Saxby Chambliss

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Alaska for bringing this bill forward. Mr. Chairman, since coming to Congress, I have been committed to reducing Federal spending and balancing the Federal budget. As cochairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus along with my good friend from Minnesota (Mr. Peterson), I have worked in a bipartisan fashion to promote hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreational activities. But we could not be nearly as successful in the Sportsmen's Caucus were it not for the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Trust Funds. These funds have given millions of sportsmen and women the opportunity to continue to enjoy their hobbies of hunting and fishing and provide steady streams of revenues to fund hunter education and safety programs. When sportsmen and women buy fishing equipment, guns, ammunition or archery equipment, a portion of their proceeds go to the States to help wildlife restoration or conservation projects and hunter education. This is not complicated. This is not rocket science. This is no secret. This is a win-win for everyone who cares about wildlife, who cares about hunting and fishing, who cares about education, about hunter safety, and about other education regarding outdoor activities. That is, until some Washington bureaucrat thought they could take some of that money and use it for different purposes, purposes like travel to Japan, and creating a huge unauthorized slush fund. We are talking about at least $45 million in misspent, unauthorized costs of this program. I say to my colleagues, this program is not going to be a slush fund for Washington bureaucrats, and I hope that bureaucrat is listening today, because with passage of this bill, we will ensure the integrity of Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Trust Funds. We will ensure that they are protected for the American outdoorsman and the American taxpayer. This Congress is committed to cutting out fraud, eliminating waste, and ending abuse of the American tax dollar. This is exactly what this bill intends to do. It protects the integrity of these quality trust funds in a way that makes common sense. Instead of depending on a bureaucrat at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to audit its own administrative costs of the program, we cap the administrative costs. We put the auditing in the hands of an independent inspector general, and we will require regular reporting to Congress of those audits. Mr. Chairman, the Wildlife and Sports Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000 will prevent dollars paid by sportsmen and sportswomen from being spent in ways that do not benefit wildlife, sport fishing, and related restoration efforts and will send more money to States for them to use for conservation projects and hunter education. I applaud my friend, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) for bringing this issue to the forefront. I applaud him for authoring this very common sense, good government piece of legislation, and I urge its passage.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to a great American and Georgian, Frank Chapman Pinkston, Sr., who died Monday, March 27, 2000. Mr. Pinkston was an inspiration to all of us. As a leader and public servant, he believed strongly in the citizens of Georgia and the meaning of loyalty. He worked hard every day to improve our communities and enhance the lives of our neighbors. He served the people of Georgia by giving 100 percent in every endeavor, placing his faith in God, his family, and his country. He will be greatly missed by the people of Georgia and his accomplishments will long be remembered. Mr. Pinkston was born on February 9, 1923 in Ludowici, GA. He was married to the former Lucille Park Finney for 52 years and graduated from Mercer University and the Walter F. George School of Law, Mercer University in 1947. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving from 1943-1946, serving in the European Theater and participating in the Allied Invasion of Normandy. Mr. Pinkston received five battle stars and was a retired Lieutenant Colonel, Judge Advocate General Corps. Since 1947, Mr. Pinkston had been an attorney, specializing in wills, trust and probate. Elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1968, Mr. Pinkston served continuously in that body until 1992. He was Chairman of the Banks and Banking Committee from 1974 to 1992 and a member of the Rules, and Appropriations Committees. He rewrote Georgia's banking laws and shaped Southern regional banking. He was elected in 1992 as the Eighth Congressional District representative on the State Transportation Board and was re-elected to that position in 1995 and in January 2000. He served as Vice Chairman of the Board from April 1998 until April 1999 at which time he was elected as Chairman, a position he held until his death. Mr. Pinkston was a member of Ingleside Baptist Church, serving on the Board of Directors of the Macon Rescue Mission, New Town Macon, and the Executive Committee of the Macon-Bibb County Road Improvement Program. He also served three terms on the Board of Trustees of Mercer University, The President's Council of Mercer University, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Middle Georgia Council on Drugs. Mr. Pinkston received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award from Mercer University in 1987 and an honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Mercer University in 1997. Mr. Speaker, I had the distinct pleasure of serving with Mr. Pinkston on many projects over the years. During his 24 years in public service, he helped lead the development of the Tom Hill Sr. Boulevard/Arkwright Road area, and several of Macon's museums. Mr. Pinkston's proudest achievement was establishment of the medical school at his alma mater, Mercer University. One of his many projects that, unfortunately, he was not able to see through to completion was the Fall Line Freeway. Mr. Speaker, I hope that in honor of Mr. Pinkston and his many accomplishments in Georgia, local, State, and Federal legislators working on this project will name a portion of the Fall Line Freeway the Frank Pinkston Freeway. I believe this tribute would be a further reminder of his legacy.