Jimmy Duncan

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chairman, I will close by saying that, first of all, I appreciate the kind comments by the chairman of the subcommittee for whom I have the greatest and deepest respect. I served on the conference committee that created the TSA. I do believe that aviation security is very important, and I do believe that this bill does many good things in that respect. But I also know that the Air Marshal Service has a horrendous record so far. And as I said earlier, when you think of the very few arrests that they've made, it comes out to an average of a little over four a year, or about $200 million per arrest. I can't think, really, of any Department or agency in the Federal Government that does less good with more money than this agency. And yet, in spite of that, I am not trying to eliminate the agency; I am not trying to cut its funding. All I've done by this amendment is advocate a freeze that would save a little over $40 million. And if we can't do that, then really we can't do anything that is truly fiscally conservative in this Congress. I think when we recently raised our national debt limit to over $13 trillion, I think we at least need to start taking a few baby steps like this. So I urge my colleagues to support my amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Chairman, former Congressman Sonny Callahan, a very respected former subcommittee chairman on the Appropriations Committee, told me that we had done all we needed to do on airplane security when we secured the cockpit doors. Whether you agree with him or not, that one very inexpensive action took away the ability to hijack and use airplanes the way they were used on 9/11. Now we are about to appropriate $860 million for the Federal Air Marshal Service, and I believe this money could be much better spent in any one of hundreds of other ways. However, my amendment does not eliminate this agency, even though I do believe it is a needless, useless agency. And my amendment does not even cut its funding. All it does is freeze this agency at its current level of funding, $819 million. Air marshals arrest an average of a little over four people each year. Even after my amendment, they would still be getting about $200 million per arrest. There must not be a softer, easier, more cushy job in the entire Federal Government than just to ride airplanes back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, many of them in first class. I would rather give this money to local law enforcement people who are fighting real crime, the street crime that people want fought. Families all over this country are having to tighten their belts, and many millions are having to reduce spending. It would seem to me that the least we can do is stop giving big increases to agencies like this that really are doing almost no good at all. Actually, more air marshals have been arrested since 9/11 than there have been arrests by air marshals. This is an agency that has gone from just 33 before 9/11 to over 4,000 today. Now, what TSA is doing at the airports, what all the other Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies are doing, what private companies are doing on security and all the many other things that are done on this bill on aviation security are more than enough. We need to realize that we cannot make everyone totally safe even if we spent the entire Federal budget on security. I chaired the Aviation Subcommittee for 6 years and have always been a strong supporter of law enforcement and aviation security, but as one high-ranking former TSA official told me 2 days ago, this air marshal agency is simply ``gilding the lily.'' The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial a few months after 9/11: ``We would like to suggest a new post-September 11 rule for Congress: Any bill with the word ``security'' should get double the public scrutiny and maybe four times the normal weight, lest all kinds of bad legislation become law under the phony guise of fighting terrorism.'' That was from The Wall Street Journal when they noticed that almost every Department agency was requesting additional funds and using the word ``security'' to justify it, even unnecessary appropriations. Everyone on both sides of the aisle, Madam Chairman, likes to call themselves fiscally conservative. Well, even if my amendment were to pass, this agency would be getting an almost 60 percent increase since 2003, more than double the rate of inflation since that time. This amendment is bare bones fiscal conservatism, very minimal fiscal conservatism. And I might add that I have never had a run-in with an air marshal. In fact, I don't even believe that I know an air marshal, so this is nothing personal. But USA Today a few months ago had an article about this agency and all the troubles and problems they're having, and I can tell you that I think this agency at least should not keep getting huge increases in funding. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. I do thank the gentleman from Kentucky for yielding me this time. I want to say, first of all, and express my appreciation to Chairman Price and to Ranking Member Rogers. They certainly are two of the hardest working Members we have in this Congress and two men whom I admire the most and for whom I have the greatest respect. I want to say that, overall, I think these leaders have produced a very good bill, particularly in regard to aviation security. That's something in which I have a great interest because I did chair the Aviation Subcommittee for 6 years, and I know they have greatly increased the security at the airports and so forth. In fact, I will be offering an amendment a little bit later that does freeze the appropriation for the Air Marshal Service, which I do feel, as one high-ranking TSA official told me 2 days ago, is sort of gilding the lily. And I think it's a very unnecessary, useless part of the Federal Government and of this bill. But, overall, I think it's a very fine bill. And I particularly want to thank Chairman Price and Ranking Member Rogers for the work that they're