Chris Chocola

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much, and I think the fact that we only have 15 seconds left, we have had so many Members here tonight to tell the real story.

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, the fact that we have so many Members who want to share the real story of Iraq I think speaks well, for the facts are that there is great hope, there is great optimism. Supporting the President's request is the right thing to do. We have one chance to get it right. I thank the gentleman very much for hosting this evening's discussion.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Madam Speaker, so far we have heard from three Members including me that have been to Iraq. We shared some of our stories. But we got back about 3 weeks ago; and in Iraq's history as a free nation, that is a very long period of time since they have only been free of the Saddam Hussein regime for about 5 or 6 months. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger), a Member of Congress who just returned last night.

Mr. CHOCOLA. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman very much for joining us tonight and staying up late after a very long trip. But certainly I think that tells how impressed we all were after we had the opportunity to visit Iraq. One of the things that I think struck us all was the quality of the men and women in uniform and their sense of mission. I get asked often, what is the morale? Three weeks ago when we were there, the morale was very strong. They knew why they were there, and they knew what they were doing. I am curious as to how the gentlewoman found the morale.

Mr. CHOCOLA. Again, I thank the gentlewoman very much for joining us tonight, and welcome home, and I thank her for sharing her stories. I see the gentleman from Texas is still here, and I think he may have another story he would like to share with us.

Mr. CHOCOLA. Madam Speaker, I think there are a lot of misconceptions about Iraq, that it is a barren desert country, when in fact it is a fertile crescent, truly, and also about the mass graves. When I am at home I ask people, how many mass graves do you think we found in Iraq? And they say, oh, five, six. If I recall when we were there, they found something like 151 already; and they thought that there were maybe as many as 500, maybe over 1 million people had been murdered in these mass grave sites. The magnitude of the horror of the regime of Saddam Hussein can only be understood by the people who lived under it. I think that is why, when we were in the area of Babylon traveling in a bus along the roadside, people would run up to the bus and give us the thumbs up. Can my colleagues imagine the situation of living under that burden of knowing that your relatives were killed in a field near your village, but you could never go there because you might find the same fate if you tried to go find out what really happened?

Mr. CHOCOLA. Again, I thank the gentleman. As with all things, it is not important what we say or think or observe but what we do. Certainly, our action on supporting the men and women in uniform and the citizens of Iraq rebuild their country, which I think will pay dividends for generations to come, is very important. I think the gentleman from Pennsylvania has another measure to discuss on what we should do.

Mr. CHOCOLA. Again, I thank the gentleman, and I certainly appreciate his efforts. Our men and women in uniform are essentially performing many of the duties of the United Nations by liberating oppressed people and helping them rebuild their nation and really giving them the opportunity of freedom for the first time in their lives, something that I think is contagious and benefits all of us. Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by pointing out that the bottom line is that Iraq is the frontline of the war on terror, and it is a war we can and must win. As the young woman in Tikrit, the young soldier that I had dinner with, pointed out, this issue is much larger than Iraq itself. It is about the future stability of the Middle East and really about the future stability of our entire world. If Iraq can become a secular, free, democratic nation, it will give hope and optimism to a region of the world that really has very little today. They are well-equipped to win that war, they are well-equipped to help the Iraqi people build a much better future, because they have every ingredient of success. They have water. They have rich oil reserves, which was pointed out tonight. They have tremendous agriculture capabilities. They can help feed not only themselves but many of their neighbors. So I think all of us, as Members of Congress, have an obligation to base our decisions on facts, not on rhetoric, not on politics. But with an issue as important as this that has ramifications for generations to come, it is so important that we seek the truth and seek the facts. What I have observed from every Member who has been there, that they came back with exactly the same story. They come back with hope, they come back with optimism, they come back with support for doing what is necessary to help our men and women in uniform and the men and women, the citizens of Iraq, to help rebuild their country. They do not try to separate out what we spend money on for just guns and bullets and what we spend on infrastructure, because they are really inseparable. Because our success is not really based on firepower, although that is important. It is about winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and showing them American ideals and generosity that has really changed the globe and history over the last 200 plus years. Madam Speaker, I am sorry to say that since returning home from Iraq I have been criticized by some people for being optimistic. I have been scolded for not sharing the pessimism that we see on TV at night and read about in the paper in the morning. As I mentioned earlier, I left home with great concern, but I came back with immeasurable hope. If having faith in the power of democracy and the power of freedom and the capabilities of our men and women in uniform is a sin, I am guilty as charged. I only wish that every American had the same opportunity that we had that went to Iraq. Because I know for a fact, if they went there and they could see the real and the whole story of Iraq, they would share our hope and our optimism, and they would support a very wise investment in the future of not only the Iraqi people, but of this entire world. I would certainly encourage all of my colleagues as Members of Congress to support the supplemental, because it is a very wise investment.