got back from the Persian Gulf recently. I was in Bahrain, and Bahrain is a friend of ours. We have the Fifth Fleet there, which patrols the entire Persian Gulf, protecting those waterways, and we get about 35 percent of our energy from that part of the world. Iran is sending people into that country to undermine that government and stir up the people. It's the same thing that happened in Libya, the same thing happened in Egypt, and now it's happening in the Persian Gulf states. We get a third of our energy from there. If we don't get that energy, if we don't become energy independent, we are going to have the lights off one of these days, and we're going to be paying about $5 or $6, $7, $8 a gallon for gasoline. It will hurt the entire economy. Now, this isn't baloney; this is fact. The radicals are working that entire region to take over, and we're trying to help these radicals or have helped these radicals or have helped these radicals in a number of countries, and now we've got a real chaotic mess on our hands. Yesterday, my colleagues overwhelmingly passed a continuing resolution. Most people don't know what that is, but it's a spending bill that takes us from now until March of next year. I came down to the floor when the discussion was going on the recommittal motion, and I said, tell me, is any of that money going to Libya or Egypt? Nobody would answer me. I can tell you right now additional monies are going to go to Libya, additional money is going to go to Egypt, and both of those countries are not friends of the United States. A gentlewoman from Congress told me yesterday she was in Egypt not long ago, and she talked to one of the members of the Muslim Brotherhood. She said, What are the goals that you have? He said, Our goal is the Muslim Brotherhood is to have the al Qaeda flag, the Muslim Brotherhood flag, fly over the White House in the United States. He may have been exaggerating a little, but if you look at what the Muslim Brotherhood has said just recently, and their new president, they said they weren't going to involve themselves so deeply in government over there. They took over the legislative branch, they have taken over the presidency. Their president recently said he wanted to model their government after Iran. Egypt is the biggest country in the Middle East, but we went in there. Our President went in there and gave a speech. We said we wanted to change that and get rid of the dictator, Mubarak, who was not a good guy. At least he supported the Camp David Peace Accords, which Jimmy Carter worked on, all the way up to now, and now we've got a chaotic situation over there. We can't make the world over in our image. We should not try to nation-build. You know, I supported it. I supported our efforts when we went into Iraq because I thought we had to get rid of Saddam Hussein, and I thought we had to stop the movement of radical Islam in its tracks. I thought democracy would be a good thing there. If you look at what's happened, the democracy there is, although it's a fledgling democracy, is very rocky, and they are very close to Iran. They have met with the Iranian leaders, Ahmadinejad, and so this nation-building we did in Iraq right now I think is still tenuous. I'm not sure it's going to work out. And we spent billions and billions and maybe trillions of dollars over there and lost a lot of lives. And then in Afghanistan. And I support going after the Taliban. I think we ought to get rid of those guys. We ought to stop the terrorists. It's extremely important. But the one thing that I think that's very important when we go after these guys is we make absolutely sure that we're going to get them and we're going to win. And the problem we had with Afghanistan after losing all these lives and costing all this money is that we're going to pull out in about a year and a half, and, in my opinion, that whole area is going to be again in a state of turmoil and we will have spent billions of dollars, our treasure, and a lot of lives, and it will still not be stabilized. And I think that's really unfortunate because of the problems that we thought we were going to solve by going in there. One of the things that bothers me is every time we have a war, we think we can have a war that's antiseptic. That we're not going to kill any civilians. You can go in and attack an area and kill the Taliban or al Qaeda, and you have to be real careful that you don't damage or kill civilians. And as a result, al Qaeda and the Taliban, they hide behind civilians. They go into schools and churches and they go into hospitals because they know that they can't be attacked unless we go in and there are innocent lives lost. We've faced the same thing in World War II. And people don't remember this, but we had to do things to win that war to stop Adolf Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo that we would never want to do. We firebombed Dresden, Germany. We firebombed Berlin. We dropped nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We killed millions of innocent human beings. But that was the horrible cost of war. Now, today, with the television and the Internet and everything else, we go to war and the next day you see somebody that's injured, a woman, a child, and they say, This is horrible. We can't conduct this war. So our military is handcuffed. They say that they can't go in and go after these guys in certain areas because of the potential civilian casualties. And you can't run a war like that. You either go in to win or you don't go in at all. And we should not risk American lives and treasure unless we're going in to win. That's why when I think back on Iraq, I think that maybe we should have gone in and beat the hell out of Saddam Hussein, let them know that we weren't going to put up with that, and then pulled out and say, Hey, you've got a country, you run it properly. But if you conduct yourself in the way you did before, we'll be back. It would have scared Iran to death. It would have scared the Taliban to death. But instead, we went in there to nation build. And 10, 12 years later we face much of the same thing that we faced back then. The other thing I think that's important for Congress to do--and we don't do it--is when the administration, I don't care whether it's a Democrat or Republican administration, when they make a mistake, we in the Congress must speak out. We must not just go along with the administration, whoever it is, because we want to keep a good relationship with them. Our responsibility as Congress is to make sure that the Government of the United States doesn't go awry. And I've seen time and time again in the years I've been here where Presidents have made a mistake and we stay here and we're strangely silent. We have to speak up. We have to let the American people know when mistakes are made and that we have to correct them. And