Jimmy Duncan

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, today I wish to pay tribute and celebrate the long and successful life of one of my District's most devoted community leaders and academics. Dr. Floyd E. ``Jack'' Bowling recently passed away at the age of 98. Dr. Bowling was beloved in Athens, Tennessee, one of the finest communities in the State. For the past 50 years, he called Athens home and full-heartedly devoted his time to bettering his beloved Tennessee Wesleyan College. Dr. Bowling served Tennessee Wesleyan College not only as a teacher and administrator but also as its most important fundraiser and benefactor. His impact on the college is evident as one strolls its beautiful campus. He had a special passion for athletics, and through Dr. Bowling's own donations and fundraising, he was almost solely responsible for Tennessee Wesleyan College's new baseball field and stadium, which rightfully bears his name. He was also greatly responsible for the school's tennis complex and gym bleachers and used his own money to create the college's first computer lab. Everyone had the deepest admiration and respect for Dr. Bowling. Great communities and institutions of higher education around the Nation are made so only by selfless and devoted persons like Dr. Bowling. The current President of Tennessee Wesleyan College, Steve Condon, recently told the Daily Post Athenian Newspaper, ``Virtually everything he touched, every person he engaged, every project he attempted and every colleague and student he mentored was better off because of his light. He was a gift from God to all of us.'' We can all only strive to be remembered in such a way. Dr. Bowling's service was not confined to Tennessee Wesleyan College's campus. He has long been a supporter of the McMinn Living Heritage Museum and United Way of McMinn and Meigs Counties. He also served as president of the Kiwanis Club, where he was a longtime member. Madam Speaker, the passing of Dr. Floyd E. ``Jack'' Bowling is a tremendous loss for the Athens community, Tennessee Wesleyan College, his family and many friends, and the multiple causes he has championed over the years. I call his service to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record and thank him for being an example to us all.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, today I wish to pay tribute to a beloved pastor from my District who was one of the most tireless servants of the Lord I have ever known. I knew Rev. Bob Bevington--affectionately called Brother Bob by all-- from the time I was a small boy. He was the advisor to the Christian Student Organization when I was in High School, and I had tremendous admiration and respect for him. Most especially, I admired his unwavering faith during the passing of both of his sons. The pain of losing two children is unimaginable, but Brother Bob relied on his creator during those dark days and showed us all that God can help us even through terrible and tragic times. Brother Bob's impact on my District is incalculable. He started the Knoxville Baptist Tabernacle Church in 1951, and his calling to preach the Word had no limits. The Church continued to grow, and in 1971 Brother Bob launched the Knoxville Baptist Christian School, which is still going strong today. Knowing that there were more people who needed to hear his message than his pews could hold, Brother Bob also published many newsletters and newspaper columns and launched a radio ministry called the Revival of the Air in 1948. Broadcasts continued right up until his passing. While eulogizing Brother Bob, the current Pastor of Knoxville Baptist Tabernacle Church, Brother Tony Greene, spoke of Brother Bob's legacy, saying ``From this church have gone hundreds of soul winners, preachers, and missionaries. At this church have preached the mighty voices of the 20th century.'' He continued, ``Just hours before his Homegoing, the Lord allowed Brother Bob the strength to do one final radio broadcast. What a testimony of faithfulness to the end! A life well-lived, to the finish. `Well done, thou good and faithful servant.' '' In a recent tribute to Brother Bob, a commentator in the Knoxville News Sentinel appropriately wrote, ``Maybe the words `good and decent' don't tell the whole story. Brother Bob, you were one exceptional man.'' Madam Speaker, the passing of Brother Bob Bevington is a tremendous loss for my District, his wife Mary Lou, daughter and son-in-law Marilyn and Bob Russell, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, many other family and friends and the thousands of people devoted to his message of loving the Lord. I want to call his service and faith in God to the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record and thank him for showing us all the way to a better life.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as the ranking minority member on the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, I have been asked to speak on this resolution, and I rise in support of House Resolution 907, a resolution--as the gentleman from Washington State just described--a resolution recognizing the Grand Concourse on its 100th anniversary as the preeminent thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx and an important nexus of commerce and culture in the city of New York. The Grand Concourse is a rare blend of history, culture, and infrastructure that has accommodated the likes of Babe Ruth, Stanley Kubrick, and Edgar Allan Poe. The Grand Concourse also plays host to the iconic Yankee Stadium, Loew's Paradise Theater, and the Concourse Plaza Hotel. Few roads in our Nation's history have reflected the personality of the local culture better than the Grand Concourse has done for the Bronx. