Marsha Blackburn

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman from Texas for his wisdom and expertise and he is so right. We are doing this and we are taking these steps. And you know, as the gentleman said, there are going to be some things that are not rocket science. It is just that, you know, it is like Ronald Reagan said, when you have a Federal Government program, there is nothing so close to eternal life on Earth as a Federal Government program. And it is very difficult to get those programs cut down, but we are up to this task. We have been working on this. We are ready to move full steam ahead. And we want to invite the American people to work with us when they know where there is waste, fraud, and abuse where we should be rooting something out. They should contact us, talk to us, let us know what their suggestions are. This is going to be not those glamorous big front-page bills that you see passed. This is working on the process of government. This is working on the operations of government. It is time for us to roll our sleeves up and get to work. And we are looking forward to our summer of spring cleaning and working on making certain that people are aware where programs have out-lived their usefulness, where there are redundancies. We have 342 different economic programs in this country in this Federal Government, and it is time to begin to streamline that, so that our local governments do a better job of utilizing those resources. And we are doing this, addressing all the programs, addressing our entitlement spending because we want to be certain that America stays free. We are trustees of a wonderful, wonderful legacy. It is a legacy of sacrifice. It is a legacy of service. It is a legacy that the men and women in uniform have fought for and the freedom in this Nation is worth preserving. And we are looking forward to beginning to work on those processes of government and reducing the size of the Federal Government. I want to turn our attention this evening now back toward the immigration issue where we began our conversation, and spend a little bit of time as we focus this and the concern that this body has, because of our love for this Nation, because of our respect for the men and women who are fighting to keep us free, because of our concern for what we see happening on our southern border and, yes, on our northern border too, and because of what we know takes place every day with illegal entry as individuals break the law, as they enter this country. Mr. Speaker, you know, it is so interesting, there are laws on the books for prosecution, for penalty, for those that illegally enter your car, your home, your business, and your country. And how interesting, how interesting that we are choosing to say to those that illegally enter the country, we are going to consider to let you stay. How very interesting that we have some that support that. As I said earlier, amnesty is something I do not support. I have never supported it, and I continue to stand solidly against it. I have two of my colleagues with me for this discussion, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Carter) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher); and I am going to yield to the gentleman from Texas Mr. Carter for a couple of more comments on immigration and then, Mr. Speaker, I will yield the balance of the time to Mr. Rohrabacher from California. The gentleman from Texas.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that you are yielding the time to us, and we are really pleased to be on the floor tonight to talk about some of the work that we have done over the past few weeks. Before we start, I do want to say that we are very mindful that this is Memorial Day weekend. We are all looking forward to going home and being with our constituents, and we are very respectful and appreciative of the families who have served our Nation who have given the ultimate sacrifice, and we want to express to those families our continued condolences for their losses, and we also want to express to them our thanks for how they have sacrificed and served and helped to further the cause of freedom. We would not have the opportunity to stand in this hall, this wonderful People's House tonight, if it were not for the brave men and women who serve in uniform to protect our freedom. Because they are so important to us, we have passed some legislation, the Respect For Fallen Heroes Act, which will preserve the dignity of the men and women who have lost their lives and show respect for those families. That passed this afternoon in this body, and we thank Mr. Rogers of Michigan and Mr. Buyer, who chairs our Veterans Affairs Committee, for their work on those efforts. Mr. Simmons, the gentleman from Connecticut, and I have filed a bill this week which is the Veterans Identity Theft Protection Act. It is H.R. 5464. This was done in response to the egregious, egregious leak and actions from the Veterans Affairs Department and the employee there who lost the identity information of 26.5 million of our veterans. We are going to be moving forward on that legislation to protect and try to make right that situation with our veterans when we return. This is something that should not have occurred. It is a failure of the bureaucracy, and it is something that the Members of this House are moving forward to address. Before we get into talking about our successes in this body, the bills that we have passed, the legislation that we are working hard on for the American people, I want to say a little bit about the immigration legislation. And after we finish our conversation this evening, we are going to finish up with more conversation on the immigration legislation that our friends across the dome in the Senate passed. Mr. Speaker, I am going to have to tell you that the legislation that the other body passed, in my opinion, is a form of amnesty. I have been and remain solidly opposed to amnesty, and I do stand opposed to that legislation that they have passed. I do continue to support the bill that we passed in the House last fall and sent to the Senate. We know that the Members