Steve Cohen

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. COHEN. I apologize to you for that. I don't know you personally, and I was reflecting on the politicians in general, all of our government representatives, Democrats and Republicans. So as far as any direct thing, I shouldn't have said that specifically, and I think you have got a wonderful reputation and I appreciate the fact that your germaneness has returned to you in this debate.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, this Democratic Congress has been successful in raising the minimum wage with help from people on the other side of the aisle, and the President signed that into law. It has also passed stem cell research with some help from people on the other side of the aisle. The President has threatened to veto that bill and that's unfortunate. The biggest issue hanging over this Congress is the war in Iraq; and while this Congress has made moves to have timetables and benchmarks, it hasn't achieved a consensus that the President will agree to and effectuate policy that brings our troops home. It will take colleagues on the other side of the aisle, people who have been wedded to this war, President Bush's war, and have been unable to get themselves derailed from that train that's on a collision course. Until Republicans come forward and heed America's call to bring our troops home, more and more Americans will die in Iraq, more and more American dollars will be spent in Iraq where they shouldn't be. We need to redeploy our troops to fight terrorists in Afghanistan and other places and keep our country safe. I ask my Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to join us.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, the Congress is at a low point in terms of its ratings with the American public, but I want the American public to know that I am proud to be a Member of this Congress. Congress is part of a system of government that involves the executive and a two-part legislature that includes the Senate and the House. Our system of government is the best ever known to man, and it's working; although slowly, it's working. The country has told the Congress and the President what the American people want, and that is to bring our troops home from Iraq, or to redeploy them to fight al Qaeda in Afghanistan and other places where there is terrorism. We have increased the minimum wage. We have put more money into Pell Grants. We have reduced the cost of college loans. We are going to try to pass a bill, which I think we will today, on stem cell research to give people with catastrophic illnesses hope for the future. This Congress is doing things to make America better. We are doing it in a responsible way with a balanced budget. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a Member of this Congress, and I want this country to know that this Congress is working hard and doing its job to put America on the right course. We are draining the swamp to make this a more ethical place.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, there are many issues that face America that are of great importance, from the Iraq War to global warming. These global issues must be dealt with, but we have lacked the leadership in this administration to make the world proud of America and see us as a leader on such issues. On Wednesday, this House will vote on an embryonic stem cell research bill sent from the Senate which the President has threatened to veto. I don't think there is a more important bill that this House could pass and send to the President and for the President to sign than embryonic stem cell research. Mr. Speaker, if you or anybody in your family has Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury, cancer, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, you could have relief and possibly a cure for that illness because of embryonic stem cell research. America could reestablish itself as a country that has the best scientific research and provides the world with hope for cures for these catastrophic illnesses. Last night in the Republican debate, one of the candidates said we need to find a cure for cancer. He's right, and the way to do it is through embryonic stem cell research. I urge this House to pass the bill, and I urge the President to have the courage to do the right thing and be pro-life and extend life for people on this planet.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I wish to quote Jackson Browne's ``Lives in the Balance,'' a song written quite a few years ago but most appropriate for today. ``I've been waiting for something to happen For a week or a month or a year. With the blood in the ink of the headlines And the sound of the crowd in my ear You might ask what it takes to remember When you know that you've seen it before Where a government lies to a people And a country is drifting to war. ``And there's a shadow on the faces Of the men who send the guns To the wars that are fought in places Where their business interests runs. ``On the radio talk shows and the TV You hear one thing again and again How the U.S.A. stands for freedom And we come to the aid of a friend But who are the ones that we call our friends, These governments killing their own? There are lives in the balance There are people under fire There are children at the cannons And there is blood on the wire. ``There's a shadow on the faces Of the men who fan the flames Of the wars that are fought in places Where we can't even say the names? ``I want to know who the men in the shadows are I want to hear somebody asking them why. They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are, But they're never the ones to fight or die. And there are lives in the balance There are people under fire There are children at the cannons And there is blood on the wire.''