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this very timely and appropriate resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I wish everyone would listen to these words from a column in the current issue of the American Conservative magazine. This column says: ``We ran Saddam out of Kuwait and put U.S. troops into Saudi Arabia, and we got Osama bin Laden's 9/11. We responded by taking down the Taliban and taking over Afghanistan, and we got an 8-year war with no victory and no end in sight. Now Pakistan is burning. We took down Saddam and got a 7-year war and an ungrateful Iraq. ``Meanwhile, the Turks who shared a border with Saddam, have done no fighting. Iran has watched as we destroyed its two greatest enemies, the Taliban and Saddam. China, which has a border with both Pakistan and Afghanistan, has sat back. India, which has a border with Pakistan and fought three wars with the country, has stayed aloof. The United States, on the other side of the world, plunged in. And now we face an elongated military presence in Iraq, an escalating war in Afghanistan, and potential disaster in Pakistan, and being pushed from behind into a war with Iran.'' And then in the December 3 issue of The Washington Post, it says: ``President Obama's new strategy for combating Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan fell on skeptical ears Wednesday in next-door Pakistan, a much larger, nuclear-armed state that Obama said was `at the core' of the plan and had even more at stake than Afghanistan. Analysts and residents on both sides of the 1,699-mile border expressed concerns about Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan.'' And on that same day, The Washington Post had a headline that said: ``A deadline written in quicksand not stone.'' Now, I think most Americans feel that 8 years in Afghanistan is not only enough; it's far too long. After all, we finished World War II in just 4 years. Now under the President's most optimistic scenario, we are going to be there another year and a half, that's 9\1/2\ years, and we're going to be there, we have 68,000 troops there now. They want to add 34,000 more at a cost of $1 billion per thousand per year, which means over $100 billion a year. The Center for War Information says we've already spent almost a half trillion dollars in war and war-related costs in Afghanistan at this point. And then I would like to ask, Who is in charge? Because this weekend on the interview program, Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Defense Gates said, Well, the year and a half withdrawal plan presented by the President at West Point really doesn't mean anything, that we're going to be there probably another 3 or 5 more years. That would bring our time there to 11 or 13 years. That is ridiculous in a country like Afghanistan, a very small country where we are fighting a very small force that has almost no money. And then I understand from one of the previous speakers that President Karzai said that he needs American troops to be there another 15 or 20 more years. Well, he wants our money, that's for sure, like any gigantic bureaucracy. And what does any gigantic bureaucracy want? They want more money and more employees. So the Defense Department, being the most gigantic bureaucracy in the world, is going to continue to want more money and more personnel. But when we have a $12 trillion national debt and almost $60 trillion in unfunded future pension liabilities, Madam Speaker, we simply can't afford it. We have to start putting our own people first at some point. It's not going to be long before we're not going to be able to pay our Social Security and veterans' pensions and things we have promised our own people with money that will buy anything, if we keep spending hundreds of billions for very unnecessary wars. Now, I would like to mention just a couple of things about Pakistan. In the Los Angeles Times on November 1 in a story about Secretary Clinton's visit to Pakistan, it said: ``At a televised town hall meeting in Islamabad, the capital, on Friday, a woman in a mostly female audience characterized U.S. drone missile strikes on suspected terrorist targets in northwestern Pakistan as de facto acts of terrorism. A day earlier, in Lahore, a college student asked Clinton why every student who visits the U.S. is viewed as a terrorist. The opinions Clinton heard weren't described in voices of radical clerics or politicians with anti-U.S. agendas. Some of the most biting criticisms came from well-mannered university students and respected, seasoned journalists, a reflection of the breadth of dissatisfaction Pakistanis have with U.S. policies toward their country.'' This is a country, Madam Speaker, that the Congress in a voice vote at a time when almost no one was on the floor, most Members didn't even know it was coming up, voted to send another $7.5 billion in foreign aid to Pakistan on top of $15.5 billion that we've spent since 2003 there already. This is getting ridiculous. A country that we are sending billions and billions and billions in foreign aid to, and it's becoming so anti- American, and they don't appreciate this aid at all. We simply can't afford to keep doing these ridiculous and very wasteful expenditures. And I will say again, we need to start putting our own people first once again.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, according to press reports, we are now going to send 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan, in addition to the 68,000 already there. The Pentagon tells us it costs $1 million a year for each soldier there, or $1 billion for each 1,000. This means we will be spending over $100 billion a year on top of the almost half a trillion we've spent on the 8-year-old Afghanistan war already. I know that, like any gigantic bureaucracy, the Defense Department always wants more money and more employees, but this is getting ridiculous. And fiscal conservatives should be the ones most horrified by all this spending. On top of all this, we still have 120,000 troops in Iraq and are still spending megabillions there. And the Pentagon is so bureaucratic that we are told it will take several years to fully withdraw, if we ever do. President Eisenhower warned us about the military industrial complex, but I think even he would be shocked. This is all about money and power, but we can no longer afford to lose so many lives and spend and borrow so much money.