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 95, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, we are here today to discuss a budget which Republicans have put forward that, number one, is going to protect Social Security, 100 percent of the Social Security surplus. We are going to strengthen Medicare, and we are going to provide our Medicare beneficiaries with a real meaningful prescription drug plan. We are going to retire over the next 5 years, under this budget, $1 trillion. By the year 2013, we are going to pay down all of the public debt that this country now owes. We are going to promote tax fairness for families, for farmers, for small business people, and for seniors. We are going to restore America's defense. We are going to strengthen support for education and science. I want to concentrate just a minute on the area of national defense. Let us look at where we were when this new majority came in in 1995. When the current administration and the Democratic Congress took over back in 1993, the budget for defense that year was $282 billion. Over the next 2 years, this administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress reduced spending for defense by $20 billion, down to $262 billion. Well, what was the effect of that reduction in spending? Well, let me show my colleagues what happened. We have reduced the number of Army divisions from 18 to 10. We have reduced the number of fighter wings in the United States Air Force from 24 to 13. We have reduced the number of ships in the United States Navy from 546 down to 333. Well, since this majority has been in control, we have been about the business of providing more money for the national security of this country. We have taken the Clinton budget since 1996 alone, and have increased it by almost $40 billion. This year, again, in the current budget that we are debating today, we are going to add $1 billion over the President's request for defense. What are we doing with that money? Let us look at what we are going to do with that money. We today are competing in our military services with every Fortune 500 company in the country. We have got to provide our folks with the quality of life in the military services that is second to none, and we are going to do that. We are going to provide them with pay raises. We are going to provide them with better housing. We are going to provide them with better recreational opportunities to be able to continue to attract the finest men and women that America has to offer. We are going to make sure that, from a readiness standpoint, that those folks are the best trained forces in the world today; that our folk in the depots have the parts to repair the equipment; and that our forces are equipped with the latest technologically advanced weapons systems that the world has to offer. We are the world's greatest country in large part because we are the world's strongest military power. This Republican budget maintains that commitment to the national security of this country.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I, too, want to take a minute to commend the Black Caucus for putting this budget together and setting their priorities right. I have an historic black college in my district, Fort Valley State University, which I am very proud to represent and work very closely with those folks individually as well as through the university system to ensure their priorities are addressed. I have any number of good friends who are members of this caucus, and we appreciate the hard work that you all have done. I want to talk for just a minute and remind folks again why we deem our budget to be the best. First of all, we are going to save and continue to protect Social Security by setting aside 100 percent of the Social Security surplus to pay the beneficiaries of Social Security. We are going to strengthen Medicare to include a prescription drug provision. We are going to retire the public debt. We are going to set it on course to be retired by 2013. In this budget, over the next 5 years we are going to retire $1 trillion worth of debt. We are going to promote tax fairness for families, for small business people, for farmers, and for seniors. We are going to restore America's defense, and we are going to strengthen support for education and science. I want to take just a minute to refer back to the defense budget that the President has submitted and show again what we have done with respect to plussing up the President's defense budget over the last 5 years. The red line represents the President's proposed budget. The blue line represents what we in this Congress have passed. The majority has made a real commitment to the defense of this country, and we continue to do so in this budget. There is one particular provision that I want to make reference to that has an effect on everybody in this room, and it is the provision on impact aid. If you live near a military reservation, a military base of any sort, and you do not get the appropriate impact aid for your school system, then the ad valorem taxpayers in that jurisdiction wind up paying a penalty. So what the President has done every year that this majority has been in Congress is to come in with a reduction in his budget for impact aid. What that is is a hidden tax on the landowners or everybody who resides close to a military base. We have got to have impact aid going to the school districts where our children are educated if they are going to get the quality education that we demand. So what we have done over the last 5 years, what we again do in our budget this year, is to plus up the President's budget from an impact aid standpoint, so that we can ensure that all children, irrespective of whether their parents are in the military or not, will be able to get the quality of education that we dictate and demand. I urge a ``no'' vote on the Black Caucus budget and a ``yes'' vote on the Republican budget.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra).