of this body are going to continue to stand solid that we need to secure our Nation's border first, first and foremost, and regain the trust and confidence of the American people, and make certain that they know that we value, we value, what this Nation stands for and that the sovereignty of this Nation indeed is worth fighting for. As we talk about where we have concentrated our efforts through the first part of this year, I want to draw attention to a couple of things. We have passed tax relief. We have taken actions and the President signed into law last week the tax reconciliation bill which addressed some of the tax issues, extensions that we had passed previously. We know that there is a second bill that will come within the next few weeks as we address other extensions of tax reductions. We know that these work. We know that tax reductions work, and we know that this has helped to fuel the economic growth that we are seeing in this country. We know that the 18 quarters of sustained economic growth are because this economy is robust. We know that the Federal Government doesn't create jobs, it is the free enterprise system that creates these jobs. So, knowing this and realizing this, is the reason that we had the tax relief signed into law last week. We have also passed a budget, a budget bill that for the second year in a row will put us on the path to deficit reduction. This is so important, Mr. Speaker. It is important for a couple of different reasons, because when we work toward reducing what the Federal Government spends, when we work toward reining in the size of the Federal Government, we know that that helps with our economy. We know that that is a step in the right direction. You know, one of the things on our economy I do want to mention is that our first quarter growth has been revised up from 4.8 percent to 5.3 percent, and our unemployment rate is at near historic lows. This is the result of our economic policies and the fiscal policies that we have in this House. We have taken other action too. Our energy situation in this country, we took action today in this body with looking at where we drill, where we explore, and doing this domestically, looking at the oil supply for this Nation. I stood here earlier today and said, you know, we can't have it both ways. The liberals can't have it both ways. You can't oppose anything that is to be done on alternative fuels and you can't oppose drilling in ANWR and you can't oppose other forms of power generation and then complain about high gas prices. It just doesn't ring true, and the people know it doesn't ring true. But we passed legislation in this body to increase our oil supply, to do it domestically, and we are sending it over to the Senate. We know they are going to be on the spot, and we will encourage them to take action. They have to recognize that this is a problem, and we certainly are looking forward to their moving forward on that legislation. Mr. Speaker, at this time I will yield to the gentleman from Texas, Judge Carter, who has done such a wonderful job being a part of our team that we have as we move forward with the agenda that the American people want to see us working on, working on prosperity, working on our security, being sure that this Nation is productive, that it is safe, and it is secure. At this time I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, my friends across the aisle are animated and engaged in this debate, and I commend them for that. But I would like to just offer one thought, and that is, Mr. Speaker, they can't have it both ways. They just can't have it both ways. They can't be against everything that gets put on the table. One thing we know for certain is that Americans are very, very tired of what they are paying at the pump. Another thing we know for certain is that actions from decades ago have caused the situation that we have before us today. And if we were to say there is a legacy that has been left us by environmental extremists, the high prices at the pump are it. We don't explore for domestic oil because extremist environmental groups and liberals here in Congress oppose it. We haven't built a new refinery since the 1970s because extremist environmental groups and liberals here in Congress oppose it. The Democratic party is aligned with these groups that have supported having higher prices as a way to discourage oil usage. Their Presidential nominee in 2000, Al Gore, is not shy about praising higher prices for fuels. Despite these facts, our liberal colleagues are out there slamming Republicans for high gas prices. Well, you know, they can't have it both ways. They have got to be consistent. Well, they are consistent. They are going to be consistent in opposing drilling in ANWR. So today, we need to do a little setting the record straight and we need to put a little pressure on those that have chosen to stymie domestic exploration. We need to let the American people know that yes, indeed, there is a choice, and that there is indeed a way to lower fuel prices.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, many of us are talking about our veterans. And as we approach Memorial Day, it has been with great sorrow and great concern that we have noticed some of the headlines and the information on personal data of veterans being stolen. That is of tremendous concern to us, and I want to thank Chairman Buyer and the Veterans' Affairs Committee for their prompt actions in addressing this issue. I also would like to call to the attention of the House a piece of legislation that my colleague, Representative Simmons, and I are working on. It is the Veterans Identity Protection Act of 2006. We will be filing the bill on Friday. Mr. Simmons is a Vietnam veteran, and he understands the problems that veterans face every day. We know that veterans have placed their faith in the government to responsibly protect their personal information, and that that trust has been damaged. That is why the Blackburn-Simmons bill requires that more stringent controls be placed on the management of personal data. We also want to help those veterans monitor their credit to be certain that no one has stolen their identities. Government has an obligation to these men and women who have been breached in the loss of this information, and we want to be certain that that obligation is met. Mr. Speaker, I would commend the legislation to each of our colleagues and encourage them to join with us in supporting the veterans of this great Nation.