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about the vote that we as Members of Congress are going to be asked to make in the near future and that is a vote we have already heard about tonight and that is the $87 billion appropriation to support our men and women in uniform and the citizens of Iraq. This is a lot of money, there is no question. And there is much commentary and maybe even some people would say much rhetoric revolving around this issue, but as we decide how to vote as Members of Congress and the American people develop an opinion on how they feel about their tax dollars being invested in this manner, I think it is imperative that we understand the real story of Iraq. I think it is imperative that we get beyond the rhetoric and the politics because this issue is way too important and has implications for generations to come, what the answer to the question about supporting the men and women in uniform and the citizens of Iraq with $87 billion is going to be. I think we have to rely on facts, and the only way that we can understand the facts and discover the facts is to go seek them out for ourselves. That is why I went to Iraq not too long ago. I returned about 3 weeks ago, and I commend other Members of Congress that have taken the time and taken the effort to go find out for themselves what the real story of Iraq is. I have to admit, when I went, I went with apprehension, and I did not go with apprehension because I was concerned about my personal safety. I went with apprehension because I was concerned that I would find the story of hopelessness, of pessimism because I had read the papers and I had watched the television, and it did not look like a pretty picture; but when I returned home, I had great optimism and I had great hope because what we see on TV and what we read in the papers is not the real story of Iraq and is not representative of what is actually happening on a day-to-day basis in that country. When we landed, I really could not believe I was in the same country that I had seen on TV and read about in the papers. This was not a country in chaos. This was not a country where one felt unsafe and in fear for their personal safety. It was a country that was recovering from a scar of over 30 years of a brutal regime that its people had to live under. Sure, there are challenges that we are going to face and there are tragedies that happened, but there is also great hope, and there is great optimism because there have already been great successes. The problem is the good news is not news. When a torture chamber that used to house Saddam Hussein's political prisoners gets turned into a police academy where tens of thousands of Iraqi police have been trained to protect their citizens and protect their country, no cameras show up, no reporters show up. When a school reopens, in fact when 1,000 new schools have been built in Iraq, there is not one reporter; and there was not one camera. When the power comes back on, when businesses can operate on a consistent basis, when restaurants can open, there are no reporters and there are no cameras. When the crop is harvested, thousands of acres of wheat, again, there are no reporters and no cameras, and businesses are opening every single day; but again, it goes unreported. But when there is one tragedy, certainly every camera and every reporter in the country is covering that story. But for those that have visited Iraq, those that have actually taken the time and the effort to go, it cannot go unnoticed because a success is so clear and so obvious and so exciting and inspirational that we come back and we tell our stories. This is not a partisan issue. This is a situation where Republicans and Democrats have come back and told the real story of Iraq with great hope and great optimism. What we hear tonight, and I am sure we will hear in the future, is a lot of comments from people who have not been to Iraq, people who do not know the real story and are engaging in rhetoric and politics; and I think that is a great, grave danger, not only to our citizens but for all of our children and our grandchildren for generations to come. We come back and we share stories of why we feel the way we do, and that is what we are here to do tonight. I am here with several other Members that have traveled to Iraq, and we are going to share our stories about why we share so much hope and so much optimism; and I would like to share just one story before I turn it over to some of my fellow Members. I was in Iraq for 3 days, and I would just like to share one day, to give my colleagues a sense of what the experience was like. The group I was with, we flew into Mosul, a town in the northern part of Iraq. When we got out of the plane, it was shocking, because most Americans think that Iraq is very much a desert country, all sand. This looked like northern Michigan. There were hills. There were trees. It was a lush green area. As we got out of the plane, I noticed new construction, a building that was being built right next to where the troops are; and I asked, what is that? One of the local troops said, well, that is a local Iraqi entrepreneur. He is building a coffee shop for the troops to serve their needs. So here is a local Iraqi entrepreneur that is putting his own money into serving our troops and engaging in commerce. Does not sounds like a country in chaos to me. We went in and got a briefing. We got a briefing of all the successes