Dan Burton

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Tomorrow is the beginning of the best and greatest golf tournament in the world.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, we have been talking about the energy crisis in this country now for some time, and it has captured the imagination and the attention of probably every person in America, all 300 million people, because the price of gasoline is now over $4 a gallon. It has affected every family as far as their ability to live the kind of life they want to because they have to spend so much money on energy. It has affected the price of our food because the people who transport our commodities across the country--the truckers--are now paying $4.50 to $5 a gallon for diesel fuel. In fact, they've demonstrated here at the United States Capitol with their trucks because it's so expensive for them to do their jobs. We had a hearing today on how China is being involved in the United States and in Central and South America. They're buying up more and more of the oil because they have an economic expansion program, funded, in large part, by the money that we give to them in trade. India is now taking more and more energy and oil. So the demand around the world is growing at a very rapid rate. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are always talking about new energy--new sources of energy, new technologies. I'm for all of that. We all want to clean up the environment, but with the demand for oil growing at such a rapid rate all around the world and with these countries that have more and more ability to buy oil and to use oil because they need more because their populations are growing so rapidly, we need to do something about energy in this country. We have the ability from coal shale, I understand, to take care of this country for a couple of hundred years, as far as oil is concerned, by converting that shale into a usable energy oil shale. We have the ability to get 1 million to 2 million barrels of oil a day out of the ANWR in Alaska. We're not doing that. We have the ability to get 1 million or 2 million barrels a day off the Outer Continental Shelf. We're not doing that. We have up to a 500-year supply of natural gas in this country. We're not drilling for that. It's all because of what people call environmental concerns. I would just like to say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that we should be concerned about the environment, but we should also be concerned about the economy of this country. We can't survive if the energy costs continue to go up and up and up while we wait on the transition to new technologies. Those new technologies are going to come, but it may take 1 year, 5 years, 10 years from now before they are able to pick up the major part of the energy needs of this country. We can't wait that long. We simply can't. We could become a second-rate economic power if we don't get control of our energy needs and are able to get the energy that is necessary for this country to grow economically. I just don't understand why my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and in the other chamber on the other side of the aisle continue to say we should not drill for oil in our own country. The American people, if you went out on the street and asked anybody at any service station, will tell you they don't care where we drill, because they want their gas prices down. Now, we can drill in an environmentally safe way, but my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will not allow us to do it. It is just unexplainable, as far as I am concerned. We have the resources in this country, we have the ability in this country, to provide for the oil resources that are necessary to lower the gas prices in this country, and we are not doing it. And we are not going to do it as long as the other side, the Democrats in this Congress, continue to block us, because of ``environmental concerns.'' There has to be a balance between the economic concerns in this country and the environment concerns, and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are simply not realizing that. They have the ``ostrich syndrome.'' They have got their heads in the sand. Gasoline prices have gone up $1.50 in the last 2 years since this body has been taken over by the Democratic Party. This is intolerable. They said they were going to do something about the energy crisis in this country when it was $1.50 less per gallon. We have to do something about it, and we have to start now. We talked about energy independence during the Carter years back in the seventies, and we haven't done anything about it. We had gas lines real long back in those days and we were going to become energy independent. We have not done it. The Congress of the United States has been controlled by the other party up until 1994, and we haven't done anything about the energy shortfalls in this country. It is time that we become really bipartisan in the search for energy. It is time for us to work together. We need to be able to explore this country for the natural resources we have, the oil that we have in the ground and the natural gas we have in the ground, and we are not doing it. I would just like to end by saying this, Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Let's work together. Let's explore and drill for the oil that we have in this country so we can truly move towards energy independence and at the same time move toward the new technologies that will give us more and more of a clean Earth. That is what we all want. But at the same time, we have got to have energy now. We have to drill for it now. And I hope my colleagues will realize this before it is too late. This is going to be a major issue in this campaign this fall, and I hope they will realize that and come to the conclusion that we ought to become truly energy independent and move in that direction.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I just want to ask you one question. You are right, this is a major problem, energy, and you can blame anybody you want to all of the way back to the Carter administration and Reagan. But what do you think about drilling in the ANWR or off the Continental Shelf to get some of our oil? What do you think about that?