we must not let unelected bureaucrats decide all of our foreign policy. We have people at the State Department, people in our government, people who are unelected who make decisions that really lead us in the wrong direction. And I speak, again, for the administration and the State Department when I talk about Libya. We went in there and what did we get? We got rid of Qadhafi. Now there's chaos. Now they're attacking our embassy and burning our flag and waving around al Qaeda flags and talking about how the world will be better off if all the Muslim radicals are in charge. The same thing is true in Egypt. We went in and got rid of Mubarak. And what did we get? We got the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Muslim fundamentalist group that wants to destroy the freedoms that we believe in, not to mention our best ally in the entire region, Israel. And Israel is the only place over there that we can count on if everything goes wrong. And so our State Department and the administration and previous administrations have made these kinds of mistakes, and we've been strangely, strangely silent. So I would just like to end up by saying to my colleagues we should profit from our past mistakes. We should make sure that we don't try to nation build. We can't make the world over in our image. It's not possible. We have to work with unsavory leaders sometimes, people that we don't like, that we don't think are good people, because of stability in the region and because of America's interests. Our interests ought to be number one. The protection of our country ought to be number one. The protection of our soldiers and the people who go to war and the people of this country ought to be number one. And of secondary importance are the lives of these people in these countries that are radical. But we haven't been doing that. But that ought to be our number one goal, the United States, first, last, and always. And we should not turn over to unelected bureaucrats the control of our foreign policy. We should listen to them. We should have our ambassadors over there. We should have good people over there like the ambassador that just lost his life. But the final decisions ought to be brought before the committees of the Congress, and we ought to discuss them and we ought to participate in the decisionmaking process with the Commander in Chief and not let unelected leaders, bureaucrats make those decisions. Finally, we must remember we should never go to war unless we realize the cost that is going to be involved. You cannot win an antiseptic war. You can have a tenuous peace. We had that in Korea. We still have a potential war over there in the 38th parallel. We didn't go in, and we didn't win it, so now we have the Communists up north and the freedom-loving people down south. We went into North Africa, into Somalia, and we tried to nation build there. And we had to pull out because you couldn't get it done. We've gone all over the place and tried to nation build, and we've gone all over the world and tried to make the world over in our image, and we've gone all over the world and tried to fight antiseptic wars, and they just don't work. If you're going to fight a war, you have to go in and win it and then leave and do what is right for America. You can't stay there for 8, 10, 12 years and try to nation build. Because ultimately you lose a lot of life, you spend our treasure, and you don't get the job done. And I'm a conservative. I'm one of those guys that is one of the strongest supporters of the military in the entire Congress, and I'm one of those people they call a hawk and one of those people that says: Get the bad guys, wherever they are. But I've learned over the past 30 years that you have to do certain things if you're going to make America great and survive as a Nation. And those things are very important. You can't make the world over in our image. You have to work with some leaders in other parts of the world that are not savory people because of our interests and our stability. You can't spend our money and our treasure and the lives of Americans without going in to win. And you can't fight an antiseptic war. If we go in, and we go in to win, we're going to have to take some innocent lives. And it's a tragic thing. But that's the way that war is. And the reason Dwight Eisenhower and the American forces were so great and so successful in World War II in Europe and in Japan was because we went in and we did what had to be done to win. And if we hadn't done that, we might all be speaking German today. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I'm really disappointed today. We passed a CR for 6 months, and it contained language in there that was supposedly designed to keep Libya and Egypt from getting funds. My colleagues overwhelmingly voted for it. I do not criticize them for that. But I do feel very strongly in my heart that we made a mistake by not, in the Rules Committee, passing an amendment which would make sure that the money in that bill for foreign assistance did not go to Libya or Egypt. I read the document that they put out, and it does not prohibit the money from getting to Libya and Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood runs Egypt. They hate the United States, and their President has said he wanted to model his country after Iran. In Libya, they killed our Ambassador and scaled the walls. They burned our flag. They did it in Egypt, and they held up the al Qaeda flag; and we're going to give them money. It makes no sense. If the American people were paying attention to this right now, they would raise hell.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. As I understand it, Madam Speaker, there is foreign aid money in this bill, and I want to know if any of it is going to Libya or Egypt. Our Embassies have been attacked. An ambassador has been killed. The Muslim Brotherhood runs Egypt--and we're going to give them money? I would like to have an answer.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, we had an attack in Cairo on our Embassy yesterday, and we had an attack in Benghazi, and we lost the Ambassador there. He was killed along with three other people. I've been on the Foreign Affairs Committee now for about 30 years, and I've never seen anything like what we've seen in the northern tier of Africa. All the way across the northern tier, we've seen the spring that they're talking about, and how things are changing and how democracy is coming. The fact of the matter is Iran is taking advantage of what's going on over there by sending intermediaries into all those countries to undermine them. I was just in the Persian Gulf recently, and there is absolutely no question that Iran is doing everything they can to undermine all those governments over there. When you look at what happened in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood taking over, we in this country ought to be very much aware that this is not the end of it. It's not going to go away. The administration or the new President, whoever it is that takes office in January, they're going to have to have a very strong foreign policy because we still get about 35 percent of our energy from that region. This is not going to end right now. It's going to go on. We have to be prepared.