that have already happened in the northern part of Iraq in the Mosul area. This is the briefing that we got. Now we hear a lot of people say there is no plan for reconstruction, that there was never any thought to how we were going to win the peace. This is a plan that is not only about what we are going to do, but more importantly what has already happened. In this plan are discussions of the schools that have been rebuilt, the transportation projects, the employment projects, the water projects, and the banking. There is a chart of the local elections that have already taken place. Over 200 local elections have already taken place in Iraq, with representative governments in place which represent all of the ethnic groups in their localities. So we had this briefing of the tremendous successes, and then we went into the town of Mosul. During that trip into town we were not in an armored vehicle, we had no bulletproof vests on, and we were in the center of town with the people of Mosul. What we saw was commerce. We saw restaurants. We saw children. We saw everything portraying the normalcy of life and never once felt threatened for our safety or worried that anything was going to happen, which is what we see represented on the nightly TV. After our trip downtown, we went back to the airport and we met with some of the locally elected officials. We met with the vice mayor of Mosul. This was a very impressive gentleman. With him were other locally elected officials. They represented the local ethnic representation. There were men, and there were women. There was never an opportunity under Saddam Hussein's regime to have an opportunity to have local representative government. Shortly thereafter, we left and we went to Tikrit, Saddam's hometown. We flew in helicopters for about an hour; and we basically followed the Tigress River down to Tikrit, which is a little further south. From horizon to horizon on each side of the river all we saw was wheat. All we saw was fertile farmland. In fact, if Iraq had had the opportunity to have modern practices and techniques of agriculture and production, they have enough potential basically to feed the entire Middle East. The most amazing thing to me was that it had been harvested, and it had been harvested just a couple of weeks ago. A country in chaos, a country that has no potential could never harvest hundreds of thousands of acres of wheat and store it effectively and use it for the benefit of their people. As we approached Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, it was a stark picture. In the middle of town is Saddam's palace, 144 buildings in the palace compound. Now these are not small little garages. These are all villas and palaces. And on one side of two 10-foot walls that had barbed wire or guard stations every so often was basically obscene opulence that Saddam had built this palace for himself and his family. On the other sides of the wall was obscene poverty and pestilence. I think that represented exactly how he ran his country. He would spend all of the country's resources, the riches that it has, and it has many riches in the form of oil and water and agriculture, he spent all of those riches on himself, on his family, on his palaces and on his weapons. He did not spend any money on the people of Iraq. He did not spend any money on upgrading their power supply or helping their infrastructure. I think that that was a very stark picture. It had been described as Las Vegas without the neon. As we landed there we had the great opportunity, and this was the highlight really of the trip that I was on, at every meal we had the opportunity to visit and have a meal with the troops. That night we had dinner, and there was a very poignant moment, I thought. Every time we had a meal I would ask the troops, what do you want me to tell people when I go back home about your stay here? There was a young woman soldier that looked at me and she said, you know what I want people to know is that I am here serving in harm's way in Iraq for the protection of my family and my country back home. Because she said, see, if we are successful here in Iraq, Iraq will become the model of democracy in the Middle East. It will help bring stability to a region that has not seen stability in hundreds if not thousands of years. If we are not successful, Iraq will become the home of terrorists and murderers and radicals who export violence and murder all over the world; and that will put my family and my country at much greater risk. I have to say I was very impressed with her observations, and I think that she really put this whole discussion into context. The $87 billion the President is asking for is a lot of money. But when we think about the consequences of failure, we have no choice but to succeed. If we succeed, we can help bring stability to a region by helping a democratic, secular, free government emerge. Iraq has every ingredient for success and every opportunity to help its people have a bright future. Because the tools of the recruiters of the terrorists is hopelessness and oppression. The people that are causing problems, their worst nightmare is that we are successful, because it will take away every argument they have. It will change their world. If we are successful, it will change our world as well because we will live in a much more stable world, where people are not strapping bombs onto their backs because they see no hope in life. If we can help the Iraqi people form a free and democratic government that brings hope, that brings economic prosperity, I think that is the best investment we can make as an American people. We have a history of generosity in this country, and I do not think it is time to stop that history. We recognize that $87 billion is a lot of money, but when we consider that September 11 cost us $2 trillion, I think it is a wise investment. Madam Speaker, I want to yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), who was on the trip with me; and I know that he has some very inspirational stories to tell as well.

