Tom DeLay

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, no man knows the battle between good and evil like the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos). It is an honor to once again have worked with him on this resolution. I am proud to call the gentleman from California my colleague and my friend. Mr. Speaker, today Israelis will wake up and go to work. They may drive their children to day care or have lunch with their friends. Israeli children will go to school and play with their classmates. We do not know which ones and we do not know where, but soon some of them will probably die. A bright light will flash, a terrifying concussion will bloom through the air, and in an instant fear, blood, panic, pain and death. And somewhere in Gaza, violent men will laugh. If this is not evil, nothing is. However unfashionable this so-called ``simplistic'' vocabulary is among the diplomatic elite, it is honest. It is the vocabulary of the American people and their President whose moral clarity has led our Nation in our ongoing war on terror. Individuals, nations, and organizations who equivocate, who see the savagery of terrorists and the self-defense of free states as two sides of the same coin, as a cycle of action and counteraction, undermine that clarity. Those who say Israel's self-defense is an impediment to progress completely miss the point. The destruction of Palestinian terrorism is not an impediment to progress. It is the definition of progress. Offers of temporary cease-fires by Hamas and other terrorist groups are not the solution to the problem. The point of the war on terror is not just to defeat terror, but to destroy terrorists. Murderers who take 3-month vacations are still murderers. They are still enemies of the civilized world and must be hunted and targeted as such. Mr. Speaker, Israel's fight is our fight. Israel's liberation from Palestinian terrorism is an essential component of the global war against terror, and in that war there is no moral equivalence between aggrieved parties engaging in a so-called cycle of violence. There is only the cold-blooded murderer and the soldier sworn to defend his nation. This resolution makes that distinction and affirms American solidarity with the people of Israel and their war against terror. It makes clear that the American people acknowledge Israel's fundamental right to defend herself and that her fight against terror is our fight, and it calls on the Palestinian leadership at long last to act in the interest of their suffering people and stop the terrorists. No more empty promises, no more games, no more points of effort. There is a war on and the terrorists are going to lose that war. Now the only question is whether Palestinian leaders will stand with the civilized world in defiance of evil or whether they will fail like their predecessors have failed. We must not allow the Palestinian people who have been so long robbed of hope by corrupt and hateful leaders to be used as pawns to undermine this President's vision for peace. The ascension of Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas gives us some reason to hope, but Israel and the United States must adopt a policy of trust but verify, and the only way to verify the destruction of Palestinian terrorism is the end of Palestinian terrorism, period. When the violence stops, the peace process can move forward; and until it does, Israel must defend itself. And either way, she will not stand alone because the people of the United States will never abandon their brothers and sisters in Israel or any nation that is threatened by terror. A vote for this resolution reaffirms the House's commitment to Israel and to the moral clarity of our war on terror. So I just urge all Members to cast that vote and join Israel's heroic stand against evil.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, as we approach the 6 month mark for the 108th Congress, we can look back on our work with a great sense of accomplishment. Just in the last 3 weeks, the House has moved major legislation benefiting consumers, children, small businesses and working class parents. As important as these accomplishments have been, they are only part of a broader three-part agenda. The Republican leadership of this Congress set three major objectives when we were sworn in. We committed ourselves to do our part to support the war on terror, and through our work on the budget and the Operation Iraqi Freedom war supplemental, we have. We committed ourselves to help get the economy started moving again, and since the House passed the President's Jobs and Growth Package, wealth has been created, losses recovered, consumer confidence has risen and jobless claims have fallen. Finally, the Republican majority committed itself to work with the President to finally create a prescription drug benefit with Medicare. American seniors have been waiting for Congress to act for years to finally make the Medicare program reflect 21st Century medical realities. We cannot wait on the sidelines while they are hurting financially and physically. We must act, and this week we will. The House has twice before passed a prescription drug benefit, only to have it stalled along its way. But this time we are going to get it right and get a bill to the President's desk. When we got here, our Nation faced three big problems: Terrorism, a sagging economy, and seniors being bankrupted by their prescription drug bills. In response, we had three big ideas: Continuing our relentless war on terror, creating jobs and growing the economy, and adding a long overdue prescription drug benefit to Medicare. This Republican Congress will not lose sight of the big picture, Mr. Speaker. For everything else we accomplish at the end of the day, we will be judged on how we meet these three challenges. In the last 6 months, we have met the first two head on. It is time to do the same with the third. We have done a great deal so far, but it is time to finish the job.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, on June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger of the United States Army rode into Galveston, Texas and issued General Order 3, informing the state of the Emancipation Proclamation. Thus, more than two months after the surrender at Appomattox, the last slaves in the Confederacy were granted their freedom. The Civil War was over, America was one nation again, and Lincoln's rebirth of freedom was realized. Every year since, Americans of all races have celebrated the events of that date, a holiday that has come to be known as Juneteenth. Though more than 200 cities across the nation commemorate Juneteenth, the largest celebration is in Galveston, where festivities have been going on all week. Texas is the only state in the Union that recognizes Juneteenth as an official holiday, so our citizens and students are better informed about its history and legacy. But that legacy warrants greater appreciation because of its relevance today. For despite generations of progress, the dark scourges of oppression, hatred, and human cruelty survive . . . but they will not win. Juneteenth teaches us one thing above all else: mankind will live in freedom. The people of the United States--of all races, religions, and ethnicities--have sacrificed too much and won too many victories to turn our backs now on the universal hopes of man: peace, justice, and freedom. Just as the oppressed now are powerless and voiceless, so too were one in eight Americans not so long ago. Yet now African Americans thrive. They contribute daily to the American experiment, and to the cause of freedom around the world, fulfilling the promise of Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first prominent African American poets: Never again shall the manacles gall you Never again shall the whip stroke defame! Nobles and Freemen, your destinies call you Onward to honor, to glory and fame. That is the legacy of Juneteenth: a universal commitment to human freedom. It's a legacy Americans should honor all year around, and I offer my best wishes to those in Galveston--and across the country--celebrating that legacy today.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Will the gentleman yield? The gentleman is correct. The motion instructed the House to accept the Senate bill in a small margin in doing that. Unfortunately, the Senate does not agree with our motion to instruct. And as the gentleman knows, it is not binding anyway. The Senate decided to go to conference. They could have and they decided to work out the differences between the House and the Senate, and those conferees will be meeting hopefully next week and produce a bill that will give much needed relief to families in this country.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, the House will convene on Monday at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. We will consider several measures under suspension of the rules. A final list of those bills will be sent to Members' offices by the end of this week. Any votes called on these measures will be rolled until 6:30 p.m. Monday. For Tuesday and the balance of the week, we will consider several additional measures under suspension of the rules. We will also consider the fiscal year 2004 Homeland Security appropriations bill; the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004; H.R. 1, the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act; and the Fiscal Year 2004 Military Construction Appropriations bill; and, finally, we may consider H.R. 2351, the Health Savings Account Availability Act. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I am happy to answer any questions he may have.

Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will yield, I would anticipate that the Medicare bill would probably come later in the week. I cannot give the gentleman a firm time, but I would anticipate either late Wednesday or certainly no later than Thursday.

Mr. DeLAY. We anticipate to finish that bill. I know it is a big, complicated measure, but it would be our intention to finish that before we broke for the July 4th district work period.

Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate the gentleman yielding further. As the gentleman knows, this gentleman is very hesitant to speak for the Committee on Rules, but we do understand how important the Medicare Modernization Act is, how important it is to the seniors of this country, and we would give the minority every consideration to provide a substitute.

Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will yield, it concerned me when the gentleman said ``what the minority deems as a substitute.'' Obviously we need to look at all of these things individually and considerations need to be made. For instance, one consideration is, is the substitute within the bounds of the Budget Act and the budget rules of this House? That may not be the qualifying issue, but that is one example of issues that we consider. The bill marked up, at least, in the Committee on Ways and Means, I know the Committee on Energy and Commerce has not finished yet, but the bill marked up by the Committee on Ways and Means fits within the budget rules of the House. So we have to look at everything on its own merits and make that decision, and the Committee on Rules will make that decision.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, the source of my intelligence says it is probably Wednesday.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, the Health Savings Accountability Act we would hope to get to sometime next week, but this is a bill that is just being marked up, I think today; and we do have a very ambitious schedule for next week, and we just wanted to warn the Members that the Health Savings Accountability Act could very well be brought up, if we can find time next week to do so. But the other list of major pieces of legislation will take priority over that, and we hope to get to it; but I really cannot say what day we might get to it.

Mr. DeLAY. I greatly appreciate the gentleman's generous offer, but I remind the gentleman that that Senate bill has nothing on it that would give tax relief to our fighting men and women and their families. And that particular provision passed this House and has been sitting over in the Senate for a very, very long time. It is a provision that had huge support in this House. And along with giving working families their $1,000 per child tax credit and extending it to 2004, rather than what the gentleman is suggesting, allowing it to go away in 2005, giving the working families that you have such concern for only 2 years of benefits, we think they ought to get the benefits permanently, but if we cannot get it permanently, we would like those benefits to be until 2010. So if we just take up the Senate bill, they may enjoy it for 1 or 2 years, but then it goes away in 2005. We think they ought to be able to count on it until 2010, and we think military families ought to have the tax relief they deserve.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I am advised that it is quite possible that the intelligence reauthorization bill would come on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman knows and has stated, we do have a tradition of having open rules for consideration of appropriations measures. I do not know what discussions the gentleman is referring to. This side has had no discussions that I am aware of about what the rules would look like on appropriations. I would hope that we would continue the tradition of open rules on appropriations; but obviously, we do have to look at all of these bills on a case-by- case basis.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding; and as the gentleman knows, we are very excited about extending the $1,000 per child tax credit beyond 2005, to extend it to 2010. Rather than leaving out refundable tax credits, those that are getting refundable tax credits will continue to get them. They just will not get the full $1,000 unless we are able to pass this bill. And we are also very excited about the fact that the House put many tax provisions tax relief for our military and military families. And we are very excited about the fact that we gave some tax relief to those families that lost their loved ones in the shuttle accident. So we are very interested in getting this bill done as quickly as possible. I am sure the gentleman knows that the other body just went to conference yesterday and, therefore, we are discussing how we can do this conference and, hopefully, do it before the Fourth of July district work period. However, the other body also is very much engaged in the debate over their Medicare bill, which ties up their finance committee and ties up those Members that would be serving on the conference committee. So we are trying to work that out, and we hope that we can call a conference and come to some sort of agreement on this bill and have it out before the Fourth of July.

Mr. DeLAY. Which is in the House bill sitting in conference right now.

Mr. DeLAY. I just cannot let the gentleman get away by scaring working families in this country by saying they will get no relief. That is entirely untrue. In the bill that we passed and signed by the President in 2001, it gave these working families refundable tax credits. It just did not, what we are discussing is accelerating 2 years up to this year and giving them an additional $400 from this, in addition to the $600 that they are already receiving. So to say that they get no relief, I think, is just untrue. And to say that the military families are not covered by the bill passed by this House is also untrue, because military families are covered by the bill passed by this House and is presently in conference.

Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will yield, I am not accurate that since 2001 working families have been receiving refundable tax credit?

Mr. DeLAY. Were they not to receive that 15 percent starting in 2005?

Mr. DeLAY. And we were talking about accelerating the 15 percent to 2003?

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday next.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on Monday next for morning hour debates.