Lincoln Diaz-Balart

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, today a ``Dear Colleague'' letter will be sent to all Members informing them that the Committee on Rules is planning to meet the week of May 14 to grant a rule which may limit the amendment process on H.R. 1, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The bill was ordered reported yesterday by the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Any Member wishing to offer an amendment should submit 55 copies of the amendment and one copy of a brief explanation of the amendment to the Committee on Rules in room H312 in the Capitol no later than noon on Tuesday, May 15. Amendments should be drafted to the text of H.R. 1 as ordered reported by the Committee on Education and the Workforce. That text will be available at the Committee on Education and the Workforce and will be posted on its Web site tomorrow. Members should use the Office of Legislative Counsel to ensure that their amendments are properly drafted and should check with the Office of the Parliamentarian to be certain that their amendments comply with the Rules of the House.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 138 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall votes 106, the DeLay amendment, 107, the Hyde/Lantos/Sweeney amendment and 108, the Tancredo amendment to H.R. 1646, I was not present. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on each of the amendments.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for yielding me this time. With regard to some confusion that may have arisen based on some comments made previously from the other side of the aisle, I wish to say that it is the Bush administration, Madam Speaker, which has demonstrated their possession of the dignity as well as the vision to introduce precisely the resolution in Geneva that this resolution before us today is in support of. The regime in mainland China is a brutal, totalitarian, cowardly, rogue regime that tortures men and women due to their religious and political beliefs. It is a regime that brutally forces abortion on its women once they have met Orwellian quotas of birth control. The least that we can do in this Congress today to be true to the values, beliefs, and aspirations that gave birth to these United States of America is to support this resolution.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, late last night I was walking through what I consider these hallowed halls, and I came across near the Rotunda two monuments, statues, of two universal men who I am thinking about at this time. One is Kossuth, the apostle of Hungarian freedom. The other is Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of lives during the Holocaust. I know the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) has had much to do with the fact that in these hallowed halls we have those reminders of those universal statesmen. I realized once again last night, first, what an extraordinary honor and privilege it is to be able to serve in this Congress. In addition to that, I realized once again last night that this Congress of the United States of America is the center of dignity and democracy for the entire world, for the entire world. The gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), for whom I have ultimate admiration, was born in a land that saw much suffering in the 20th century and now, fortunately, is free. The gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and I were born in a land that has seen much suffering for the last 42 years and, unfortunately, is still not free, though it will be. But the gentleman from California, knowing as he knows what totalitarianism, that scourge of the 20th century that unfortunately still remains in a few places, is all about, totalitarianism, he, perhaps more than anyone else in this hall, understands the extraordinary courage that it takes for someone who at this moment is languishing is a dungeon and whose husband is as well in another dungeon, because they are leaders of a political party in Cuba that is illegal called the 30th of November Democratic Political Party, and they ask, and they believe, and they advocate for free elections. They have two small daughters that they cannot take care of, and they are at the total mercy of the totalitarian regime, those two small daughters, because father and mother are both political prisoners. Despite that, a few days ago Maritza Lugo, that leader of democratic Cuba, of the Cuba of the future, managed to sneak out of prison a statement. I would like to read just a part of it: From this horrible place, I come before you, the international organizations who defend human rights, defenders of democracy, justice and peace, the religious organizations, the whole world and its people, to denounce the Government of Cuba. I accuse the dictatorial government imposed on Cuba and its repressive arm, the State Security, of all the injustices and abuses they commit against the Cuban people, the penal population, and especially against the political prisoners of conscience. I accuse those miserable and cowardly men and women who, through the use of force, commit all types of human rights violations, while nothing stops them as they attempt to defend a false ``revolution'' built and maintained upon a foundation of lies and infamies. To the dictatorial government I say, stop denying that you torture people. Stop denying international organizations access to our prisons with the pretext that you don't accept others meddling in your internal affairs. Maritza Lugo continues, I accuse the Castro government of separating the Cuban family who, in desperation, flee Cuba for political reasons, and it goes on and on. I ask the addressees of these lines, she states, this young woman, soon to convene in Geneva at the Human Rights Commission, to discuss Cuba, to consider