Marsha Blackburn

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, we have just voted on a bill with many important elements for our troops, and I wanted to say a few words about our men and women in uniform. Since taking office, I have had the chance to meet with our troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, and those here at home in my State of Tennessee, and I cannot describe a more patriotic, dedicated, and courageous group of human beings. In the face of adversity, tackling this enormous new war on terror, they have put on their game face and they have gotten to work. Their commitment to, as they like to call it, ``the mission,'' inspires me, and it inspires all of us to be sure that we are working here to do everything we can to support their work. So today, during Military Appreciation Month, I want to extend to our men and women in uniform the world over a great big thank-you from this American and from every other citizen whose freedom in life depends on their strength and conviction. May God bless all of them.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, most Americans probably don't know that there are military men and women who serve their country right here in the U.S. House of Representatives as liaisons between members of Congress and the Nation's armed forces. These men and women have a critical role in helping Congress do its job, and today, while America is at war, the importance of their work is clearer than ever before. It is with great appreciation and sadness that I rise to thank one of our finest military liaisons, U.S. Marine Corps Major William McCollough, for his service to this institution and our country as he leaves Washington to join the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment as Executive Officer. During my time in Congress, I've had the opportunity to work with Major McCollough--and I know that my colleagues who've worked with him will agree--that his leadership, professionalism, and friendship have enabled us to better represent our districts. We will miss Major McCollough, but we wish him well in his new assignment.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our chairman, and also thank the leader. You know, I believe that everybody engaged in this debate today means well, and this is one of those great debates that we have on this floor. It is full of passion. But this is not a debate about passion. It is not a debate about style. This is a debate about substance. And the substance of this debate is life, clear and simple. You know, there is a fact on this, also, I think we ought to look at. While we do not know where embryonic stem cell research might lead us, we do know that engaging in this form of research would require ending a human life for the purpose of experimentation. And that is something that I do not think any of us want to sanction. And in my opinion, we would be giving away our humanity, our sense of ethics, for the mere hope, the mere hope that this form of research would someday yield results. Meanwhile, H.R. 810, the bill that is under discussion diverts funds from research that has proven results, from research that does not require us to look the other way while human life is purposely ended. Adult stem cell research has made great leaps. We have heard about that today. Cord blood research has made great strides. We have heard about that also today. And we hear that by using islet cells from living donors or adult brain cells instead of embryos, there is a potential to cure diabetes. I think we should all vote ``no'' on H.R. 810. We should stop and look at the substance of the debate.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, one of the privileges we have from time to time is to stand and recognize those in our community who do good, who improve the quality of life, who make our communities a better place to live. And today I have that opportunity to recognize Reverend Douglas Westmoreland, the pastor of Tusculum Hills Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. In June of 1975, 30 years ago, Reverend Westmoreland answered the call and began sharing his ministry with the members of Tusculum Hills Baptist Church. It is my privilege today to join with those members and to thank him for his appreciation of the congregation, for his guidance he has given the congregation and the inspiration that he has given not only to the congregation but also to our entire community. We thank Reverend Westmoreland for his continued service, and I thank the Members of this body for joining me in honoring him.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, it's not every day that I get the opportunity to recognize someone who has demonstrated tremendous dedication to public service. But today I have just such an opportunity. I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Carl Brown, Tennessee's Department of Human Services Assistant Commissioner, for being one of those people who makes government work better. Carl has served our State for more than 4 decades and he's done a magnificent job. The thousands of disabled Tennesseans he has helped over the years know exactly what I mean when I say that Carl has lived to serve others. He has always known that there are few higher callings in life than helping those in need. And we are grateful for him. While I'm thankful for Carl and his service to our State, we will miss his work at the Department of Human Services when he retires this May 2005. All of us in Tennessee wish Carl and his wife, Mary Frances, a wonderful retirement with their children and grandchildren.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, you know last year this body passed the 2004 Jobs and Growth Act, and this restored sales tax deductibility to our State. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to rise tonight just to give an update on the good work this is doing in the State of Tennessee. We have a $272 million boost in our State revenues. Now, we are one of those States that does not have a State income tax. We have a State sales tax, and restoring that deductibility that the Republican leadership pushed forward in this House has paid dividends for the State of Tennessee. It is like a lot of the other economic news that we are hearing: 274,000 new jobs that were created in the month of April; employment ranks grew by 598,000 jobs this last month, pushing it to over 141 million Americans who are working. These are the right decisions, the right steps to promote positive economic growth in our great Nation, and I thank the leadership for their work on that issue.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to honor Mark Morgan of Laurel, Mississippi today. Mark was returning home one evening when he passed a vehicle that had pulled to the side of a bridge. Despite the dark and his own exhaustion, Mark pulled over to be sure the woman who sat in the car alone did not need any assistance. Little did Mark know he had just answered the prayers of a worried family and community. Louise Martin had left church to drive home; she'd become confused and lost. Eventually her car ran out of gas, leaving her stranded along a rarely traveled stretch of highway. After Mark stopped, he called Mrs. Martin's family and told them he was going to bring her home. Nearly twelve hours after Mrs. Martin left her church, she was reunited with her husband and family. Mr. Speaker, Mark Morgan is a shining example of the spirit of concern and the willingness to aid others.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to praise America's small business owners. They really are our Nation's economic engine, and these small business owners and our Nation's employers are doing a great job with this free enterprise system that we enjoy. Mr. Speaker, there is good news about the economy that is out. In April, this economy created 274,000 new jobs. Also in April, we saw that retail sales exceeded projections. We thought we would have a .7 percent retail sales growth; in fact, we had a 1.4 percent retail sales growth. Mr. Speaker, it just shows that manufacturing numbers are up. Capital investment is up. Manufacturing investment and output is up. The economy is at work, and it is working for America's families. America's small businesses are doing their job, and I salute those small business owners.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Chairman, given the evacuation yesterday that we had here at the Capitol, it is so appropriate that we are taking this bill up today. We all know that there is always room for improvement in our Nation's security. I want to congratulate the gentleman from California (Chairman Cox) and his committee. They have done a great job in taking on a serious problem in our homeland security funding process. The Faster and Smarter Funding For First Responders Act recognizes that, while we are sending significant funding out to the States for emergency preparedness, that funding and support is not always used in a timely fashion. In Tennessee, my home State, we found that between 2002 and 2004, there was nearly $85 million in Federal homeland security funds that had been unspent and not allocated. And there is a problem when states like mine have the Federal funds but are not disbursing them as quickly as is needed by our local communities. We have appropriated Homeland Security dollars to the States in order to ensure that funding is flexible and can be targeted to the specific needs of our local communities, and we need to work to be sure that those funds are being used appropriately. Mr. Chairman, this bill really clarifies the appropriate uses for Federal Homeland Security grants and evaluates and annually prioritizes pending grant applications, and it is great that our local communities and our States are going to have the support they need in the communities, the guidance that they need to appropriately use the funds and put it to work, put it to good use in our communities.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding me this time, and I want to commend the gentlewoman from Illinois for her fine work on this piece of legislation, and I would like to encourage my colleagues to all join me in supporting House Resolution 142 and honoring the goals and the ideals of Rotary International and Rotary International Day on their hundredth anniversary. It is a wonderful organization. Growing up, I learned that giving back to your community should be a goal that each and every one of us would have. And with its ``Service Above Self'' motto, Rotary International truly is living up to that standard of giving back. As an active Rotarian, I have had the opportunity to participate in so many events, programs, and projects that have been carried out by my Rotary club and by other Rotary clubs in my congressional district in Tennessee. The gentlewoman from Illinois spoke a little about some of those projects, and it does not matter if you are in Nashville or Memphis or Clarksville, or anywhere in the Seventh District of Tennessee or around our great State, you are going to see that Rotary clubs are making a difference in each and every kind of project, from immunizations for children, which is a worldwide project for Rotaries, and then to things like the National Rotary Club, supporting the Boys and Girls Club and Second Harvest Food Bank, and providing scholarships. Also, in Memphis, they have awarded thousands of dollars in small grants to teachers who are working to improve literacy in that great city. I want to send my thanks to the 1.2 million Rotary club members who are working to make that difference in communities around the globe, and I want to commend our international Rotarians who are now in 165 different countries for their commitment to service above self and improving the quality of life for each and every man and woman.