David Dreier

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the following resolutions be laid on the table: H. Res. 586, H. Res. 587, H. Res. 601, H. Res. 603, and H. Res. 608.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 605 is a standard rule waiving all points of order against the conference report to accompany the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 and against its consideration. The underlying legislation is yet another integral part of our coordinated effort to provide the most effective and comprehensive homeland security plan possible. We are working to protect our citizens at home and abroad, we are working to protect our vital infrastructure, both physical and electronic, and we are working to improve our economic security. Today we will vote to protect our Nation's ports. Our maritime industry, including hundreds of ports nationwide, contributes $742 billion to the gross domestic product each year. The State of Florida has some of the largest ports in the country, and I should say I represent the Los Angeles area, which has the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which are even larger than the ones in Florida I should add. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) represents the Port of Miami and Port Everglades. Thousands of passenger and container ships pass through these ports every year. Industries from retail sales to the airline industries are effected by the business that is done at these ports in both my State and in the State of Florida and around the country. We must ensure that these ports are not only safeguarded from being used as a point of entry for dangerous elements, but also to protect them from an attack that could be devastating to our economy. The Port of Miami's impact on Miami-Dade County is estimated at more than $8 billion and 45,000 jobs. In fiscal year 2001, the volume of cargo moving through the Port of Miami exceeded 8.2 million tons. Port Everglades' volume of business is equally impressive. In 2001, Port Everglades was host to over 3 million cruise passengers. Our Nation's ports are significant partners in the U.S. economy and we must employ every conceivable option to protect them. This conference report will work to this end by requiring the Coast Guard to conduct vulnerability assessments of our ports, authorizing grants to help with port security upgrades around the country, and by assessing the security systems of certain foreign ports that do business with the United States. Additionally, this legislation authorizes $6 billion for the Coast Guard in fiscal year 2003, including $550 million in additional resources to address longstanding budget shortfalls. The Coast Guard is charged with the tremendous duty of protecting our 95,000 miles of coastline. This legislation very appropriately addresses this reality. I would like to thank the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) and the ranking minority member, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), as well as the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo), for their work on this very important issue. This is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation. In fact, every member of the conference committee has signed the report. The conference report and the fair rule providing for its consideration deserve our support, and I would urge my colleagues to do this. Mr. Speaker, I yield control of the balance of my time to the gentleman from Miami (Mr. Diaz-Balart), who has arrived, and I know that he could have commented on Florida in a much better way than I, but I struggled to get through representation of his State if only on a temporary basis.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to my colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it was my hope, I had actually assigned this rule for management to my colleague from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart), and I have his prepared statement here, and I will go through his prepared statement, Mr. Speaker. I love Florida, and it is a great spot. My family actually has a home there, but I am a Californian; so I am just offering that as a bit of a warning as I proceed with the statement of the gentleman from Florida's (Mr. Diaz-Balart). During the consideration of the resolution, all time yielded will be for the purpose of debate only. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 605 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure and pride that I call upon my colleagues in the United States House of Representatives to join me in extending congratulations to the Arcadia, California Rotary Club on the occasion of its 75th Anniversary. The members of the club have truly lived up to their motto, ``Service Above Self.'' and I am proud to have this opportunity to express appreciation for myself and the residents of the 28th Congressional District of California for the many benefits that our community has derived from their good works. Indeed, the members of the Arcadia Rotary Club have been a model of excellence as to what a few can do for the benefit of all. The members of the Arcadia Rotary Club go about their volunteer activities quietly, without fanfare, and their accomplishments are oftentimes not given the full recognition that they so richly deserve. I am, therefore, happy to make these remarks a part of the public record. Chartered on October 27, 1927, the Arcadia Rotary Club began their first organized effort in the community by working with crippled children. They later pioneered the establishment of Arcadia Methodist Hospital of Southern California and remain strong supporters of this hospital today. The Club sponsored a Boy Scout Troop in 1929 and formed a student loan fund for needy students who wanted to complete their education. Many students needed help to stay in school during the Depression. They also established a scholarship fund to encourage high school students to complete their education. Members constructed Youth Huts on the playgrounds of several local schools--donating both dollars and labor. While I cannot list all the ways in which the members of the Arcadia Rotary Club have served others over