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I read in the paper this morning that Mexican President Vicente Fox is visiting the United States today. I would like to encourage him to visit the border and to understand why we are so troubled by what is happening there. The reported actions on that border, they are not good for his country. They are certainly not good for our's. And I hope he does spend some time observing the power of freedom and capitalism, to make a better life for countries which choose to honor these values. That power of freedom is a reason people want to come. We ask that they come legally and respecting those laws and respecting those freedoms. I also hope that he will speak to those breaking U.S. law, violating the security on our border and tell them he does not condone what they are doing. Mr. Speaker, the Mexican President should be working with us to guard our borders, not encouraging his nation's citizens to cross our borders illegally. We hope he will join us in the fight against terrorism.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, the topic of this week, the topic of discussion with our constituents, with those who are calling us is illegal immigration and their concern over Mexico's choosing and wanting to sue the United States for defending our borders. Mr. Speaker, America has reached a consensus and our constituents have reached a consensus on this issue. What they are telling us is secure our borders. Show us a secured border. Show us a plan of action. Allow us to know that we can have our faith restored in your ability to secure this Nation. We hear from them. They are letting us know that they expect us to uphold our oath to defend and protect this Nation. Mr. Speaker, we are listening. In this body we have been listening. Last fall we took action. We encourage all to join us in securing the border of this great Nation.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, the American people have reached a consensus on the border security issue; so I find it very hard to understand why we here in Washington are having trouble doing the same. Outside the Beltway people think it is perfectly reasonable to build a wall to protect the border. They do not see a problem with installing surveillance technology to monitor the border. They do not support amnesty. It is only here where the pundits rule, and in the New York newsrooms, that we see such hand wringing on the border security issue. An op-ed in The Washington Post called people concerned about illegal immigration ``nativists.'' Apparently, worrying about border security and the rule of law makes one a nativist. I find that it is a sad statement on the attitude of those opposed to beefing up our border security. I ask my colleagues to join me to look past the pundits, past the liberal editorial pages, and do what the vast majority of Americans want done: Secure the border and do it without amnesty.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for his work on our RSC budget. He has done an outstanding job. And you know, this really is a time when we can renew the Contract With America and those goals that we focused on and the principles that were laid forth in that period of time, and this is a budget that helps move us again toward those goals and towards those principles. Mr. Chairman, I find it so interesting that we are hearing people say, well, you can make an argument for this, you can make an argument for that. You can try to disprove this, you can try to disprove that. And you can make arguments all day long, but it doesn't make it true. It just does not make it true. And I think we have to put our focus on a few simple things that are fiscally responsible. The budget we have before us that we are debating at this point in time is one that focuses on eliminating wasteful and unnecessary programs and capping growth in mandatory spending. Reducing the size of government and consolidating redundant agencies, this is a place that deserves our focus, it deserves our attention. It deserves our fiscal responsibility.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, today the phones in our district offices and our D.C. offices are ringing off the hook, and most of those calls are coming in about the situation that our country faces with illegal immigration. Mr. Speaker, it is not that complicated an issue. The Members of this body and here in the House agree, secure the border first. That is the first thing that needs to be done. The Republican leadership in the House worked hard to pass the bill that we passed last December, which addresses border security and employer enforcement. So to my constituents and to the other Members of this body I say, let us say no to amnesty or any type of amnesty. Let us continue to support construction of a border, whether it is a wall or surveillance. Let us secure our border. I do support the use of military presence on the border as an emergency measure. Mr. Speaker, it is time for action. The time has passed. It is time for us to be certain that this Nation is secure. It is an issue of national security.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to take a moment today to honor Eddy Arnold on his 88th birthday. I'm fortune enough to call him a friend and neighbor, but like so many Americans, I'm also a fan of his wonderful musical talent. Raised on a Tennessee farm, the ``Tennessee Plowboy'' started playing guitar at ten and he's been entertaining us all ever since. He shattered the country and pop charts with 28 number one hits. And he proved that a beautiful song never gets old with hits like ``You Don't Know Me.'' Eddy's songs spanned 5 decades. Whether you saw him at the Grand Ole Opry, watched Eddy Arnold Time on television, or heard one of his songs just the other day on the radio--there's no mistaking that Eddy Arnold is an American icon and we wish him all the best on his birthday.