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, before we all leave town for the weekend and to celebrate Mother's Day, I wanted to say just a little bit about the President's judicial nominees. They deserve an up-or-down vote in the Senate. That really is a matter of common sense here in Washington and something that needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, right now, common sense does not seem to be prevailing. For more than 200 years, the Senate deliberated and voted on judicial nominees that were sent up by the President. During those 200 years, the process has not been circumvented by a minority political party in the Senate. Yet today we have a first--judicial nominees that are being held hostage by misuse of a rule preventing the full Senate from voting either to accept or to reject them. Mr. Speaker, it is not fair, it is not right, and it is not in keeping with our system. The liberals over in the Senate know this. Yes, the Constitution grants the Senate the ability to make its own rules on procedure, but to twist that right in order to subvert the Senate's constitutional role is wholly inappropriate.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, America is on a really great economic track right now. Since 2000, Congress and this great Nation both have had to contend with a recession, with terrorism, but we have dealt with this by enacting tax relief and working to decrease regulatory burdens on America's workers. What we are seeing is real growth. Now, the first quarter of this year we have seen a 3.1 percent growth in the GDP. It is good and solid. To put it all in perspective, going back to October and December of 2004, the fourth quarter of last year, look at what we had going on here. Germany, 1.5 percent growth, Italy and Japan both at eight-tenths of one percent growth. During that time, America had 3.9 percent GDP growth. Do we know why? It is because we have fought to lower taxes and reduce burdensome regulation both together, while other nations have kept raising their taxes and imposing more regulation. What does this show? It tells us that if we want more of something, we tax it less, we regulate it less.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Jim Foglesong on his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Jim grew up singing with his family and then after serving in the U.S. Armed Forces used his G.I. Bill to attend Eastman School of Music. Later Jim Foglesong not only developed talent but also mentored legendary music performers. He nurtured the careers of Country Music superstars Garth Brooks, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, The Oak Ridge Boys, George Strait, and Tanya Tucker, among others. Now at age 82, Jim remains an important part of the Nashville music community. His induction is the most prestigious honor in all of Country Music. I thank Jim for the tremendous contributions he has given to the business, the artists, and the fans of country music.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, this has been quite a week here in the House. And I think that so many of my colleagues have noted how we hear from constituents about how feistily we come to the floor and how we debate and how we discuss the issues and the policies of the day and even tonight as we have stood to honor one of our colleagues who is taking on a new challenge. And I think it is so appropriate, Madam Speaker, that we recognize the fact that we do this because we are free. We are a free people. And we do it because we live in a Nation where men and women choose to sacrifice their lives, their time, their talent to preserve that freedom. I noticed in The Washington Post today there is a great article about the Iraqi Army, now over 150,000 strong, being trained by American men and women in uniform who have chosen, who have chosen, to serve their Nation. Madam Speaker, in Tennessee we have the 278th regiment that is on the Iraq-Iran border training many of these new Iraqi military men. And I want to honor them in their service and all of our men and women and say ``thank you'' and God speed for the good work they do in preserving freedom.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to welcome home some of our Tennessee Army National Guard, our friends and neighbors from McNairy County who were deployed in 2004. America relies on men and women who are willing to give of their time and effort and energy to defend our great Nation. These are men and women of courage and bravery, and that is what each individual has done. They have defended this Nation; they have defended our freedom. I know the Tennessee National Guard Family Group Service of McNairy County has done a great job coming together to support the men and women in uniform and working to be sure that the families of those deployed had the help that they needed. Mr. Speaker, McNairy County really has been a model community in this effort, and I hope all of my colleagues will join me in congratulating them and welcoming home their loved ones in the Tennessee Army National Guard.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, after 15 years of devoted service to the North Tennessee Workforce Board, Edgar Ray Groves is stepping down and I wanted to take a moment to thank him for his service. In 1990, Groves was first appointed to the position and began working to reorganize the way services were provided. Within two short years improvements were already noticeable, and in 1992 the NTWB received the Governor's cup for its outstanding accomplishment. By 1996, the NTWB was leading the State in all Workforce Development services and had won national recognition by the U.S. Department of Labor. And that same year, NTWB began operating a Career Center on post at Fort Campbell, delivering dislocated worker services to soldiers exiting the Army. Although Groves will no longer be serving as chair, he will continue to serve as a member of the local workforce board and the Tennessee State Workforce Board. I join with our community in offering Ed Groves our sincere appreciation for his years of service.