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq has unleashed tremendous religious violence against the Christian community there. According to the London Times, ``In the chaos after the U.S.-led war invasion of Iraq in 2003, Christians found themselves targeted by Islamic terrorists.'' Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho said Christians in Iraq faced three bad choices: either they fled, converted to Islam, or risked being killed. Then in 2008, Archbishop Rahho himself was kidnapped and murdered. These horrendous human rights violations and crimes against Christians in Iraq were brought to my attention by one of my constituents, Susan Dakak, a civil engineer who is a native of Iraq. Iraq's Christian Ambassador, the Iraqi Ambassador to the Vatican, my constituents tell me, is doing almost nothing to call attention to the plight of these people. The U.S. should do more to aid the Christian minority in Iraq. At least one-third, maybe closer to one-half of these Christians, have fled the country. They should be allowed to return. The killings, kidnappings, and religious persecutions must stop. The U.S. Government should substantially reduce our aid if Christians are not allowed to freely express their religion in Iraq.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, people all over the Nation are upset and angry about five of the Guantanamo terrorists being scheduled for trial in New York. This is happening only because President Obama issued an executive order in the early days of his administration stopping the military tribunal process. The Congress, both House and Senate, voted by large margins in 2006 to try these terrorists by military tribunals. This could have been done in Guantanamo, but President Obama overruled Congress by his executive order and the Defense and Justice Departments then started the process of bringing the terrorists to trial in this country. This will result in very large legal and security expenses that would not have been necessary if these men were tried at Guantanamo. To try all of these terrorists here--the first five and others later--creates a very unnecessary security risk for untold numbers of people. I hope President Obama will listen to the outcry of the American people and not continue to insist that all of these terrorists be tried in the United States. The families of our victims deserve better.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, there is nothing conservative about the war in Afghanistan. The Center for Defense Information said a few months ago that we had spent over $400 billion on the war and war-related costs there. Now, the Pentagon says it will cost about $1 billion for each 1,000 additional troops we send to Afghanistan. One Republican Member from California told me recently that we could buy off every warlord in Afghanistan for $1 billion. Fiscal conservatives should be the ones most horrified by all this spending. Conservatives who oppose big government and huge deficit spending at home should not support it in foreign countries just because it is being done by our biggest bureaucracy, the Defense Department. We have now spent $1.5 trillion that we did not have--that we had to borrow--in Iraq and Afghanistan. Eight years is long enough. In fact, it is too long. Let's bring our troops home and start putting Americans first once again.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H.R. 3767, which designates the United States Post Office at 170 North Main Street in Smithfield, Utah, as the ``W. Hazen Hillyard Post Office Building.'' Mr. Hazen Hillyard of Smithfield, Utah, was born in 1893 and grew up on his family's farm. Always active in his community, he served on the Smithfield City Council twice from 1930 to 1933 and again from 1964 to 1968, being reelected after staying out of office 31 years. While on the council, he worked tirelessly to upgrade the catalog of the records of Smithfield's city cemetery. He was also instrumental in a number of projects to beautify his hometown. A member of many civic organizations, Mr. Hillyard served on the Smithfield Historical Heritage Society, was president of the local Kiwanis Club, vice chairman of the Cache Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and was awarded the Silver Beaver Award in recognition of his long service to scouting programs. Mr. Hillyard was also active in the Lion's Club of Smithfield and was awarded their Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award in 1974. As my colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts, has mentioned, Mr. Hillyard was appointed postmaster of Smithfield's post office in 1934, and at that time there was no home delivery for citizens of that town. He was so active, as my colleague has mentioned, that he was elected president of the Postmasters Association in 1952. And under his leadership and direction, the Smithfield post office grew in size and was able to start home delivery and other services. Throughout his life, Mr. Hillyard was a central figure in Smithfield, dedicating his life to the advancement of that city. He did live a long life and passed away in 1992 at the age of 99. As my colleague has mentioned, this is a very worthwhile and appropriate piece of legislation. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3767. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers and will yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3539, which designates the United States postal facility located at 427 Harrison Avenue in Harrison, New Jersey, as the ``Patricia D. McGinty- Juhl Post Office Building.'' Patricia McGinty-Juhl, a native of Harrison, New Jersey, had an impressive and distinguished career with the United States Postal Service for 3 years as a manager and executive. While working in the human resources office, she was instrumental in overseeing affirmative action issues on behalf of employees as the district women's program coordinator. As a result of her work, she was offered a position at the U.S. Postal Service headquarters in Washington as the national women's program manager. Once in Washington, Ms. McGinty-Juhl continued to impress those who worked with her. As a result of her work ethic and leadership skills, she was offered the position of government relations liaison to congressional offices. The Postmaster General, Jack Potter, often spoke of Ms. McGinty-Juhl as an outstanding manager and a warm and giving person. Ms. McGinty-Juhl passed away at her home in 2006. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3539 and recognizing Ms. McGinty-Juhl's dedication to the betterment of the United States Postal Service. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1825, which would make permanent the authority of the U.S. General Services Administration to approve Federal agencies' requests to operate programs to test alternative methods of compensating employees for relocation and travel expenses. This bill passed the Senate on November 9 by unanimous consent. GSA's current authority to authorize such a program would have otherwise expired in December of this year. By acting now we are allowing successful test programs to continue to operate and are giving GSA authority to approve more of them. Many of these relocation expense test programs have been successful in not only making government run more efficiently but also in achieving cost savings. Other provisions of this bill would expand the number of test programs that can run at the same time from 10 to 12 and allow them to operate for a maximum of 8 years. Based on information from GSA and the agencies involved, CBO estimates that there would be no cost to the Federal Government if this bill is passed. Unfortunately, these relocation and travel expense programs have been subject to major scandals over the past few years, and each and every agency should watch these expenses very closely; and, hopefully, these test programs will lead to a closer and more honest accounting of this type of money for the Federal Government and for our taxpayers. At a time when the Federal deficit is soaring, it is important that we continue successful programs that make the government more efficient and hopefully save money. I urge my colleagues to support S. 1825. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to first commend my colleague, the gentleman from Oregon, for bringing this legislation to the floor today, and I rise to express my strong support for this bill designating the post office located at 630 Northeast Killingsworth Avenue in Portland, Oregon, as the ``Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Post Office.'' The leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the civil rights movement helped to make America the country it is today. Because of Dr. King's many accomplishments in the pursuit of justice and liberty, he clearly deserves this simple honor and recognition that we can bestow on him. Dr. King began his career as a Baptist minister who was also the leading civil rights figure in this country during the 1950s and 1960s. Dr. King's lifelong crusade to end all forms of racial inequity and discrimination was instrumental in enlightening the country with regard to civil rights for all citizens. Dr. King led the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, and was instrumental in orchestrating the famous Birmingham protest. Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, which helped show the world that racial discrimination could be ended through nonviolent means. He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Congressional Gold Medal. In recognition of his many accomplishments for our country, in 1983 Congress established a national holiday as a tribute to his memory. Later in Dr. King's life, he expanded his message of equality to apply to impoverished Americans of all races and cultures. Dr. King dedicated his life to ensuring the principles this country holds so dear, those of liberty and justice for all of our citizens. Not quite 4 years ago, Mr. Speaker, I was given the honor of being the grand marshal of the Martin Luther King parade in Knoxville, Tennessee. And I believe I have attended all but one of the many Martin Luther King celebrations at the Greater Warner Church in Knoxville. I'm also very proud of the fact that my father, who served for 6 years as mayor of Knoxville, led the peaceful integration of that city. And in 1962, Look magazine awarded Knoxville an All-America City Award, primarily because of the peaceful integration that we accomplished in our city. I think this legislation is very fitting and appropriate, and I urge my colleagues to support it. I have no other speakers, and so I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1506 would waive certain claims of the United States to specific documents relating to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The papers, known as the Tully Collection, are said to be an important and valuable collection of materials relating to President Roosevelt's time in office. Grace Tully served as part of Franklin Roosevelt's secretarial staff for several decades, and in 1941 became his personal secretary. After her death her