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, if you went out to a gas station this morning or tomorrow morning and you asked anybody pumping gasoline what the number one issue is, they would tell you without a doubt it is the price of gasoline because it is having an impact on their food and on every other commodity that they deal with. The American people want gasoline prices and energy prices to come down. And the thing that really amazes me about my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Madam Speaker, is they won't listen to the American people. Eighty percent of the American people, according to recent polls say that if we have the resources here in America, we should drill for them right here. Obviously, everybody is concerned about the environment, but we can drill for oil in the ANWR and off the continental shelf and use coal shale to create a tremendous amount of gasoline and energy in this country without even relying on the foreign sources. The problem is that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will not listen to the American people. Now I was watching Sean Hannity on Hannity and Colmes the other night, and Mr. Hannity said he couldn't figure out why the Republicans weren't talking about this and making this a big issue. And if he were here tonight, I would say, ``Sean, we are doing it. We are screaming from the top of this Capitol that we ought to drill in the ANWR, we ought to drill off the Continental Shelf. We have a 500 year supply of natural gas. But the Democrats on the other side will not listen to the American people, and the price of gasoline goes up and up and up and the price of energy goes up and up and up.'' I understand that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to go to new forms of energy that are environmentally safe, and I think everybody in this body wants that. But while we are transitioning to the new technologies, we still have to live. We still have to have heating oil. We still have to have gasoline. We still have to have energy. And the way we can get it and not depend on foreign resources is by drilling in the ANWR, drilling off the Continental Shelf, using coal shale and using natural gas. But the environmentalist lobby, and my colleagues will never admit to this on the other side of the aisle, but the environmentalist lobby has them by throat, and as a result they will not yield to the America people's will that we drill here in this country to reduce the price of energy. Now, I believe this will be an issue in the fall campaign. I know everybody is talking about Obama and McCain and the presidential race. But the people who are in this country are really concerned about getting to and from work and paying their bills. I would just like to say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, go to any gas station tonight, go to any gas station tomorrow, and ask anybody pumping gas this question: Do you think we ought to drill for our own oil? Do you think we should depend less on foreign resources like Saudi Arabia or Venezuela? And 80 percent of them will look you right in the eye and say, you bet. I want the price of gasoline to go down. My Democrat colleagues, I want you to listen to them, because they are going to get more and more angry with you because you will not listen. We could bring the price of gasoline down immediately if we say we are going to drill in ANWR, drill off the Continental Shelf, because our competitors around the world are going to say, ``oh, my gosh, there is going to be competition,'' and you will see the price of gasoline and oil per barrel go down. So, tonight, once again I will just say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, please, please listen to the American people. They want to drill in the ANWR. They want an environmentally safe way to drill in the ANWR, and we have it. They want to drill off the Continental Shelf. They want us to drill for our own oil and our own natural resources, and they don't want to depend on Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico or anyplace else. And we should listen to them. We should listen to them. So if Sean Hannity were here tonight, I would say, ``Sean, we are listening to you. We have heard you. We are screaming from the top this Capitol, but our colleagues on the other side of the aisle aren't listening right now.'' But if we keep this up and the American people listen, and I think they will, they are going to hold my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, the Democrats, they are going to hold them responsible for the cost of energy. So I would just like to say to you, the election is coming up and everything looks pretty good for your side of the aisle, but you better do something about energy, because the American people want something done and they want it done quickly.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. BURTON of Indiana asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I think, Mr. Speaker, Danny Davis did a great job in explaining this piece of legislation; so I won't be redundant in going over the same details he just covered. I will say, last week this bill was scheduled for consideration, but it was pulled because of opposition to a number of contentious provisions added to the legislation such as the explicit authority for GAO to access Medicare part D pricing and rebate information and pharmaceutical trade secret information. Those provisions are not included in the bill today, and so there is no real problem with it. I congratulate Danny Davis on his presentation. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on H.R. 5683, the Government Accountability Office Act of 2008. Last July, the Government Accountability Office submitted to Congress a legislative proposal to make a number of largely non-controversial changes to GAO's authorizing statutes. That proposal and the bill we are taking up today, for example, would make statutory GAO's inspector general, and it would authorize GAO to be reimbursed for conducting financial statement audits of Federal agencies. In addition, H.R. 5683 attempts to resolve a longstanding pay dispute between GAO and some of its employees. Hopefully, this bill will allow stakeholders to put the dispute to rest and move forward. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5683 was originally scheduled for floor consideration last week but was pulled from the schedule because of opposition to a number of contentious provisions added to the legislation such as the explicit authority for GAO to access Medicare Part D pricing and rebate information and pharmaceutical trade secret information. These provisions are not included in the bill we are taking up today. In addition, there were a number of objections to the bill raised by the White House. It is my understanding these objections have been addressed in the version of H.R. 5683 before us today. I appreciate the majority's willingness to remove the contentious provisions so we can move forward with this bill, and I urge my colleagues' support. I yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. BURTON of Indiana asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, as my colleague just said, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority Independence Preservation Act is very important. H.R. 5778 would amend the D.C. Home Rule Act to clarify that the chief financial officer of the District of Columbia does not have authority over the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, or WASA. WASA is a regional entity, funded by rate payers living in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Under current Federal law, however, WASA's finances are under the jurisdiction of the D.C. chief financial officer. A memorandum of understanding has been in place between WASA and the District of Columbia CFO for many years stating that the CFO would not exercise its authority over WASA. However, it was recently determined that such a memorandum was not legally enforceable and that Federal law needed to be changed in order to make the previous agreement enforceable. The purpose of H.R. 5778 is to codify in Federal statute the Water and Sewage Authority's financial independence from the District. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in 1860, at the Wigwam Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois, a man named William Seward marched around with his crowd of supporters, and he got to the convention center too late because the gallery was stacked with supporters for a guy named Abraham Lincoln. As a result of his getting there a little bit too late on the third ballot, Abraham Lincoln was nominated for President of the United States, and Mr. Seward lost, and he was the favorite. He was the odds- on favorite to be the Republican nominee for President and to be the next President of the United States. Well, he lost, and it was a crushing blow for him. Yet, later on, Abraham Lincoln saw the qualities of William Seward, and he appointed him his Secretary of State, and Secretary of State Seward did an outstanding job in that capacity. The thing he did best, in my opinion, was in making sure that the United States purchased Alaska. He purchased Alaska for $7.2 million, and it was the best buy, by far, of anything that this country has ever done. The resources that are up there are just unbelievable. A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure to go up to Alaska with Representative Don Young, and I had a chance to see the vastness of it and to realize the resources that are available to us up there. You just couldn't believe it. We had a chance to see ANWR. We had a chance to look at the Alaska Pipeline, and we could see what great potential there is out of Alaska if we would just use our heads and go after those resources. One of the things that I don't understand and that, I think, the American people don't understand is why the Democrats and the Republicans in this body can't get together to start using our resources to reduce the cost of fuel, gasoline and energy in this country. As the gentleman from Alaska just said a few minutes ago, they have the resources up there. We could get up to 2 million barrels of oil a day out of the ANWR, and there may be more up there, and we could do it in an environmentally safe way. It's two to three times the size of Texas. If there were a spill up there--and of course I don't think that would happen--it still wouldn't hurt the ecology as much as we are suffering now under the energy pressure that the American people are feeling at $4-plus a gallon of gas. We should drill in Alaska. We should drill in the ANWR. The Alaskan Senators and Congressmen want that done. They want those resources brought to the surface. Yet, the opposition party--my good friends over there like Danny Davis--won't let us drill in the ANWR. I do not understand it. I just simply do not understand it. We are drilling in Texas. We are drilling in Oklahoma. We are drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Yet, way up north in the ANWR we cannot drill. I just do not understand it. I wish my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are influenced so much by the environmental lobby would go out on the street tomorrow morning at the gas stations and say, ``Hey, you're paying $4.10 a gallon for gasoline. Would you mind if we drilled in the ANWR?'' The first thing they'd say is probably, ``Where is the ANWR?'' Secondly, they'd say, ``Drill any place in the United States to get my gas prices down.'' Now, the Democrats took over this place 2 years ago, and I have an awful lot of friends on the other side of the aisle, and I love all you guys, but since you took power, the price of gasoline has gone up $1.50 per gallon. Now, why don't we do something about that. Why don't we get together, the Democrats and Republicans, and say, ``Okay. We are going to drill in the ANWR in an environmentally safe way. We are going to drill offshore on the Outer Continental Shelf in an environmentally safe way. We are going to bring 4 million barrels of oil a day into this country to reduce our dependency on Saudi Arabia and on Venezuela and on Mexico and on other parts of the world so we can do what we should have done 30 years ago, become energy-independent.'' Not only do we have the oil resources at our fingertips, but we have about a 400- or 500-year supply of natural gas, and we're not exploring that either. I will submit to you that there is probably a lot of natural gas up in Alaska as well. So I would just like to say to my colleagues that I'm here to support Representative Young's resolution to congratulate Alaska on its 50th anniversary of its being a State. It's a great acquisition for the United States. It has a great Congressman and two great Senators. As I close, I would just say to my colleagues: Let's get on with it. The American people are tired of $4.50 and $4.10 a gallon for gasoline. We have it in our country with coal shale, with oil and with natural gas to become energy-independent. Yet, we're blocked every day, every month, every year. I do not understand it. So I'd like to say to my Democrat colleagues, who are good friends of mine, since you took power, gasoline has gone up $1.50 per gallon. Let's end that. Let's become energy-independent. We can look at the other sources of energy while we're doing that. Other sources are very important, too, and new technologies, but right now, we need oil and we need gas. You guys need to help us. Mr. Speaker, this resolution seeks to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Alaska becoming a State. Our Nation's relationship with this beautiful and resource rich land began on March 30th 1867. On that date, Secretary of State, William Seward, entered into a purchase agreement with the Russian Minister to the United States, for $7.2 million dollars. In August of 1868, Secretary Seward said he did not doubt ``that the political society to be constituted here, first as a Territory, and ultimately as a State or many States, will prove a worthy constituency of the Republic.'' These words could not have been more true. Alaska has indeed contributed and more than proved its worth as part of our Nation; first as a territory in 1912 and ultimately as our Nation's 49th state when the official proclamation was signed by President Eisenhower on January 3rd 1959. However, the road to statehood for Alaska was not one without challenges. Originally, a bill for statehood passed the House early in 1950, however the bill died in the Senate. It wasn't until January of 1958, that a statehood bill ultimately passed both chambers and was signed by President Eisenhower. It is well known that Alaska is home to some of our country's most beautiful landmarks and landscapes including Mount McKinley and almost 34,000 miles of shoreline. From the beginning, it was a land rich in many commodities useful at those times--including minerals, timber, fur, and fish. Alaska was home to the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98. Today, oil and natural gas serve as the major exports of Alaska. The fishery is the second leading source of export, and also serves as a significant source of livelihood for Alaskans. Today, another source of income that continues to grow is Alaska's tourist industry. Any number of large cruise liners can be seen off the coast of Alaska. And the Klondike Highway outside Skagway has beautiful descents for avid mountain bikers. Visitors are drawn to the beautiful views, wilderness, and the exciting adventures Alaska has to offer. Of course, we couldn't talk about Alaska without mentioning one of the most unique sporting events in the world--the annual Iditarod race. Each year, individuals with a team of sled dogs cover a grueling 1,161 miles over a week to two week period from Willow to Nome, Alaska. So to conclude, the State of Alaska is one that is rich in nature, resources and most importantly in people and heritage. For this reason, I ask my colleagues to support H. Res. 127 recognizing the State of Alaska's 50th Anniversary. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of the bill, my good friend, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young). (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and if you would like, I would be happy to yield back.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. If the gentleman is not yielding back, I will reserve the balance of my time as well, Mr. Speaker. Let me yield, then, to my colleague once again, my good buddy from Alaska (Mr. Young).

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on S. 1245, legislation to reform mutual aid agreements for the National Capital Region. This legislation was introduced by Senators Cardin, Warner, Mikulski, and Webb last July and passed by the Senate in December by unanimous consent. Under current law, the Federal Government is authorized to enter into mutual aid agreements with State and local governments in the National Capital Region in order to allow the various jurisdictions to cooperate in the event of an emergency without risk of liability for the acts or omissions of their employees while rendering aid. Senate bill 1245 would further state that entities such as the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority, the Water and Sewer Authority and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority would be authorized to enter into these mutual aid agreements as well. The goal here is to ensure that emergency response personnel in the National Capital Region are able to coordinate as closely as possible in the event of an emergency. Hopefully this legislation helps us to move closer in that direction. And before I yield back my time, since I've covered that subject, I just want to say to my colleagues on the other side, for whom I have the greatest respect, tomorrow morning, when you get up and you get out of bed and you go to the office here on Capitol Hill, stop by one of the gas stations on the way in and watch some people pumping gas at $4 plus per gallon. And just walk up to them--and you don't need to tell them you're a Congressman or a Senator or anything else, just walk up to them and say, what do you think about the gas prices? And they're going to say, they're horrible; Congress has to do something about it. And then say, would you object if we drilled in the ANWR to get oil to reduce your gasoline prices? Would you object if we drilled off the Continental Shelf to get another couple million barrels of oil a day to reduce your gas prices and your energy costs? Would you object if we drilled in some of the forests that we have, national forests where we could get 400 or 500 years of natural gas out? Would you object to that? Would you object if we considered more nuclear reactors to produce electricity for this country so we can lower the price of energy and, in effect, end up lowering the price of gasoline and other fuel products as well? You know what they're going to say? They're going to say what the national polls have already shown; 80 percent plus are for drilling and getting oil out of our country and our resources out of the ground. That's what the American people want. I want to point out one more thing, because I respect all my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. When you first took over the Congress 2 years ago, one of the things that was said by you and Speaker Pelosi was that we were going to do something about the energy crisis and we were going to stem the tide to the growth in the cost of fuel, gasoline, and other energy products. Now it's gone up over 50 percent. It's now $4 plus. And it was $2.50 lower than that just 2 years ago. It's time that we as Republicans and Democrats work together. The American people want that. It's time that we work together to lower the price of gasoline and other energy products. And we can do that by drilling in the ANWR, drilling off the Continental Shelf, drilling in our national forests where we can get natural gas, which is a clean burning fuel. And if we just start doing that, and at the same time look at other energy sources, new sources that are nonpollutants, we would be in great shape. Incidentally, we also have about two trillion barrels of oil in oil shale. Let me just say to my colleagues that I hope that you will take heed to what I've said today. The American people want lower gas prices. We have it within our power to start drilling where we can get gas out of this country, natural gas, oil, and other things. Just tell the American people what you think and ask them what they think. And they're going to say ``Drill in America.'' You can do it in an environmentally safe way. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. While we are talking about the long-term problems of energy and dealing with new technologies, and we are all for that, we have to deal with the immediate problem, and the immediate problem is drill for oil in this country, build more refineries so we can get that oil to market and lower the gas prices like the Americans want it be to lowered back down to around $2 a gallon or less. We can do it. But we will never do it unless we work together, Democrats and Republicans. All I hear from the other side of the aisle is, No; we have to worry about the environment. There has to be a balance between environment and economic concerns, and we are not doing it.