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, on Monday, April 18, 2005, Tennessee lost legendary Nashville Symphony Orchestra conductor, Maestro Kenneth Schermerhorn. For more than 2 decades as music director and principal conductor, he led the Nashville Symphony not only to national recognition but to international acclaim. With astounding talent, Schermerhorn was not simply a metronome leading musicians through a musical score; rather, he gave life to the music he so clearly loved. He enriched the lives of thousands of adults and children in middle Tennessee, and he brought the joy of music to communities around the globe. He truly was a dear friend to so many Tennesseans and an inspirational leader to those of us who served on the symphony board. It is with deep sorrow that I join music lovers in my State and in countries around the world to mourn the loss of our gifted friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado for the explanation of this. I think it is so important for us to keep this in perspective. We are talking about 2,000 acres when we talk about ANWR, and it is in many hundreds of thousands of acres. It is like putting a quarter on the dining room table, that is the relationship of that space. So I thank the gentleman from Colorado for his work on the issue. The gentleman from Idaho, who is a member and a leader on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, has certainly worked on some of the issues dealing with refineries and permitting. We have not had a new refinery built in the country in 30 years, Madam Speaker. And as I mentioned earlier, the bill addresses our needs for today and looks toward the future. Obviously, there are some in this body who would like for us to flip a switch and tomorrow start driving hydrogen fuel cell cars and to start doing things we would all love to see happen, to look at more alternative sources. But we have to think about where our economy is today and meeting those needs for oil and gas today while at the same time we are planning for the future. The gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter) is going to talk with us for a few moments about refineries and permitting and some of the points that are covered that address the needs of today and of our economy today. So I thank the gentleman for joining us and I yield to him.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments. As we continue with our debate, as we were saying earlier, we will be looking at electricity, and we are going to have some provisions in this bill that the Federal Government is going to lead on energy conservation issues. One of our colleagues talked earlier about clean coal technology and renewable sources. Those will be addressed in the bill also. And we will look forward tomorrow as we come to the floor to being able to continue our discussion and to draw attention to these issues.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership on this issue and for his diligent work on behalf of his constituents and on behalf of all Americans as we are working on this bill and bringing it forward to the House, getting it ready to move forward and looking forward to the time that the President signs this into law, so that we do have an energy policy. A couple of points I would like to highlight with my colleagues that the gentleman from Nebraska brought forward to us, this bill is, as he said, forward thinking and it is now thinking, and it is important as we look at these two provisions that we realize it is this way because we have to think about small business. We have to think about farmers. We have to think about the impact of this on the economy. Madam Speaker, as the gentleman from Nebraska has said, this is about jobs. We think about our economy. This wonderful free enterprise system that we have in this great Nation of ours has created nearly 3 million jobs in the past 2 years, and we need to continue that. This economic engine needs to continue working. We do not hear enough about the jobs creation that has happened. We do not hear enough about the tax relief that has happened over the past couple of years, but we know that jobs creation is such an important part and an energy policy will serve as a boost for that jobs creation. I thank the gentleman from Nebraska, and at this point I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Beauprez) who has been a leader on the energy issue, has done a wonderful job for his constituents in the State of Colorado and is going to talk with us for a few minutes about ANWR and the implications of ANWR.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) for participating with us tonight. He is exactly right. The estimate is that 500,000 new jobs will be created over the next year by the changes made in the energy policy for this Nation. As I close this time that I have had tonight, I do want to certainly draw some attention to provisions of the bill, and tomorrow we hope that everyone is going to be able to talk with us and work with us as we go through the bill. And we are going to address so many things not only with our small business, but we are going to hear about electricity transmission and capability and reliability of our Nation's electricity and the electrical sources. Everyone was concerned, and we all are, when we hear of brownouts and blackouts and the series of blackouts over the past decade. So electricity is something that we will be addressing. I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for her comments on the bill.