doing in regard to cybersecurity, because from everything that I have read over these last few years, that is going to be one of the areas that is going to be the most troublesome to this country in the years ahead. And so, Madam Chair, I will simply say that I want to express my appreciation to Chairman Price and Ranking Member Rogers, and particularly the staff that has worked so hard on 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, probably the most needless, useless agency in the entire Federal Government is the Air Marshal Service. In the Homeland Security Appropriations bill we will take up next week, we will appropriate $860 million for this needless, useless agency. This money is a total waste: $860 million for people to sit on airplanes and simply fly back and forth, back and forth. What a cushy, easy job. And listen to this paragraph from a front-page story in the USA Today last November: ``Since 9/11, more than three dozen Federal air marshals have been charged with crimes, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct. Cases range from drunken driving and domestic violence to aiding a human-trafficking ring and trying to smuggle explosives from Afghanistan.'' Actually, there have been many more arrests of Federal air marshals than that story reported, quite a few for felony offenses. In fact, more air marshals have been arrested than the number of people arrested by air marshals. We now have approximately 4,000 in the Federal Air Marshals Service, yet they have made an average of just 4.2 arrests a year since 2001. This comes out to an average of about one arrest a year per 1,000 employees. Now, let me make that clear. Their thousands of employees are not making one arrest per year each. They are averaging slightly over four arrests each year by the entire agency. In other words, we are spending approximately $200 million per arrest. Let me repeat that: we are spending approximately $200 million per arrest. Professor Ian Lustick of the University of Pennsylvania wrote last year about the money feeding frenzy of the war on terror. And he wrote this: ``Nearly 7 years after September 11, 2001,'' he wrote this last year, ``what accounts for the vast discrepancy between the terrorist threat facing America and the scale of our response? Why, absent any evidence of a serious terror threat, is a war to on terror so enormous, so all-encompassing, and still expanding? ``The fundamental answer is that al Qaeda's most important accomplishment was not to hijack our planes but to hijack our political system. ``For a multitude of politicians, interest groups and professional associations, corporations, media organizations, universities, local and State governments and Federal agency officials, the war on terror is now a major profit center, a funding bonanza, and a set of slogans and sound bites to be inserted into budget project grant and contract proposals.'' And finally, Professor Lustick wrote: ``For the country as a whole, however, it has become maelstrom of waste.'' And there is no agency for which those words are more applicable than the Federal Air Marshal Service. In case anyone is wondering, the Air Marshal Service has done nothing to me, and I know none of its employees. But I do know with absolute certainty that this $860 million we are about to give them could be better spent on thousands of other things. As far as I'm concerned, it is just money going down a drain for the little good it will do. When we are so many trillions of dollars in debt, a national debt of over $13 trillion, we simply cannot afford to waste money in this way.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, in a few minutes we will begin voting on 26 amendments to the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill, but the overriding problem is that this bill is a 12 percent increase to $65 billion. At a time when families and small businesses all over this country have been tightening their spending, at a time when foreclosures and bankruptcies are still at record levels, the Federal Government keeps going on its merry way, spending like we have just boocous of cash. All this comes after the $787 billion stimulus bill which the Washington Post said was a ``massive financial windfall'' for Federal agencies. A 12 percent increase in times of 3 percent inflation, when our national debt is now over $13 trillion, is just ridiculous. We would not be having all these problems if we'd had fiscally conservative Congresses for the last 45 years. Now we seem to have the most fiscally wasteful Congress we have ever had.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, we have now spent approximately $200 billion, $200 billion, on the war in Afghanistan against a foe that has almost no money and equipment, especially in comparison to ours. Now we are about to take up a supplemental appropriations bill later today to provide many billions more, all this in a place where even General Petraeus said we should remember has been known as the ``graveyard of empires.'' This comes on top of approximately $800 billion on the war in Iraq and hundreds of billions more in indirect costs for these two wars. Then, in the supplemental bill that we'll take up later today, we have $5 billion for the International Monetary Fund, and in this bill, there is a guarantee for $100 billion in loans made by the IMF, loans being made to other countries. All this money will have to be borrowed because we are so many trillions in debt already that it is not even humanly comprehensible. The bill also contains $7.7 billion for swine flu vaccines. I heard a reporting of a speech of our colleague, the gentleman from Texas, Dr. Paul, made recently, in which he said during his first stay in the House, in I think it was 1976, that there was another swine flu scare, and that only he and one other person, probably the only other medical doctor in the House at that time, voted against the money for the swine flu scare. And one person died from swine flu that year, and many more died from taking the vaccine than died from the flu. This is a great overreaction in this area as