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I listened to my good friend, Charlie Rangel, the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, from New York, a while ago, and he was talking about all these areas where we are going to get additional energy. There were some great ideas there. The problem is many of them are going to take a long, long time before we get the job done. Right now, people in this country are paying close to $4 a gallon for gasoline, and the issue is we have a supply of oil in this country that will take care of most of the problem. We can drill in the ANWR and get a million to 2 million barrels of oil a day. That is three-and-a-half times the size of Texas, Alaska is, and we can't do it because they say it's environmentally dangerous. We can drill off the Continental Shelf and get a million to 2 million barrels of oil a day. They won't let us drill off the Continental Shelf, and yet Cuba is going to drill within 50 miles of the United States and give the oil to China. They are using all these environmentally questionable issues to keep us from drilling for oil in this country to be energy independent. We have been talking about energy independence for 30, 40 years, and we haven't done a darn thing about it. The Speaker said here not long ago, about 2 years ago, they were going to do something about skyrocketing gas prices when it was $2.33 gallon. Now it's approaching $4 a gallon and we can't even drill for oil that's in our country to reduce the cost of gasoline. The American people want solutions. They want Democrats and Republicans to come together and do what is necessary to help them with their energy problems. They want us to work together. We need to have some balance between environmental concerns and the cost that we need to deal with regarding this economy, and that means we need to lower the price of energy, especially gasoline, so people can get to and from work and deal with the problems they face on a daily basis. There's no question about that. Gasoline should not be $4 a gallon, and we can lower it if we drill for oil in our country.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, just a little while ago, we voted to suspend the acquisition of petroleum for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and for other purposes, a bill, H.R. 6022, which is going to take about 70,000 barrels of oil a day that would be going into the petroleum reserve and put it into the market for Americans to use in gasoline and other products. It sounded very good and I voted for it because it is one small step, if you can call it a small step, in the right direction, but it's really not going to solve the problem. The problem we have is that the United States is not energy independent. We have been talking about energy independence for the last 35 to 40 years, and we haven't done anything about it. This House, and primarily the Democrat party, is being held hostage by the environmental lobby that won't allow us to drill in places like the ANWR in Alaska. Alaska is three-and-a-half times the size of Texas. It's huge. I've been up to Alaska. Drilling up there in the ANWR isn't going to hurt anybody or anything. And I cannot understand why we can't get 1 million to 2 million barrels of oil a day out of there that would help the American people see the price of their gasoline and other fuel products reduced dramatically. We can't drill off the continental shelf, even 100 miles out, because of the environmental lobby, and yet Fidel Castro, and his brother Raul Castro, 90 miles off of the Florida shore, can drill within 45 miles or 50 miles of the United States of America and actually drill into oil reserves that we have down in that area. In other words, taking our oil reserves and pumping them out of that area and into their coffers, and they're selling that under contract to China, our oil reserves that we could drill for down in the area between us and Cuba. We also have such dependency on the Middle East it isn't even funny. We have dependency on Venezuela. One of our chief adversaries now is the President of Venezuela, and he controls in large part the price of oil and gasoline in this country, as do the people in the Middle East that have great oil reserves and are pumping it. And it's extremely important, in my opinion, that we do something about becoming energy independent. We talk about it all the time. We talk about moving toward other forms of energy and I'm for that, but it's going to take time for that transition to take place. And in the meantime, the environmental lobby is blocking us from drilling in the ANWR, drilling offshore on the continental shelf, and allowing our enemies to make a huge profit at our expense. The gasoline prices that the American people are paying today is a direct result of us caving in this country to the environmental lobby year after year after year. We could move dramatically toward energy independence if we could just pass an energy bill that would allow us to use our resources. And we come to this floor and talk about it all the time, and the American people are getting a steady diet that President Bush is responsible for the high gas prices. That's absolutely absurd. The reason the gas prices are as high as they are today is because we can't drill the oil out of our country and get our reserves to the market so that the gas prices can be reduced. We can't do it because the Democratic party primarily is caving in after year after year to the environmental lobby, and we can extract oil out of the ANWR and off the continental shelf in an environmentally safe way. So, if the people of this country are really concerned about gas prices, they ought to find where the fault really lies, and that is with this Congress and the liberals who are controlled by the environmental lobby and will not allow us to drill to get the oil reserves that we have in our country and off the continental shelf. It's a tragic shame, and I just wish the American people could get the information and the drive-by media, as Mr. Limbaugh calls it, would report the facts as they are. We have the ability to move toward energy independence, and we don't do it year after year after year, and we continue to be dependent on foreign oil. That's one of the main reasons why the price of gasoline is approaching $4 a gallon.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, on May 10, 2008 the people of Azerbaijan commemorate the 85th Jubilee of the birth of their late President Heydar Aliyev. A larger than life personality and a man of enormous political skill and stature, Heydar Aliyev worked tirelessly for more than 30 years--first as part of the Soviet Union, and later as President of a free and independent Azerbaijan--to build a strong, vibrant, healthy and prosperous nation. When Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991, the political and economic vacuum caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, domestic tensions fueled by competing forces at home and the disastrous war in Nagorno-Karabakh--which resulted in the military occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan, and nearly one million refugees and internally displaced people--threatened to rip the country apart. Many Azerbaijanis were fearful that their first experience as the short- lived first Republic in the Muslim world (1918-1920), would be repeated; and that a free and independent Azerbaijan would be nothing but a footnote in history. Heydar Aliyev, however, had a vision for Azerbaijan. He knew that Azerbaijan's future would be assured if countries around the world had a stake in its independence and he knew that the key to attracting international investment in Azerbaijan's rich resources was stability. In 1993, when Heydar Aliyev became President of the Republic, first by appointment under the constitution, then through direct popular election he moved quickly to implement his vision. First, he negotiated a cease-fire in the war with Armenia--which was implemented in 1994-- and next he pushed Parliament to begin enacting a series of laws to make the country friendlier to foreign investment and a member of the international market economy. President Aliyev opened up the country to investment from the United States, Western Europe, Russia, and Turkey and Azerbaijan soon became a pioneer in opening the Caspian Sea to international cooperation and oil and gas exploration. In fact, since the so-called ``Contract of the Century'' was signed in 1994, Azerbaijan has extensively developed its energy resources to help diversify western energy supplies. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, for example, which became fully operational in July 2006 and will soon provide one-third of the new oil flowing into the international market. In addition to the BTC pipeline, the Baku- Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline is now functioning. President Aliyev was also aggressive in asserting Azerbaijan's place on the international political stage. He became a great friend to the United States and one of the first international leaders to offer unconditional assistance to the U.S.-led fight against global terrorism after 9-11--and was also one of the few Muslim leaders to agree to send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. The strong relations between our two nations are a monument to his determination and will not be forgotten. Madam Speaker, despite foreign and domestic critics of President Aliyev's pro-western policies, most people acknowledge that President Heydar Aliyev represented security during those very dark early years of Azerbaijan's second independence; and most Azerbaijanis felt at the time that as long as Heydar Aliyev was at the helm, the ship of state would not sink. Today it's up to the youth of Azerbaijan to steer that ship and to carry on Heydar Aliyev's vision of a strong, vibrant, healthy and prosperous, and independent Azerbaijan. If they build upon the legacy President Aliyev left, I have no doubt they will succeed.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 5534.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, today the House of Representatives voted on H. Con. Res. 322, recognizing the 60th anniversary of the founding of the modem State of Israel and reaffirming the bonds of close friendship and cooperation between the people of the United States and the people of Israel. I am proud to be a cosponsor and strong supporter of this legislation because it pays appropriate honor and respect to our truest partner and defender of freedom and democracy in the Middle East, Israel. Since its establishment 60 years ago, the people of Israel have turned a desert into a new nation, forged a new and dynamic society, and created a unique and vital economic, political, cultural, and intellectual life despite the heavy costs of seven wars, unrelenting terrorism, frequent international ostracism, and economic boycotts. Through it all, the people of Israel and the people of the United States have shared a special bond. Forged originally in Israel's fight for survival, for freedom and for democracy in a region dominated by authoritarian and military regimes; today that relationship encompasses broad, social, cultural and economic ties as well. For 60 years, the United States and Israel have maintained a special relationship based on mutually shared democratic values, common strategic interests, and moral bonds of friendship and mutual respect; most importantly, the people of the United States have a special affinity for the people of Israel, and regard Israel as a strong and trusted ally and an important strategic partner. To our ally, our partner, and our friend, I offer my prayers for peace and my congratulations on your 60th birthday.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, occasionally things happen when you're in Congress that make you so angry that you can't hardly stand it. I got a call this past week, Mr. Speaker, from a friend of mine from my childhood. And her brother is a veteran who was in the veterans hospital, and he was assigned to a community residential care program. That's where they put one of these veterans into a home in a neighborhood with other veterans, and they're supposed to be cared for. She told me that the place where he was being kept was not clean and that the room he was in had a window that was sealed shut. He took oxygen, and there were no signs or anything that dealt with the oxygen that he was taking. A dog in the house came into his room and chewed through his oxygen tube. He had to keep his door shut, so it virtually made him a prisoner in this house. There were four veterans in this house. And the attitude of the person who ran this home was not anything that you would call conducive to good care. The two sisters of his were very, very upset and they thought that he shouldn't be kept in this place, and they asked me if I would check into it. So I called the caseworker, a lady named Pat Erp, and she told me that everything out there was fine. I said I wanted to see for myself. So I went out to the house. By the time I had arrived, they had contacted the woman who owned the house, and she was very hostile and said she wouldn't allow me, even though I was a Member of Congress, to take a look at the circumstances under which Mr. English was living, that's my buddy from childhood, Paul English. I didn't want to press the case, so I called the director of the Roudebush Hospital in Indianapolis. He wasn't in, but I did get his assistant director, who was very nice, and he agreed to have somebody come out there and take a look at the situation. He came out with two ladies who were nurses there. And my childhood friend's sister went into the house with him to try to get his clothes and everything out of there so they could take him to her house until they found another place for him to be kept. They were hostile, the two nurses from the Roudebush Hospital were hostile. They evidently changed the cord on his oxygen equipment, and they said that nothing like that happened, and yet his sister saw that it happened and they were very upset. The room in the house was not clean. He had two towels in his room, both of which had holes in them, obviously older. And on the weekends, the caseworker said that the woman who took care of these veterans who were in her care would leave for the weekend and left a pot of food on the stove. This isn't the way that our veterans ought to be taken care of when they're in a community residential care program, so I decided to pursue it further. And I got a call today and I returned the call of a lady named Phyllis Beamon, who is the head of the Extended Care Unit at the Indianapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Roudebush Hospital today. And she indicated that everything was fine and that they've used this house and this caregiver since 1983. And I could only imagine what other veterans had to live with who lived in this house since 1983 and were given this kind of ``care.'' I can't tell you how this affected me. I served on the Veterans Affairs Committee for 10 years. And I had heard stories like this before, but I always felt that the veterans were getting the quality of care that we were paying for as taxpayers, and they were being taken care of. And