the years, I can list a few: The Club has helped build an orphanage in Mexico, and constructed many buildings at Camp Trask, the Boy Scout facility in the mountains above Monrovia, California. They have donated money for a water well in Africa. The Club honors outstanding middle school and high school students in the Arcadia Unified School District. The Arcadia Rotary Club donated money to rebuild a school in France shortly after World War II. They have run a Junior Achievement program at the Alternative High School in Arcadia that was named the outstanding Junior Achievement Program in Southern California for the year 1995. Each year, the Arcadia Rotary Club sponsors and serves a luncheon for the senior citizens of Arcadia. Over the years, they have planted trees and shrubbery at the L.A. County Arboretum. The Club has been a generous contributor to Rotary International's program to eradicate polio throughout the world. Arcadia Rotary Club will continue to serve the community in many of the same ways and look for new opportunities to be of service to others for decades to come.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish here. Some of us were just going through the litany of items which the 107th Congress, specifically the House of Representatives with this very narrow 5-to-6-vote margin that we have been able to do. And it is true, one of the first things we did, as the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) has pointed out so well, we were able to pass a budget, and no budget has passed in the Senate; but we have been able to pass a budget here, and we have gone through a rigorous debate on that. But let us look at some of the other things that we have been able to accomplish to help the American people, and I think it is very important to note that one of the greatest successes we had back in 1996 has proved to be passage of welfare reform. We have been able to pass a very meaningful, positive welfare reform measure from this House of Representatives. One of the other items obviously, as we have looked at now bipartisan support for President Bush's initiative to potentially use force in dealing with the horror of Saddam Hussein and Iraq and, along with that, the potential for some kind of response to that from Iraq, we have passed out of this House a measure that was called on by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), the minority leader, to do it by September 11; and we have passed a bill establishing a Department of Homeland Security. That is something we are very proud of as we deal with the war on terrorism. We also are very proud of the fact that in a bipartisan way, both Houses of Congress and with the President's signature ultimately, we passed the No Child Left Behind Act, dealing with education, what before September 11 of last year was our number one priority. Prescription drugs, a very important issue which was talked about in the Presidential campaign, we are proud of the fact that we have been able to pass out, within the guidelines of our budget, a $350 billion prescription drug program so that seniors can have access to affordable prescription drugs. The other body has not taken action on that. We have been able to pass out of this body a very, very meaningful reform of the pension structure; and we all know with the economic challenges that we are facing, our retirees, those who are looking towards retirement in the future, the challenges they are facing, we have been able to bring about meaningful reform on that issue. I am very proud about something that we worked to try to give President Clinton beginning back in 1994 when it expired, we have been able to pass Trade Promotion Authority. Both Houses of Congress have done that. The President signed it. Our ambassador, the U.S. Trade Representative, Mr. Zoellick, is in the process of trying to work out new market-opening opportunities for us. That is going to provide an economic boost for the United States of America; and we have been able to pass that out of this House, again something we have not been able to do in 8 years. We also were able to bring about meaningful middle-income taxpayer tax relief. We have heard this criticism of the tax package, but it was focused towards middle-income wage earners with the provisions that we have had in there on the marriage penalty, the death tax, the child tax credit. These are things that have been designed to help working Americans. We also have been able to deal with the challenge of corporate fraud, and we all have been horrified by the actions of some top executives in this country. We have been able to pass out of this House and the other body meaningful reform when it comes to corporate fraud. We hope very much that we will be able to get election reform passed. We have had what I believe to be a very good conference package. Again, it started right here in this House of Representatives. We did it in a bipartisan way. I am very, very proud of that. We have been able to increase veterans benefits. We have much to be very proud of, much of it done in a bipartisan way. So let us not criticize what we have got. We have got a 1-week continuing resolution; let us pass it and continue with our work. Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute Offered by Mr. Hastings of Washington