Mr. CHOCOLA. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. I would like to ask a question regarding General Sanchez and the outline of the successes which have been achieved, but when I got back home, I heard people say there is no plan to help rebuild Iraq. I am curious after visiting with General Sanchez and the briefings we were given about the plans in place, the successes which have already been achieved, is there a plan to help rebuild Iraq?

Mr. CHOCOLA. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess); and I agree 100 percent there appears to be a solid plan in place for success which has been executed to a great extent. The amazing thing is I have not heard any Member that has been to Iraq who disagrees with the gentleman. The only people that disagree are the people who have not taken the time and taken the effort to understand what the plan is. It sounds more like politics than planning to me. As we make this decision, it is so important that we understand the real story of Iraq and we base our opinions on facts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) to share the story of Iraq.

Mr. CHOCOLA. I thank the gentleman for his comments. As you mentioned, one of the highlights of this experience was the opportunity to share a meal with the fine men and women in uniform. We can sit here, and we can say how proud we are of them, but until you are actually there with them and seeing the tremendous work that they are doing, I do not know that we can appreciate their efforts and their competence. During one of the meals, again I always ask, what do you want me to share with people when I go back home? We were in Babylon in this historic city where Saddam had built another palace to himself. A young soldier who had been very quiet during the meal, he looked up and he said, what I want the people at home to know is that the Iraqis that are shooting at us and setting off bombs, those aren't the Iraqi people I know. The Iraqi people I know are very appreciative that we are here. They thank me every day. I go out in the marketplace, and I don't feel threatened. That's what I want the people at home to know, is that the Iraqi people very much appreciate our efforts. Then later, right after that meal, you will remember we went to a mass grave site. That was probably one of the most moving experiences that I had during the trip, where we visited this mass grave site where up to 15,000 people had been murdered, many of them buried alive. They told us about how that grave site was discovered and the conditions. Do you remember that? Do you want to share that story?

Mr. CHOCOLA. Again, I thank the gentleman. I think you are right. I think that the secret to our success in Iraq is not just going to be firepower or dollars, it is going to be the content of the character of the men and women in uniform, and, certainly, we saw that they have tremendous character. They represent American ideals and values better than we could ever imagine. I think we certainly owe them a debt of gratitude for their efforts.