the ill treatment of the Cuban people by its own government. I know that no delegation, Madam Speaker, I know that no delegation will be permitted to come visit me, Maritza Lugo says, so that they can see and corroborate this raw truth. If justice exists, however, this government, the Cuban Government, should be sanctioned for this and so many other violations that they are constantly inflicting upon the Cuban population as they deceive and laugh at the world. And another brave woman, an economist, Martha Beatriz Roque, has just published an article, and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) again knows the kind of ultimate courage that that takes: From within the totalitarian State, Castro's government maintains a system of economic apartheid that favors foreigners and denies Cubans basic opportunities. There exists an economic apartheid where no Cuban can invest in his country. He would have to leave and return as a foreigner. We cannot hope for development of social progress or an improvement in the standard of living while the economic repression weighs on our people and our country. Now, despite, as Pax Christi, the organization, states and is quoted in this resolution that I commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for, and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) so much more, despite the conspiracy of silence that has fallen over the reality of Cuba, and despite the tourists that constantly have a good time, and the economic apartheid system, not even mentioning one word of the thousands of political prisoners in the repression against the entire Nation, despite that, this Congress today is making a statement. And those people in prison in Cuba will receive this, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next month, but they will receive this news, and it will be extraordinarily important for them to receive the news that the American Congress, this beacon of hope for the entire world, has spoken once again. Why? Because this again, as I said, Madam Speaker, is the center of dignity and honor and of democracy for the entire world. Yesterday at a conference going on in Havana right now, the President of something called the Inter-Parliamentary Union, approximately 1,000 members of Parliament from around the world, elected, have gone to Cuba to celebrate their conference while they party. The President of that conference was asked, is there democracy in Cuba? Her name, Najma Heptulla from India. Her answer was, The answer is yes. If we do not believe in it, then we would not have come back. Obviously, the parties, while they are being filmed must be very good. They certainly outweigh the conscience. But the conscience of this Congress will outweigh other interests today. I am certain that the message will go out very clearly that this Congress in sovereign representation of this Nation once again stands with the oppressed Cuban people.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the time remaining?

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Horn).

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers at this time on this open rule. I ask the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall) how many speakers he has remaining.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I assure our friends on the other side of the aisle that we mean no disrespect; that, quite on the contrary, we have great respect for their points of view as well as the fine work that they do on a daily basis. We take note of the comments made by the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce). All legislative bodies must balance, must balance a series of factors; and one factor, one such factor that is balanced in the equation is the need to proceed with important legislation. It is that factor that in our view outweighed other factors and today made us proceed, made the Committee on Rules come to the decision to proceed. Now, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) has worked long and hard, and I was pleased to see that the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce) recognized and commended his leadership as well on this issue of public safety. That is why we believe that it is important to move forward. In addition, we have, Mr. Speaker, another guarantee built in so that the minority will be respected in this process, cognizant as we are of the arguments made by the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce); and that is that the rule that we have brought forward is an open rule so that at least at this stage, the stage of the plenary consideration of the legislation, any Member can introduce and have considered any amendment to improve this important legislation. So in that sense, we feel that, having taken notice of the comments made by the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. LaFalce), we nonetheless are providing a mechanism and a vehicle for and of intrinsic fairness, which is the vehicle of an open rule and which I think that all of the Members should support as the goal for the functioning of this House whenever possible. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), the author of this important legislation.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio for his kindness and, quite frankly, all of our friends on the other side of the aisle who have brought forth concerns which we note. But, as I stated before, in the balancing of interests before the Congress and in fact when we are dealing with the most instantly devastating natural disaster conceivable, we have brought forth in a very rapid fashion legislation to the floor of this House with an open rule that will save lives. So for that fundamental reason, this legislation, which is a local option legislation, which does not force local communities to do anything but does provide the option for local communities to take steps to save lives, we believe that it is important to bring it forth. We believe that it is important to bring it forth rapidly, and in rapid fashion we are dealing with the most dangerous, instantly devastating natural disaster, which is the tornado. I thank the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) once again for his leadership on this issue. I would urge all of my colleagues to support not only the underlying legislation but the rule. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. (Mr. DIAZ-BALART asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 93 is an open rule providing for the consideration of H.R. 247, the Tornado Shelters Act. The rule provides 1 hour of general debate, evenly divided and controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member of the Committee on Financial Services. The rule provides that it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the Congressional Record and numbered 1. The rule further provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be open for amendment at any point. Finally, the rule allows the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to accord priority and recognition to Members who have preprinted their amendments in the Congressional Record, and provides one motion to recommit, with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 247 amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize communities to use Community Development Block Grant funds for construction of tornado-safe shelters in manufactured home parks. As my colleagues may remember, a deadly tornado just before Christmas took the lives of a dozen people in Alabama and to help prevent similar tragedies, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) introduced this legislation earlier this year. Tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, and these destructive forces of nature are found most frequently during the spring and summer months. With spring starting this week, I think that it is appropriate for the House at this time to be considering legislation that could help mitigate in the future further wind storms in areas that seem to be hardest hit. According to FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in an average year, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in 80 deaths and over 1,500 injuries. Hurricanes and tornadoes both have in common very high winds and obviously associated damage. From Hurricane Andrew we in south Florida learned about the vulnerability of housing construction with roofs and windows and doors being particularly important areas to check for weaknesses. Mobile home parks are particularly susceptible to damage from high winds, even if precautions have been taken to tie down the units. I am hopeful that this important legislation, the Tornado Shelters Act, will help address these problems. Mr. Speaker, I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) for his leadership on this issue. I urge my colleagues to support both this open rule, as well as the underlying bill, Mr. Speaker; and I look forward to debate and passage of this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 93 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Rules is planning to meet the week of March 26 to grant a rule which will limit the amendment process for floor consideration of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2002. The Committee on the Budget ordered the budget resolution reported on March 21 and is expected to file its committee report late tomorrow. Any Member wishing to offer an amendment should submit five copies and a brief explanation of the amendment to the Committee on Rules in room H-312 of the Capitol by 6 p.m. on Monday, March 26. The text of the concurrent resolution is available at the Committee on the Budget and on that committee's Web site. As in past years, the Committee on Rules intends to give priority to amendments offered as complete substitutes. Members should use the Office of Legislative Counsel and the Congressional Budget Office to ensure their substitute amendments are properly drafted and scored, and should check with the Office of the Parliamentarian to be certain that their substitute amendments comply with the rules of the House.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I was absent on rollcall vote 61, final passage for H.R. 247. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, a declaration of independence is much more than one man standing his ground against another, or a woman raising a flag in protest, or even signatures on a written statement. A declaration of independence is the heart and soul of democracy. Throughout history, people have stood in the face of oppression and demanded to be heard. It was ancient Greece that originated the basic concept of democracy, in which the supreme power to govern is vested in the people. The United States adopted this philosophy in the framing of our government, and in 1821 your ancestors enshrined this philosophy in their pursuit of freedom. On March 25, 1821, the Greek people declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire. Although true freedom was not earned for many years, it was March 25, 1821 that will be remembered for all time. These brave men an women will forever remain a symbol to the people of Greece and to many around the globe. The United States and Greece have been at the forefront of efforts to promote freedom, democracy and human rights throughout the world. These common ideals have forged a bond between the people of Greece and the United States. It is only appropriate that American join in celebration with all Greek-Americans on this special occasion. It is important to teach America's youth about the many different backgrounds that combine to create our American Heritage, and today it is appropriate to highlight Greek-American heritage. We have reached a period in time that rivals no other. There are more democratic nations than ever before, but we must continue to make certain that those people still living under the hand of oppressive governments, such as the occupied 40% of the beautiful island of Cyprus, have the tools and resources necessary to achieve their own self-determination. I would like to extend my best wishes to all Greek-Americans on this day of celebration.