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Thornberry), a member of the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Armed Services.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune).

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I want to say, as I said last night, that this budget is not a bad budget. It has a lot of provisions in it that I really like, particularly when it comes to agriculture and defense, two issues which I have a very keen interest in. But there is a problem here. There are a couple of problems with this budget that need to be addressed; and if those were addressed, it would certainly make it a much better budget. First of all, there is too much spending. The budget that the Republicans have put forward, really we had hoped would not spend as much money as we do, but we spend $595 billion. The Blue Dog budget spends $606 billion over the next 5 years, and those are uncontrollable expenses out there. From an agricultural perspective, I agree with the gentleman that we have to work towards a safety net. I am not sure we know what the answer to it is, but some of the things that are in your budget I think do head us down that direction. But there is one other problem with the agricultural portion in your budget that really ought to be addressed, that is, my farmers want a balance. They want a balance between some sort of income security and some sort of tax relief. The number one issue with my farmers outside of income is estate tax relief, and there is not enough room in the Blue Dog budget to provide for real meaningful estate tax relief. Now, we are going to get there eventually. I think we are going to wind up working together to get there because I know my colleagues' feelings on that; and I think it is something that ultimately we are going to be able to get together on that is going to be extremely beneficial for farmers. But unless my Democratic colleagues address those major issues in the budget, it simply does not provide for the things that we provide for in the Republican budget that create that balance in agriculture country.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I believe we have the right to close.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green), an outstanding freshman member of the Committee on the Budget.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Fletcher), a member of the Committee on the Budget and also a member of the House Committee on Agriculture.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the 8th District of North Carolina (Mr. Hayes). (Mr. HAYES asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht), a member of the Committee on the Budget.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Madam Speaker, as we wind down on our time here, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Fletcher) is like me, they come from an area that is rich in agriculture. There is one thing in this budget that I want to make sure we point out to all our friends in ag country. Ever since I have been here, for the last 6 years, one of my passions has been to try to reform our crop insurance program. We know, coming from ag country, that the current crop insurance program we have is a disaster. Well, last year in this House, we passed a historic crop insurance reform package. I am told that tomorrow the Senate takes up their crop insurance reform package, and we are going to be going to conference very quickly. The really good thing about this budget is that last year we put some $6 billion into our budget for crop insurance reform. This year, over the next 5 years, we plussed that up to $7.4 billion. So we are going to be able to provide our farmers with a real risk management tool that is going to take the decision out of the hands of the government when it comes to crop insurance and put that decision into our farmers' hands finally and will allow our folks to manage their own crop insurance and give them the flexibility of deciding what they are going to insure and how they are going to insure it, the same way they insure their car and their home. There is going to be one more tremendous asset that we are going to be able to deliver to our farmers. I am excited about this budget. It does any number of things that are going to benefit every single American. We are going to provide real meaningful tax relief. We are going to continue to save and protect Social Security and Medicare. We are going to continue to provide research dollars to improve the health care of every single American. We are going to improve the national security of this country. This is the commitment that Republicans have made to the American people. Once again, we are going to live up to the commitment that we have continued to make. Madam Speaker, the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune) has joined us here. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from South Dakota.