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing September as National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In 2012 alone, it is estimated that roughly 22,280 American women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer; and 15,500 will die from this insidious disease. Because most women are diagnosed in later stages of the disease, ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate of all types of gynecological cancer, and it is the fifth-leading cause of cancer death among women. In fact, the five year survival rate is only 45 percent--not much higher than when the War on Cancer was declared 41 years ago! The word ``cancer'' evokes powerful emotions. Along with many of my colleagues, I know firsthand how devastating cancer can be to the individual who has been diagnosed as well as their family. Throughout September, all across the Nation, men and women will come together for events to both raise awareness of this terrible scourge and to show their support for the women and families struggling with this horrible disease. When September ends though, the fight against ovarian cancer will go on. Without a reliable screening test, our greatest weapon against this disease is awareness. If your mother, aunt, sister, wife or daughter experiences any of the following symptoms for more than a few weeks, strongly urge her to talk with her doctor or gynecologist immediately: bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly, frequent or urgent need to urinate. If everyone in this chamber learns and shares these symptoms with just one person, and asks that person to pass the information forward to just one other person; and so on, and so on; we can spare thousands of women and their families the extraordinary suffering that comes with a late-stage cancer diagnosis. The more women and health professionals know about the symptoms and risk factors associated with ovarian cancer the more lives that can be saved. Our ultimate goal, however, should be the complete eradication of this disease. Research holds the key to identifying better treatments for ovarian cancer, as well as the development of a critically-needed screening test. The Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program plays a key role in supporting unique ovarian cancer research and has already seen some breakthroughs in the fight against ovarian cancer. Adequate funding will allow the program to maintain current research and expand innovative investigations into much-needed early detection and screening or early detection tools. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health does crucial research work in all areas of cancer, including ovarian cancer. These efforts will hopefully one day lead to breakthroughs that reduce ovarian cancer incidence, mortality, and morbidity. NCI has more than 550 active research projects on ovarian cancer in its cancer research portfolio. Additionally, NCI supports the Gynecologic Oncology Group, which promotes clinical and basic research, and four ovarian cancer Specialized Programs of Research Excellence, or SPOREs, to focus on translational research and turning scientific discoveries into applicable solutions or treatments. Finally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Ovarian Cancer Control Initiative works to coordinate and fund health activities working toward early detection and improved treatment options. CDC also plays a critical role in disseminating information about ovarian cancer risk factors, signs, and symptoms to women, health professionals, and the public. We owe it to the women in our lives to fund the research necessary to purge this threat of cancer entirely. I fully understand the financial challenges facing our country, but I believe it is imperative that these programs continue to receive adequate funding in order to perform basic research and then translate that research into results for women with or at-risk for this terrible disease. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing September as National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month; and to wear Teal--the official color for ovarian cancer, like pink is for breast cancer, throughout September to show your support.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I once again come to this Floor to urge my colleagues to support efforts to achieve a resolution to the dispute on Cyprus. Tragically, I find myself here once again as yet another year has gone by with no end to the conflict. While the Cyprus dispute is most directly between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, it has larger implications for regional security and prosperity. Over the past few decades this dispute has involved not only the Cypriot communities, but also Turkey, Greece, the United Kingdom, the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union. Moreover, Turkey's membership to the European Union, which the United States enthusiastically supports, is unfortunately being impacted because of the impasse over Cyprus. In 2003, it looked like we were on the cusp of a resolution when Cypriots voted on the United Nations backed Annan Plan which would have created the United Cyprus Republic, as a loose confederation of two component states--the Greek Cypriot State and the Turkish Cypriot State. That plan provided a strong framework for a bi-zonal, bi-communal unified Cyprus; and the U.S. House of Representatives strongly endorsed the plan by unanimously approving a Sense of the House to that effect. Regrettably, the Annan Plan did not succeed when put to a referendum. Ultimately, the Cypriots themselves are the ones who must make the tough decisions that will ensure a peaceful future for their island. Nevertheless, I urge the administration to work with all stakeholders to ensure that a future unified Cyprus is a Cyprus that respects human rights and the fundamental freedoms for all Cypriots. Any unnatural or unnecessary artificial limitations imposed on either community are a recipe for future disaster. Mr. Speaker, I truly believe that a lasting, fair and comprehensive solution to the conflict on Cyprus is possible. If we avoid inflammatory rhetoric and political statements and instead work in unison to bolster the efforts of the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots to work together in good faith for the future of all Cypriots; the future will be bright for Cyprus.