collection of personal papers passed on through her niece into the hands of private collectors and finally to the current owners, Sun Times Media, who bought the collection for $8 million in 2001. In 2004 the National Archives asserted a claim to a portion of the documents. Sun Times Media wishes to donate the entire collection to President Roosevelt's Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York. Due to the Archives' formal claim, however, Sun Times Media is prevented from receiving a tax deduction on the donation. This bill aims to alleviate the legal claims of the United States and the Archives, thereby clearing the way for the donation and the deduction. I understand this bill is a priority for certain Members of the New York delegation. I also understand the Archives has offered its support for this legislation in a letter to the committee. Nevertheless, I want to briefly highlight two points. First, given the multiple ongoing instances of mismanagement at the Archives, we need to take a close look at all legislation relating to this agency. Second, the majority moved this bill without a hearing. We should have a better understanding of this legislation, particularly how it relinquishes the Federal Government's claim to certain documents while benefiting certain entities through tax breaks. Mr. Speaker, I hope we can take a closer look at this bill as it moves through the legislative process. I have no other speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, this morning I was honored to go with five other Members, three Democrats and three Republicans, to have breakfast at the Pentagon with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The Secretary is a kind man and this was a very nice thing for him to do. I have great respect for Secretary Gates. The purpose of the breakfast was to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. When I got this invitation, I wondered if I should go, since I have been very much opposed to our war there. However, I decided that the only right and fair thing to do was to go listen to what he had to say. Unfortunately, I still believe that what we are doing in Afghanistan is a horrendous waste that we cannot afford. I also believe that Afghanistan is no realistic threat to us, unless our war there continues to anger so many people around the world. George C. Wilson, military columnist for Congress Daily, wrote recently: ``The American military's mission to pacify the 40,000 tiny villages in Afghanistan will look like mission impossible, especially if our bombings keep killing Afghan civilians and infuriating the ones who survive.'' General Petraeus said this summer we should not forget that Afghanistan has been known as the ``graveyard of empires.'' Congressional Quarterly reported on September 17 that members of both parties were ``fretting openly about a lack of progress in the conflict.'' As much as Americans love our troops, we need to realize that the Defense Department is not just a military organization. It is also the world's largest bureaucracy. Every gigantic bureaucracy always wants to expand its mission and frequently exaggerates its challenges so it can get more money and personnel. The Taliban guerillas have almost no money, and a top U.N. antiterrorism official said recently that al Qaeda is having ``difficulty in maintaining credibility.'' National defense is the most legitimate function of our Federal Government. However, that does not mean Congress should automatically or blindly approve the Pentagon's every request or never criticize its waste. Much of what we are doing in Afghanistan is of a civic, charitable or governmental nature, like building schools and teaching agribusiness. But the Defense Department should not be the ``Department of Foreign Aid,'' or much of our military primarily a very large version of the Peace Corps. In March, the President promised a ``dramatic increase'' in our effort in Afghanistan, including ``agricultural specialists and educators, engineers and lawyers.'' Why, when we are $12 trillion in debt, are we spending mega-billions in Afghanistan doing practically everything for them? We are spending money we do not have on a very unnecessary war and jeopardizing our own future in the process. Many people think that all conservatives support this war. Well, I believe that there are many millions of conservatives who do not and who want us to bring our troops home, the sooner the better. In fact, this war goes very much against traditional conservatism. When I was in high school, I worked as a bag boy at an A&P grocery store making $1.10 an hour. I sent my first paycheck, $19 and some cents, as a contribution to the Barry Goldwater campaign. I am still one of the most conservative Members of Congress. But this war has required huge deficit spending, almost half a trillion in war and war-related costs for Afghanistan. Fiscal conservatives should be the people most upset about this. This war has spent mega-billions in foreign aid, because probably at least half of what we have done and are doing there is of a civic or charitable nature. Traditional conservatives have been the strongest opponents of massive foreign aid. We went into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan under U.N. resolutions, yet conservatives have traditionally been the biggest critics of the U.N. Conservatives have traditionally been the biggest opponents of world government because it is too elitist and arrogant and too far removed from control by the people. We should not now support what is essentially world government just because it is being run by our military. I am a veteran and I am very pro military, but I am for national defense, not international defense. I know that the leaders of Afghanistan want us to keep spending hundreds of billions there, but we cannot afford it. We cannot afford it economically, and as far as I am concerned, it is not worth one more American life. I know that when leaders of the Defense Department and the State Department and the National Security Council all get together in their meetings, that all of the pressures are on getting involved or staying involved in just about every military, political or ethnic dispute all around the world. I know that they want to be considered as great world statesmen, but 8 years in Afghanistan is not only enough, it is far too long. It is time, Madam Speaker, to come home. It is time to start putting our own people and our own country first once again.