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman from Iowa for spending some time with us. He is exactly right, Madam Speaker. This is a homeland security and an economic security issue. We realize that. Competitiveness is important. We know, just as the gentleman said, we are meeting today's needs. We cannot not address the needs of today. That does require us to address oil and gas. At the same time we have to build that bridge to the future. This bill does that and does put the focus on biodiesel, biomass, ethanol, wind, hydropower, hybrid cars, hydrogen fuel cells, solar power, and all of those alternative and renewable energy sources so that we will have a goal of reducing that dependence on foreign oil. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) who is going to talk with us about the economic issues that affect his district in Texas.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter) for his leadership to our committee. To mention a couple of things that the gentleman highlighted, and one is the amount of time that has gone into this bill. During the 107th Congress that the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter) spoke about, that was 2001-2002, the Republican-led Committee on Energy and Commerce held 28 hearings related to a comprehensive energy bill. In 2002, the committee spent 21 hours marking up an energy bill and considering 79 amendments. In 2003, there were 22 hours and 80 amendments. In 3 years the Republicans in the House have held 80 public hearings with 12 committee markups and 279 amendments. That is the amount of work and energy that has gone into what the gentleman so appropriately describes as a total-concept bill. Another point was about the permitting. One of the things that we have all learned so well in our public service is if you want less of something, pile on the taxes, pile on the regulation because you are going to get less of it. If you want more of something, you have lighter regulation, lower taxes; and you are going to see that flourish. Those are certainly points that we take to heart as we look at the energy bill. I thank the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter) for his good work on this effort. A gentleman who has been a leader on the issue of small business and taxation and regulation and how that affects our economy is the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King). I certainly welcome him to our debate tonight. I appreciate the leadership that the gentleman shows in the Committee on the Budget and in the Republican Study Committee as we work to lower taxes and spending and address appropriate regulation.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman so much for his thoughts, and I thank him for his leadership on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the gentleman from Texas is exactly right. This is an issue about the future. It is an issue that affects our children, and as he said, it is an issue about the economy, about security and how we need to look at our sources of oil, our security, and many times we feel we are too reliant on foreign oil, which we are. Right now, 62 percent of the Nation's oil supply is coming from foreign sources. If we do not take action and pass an energy bill, it is going to be 75 percent by 2010. So we know that action is necessary and it is needed now. The gentleman from Texas also mentioned new technologies, new ways of doing things, and that is something that certainly we have to have our eye towards. We look at the needs for today and then as we bridge to the future. At this point, Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry) who will talk with us a little bit about liquefied natural gas and about turning that corner, beginning to look at things a little bit differently.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, what a day we have had here in the House. We have talked about energy policy. And having an energy bill come to the floor of this House is something that we have waited for for quite a period of time. I want to congratulate the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) and our colleagues on the Committee on Energy and Commerce. As we have had this occur today, it has been quite an effort. Our Energy Committee, last week we talked about it earlier in the week and we talked about it the past week. We had about a third of the Democrats in the House join us in voting that bill out of committee last week. They did it because it is a good bill. And they did it because it is time for us to have an energy bill, and it is the right step in the right way at this point in time. I know that we have some across the aisle, many who are going to follow the liberal leadership there and walk in lockstep with the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), but I think we are going to see more of the House Democrats join us to make this energy bill a reality for the American people. I would like to remind my colleagues that over the last few weeks we have seen quite a bit of bipartisan support on some of our legislation. We had 122 Democrats vote with us on the continuity of government bill, 50 Democrats voted with us on the class action bill, 73 Democrats voted with the Republicans on bankruptcy reform, and 42 supported our repeal of the death tax and the REAL I.D. Act. So we look forward tomorrow to having our Democrat colleagues from across the aisle join us as we move forward on our Nation's energy policy. We have several Members who have joined us tonight to talk about energy and to talk about energy policy. One of those is the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall), and I would like to yield some time to the gentleman to talk with us about the energy bill. I also want to thank the gentleman for the wonderful leadership that he has shown on this bill. At this point, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall).