Dan Burton

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, on November 15th Abbot Shi Yongxin of the Shao Lin Temple in China visited Washington, DC to meet with Members of Congress and other U.S. Government officials. I had the privilege to meet this remarkable man and his traveling companions all of whom are expert practitioners of a specialized form of the martial arts commonly known as Kung Fu. The Abbot leads one of the most ancient and most respected monasteries of its type in China, where he and his colleagues teach a synergistic philosophy based on the Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist traditions. Thousands of Americans have traveled to the Shao Lin Temple over the years in order to advance their spiritual lives; and upon their return to the United States shared what they learned with their friends, family, and neighbors. I firmly believe that these types of person-to-person exchanges are and rightly ought to be a critical component of our foreign policy strategy. These types of exchanges inevitably break down old stereotypes and foster deeper understanding between the United States and other countries. Although my conversation with Abbot Shi Yongxin was all too brief, I was impressed with the Abbot's unique insight into China and Chinese culture. As our nation struggles to cope with the rising power and influence of China, these are the kinds of insights and perspectives we will need in order to understand what motivates China's leaders. The Abbot's visit to the United States, specifically, Alabama, New York, and Washington, DC, was facilitated by Dr. Thomas J. Rosandich, the president of the United States Sports Academy. The Academy is a unique degree-granting institution of higher education, focused primarily on sports management, sports medicine, and sports education. In fact, Abbot Shi Yongxin recently received an honorary degree from the United States Sports Academy to coincide with the launch of a cooperative agreement between the Temple and the Academy to teach Shao Lin Kung Fu in various locations around the globe. Mr. Speaker, the efforts of the Abbot and the other monks of the Shao Lin Temple--as well as the parallel efforts of the United States Sports Academy--to use their teachings to help foster international peace and understanding deserve our deepest appreciation and respect. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in commending Abbot Shi Yongxin and his colleagues for their outstanding work, and wishing them a safe and pleasant journey back home to China.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of Indiana's leading scientist and scholars, Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum, the recipient of the 2006 Builders of Israel award, which was presented to him at the annual Indiana-Israel Dinner of State on November 4, 2006. The Builders of Israel award is given each year to a worthy recipient or recipients who demonstrate exceptional support of the Israel Bonds investment program, which helps strengthen Israel's economy, as well as for the recipient's personal contributions to the enrichment of American and Jewish life in Indiana and abroad. Since 1951, The State of Israel Bonds/Development Corporation for Israel has issued securities in the name of the government of Israel for the development of every aspect of Israel's economy, including agriculture, commerce and industry. Over the years Israel Bonds has secured more than $26 million in investment capital, and throughout its history, the State of Israel has maintained a perfect record of payment of the principal and interest on the securities it has issued. From humble beginnings, Israel Bonds have gone from a fledgling idea, to a powerful legacy of achievement; in the process becoming the financial bedrock upon which the modern State of Israel is built. This simple concept of investment in people and communities is also the bedrock upon which Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum built his life. Born and raised in Indiana, Dr. Feigenbaum received his Bachelor of Science and Doctorate of Medicine degrees from Indiana University where he continued his academic career as a distinguished professor of medicine at Indiana University's School of Medicine. In addition to authoring or co-authoring over two-hundred fifty scientific articles during his career, Dr. Feigenbaum's pioneering work in cardiac ultrasound, or echocardiography, resulted in the development of ultrasound as a critical diagnostic tool in the battle against heart disease. Dr. Feigenbaum continues to push the boundaries of research into echocardiography, and I understand his most recent research has greatly aided in the refinement of echocardiogram imaging techniques and the creation of a hand-held ultrasound system. Dr. Feigenbaum's work with ultrasound is so well respected by his peers in the scientific community that if you look at the qualifications of many, if not most, of the world leaders in echocardiography, you should not be surprised to see that they were trained directly or indirectly by Dr. Feigenbaum. Yet even with all the demands of his teaching schedule and his research, Dr. Feigenbaum has