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I thought about what I would use my 1- minute on today, and one thought was to address all the beautiful people that I see have come to Washington and Congress to view our Capitol and our Nation's Capital, and it is a beautiful sight. And another thought was to talk about the need for General Alberto Gonzales to resign to bring back the morale in the Justice Department and the people's faith in that institution. But the bottom line is the thing I campaigned upon is still the most important issue facing America today. We need to bring our troops home, redeploy our troops, and put our resources, financially and also personnel-wise, to work in America, protecting our streets and giving us a more secure country. We need less troops on the streets of Baghdad and more cops on the streets of Memphis and other cities in this country to fight crime here at home.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I join my colleagues in asking that we pass the COPS Program. I started my career after law school as the attorney for the Memphis Police Department, and I learned then that patrol was the major deterrent to crime. When I campaigned this year in the City of Memphis and met with the Afro-American Police Association, they came to me and the thing they asked me to do was to get more COPS dollars, saying that community policing was an effective tool in the fight against crime; that it wasn't just arresting, but it was knowing people in the community and encouraging them to find ways to interrelate to the police and have a better attitude. By working with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and Ranking Member Smith, we came up with an amendment that will be part of the bill that will give Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans priority in the COPS Program so that when we bring our troops home we can have them effectively police our neighborhoods, just as they have been policing the neighborhoods in Baghdad. We need policemen and cops on the streets in our hometowns, in Memphis, Tennessee, to fight crime. We need them home today in our towns, and not in Baghdad. The COPS Program will help.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. I thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise in support of this bill. It is the bill that I heard most about when I campaigned. Crime is the number one issue in Memphis, Tennessee, and I think it is the number one issue in most areas in this country. I spoke with the Afro-American Police Association, and the issue they raised to me was the COPS Program, that community policing works. I spoke with people in the district and they knew that the COPS Program had been successful, that it worked with community policing, and they knew it had been cut by this Congress and they couldn't understand why, and I couldn't tell them. I told them I was going to come to Congress and do what I could to see that the COPS program was reimplemented, that it was funded in a proper fashion, and that it helped cut crime. In this bill we have an opportunity to work together to bring our troops home and to support our troops because veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq will be given priorities when feasible to get these positions, to come back and render their abilities and their experience for our people rather than the people of Baghdad. Support our troops, support the COPS Program and make our streets safer.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, in my remarks in support of H.R. 1700, the ``COPS Improvements Act of 2007,'' I refer to amended language in the bill that would have required COPS grant recipients participating in the ``Troops-to-Cops'' program to give special hiring preference to former members of the Armed Forces who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I first introduced this provision in an amendment during the Judiciary Committee markup of H.R. 1700. I withdrew that amendment with the understanding that, after working with Ranking Member Lamar Smith upon the committee's urging to craft mutually agreeable language, this provision was to be included in the final version of H.R. 1700. Through what I believe to have been an inadvertent omission, the hiring preference for veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom was not included in the final version of H.R. 1700 that has been presented to the full House of Representatives. It is my understanding that the language will be added either in the Senate bill or at conference and, therefore, will be contained in the bill sent to the President for his signature.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, this month the Democratic Congress will approve a final budget plan that, unlike the President's budget, will actually be balanced over the next 5 years, and we do it without raising taxes. Now the President likes to claim that his budget proposal achieves balance by 2012 and does not increase taxes, but that's simply not true. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the President's budget will still be running a $9 billion deficit 5 years from now. The President's broken promises don't stop there. His budget would also cost middle-class families $247 billion in tax increases over the next 5 years under the alternative minimum tax, and $500 billion in taxes on employer-provided health insurance. Fortunately, Democrats rejected the President's budget. Instead, we restore fiscal integrity to our Nation, protect middle-income families from tax increases and actually reach balance by the year 2012. The American people asked us to take this Nation in a new direction, and our budget answers their call. And by the way, Mr. Speaker, give peace a chance.