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Iowa for his leadership on this issue, and how much we appreciate that leadership. Mr. Speaker, you know, I stand tonight for our men and women in uniform. And in my district, the men and women and families at Fort Campbell, and also our Guardsmen and our Reservists, and all of those that are deployed, how much we appreciate their sacrifice, how much we appreciate, Mr. Speaker, the great work that they do in order to be able to be certain that we preserve freedom, that we have the ability for children in this Nation to know that they are going to grow up in freedom. This is so those children will have the ability to dream big dreams, to look at the future with hope, with the expectancy of opportunities that will come their way. We do thank our men and women in uniform. And I thank them. I thank this House today that approved a bill that will allow for a pay raise for our military. We are grateful for that and for the actions of this body. I am so pleased to join you tonight as we turn our thoughts to Iraq and what is happening in Afghanistan because those are centers and they are battles in the war on terror. The war on terror is a global war. When we talk about the war on terror, we are not talking about one specific place or one specific battle. The global war on terror is something that is localized right now in Iraq; but we do know that while this is the battleground of today, while Afghanistan is the battleground, while the Middle East is the breeding ground for much of the terrorism that has been disbursed all across the globe, we know that we have to look at this as a global war. We have to know that this is going to be a long war. We have been told that by our leaders. We have been attacked. We know that we were attacked for two full decades before we stopped looking at terrorism as an act of civil disobedience and we started responding to terrorism as an act of war. That seemed to all come to a head when we looked at Iraq, when we had a very evil dictator who continued to defy U.N. resolutions, who continued to just repeatedly snub the U.N. and snub the free world and say, I can be the bully of the region if I want to. And that came to an end after September 11. We commend our men and women in uniform that have gone there to set free, to set free a people, to begin stamping out terrorism and to be certain that we are standing up, democracy and partners in democracy that will yield a peace dividend for our children and our grandchildren. I appreciate that the gentleman from Iowa took a few moments to talk about some of the women in Iraq and some of the women that have fought so valiantly for freedom and for democracy and for liberty. I have had the opportunity to work with our Iraqi Women's Caucus and work with our Department of State, and stepped forward and helped to mentor some of these women as they take those baby steps and then as they lead in putting democracy in place. You know, it is so amazing to talk to them and to read the e-mails that they send to us as we seek to encourage them and their work and their efforts. Some of the stories that they have told about atrocities that they have lived through, how they watched the vicious nature of Saddam's henchmen and how they would brutalize people, brutalize families, and how these women have lived through that and have moved forward to take that leadership role and to step forward and say, Do not leave us now. Do not leave us now. We are on the right track. And we know it looks messy, and we know it is going to be a long process and we know this is not easy, but do not leave us. Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but think when I have these conversations with these women and when I see some of them, maybe they are missing a finger, maybe there is something that is wrong, maybe they have suffered pain and torture and agony and you can see it in their faces and you can see it in their bodies, but in their spirit what you hear is the desire to be certain that they have their shot at freedom. That is what they want. They want the opportunity to live freely, to enjoy the benefits of freedom. And I think that we have to keep that in mind as we move forward. One of the things we repeatedly hear and, of course, I know the gentleman from Iowa is like me, we all want to see our troops come home, come home victorious, and we would like to have them all come home, but I think we have to keep in mind that there is not going to be one specific event or one announced time where we say, all right, the work is done, because this is a work in progress. It is a work in progress, and we have seen tremendous progress. We have seen some tremendous stepping back. We have seen some failures, but we are seeing progress. And we are going to continue to see progress take place. We have seen the elections in January of 2005, all the way to the election in December of 2005. We have watched the formation of a new government, and now we can look forward as they are putting in place a permanent government. This is not a provisional government. There is a government that will rule in that country. They will govern. They will be making the laws, setting the laws, and at the same time we are watching the Iraqi security forces train, develop the competencies that they need in order to secure their nation and begin to stand up and take charge. It is exciting to see that type of progress take place. It is exciting to see progress in Afghanistan. It is exciting to see that there is that hope there, and it raises our concerns we have about the rest of the Middle East, about Iran, about the areas that surround there. And you know, Mr. Speaker, I think we have to keep in mind why we do this, why we are there, why we are rooting out terrorism, why we have rooted out a brutal dictator. Why we do this is because if we are fighting there, we are not going to have to be fighting that over here. How very important for us to keep that in mind. Taking this battle to them, right there in the Middle East, in that breeding ground of terrorism, taking the battle there helps us to do our best to keep this Nation secure, to allow us to continue to be a trustee of this great and wonderful legacy that we call freedom. I want to thank the gentleman from Iowa for yielding. I want to thank him for his excellent work that he continues to do to speak out to support our men and women in uniform and to support our troops with the good work that they are doing and always his good words in protecting the cause of freedom. With that, I yield back to the gentleman.