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, today I wish to pay tribute to a beloved philanthropist from my district and one of the most selfless and kindhearted persons I have ever known. Mary Shafer recently passed away after battling breast cancer for 14 years. During that prolonged fight she never lost her faith in God and tirelessly continued her charity work. With her husband Bo--who served as the President of Kiwanis International from 2000-2001--Mary traveled all over the World helping the indigent. Her compassion and service had no boundaries. Bo and Mary believed their work with Kiwanis was a privilege, not a duty, and they left an immeasurable mark on more people than can be counted. Mary's most passionate cause was providing clean drinking water to people in developing countries. Many people admirably serve their community or donate money to charity, but it takes a very special and resilient person to perform such challenging work in some of the World's most impoverished places. Closer to home, Mary also served numerous other causes and served on or chaired the boards of many agencies like the Volunteer Mission Center, the United Way, and the Florence Crittenton Agency. Bo recently told the Knoxville News Sentinel following Mary's passing that he was head-over-heels in love with her, and, ``We never had an argument. Her goal in life was to keep a smile on my face, and my goal in life was to keep a smile on her face.'' Mary was very active in the Second Presbyterian Church in Knoxville and a devout Christian. According to her family, her last words were, ``Thank you, Lord Jesus. I had a great time.'' Even in the face of such a lengthy and difficult illness, Mary thanked her creator for all the blessings in her life. For Mary, He had a special purpose, and although the Lord decided to call her home, she will not be forgotten by all those she knew and comforted. Madam Speaker, the passing of Mary Shafer is a tremendous loss for my district, her husband, Bo, and her countless family and friends. I call her service and faith in God to the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record and thank her for being a shining example to us all.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, before the Federal Government got heavily into health care in the mid-sixties, medical care was cheap and affordable for almost everyone. Doctors even commonly made house calls. We took what was a very minor problem for very few people and turned it into a major problem for everyone. The people want medical care that is less expensive and less bureaucratic. The bill that we will apparently vote on later this week is 1,990 pages of bureaucratic gobbledygook. It will make health care even more expensive and even more bureaucratic. As Senator Joe Lieberman said on Face the Nation, this bill ``will actually hurt the economic recovery and our long-term financial situation.'' The pattern seems to be that the Federal Government makes a problem so bad that the only solution people can see is for the government to take it all over. But a famous man once wrote that there is a simple solution to every human problem, one that is neat, plausible and wrong. This bill is the socialist approach, and all it will do over the long haul is make a bad situation even worse.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 2996, ``Making appropriations for the Department of Interior, environment and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.'' Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan Account: Save America's Treasures Project Amount: $250,000 Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Blount Mansion Association, 200 W. Hill Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902 Description of Request: The funding would be used to upgrade and improve the National Historic Landmark.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, Robert Samuelson is a long-time economics columnist for The Washington Post. He is considered to be a very middle-of-the-road writer, neither liberal nor conservative. In yesterday's Post, he wrote a column entitled, ``Public Plan Mirage.'' Mr. Samuelson wrote that the public option ``is mostly an exercise in political avoidance: It pretends to control costs and improve access to quality care when it doesn't.'' He wrote that it is a mirage because it uses ``free market rhetoric to expand government power'' and added that the public plan ``would probably doom today's private insurance.'' The so-called opt-out provision is a mirage, too, because it does not allow people to opt out of paying for the program. No State could really opt out, because its citizens would then be paying medical bills for people in other States without receiving any benefits in return. Medicare and Medicaid have both cost about 10 times more than was predicted. This new health care plan will also cost many times more than is predicted now. We simply cannot afford it.