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chairman, I am proud to stand in support of this bill. The fact is, these crimes, the victims of which have been Matthew Shepard, James Byrd, Emmett Till over the years have shocked the conscience of this country, and that is why they need special treatment. When you look at the laws and the type of activities that we are looking at, discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, or disabilities, you are looking at the same people that the Nazis tried to exterminate. If you were Jewish, if you were black, if you were disabled, if you were gay, the Nazis made a systematic attempt to eliminate you. And people who do that, even if they are not governments, should be punished, because that is the type of conduct that this world has seen and abhors and went to war for; and our U.S. attorneys should be given the ammunition to go to war against people that perpetrate those type of crimes. And if you stand against this, what's going to happen? Certain villainous hooligans will maybe get less time. These are the people we need to lock up and put away, because this is a country about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and everybody gets an opportunity.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about a gentleman who was Army Specialist Ervin Caradine, Jr. Mr. Caradine would have been 36 years old today if he had lived. He was from my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee where we have lost nine veterans. He joined the Army to provide a better life for his family. He had graduated from Fairley High School and worked his way up to being a manager at the Steak-Out Restaurant in Memphis. He had a wife and he had four children. Three years ago to this day, Army Specialist Ervin Caradine, Jr., died. He was in a convoy in Baghdad that was hit by an IED 3 years ago. Three days before his death, he called his wife and she said there was a change in his voice. He said, ``It's getting worse over here, it's not getting better.'' Since then, nearly 3,000 more soldiers have died. Army Specialist Ervin Caradine, Jr., said something 3 years and 3 days ago that is still true: It's getting worse over here, it's not better. Let's not have more deaths.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Vivian Berryhill, President and founder of the National Coalition of Pastors' Spouses. In her role with NCPS and as First Lady of the New Philadelphia Baptist Church in Memphis, TN, Mrs. Berryhill has been a goodwill ambassador across the world, conducting global outreach on HIV/AIDS. In addition to her passionate charitable work, Mrs. Berryhill is also an acclaimed songwriter. Madam Speaker, I commend Vivian Berryhill for her tireless dedication to numerous noble causes. After receiving a Jefferson Award and its accompanying $500 gift, Mrs. Berryhill and her husband, Pastor Chester Berryhill, journeyed from Olive Branch, MS to Washington, DC and headed directly to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to distribute 500 copies of Mrs. Berryhill's original song, ``Tomorrow E'vrything Will B Alright.'' After hearing of the conditions at Walter Reed, Mrs. Berryhill was inspired to share her music and its soul-healing effects, and immediately created 50O new copies of her song and placed them onto CDs to share with our wounded soldiers. Upon being greeted with an overwhelming show of support and the warmest of receptions, Mrs. Berryhill and the pastors' spouses will be reproducing additional copies of this song and will return to Walter Reed in 3-4 weeks to distribute them. Madam Speaker, it is for her noble and unflagging efforts to make this world a better place that I recognize Vivian Berryhill.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Today is the fourth anniversary of the President of the United States announcing ``Mission Accomplished.'' It is also the day of the publication of a book called ``The Life and Times of Warren Zevon,'' a biography of a dear friend of mine who was a late, great singer/song writer. I wanted to address both topics, and I think I can do it together. Four years ago, when the President announced ``Mission Accomplished,'' he was right if he was talking about Saddam Hussein's government being toppled; but otherwise, he was wrong and he has been channeling Warren Zevon who said, ``I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. Send lawyers, guns, and money. The Shiites have hit the fan.'' Warren Zevon, requiescat in pace. Mr. President, please sign the bill the Congress has given you to end this war, to end the occupation, and to bring our troops home.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, there will be a conference committee report by the Senate and the House on the Iraq supplement, and the Iraq supplement will have a requested date, suggested date for our withdrawal. It's not saying we have been defeated. We have won the war. America has won the war. Saddam Hussein's government was toppled and Saddam Hussein is history. We are now in an occupation, and you cannot win an occupation. You cannot defeat beliefs with bullets. What we have in Iraq and in the Middle East are beliefs that are different from ours, and they can only be won by understanding and through changes, which God would put in people's hearts, and not through bullets. We need a bill to support our troops, and our bill will support our troops with more money than the administration gave it. I ask the President to support the troops with the bill that the Congress will give him and support our troops and bring them home.