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, one of my colleagues referenced the study from the Law Library of Congress entitled ``Immigration Law Sanctions and Enforcement in Selected Foreign Countries.'' It evaluates the policies and the practices of Brazil, Egypt, Japan, Mexico, Sweden and Switzerland. The countries were selected specifically to provide a geographically and racially diverse group for comparison purposes. What the study found is that strong enforcement of immigration law and tough sanctions can effectively reduce illegal immigration. Mr. Speaker, it is of concern to us that we learned yesterday that the U.S. Government is releasing information on the Minutemen border patrols to the Mexican Government. It is very frustrating that our government would be both willing and able to release information to the Mexican Government on these patrols, yet unable to adequately deter illegal entry into this country. Mr. Speaker, I want to see a border wall or technology improvements that will actually halt illegal border crossings. There is incredible consensus among Tennesseans that enough is enough on this issue. It is time for action.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, Dolly Parton is living proof that the American Dream is alive and kicking. She worked hard, harnessed her God given talent, and touched the lives of countless millions. Not only is Dolly a great entertainer, she's a proven businesswoman and a philanthropist. She is the embodiment of a value my mama taught me--that you always work to give back more to your community than you take. And Dolly has given back so much. Tennessee is proud of this Smoky Mountain daughter, and that's why we join the 2006 Southern Women in Public Service Conference to honor her with the Lindy Boggs Award. As the U.S. Representative who has the lucky fortune to represent Dolly in Congress, I want to take a moment to be certain my colleagues here in the House of Representatives know just how much she has given back to all of us. Dolly has put the same passion and leadership she used to make it to the top in business into improving child literacy. In 1996, Dolly's vision led to the creation of the Imagination Library--a program that sends children books each month to help them improve their reading skills. What began in East Tennessee now includes over 600 communities and spans 41 states. There are hundreds of thousands of children across this country whose futures have been changed for the better because of her work. We simply cannot put a value on the positive effect Dolly has had on these kids, their communities, and this country. The Imagination Library is just one example of Dolly's work to help raise up others. Today we honor Dolly for her passion and her determination.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to draw to the attention of the House H.R. 5037. This is the Respect For America's Fallen Heroes Act, and I would like to encourage each Member of this body to join me and my colleagues in this act. What it is going to do is to put in place criteria that will prohibit a person from carrying out demonstrations at the funeral of one of our fallen heroes. We are going to have a press conference, Mr. Speaker, at 2:30 today to talk more about this, and I want to commend my colleagues, Representative Rogers from Michigan, our Veterans Affairs' Committee Chairman, Mr. Buyer of Indiana, Mr. Chabot of Ohio, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Carter of Texas, and Mr. Garrett of New Jersey for joining with me on this piece of legislation and for joining to honor the members of the Patriot Guard Riders, who stand with our families to honor our fallen heroes.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, it is quite obvious that everyone is talking about the issues of the day: immigration and energy prices. And too many in this body are overcomplicating the issue. It is really not that hard. On immigration, secure the border, build a wall if necessary. Secure the border. It is what our constituents in Tennessee want. It is what the Republican majority want. It is what the American people want and need. On energy, we should be exploring for domestic sources of energy. We should pass the energy legislation that is going to come before this body this week. We should define price gouging, set some penalties, encourage construction of refineries. Currently, we are not doing that. Liberals in Congress have spent the past three decades pandering to environmental extremists. The policies they have put in place are in large part responsible for the energy crunch we are seeing today. We have not built a refinery in this country for 30 years. Mr. Speaker, the liberals need to start serving American families and stop serving special interests.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, our constituents are asking exactly the right question: Why are gas prices so high? Well, I will tell you. There are liberal Members of this body for the past three decades that have voted to prevent domestic exploration for oil. They have also worked to make it virtually impossible to build new refineries, and they have succeeded. We have not built a new refinery in this country since 1976. This week we have watched the Democrats stand around wringing their hands about high gas prices and blaming every Republican in sight. But this is not a partisan issue, it is an American issue, and people need to know the truth is in the voting. Last year we passed the GAS Act with not a single Democratic vote in the House. Not one. That bill would have streamlined the overly burdensome permitting and regulatory work that goes into getting a refinery. It would have made price gouging a Federal crime. The bill got no liberal support here in the House. Now it is in the Senate. Americans have only to ask the liberals why they are paying so much at the pump.