Mr. CHOCOLA. Again, I thank the gentleman. I share in his encouragement for all Members possible to go there and see for themselves what is happening and share those stories.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Rev. Michael Couhig, CSC, and the congregation of Holy Cross on the 150th anniversary of the founding of St. Joseph Parish by the congregation. St. Joseph is South Bend, Indiana's oldest Catholic worshipping community. Initially called St. Alexis Chapel, it was established by Rev. Edward F. Sorin, CSC, as a mission chapel of Notre Dame. Since that time, the congregation has treasured history. The first building, which was both a chapel and a school, was erected in 1853 in the community of Lowell, at what is now the intersection of Hill and LaSalle streets. By the next year, the Sisters of the Holy Cross were teaching children in the tiny building. In 1866, that first structure was replaced with a larger building named the Church of the Assumption. The second church building burned to the ground in 1872. A third church was built nearby on the present site of St. Joseph Medical Center. By 1881, when the cornerstone for the fourth church was laid on the current site, the parish was known as Saint Joseph, and Lowell had been absorbed by the city of South Bend. The parish thrived, welcoming French, English, Irish, Italians, Southeast Asians, and all others as they came. Because of structural weaknesses, the handsome old Gothic church had to be demolished, and the current church was erected in 1965. St. Joe's current parish registration numbers over 720 families. As the parish grew, so did their school. The school expanded into Assumption Academy, a boarding and day school, which in 1886 was replaced by a larger two-story building. By 1926, that structure was overflowing, and the present school was built. Since that time, the school's high standards have remained unchanged. St. Joseph School is the oldest continuously operating school in the city of South Bend, Indiana, and their building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Mr. Speaker, I commend Rev. Couhig and his parishioners for contributing to the spiritual, educational, and economic development of the Michiana community for the past 150 years.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support with my colleagues of this resolution with great sadness and great respect. This certainly is a sad day for all Hoosiers when we learned of the passing of our Governor, Frank O'Bannon. Although I have served in Congress for a short period of time, and my personal experience with Governor O'Bannon has been limited, I have great respect for the man he was and the life he lived. One did not need to know Frank O'Bannon very well to know what kind of a person he was. He had the rare ability to project his sincerity and his genuine nature to all that he came in contact with. And those who knew him well, regardless of their political affiliation, were unanimous in their praise and respect for the man and his character. I think we are seeing a great example of that today. I consider it my loss that I did not have a greater opportunity to work with and learn from Frank O'Bannon, and certainly the entire State of Indiana will miss him and his lifetime of public service. But in the end, we are all fortunate and grateful for the example he gave us and thankful for his legacy of leadership. Mr. Speaker, I know I speak on behalf of all my constituents in the 2nd District of Indiana when I thank Frank O'Bannon for his service to our State, and our thoughts and our prayers are with his wife, Judy, and his entire family.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I appreciate his remarks and would like to associate myself with his earlier remarks. With all due respect to the distinguished chairman and to the peer review process, I think this amendment is relatively simple. It lives up to our responsibility that we are really sent here to do, and that is to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. Now, not only does the appropriations fund grants that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey) mentioned, it also funds a grant that studies human linkages with the panda reserve in China. Now, I do not think I am going out on a limb to say that no one in the Second Congressional District of Indiana is going to benefit from this study. I doubt I am taking too much of a risk to say no one in any congressional district in America is going to benefit from this study. Mr. Chairman, I come from a business background, and I am a new Member of Congress; but when someone in our company wanted to spend money, we had to take the ultimate responsibility. And although the peer review process is probably pretty good, there comes a time when you have to say no, when you have to say this money is not spent in the best interest of the American people. Since I do not know that we can identify people who benefit from this taxpayer money being spent on these grants, I do know, as the gentleman from Pennsylvania pointed out, the people in my district have juvenile diabetes, they have cancer, they have AIDS, they have horrible diseases like Crohn's, and that is what we should be spending NIH money on. We should be eradicating these horrible diseases that ruin families, ruin individual lives rather than grants that really benefit no one that we can identify. So I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to enter into the Record an article written by Mr. Joseph Szalay, of South Bend, Indiana. A child of the political ``powder keg'' that was Eastern Europe in the early part of the twentieth century, Mr. Szalay has a vast amount of knowledge