always found time to give back to his community and his profession, including founding the American Society of Echocardiography in 1975--which now has more than 6,000 members--and serving as the organization's first president. Last year, Dr. Feigenbaum's achievement earned him the American Heart Association's highest honor, the Distinguished Scientist Award, an award Dr. Feigenbaum so richly deserved. Mr. Speaker, Dr. Feigenbaum's conscientious good works as a citizen, scientist, and scholar represent the best tradition of selfless public service, civic stewardship and commitment to others and are deserving of our highest commendation. His service to the people of the United States, to the people of Israel and to my Hoosier friends and neighbors has truly helped to make our world a better place, and I ask all of my colleagues to take a moment and join me now to congratulate and commend Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum, for receiving the 2006 Builders of Israel award.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1245, `Johanna's Law' or the ``Gynecological Cancer Education and Awareness Act of 2005.'' I want to thank Chairman Nathan Deal and Chairman Joe Barton, and the Energy and Commerce Committee staff, for bringing this bill to the floor today. I also want to thank my colleagues, Representative Darryl Issa and Representative Sander Levin, the lead sponsors of this bill, who have worked so tirelessly for over two years to guide this bill through the legislative process. I want to thank the 257 House Members and 42 Senators, Republican and Democrat, Conservative and Liberal, who co-sponsored this critically needed bi- partisan legislation. I also want to congratulate Ms. Sheryl Silver, the architect of this bill. Sheryl's sister Johanna Silver Gordon (who this bill is named after) died after her battle with ovarian cancer in 2000; and Sheryl found the will and the strength to turn her personal tragedy into a passionate crusade to help make sure that other women will not die needlessly from gynecological cancers. And last but by no means least; I want to thank Ms. Kolleen Stacy, a constituent of mine and a dear friend who is currently fighting her own personal battle with ovarian cancer. Kolleen first brought this bill to my attention and once told me that her most fervent wish was to live long enough to see this bill signed into law. Today, thanks to the efforts of so many, we take a huge step forward towards fulfilling Kolleen's dream. And I would say to her that today's debate is a victory for all women, but in my mind, Kolleen, this is your day. The word ``cancer'' evokes powerful emotions. Along with many of my colleagues, I know first-hand how devastating cancer can be to the individual who has been diagnosed as well as their family. Ovarian Cancer for example, is the deadliest of the gynecological cancers, and it is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths among women living in the United States. Each year nearly 80,000 women in this country are diagnosed with a new case of gynecological cancer, and an estimated 28,000 die from these diseases. This is a national tragedy, and what makes it even more tragic is the fact that many of those deaths could have been prevented if more women and their doctors knew the risk factors and recognized the early warning signs of ovarian cancer and other gynecological cancers. That is why I am such a proud co-sponsor and passionate supporter of Johanna's Law. When it is detected early, ovarian cancer is very treatable, unfortunately, ovarian cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose because symptoms are sometimes subtle and may be easily confused with those of other diseases. As a result, only 29- percent of ovarian cancer cases in the U.S. are diagnosed in the early stages. When the disease is detected before it has spread beyond the ovaries, more than 95-percent of women will survive longer than five years. But, in cases where the disease is not detected until it reaches the advanced stage, the five-year survival rate plummets to a devastating 25-percent. As there is still no reliable and easy-to-administer screening test for ovarian cancer, like the Pap smear for cervical cancer or the mammogram for breast cancer, early recognition of symptoms is clearly the best way to save a woman's life. Without increased education about ovarian cancer and recognition of women who are at higher risk for developing ovarian cancer, many women and their doctors will continue to ignore or misinterpret the symptoms of the disease. Any woman is at risk for developing a gynecological cancer. We owe it to our mothers, our wives and our daughters to do all we can to both raise awareness of these terrible diseases, and to fund the research necessary to stamp out this kind of cancer once and for all. Johanna's Law is a giant step forward because for the first time ever, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will have explicit authority to carry out a national campaign to increase the awareness and knowledge of women with respect to gynecological cancers, which shall include: (1) maintaining a supply of written materials to provide information to the public on gynecological cancers; and (2) developing and placing public service announcements to encourage women to discuss their risks of gynecological cancers with their physicians. The bill also requires the Secretary to study current and past outreach and education activities and then to develop a strategy to improve the way we increase awareness and knowledge of both the public and health care providers with respect to different types of cancer, including gynecological cancer. I personally think we need to do more to attack this problem, but I am confident that with a national Public Service Announcement campaign describing risk factors and symptoms and encouraging women to talk to their doctors about their risk of gynecological cancers, we can and will increase early detection of these deadly cancers; and, when possible, help women reduce their risk of ever contracting them in the first place. Johanna's Law is a good bill, it is good public policy. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I urge our colleagues in the Senate to act quickly and move this critically needed legislation to the President's desk for his signature. This is literally a matter of life and death.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, last September, the Committee on International Relations' Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a joint hearing on the increased cocaine drug flow to Europe, in an effort to encourage our European friends and allies to provide more help to the Andean region, and Colombia in particular. At a November 2, 2006, Shared Responsibility Conference in London, which was sponsored by the Government of Colombia, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, UNODC, Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa sounded similar alarm bells on the massive increase in cocaine flow to Europe from Colombia and the Andean region. He said, regarding cocaine, among many important things, ``Wake up Europe! You are heading for a crisis.'' I ask that the full text of the UNODC official's statement on this important subject be printed in the Congressional Record, and urge all my colleagues to see how the burden of our drug-fighting efforts in Colombia and elsewhere in the region ought to also be shared by our European friends as well.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I was regrettably unable to be on the House Floor for rollcall vote 517--passage of H.R. 3085--a bill to amend the National Trails System Act to update the feasibility and suitability study originally prepared for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail; rollcall vote 518--passage of S. 819--the Pactola Reservoir Reallocation Authorization Act of 2005; and rollcall vote 518--passage of H.R. 5602--a bill to authorize the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to the products of Vietnam, and to establish a procedure for imposing quotas on imports of subsidized textile and apparel products of Vietnam. Had I been present I would have voted ``aye'' for rollcall vote 517, ``aye'' for rollcall vote 518, and ``no'' for rollcall vote 519.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I was regrettably unable to be on the House Floor for rollcall vote 471--passage of H.R. 5059--New Hampshire Wilderness Act of 2006; rollcall vote 472--passage of H.R. 5062--New Hampshire Wilderness Act of 2006; rollcall vote 473--passage of H.R. 6102--Captain Christopher Petty Post Office Building Designation Act. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' for rollcall vote 471, ``aye'' for rollcall vote 472, and ``yea'' for rollcall vote 473.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I have great respect for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but I can't for the life of me figure out why they oppose making sure that the people who vote in this country are American citizens. We have 12 million illegal aliens in this country, and we all know that there have been phony Social Security cards purchased and other documents purchased, and, as a result, these people have been getting benefits from this country, and many of them, we believe, have been voting illegally. The Constitution, as the minority leader said a while ago, guarantees the rights of American citizens to be able to vote, and the Constitution is supposed to protect the rights of American citizens. She talked about the oath of office that we took to protect the rights of the citizens of this country, and one of those rights is the right to make sure that their vote counts. And if you have illegal voting taking place, then every illegal vote takes away the right of one American's vote to count in that election. And you have to guarantee that right, that the American's vote is going to count. Now, how do you do that? We know that there has been fraudulent voting in the past. I know some of my colleagues have said that hasn't taken place, but we know it has happened. So with all the illegal aliens coming into this country, all the border security problems that we have had, how do you guarantee that only Americans have the right to vote? You have to have some kind of an identification