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, it is a real privilege to be here tonight to talk to my colleagues as well as people all across America about what is going to happen in this Chamber tomorrow. This is going to be another in a series of very important budgets to be presented here tomorrow that once again we will have the opportunity in this Chamber to show the American people that we are serious about fiscal responsibility. Because tomorrow we are once again going to have a budget that achieves balance. We are not going to spend more money than we take in. In fact, we are going to take in more money than we are going to spend. We have heard a lot of conversation here tonight about a surplus. Well, that surplus means that we have more money on hand than what we are going to spend, but really, when there is a $5.5 trillion debt that this country owes we do not really have a real surplus. We only have a surplus when we finally get to the day when we pay that debt off. We are going to talk about that tonight and we are going to talk even more about it tomorrow. I do want to take just a minute to commend my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who for the last hour have been talking about their budget. The Blue Dogs are a group of conservatives on that side who do come forward with a lot of good ideas from time to time. In fact, that group votes with the conservative majority in this House on a number of occasions. The problem is that there are only 20 or 25 or 30 of those folks on that side, somewhere around 10 percent of the total number of people on the Democratic side of the aisle, and they are simply not going to carry the day on that side of the aisle. If they were, if their philosophy were the philosophy that would be adopted by that side of the aisle, perhaps they would still be in power over here. The American public saw through this in 1994, sent a new majority to Congress who promised to be fiscally conservative and responsible to the American people and tomorrow we are once again going to be fiscally responsible. Their budget is not a totally bad budget because it does several things that I like. It does address paying down the debt. It does address providing tax relief to hard-working Americans and at the same time provides an increase in funding for very valuable programs, some of which, again, we are going to talk about tonight. So I look forward to debating with those folks tomorrow and to having a conversation with them about their ideas and giving us an opportunity to explain why our ideas are better. Tomorrow is going to be another very important day in the history of the House of Representatives because for the last 6 years we have had a chairman of the House Committee on the Budget, the gentleman from the great State of Ohio (Mr. Kasich). The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich) is not running for reelection. He is retiring from the House so tomorrow will be the last budget that he presents on the floor of this House. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich) is the author of the balanced budget of 1997. He is the author of the balanced budget of 1996 and 1995 and each year subsequent to 1997, but 1997 is the critical year because that is the year that we actually did achieve a balanced budget in this House and we struck an agreement with the President that has moved this country forward into this era of having excess cashflow on hand. Tomorrow we are going to pass another balanced budget in the era of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich), and that balanced budget that we pass tomorrow is going to provide six critical things to the American people. First of all, we are going to protect 100 percent of the Social Security surplus. Now what that means is that we are going to take every dime that the American people pay in Social Security taxes and we are going to put it away to make sure that every single penny of that money is used for exactly what it is designed to be used for, and that is for Social Security benefits. The other side over here talks a lot about, we have to do this and that with this so-called surplus that they refer to, but the ironic thing is they were in control of this House prior to 1995 for 42 years. During that 42 years, we became mired in debt to the tune of almost $5 trillion. During that 42 years, we spent Social Security money year in and year out to pay our bills. We did not set aside that money for what it was designed to be used for, and that is to pay Social Security benefits. Tomorrow we are once again going to dedicate all of the Social Security taxes that are sent to Washington for exactly what it is designed to be used for, and that is to pay Social Security benefits. This chart that we have up here right now illustrates exactly what I just said. It starts back in 1985 and shows how much money we used on an annual basis, and I say we, how much money Congress used to pay our bills every month that came out of the Social Security trust fund. Here it is. We reached a high of in excess of $80 billion. It started out in 1985 at somewhere around $10 billion, but look over on the end and look what happened in 1999, after the new majority came in and put its balanced budget in place. What have we done with Social Security taxes? We have started spending zero of the Social Security tax monies for anything other than Social Security benefits. 