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, yesterday a great American died, David Halberstam. We had a mutual friend, and through that I got to know Mr. Halberstam. He chronicled and wrote and reported the events of the last half of the 20th century. He saw truth, he spoke truth, and he wrote truth; and he gained his first fame at the age of 30 when he received a Pulitzer Prize for reporting about a quagmire known as Vietnam, a misdirection of American energies in foreign policies that led us to lose over 30,000 lives and many casualties in a great blunder under American foreign policy. We have a similar situation today in Iraq, another mistaken folly, and lives are being lost. Madam Speaker, I would hope that we could speak truth to power, and that power would know that the Congress is giving the President a bill to support the troops, to bring the troops home and support them by seeing that they are not put in harm's way, and that the President will support the bill that the Congress gives him. We have lost a great leader in Mr. Halberstam, and may the truth and knowledge that he brought to this country be imbued in this House and in executive leadership where another politician along with the 535 here serve.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, we had distinguished speakers on both sides of this issue argue the constitutionality in the Judiciary Committee, both conservative and liberal members on each side, and they both gave arguments it was constitutional. In baseball, the tie goes to the runner, and it goes to the runner because the runner is trying to make an advancement, trying to score, trying to make progress. And I would submit, Mr. Speaker, that this is progress. This is an advancement to allow the enfranchisement of these people who have been denied the vote and their ancestors for many years. The tie should go to the runner, we should pass this bill, and I am proud to vote for it today.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, during the break, I was home in my district in Memphis, Tennessee, and I spoke to 40 soldiers who had been to the Middle East. They were being honored. I asked many of them if they wanted to return. Most, nearly all, said, ``No. Why are we there and what are we accomplishing?'' I asked groups about their thoughts, and almost to a one, they said, ``Bring the troops home; don't stay the course.'' Mr. Speaker, I would submit to the President that he went to war under Donald Rumsfeld's opinion that you fight the war with the troops you have got. Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that the President should support the troops with the bill that the Congress sends him. We have sent him a bill that supports the troops, supports the veterans and, yet, brings our troops home. We must end this foolishness in Iraq, the loss of American lives and the spending of our tax dollars in a country where we are not wanted.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Thomas Boggs, the CEO of Huey's, Inc. of Memphis, Tennessee. Huey's Restaurant is a Memphis fixture, which has been serving blues, brews and burgers to its regulars for over 35 years with great service and better people. Since 1970, Huey's has grown from a favorite local hangout in Midtown Memphis to become a highly successful family-run restaurant and bar, with locations across Greater Memphis. Mr. Boggs began his career in music, yet another example of the rich culture of Memphis, first playing for Tommy Burk and the Counts and Flash and the Board of Directors, before joining the blue-eyed, soul group the Box Tops as drummer. The Box Tops were best known for their hits ``The Letter,'' ``Cry Like a Baby'' and ``Soul Deep,'' songs which are permanent parts of the rock and soul landscape. Later, married with children, Thomas finished his history degree while waiting tables at T.G.I. Friday's. A business ``natural'', Thomas Boggs quickly moved up to Friday's corporate offices in Dallas. But the pull of his beloved Memphis was strong. Not long after returning, he moved into management at Huey's bar and, using his restaurant expertise, expanded the enterprise into a restaurant and, eventually, to seven locations. Since Mr. Boggs came on board in 1975, Huey's has flourished. It is currently in its 22nd year as the ``Best Burger'' in Memphis, according to an annual ranking by Memphis Magazine. Mr. Boggs has won the highest award given by the 400 members of the Memphis Restaurant Association and the Newt Hardin Award, given for outstanding service to the restaurant industry. He also received the Jefferson Award in 2002, which is given by the American Institute for Public Service in recognition for outstanding community and public service. Thomas Boggs has been a true public servant in Memphis, continually giving of himself to the community. He has served on the Memphis Zoo Board, the Aloysius Home board, and as chairman of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau. He served as Food and Beverage co-chair of the Blues Ball, and has served as both Vice-President and President of Memphis in May. He was president of the Memphis Restaurant Association as well as the President of the Advisory Board of the Food Bank and has been an active participant of Leadership Memphis. 2007 marks the 18th Earthquake Open, Huey's annual golf tournament which was created and is hosted by Thomas Boggs and which benefits the Memphis Zoo. Thomas Boggs is the kind of citizen who makes us all proud. He gives his time, his energy and his heart to make his community a better place to live. He is a credit both to his profession and his city. I'm proud to call Thomas Boggs my friend and pleased to honor him today on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, Monday evening begins the Jewish celebration of Passover. Passover is when the Jews remember when they were enslaved in Egypt and Moses led the Jewish people out of bondage and to freedom. It is an important holiday, and one in which we remember where we came from and about how good God has been to us and about being enslaved and being in bondage. During this holiday, Jews remember others who have been enslaved and call on Jews to remember and never forget and to try to see that others are not enslaved. Partly for that reason, I introduced some time ago H.R. 194 to have our country make an apology for the history of slavery and Jim Crow laws we had in this country. That was an error, that was wrong, and it needs to be apologized for, and a dialogue needs to begin to understand about slavery and its effects. I wish everybody a happy holiday season and hope we all come together in unity to apologize for slavery.