mechanism. Now, one of the arguments that was made a while ago was that, well, some people cannot afford it. This bill provides that anybody who cannot afford this documentation, the government will pay for it. The State and the Federal Government will pay for it. So the fact of the matter is there are guarantees that people's right to vote, even if they cannot afford an ID card, will be taken care of. Now, I have listened to all the arguments. I have heard of all the things that were said by my colleagues on the other side, and I have great respect for them and their opinions. But the fact of the matter is this boils down to whether or not Americans should have their vote counted and not negated by an illegal alien or somebody else who comes into this country who has phony documentation. And that is why a photo ID is very, very important, and other documentation, which will be worked out by my chairman here when it goes to conference. This is very important for every American citizen, especially if they are concerned about the problem of illegal aliens and border security and their right to vote.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I was regrettably unable to be on the House Floor for rollcall vote 451, final passage of H. Con. Res. 210--Supporting the goal of eliminating suffering and death due to cancer by the year 2015; rollcall vote 452, final passage of H. Res. 622--To recognize and honor the Filipino World War II veterans for their defense of democratic ideals and their important contribution to the outcome of World War II; and, rollcall vote 453, final passage of H. Con. Res. 415--Condemning the repression of the Iranian Baha'i community and calling for the emancipation of Iranian Baha'is. Had I been present I would have voted: ``aye,'' for rollcall vote 451, ``aye'' for rollcall vote 452, and ``aye'' for rollcall vote 453.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, last night we had a terrible tragedy occur in my office. My assistant for foreign policy, Dan Getz, who was age 37, dropped dead of a heart attack. Dan was an outstanding young man. He worked very, very hard in dealing with foreign policy issues, and he was a real credit to everybody that works here in the House. One of the things that Members and the people of the country don't realize sometimes is how hard the people behind the scenes work. The staff people here and the staff on the committees work very, very hard day and night to make sure we are ready for debate on the floor of the House and our committee meetings. And Dan was one of the people that I thought did exemplary work. He worked so hard for us. In fact, this week we had two hearings, and he didn't have assistants to help him, and he did it all by himself. And I feel a little guilty that he had to work so hard. So we were going to give him today off so that he could recuperate from all the hard work. He went home last night to his beautiful wife, Lydia, and his two daughters, Nova and Sonia, who are both very, very young. I think they are very young children. And evidently he was resting and he keeled over with a heart attack; and before the rescue team could get there, he passed away. So I would just like to say to his wife and his children how sorry we are. And I want to make this commitment to them, that if there is anything they need, I and my staff will do everything we can to make sure that they are taken care of, and that means financially as well. And we will miss you, Dan. And the Good Lord willing, we will see you in heaven.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my remarks.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mack).

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 400) expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Venezuela should actively support strategies for ensuring secure airport facilities that meet international certifications to prevent trafficking of controlled substances, narcotics, and laundered money, as amended.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, in answer to your question, I do not think anything is going to accelerate this until Mr. Chavez decides what he wants to do, and Mr. Chavez was given, if the gentleman will let me finish, Mr. Chavez and you, my good friend, asked for us to give them an extension to July 8. We did that, and on July 8, they did not sign it, and they would not give us a date after that. You know that. So what we are trying to do is point out to the United States and the Venezuelan people that they reneged on their commitment.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Well, I didn't yield any more time to my colleague, he just started talking. But that is okay, I have a high regard for him. Let me just say once again that we have gone the extra mile on this agreement with Mr. Chavez. He wouldn't sign it, nor would he give us a date certain when he would sign it. We adhered to my colleague and others' requests to extend the time period, he wouldn't sign it, and that is why we have this resolution tonight. I don't know how it is going to play in Caracas, all I can say is it is time we get an agreement, and the DEA needs to be able to do its job.