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, despite the visitors, some from this body, who are going down to meet with the Cuban dictator and come back thrilled, having drooled with the privilege of meeting with him and having a banquet in his palace, the reality of Cuba today is quite different. The leaders of the Cuba of tomorrow, of the inevitably democratic Cuba of tomorrow, are in many instances in the political prisons of the totalitarian state today. One such young woman, the mother of two, is Maritza Lugo, a Cuban political prisoner of conscience. A few days ago she managed to sneak out. She knows she is risking her life. But if she had the courage to sneak this out for the world to know, I think that I have the obligation to read it for my colleagues and those interested to know what she says. Statement by Maritza Lugo, March 5, 2001, addressed to all people of good will who defend human rights. She states: From this horrible place I come before you, the international organizations who defend human rights, the organizations defenders of democracy, justice, and peace, the religious organizations who promote liberty; the whole world and its people, to denounce the government of Cuba. I accuse the dictatorial government imposed on Cuba and its repressive arm, the State Security, of all the injustices and abuses they commit against the Cuban people, the penal population, and especially against the political prisoners of conscience. I accuse those miserable and cowardly men and women who, through the use of force, commit all types of human rights violations, while nothing stops them as they attempt to defend a false revolution built and maintained upon a foundation of lies and infamies. As a physically defenseless woman in ill health, as a mother of two unfortunate daughters currently without a mother's care and armed with my religious faith as my only weapon, I accuse. I accuse them of publicly blaming every day a foreign country to give a false impression to the Cuban people that they have nothing to be guilty of. And this is why we, the repressed ones, demand that the criminals be sanctioned in the name of all victims that have suffered and continue to suffer in our homeland. Stop the continuous wanton detention of innocent people whose only crime is disagreeing with the Castro regime. Stop taking them to inhumane prison cells where they are physically as well as psychologically tortured, as are their family members. They are kept in these prisons for an arbitrary and undetermined amount of time, living among dangerous common criminals and exposed to all kinds of risks. They are kept incarcerated for months without an expeditious trial, serving an unjust sentence while waiting to be charged or tried, as others are tried and unjustly condemned. To the dictatorial government, I say, stop denying that you torture people. Stop denying international organizations access to our prisons with the pretext that you do not accept others meddling in internal affairs or that you do not compromise your sovereignty. To promote your agenda, you conveniently allow bribery and deception to prevent the inspection of these prisons according to international law. Maritza Lugo continues: I denounce that political prisoners are treated differently from other prison inmates. We are more rigorously repressed, even though the behavior of some common prisoners may be undesirable. Political prisoners, ``counterrevolutionaries,'' as they call us, are constantly watched by guards and common prisoners trained for this sole purpose. We are searched more often and more demands are placed on us to follow their stringent so-called rules. The women's prisons are practically uninhabitable due to the putrid water that leaks from the floors above. The sinks are clogged and the prisoners have to do their wash on the floor. We are neither given supplies nor detergents to clean, leaving us to our own resources to solve our problems, using our own pieces of clothing. But this doesn't stop them from making demands on us and passing inspection to check our cleanliness. If they fail you, they submit a report that may carry the possibility of punishment. Medical attention is atrocious and there's hardly any medicine, while the Communist government affords the luxury of exporting doctors and medicine to other countries. This is not done because government officials are kind and generous people. This is done for propaganda purposes only, taking advantage of the misery other nations suffer to sell them their propaganda of solidarity and unselfish interest. Stop showing the exterior walls of prisons as well-kept and elegant facades while incarcerated human beings are degraded in extreme dearth. I denounce that the prison food is vile. Families arrive weary and emaciated bringing bags of food to supply the needs of the prisoners, only to be turned away because authorities fail to notify them that visiting hours have been changed. That is why they don't want international inspectors. They do not want the world to know these internal matters so well known to the innocent political prisoners. I denounce that, in the majority of cases, we leave these prisons physically ill, thus history continues to repeat itself as so many of us are imprisoned so many times. That is why the Castro government represses us, implementing laws that penalize any group of two