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. 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. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and obviously the resolution, as well. It is very clear we were talking about the issue of biological weapons. The United States of America does not traffic in biological weapons, and the attack that has been launched by many on the other side against President Bush No. 41 is an unfair one. We see much dual-use technology which, unfortunately, has been used in a wrong way. But the question that we need to address is the intent of Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein poses a threat to our stability, to the entire world. None of us is enthused about the prospect of going to war; but we face one of the most difficult issues we possibly can as Members of the people's House, that is, are we going to provide this President of the United States the support that he wants and deserves to proceed in defending the United States of America and our interests? Mr. Speaker, it is a difficult time, and I think back to a debate that took place in the middle of the Civil War. John Stuart Mill wrote: ``War is an ugly thing, but it is not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which `thinks nothing worth a war' is worse.'' Mr. Speaker, it is very important for us to realize how tough this is; but the United States of America is a very unique Nation, and we stand for freedom throughout the world. It is important for us to stand up now. Vote ``yes'' for this rule, and vote in favor of the resolution.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 3 minutes to our friend, the gentleman from Dallas, Texas (Mr. Sessions), another hard-working member of the Committee on Rules.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to simply respond to my very good friend with whom I have been pleased to work on this issue. That is, it is very clear that we need to focus on the fact that it is the intent of the recipient of this capability, and it would have been wonderful if the biological capability that had been transferred to Iraq would have been used to deal with the problem of malaria and other diseases there. That is my point. What I am trying to say is that Saddam Hussein is the one who has posed the threat here. His use of this biological and chemical capability is what poses a very serious threat to the United States and to the rest of the civilized world. Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce), another hard-working member of the Committee on Rules and our very good friend.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Springfield, New York (Mr. Reynolds), my very good friend. (Mr. REYNOLDS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to respond to one comment made by my friend from Rochester. Mr. Speaker, it is very true that during the 1980s the United States did in fact provide biological materials to Iraq, but I should say it was done with the best of intentions, with the goal of trying to help the Iraqi people through fighting malaria and other diseases. Now, it is very apparent, we have learned, Mr. Speaker, that fertilizer request could be utilized to create a bomb, as we found in Oklahoma City several years ago. The challenge that we have is in dealing with the intentions of Saddam Hussein, and that is the question that we face right here. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to a very hard-working, thoughtful member of the Committee on Rules, the gentleman from Pasco, Washington (Mr. Hastings).

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, continuing with our colleagues on the Committee on Rules, I am happy to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Miami, Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart), a true patriot and my great friend.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am very happy that the Republican members of the Committee on Rules are going to be standing today in strong support of this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Atlanta, Georgia (Mr. Linder), distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology and the House. (Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, this is a structured rule that provides for 20 hours of debate on the resolution as well as providing for two Democratic substitutes. The rule also provides that after consultation with the minority leader, the majority leader may extend debate to ensure that all Members have an opportunity to speak on this important issue. Just as in 1991, every single Member will have a chance to be heard. The rules makes in order two substitute amendments, two Democratic substitutes to be offered by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt), as well as providing for one motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, at this moment the people's House begins debate on one of the most difficult questions we will ever face. I rise today in strong support of the resolution authorizing the President to take action to address the very troubling issue of Saddam Hussein and Iraq. No Member of this body should ever be too eager to send our military into harm's way. Nor should we ever consider taking such an action without a strong and vigorous debate. At the end of the day, however, I am pleased that we have come up with a bipartisan resolution to prove once again that partisanship ends at the water's edge. I am a strong supporter of international cooperation, working with our friends and allies and the United Nations. However, in matters of national security, multinational cooperation and coalition-building are tools that help us to achieve our most precious national interests. We cannot be beholden to any institution whose interests may not coincide with our own. Obviously, we would all be gratified to have the full and unconditional support of the United Nations Security Council. Secretary of State Colin Powell has been working tirelessly for months to garner that support up in New York. But as the Government of the United States, it is our primary responsibility to provide for the safety and security of our citizens, both at home and abroad. That is why I support this resolution which will in fact strengthen our hand at the United Nations and demonstrate that this government is united in its determination to address the threat that Saddam Hussein poses. Mr. Speaker, Saddam Hussein oppresses his people, flaunts the will of the international community, has committed genocide, and pursues weapons of mass destruction that will dramatically alter the status of his country in the international system. For 12 years he has blatantly ignored the Security Council resolutions he previously agreed to. When the inspectors were conducting their inspections with Iraq, they were constantly impeded. The time for ineffective inspections, with conditions set by this Stalinist dictator, has passed. Iraq has received chance after chance, only to continue to obstruct and deny. The time for chances is over. Only unconditional