1999 and this year again we will take all of the Social Security tax money, we will put it into a real Social Security trust fund and we will use it for nothing other than to pay Social Security benefits. The next thing that we are going to do as a part of this budget is that we are going to strengthen Medicare, including a prescription drug benefit that is going to be made available to senior citizens. We have set aside $40 billion in our budget for prescription drugs. We do not write that prescription drug program. The committees of jurisdiction will be working on that, and they are going to be able to draft a prescription drug program that will be of benefit to our senior citizens for years to come. The $40 billion is going to be provided for over a 5-year period. We are going to retire the public debt that has been talked about here for the last hour by the year 2013. I have some other colleagues here who are going to talk a little more specifically about that. The gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Minge), who is my good friend and I serve on the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Agriculture with him, he is a very sincere individual and what he just told us was that under the Blue Dog budget, which is a much more fiscally conservative budget than what the Democrats will be proposing tomorrow, they are going to pay down $85 billion of the public debt over the next 5 years. Under our budget, over the next 5 years, we are going to pay down $1 trillion of the public debt, $1 trillion. The next thing we are going to do is we are going to promote tax fairness for families, farmers and seniors. We have been passing some tax reduction bills up here over the last month or so that are going to the heart of what America is all about. We are providing tax relief for married couples. We are providing tax relief for senior citizens, encouraging those senior citizens to stay in the workforce, make the valuable contribution which they are capable of making. This budget is going to provide money that is going to allow additional tax fairness opportunities for farmers, families and seniors. The next thing we are going to do is we are going to restore America's defense. Currently, our defense of this country, our national security, is in a terrible state. It is in a terrible state because we simply are having to fight every year up here with the White House over how much money we are going to be able to put into defense. We are going to be providing tomorrow $17 billion more in defense spending over what we provided in last year's budget. That money is going to go into three primary areas. It is going to go in the area of readiness, going to go in the area of procurement and it is going to go in the area of quality of life so that we can continue, number one, to attract the very finest young men and women that this country has to offer into each branch of our services. We are going to equip them with the highest technology, from a weapons system perspective, that is available to mankind. Then again we are going to make sure that they are the best trained Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy in the world. The last thing that we are going to do is we are going to strengthen the support for education and science. There is no greater asset in this country than our children, but our children are only able to contribute based upon the level of education that they have. It is not as much the amount of money that is put into education. It is where it is put. Under our budget, we are going to put a little bit more money in there and we are going to allow flexibility in our education system to allow more money to go to the State and local level where the rubber meets the road and the people know what is needed to educate our children in a better manner than what they are being educated today. At this time I would like to stop and I would like to recognize my friend, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), for any comments he might like to make, my fellow Member on the Committee on the Budget.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, while the gentleman is speaking about paying down the public debt, the gentleman might just remind the American people what we have done over the last 3 years, or what we are doing, including this year, with respect to paying down the public debt.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I yield now to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan).