or more people whose ideas resist and oppose the so-called revolutionary government of Castro. I accuse the Cuban government of separating the Cuban family, who, in desperation flee Cuba for political reasons. I accuse the so-called ``revolutionary government'' of the political and democratic ignorance our people suffer, as they deceive the unwary people of the world with their propaganda of mass and cultural opinion education. They accomplish this by creating public opinion created by the state using Nazi- style techniques copied from Bolshevik Russia where Cubans pay a high price, acting hypocritically as they pretend to go along in public in order to subsist. We ask the addressees of these lines, soon to convene in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Human Rights Commission, to discuss Cuba, to consider the ill-treatment of the Cuban people by its own government. I know that no delegation, not even those who defend Castro, will be permitted to come to visit me so they can corroborate this raw truth. If any justice exists in the world for Maritza Lugo and her denunciation, this government, the government of Castro, should be sanctioned for this and so many other violations that they are constantly inflicting upon the Cuban population as they deceive and laugh at the whole world. This, Mr. Speaker, is the reality of Cuba today, from Maritza Lugo, President of the 30th of November Democratic Party, from the women's prison popularly known as Black Cloak.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 7, a bill to recognize the accomplishments and legacy of President Reagan. What is the standard we use to judge our Presidents? How do we appropriately honor those men who have served our great nation and the office of the Presidency with great distinction, courage, honor, and vision? In this city, which is already graced with so many memorials of marble, granite, and bronze, to men and women who have loved freedom more than life and their country more than self--how can we best remember and celebrate the service rendered to these United States and to those dedicated to the cause of freedom throughout the world by President Ronald W. Reagan? President Reagan represents the spirit that has made America strong. He began his eight years in office at a time when America appeared to be on the ebb--economically and militarily demoralized. But for President Reagan--it was morning in America. America during the Reagan years was an America of hopes fulfilled and a place where dreams came true. Reagan's America was to be a Shining City on a Hill--shining the light of freedom for all peoples throughout the world. This was his vision, a vision from which he never wavered. In a speech given in 1964, President Reagan responded to his detractors, to those who said that only bigger and more powerful governments could provide security despite the price of freedom. He said: They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. . . You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children the last best hope of man on earth or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. Thoughout his life, President Reagan has fought against tyranny and oppression--against that thousand years of darkness. He did not shy back from calling the communist Soviet Union an Evil Empire; He did not hesitate to support those freedom-fighters who were engaged in battle against tyranny; He fought back relentlessly against every attack against America's people and her interest. His moral courage and his conviction that America should be the example for all who would desire freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness never failed and he is an example to all Americans. Around the world today, we are harvesting the benefits of that vision and hard labor as more and more nations around the world are turning from tyranny and oppression to democracy and justice. I still share President Reagan's vision of America as a Shining City on a Hill shining its light freedom around the world. It is only fitting that we honor the lifetime and legacy of this great American hero. As long as freedom is our watchword and liberty our call to arms, America will continue to so shine its light into the world for all to see.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, what we are doing in this legislation, and it was brought up previously by speakers on the other side of the aisle, technical mistakes are common. Unfortunately, they occur. They are scriveners errors, and they are resolved with unanimous consent requests. But what is amazing is that the unanimous consent request to fix the minimum wage, so it stays on the books for the 6 months that it would have been taken off the books if we would not have fixed it today, that fixing it would not have been agreed to by the Democrats by unanimous consent. Mr. Speaker, that is really amazing. So we are fixing that scriveners mistake with this rule so the minimum wage will stay on the books. Again, I repeat, a vote on the previous question and a vote on the rule is a vote on the minimum wage. In addition to that, we have legislation that the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) and others have worked on for months to provide over $30 million to the providers, to the medical providers in this country. It is supported by the medical providers across the board. $31.5 billion over 5 years in increases in Medicare and providers throughout the United States are supporting that measure. Yet, the other side now comes with a stealth bill, a secret bill that still we are waiting to see, saying that they want to fix other issues. No, no. We have a public bill, $31.5 billion for providers, supported by all medical providers, and we are hit, then, with a stealth bill. So we would like to see the stealth bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.