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, you know, as we are talking about energy, and as we are talking about fuel prices today, it is quite amazing to watch selective memory and revisionist history take place within this Chamber. To my liberal colleagues I would simply say: you cannot have it both ways. And I hope we are learning a lesson from what we are hearing in this Chamber and from what we are seeing in the papers. Thirty years of environmental extremist policies on energy consumption in this Nation leads to the situation that we have today. For 30 years we have not been able to build new refineries because of environmental regulations. For 30 years we have not been funding exploration and development of new sources. Couple that with what has happened with Katrina and Rita, and, yes, we have a painful situation with energy prices. Let us learn the lesson. Let us come together and let us be certain that we are thoughtful and that we realize our Nation depends on an energy source that is going to be consistent and supply lines that are going to be open.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Azerbaijan as a key ally in a region of significant importance and a valued partner to the United States. Azerbaijan has made important contributions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo and supports efforts to combat terrorism. The country has also taken effective steps to foster pro-democratic principles leading to fair and free elections. I also would like to welcome President Ilham Aliyev to Washington this week for meetings with President Bush, senior Administration officials, and key Congressional leaders to discuss the need for continued democratic reforms, regional cooperation, energy security and diversification, and our nations' commitment to working closely together to advance freedom, security, and economic independence. It is clear now more than ever that we must develop new sources of energy and partners not controlled by Middle East and South American dictatorships. Azerbaijan has been identified as key to the East-West transit corridor from the Caspian Sea to international markets. Sharing a 379 mile border with Iran, we should recognize that Azerbaijan is important to the United States relations in the region. I encourage my colleagues in the House to support the opening of the one million barrel per day Baku-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and Baku-Erzerum (SCP) natural gas pipeline, set to increase energy exports and availability for the West. I welcome President Ilham Aliyev upon his first official visit to Washington.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, gas prices are the topic right now, so let us talk about energy, because we have heard some of our liberal colleagues take great delight in talking about the gas prices, and probably they should. It is their policies that have led us to this point. The Democrat Party in this country is very tightly tied to environmental extremist organizations; and since the 1970s, they have been working day and night to halt domestic exploration for oil. We cannot search for oil on the Outer Continental Shelf, meanwhile Cuba and Venezuela are. We cannot explore for oil in ANWR because it might hurt the caribou. We haven't built a refinery since 1976 because environmentalists use their influence over liberal policymakers to create a regulatory and permitting scheme that makes it virtually impossible to get approval. That is why we have fewer refineries today. Madam Speaker, the House passed a bill last year to make price gouging a Federal crime and to streamline the process for building a refinery. Not a single Democrat in this body voted for that, and now it is languishing in the Senate. It is time for action. That is the reality of the situation.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his leadership on the issue. As you were saying, we are all in this boat together when we look at the energy issue and look at not only the fuel for our cars, but for our homes, how we generate electricity, how we address the energy needs of a booming economy, how we address the energy needs of a growing population. As you said so very well, this is not a Democrat or a Republican issue, this is an American issue, and we need to go back and let history be a great teacher for us on this issue. How did we get to this point? This issue didn't just happen last week or last month or even last year. This is something that has been growing for a period of time. I really look at it as something that has been coming together over the past 30 years, when we look at what has happened with this. If we go back to the mid-70s, a good start date to take for the sake of discussion on this issue is 1976. The reason we go back to 1976, Carter was President then and that was the last year that we had a refinery built in this country. That was the last year in which a new refinery, oil or gas refinery, was built on U.S. soil. What we saw happen was an increase in regulation from the EPA and from OSHA and different environmental groups and different demands that environmental groups would place on creating or developing a new refinery or going out and exploring for oil or gas or developing new technologies to extract oil and gas to bring forward for the refining process. Since 1976, we have seen layer upon layer upon layer of mandates, of rules, of regulations, that have made it very, very difficult to bring forward new technologies so that we can meet the energy needs of this Nation. So that we are meeting the energy needs of this Nation. Great for instance. When you inventory what we had on line with refineries in 1981, there were 324 oil and gas refineries in this country in 1981. Today there are 148 