and unfettered inspections with total disarmament of Iraq's cache of weapons of mass destruction are acceptable. So far, Mr. Speaker, the United Nations has proved unwilling to back its words with actions. As Saddam's primary enemy, it falls to the President and this Congress to protect the American people from this mass murderer. Saddam Hussein presents a clear and immediate threat to the safety of American citizens and our interests overseas. We know he has produced such deadly gases as VX and sarin, along with anthrax. We know he has over 30,000 delivery vehicles for such biological and chemical agents, and we know he has scuds capable of reaching our forces stationed in the Gulf and our NATO allies in Turkey. Perhaps more frightening, we know that Iraq is actively seeking to reestablish its nuclear weapons program and has reportedly been seeking uranium to achieve that goal, and the track record shows that his ability to inflict harm has always been underestimated. Given the level of technical expertise that Iraq developed prior to the Gulf War, it would take them months, not years, to develop a nuclear device once they obtained the proper materials. There are those who argue that Saddam Hussein, a man who has started two wars in 2 decades, can be contained and managed. Let me remind the Nation of Saddam Hussein's record in power. He sponsors terrorist groups that have killed American citizens. He routinely pays the families of suicide bombers while he lets his own citizens starve. He has executed thousands of Iraqis a year and combats dissent by publicly removing the tongues of his critics. He has engaged in ethnic cleansing utilizing chemical weapons that have killed over 5,000 Kurds, and he has completely destroyed entire towns he felt were disloyal. He has committed genocide and other crimes against humanity and deserves to be held accountable. The United States held the moral high ground in ending Slobodan Milosevic's reign of terror, and Saddam has reigned too long. Further, I disagree with those who argue that we should not undertake this action because it is preemptive. Authorizing the President to effectively address this situation is not preemptive. This is a response to those heinous acts I have just outlined. With every U.N. resolution Iraq ignores, it threatens international peace. Unless and until Iraq complies fully with the inspections, a standard it has never met, there remains ample justification for taking action to defend the security of our Nation. Iraq is a nation that publicly states that it has every intention of cooperating with the international community, but continues to try to shoot down our brave pilots enforcing the no- fly zones. History has not been kind to the governments that have acceded to the wishes of brutal dictators in the hopes of staving off conflicts. The security of the future depends on the resolve we show here today. As we learned on September 11, delaying our response to security threats can have devastating consequences. It is incumbent upon all of us to demonstrate to the world's dictators they cannot hide behind false cooperation and that our Nation will not be cowed from protecting our citizens for fear of political or military difficulty. Mr. Speaker, our security comes first. I cannot help but think of Abraham Lincoln's words 137 years ago when he said: ``The struggle of today is not altogether for today. It is for a vast future also.'' Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), 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. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 574 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, in recent months we have been continually reminded of America's heroes both here at home and abroad. The sacrifices of these men and women have been recognized by a very grateful country and will never be forgotten. These newly discovered American heroes hail from a long tradition of men and women who have selflessly given themselves to this great Nation. Brigadier General Joseph Foss exemplifies this American tradition and is a model of unselfish service and sacrifice. As an 11-year-old farm boy from South Dakota, Joe was inspired to fly by an encounter with Charles Lindbergh at a rural airport near Sioux Falls. This desire fueled the fire of a man who, during World War II, became one of America's leading Marine Aces with 26 confirmed and 16 probable kills in the fight for Guadalcanal. In May 1943, General Foss received America's highest honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor, for outstanding heroism above and beyond the call of duty. Upon his return home from the war, General Foss served in public office as a member of the South Dakota State House and was overwhelmingly elected to two terms as Governor. We have also been blessed by his contributions as President of the National Society of Crippled Children and Adults and the National Rifle Association. Joe Foss also served as the first Commissioner of the American Football League, where his work led to the birth of one of America's favorite sporting events--the Super Bowl. Such a lifetime of selfless action speaks for itself. However, General Foss is not yet finished. Along with the Foss Institute, he has taken on a new task, leading senior veterans in a campaign to educate our country's youth in military history and the true meaning of patriotism. At 87 years young, this great American is continuing to serve his country in very valuable ways. I ask that the Congress join me in honoring one of America's most appreciated and loved heroes, Brigadier General Joseph Jacob Foss.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding. I am sorry that I did not hear exactly what the gentleman said earlier, but let me say that you recall in the past that what we have done and what we have tried to do this year was to have a complete budget package that was put forward and not an amendment process, and we went through this debate earlier when we went through it. And the gentleman and I disagree on that, but I think it is very clear to state for the record that from our interpretation we did not have a complete budget substitute that was put forward.