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

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

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

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I have listened to with great interest the rhetoric coming from the other side, and now I intend to get to the facts of the matter. So I hope my friend from Massachusetts will indulge me and listen to me as attentively as I have listened to him. First of all, let me just show, we have here a map from the maritime authorities, the Joint Interagency Task Force, showing from January 1 to December 31, 2005, the number of maritime trips involving drug activity originating in Venezuela, and it is 385 times. Suspected air activity from January 1 to December 31, 2005, again from the Joint Interagency Task Force, 137 trips involving drug trafficking originating in Venezuela. Let me just go through some of the issues that are very, very important to this debate. First of all, DEA agents in August 2005 were accused of being spies for the United States and not doing their job as DEA agents. The fact of the matter is that was not the case. Nobody has proven or really indicated with any degree of authority that our DEA agents are doing anything more than trying to interdict drugs coming into the United States. We received credible reports that traffickers are paying Venezuelan airport authorities a percentage of the money and drugs transported through the Simon Bolivar International Airport. Furthermore, the government of Venezuela has not taken any steps, any at all, unilaterally to prosecute any corrupt airport officials. There are estimates that as much as 2,000 kilograms of cocaine and 200 kilograms of heroin were seized at the Simon Bolivar International Airport over the last 12 months. There are almost estimates there are 10 times that amount of cocaine, perhaps 20 times that amount of heroin, could be smuggled through that airport. Seizure statistics at the Simon Bolivar Airport are not produced by the Venezuelans. The Venezuelan government does not track those statistics. Information regarding any seizures at the airport were not shared by the Venezuelan government with the DEA last year. On April 11, 2006, a commercial plane, which we talked about earlier, originating in Caracas was seized in Mexico carrying 5.6 tons, tons of cocaine with an estimated street value of $100 million. Counternarcotics experts who we consulted agreed a 5.6 ton load of cocaine is not a test run. We can only speculate how this route was exploited by traffickers previously, how many millions of dollars and hundreds of tons of cocaine came through that route. And we know, as I said, there were 137 trips on that route last year. The Venezuelan government has claimed the interdiction in Mexico was the result of a Venezuelan tip-off. That is what they said. So we checked. We have received assurances from our intelligence sources and other intelligence sources that those claims are categorically false. The Mexican police and government found that when that plane landed. They were not tipped off by anybody in Venezuela. Quite the contrary. The belief is that the Venezuelan people who are working at the airport were involved in the transport of these drugs amounting to $100 billion. It is widely reported that the government of Venezuela is providing safe haven and logistical support to members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, the FARC guerrillas, which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization and was in 1997. And there is strong evidence that the Venezuelans are supporting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC, with ammunition, safe houses, documentation, training, and weapons. There is no formal mechanism to designate entities as drug trafficking organizations, but links between the FARC and drug trafficking were evident as far back as the mid to late 1980s, according to our State Department. It is precisely through this support for the FARC that we have estimates of as much as half of the Colombian cocaine moving to the United States and Europe as passing through Venezuela. Almost half of the cocaine coming into this country is coming through Venezuela. You know, I have had the opportunity, with Mr. Delahunt and Mr. Meeks, to go down and meet with President Chavez in Venezuela, and at the U.N. in New York. He is a very engaging fellow. He is Clintonesque, if you will, in the way he meets people. He was very engaging. I was impressed with the fella. When we talked to him about toning down the rhetoric that would lead to a better relationship, or a relationship between Venezuela and the United States, he said he was going to do that. But he didn't. Every week on television, for 5 hours, and I watched the tapes and I have listened to the translations, he maligns and beats up on not