refineries; 148 refineries. And, you know, the last refinery that went up in this country was out in Yuma, Arizona. It took 5 years and 4 months to get through the permitting process to put that refinery in place. So we see that what we have done is to put in place a process where we have fewer refineries that are working, and fewer refineries to actually process the oil and gas that we need. Now at the same time our population is growing, we have more cars on the road, and we have more houses. Home ownership is at an all-time high. We need to be processing 21 million barrels of oil a day. We have the capacity to refine 17 million barrels of oil a day. So what we have is a very tight supply line, and it is difficult for us to meet those needs with the current infrastructure that is in existence. What we have to do also is couple those facts of fewer refineries and making it very difficult to do exploration and development. Now, you know, and I will tell you, the liberals on this issue need to realize the double-talk ought to stop. The double-talk needs to stop because you cannot have it both ways. You do want oil and gas, but then you do not want the prices to be high, but you do not want to go drill in ANWR, you do not want to inventory the Outer Continental Shelf, and you do not want to extract any of those gas deposits that are there, and heaven knows, let us not go drill in the West. And that is what we have the tendency to hear. But at the same time, they are saying gas is too high, we need to immediately move to alternative fuels. But then they say, you are not doing enough for alternative fuels, but the gas prices are too high. And, you know, I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, it is that kind of double- talk that makes it very difficult to sit down and work out a solution to this that is going to help us with this issue. And I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, I look at this with the fewer refineries, with the lack of exploration and development, Hurricanes Rita and Katrina taking fully 25 percent of our refineries off line, and what you have is the perfect storm of an energy crisis. And at the same time that is happening, we are switching from the MTBE to ethanol. There are some supply line problems with the distributors there. And, yes, this has been a very difficult week. And I am like most persons. I go to fill up my car, and I just, you know, gasp at the price. And I think, my goodness, this is not what we are used to. This is not what we have planned for. This is not what we have budgeted for. It is so expensive. And I held town hall meetings, as you were saying, as the gentlemen from Georgia was saying, visiting with my constituents. And you talk to those who are on the school boards who are saying, you know, it is costing more to run buses, and you talk to those who are running their county governments. They are saying, our supply costs and our fuel costs are going up. And it says, yes, indeed we need to do something. And I think it is very important that we realize that there are some things we can do in the short term. There are some things that we will do that will affect the midrange, and then we need to be very conscious as we look at a long-range plan, and as we look at working toward an energy independence day. And, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with the gentleman from Georgia in returning another night to talk a bit more about energy independence day and how we would get there and what that would look like. And I think that as we look at this issue, we know legislatively there are some things that we can do and have done. We have passed the Energy Policy Act from the committee where I hold a seat, Energy and Commerce. And we first passed that piece of legislation in 2001, and it languished across the dome with our friends in the Senate. And finally this past June we were able to get that signed into law and passed to put $8 billion on to alternative fuels development, to simplify some the permitting process so that it is easier for those refineries to stand up and begin processing the fuels that we need. You know, there is another piece of legislation, the Gas Act, that we passed after Katrina took place, and that is the piece of legislation we passed in this body on a 212-210 vote. It would federalize and put in place Federal penalties for price gouging. Unfortunately we did not have any help from our friends across the aisle on that. And we felt it was important to put in place, to federalize price gouging. Now, that piece of legislation that we passed is sitting in the Senate. The liberals are holding it up. It is time for us to pass this. I yield to the gentlemen from Georgia.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. If the gentleman will yield. Yes, this is one of the things, and let us continue to look at this poster. You know, do we care more about caribou in ANWR, or do we want to come into an area that is an enormously large area and go into an area land-mass-wise that is about the size of the State of South Carolina, and go into an area that is about the size of the Atlanta airport and drill, and go in on ice roads during the winter and drill? You know, I mentioned that we need 21 million barrels of oil a day, and that we have the capacity for 17 million. In that field in the North Atlantic Wildlife Refuge, that field would yield as much as 1 million barrels a day. So I think that this is the time when we have to say, where are our priorities? And how are we going to use the fossil fuels that we have while we try to wean ourselves from foreign oil, and while we develop alternative sources, and as we look at this electric power generation? I was in another State in a coastal area with one of our colleagues, and we were going across a bridge. I had been speaking in one area, and we were going to the other for a speech. And there were two power plants on either side of this bridge out in this bay. And as I looked out there, I said, oh, are these on hydroelectric power? What are we using? What is the source here? Is it wind? Is it water? One was burning coal; the other