well. Many thousands are dying from other diseases that we're not paying attention to. This supplemental appropriations bill started out at $85 billion, then it went to $91 billion, then $95 billion, and now, today, $106 billion. And I ask you, are there no fiscal conservatives around here? We read last year that the Pentagon had $295 billion in cost overruns on just their 72 largest weapons systems. Now, that didn't count all the cost overruns that they might have had in all their thousands of other large-, medium-, and small-sized contracts, and we're having a hearing right today--in fact, it's going on right now, I was there earlier--in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in which they said 74 percent of the private contracts that the Federal Government gives out are given out by the Pentagon. Are there no fiscal conservatives at the Pentagon? I know everybody is trying to prove how patriotic they are today, and everybody feels that we shouldn't question anything the Defense Department wants. But to allow $295 billion in cost overruns on just these 72 largest weapons systems, in my opinion, it's unpatriotic not to question that. And I ask again, are there no fiscal conservatives at the Pentagon? The fact is, we've turned the Defense Department primarily into the ``Department of Foreign Aid'' now, and I believe very strongly in national defense. But we cannot afford to run the whole world, and we cannot afford to have the Department of Defense be the ``Department of Foreign Aid.'' All of this comes not long after we have raised our national debt limit to over $13 trillion. Nobody can comprehend a figure like that, no one. That is an astounding figure. And yet on top of this debt that we already have, the President's budget in this year and the next 2 years will add over $4 trillion of debt to that debt, $4 trillion in this year and the next two; three years' time, $4 trillion added to our national debt. And then this year, if I had told people 2 or 3 years ago that we would have a budget this year of $3.6 trillion and that half of that, $1.87 trillion, would be deficit, nobody would have believed that. They would have thought that I was ridiculous or that I was crazy in saying that. I used to say to my colleagues that it was terrible what we were doing to our children and grandchildren. Now, I'm saying it's terrible what we're doing to ourselves because it's not going to be 5 or 10 years, if that long, before we're not able to pay all of our Social Security and veterans' pensions and all of the things that we have promised our own people. We've got to stop trying to run the whole world. It's not isolationist to say that because I believe in trade and tourism, and cultural and educational exchanges, and I believe we should help during humanitarian crises. But we can't keep spending hundreds of billions of dollars in other countries, whether it's done by the Defense Department--and of course, it's also being done by every other department and agency in the entire Federal Government.

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. 2847, ``Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.'' Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan. Account: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs--Juvenile Justice Project Amount: $250,000. Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Childhelp of East Tennessee, 2505 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Description of Request: This funding will be used to assist Childhelp in expanding its important services to more children in Knox County and the surrounding region who have suffered abuse. Specifically, the Children's Center of East Tennessee will expand its forensic interview capacity and related services to more Knox County children who have, in the past, been turned away, as well as its community based forensic interview and medical examination services. Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan. Account: Department of Justice, COPS Law Enforcement Technology. Project Amount: $750,000. Legal Name of Requesting Entity: City of Maryville, 404 W. Broadway Avenue, Maryville, TN 37801. Description of Request: This funding will be used to allow public safety and public works departments to co-function on the same network and would also allow these departments to communicate directly in an emergency with one another without interference from other users.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a gentleman who has left an impact on every county in Congressional District and touched the lives of everyone in East Tennessee, whether they may know it or not. Fred Corum exemplifies the concept of government and community service. As the Director of the Tennessee Department of Transportation's Region One, Fred has devoted a long career to the safety and quality-of-life of east Tennesseans. Fred is celebrating his much earned retirement today with a gift back to the people he served: the completion of SmartFix40. This project is the most expensive in state history, reconfiguring Interstate 40 as it crosses through downtown Knoxville. SmartFix40 is not a venture he took lightly. This massive project required the closure of Interstate 40--a main east to west coast corridor--for fourteen months. The night before the closure, Fred says he could not sleep, and there were plenty more sleepless nights to come. We can only hope that all government servants devote such care and commitment to their work. Every project Fred has overseen is a true testament to his character, and there was no one more qualified than him to lead the SmartFix40 project. Fred has been on the job with the Tennessee Department of Transportation since 1954, a career that has spanned 53 years and 10 Governors. As an entry-level worker in 1954, Fred planted stakes in the ground to mark the route of future roads for $150 a month. Eventually, he was promoted to maintenance supervisor for a large portion of my Congressional District, back in a time when there was a lot more snow to deal with. As his career spanned the 1980s, Fred witnessed the advent of the age of