from which he paints a vivid picture of America's historical role in helping to liberate all those who want to be free. He tells of the many times, from World War I to the first Gulf War, when America took a stand against governments who enslave their people. A true embodiment of the American Dream, Mr. Szalay came to America from his native Hungary poor; illiterate, and alone. He built a fine tailor shop in South Bend, from which he recently retired. As a member of the greatest generation that saw this nation ascend to global prominence, we should value his perspective and revere his patriotism. I urge all of my colleagues to use this article as a reminder of the historical precedent set for the recent liberation of the Iraqi people. [From the South Bend Tribune, April 27, 2003] World's History Shows That U.S. Position Is Right (By Joseph Szalay) As an American of European descent, I have strong reactions to this war and the anti-American sentiment I hear expressed both at home and abroad. It reminds me of a Hungarian proverb: ``The dog barks but the caravan progresses.'' In the former Serbia, the 1914 assassination of Crown Prince Ferdinand, son of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria- Hungary, ignited World War I. In 1917, before that was over, revolutionaries took over Russia. This Communist revolution had been planned in Germany. A key piece of Communist strategy was to starve the people in order to subjugate them more easily. This plan also encompassed the Starvation of 12 million (out of 40 million) Germans. How could such a plan work? Human beings have a drive to survive. Starving people do not care what form of government they have, as long as they can put enough in their stomachs to survive. German nationalists were aware of the Communist plan. They knew that if Germany capitulated, all of Europe could easily become Communist. They reacted by turning the Communist strategy to their own advantage. When Hitler came to power in Germany, the first thing he did was to stop starvation by feeding the people. I vividly remember that many Hungarians and people from other neighboring countries went to work in Germany. So successful was his economy that Hitler's regime developed a plan to take over the whole world, beginning with Europe--just what the Russian Communists had originally planned. Hitler's slogan was ``Deutschland uber alles-- Germany (taking) over the world.'' What is still incomprehensible to me is the sad sequel: Hitler forced the Jews into concentration camps and gas chambers and took over countries one by one: Austria, Poland, Hungary . . . where was France? Where was the rest of the free world? Because we did not stop Hitler's conquest at the beginning, stopping him later cost the lives of 85 million people and caused unthinkable suffering not only in casualties but in the destruction of irreplaceable historical and artistic treasures. One result of that war was to destroy the bloc of neutral states which for centuries had been able to resist the expansion of Russia and Germany alike. Masterminded by the French, the peace plan after World War I created weak artificial ``nations'' such as Yugoslavia; thus it paved the way for the Second World War: World War II gave the Russian Communists the opportunity to expand their influence, giving them a free path to world conquest, their original goal. I knew all of this through my father's experience. As a young man, he was drafted and spent four years on the front lines. When the Second World War started, he was again drafted, along with my two older brothers. As soon as I turned 18, I was also drafted, leaving my mother home alone to raise my 13-year-old sister and 7-year-old brother. With God's help, I defected from the army, living in the forest like a hermit. Only one government was able to rescue Europe from Nazism; the United States. After World War II, the United Nations was initiated with noble hopes by France, England, the United States and the Soviet Union. What has become of those high ideals? The U.N. has become an impotent, socialistic, bureaucratic organization full of anti-American sentiment. Where was the United Nations when people rose up demanding their God-given right of freedom in Poland, in Hungary, in Czechoslovakia? Thousands died, thousands were imprisoned, tortured or deported to Siberia while the United Nations stood by idle. And what of the war in Vietnam? Did the United Nations move a hair to stop it? The Communists activated their propaganda machine, trying to divide Americans. World opinion expressed at the United Nations pressured the United States to pull out of Vietnam without winning a victory over Communism. Even after the American forces departed from Vietnam, neighboring Laos and Cambodia, millions were killed to ``cleanse'' the country. Where was the United Nations? Where were the ``peace'' demonstrators? Where were the human rights advocates? While the United Nations was clueless, the United States took leadership in eliminating Communism, whose vulnerability had been demonstrated by the freedom fighters in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. These uprisings had also shown the people's unquenchable thirst for freedom. President Reagan combined forces with the great spiritual leader and Polish hero Pope John Paul II to initiate the collapse of the ``Evil Empire'' of the Communist Soviet Union. Notice that it was the United States, not the United Nations, that saved Europe yet another time. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, it was the United States and its allies who fought and freed Kuwait. The United Nations decided that a cease-fire agreement in which Saddam promised to liquidate all his weapons of mass destruction was sufficient peace insurance. Of course, Saddam did not fulfill his obligations, but the United Nations was unable to enforce them. The United Nations did not even act when it became known that Saddam was using his arsenal of chemical weapons to eradicate his own people's fight for freedom. Those who harbored hatred toward the United States were emboldened by the lame and indecisive attitude of the United Nations. The result? Sept. 11, 2001. President Bush requested that the United Nations live up to its contractual obligation to defend the world against weapons of mass destruction. There was a lengthy bureaucratic debate in which those nations whose freedom our country restored in World War II turned against the proposals of the United States. Those who had a financial interest in Saddam's rearmament blocked enforcement of the conditions imposed by the cease-fire agreement. Once again, the United States has been forced to act on its own to protect our country and the world from the danger of terrorist destruction. On April 4, a headline in The Tribune read, ``Former Soviet army generals helped Saddam with War strategy.'' Could this have something to do with Russia's reluctance to support any action against Saddam? I have sketched this history to show how our country has always been willing to defend freedom, not only our own but that of the whole world. President Bush follows the example of the great presidents of the United States. He shows unwavering dedication to keeping his presidential oath. While other countries follow their economic interests, he stands tall, fulfilling his duty to God and country.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, before coming to Congress, I was a small business owner. Now that I am a member of Congress, I am on the Committee on Small Business. And not a day goes by that I do not hear from a constituent at home or someone talking to the Committee on Small Business that is a small business owner about the horrors of trying to provide health care to their employees. We in government cannot make people successful. We cannot make businesses successful. But what we can do is create an environment that gives people and businesses the opportunity for success. In creating an environment where small business owners can join together with common interest on a nationwide basis and go out and provide health care for their employees to meet their particular employees needs, is exactly what we should be doing as Members of Congress. I think that we have to pass this bill because the bottom line is that the people who have to live with the reality of providing health care for their employees will encounter lower costs and greater access to the health care coverage they wish to provide for their employees. So I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 660 and against the substitute.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I rise in support of H.R. 8 and opposed to the amendment. The bottom line, although we hear a lot of discussion, the bottom line is anybody who spends their whole life building a business or growing a farm should never have to sell that business or that farm to pay death taxes. The American dream is based on the principles of hard work and the celebration of self-reliance and individual responsibility. People can reap the rewards of their own success, and they should be encouraged to share that success with others. The death tax and this amendment violates every single one of those principles of the American Dream. Mr. Speaker, it is not only the heirs that are punished by this unfair tax, it is the employees of those companies and those farms, and it is the customers, and it is most of all the communities that those farms and those businesses operate in. Mr. Speaker, it is past time for Congress to repeal the death tax permanently, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support H.R. 8 and vote against this amendment.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, it has come to my attention that some in my state have questioned the patriotism of credit unions, saying that because they don't pay federal income tax they are ``unpatriotic.'' Nothing could be further from the truth. While credit unions are, indeed, tax-exempt nonprofit financial cooperatives owned by their members, their record of patriotic service to the people of this nation should not be questioned. Since first established in the United States during the early 20th century, credit unions have helped to serve those in our military; they are a role model for other financial institutions to follow. Many credit unions have worked with our soldiers, sailors and airmen while they have been stationed overseas during the recent conflict in the' Persian Gulf. For example, the Navy Federal Credit Union set up branches and ATM's in the Persian Gulf and onboard ships in order to serve their members during this conflict. Credit unions have honored those in service to our country, not just in this most recent war, but in other wars as well. For example, the members of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) have raised over $140,000 for the World War II Memorial Fund. Credit unions serve teachers, firefighters, police, federal employees, students and more on a daily basis--including many in this Congress. I thank them for supporting the leaders of our government. As non-profit financial cooperatives with volunteer boards, credit unions serve their members' needs and have been ranked number one in an independent consumer satisfaction survey for eighteen straight years-- since the inception of the survey. I applaud the credit unions of this nation for supporting America's freedom and urge my colleagues to do so as well.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. I also want to commend the distinguished chairman for his good work on this bill. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of this bill. In December of 1903, on the sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers achieved the milestone of manned, controlled, powered flight, and with that historic first flight, the aviation age was born. Since that time, the Federal Aviation Administration has developed alongside the aviation industry. We are here today obviously working on a 4-year reauthorization of that government agency. The FAA does a lot of good things, but like every government agency, the FAA needs to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. While the Subcommittee on Aviation was considering this bill, we heard from the General Accounting Office about $5.4 million in government credit card, also known as purchase cards, abuses by the employees of the FAA. Some examples of that abuse include purchase of Palm Pilots and accessories such as keyboards and leather cases from Coach costing almost $67,000. They also uncovered individual subscriptions to Internet service providers totaling $17,000; store gift cards to places like Home Depot, WalMart, and there are several other examples. In their report, the GAO made a number of recommendations to strengthen FAA's internal controls of this purchase card program and decrease wasteful spending and improve accountability. I offered an amendment during consideration of this bill to direct the FAA administrator to implement the GAO's recommendations and then report back to Congress in 1 year and tell us how they are doing, and I am happy to report that the amendment was adopted. Mr. Chairman, I believe we need to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars, and this small step will lead us in the right direction. The FAA is committed to a sound purchase card program and is taking action to strengthen controls, but we have an obligation to ensure that the FAA takes the necessary steps to manage their purchase card program responsibly. Mr. Chairman, I think this is a good bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it today.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a living legend, Penn High School football coach Chris Geesman from Mishawaka, Indiana. Coach Geesman recently announced he plans to retire from coaching at the end of this school year. Since 1972, Coach Geesman has led the Kingsmen to five state championships and has never suffered a losing season. Mr. Speaker, that's remarkable. He retires in second place on the All-Time Football Coaching Leaders in Indiana with 339 victories. Only one coach in Indiana high school football history had more wins, but that coach also had more loses. In 1996, he was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. Coach Geeman's impressive resume includes five state championships (1983, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2000), three state runner-up finishes (1989, 1991, and 1999), eight semi-state crowns (1983, 1989, 1991, 1995-1997, and 1999-2000), and 13 sectional trophies (1979, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, and 1995-2000). Penn High School football was also a force to be reckoned with under Coach Geesman's guidance in the Northern Indiana Conference by winning 22 NIC titles, including 17 in a row from 1986 through 2002. Since a loss back in 1985, the Kingsmen have won an astonishing 117 straight NIC games. The Kingsmen also established a state record with 89 consecutive regular-season victories running from 1985 to 1996 and own a state- record 22 straight playoff victories. Coach Geesman's Kingsmen were ranked Number 1 in all or parts of a record 13 seasons for a record total of 87 weeks since 1977. Coach Geesman has also had many players move on to play at the collegiate level and even a couple have advanced to play in the National Football League. Mr. Speaker, I know the fans of Penn High School football and the Mishawaka community will certainly miss Coach Geesman, but I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I came to Congress from a business background, and I ran for Congress in large part because I believe that we need more of a small business perspective here in Washington, especially when it comes to eliminating wasteful spending. Every day, the families and businesses in my district have to make tough decisions. They have to meet a payroll, they have to live within a budget, and small businesses and families must eliminate wasteful spending. I do not think the Federal Government should be any different. This year the Heritage Foundation identified $386 billion of wasteful Federal Government spending. Mr. Speaker, that was $386 billion. If Congress would only eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the Federal Government, we could save the taxpayers billions and billions of dollars. But it is not enough to just complain. We have to do something about it. This week the majority leader, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), and the Committee on the Budget chairman, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), announced a significant effort to root out and eliminate government waste during the 108th Congress. I applaud their effort, and I pledge that I will join them and my colleagues to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in government in my time in Congress. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join in this effort.

Mr. CHOCOLA

Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 20.