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this rule and to the underlying multibillion-dollar waste that the rule brings to the floor. Later today, I am sure the House will approve overwhelmingly this very wasteful $2.2 billion subsidy for the solar power industry and for the solar bureaucracy, but we should be remembering that our national debt will soon pass $12 trillion in just a few days. Solar energy has received massive subsidies, with very little progress, ever since the Carter administration. In fact, it has turned into little more than a jobs boondoggle for bureaucrats as the gentleman from California just showed us in a story from The Wall Street Journal where, in 1978, there was a claim that solar energy by the year 2000 would make up 20 percent of our energy needs. After all of this time and after all of this money, however, solar energy makes up far less than 1 percent of the total of U.S. energy. In fact, it is just 1 percent of the 7 percent that renewable energy provides this country. That is such a small figure that I can't even figure out exactly what 1 percent of 7 percent is. It's hard to get that small. The Department of Energy has received at least $1.2 billion for this research just since fiscal 2000, not counting what other departments and agencies have spent on this. I am not against solar energy in any way, but it is way past time for this industry to stand on its own. The demand for solar energy will go up much faster if the industry is weaned off of Federal money and if it is forced to put out a better, more efficient and less expensive product. This is called free enterprise. Some people may have heard of it. The taxpayers simply cannot afford to keep funding a very wasteful program just because it is politically correct or fashionable to do so. This is a multibillion-dollar waste, and it should be defeated.

Mr. DUNCAN. This bill should be defeated, but it will not be. As someone told me last week, it is easy to run as Santa Claus, but it is almost impossible to run against Santa Claus. I urge the defeat of this legislation.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 2892, ``Making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.'' Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan Account: TSA, Aviation Security Project Amount: $1,250,000.00 Legal Name of Requesting Entity: National Safe Skies Alliance, 110 McGhee Tyson Boulevard, Suite 201, Alcoa, Tennessee 37701 Description of Request: This funding will be used to create a research and training center that will provide critical improvised explosives recognition training to TSA Transportation Security Officers, law enforcement personnel, fire fighters, emergency services personnel, first responders and others.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 2997, ``Making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.'' Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan Account: National Institute of Food and Agriculture--SRG Project Amount: $1,000,000 Legal Name of Requesting Entity: University of Tennessee, 114 Morgan Hall, 2621 Morgan Circle, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 Description of Request: This project would entail the ARS at Knoxville working in cooperation with University of Tennessee scientists in improving plant carbon production from atmospheric CO2 and the sequestration of the carbon in plants.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I rise mainly to commend, first of all, Chairman Oberstar, who I have always referred to as Mr. Aviation in this Congress, and my own ranking member, Mr. Mica, who has been so kind to me. I especially want to commend my good friends, Chairman Costello and Ranking Member Petri, who have worked so hard to bring this legislation to fruition and bring it to the floor today. Unless you have worked on legislation like this, you just can't imagine all of the details that have to be ironed out, all the competing interests that have to be brought together. I especially want to thank them for taking into consideration the needs of our great educational institutions that have aviation programs, such as Embry- Riddle and Middle Tennessee State University in my own State of Tennessee, and many others. As Ranking Member Petri just mentioned, I had the privilege of serving for 6 years as chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee. I enjoyed that very much, and I think it's very important work that I had the privilege of doing then and that they are working so hard on now. We have the best aviation system in the world, without any question. Unfortunately, we have more people killed in 3\1/2\ months on the Nation's highways than have been killed in all of the U.S. aviation accidents combined since the Wright brothers' flight in 1903. It's an amazing record. But you can never rest on your laurels, and you should always be trying to make things better. We have the best airlines and we have the best pilots, but everybody should always be trying to improve and get better. Certainly, when we are faced with the tragedy of a major crash such as we have heard mentioned several times here already today, it's a terrible thing, especially for those who have been killed and their families. We all need to do everything we can and we certainly try to do everything we can to make our aviation system even safer. I am pleased to be associated with these gentlemen and also with this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this very fine bill.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 2997, ``Making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.'' Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan Account: National Institute of Food and Agriculture--SRG Project Amount: $1,000,000 Legal Name of Requesting Entity: University of Tennessee, 114 Morgan Hall, 2621 Morgan Circle, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 Description of Request: This funding will be used for producing crop plants that can be used directly as early-warning sentinels for the detection of plant diseases.