conservation, navigating water pollution issues, wildlife preservation, and erosion. Governor Lamar Alexander appointed Fred the Director of Region One in 1985, and although he thought his job would be up at the end of the Governor's term, he was kept in the position through three more administrations. Today, decades after he drove his first stake into the ground, Fred is on hand for the reopening of Interstate 40 and the completion of SmartFix40. He goes out at the top of his game, leaving for all East Tennesseans a reconfigured, aesthetically pleasing, and modern stretch of highway. Fred's ascent through the ranks of the Tennessee Department of Transportation to Director of Region One is an example to all who enter government service. His wife, Loretta, their two sons, four grandchildren, and great-grandson have reason to be very proud. Madam Speaker, in closing, I would like to call the remarkable service of Fred Corum to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record, and wish Fred a very happy retirement.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, 3 or 4 years ago, if I had told people that we would be facing this year a budget of $3.6 trillion and facing a deficit of $1.870 trillion, people would have thought that I was crazy. But that is what we're facing. And because of the terrible financial condition of the Federal Government, all of our expenditures are related, even though they may sound at first like they're unrelated. And so I want to speak tonight briefly on two issues of national significance, even though they may sound unrelated at first. President Reagan used to say frequently in speeches that government was not the solution; government was the problem. And certainly, there also is an expression called the ``tyranny of good intentions.'' And that cannot be seen more clearly in anything than in the Federal Student Loan Program. When I go to speak at the University of Tennessee or other colleges and I tell them that my first year at the University of Tennessee it cost $90 a quarter, and then $105 and then $120 and $135 a quarter, $405 for the whole year my senior year at the University of Tennessee, gasps go through the room. But back when I went to college, anybody who needed to could work part-time and pay all of their college expenses. Nobody got out of college with a debt. But around that time, or maybe a little bit before, the Federal Student Loan Program kicked in. And the colleges and universities across the country have used that as a means or an excuse to raise their tuition and fees three or four or five times the rate of inflation every year since that program came in. If I went into any college campus and told those students that the Federal Student Loan Program is one of the worst things that ever happened to them, they would stare at me probably in disbelief. And yet it really is one of the worst things that ever happened to them, because throughout our history, college tuition and fees went up very, very slowly, and went up at the rate of inflation or even less until that loan program came in. And now, ever since that program came in, today, tuition and fees are 3- or 4- or 500-percent higher than they would have been if we'd just left the thing totally alone. As I said, it's called the ``tyranny of good intentions.'' And the only way to correct that now is to punish colleges and universities that continually raise their tuition and fees at three or four or five times the rate of inflation by saying that we're going to limit or cut off the loans at those universities and colleges that continually raise their tuition and fees above the rate of inflation. The second thing, and it seems a little unrelated except, as I say, when you're talking about matters that there are significant Federal expenditures on, all these things are somewhat related. And I'll give another example from my own life. In the early nineties, I went to a reception in Lebanon, Tennessee, and the doctor who delivered me came and brought my records. And I asked him how much he charged back then, and he said he charged $60 for 9 months of care and the delivery, if they could afford it. And I told him that he probably didn't get anything for me then because my parents didn't hardly have any money at that point. But we took what was a very minor problem in the mid-sixties and turned into a major problem for everybody. Nobody but Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and Sheldon Adelson, the casino man, people of that rank, could afford or survive a catastrophic medical expense of some sort. We took what was a very minor problem for a very few people and turned it into a major problem for everybody. Before the Federal Government got heavily into medical care, medical care was cheap and affordable by almost everyone. I started following politics and government very closely in the mid-sixties, and I remember when they came in with Medicare, and they said that was going to be the saviour of the system. Instead, costs exploded. Then I remember in the mid- and late seventies when they started talking about Medicaid, and they came in with that, that was going to be the saviour of the system. Instead, costs exploded. Now we're talking about the government getting even more into medical care now, and costs will explode again, and they will explode to a level far higher than the predictions of what the costs will be, because when they first started Medicare, they said it would cost $9 billion after 25 years. And now we're at 400 and, I think, $42 billion on Medicare. The same thing has happened in regard to Medicaid. And it's really sad what we have done to the American people, and especially to the poor and the lower-income and the working people of this country in these two programs. And if we don't--if we aren't very careful, and if we don't put many free market and free enterprise-type measures and reforms into these bills, then these costs are going to explode, and the poor and the lower-income people and the middle income people are going to be hurt even more by programs that are, as I say, the ``tyranny of good intentions.''