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune) for his comments and his strong leadership, particularly in the area of agriculture where we work so closely together. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Fletcher) to wrap it up. I know he has a couple points he wants to close with.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the Tattnall Square Academy drama students and director Brent Young for recently winning the GISA State AAA title for their One Act Play production Children of Eden. This fine group of young people from Macon, Georgia, located in the 8th Congressional District, deserves great recognition for their hard work, artistic talents, and success. Tattnall has won the GISA State AAA title for One Act Play for the last two years, in 1998 and 1999, and this marks the third consecutive year Tattnall has won the Region Title for One Act Play. Drama Director Brent Young was awarded 1999 Best Director at the November competition. Over the past few years, under his direction and leadership, Tattnall's drama program has grown to become one of the school's largest extracurricular activities with over 200 students involved. One hundred twenty-five students performed in this year's production. In addition, I would like to recognize Molly Stevens, who was awarded the State Award for Best Performance. I had the opportunity to see Miss Stevens perform just a few short years ago in one of Macon's community theaters, and there was no doubt then she was a rising star. Mr. Speaker, to be an actor or performer, one must connect with their audience, a talent that does not come easily to everyone. It takes dedication, concentration, focus, and a great deal of spirit and imagination. Obviously, these tasks were well-delivered by the young men and women from Tattnall Square Academy. I am sure each of them is blessed with a number of other talents as well. I look forward to many more winning performances in the future.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the Charlton County High School football team in Folkston, Georgia, for recently capturing the Class A State Championship title. This fine group of young men and their coaches from Georgia's 8th Congressional District deserve great recognition for their hard work, dedication, and success. This is not only a victory for these fine young men, but for their school, parents, and community as well, particularly all who played a role in supporting the team throughout a hard year of practices and games. I want to congratulate CCHS head football coach Rich McWhorter and assistant coaches Bill Pitt, Mike Baxter, Mike McNeil, Russ Murray, Josh Howard, Dee Barronton, and Tim Cochran for their leadership and dedication to the team. Coaches spend every day of their lives building character, integrity, and determination in our young athletes, and I want to commend them for their commitment and service. I also want to take this time to recognize the Charlton County Indians individually. The 1999 players are Steve Smiley, Kevin Davis, Marcus Cobb, Snapper Hobbs, Cortez Reed, Cecil Reed, Matt Albertie, Fielding Dean, Antwan Harvey, Bama Adams, Mark Smith, Walter Williams, Jamie Jackson, Muhammad Abdullah, Jerome Pollock, Frank Dasher, Anthony Haston, Antonio Harvey, Lamar Williams, Harold Hannans, Lanier Milton, Alex Zow, Dantonio Davis, Chip Jackson, Tim Todd, Pierre Sims, Nathaniel Davis, Jason Bridges, Vincent Green, Nahshon Nicks, Chris Davis, Brian Drury, Demario Austin, Ivory Smiley, Marquis Elmore, Brett Mitchell, Gene Wilson, Norris Woods, Cedric Mildton, Brian Lloyd, Justin Crumbley, J.D. Carter, Jason Wainwright, Spencer Crews, Tony Geoghagan, Ben Huling, Michael Spurlock, Brandon Drury, Dusty Phillips, Luke Gowen, Scott Woolard, Ben Brantley, Marcus Jackson, Kyle Cook, Sam Melton, Scott Davis, Dusty Thomas, Jarvis Blackshear, Justin Pollock, Jimmy Scipp, Matt Drury, and Michael Reed. Mr. Speaker, victory cannot be achieved without the hard work, talent, and perseverance of every single athlete, the strong leadership and direction of the coaches, in addition to the strong support of parents, teachers, students, and the community. We from South Georgia know how important community support is. The Indians are truly a team to be proud of, and it is an honor for me to represent Charlton County, Georgia, in the U.S. House of Representatives. I look forward to many more victories from this outstanding team in the years to come.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 2699.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, currently, there are instances where American civilians have committed crimes outside the United States but have not been prosecuted because foreign governments decline to take any action and U.S. military or civilian law enforcement agencies lack the appropriate authority to prosecute these criminals. Consequently, only minor administrative sanctions are available to punish serious crimes. Today, my colleague, Congressman Bill McCollum, and I are introducing legislation that will close a legal loophole that currently allows civilians accompanying the military outside the United States to avoid prosecution from crimes. For example, a Department of Defense teacher raped a minor and videotaped the event. The host country chose not to prosecute, and the United States did not have the jurisdiction to prosecute the teacher. The son of a contractor employee in Italy committed various crimes including rape, arson, assault, and drug trafficking. Because of a lack of jurisdiction to prosecute, the son was simply barred from the base. A civilian spouse living overseas attacked her active duty husband with a kitchen knife and stabbed him in the shoulder. Although the spouse confessed to aggravated assault, the local national law enforcement agencies declined to prosecute. A 13-year-old living on an Army base in Germany, sexually molested and raped several other children under the age of ten. German authorities decided not to prosecute. The only punishment for the offender was to be expelled from Germany. An Air Force employee molested 24 children, ages 9 to 14. Because the host country refused to prosecute, the only recourse was to bar him from the base. An Overseas Jurisdiction Advisory Committee has recommended to the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General that this kind of ``legislation is needed to address misconduct by civilians accompanying the force overseas in peacetime settings.'' Both the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense support legislation that will help to maintain order and discipline among our armed forces. It is time that we close the loophole that allows civilian criminals to escape prosecution of their crimes. The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act we are introducing today, similar to S. 768 introduced by Senator Jeff Sessions and Senator Michael DeWine, will provide the federal government much greater ability to hold criminals responsible for crimes which they commit and will finally tighten our laws so that criminals do not go unpunished.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the Lady Pirates Girls Softball Team of Appling County High School in Baxley, GA, for recently capturing the AA State Championship title in girls softball. This fine group of young women and their coaches from Georgia's 8th district deserve great recognition for their hard work and success. The Lady Pirates have a long history of victories, having won eight region championships under the strong leadership of Head Coach Kathy Warren. Coach Warren began coaching Lady Pirate Softball in 1981, and under her leadership, the Lady Pirates have 326 wins. Over the course of her coaching career, Kathy Warren has been named the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association (GACA) Coach of the year nine times, and she was selected as the GACA State AAA Coach of the Year in 1993. I also want to congratulate Assistant Coach Janice Sellers, who has coached the team for 18 years, and Assistant Coach Tonya Long, who has coached the team for 8 years. Coaches spend every day of their lives building character, integrity, and determination in our young people. I want to commend Coaches Warren, Sellers, and Long for their commitment and service. The Lady Pirates have had numerous accomplishments over the years of which to be proud. The team placed first seed in the South Sectionals over the past 3 years. They placed 4th in the State in 1991 and 1993. They placed 3d in the State in 1981 and 1995. And in 1992, 1997, and 1998, the Lady Pirates were the State Runners-up, moving on to capture the Championship this year. These young women are not just exceptional athletes; they are also exceptional students. During the first 6 weeks grading period of the 1999-2000 school year, 14 of the Lady Pirate Softball Team members were listed on the school's honor roll for academic achievement. Not only have they demonstrated hard work on the field, but they have proven to be hard workers in the classroom as well, demonstrating the ability to take on many achievements at once. I want to take this time to recognize the Lady Pirates individually. The 1999 players are seniors: Lindsey Baxley, Sarah Carter, Jana Lamb, Bridgett Lasseter, Contessa Smith, Sarah Warren, Alissa Winn, Samantha Wright. Juniors: Candace Carter, Hanna Glenn, Amy Johnson, Ashley Winn. Sophomores: Cookie Alderman, Vicki Edenfield, Billie Jean Gibson, Alisha Tillman, Jodi Whitty, Lindsey Worthington. Freshmen: Carmen Chauncey, Tiffany Griffis, Sheena Hayes, Shafia Kent, Jessica Lindsey, Kylee Reese, and Candyce Sellers. This is an outstanding group of athletes. Mr. Speaker, victory cannot be achieved without the hard work, talent, and perseverance of every single athlete and the strong leadership and direction of the coaches. This team knows that, as their team motto is ``Be The Team.'' They truly are a team to be proud of, and it is an honor for me to represent Appling County, GA, in the People's House. I look forward to many more victories from the Lady Pirates in the years to come.