yet my friend from my childhood was being mistreated, in my opinion. His sister finally got him out of there and took him to her house. And the day after she took him to her house, because of the stress he was under, he had a heart attack. He went to the hospital and they put two stints in him and he did survive. Don't misunderstand, Mr. Speaker, I think the people that serve in our veterans hospitals for the most part do an outstanding job. The nurses and the doctors who serve our veterans do a good job, but there are occasions when the care is not just less than adequate, it's almost criminally inadequate. And this is one of the cases that really bothers me. And I'm going to call for a complete investigation of the Community Residential Care program and the people who provide it at the Indianapolis Roudebush Hospital, not because I don't think that most of the people who work at the hospital do a good job, because I think they do, but I think there's a dereliction of responsibility in this Community Residential Care program that needs to be corrected and it needs to be corrected very, very quickly. We shouldn't have a veteran in a room in a house with the windows sealed so he can't get out in the event of an emergency. We shouldn't have him taking oxygen with a dog that's going to come in the room and chew on his oxygen tube. We shouldn't have people that are leaving the premises unattended with four veterans in there on a weekend and telling their relatives, well, you ought to take him someplace else because there won't be anybody here, and if they are here, they leave the food on the stove so they can get their own food. And these people, many of them, are mentally challenged, like my friend is. He's had some psychological problems. Let me just say in closing, Mr. Speaker, this is something that needs to be addressed. There needs to be an investigation of the Community Residential Care program in Indianapolis, and if it's like this in other parts of the country, we need to have a national investigation.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, since 1993 HVAF (Helping Homeless Veterans and Families) of Indiana, Inc. has been committed to assisting our Nation's veterans overcome the challenges of homelessness. I rise today to honor this remarkable organization, and it's most recent initiative, Operation Heartland, which has dedicated itself to taking care of the needs of our heroes. HVAF has successfully organized projects such as small-scale supportive housing units for homeless vets and the Veteran's Service Center where homeless veterans can obtain food, clothing, hygiene products, IndyGo bus tickets, and use shower facilities; but Operation Heartland is perhaps HVAF's most ambitious project to date. The goal of Operation Heartland is to raise funds to furnish a 40 unit apartment building as the Donald W. Moreau, Sr. Veterans House. Hopefully by August of this year the Moreau House will be up and running and able to accommodate 40 homeless veterans, many of whom have substance abuse or mental health issues. While staying at the Moreau house, homeless veterans will have the opportunity to receive counseling and other rehabilitative services from HVAF staff, in hopes of returning to society as productive citizens. In a vote of confidence that HVAF would be successful, Oprah Winfrey's Big Give program recently gave $5,000 to help Operation Heartland get off the ground. Since then, the outpouring of support for Operation Heartland generated by Hoosiers has been substantial. Many of the donors who have already committed to the program include the Indianapolis Colts, FedEx Corporation, and Cathedral High School. One individual donor personally committed to provide over 15 percent of Operation Heartland's entire goal, and a local mom, who couldn't provide funding, committed her quilting group to provide quilts for the Moreau House. Caring for our veterans--the men and women who have provided such an incredible service to our country--is one of the most important things we can do. Operation Heartland will help to get our veterans off the streets and into safe homes and satisfying jobs. Our homeless veterans, who have served our country with the utmost courage, honor and dignity, especially deserve the kind of second chance that Operation Heartland and similar initiatives can provide. Madam Speaker, organizations like HVAF of Indiana are working hard to repay the debt we all owe to all the men and women who ever served in our Armed Forces. They deserve our support, our respect and our profound thanks; and I ask all of my colleagues to join me in recognizing the exemplary efforts of HVAF of Indiana.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a dear friend and respected colleague of mine, Representative Julia Carson, and strongly support the underlying bill, H.R. 5472, ``To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2650 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, Indianapolis, IN, as the ``Julia M. Carson Post Office Building.'' Born in poverty and racial segregation to a teenage single mother in 1938, Julia Porter Carson worked her way up through politics to become one of the most influential people in central Indiana. Julia Carson had a long career as a public servant. In 1965, while working as a secretary at UAW Local 550, she was hired away by newly elected congressman Andy Jacobs to do casework in his Indianapolis office. When his own electoral prospects looked dim in 1972, he encouraged Carson to run for the Indiana State House of Representatives, which she did; she was elected in 1972, serving as a member for 4 years. In 1976, she successfully ran for the Indiana State Senate. In 1990, she was elected as a trustee for Center Township that covers downtown Indianapolis, and was responsible for running welfare programs in central Indianapolis. Carson served 6 years as a trustee, creating a $6-million surplus from the office's $20-million debt. Carson employed an aggressive workfare program and anti-fraud procedures to quickly erase the enormous debt, while still providing much needed emergency services to the poor of Indianapolis. Her budget-balancing feat earned compliments from both sides of the political spectrum, including that of republican county auditor John Von Arx, who said, ``Julia Carson wrestled that monster to the ground.'' In 1996, Julia Carson made history by becoming the first African- American woman Indiana has ever sent to Congress. Despite all her accomplishments and success, she never forgot her roots; she always remained true to herself and her beliefs. With all her success and accomplishments, she could have moved to a better neighborhood but chose not to. To the day she died, Julia Carson's home telephone number was in the Indianapolis phone book. In all my years in Congress, I am not sure I can remember anyone as dedicated to their constituents as Julia was. She reached out to senior citizens, mothers of men and women serving in Iraq, crime victims and those struggling to pay the rent. She sent cards and routinely showed up at funerals and hospitals and front doors. She worked to find work for young men who were coming out of prison. She helped crime victims who were seeking justice. While I didn't always agree with Julia politically, I always enjoyed working with her and her welcoming smile. She was a great woman and a dedicated public servant. While I was lucky to serve with her in this body, I was luckier to call her my friend. It is right that we honor her in the community that she served by naming this post office in her memory.