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding me this time, and I want to express my appreciation also to my colleague from Tennessee, Congresswoman Blackburn for bringing this legislation to the floor, very appropriate legislation. I have come here to express my great admiration and respect for Governor Wilder, in addition to the very kind things that my colleagues, the gentleman from the 9th District, Congressman Cohen, has said, and also what Congresswoman Blackburn has said. The hills and mountains and valleys of east Tennessee are very, very different from the flat lands of west Tennessee, but we're all Tennesseeans. And even though my district in east Tennessee is very far from Governor Wilder's district in west Tennessee, still, I have known of his work for our State for many years now, and I have great respect for that. I also have seen him in action each year for many, many years, hosting the annual legislative luncheon at the University of Tennessee. And Governor Wilder did so much for the University of Tennessee, his alma mater and my alma mater. I read a few years ago that less than 20 percent of the people in the State legislative bodies around the country have served, that less than 20 percent have served more than 12 years. And so turnover in legislative bodies is at a higher rate or level than any time in our history, contrary to what some people think. So anyone who serves in office for such a long number of years as Governor Wilder has really accomplished something that very few people have done in our history. And you don't serve in office for as long as he did without helping thousands and thousands of people and doing many, many good things, both for individual citizens and for the State as a whole. And so I just wanted to come here briefly. I did not have the privilege of serving in the State senate, as Congressman Cohen and Congresswoman Blackburn did. I never served with Governor Wilder, but I certainly met with him many times and saw him at different inaugurations and at various events in Nashville and in my hometown of Knoxville. And so I appreciate Governor Wilder, and I admire and respect him, as I said earlier. And I thank the gentlelady from Tennessee for bringing this legislation to the floor.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Chair. We have one of the most efficient aviation systems in the world. However, we still need a great deal of improvement to this system. We need to modernize our air traffic control facilities to help make travel even more efficient and reduce unnecessary delays which cost our economy millions of dollars every year. Our last FAA reauthorization bill expired in 2007. Since that time we have been operating on temporary extensions. I am glad to see that the legislation before us today will continue these vital programs that are needed in our aviation system. I believe that there is more good than bad in this bill, but I do have some concerns with some of the labor provisions contained in it. In the 1996 FAA reauthorization bill, we made a technical correction that allowed Federal Express to operate under the Rail Labor Act, as it always has. I think to change this provision now, without knowing the consequences in this economic climate, could end up hurting our economy. I hope that we can revisit this matter in the future before this bill is in its final form. I would also like to state that I am pleased that this bill includes provisions from legislation that I cosponsored which would restrict the use of cell phones on flights. I believe every passenger should be able to enjoy a flight without having to listen to someone else's conversation. Most people do not realize that they speak louder on a cell phone than they do during a normal conversation. Cell phone conversations are often very loud, insensitive to other passengers, and disruptive to others in nearby seats. This bill is far from a perfect one. In fact, there are other concerns that I have about some of the other sections, including the inspections of foreign repair stations. This could cause the European Union to retaliate against repair stations located here and potentially cost us some good paying jobs. However, I feel overall that we should move this legislation forward, and I hope we can address these other concerns as the process goes forward.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. I thank the gentleman from Colorado for yielding me this time. I rise in support of this resolution to recognize the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a resolution that was introduced by my good friend and neighbor from the First Congressional District of Tennessee, Dr. Roe. I represent about half of the Tennessee part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Dr. Roe represents the other half of the Tennessee portion, which is, of course, the bigger portion of the national park. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the things of which those of us from east Tennessee are most proud. It has often been said that our national parks are our Nation's crown jewels. If that is true, then the Great Smoky Mountains National Park must certainly be one of the largest jewels in that crown. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is, by far, our most visited national park, with over 9 million visitors each year--approximately three times the number of visitors that go to our second and third largest national parks. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with only 520,000 acres, seems huge to anyone who comes there. Of course, it is very small in comparison. We talk often here about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is 19.8 million acres, which is 36 or 37 times the size of the Great Smokies, but it certainly is one of the most beautiful areas of this country. And more than 50 percent of the Nation's population lies within a day's drive of the park. Within the park you can find more than 1,500 species of plants, over 200 species of birds, 66 species of mammals, 50 species of fish, and so on. You will also find plenty of recreation opportunities in the park, including 800 miles of hiking and horse trails, and some of the most beautiful valleys and high peaks anyone has ever seen, such as Cades Cove and Mount LeConte. Although any time is a great time to visit the park, the views are truly spectacular in the spring, with the blooming of the dogwoods and redbud trees and in the fall when the leaves begin turning various shades of red and orange and yellow. My hometown of Knoxville is considered by many to be the gateway to the Smokies, and residents of Knoxville played a very important role in establishing the park. The original idea for a Smokies National Park came from a wealthy and influential Knoxville family, Mr. and Mrs. William P. Davis, who came back from a visit to the national parks out West in the early 1920s with a simple question: Why can't we have a national park in the Smokies? Very quickly, other influential citizens of Knoxville such as politicians, businessmen, naturalists, and others joined in this movement. Eventually, the legislatures in Tennessee and North Carolina realized that this was a worthy project. Both legislatures appropriated $2 million in 1927. Although this was a large amount of money, it was not enough. Colonel David C. Chapman of Knoxville joined forces with National Park Service Director Arno Cammerer and began seeking additional sources of funding. Ultimately, they convinced John D. Rockefeller, Jr., to contribute to the cause. The Rockefeller family was well known for their philanthropy, especially in regards to the National Parks. They made a gift of $5 million to the effort, but only on the stipulation that the funds would be matched. To get the full $5 million, the States and Park Service would have to come up with $5 million on their own. Once the funding commitments were in place by 1929, it took several more years to acquire the land and develop the facilities. While this land has become almost priceless today, I don't think enough credit or recognition has been given to those families and people from whom land was taken to create this park. During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration, and other Federal organizations made trails, fire watchtowers, and other infrastructure improvements to the park. The park was officially opened in June of 1934. That date is the date we are commemorating with this resolution. I would like once again to thank and congratulate Dr. Roe for his very thoughtful resolution, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution celebrating and recognizing the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for yielding me this time. It is a very special honor and privilege for me to rise to urge support for a resolution honoring a personal friend of mine, the head women's basketball coach at my alma mater, the University of Tennessee, and that is our great coach, Pat Head Summitt. The gentleman from New York has very succinctly outlined many of the accomplishments and honors that Coach Summitt has received in her career, but I would like to reiterate some of these things. It is really a phenomenal record that she has. Coach Summitt has coached for more than 35 years, all with the Lady Vols. Her overall record is 1,005 wins and 192 losses for a winning percentage of better than 84 percent. Coach Summitt and the Lady Vols have won 27 Southeastern Conference titles. Coach Summitt and the Lady Vols have won eight NCAA championships. She has been named the NCAA Coach of the Year seven times and SEC Coach of the Year seven times. Coach Summitt also coached the U.S.A. women's basketball team to the Olympic Gold Medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She is the author of two books, ``Reach for the Summitt'' and ``Raise the Roof.'' They are both very inspiring books. In 1999, Coach Summitt was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 2000 she was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, becoming only the fourth women's basketball coach to receive that distinction. Also in 2000, she was named the Naismith Coach of the Century. On February 2, 2007, Wheaties unveiled a Breakfast of Champions box in her honor, making her the first women's basketball coach to be honored on such a box. Coach Summitt has two streets named in her honor: Pat Head Summitt Street on the University of Tennessee-Knoxville campus, and Pat Head Summitt Avenue on the University of Tennessee- Martin campus. Coach Summitt also has a remarkable 100 percent graduation rate, as the gentleman from New York mentioned, with every student athlete who has completed their eligibility at UT either graduating or working toward all of the requirements for graduation within the NCAA-allotted time of 6 years. I don't think there is any other coach, men or women's coach, in this country that can say that. And I will tell you that she also insists on her students taking tough courses that lead to good careers. And we often read in the Knoxville newspapers about the great success of many of her graduates. Pat Head Summitt is simply an outstanding woman and an outstanding individual in every way, both personally and professionally. And it is a great honor for me to stand here before you today to bring this resolution to the floor honoring Coach Pat Head Summitt and the Lady Vols and congratulating her on achieving that tremendous, just almost unbelievable mark of 1,000 victories. I urge all of my colleagues to support the resolution.