only the President but the Secretary of State. He says very demeaning things about Condoleezza Rice, our Secretary of State, and they are things that don't lead to any kind of a relationship between us and the Venezuelan leadership. In addition to that, he is tied in very closely and he considers Fidel Castro, a Communist leader who wanted to revolutionize all of South America, he sent Che Guevara down there back in the 1980s to try to destroy any semblance of democracy throughout our hemisphere, and Che Guevara was killed. Now Chavez' mentor is Fidel Castro. He is also tied in with Daniel Ortega and Mr. Morales of Bolivia, and all of these people want to move the South American continent to the left. And these are things we cannot tolerate. So the drug trafficking is only part of it. Regarding Chavez' current trip, he is going to North Korea, he is going to Tehran, and he is meeting with what we consider the cabal of terrorists. He has also invited these people to visit him in Venezuela. In addition, as my colleague from California said a while ago, he is buying all kinds of military equipment, which really isn't necessary because there is no big threat to him down there, all kinds of military equipment to build up a huge military operation in South America and Venezuela. We have got big problems down there. We want to talk to Mr. Chavez. We want to work with Mr. Chavez, but when we say to him we have an agreement that we have worked out, and his people hammered out the agreement with us, and he said he needed more time, until July 8, and you asked me for more time, Mr. Delahunt, we gave them more time, and when July 8 came, they would not sign the agreement nor would they give us a date certain when they would sign the agreement, and that is why this resolution is here on the floor tonight. We want to have peace in our hemisphere. We want to work with all the presidents in our hemisphere, but we don't want revolution and we certainly don't want drugs coming through Venezuela into the United States damaging American women and children and hurting their families.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. He is not going to North Korea?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I will yield for one question, yes.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. He is not going to Tehran, either?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Reclaiming my time, and I just want to say this. If there is a problem that has evolved out of this discussion tonight, it lays at the feet of Hugo Chavez. It lays at his feet. Because there was an agreement that was hammered out between his people and the DEA here in the United States. He asked for more time, we gave them more time. He wouldn't sign it nor would he give us a date certain when he would sign it. How long do you wait? How long do you wait for drugs to continue to come into the United States before we get an agreement saying we are going to allow the DEA to do their job?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the 2006 recipients of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. This medal--created in 1986--aptly named for Ellis Island, an enduring symbol of the diversity that characterizes our great Nation, commemorates and recognizes Americans of all ethnic backgrounds who have made significant contributions through their own perseverance and sacrifice to our society and culture. By honoring these outstanding individuals, we honor all who share their origins and we acknowledge the contributions they and other groups have made to America. The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is presented annually by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO), representing more than 250 organizations that span the spectrum of ethnic heritages, cultures and religions. Since 1986, approximately 1,700 American citizens have received Ellis Island Medals of Honor, including six American Presidents, several United States Senators, Congressmen, Nobel Laureates, outstanding athletes, artists, clergy, and military leaders. Collectively they represent a remarkable fraternity of individuals who have distinguished themselves as outstanding human beings and exemplary citizens of the United States. In addition, NECO awards one International Ellis Island Medal of Honor each year. This year's international honoree was Martin J. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of American International Group, Inc. Mr. Sullivan is British. When the immigrant station at Ellis Island, New York, opened on January 1, 1892, it admitted 700 immigrants into the United States on just its first day of operation. By the time the center closed in 1954, 17 million immigrants had passed through its doors. The Ellis Island administration and staff, on average, processed up to 5,000 people per day. Many of these newcomers had little or no knowledge of English, hardly any money, and many arrived with only the clothes on their backs. They arrived risking their lives in exchange for freedom and a better way of life. I, once again, commend NECO and its Board of Directors headed by my good friend, Nasser J. Kazeminy, for honoring these truly outstanding individuals for their tireless efforts to foster dialogue and build bridges between different ethnic groups, as well as promote unity and a sense of common purpose in our Nation. As Rosemarie Taglione, Executive Director of NECO, so eloquently said in connection with this year's awards ceremony: ``NECO's message of tolerance and harmony among diverse ethnic groups is, perhaps, even more important today than it was 20 years ago.'' Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in recognizing the good works of NECO, and congratulating all of the 2006 recipients of the Ellis Island Medals of Honor. Elizabeth Agbabian, Cesar Baez, Vartkes Barsam, Harry E. Bovay, Jr., Dawn Bryan, Fredy Bush, Joseph R. Calabrese, M.D., Tykye Camaras, Charles Carey, Edmund N. Carpenter II, Josip Cermin, Vahan Chamlian, Yong Jin Chang, George Chimples, Benjamin B. Choi, Esq., Dr. Deepak Chopra, Maxine Chou, Richard Corkery, Frank Corvino, Rita Cosby, John R. Costantino, Robert E. Courtney, Esq., Ed Cox, Long Deng, Vlade Divac, Kathleen M. Donahue, Ali Ebrahimi, George Elias Jr., Nijad Fares, BG Margrit M. Farmer, Lu-Jean Feng, MD, Siegfried Fischbacher, Col. David Fitzgerald, Aldo G. Frustaci, Esq., Fred Grapstein, C. Joseph Grignaffini, Sang-Ki Han, William Hanna, Richard Hayden, Roy Horn, Mori Hosseini, Jirair S. Hovnanian, Irwin Jacobs, Chief Joanne Jaffe, Thomas F. Kane, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Charles Evans Kilbourne III, Kwang Sung Kim, Peter Koo, Nat LaCour, Shau-wai Lam, Dean Lampros, Thomas D. Lee, Hon. John Lehman, George G. Makris, Roberta Mann, Hon. Rafi Manoukian, Col. Rick Martin, Ronald Martino, Jamie Masada, Fariborz Maseeh, Martin G. McGuinn, Dr. Navin C. Mehta, Jose Mejia, Edward Miller, Hamid Moghadam, VADM Kevin J. Moran, Dr. Navin Nanda, Luke Nasta, Frank Newell, MD, William C. Norris, Antranig M. Ouzoonian, Dinesh Patel, Hon. Tim Pawlenty, RADM David Pekoske, Fred Pezeshkan, Mark Pigott, Robert Price, Hon. Thomas Ridge, Imelda Roberts, Col. Angela Salinas, Frank Sciame, Niranjan Shah, John Shall, Thomas Nunziato Shannon, Jr., Dr. Hosein Shokouh-Amiri, Dr. Grace Shu, Dr. William T. Smith, Bruce A. Smith, Lewis T. Smoak Esq., Klaus-Peter Statz, Mitchell Steinhause, Michael Stern, Martin J. Sullivan, Ramon M. Tallaj, MD, Dr. William Tansey III, Michael Tong, Rev. Nicholas Triantafilou, Lester Trilla, Manny Villafana, and Walter Wang.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Hyde and Mr. Lantos for their hard work on this bill. I think they have covered the details of the bill rather well. The reason I wanted to take 1 minute was to say that I met with Prime Minister Singh in Delhi, India, along with some of his cabinet members, oh, a couple of months ago. And although I have not always been in accord with some of things India has done, I am sure that they want to work with us on this nuclear agreement. They have assured me, and I am confident they will keep their word, that there will be a clear demarcation between civil use of nuclear energy, nuclear technology we might sell to them and their nuclear weapons program. And there is about 800 million people in India that are living on less than $2 a day. And when you go through Delhi and you see how they are living, under horrible, horrible conditions, little children running around with no place to go, burning cow chips for the heat that they need to stay warm at night, you realize the need for energy that they have and they need it so badly. So this nuclear technology we are going to sell them for civil use will be very helpful, not only for job creation over there, but for making the quality of life better for all the people in India.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Let me just say I support the amendment. I have been concerned about the problems between India and Pakistan for a long, long time, particularly in the area of Kashmir. They are talking now. Prime Minister Singh and President Musharraf have been trying to work out some differences. I know it is a very thorny issue and one that is going to take some time, but they are talking. They have opened up not only a dialogue but a small opening in the area between Pakistan and India in the Kashmiri area. This is a problem that must be solved. It should be solved. It could be a flash point for another war over there. Since India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers, anything we can do to reduce that threat and make sure peace reigns is very important. I support the gentlewoman's amendment and am proud to be a cosponsor.