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as necessary to make this presentation. I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 1401, the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act. My amendment would call for the Department of Transportation to coordinate with related agencies as well as State and local governments to seek efforts that will minimize the transport of toxic inhalation hazardous materials. Never has the danger of transporting hazardous materials been more clear than in this post-9/11 age. While rail is clearly the safest means of transport for such materials, we must work to ensure this transit is as secure, efficient and is as considerate towards the safety of our communities as possible. The U.S. Naval Research Lab has said an attack on such a rail car could kill 100,000 people. Additionally, in 2005 testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, the administration's deputy homeland security adviser at the time, Richard A. Falkenrath, told Congress in 2005 that ``toxic-by-inhalation industrial chemicals present a mass-casualty terrorist potential rivaled only by improvised nuclear devices, certain acts of bioterrorism, and the collapse of large, occupied buildings.'' Railroads carry 105,000 carloads of toxic chemicals a year and 1.6 million carloads of other hazardous materials such as explosives and radioactive items. In mid-January of this year, several train cars carrying flammable liquid derailed and exploded south of Louisville, Kentucky, shutting down a nearby highway and forcing evacuations of nearby homes, businesses and a school, according to local authorities. Two years earlier, a train crash in South Carolina caused a release of chlorine gas resulting in deaths, injuries, and forcing the evacuation of people from the surrounding areas. Most recently, there was a Union Pacific derailment of 28 cars in Henderson County, Texas. In the wake of these recent derailments, State and local officials nationwide have begun examining their regulatory authority over the transportation of hazardous materials by rail. Several localities nationwide have either introduced or enacted absolute bans on the transportation of certain toxic substances from trains that travel through their areas. This action has prompted litigation from the rail industry due to alleged violations of the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause and Federal statutes concerning the transportation of hazardous materials. Rail companies fear such laws would force them to extend the travel of hazardous cargo by hundreds of miles around cities with the unintended effect of transferring the risk to other localities. This consensus amendment addresses the concerns of both rail companies and community advocates by seeking to cut the transport of these hazardous materials all together. In a June 2006 statement before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads made several recommendations intended to reduce the risks associated with the manufacture and transport of highly hazardous materials. Among these recommendations was ``examining whether and how railroads can utilize coordinated routing arrangements to safely reduce hazmat transportation'' as well as ``examining whether hazmat consumers can source hazmat from closer suppliers.'' My amendment would simply call upon the Department of Transportation to follow this recommendation by coordinating with localities to allow consumers to obtain TIH materials with the intended consequence of minimizing the time and frequency such materials are routed through our communities. Last July, the Memphis Commercial Appeal identified train cars carrying chlorine, 2-Dimethylaminoethyl acrylate, acetone cyanohydrin, nickel carbonyl, and several other toxic inhalation hazard cargoes over a 2-day period in or near residential areas of Memphis. Not only hard to pronounce but very difficult to inhale I am sure of the things we would rather not inhale or pronounce. All of these chemicals are listed as potentially lethal if inhaled. City council members and other community leaders in Memphis are calling on the Federal Government for assistance in deterring the transport of these materials through their residential areas. Mr. Chairman, I am proud to support this amendment and support this legislation and current efforts under way to improve the safety of our rail system. To further ensure the safety of our railways, as well as the local communities they serve, I call upon my colleagues to pass this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, last week the Democratic House delivered on its promise to move the Iraq war in a new direction. We approved a very serious piece of legislation that includes the recommendations of the President, the nonpartisan Iraq Study Group and the Pentagon. The President responded to our action by describing it as political theater and threatening a Presidential veto. How can this be political theater if we are putting some real teeth into the benchmarks that the President himself established for the Iraqi government earlier this year? Let's not forget the President's own words: ``I've made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq's other leaders that America's commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people,'' said President Bush. Those were his words. This legislation passed last week puts in law the President's demands that the Iraqis meet his benchmarks. You would think the President would support such action. Instead, he calls it political theater. So much for holding the Iraqi government accountable. The President should reconsider his veto threat. It could be the theater of the absurd.