was burning oil and gas. You know, you have to say, if they are both using fossil fuels, why are we doing that and not being good stewards of our fossil fuels and using all of those other natural resources that we have? So this is a time for us to say, let us be very thoughtful, let us learn some lessons from what has happened over the past 30 years. Let us look at what happens when you give environmental groups the say over how you are going to develop your energy policy. When you say we are going to work day in and day out, and we are going to keep you from drilling, let us look at the lessons that we have learned and what ends up happening in the long run. And as we look at conservation and preserving efforts, which will help us with the short-term fix, when we look at the legislative efforts that will help us in the midterm and the long term, let us be very, very mindful that every piece of legislation that we pass is going to have some consequences whether intended or unintended, and we need to be very mindful of that. With that I yield back to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, illegal immigration, the process of choosing to enter this country illegally, of violating our laws, is clearly a priority of concern with the American people, and I don't think the American people are asking too much when they call our offices and tell us to secure the border and bring a halt to the massive problem of illegal entry into this country. Some in this debate are trying to characterize those of us who want to get serious about illegal entry as mean-spirited and anti-immigrant. It is ridiculous. In a column a while back, Peggy Noonan asked the question, What does it mean when the first thing a person does when coming into the country is break our laws? Mr. Speaker, that is a good question. We absolutely cannot condone or incorporate into our society large numbers of people whose first act upon entering this country is to break a law. We need to overhaul our border security. We need to overhaul the process by which people are legally admitted to this Nation.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Chairman, I just love this debate. I love this day of the year when we come to the floor and we talk about our budget and we go before the American people to talk about the priorities that we have, what we see as being important to this Nation, where we place our hopes and where we place our dreams and where we think about opportunity. Another great thing about this day is that this is the day when big spenders don't have anywhere to hide. You know, as my colleague from Michigan said, they cannot have it both ways. We have now watched liberal Members come down here, and this budget is too fiscally conservative. They say we are not spending enough. We have to spend more. And then they say you are spending too much. If you were a parent, you would go pull out a copy of ``Goldilocks and the 3 Bears'' and start reading, because nothing is ever going to suit them. I know people back home are looking at this debate, and they are probably scratching their heads because the Democrats say it is too conservative, it does not spend enough. So let's cut through the rhetoric and look at what we have got. What they want, what it really means is that they want to pretend to support spending reductions while they turn around and they call for more spending. For big spending. Their stance really doesn't make any sense; but what it does do is prevent them from having to take a stand for spending restraint. Did they choose to vote with us for the Deficit Reduction Act? No, they did not. They chose not to vote for reducing the deficit. This budget will continue to hold the line on spending. It will continue to find savings in mandatory spending. We all know this government spends too much. That is why we have a huge, enormous bureaucracy in this town that the other side has built as a monument to themselves. After 40 years of control, 40 years of growing a big old budget, 40 years of trying to continue to fund it, and they are still making the same tired, worn-out arguments. They cannot have it both ways. We are either for reducing spending and getting this under control, or we are for growing it. We can make some reductions in spending. We can freeze some things, hold the line, and that is what we are doing. As I said, they chose not to support the Deficit Reduction Act. They chose not to support across- the-board cuts. And because of that, they have chosen not to be leaders in this issue. So they ought to decide whether they are for more spending or less spending before they come down here to the floor and certainly before they go home.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman talked about priorities and where the priorities are in this budget. I think that is one of things that our colleagues will want to watch over the next couple of the days because over the past decade, we saw discretionary spending increase by an average of 7 percent each year. What we have done in last year's budget and this budget is to come to a near freeze in nonsecurity discretionary spending. And that is so important, because that points to the priorities that you have mentioned and the gentleman from Texas has mentioned and the gentleman from North Carolina has mentioned.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. If the gentleman will yield, earlier we talked about our colleagues across the aisle and this morning how they were bemoaning the fact that we were going to freeze spending or reduce spending, or if they weren't going to get everything they wanted, then it is considered a cut. Now that is government speak, as the gentleman from Texas said. That is government speak. It is not really a cut. But we have to realize that every single time, every single time we start to make reductions in what the Federal Government spends, there are some who try to keep us from doing that. And their answer is always, we need more money. Government can't afford that cut. Government can't afford that tax reduction. And as you said, it is so important that we differentiate between this.