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, on April 1st, the House of Representatives approved an important piece of legislation, H. Res. 185, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the creation of refugee populations in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region. I was proud to support the passage of this legislation because it recognized all those who have suffered during this long-standing conflict. For the first time in my memory, the House of Representatives has gone on record to say that the refugee population in the Middle East is not simply comprised of Palestinians, it is also the 850,000 Jews who have been displaced from Arab countries since the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948. The U.S.-led roadmap to peace specifically calls for an ``agreed, just, fair, and realistic solution to the refugee issue;'' and in my opinion, and in the unanimous and united opinion of this House, that means Jewish and non-Jewish refugees alike. Throughout my tenure in the United States Congress, I have seen the U.S. act as a stalwart champion of human rights, and I have seen this House stand up and voice concerns about the treatment of refugees and minorities, as well as concerns on violations of basic human rights throughout the Middle East and elsewhere. As the U.S. continues to play a pivotal role in seeking an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East, I urge my colleagues to continue to speak out and remind the world that we must not overlook the Jewish refugee problem in our enthusiasm for peace. I look forward to working with my colleagues to further this important effort.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that's made the United States and the world healthier than at any period of the world has been vaccinations. Vaccinations have stopped so many dreaded diseases from killing hundreds of thousands, millions of people, it's not even funny. But while vaccines have saved so many lives, there have also been some shortcomings in vaccines. When I was chairman of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, I held hearings on autism; and we have gone from 1 in 10,000 children who are autistic to 1 in 150. We have an absolute epidemic of autism in this country, and hundreds of thousands of families have been affected and they have nowhere to turn. Because of that, we passed in the 1980s what was called the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund, and it was supposed to take care of families and people who were injured by vaccines and had nowhere to turn. Well, that was supposed to be a nonconfrontational system. But unfortunately, there has been nobody, up until recently, who has been paid out of the vaccine compensation fund. And one of the reasons is because Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration have said that the mercury in vaccines, 50 percent of it is a preservative called thimerosal. The mercury in vaccines did not cause autism, and there have been a lot of studies that have come out saying the mercury in the vaccines was not a root cause of the autism crisis that we have in this country. In fact, in 2004, there was a report that said categorically that the thimerosal, the mercury in the vaccines, was not a cause of autism. And yet, just recently, in the Journal of Child Neurology, an article published by Drs. DeSoto and Hiltlan, both doctors, reexamined that study and they said it was in error and that there was no doubt that the mercury in the vaccinations was a contributing factor to the epidemic of autism that we have in this country. As a result of that and other information, some of the test cases that have been raised and are in progress right now have come before the special master. And just recently, a young lady who was damaged by vaccinations, a young lady from Georgia, Hannah Poling, her case went before the special master, and the Justice Department had five attorneys who said that this young lady was not damaged in part by the mercury in the vaccinations. This young lady got five vaccinations in one day, most of which contained thimerosal, which is 50 percent ethyl-mercury. Shortly thereafter, she became autistic. The same thing happened to my grandson. He got nine shots in one day, and within a short time, he became autistic. I won't go into all of the details of what happens when you become autistic, but it is certainly a tremendous change in the lives of not only the child but the entire family. But anyhow, this case went before the special master along with two others. And just recently, a decision was made in that case by the special master; and in spite of the evidence that was presented by the Health and Human Services, the FDA, and the Justice Department, the special master awarded damages to this family and said that this girl was damaged by the vaccination. And the case was brought because this young lady took several shots, five in one day, that had mercury in them. So this is the first case that shows, in my opinion, that the mercury in vaccines is a contributing factor to the epidemic of autism that we have in this country. The reason I come before the floor tonight to talk about this is it's time that we got mercury out of all vaccinations. We've been able to get it out of most of the children's vaccinations, but it's still in some. I think it is in three or four now. It needs to be out of all children's vaccinations. We have had an increase in the cases of Alzheimer's in this country, and that's because in part, in my opinion, because mercury is in almost all of the adult vaccinations. When you get a flu shot or almost any kind of a shot, you're getting ethyl-mercury injected into your body. Now if we eat fish, they tell us to be careful because there's mercury in the fish and it may cause neurological damage. Yet, we are injecting it into ourselves and into our children through vaccinations. It's high time that the Food and Drug Administration, Health and Human Services, and the pharmaceutical industry decides we want vaccinations because they give us a better quality of life and makes us live longer and prevents us from getting diseases, but we have to get mercury out of all vaccinations out of anything that goes into the human body; and until we do that, the problems with autism and other neurological diseases will continue to rise. So I would like to say to my colleagues, I hope you will pay attention to this special order tonight. We have to get mercury out of all vaccinations. We can do it with single-shot vials that will not require that preservative; and once we do that, I think we will have a much better quality of life, and people will be able to get vaccinations without worrying about becoming autistic.