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, President Ma of Taiwan will celebrate the one-year anniversary of his taking office on May 20th, 2009. In just one year, the Harvard-educated President has accomplished so much to improve Taiwan's standing on the world stage. The latest of these accomplishments is Taiwan's acceptance as an official observer at the World Health Assembly that will take place later this month in Geneva. The World Health Assembly, which is part of the World Health Organization, will finally give Taiwan's 23 million citizens a voice at this forum. This is possible because of President Ma's blossoming relationship with mainland China. In April, officials from China and Taiwan participated in the Chiang- Chen Talks. The talks resulted in the signing of the following agreements: (1) ``Agreement on Joint Cross-Strait Crime-fighting and Mutual Judicial Assistance'' (2) the ``Cross-Strait Financial Cooperation Agreement'' and (3) the ``Supplementary Agreement on Cross- Strait Air Transport.'' All of these agreements will result in improved coordination between the Taiwan Straits neighbors in the areas of law enforcement, financial exchanges and travel. Among other successes, President Ma's administration was able to have Taiwan removed from the Special 301 Watch List which is maintained by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The removal shows Taiwan's commitment to preventing the importing and exporting of illegally pirated materials such as DVD's and CD's. Madam Speaker, I would like to call these accomplishments and the successful first year of President Ma's administration to my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, there is perhaps no greater sacrifice an American can make than serving their Country during a time of war, and no one can say the Davis family of Tellico Plains, Tennessee has not answered this call. It is a tradition which spans over ninety years. Private Hedrick Davis enlisted in the Army's Black Cat Division during World War I. After returning home, he bought a farm, married, and had five sons, who would all go on to answer that same call to service. Four of the Davis sons--Leonard, Dillard, Clarence, and Guy--joined the Armed Forces as soon as World War II began. All the brothers would fight for their Country and despite the tremendous loss of life in this great campaign, all would remarkably live to tell their tales. Dillard's story is one that took over fifty years to confirm. While on board the Belgian Troop ship the Leopoldville crossing the English Channel on Christmas Eve, a German Submarine attacked, sinking the boat with a torpedo. In a series of calamities following the strike and a botched rescue, 763 American soldiers died. Dillard managed to survive anid tell the tale that the United States and Great Britain did not admit until the 1990s. The fifth Davis brother--Rex--was only sixteen-years-old when World War II ended. But he would not be spared from his family's calling. When the Korean conflict escalated into a full-blown war, Rex Davis answered the call. His tale was one of Hollywood legend--literally. While training at Fort Benning, GA, movie stars Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis filmed the movie ``Jumping Jack'' on base, using Rex and his fellow soldiers as extras. Later, while serving in Korea, another movie star--Patricia Neal--came to entertain the troops. She asked on stage if anyone was from Knoxville and Rex jumped right up, getting his photo taken on stage with Ms. Neal. It is a cherished photograph that in 2003 brought Ms. Neal to tears in Knoxville when she was unexpectedly reunited with Rex. In his Knoxville home, Rex Davis has files of records documenting the service of his father and four brothers, who together fought and survived three wars. Rex went on to serve on the Knoxville City Council, and he is known to tell a great story. I hope this story is told many times. Madam Speaker, in closing, I would like to call the remarkable service of Private Hedrick Davis, Master Sgt. Leonard Davis, Staff Sgt. Dillard Davis, Cpl. Clarence Davis, Pfc. Guy Davis, and Cpl. Rex Davis to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. At this time, I will urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H.R. 774, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4602 21st Street in Long Island City, New York, as the Geraldine Ferraro Post Office Building. Geraldine Ferraro has spent her life advocating and achieving on behalf of women across the globe. She was born on August 26, 1935, in Newburgh, New York, the daughter of a first-generation Italian American mother and an Italian immigrant father. After high school, she worked her way through Marymount Manhattan College, at times holding three jobs simultaneously. She was the first woman in her family to attain a college degree, and she subsequently became a licensed New York City school teacher. While still teaching the second grade, Congresswoman Ferraro earned her law degree, attending Fordham law school at night. She was one of only two women in her graduating class of 179, and was admitted to the New York State bar in 1961. She managed to raise three children while working part time as an attorney in her husband's real estate firm. In 1970, she was elected president of the Queens County Women's Bar Association, and in 1974 she was appointed Assistant District Attorney for Queens County, New York, at a time when female prosecutors were rare in New York City. During her time in the district attorney's office, she became a strong advocate for abused children, and rose through the ranks to head the Special Victims Bureau, which prosecuted rape, and child and domestic abuse cases. In 1978, she won election to the United States House of Representatives from New York's Ninth Congressional District in Queens. She labeled herself a ``tough Democrat'' and ran on law and order issues. Upon entering Congress, Congresswoman Ferraro made an immediate impression on her party's leadership and quickly rose through the leadership ranks. She established a reputation in Congress as an advocate for women's rights and gender equality. Then, in the 1984 Presidential election, Walter Mondale chose her as his running mate, making her the first ever female to run on a major party national ticket. Her historical nomination was the culmination of a lifetime of firsts for this lawyer from Queens. Her accomplishments also include her appointment by President Clinton to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. President Clinton eventually chose her to be the United States Ambassador to the Commission, stating that she was ``a highly effective voice for the human rights of women around the world.'' She has spent a lifetime breaking barriers and shattering glass ceilings. I urge my colleagues to support this bill to honor the many achievements and tireless advocacy of Geraldine Ferraro. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to join my fellow Members of Congress in recognizing a former New York Congresswoman and women's rights advocate by designating the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 41 Purdy Avenue in Rye, New York, as the ``Caroline O'Day Post Office Building'' for her extraordinary contributions to the State of New York and to American public life. Born Caroline Love Goodwin in 1869 on a plantation in Perry, Georgia, she was one of four daughters of a socially important family in Georgia. Despite the economic hardships that were widespread during the Reconstruction period, her father's success allowed her and her sisters to attend the prestigious secondary school called the Lucy Cobb Institute. After graduation in 1886, she briefly studied art in New York at Cooper Union before sailing to Paris, France, where she enjoyed a stimulating life among the great artists of the time. An independent-minded woman, she supported herself as a freelance artist for the next 8 years. While living in Europe, she met Daniel O'Day, an oil businessman, who persuaded her to abandon her artistic career and return with him to New York in 1901. Although past the age of 30 and beyond the age when most women married in that era, she married Daniel O'Day and moved to Rye, New York. It was in Rye, New York, where Congresswoman O'Day would start her successful career as a civic activist and politician. Her power of persuasion was so great that although her husband was not politically active, he did become an enthusiastic advocate of women's suffrage and in 1916, after his sudden death, Congresswoman O'Day began working on issues of social welfare and female suffrage in New York. She became active with the New York Consumer's League, the Women's Trade Union, and the Democratic Party. Through these and other organizations, she became close friends with other prominent social activists, including Eleanor Roosevelt. After spending many years with a well-known activist working for women's suffrage and multiple organizations, she was urged to run for public office. Congresswoman O'Day first ran and won a seat in Congress in 1934 with the public support of her good friend Eleanor Roosevelt. As a well-regarded Member of Congress, Congresswoman O'Day worked on a number of labor reforms, particularly for the child labor protections of the Walsh-Healey Government Contracts Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. She had a lifelong concern for protecting the rights of disadvantaged people. As an extension of that concern, Congresswoman O'Day sponsored legislation which stayed the deportation of 7,000 illegal aliens. She strongly supported the Federal anti-lynching law, was instrumental in arranging the memorable concert of Marian Anderson in 1939 scheduled for DAR Constitution Hall, and supported expanding the quota for Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. In 1940, despite her sickness, Caroline O'Day won a fourth congressional term. Because of declining health, she did not return to Washington, although she did handle some of her House duties from her home. Sadly, on January 4, 1943, the gentlewoman from New York died at her home. Congresswoman Caroline O'Day may have been best described after her death by Eleanor Roosevelt who wrote, ``Her high ideals and integrity were an inspiration to all who knew her or felt her influence, and her generosity touched many people and many causes in which she believed. Her passing is a loss not only to her family but to the world.'' It is with great respect and pleasure that I support H.R. 1397. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, 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 am extremely proud to rise today in support of H. Res. 299 honoring the millions of dedicated public employees who steadfastly serve our Nation. These highly competent and well-trained public service employees who work at all levels of government, Federal, State and local, are a great example of an excellent workforce both here and abroad. They exhibit their professionalism and expertise as they handle the enormous amount of work that flows through all levels of government on a daily basis. Their sense of dedication and innovation are at the very core of this country's successes. Keeping our Nation running and safe are the emergency responders, the educators and medical personnel, and all others who are part of a larger group that we proudly call public service employees. Without them, our country simply could not function. When speaking of public sector employees, we must particularly note the brave men and women who serve in the Armed Forces who continue to make all Americans proud as they dedicate their life and limb to keeping us all safe throughout the world. Those on the front lines deserve special recognition for their public service which is truly above and beyond the ordinary call of duty. These soldiers are provided vital strategic support from fellow public service employees both at home and abroad. When natural disasters hit communities around the country and the world, it is our public service employees who provide support at every level. For this, they should also be commended. It is an honor for me to congratulate these fine citizens for performing challenging and many times thankless jobs with dedication every day. Because of our public service employees, we have a country that is safe and secure for all of us. For these reasons, I express my strong support of Public Service Recognition Week.

Mr. DUNCAN

Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, it is my honor at this time to recognize the primary sponsor of this resolution, the gentleman from Texas, Dr. Burgess, who has become such a leader in so many areas in this Congress, and this resolution is just another prime example. I recognize him for such time as he may consume.