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

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule. I have just heard my friend, the gentleman from Indiana, talk about the status quo. The status quo is that we want to keep the government going; we do not want it to shut down. That is really the alternative we are faced with right now. What we are dealing with is a continuing resolution that will go from October 4 to October 11. Now, people have been talking about the fact that we have this unprecedented situation, and we have never been in these dire straits before when it comes to the process of appropriations. It is true, we may be moving into new territory, but we have done some of our work here. It is clear that we have passed 5 of the 13 appropriations bills. As the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young) pointed out in his testimony before the Committee on Rules yesterday, we basically have six other bills in the bullpen ready to go that we would like to consider. I do not want to spend a lot of time talking about history here, but, Mr. Speaker, Members should realize that we have, in the past, to my knowledge, never had a time when the minority did not fail to offer a budget. This year we know there was no alternative, so our friends can talk and say, shame on you, and we should be embarrassed and all; but our friends on the other side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, have not come up with a proposed budget. We know that the only entity to pass out a budget was the House of Representatives. We did it with Republican support, and it was the Republican budget that moved ahead. If we look at the past, Mr. Speaker, we also have had times where we have dealt with continuing resolutions going back to 1990, when we saw a continuing resolution that was vetoed by the President. We saw one of the subcommittees have a continuing resolution that lasted an entire year. So yes, this is a challenging time for us. We are trying to get a continuing resolution passed for October 4 to October 11 so we can get our work done dealing with the very challenging situation. We have been able to deal with the very, very tough times since September 11 of last year, providing basically about $100 billion, and we have stepped up to the plate and done that. So we are at a time of war. This is a war on terrorism that we are dealing with. That has created many of the challenges that we have. However, I hope we will be able to come together and work on this process. I want to congratulate the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young) for the fine work he is doing in trying to move this process along. Let us pass this rule, let us pass this continuing resolution, and let us continue working as hard as we possibly can to get our work done.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to inform our colleagues that today we will be sending a Dear Colleague letter informing Members that the Committee on Rules is planning to meet on Monday, October 7, to grant a rule which may limit the amendment process for H.J. Res. 114, authorization for the use of military force against Iraq. Any Member who wishes to offer an amendment to this joint resolution should submit 55 copies of the amendment and one copy of a brief explanation of the amendment by 5 p.m. this Friday, October 4, to the Committee on Rules in room H-312. Amendments should be drafted to the text of the joint resolution as reported by the Committee on International Relations, which is expected to file probably tomorrow. The text will be available on the Web sites of both the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Rules. 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 their amendments comply with the rules of the House.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the United States lost a true patriot. Ambassador Walter Annenberg, who represented America to the Court of St. James, was a brilliant business and political leader, patron of the arts, and one of our Nation's greatest supporters of education. He touched this institution recently as his foundation was among the first to volunteer support for the U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center. Just last month, he underwrote our important trip to New York to memorialize September 11. I will never forget, 2 years ago at her birthday dinner, when he said that the most important thing he did was to marry Lee. This past Sunday, Lee and Walter Annenberg celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary. I shall miss his advice, counsel, and encouragement, and I know, Mr. Speaker, that I speak for everyone in this great body when, with appreciation for all that Walter did, I extend our thoughts and prayers to the Annenberg family.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to extend warmest 80th birthday wishes to our former colleague and good friend from West Covina, California, Jim Lloyd. Jim was first elected to Congress in 1974 and served until 1981, representing the people of the San Gabriel Valley with distinction. And while many of us remember his tenure on the Armed Services Committee and Science and Technology Committee, where he served as Chairman of the Investigation and Oversight Subcommittee, Jim Lloyd came to the House with an already distinguished record of public service. From 1942 to 1963, Jim served as an officer in the United States Navy, flying combat missions during World War II and, at the onset of the Cold War, completed his last duty assignment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis. The flying and the excitement had only just begun. Stateside, Jim owned and operated a small public relations and advertising firm with his beautiful wife, Jackie, in West Covina. He also caught the political bug, ably serving on the West Covina City Council from 1968 to 1974, and as Mayor from 1973 to 1974. In 1974, Jim was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served for three terms. And he kept on flying, receiving his helicopter rating and fixed wing license. Since leaving the House, Jim has served as a consultant for a number of local, national, and international clients. But, most of all, he has maintained his love for flying, logging in over 14,000 hours in approximately 150 different types of aircraft ranging from the single engine Cessna Citation, to the F-18 and F-16 fighter aircraft, to the 747 jumbo jet, and also flying with the British, French, and Israeli Air Forces. Today, Jim owns a Piper Commanche and is still regularly in the air. I am proud to call Jim Lloyd a friend, and invite my colleagues to join me, his wife Jackie, son Brian Patrick, and grandsons Cameron Scott and Seth James, in saluting him on the happy occasion of his 80th birthday and wishing him many more years in the wild blue yonder.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it shall be in order at any time to consider in the House H. Res. 559; the resolution shall be considered as read for amendment; the resolution shall be debatable for 90 minutes, equally divided among and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on House Administration, Representative Cox of California and Representative Frost of Texas; and the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the resolution to final adoption without intervening motion.